This discussion between MaryEllen Elia, then superintendent of the Hillsborough County school system, and Vicky Phillips, the president of the Gates Foundation in Seattle, took place a year ago. Robert Trigaux, business writer for the Tampa Bay Times, sat down with the two to check on the progress of the Gates Foundation’s investment of $100 million in the Hillsborough County schools.
Trigaux writes:
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation may not view our country’s stressed public schools as full of Neanderthal teachers trying to bash knowledge into bored, thick-skulled students. Yet the foundation’s leaders do consider most U.S. schools terribly outdated, technologically deficient and bureaucratic morale-suckers in need of overhaul.
That’s why the foundation decided to try to help.
Just a quarter of U.S. public high school graduates possess the skills needed to succeed academically in college. That statistic should terrify this country, given the aggressive rise of economic competition and rapidly improving education elsewhere in the world. Left unchecked, we are slipping in the global race to sustain a quality workforce.
So, as Brian Williams once memorably said on the NBC program “Education Nation,” “Bill Gates is paying for this program, and we are using his facts.” (Slight paraphrase.)
We know what the Gates Foundation wants: It wants a workforce that is prepared to compete with workers in other nations. Leave aside for the moment whether we are losing jobs because of better-educated competitors or because American workers expect to be paid more than workers in China and Bangladesh; businesses outsource where the costs are lowest. And leave aside as unproven the claim that only a “quarter of U.S. public high school graduates possess the skills needed to succeed academically in college.” Some, like President Obama, say that American workers are the most productive in the world. But leave that aside too. Ask yourself how the United States got to be the most powerful nation in the world if our citizenry is as hapless and poorly educated as Bill Gates assumes.
Here is the stated goal of the Gates’ $100 million: “The goal: to improve student achievement by rethinking how best to support and motivate teachers to elevate their game during the adoption of the Common Core curriculum and beyond.” Summarize as: Raise test scores and implement the Common Core.
Elia has lasted in her job longer than most superintendents, nine years when the interview was taped in 2014 (ten years when she was fired in 2015):
Nine years running the same school system is commendable. Especially in Florida where public schools rarely receive adequate attention or funding. Florida spends roughly half per pupil compared to New York or Connecticut. And Florida teachers remain among the poorest paid in the nation.
Let’s repeat that line: Florida teachers remain among the poorest paid in the nation. That includes Hillsborough County.
What has the Gates grant done? It has changed the way the district evaluates and compensates teachers (presumably with merit pay for higher test scores, though it is not clear in this interview).
And this is a new Gates-funded feature:
A cadre of mentors, one for every 15 teachers, has slowed the turnover of young teachers leaving the profession. And Hillsborough is ahead of many districts in making teacher evaluations more meaningful. Principals observe teachers and give more concrete feedback. And teachers get peer reviews, which can be sticky at times but is considered quality input. All of that means Hillsborough has not had to follow the state’s own strict evaluation guidelines. The foundation also wants to sharply improve the role technology plays in the classroom by providing more easily accessible curriculum support to teachers and better ways to keep students engaged in their work.
So the strategy is to train and evaluate teachers, to give bonuses to some, but not to mess with the fact that teachers are “among the poorest paid in the nation.” Not our problem.
What are the results so far? Not clear but there is always the future.
Bottom line? Both Elia and Phillips admit it has been a struggle at times but seem satisfied with progress that has outpaced other large Florida school districts.
The trick is most of what has occurred so far is procedural, putting systems in place to improve teaching and, in turn, future student achievement. Measuring that achievement in a meaningful way has yet to happen. Hillsborough hopes it can deliver improved results soon.
Another tough challenge is education’s biggest oxymoron: teacher respect. “One thing we are dismayed about is how we have made teachers feel over the last 15 years,” Phillips said. “We shamed and blamed them. It was unconscionable. We do not want them to feel that way.”
Phillips says celebrating good teachers is part of the recovery plan. So is listening to them.
The Gates Foundation listening to teachers? Now that is an innovative idea!
Apparently the other two districts–Memphis and Pittsburgh–have not made much progress. That seems to be the implication of this exchange:
Elia and Phillips insist big strides are still to come in the remaining three years of the partnership. And even when the seven years are up, Phillips says the foundation and Hillsborough will stay in close touch. There will still be much to learn.
For the Gates Foundation, it has invested heavily in Hillsborough schools. It certainly is hopeful of a return on those funds, one measured by a successful outcome of better student achievement that it can show off to other U.S. school systems.
