Jersey Jazzman (aka Mark Weber) has a question that he hopes will be asked at John King’s confirmation hearings.
If King is confirmed as Secretary of Education, will he enforce the Department’s strong stance against suspensions as a disciplinary tool?
Normally, the question might not come up. But King has a record of leading “no excuses”charter schools known for their high rates of suspensions. The charter school he led in Massachusete had the second highest suspension rate in the state.
As Secretary, will he change the Department’s stand against suspensions? Or will he reverse himself?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I suppose I could look this up, but is there any room for public input during confirmation hearings? I can’t imagine any legislator, of either party, asking that question.
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We should send a number of questions to our representatives and ensure that they submit or ask the questions. Or we can find out who will be on the committee and submit the questions directly to them. Is there any way to find out? I strongly agree with this questions as I am from Mass and was aware of the backlash from this revelation.
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Dienne, hearings are just that. An opportunity for legislators to ask questions and for the nominee to be heard.
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So it’s only legislators who get to ask questions? No public questions? Because no matter how much the public might pressure the legislators, I really don’t believe any of them will ask King about his suspension history. The Democrats are invested in supporting Obama and the Republicans have no problems with suspending “those kids”. The only hope would be if someone from the general public got a chance to raise that question.
Maybe teachers need to “sick out” en masse the day(s) of the hearing and flood the halls of Congress with signs asking that question.
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I think the Obama Administration has made it clear that there are two sets of rules- public schools must comply with every stern, scolding directive they issue, while charter schools are given gentle suggestions to possibly consider at the next private board meeting. \
It is remarkable they put King in charge of ordering public schools to reduce suspensions, however, without even a nod towards how many kids his charters booted back to public schools.
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When will the hypocrisy be blasted from the mountaintops?!
When will the greater world beyond the blogs and those-who-know-from-the-inside hear the sound of democracy cracking and crumbling around them?
I know there are some who are thrilled at the changes they have wrought. But are they more than just a small group of uber-wealthy?
Is it not possible for the larger masses of ordinary, hard working, citizens to hear and heed the words we share amongst ourselves?
Can the underdogs prevail in the face of the overwhelming insane policies and disastrous decisions politicians, policy makers, and the corporate philanthropists have forced on us?
History does repeat itself – the good and the bad of it.
Can we turn the tide to good?
Actionable responses anyone?
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I do think one has to be careful assuming lots and lots of suspensions and push-outs are opposed by public school parents, though.
We have a vocal minority of parents in our public school who would be thrilled if the bottom 20% were kicked out. The truth is they believe kids who need more intervention or extra help “take” time that could be allocated to their child. It’s not pretty but that is a fairly common opinion and it’s openly expressed.
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As a teacher in an urban school for over 20 years, I find parents want something done. They do not necessarily support suspensions but they do not support ignoring the problem. Public education must address the needs of students who display behaviors that need interventions beyond what can be provided in the schools. I suggest more outside counseling and family intervention. However, this will never happen because there are those who think that this is labeling students.
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You would not be surprised to learn that a certain number of public school parents are also opposed to having any special education kids in the classrooms. This started when mainstreaming began years ago. And I do have to say, sometimes mainstreaming does not work out well, mainly because the extra help and resources that were supposed to follow these kids into the “regular” classrooms often was quite inadequate, assuming it occurred at all.
(But then, I lost count of the times I was told, as a special ed teacher, “why bother to teach some of these kids at all? They’re just a waste of taxpayer money.” Sigh.)
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Don’t forget that most white parents and policymakers in the South preferred segregated schools. If we had listened to them, nothing would have changed.
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Diane, this is all too true. And it wasn’t just in the South. All-white private “academies” popped up all over the place after the Brown v. Board of Education SCOTUS decision.
And segregation continued long afterwards.
The busing of children from one school district to another in the interest of desegregation was met with a whole lot of resistance (remember Louise Day Hicks in Boston, for instance? I do.)
(And the resistance also came from parents who did not want their kids riding busses a long way away from close-by schools, for which I can hardly blame them.)
The “white flight” to predominantly white suburban areas led to more and more de facto segregated schools, which busing tried to address. But after the SCOTUS Milliken v. Bradley decision in 1974, which found that school systems were not responsible if segregation was de facto, rather than de jure, this busing pretty much disappeared.
Oh, well, I have wandered way off of the current subject. But improving public schools is the way we need to go. The whole charterization/privatization of public schools reminds me way too much of the “white academies” after Brown v. BOE. Except the charters receive taxpayer dollars. 😦
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“Maurine
February 17, 2016 at 11:28 am
As a teacher in an urban school for over 20 years, I find parents want something done. They do not necessarily support suspensions but they do not support ignoring the problem. ”
Mine isn’t an urban district but it has the same problems all but the wealthiest public schools have. It’s about half lower income. It’s just a really tough issue because if you listen to the parents whose children ARE harshly disciplined they are convinced it’s applied inequitably. I think they eventually reach some middle ground everyone can live with. The Catholic school here really does push out children with problems. It’s actually a selling point for the parents who promote the school- the exclusivity. They’ll flat out tell you the school bounces out “problem kids” back to the public school.
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Many school districts in a constant state of austerity have discouraged referrals. By rights students that cannot handle a regular school environment should be in a more restrictive environment. If schools lack the financial means to address the problems, the students’ bad behavior can be ignored. When this occurs over time, a chaotic climate ensues. Charters enhance the problems when they continuously siphon off funds from the operating budget.
