Archives for the year of: 2014
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Peter Greene: A Catalogue of Anti-Teacher Trolls on the Internet

By dianeravitch
June 15, 2014 //
60

Peter Greene observes that the Vergara decision has brought out a deluge of comments by anti-teacher trolls.

 

Read any article on the Internet about the decision, and it will be followed by an outpouring of vitriol towards teachers.

 

It is useful to read Greene’s classification of the teacher-haters. You will encounter them almost everywhere.

 

What accounts for teacher hatred? Maybe these are the people who got an F in school and never got over it. These are the people who don’t have a pension and think that no one should. These are the people who think that America can get by without teachers or think that teachers should work for free.

 

But Peter does it so much better. Here are a few of his troll categories of teacher-haters:

 

Sad Bitter Memories Troll

I hated high school. My teachers were mean to me. I remember a couple who picked on me all the time just because I didn’t do my work and slept in class a lot. And boy, they did a crappy job of teaching me anything. I sat in their classroom like a houseplant at least three days a week, and I didn’t learn a thing. Boy, did they suck! Crappy teachers like that ought to be fired immediately! And that principal who yelled at me for setting fire to the library? That guy never liked me. Fire ’em all.

 

Unlikely Anecdote Troll

There was this one teacher in the town just over from where I went to school, and one day he brought in a nine millimeter machine gun and mowed down every kid in his first three classes. The principal was going to fire him, but the union said he couldn’t because of tenure, so that guy just kept working there. They even put kids in his class who were related to the ones he shot. Tenure has to be made illegal right away.

 

Just Plain Wrong Troll

Tenure actually guarantees teachers a job for life, and then for thirty years after they retire and fifty years after they die. It’s true. Once you get hired as a teacher you are guaranteed a paycheck with benefits for the next 150 years.

 

Confused Baloney Troll

If you really care about children and educational excellence, then you want to see teachers slapped down. The only way to foster excellence in education is by beating teachers down so they know their place. Only by beating everyone in the bucket can we get the cream to rise to the top.

 

 

Categories Education Reform, Humor, Teacher Tenure, Teachers and Teaching

Andrea Gabor: An Inspection of New York State’s Secret ELA Tests

By dianeravitch
June 15, 2014 //
44

Somehow, Andrea Gabor got a copy of most of the New York State English Language Arts Common Core-Aligned State tests.

 

She describes them here.

 

She writes:

 

Once again I am in possession of a bit of educational contraband.

For the second year in a row, I have received a copy of the New York State English Language Arts tests for grades 6 to 8, which were administered in April. (Though, this year, my set appeared incomplete as it contained only books one and two for each grade–not the three books that were included last year and that I was told were given this year. So my analysis here is confined to only two booklets for each grade.)

Anyone who has followed the controversy around the introduction of the New York State’s “common-core aligned” tests, knows that there has been a growing backlash–and not necessarily against the common core itself. Rather, a great many educators object to the quality and the quantity of tests–in addition to six days of “common core” testing, New York kids are now finishing the Measurements of Student Learning (MOSL) tests, the sole purpose of which is to evaluate teachers, as well as field tests for next year’s “common core” tests. In the fall, students as young as kindergarteners endured base-line testing for the MOSL.

Most importantly, educators are outraged by the secrecy in which the tests are cloaked.

 

Pearson, which has a $32 million contract with New York, will not permit teachers or anyone else to see the exams.

 

They are hidden by a gag order.

 

This is insane.

 

The value of tests is to learn what students do and do not know or understand

 

If the students, parents, and teachers are not allowed to review the tests, then nothing can be learned from them.

 

There is no point in having tests that are hidden from the view of those who most need whatever information they provide.

 

Of course, the gag order also protects Pearson from public scrutiny and possible discovery of poorly written or inaccurate questions, like the Pineapple questions.

 

So who benefits from the gag order? Not the students.

Categories Common Core, New York, Pearson, Students, Testing

EduShyster Names the Big Winners in the Vergara Trial

By dianeravitch
June 15, 2014 //
14

EduShyster has figured out who were the real winners in the Vergara trial.

First, of course is the public relations firm behind Students Matter, which is now the go-to group for civil rights issues, just as if the Brown decision had a PR firm and was bankrolled by one wealthy guy. Then there are the lawyers, who will clean up as litigation to replicate Vergara moves from state to state. Also the Billionaires who love low-income children more than those who actually work with them every day. Lots of winners. Oh, yes, and students, although it is not so clear what they won.

Categories California, Humor, Students, StudentsFirst, Teacher Tenure

Florida: Special Education Students Get Vouchers for Schools with No Special Education Staff

By dianeravitch
June 15, 2014 //
25

Florida has a voucher for program for students with disabilities, called McKay scholarships. A story in Florida’s “Sun-Sentinel” revealed that a sizable number of these students with vouchers attend schools that do not have any full-time teachers with special education training or certification.

Dan Sweeney of the “Sun-Sentinel” writes:

“Learning disabled students can get up to $19,829 of taxpayer money each year to attend private school if they choose – but there is no state accountability to ensure the kids’ needs are being met.