Similar Gates Foundation grant commitments to school districts in Memphis and Pittsburgh have suffered slower progress, which may make Hillsborough a beacon of best practices.
Hillsborough County has two years left to go in its seven-year grant. Superintendent Elia has been fired but landed the prestigious job as state education commissioner in New York. What ideas will she bring with her from Florida?
The Gates Foundation uses political measures under the guise of improving public schools. Public school advocates should wise up to that strategy respond in kind- use political weapons. Such as, perhaps Gates’s and their ilk have too much untaxed money. Why not increase taxes on the ultra rich?
If the goals are unclear and can’t really be measured, then maybe the real purpose is to make a billionaire feel better about himself.
How long must we suffer until Mr. Gates feels that he has “done all he can”?
To Thomas Stephens:
Are all ADVOCATES out there listening to Stephens’ strategy?
That is a marvelous idea and a straight point of wisdom.
YES, yes, yes…Oh!!! PLEASE, please,please
“”Public school ADVOCATES should WISE UP to that strategy respond in kind- use political weapons. Such as, perhaps Gates’ and their ilk have too much untaxed money. Why not INCREASE TAXES ON THE ULTRA RICH?””
Because “The Gates Foundation uses political measures under the DISguise of improving public schools”, advocates shall fulfill their pledge by demanding;
1) INCREASE TAXES on their PROFITS.
2) INCREASE ALL WAGES from bottom workers (custodians) to all middle and upper management.
3) Welcome to put them away to exile to any country that they praise for like China, and North Korea/Singapore, so that they will learn to TREASURE and RESPECT American CIVILITY and HUMANITY.
This is the only way to teach corrupted people a lesson on appreciation and respect for civility and humanity which cost blood and tears from many compassionate and caring leaders and followers to build through many centuries. Back2basic
Bill Gates is interested in education because it will help maintain his status as the richest man in the world. And that is the truth of the matter. If he was so bright he would have figured out that since the US Dept. of Education was created we have seen the decline in education. And there in lies the true problem with education. What we need is to shut down the US Department of Education, roll back ESEA and restore classical pre-1965 EDUCATION. People like Bill Gates think our children were born to serve their economic needs (human capital). If we got back to the basics of real education instead of indoctrination and training for the workforce he would have people with the skills to think outside the box and provide the ingenuity an industry like his require. I know many people from my generation that never went to college and have more brain power than any 10 college grads of today rolled into one. They DO NOT want creative, individuals. They want obedient drones that will shut up, sit down and take orders. It will be the Gates, Obama and Duncan kids that get the high paying jobs and lets not forget none of their kids are in schools that use Common Core. Gee. I guess they don’t want their kids to get the “rigorous” education the COMMON man’s children are getting. Wonder why???
“. . . and restore classical pre-1965 EDUCATION.”
Karen, what is your definition of that “classical pre-1965 education”? Please expound and explain.
TIA,
Duane
AND lets also not remember that in the later 1990’s early 2000’s the federal government was trying to break up Microsoft. Hmmmmmmm. Never happened did it? Then in 2004 he signs a Cooperation Agreement with UNESCO. I believe saving his precious Microsoft is a major reason why he is throwing so much cash into Common Core. Sounds to me like he might have been made an offer he could not refuse.
Sorry…..replace REMEMBER with FORGET
I hope Mary Ellen Elia has a fair shot at showing what she can do in New York. She worked well with the League of Women Voters while we were studying school choice in Florida. She was even handed and determined to follow the rules rather than to skirt issues.
“Studying school choice?” Does your husband, as the Chair of the Florida Senate Education PreK-12 Committee, denounce the use of public money for the enrichment of charter school operators? Do you believe that public tax dollars should support private charter school interests?
Since Mary Ellen Elia supports the disingenuous use of standardized tests for “accountability,” she will FAIL to have a positive impact on New York public schools. She cannot succeed when her entire educational belief system is wrong.
Sue, nice comments please tell John Hi.
FL Teacher, I have a $1 that says Mary Ellen will have a positive impact on New York public schools. If you agree I will let Sue hold my $1.
William Hutchinson III, I’m not a betting man. You must not be a Florida Republican; you’re actually willing to put up your own money instead of looking to the public trough for personal gain.
I noticed Sue did not answer the question about using public educational resources for personal gain. How do you feel about the government giving 100’s of millions of dollars of education capitol improvement dollars to private interests?
How is Mary Ellen going to have a positive impact on New York public schools? How will that impact be measured?
