When the school district of impoverished Muskegon Heights went broke, Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan felt no obligation to save public education. He appointed an emergency manager to privatize the whole district. The district was handed over to a for-profit operator, Mosaica, which promptly fired all the teachers. It hired a new staff and started fresh. About a quarter of the staff left in short order. There have been three principals at the high school in six months. And the schools have hired uncertified teachers, which is illegal in the state.
Not to worry. The private sector knows best.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Amazingly, within two days of Michigan Public Radio’s report on the uncertified teachers, they became certified. As a Michigan teacher, I can tell you from personal experience that this process usually takes a bit longer.
Maybe Wendy took out her magic wand and created more TFA saints…well for two years anyway….before they start their real careers.
Teacher churn, low salaries, no pensions, test prep Stepford drones, no need for family health care, bust the union…all of this will somehow elevate the profession and pull in the best talent. Reform done!
More importantly, Linda, it will certainly elevate the education and job vistas for all the poor kids in Muskegon Heights (and Detroit, and Pontiac, and . . . .)
I don’t know how to put this without sounding crass or disrespectful, but Governor Snyder is a sneak and a liar. His republican agenda is to destroy public schools and ‘charterize’ the state all the while sounding like a reasonable, bipartisan “nerd”. -He is neither.
While most people don’t realize it, Governor Snyder has destroyed the teacher union and privatized public funds through his emergency manager agents. (Which the voters turned down and which he continues to employ.)
Students suffer and of course, the poor suffer more while they “catch-up”.
When did a Governor working for the state he was ELECTED in become synonymous with Lord RULING over his fiefdom? Are we all mere vassals and serfs waiting for their commands? We need to start electing fair minded PUBLIC servants, who are really interested in working for the public’s BEST interests, not the corporations, before it’s too late (though I have a feeling it might just be).
From a distance it looks like the MI voters, many of whom were forced out of high paying union jobs with good health benefits and pensions and replaced with low paid non-union members, are resentful of teachers who had middle class incomes, job security, decent benefits, and relatively good retirement plans… so… they elected a guy who they believed would treat the “greedy teachers” the same way their bosses treated them: declare “bankruptcy” (i.e. through the use of impossible-to-pass tests), outsource work to lower-paying employees with less skill and experience (and NO membership in a union), and pay the CEOs based on the profits. If MI voters want different treatment for state employees they need to vote in a new Governor….
Problem is, even if a new governor is put in, the federal government actually calls all the shots. RTTT accomplishes basically the same thing Snyder and all of the rest of the far right Republicans are doing.
None of this would have happened had a real Democrat been elected to the White House, and not a fraud who is really a right-wing Republican. Ever since Obama and Duncan got in there, public education has been truly on the ropes. Bush’s NCLB was actually toothless by comparison.
Exactly. Everyday, I think how much better off our profession would have been if we had elected Hilary Clinton. Instead we get screwed for 8 years and the credibility of the democratic party is ruined for a generation. Change we can believe in? Please.
Sadly, Wilbert, you’re wrong about that. Here’s a picture worth a thousand words:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34577258@N02/3215180133/in/photostream/
“Hillary Clinton, Eli Broad In this photo released by Eli and Edythe Broad, Secretary of State designee Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, and philanthropist Eli Broad, center, listen to remarks during a dinner hosted by the Broads to celebrate the inauguration of President Obama, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff, Eli and Edythe Broad)”
In reality there is no law in this country. You simply, if you have it, buy your way through the system.
We have observed changes in the school system for many years now and fear for the future of our children. Outdated curriculum, low motivation, low parental participation in the education of the children, finances, etc. The way we’ve taken does not lead us further in 21st century – but rather back to 19th century
In regard to today’s school education in the United States, we believe that there are better teaching methods in Michigan schools, other states, and countries abroad (PISA) that exist. These methods could be implemented in public schools. Our conviction is based on the experiences we have collected in many years of teaching at American and German schools.
1. Math: There are easier methods that exist to help pupils add large sums faster than a pocket calculator. The Internet offers varied information and application possibilities also in connection with possible math duties.
2. Geometry (in practise) can be with the help of billiards very successfully taught and has been tested in some schools. The results were impressive. Technical literature about that is available.
3. Art: Betty Edwards, a professor from California, the USA, has developed a quick method within the scope of her cerebral researches to teach drawing to pupils. The method is widespread. Art is also a form of self-psychology for children and helps particularly primary pupils to process / solve everyday family and school problems. The standard work from Betty Edwards` “Drawing on the right side of the brain” is published under the title „guaranteed drawing learn“ in the Rowohlt publishing company.
4. Life Time Sports such as Archery, Golf, Tai Chi, Tennis, and Billiards teach self-discipline, concentration and would influence learning behaviour positively. Music also teaches self- discipline and concentration and plays a roll in brain development. Pupils who play musical instruments are general better in math. IBM employs approximately 30% of its people who have been educated in music, and has found that musically inclined people have a higher problem solving ability.
5. Languages: Foreign languages also help with brain development at an early age. Students would also become fluent in at least 2 languages. The brain would thereby learn to work on abstract information better. It appears that in elementary schools and kindergarten, the children are able to learn a foreign language within the shortest time. Prof. Sylvester of the university of Utah has published studies for the development of the brain in which he defines “time window” in the different development stages of a child, in which the brain is especially open for information. These time windows close after some years (languages at 10 years of age) and making it difficult for children to carry out certain learning processes. Early education at the basic school age are the most important “time windows”.
6. “Mnemonics” (commemorative training) goes back on scholars of the Greek antiquity. This method supports the integration of pictures (visualisation) and music in the lessons to be able to easily store information in long time memory. A perfect example: TV commercials.
These unusual and successful examples are only one fraction of the ideas which could improve lessons without extending the school day.
In regard to school financing, schools lack more and more money for books, for more teachers (better pupil / teacher average, 14 to 18 pupils per class), and repair costs. Why is it not possible to cover costs with the help of lotteries, taxes from casinos? Las Vegas, Nevada and other towns/cities in the USA have incorporated this type of financing in their fiscal program. The schools in Las Vegas for example, are totally financed by casino taxes.
Unfortunately, it seems more and more that America / Michigan has quite simply slept away the development of school education during the last 20 some years. Or, was it probably the complacency that we would be able to accomplish everything better and thus teach other states and countries? Michiganders are now paying the price for decisions made, including electing a governor who chooses to privatize public school instead of solving problems.
The time is quite simply running away from us.