“The law that created the vouchers does not require private schools to have anyone on staff with any sort of certification in dealing with children with learning disabilities. Nor are there public controls in place to check whether the schools are helping them.

“In Palm Beach County, 1,232 children receive $8.5 million in state voucher money. How much they get depends on on the severity of their disabilities, with amounts ranging from $4,125 to $19,829.

“There are 59 private schools in the county that accept the vouchers – and at least 28 of them don’t have full-time special education teachers.

“If someone wants to pay for a school that has no standards out of their own pocket, they’re free to do that. This is America,” said Kathleen Oropeza, co-founder of Fund Education Now, an organization that advocates for public education in the state of Florida. “But when you’re taking public dollars and you’re putting them into these private schools that are not regulated and have no obligation to meet the same standards that we impose on our public schools, that’s when the public should become concerned.”

And Sweeney adds:

“The voucher law only requires that private school teachers pass a background check and have a bachelor’s degree and three years of teaching experience or “special skills, knowledge, or expertise that qualifies them to provide instruction in subjects taught.”

“There is no limit on how many students can receive the McKay scholarship – it is solely based on need.

“To qualify, kids need to be on an Individual Education Plan, which sets educational goals for a child and allows for specialized instruction.

“But “once the family leaves the district on a McKay scholarship to a private school, the [plan] is no longer valid. Private schools are not required to follow the [plan] created by district personnel,” said Cheryl Etters, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Education.

“And nobody from the state or district checks to see if the children’s’ needs are being met.”

This is not the first time that a reporter has called attention to the bsence of oversight or regulation of the McKay scholarship program.

In 2011, reporter Gus Garcia-Roberts wrote a blistering exposé of the program, which he called “a cottage industry of fraud and chaos,” sending millions of public dollars to voucher schools that lacked curriculum or qualified staff. Garcia-Roberts won the Sigma Delta Chi award for public service journalism for the story. But the McKay program continues to be unregulated, unsupervised, and one in which public funds follow students to schools un equipped to meet their needs.

Categories Florida, Special Education, Vouchers

Peter Dreier: Brat is the Worst Kind of Libertarian

By dianeravitch
June 15, 2014 //
67

Peter Dreier of Occidental College writes that David Brat, who beat Eric Cantor, is the worst kind of libertarian. He is so far to the right that he doesn’t believe in any minimum wage. He is a follower of Ayn Rand. Imagine electing a man to Congress who doesn’t believe in government. Dreier predicts Brat will be a reliable ally of crony capitalism and big banks, all celebrating selfishness. He may be against the Common Core, but this is a man who should be defeated. What kind of society ignores festering social and economic problems?

His opponent is Jack Trammel. Both Brat and Trammel are professors at Randolph-Macon University.

Categories Virginia

Breaking News: EAA Head Covington To Resign for Another Job

By dianeravitch
June 14, 2014 //
17

According to Eclectablog, John Covington will leave Governor Rick Snyder’s controversial Educational Achievement Authority for another job. The story was reported by the Detroit News.

Covington, a graduate of the unaccredited Broad Superintendents Academy, previously led the Kansas City district, which lost accreditation after his abrupt departure.

Categories Detroit, Michigan

Jesse Rothstein: Eliminating Tenure Won’t Improve Schools

By dianeravitch
June 14, 2014 //
160

Jesse Rothstein, an economist at the University of California at Berkeley, tested for the defense in the Vergara trial.

In this article in the New York Times, Rothstein contends that the elimination of tenure–the goal of the multi-millionaire (or billionaire) behind the lawsuit–might make it more difficult to recruit teachers for schools that enroll poor and minority children.

Judge Rof Treu compared his ruling to earlier cases about desegregation and funding, trying to portray himself as a champion of “civil rights.” But, Rothstein writes:

“…there is a difference between recognizing students’ rights to integrated, adequately funded schools and Judge Treu’s conclusion that teacher employment protections are unconstitutional.

“The issue is balance. Few would suggest that too much integration or too much funding hurts disadvantaged students. By contrast, decisions about firing teachers are inherently about trade-offs: It is important to dismiss ineffective teachers, but also to attract and retain effective teachers….In fact, eliminating tenure will do little to address the real barriers to effective teaching in impoverished schools, and may even make them worse.”

In his own research, he found that “…firing bad teachers actually makes it harder to recruit new good ones, since new teachers don’t know which type they will be. That risk must be offset with higher salaries — but that in turn could force increases in class size that themselves harm student achievement.”

He concludes:

“The lack of effective teachers in impoverished schools contributes to [the achievement] gap, but tenure isn’t the cause. Teaching in those schools is a hard job, and many teachers prefer (slightly) easier jobs in less troubled settings. That leads to high turnover and difficulty in filling positions. Left with a dwindling pool of teachers, principals are unlikely to dismiss them, whether they have tenure or not…..Attacking tenure as a protection racket for ineffective teachers makes for good headlines. But it does little to close the achievement gap, and risks compounding the problem.”