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From NYSUT president Karen Magee…(see below)
It’s something, but we all need to speak out. NYSUT should be leading the charge with a vocal, visible action objecting to John King’s appointment. But it’s not just a New Yorkers’ issue now. John King is all of our problem now – Ohioans, Texans, Floridians – everyone.
There’s no reason to believe John King has changed his stripes…Worse is yet to come if he’s confirmed…
February 12, 2016
Statement from NYSUT President Karen E. Magee on the permanent appointment of John King as U.S. Secretary of Education
Source: NYSUT Media Relations
ALBANY, N.Y. Feb. 12, 2016 – “At a time when we are finally moving away from the disastrous era of test-and-punish, action to make John King’s interim appointment as U.S. Secretary of Education permanent is extremely troubling and sends the wrong signal to educators and parents nationwide. During his tenure as New York’s education commissioner, the joy of teaching and learning was eroded by a wave of misguided top-down policies that focused on overuse of testing and punitive measures exacted upon teachers. New York State is only just beginning to recover from the destructive policies of John King, who was subject to an unprecedented vote of no confidence delivered by delegates of the 600,000-member New York State United Teachers.”
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“retired teacher
February 17, 2016 at 12:14 pm
Many school districts in a constant state of austerity have discouraged referrals. By rights students that cannot handle a regular school environment should be in a more restrictive environment. If schools lack the financial means to address the problems, the students’ bad behavior can be ignored. When this occurs over time, a chaotic climate ensues. Charters enhance the problems when they continuously siphon off funds from the operating budget.”
We actually have an “alternative” school for children who are really disruptive or in and out of the juvenile system. This is more like a battle for resources. There are people who believe if one child gets more attention their child gets less.
The school actually quietly addressed this, although no one will come out and say it. They put two teachers in certain classes and those classes have more challenging children. The second teacher moves around because the class composition changes every year- the same challenging kids aren’t in the same groups every year. I think it’s probably the fairest way to handle it because the truth is the quieter children would be at a disadvantage without the extra teacher.
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Sometimes schools put two teachers in a blended class with classified and regular education students. It is not just done due to behavioral issues; it is also about learning problems, The special and regular education teachers then team teach. This is an expensive option, and not all districts will pay for this. I never heard of this being done for conduct disorder students, but I suppose it still saves money over classification.
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Yes, this can work well, retired teacher. I have seen it done.
You can have a variety of children, with different needs and learning or behavioral problems, in the same classroom.
If, and it’s a big “if,” you have two well-trained teachers, and in many cases, a trained aide as well, depending upon the needs of the kids in the classroom. And some of the children may need to be pulled out of the classroom for other resources, such as speech or occupational therapy or dyslexia remediation with a qualified instructor, etc.
And it also works best if the class is not too large.
But, as you said, it’s expensive, and too many districts are not willing to spend the necessary money.
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In my state, team teaching is almost unheard-of. Even having paraprofessionals in a class is not done except for the kids with the most severe disabilities. Otherwise, everyone is mainstreamed without any supports at all, at classes of 35 and higher.
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Yes, unfortunately, TOW, this happens in way too many areas. And it just won’t work. It won’t work for the disabled kids in a regular classroom, and it won’t work for the rest of the kids, either.
And the teachers get blamed when they have such large classes, without the necessary support for those children who need it.
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Suspensions. Counseling out. Skimming. Creaming. Burdensome application procedures that resemble hazing rituals. Mid-year dump. Making school so miserable for students and parents that the “test-suppressors” and “violent five-year olds” are forced out. Massive teacher burn-and-churn.
Simply a variation of that tried and true worst management practice called “fire your way to success.”
Topped off with a generous helping of fist and chest bumps at the TFA25LoveFest.
No one should hold their breath waiting for self-correction.
😎
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KTA, it’s the corporatization of public schools.
And you’re right, the “fire your way to success” is a terrible management practice in the business world, too.
It may lead to short-term profits for the owners and high-level executives in businesses, but it is terrible for society in general. And I cannot help but think that eventually, this model is not even going to serve the corporatocracy well, either.
Where are they going to get people who can afford to buy their products? How will they enjoy living in a country where the infrastructure and essential services have gone to hell?
Oh, well, forget about it. They have the resources to either live in totally gated communities or move to another country, after they have socked their millions away in off-shore tax havens. 😦
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King, if appointed, will have no power over suspensions. The USDOE and its secretary have been effectively neutered by the ESSA.
John King has spurned the public schools as an educator and as a parent. As the potential steward of America’s nearly 100,000 public schools and nearly 50 million public school students, King’s rejection of and disrespect for public education should disqualify him for the position.
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Chiara wrote: “The truth is they believe kids who need more intervention or extra help “take” time that could be allocated to their child”
In my experience, this is 100% true. Every year I lament that I am “blind” to the good kids, especially the really quiet kids, because much of my attention day after day is devoted to the same handful of problem kids in each of my seven classes. When I utter this in the lunch room, many of my colleagues concur. These difficult kids are robbing the other kids of some of what I have to offer. I often feel our public middle schools suffer from malaria –a disease that doesn’t always kill, but that chronically weakens the organism. Glib suggestions from non-educators that we do this or that to “fix” these kids not welcome. We try. We DO mitigate and prevent a lot of bad behaviors. But some kids, sadly, have problems too complex and deep for teachers to solve. We can’t remove them. Teachers and classmates are condemned to endure their behaviors.
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I’ve asked my representatives to reject King’s confirmation.
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Yes. A great thing to do! I wish everyone reading this blog would do the same.
And just in case you want to also sign a petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/102/056/568/stop-john-kings-appointment-to-secretary-of-education/
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