” She was even handed and determined to follow the rules. . .
Sounds like my definition of a GAGAer.
To leave out the aft and randi – the 3rd leg of this partnership – only let’s them off the hook. A bunch of that gates money went to the union.
Cheers,
Norm Scott
Twitter: normscott1
Education Notes
ednotesonline.blogspot.com
Education columnist, The Wave
http://www.rockawave.com
nycfirst robotics
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“The foundation also wants to sharply improve the role technology plays in the classroom by providing more easily accessible curriculum support to teachers and better ways to keep students engaged in their work”
Where is the evidence that an investment in technology improves schools for students, given that some 30 states have cut public school funding under ed reform leadership at both the state and federal level?
Why would a school district choose to prioritize technology over some other purchase or investment?
I recognize that the Gates Foundation and the US Department of Education constantly present this as a done deal and obviously a good investment, but public schools have budgets and they haven’t been doing so hot under ed reform leadership. A decision to invest in one area is a decision not to invest in another. Microsoft invests hundreds of millions in elaborate facilities for their employees, so they recognize the value of that. Why isn’t there a national campaign to invest in upgrading the facilities that so many of us inherited but didn’t pay for, because the generations prior paid for them?
Why are they setting budgetary priorities for us? Can we not figure this out ourselves? I think we can! I have high expectations! 🙂
Thank you, Chiara, for questioning the importance of technology. Gates may well view tech as his Trojan horse. Once the high-tech infrastructure is in place, content can be delivered from Palo Alto and teachers can be fired or reduced to classroom monitors. I’d rather see investment in teachers’ brains than in silicon brains.
It’s the technology un-funded mandates that are bankrupting so many school districts in the US; not to mention how many students don’t have access to the interenet; a laptop; desktop, electricity?
“Yet the foundation’s leaders do consider most U.S. schools terribly outdated, technologically deficient and bureaucratic morale-suckers in need of overhaul.”
And the solution was to impose a bigger tech based morale sucking bureaucracy on education? Well congrats Gates Foundation, that was brilliant. Next bad idea?
TC,
Well said.
Let’s hope that Ms. Elia is not being brought to New York to double down on the Common Core. We all know Gates has a tendency to only hear the echo of his own voice. He will ignore reality until he can toss more money to get all the sycophants to agree with him. The problem with the testing based on the Common core is that ‘no matter how you slice it , a lemon is a lemon.” As Mr. Stephens stated above. this guy has too much time and money on his hands. He should have to pay more tax to support public education and not “vanity projects.”
It is time to remind one to another about the wisdom of the best GLOBAL philosopher, Buddha:
DO NOT quickly believe in the saying from:
1. People with authority, scientific knowledge, and wealth (due to their own gain)
2. People with old age, claimed to be a Wise-man (due to his lust for control and power)
3. Any written old testaments (due to it is possibly fake)
4. Any mystery, unfounded truth, and lack of proof of science (due to rumour or legendary).
Most of all, any short cut or promise lack of democratic and transparent process which bribes all authorities to guarantee general public to attain a quick success is simply intentional BAD trap.
According to the first principle, con artists and crooks (Gates’ Eli Broad, Walton’s, Koch Brothers) abuse, manipulate, bribe, set a trap and twist NAIVE, TRUSTING, GREEDY and AMATEUR academic/governmental leaders to do whatever they intention to achieve. That is a fact of life.
In short, if corrupted business corporations are willing to spend 100+ millions, they MUST HAVE a RETURN with minimum interest at 100% or more. Their STRATEGY is to successfully LOOT billions of dollars in Teacher Pension Fund and Public education fund so far, with the help of many SOULLESS EDUCATED LEADERS who do not have conscience to care for the well-being of many AMERICAN generations in a genuinely excellent American Public Education System. SIGH! Back2basic
Sorry, it is a typo, “to do whatever they INTEND to achieve”.
I have a challenge for ed reform politicians. Disagree with Bill Gates, publicly. Correct him or dissent at one of those “ed reform forums”.
Show you are acting independently of the influence of this person, because, boy, I can’t help but notice that Bill Gates’ agenda keeps showing up in US public schools.
I notice ed reform politicians have no trouble “speaking truth to power” when they’re scolding teachers and parents. Do they just happen to agree 100% with everything Gates does and says? That’s a coincidence, huh?
Disagree with Bill Gates?
As NYC Educator has said, I’d be surprised to see Bill Gates take a sip of water while any of them were speaking.
That is a classic line and picture now ingrained in my head with Gates and the water while listening to speakers!
If I may add a bit to your thought:
“. . . with Gates and the water while PRETENDING TO listen to speakers!”
I think she was hired because Ms. Tisch can dominate her and tell her exactly what to do. Tisch has to go .
Remind me again why we should listen to anything a college dropout says about preparing students for college.
Gates primary problem (which has become our problem as a nation, unfortunately) is that he never learned to think, which he might have done had he stayed in college until he graduated.
His ignorant “let’s try this and see if it works” approach to education 9and everything else he does) has caused great damage.
HERE HERE
“The president of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten, offered tempered praise, saying in a statement that while the union was “opposed to high-stakes testing” and grading teachers on students’ test performance, “even when MaryEllen applied it as required under Florida law, she made collaboration her mantra.” – MaryEllen Elia Named New York State Education Commissioner | The New York Times – May 26, 2015
Turning “Collaboration” Into a Bad Word | Schools Matter
http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2015/05/turning-collaboration-into-bad-word.html
COLLABORATE — to work with the enemy. ie drinking the kool-aid.
Our teacher unions have been a great disappointment to me. How can the President of AFT give even faint praise for hiring a leader who believes in merit pay and test based evaluations? She is obviously a favorite of the reformy crowd and an enemy the teaching profession. The privatizers must be ecstatic with this hire.
there was a guy from enterprise rent a car, who just gave a 22,000,000 dollar gift to charitable and academic organizations that support underserved children within the St. Louis area. Checking the details….five hundred thousand dollars, (1/44th) were to finance scholarship grants for low-earnings students in North St. Louis and St. Louis County.Three times that amount • $1.5 million goes to KIPP St. Louis, to aid its charter schools. I found it hard to figure out how many students they serve…..”KIPP Inspire has expanded to include grades five through eight, with 320 students. In 2014, KIPP St. Louis opened a second school, KIPP Victory Academy Elementary School. In 2015 KIPP Wisdom Elementary and KIPP Triumph Middle School will open!” It might be about a thousand, by now..making the gift 1500 dollars per cherry picked student…they say they will soon be ten percent of the slps population when they expand to 2500…..not sure how many will have to hide in the basement when somebody important stops by. I doubt if 94 year old Jack Taylor even realized that his 12,900,000,000 net worth is now only 12,878,000,000 after his generosity.
Massachusetts B- Rating Average Salary 2010/2011: $71,017 #2 in Pay Scale
California C Rating Average Salary 2010/2011: $69,434 #3 in Pay Scale
New Jersey B- Rating Average Salary 2010/2011: $66,985 #4 in Pay Scale
Connecticut C+ Rating Average Salary 2010/2011: $65,571 #5 in Pay Scale
Florida B- Rating Average Salary 2010/2011: $46,702 #45 in Pay scale
Please explain Teacher Pay and Quality Counts Ratings issued by Education Week. Give me Pro and Con Please
Hmmm, really, the salaries at my last CSE meeting: School Psychologist: $179K; Director of Special Ed: $185K; Regular Ed ELA teacher $135K; Special Ed Teacher (under $100K); the new Superintendent – $339K. How does one find out the A B C scales? This was a NY meeting.
Substitute teachers (of which there were many) $16 per hour.
I’ll believe the “skills gap” argument when the labor market shows signs of actually competing for qualified job candidates by offering higher wages. People who tout the “college wage premium” never like to mention that wages for people with degrees are basically flat since the 1980s and the premium’s growth is made up of collapsing wages for people without degrees.
If our workforce woefully short on people with the necessary skills for today, then our nation’s employers have forgotten basic labor economics — with the exception of the few people who go directly into elite financial work.
H1bs.
Well, that’s actually part of the point. Several analyses have shown we don’t need so many h1b visas, but what those visas provide are workers willing to accept lower wages, live on the assumption they are temporary residents who are not seeking to establish home ownership and families here and send a fair portion of their salary back home. Technology firms use h1bs and argue to expand them to help keep wages lower rather than to pay for the domestic labor market.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-myth-of-americas-tech-talent-shortage/275319/
Circumvention of free market- TFA’s- brought to us by, vulture philanthropies and corporations.
“Statistics that should terrify this country”
(1) Six Walton heirs have wealth equivalent to the poorest 40,000,000 Americans. Concentrated wealth is the biggest threat facing the world.
(2) For the U.S. to have economic growth…. first, American workers have to offset the estimated 2% drag, the financial sector inflicts on GDP.