Categories Teacher Tenure

Walt Gardner: Vergara Sets a Dangerous Precedent

By dianeravitch
June 14, 2014 //
34

Walt Gardner questions the validity of the Vergara decision. Like others, he notes the weak evidence on which the decision rests. A witness for the defense guessed that 1-3% of the state’s teachers were ineffective, and the judge cherry picked that offhand assertion as a fact.

Gardner believes the decision is a giant step toward busting unions and privatizing schools. Of course, this is exactly what the “reformers” want, although they prefer to hide their reactionary goals behind the false rhetoric of civil rights. Imagine how Dr. King would feel about a decision that attacked workers’ rights, using students as pawns. Exactly what will change for students if their teachers can be fired more easily? Is there a long line of superstar teachers waiting outside the doors of L.A.’s schools?

Categories California, Teacher Tenure

Michael Hiltzik: Why the Vergara Decision Won’t Help Children

By dianeravitch
June 14, 2014 //
15

Michael Hiltzik is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times who sees through the spin and illusion surrounding the Vergara decision.

The ruling will not change the material condition of any student. It will not reduce class size or produce more funding for the state’s ill-funded schools.

He writes:

“Critics of teacher unions maintain that they’re entrenched interests that block needed reforms. But they don’t have anything like the deadening effect on education of the fans of ventures like Students Matter and the Vergara lawsuit. …By some reckonings, the biggest threat to real progress in our schools is Arne Duncan. The education secretary has bought hook, line and sinker the argument that the key to pedagogical competitiveness for America is to equip every child with a laptop or tablet.

“As we’ve pointed out before, this is a policy that benefits no one but the shareholders of Apple Inc. The company has stood foursquare with Duncan in his fatuous technology campaign, which is likely to impoverish the neediest school districts by diverting their scarce resources into wasteful hardware while skimping on–here’s a surprise!–teachers.

“You want an example? Look no further than the Los Angeles Unified School District, where Supt. John Deasy has presided over an unbelievably ill-conceived and wasteful program of buying Apple iPads at inflated prices. See further coverage here, here, and here.

“But when the Vergara lawsuit came to trial, guess who was front and center testifying that, oh sure, the big problem at LAUSD was teacher tenure? Supt. John Deasy.”

Hiltzik notes that the judge glosses over all the hard questions, like how to identify “bad” teachers, how to attract and retain good teachers. He writes: “And that’s the key to all these issues of teacher quality: How do you measure it? Eviscerating the due process protection of teachers on the job won’t guarantee quality; it will only give administrators more leeway to harass or promote teachers for any reasons they choose.”

The decision, he concludes, is just snake oil. Its partisans are cheering, its opponents are in despair. But in the end, it will make little difference. It offers no real remedies for the serious underfunding of schools, and it does not offer constructive ways to strengthen the recruitment and support of the teachers that students need.

The partisans of the will ultimately be disappointed to see how little they have won. Ten years from now, we will look back and wonder what the big deal was. By then, the legislature in California may have extended the probationary period from 18 months to three years. Seniority may or may not be preserved, depending on the courts and the legislature.

But if the underlying challenges of poverty, segregation, and inadequate funding of public schools in California are not addressed, the Vergara ruling will be a forgotten footnote. Billionaires, millionaires, and hedge funders are savoring their victory now, but time will reveal that their campaign produced nothing consequential, nothing that actually helped students.

What do students need: a well-resourced school, staffed by experienced teachers, offering a full curriculum, small class size, and the services that benefit students, such as nurses, counselors, psychologists, librarians, after-school programs, and up-to-date technology. Vergara provides none of these.

Categories Education Reform

Superintendent Mark Henry Slams High-Stakes Testing

By dianeravitch
June 14, 2014 //
25

Mark Henry, superintendent of the Cypress-Fairbanks district in Texas, stood up and spoke out for common sense and education ethics. In this article, he explains why his district–the third largest in Texas–will not participate in a pilot test to evaluate teachers by student test scores.

He writes:

“This latest movement to “teacher-proof” education places additional fear, anxiety and pressure on professionals who are stressed enough already. I have seen this first-hand with principals and teachers who fret over the STAAR test, a once-per-year high-stakes assessment that measures how a child performed on one test on one day. Is that really learning? I don’t think so. Testing is a key diagnostic tool, and results should be used to assess the progress of students so plans can be developed to address the gaps and deficiencies of each student.
Learning is not a business; it’s a process. Use of a teacher evaluation system tied to standardized test scores alienates educators by trying to transform classrooms into cubicles. There are many more elements that go into teaching and learning than a high-stakes, pressurized test. Tying student test scores to a teacher’s evaluation may improve test scores, but does it improve a child’s educational outcome?”

Henry says there are three reasons that schools fail: mismanagement by school boards and superintendents; ineffective principals; lack of community support.

He does not blame teachers for poor leadership or systemic failure.

He writes:

“Let’s quit trying to “teacher-proof” education and stop the overreliance on data from one high-stakes test. The answers for improvement are recruiting, training and supporting our teaching professionals. Attention to these will deepen the effectiveness of what we do in the classroom and the biggest winners will be our children. ”

Mark Henry is a hero of public education for his willingness to stand against a misinformed and harmful status quo.

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Honor Roll, Teacher Evaluations, Testing, Texas
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »