We know that test scores are more important than anything else in education these days, certainly more important than music or the arts. Right? In Florida, an orchestra director named Kevin Strang gave up his fully tenured position in one district so he could build the music program in another. Although he was rated “highly effective,” Mr. Strang was told on the last day of Teacher Appreciation week that his contract would not be renewed. This, only days before the school’s orchestra was giving a concert.
This parent is outraged. Her daughter plays the violin and admires Mr. Strang.
Not long ago, Kevin Strang won a bonus for his exemplary teaching. He donated it to the Network for Public Education to fight the dominance of high-stakes testing. Kevin Strang brings joy and self-discipline into the lives of students. Parents should rise up to protest his non-renewal and should remember in November to vote for a candidate who will support their public schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I could find no reason for this dismissal. The job assignment seems to be for elective classes. One question is whether a teacher is another subject such as math, ELA, science, social studies would have been summarily dismissed, especially it the teacher’s students produced evidence of high levels of achievement.
A related question is whether the criteria and tests for excellence, developed by the professional association of music educators, are accepted as valid in Florida. They are clearly important to the parent, and to the student’s perception of skill as a musician.
I think the parent’s letter did not need to make the claim that: “Research has proven that music education enhances Math and Science achievement.” That is a distraction and a dubious generalization.
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“. . . high levels of achievement.”
Don’t give a damn about “high levels” of “student achievement”.
Edudeformer language through and through. And yes, Laura, I know you don’t mean it in edudeformer speak, but we need to quit reinforcing false malpractice memes. The terms are meant to obfuscate what the teaching and learning process is in order to force edudeformer malpractices into place.
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The emphasis on testing has resulted in school districts narrowing the curriculum and reducing access to the arts. This is counterproductive to the mission of creating well rounded, educated citizens. There is a direct correlation between music education and math. “There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres.” — Pythagoras. Counting, rhythm, scales, intervals, patterns, symbols, harmonies, time signatures, overtones, tone, pitch. The notations of composers and sounds made by musicians are connected to mathematics.” Studying music enhances students’ ability to learn STEM, which is a supposed to be a priority.
The fact that Florida has no schools with “outstanding music programs” is revealing. The policymakers of the state have been captured by the charter industry. Public education is an inconvenience to money making charter schemes. The quality of public education is not a priority to those leading the state. It is time to vote them out!
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YES. After I began working with low-income, generally non-dominant-culture students in our inner-city district, I learned that a lot of diverse cultural voice was found through the arts — classes like dance, photography, painting, jewelry and drumline gave so many kids a chance to be part of the social conversation and “speak.” When Big Money’s test-score fanaticism hit our district, it wasn’t long before our low-scoring non-dominant-culture students were forced into ever more narrowed class schedules. When art was taken from their lives and movement minimized, much of their non-dominant-culture “voice” in society was effectively silenced.
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I used to enjoy the rap poetry the high school kids would drum on the lockers outside my room during passing periods.
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Every instinct I have sends me towards challenging how Mr. Strang was treated. but…..one thing which jumped out……and for whatever reason was not important enough to explain…….just why was he in a position to change jobs at the winter break?
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Mr. Prichard I will answer for Mr. Strang(he does not know I am doing this) be I am his podiatrist and he had a debilitating condition on his ankle that necessitated significant surgery that he put off for over a year because of his commitment to his students. He went to work in a cast for months and put up with severe pain and swelling before he had the surgery. The reason he was out of work was to have that surgery and he put it off as long as he could possibly do. He is one of the most honorable people I have ever met and for you to question his integrity as to why he was out is beyond reproach. He should not have to explain. Dr. Mark Bornstein
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You need to read the parent’s post and re read the original post. He voluntarily gave up his tenure to build an orchestra program in another county. He was rated as highly effective (not just effective) in the county which did not renew his contract. There was no indication by the principal that she did not wish to retain him…in fact she had conversations with him about the future of the program. She waited to the last day of the notification period at the end of the day to notify him. It was poor treatment all around.
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Sorry but nothing new here. In a North Central evaluation the evaluators, one from Indiana State U. said that my high school students showed skills and proficiencies far superior to anything they had seen to that point. I had made, as Music Coordinator, music an academic subject where students learned to read and write music as well as identify melodies as well as rhythms. The H. S. choral students identified harmonics too. All this in addition to performing music of the highest caliber, written by our greatest composers. Taking my choir to Ball State U. in Indiana the head of the department came out to our bus after our demonstration of these things and said that many of the college students would find it difficult to do what my students had just done.
i had articles about our music system published in both state and national educational journals
BUT
I dared question a superintendent and a H. S. principal and was removed from the H. S. where we had always had 5 – 6 sections of choral music AND as Music Coordinator. The next year the HS had 2 choral sections. When I was Music Coordinator we had a band of 120 – 160 students. At last count now they have about 20.
That is indicative of t he kind of mentality which is ruling our schools now.
This was back in 1985. I retired in 1991, gladly although I LOVED teaching the politics really got to me.
Actually the H. S. students I had back then,30 to about 50 years ago are planning a get together for me in August. So much for spending countless additional hours working gratis for a school system which at the time one could really believe in.
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“That is indicative of t he kind of mentality which is ruling our schools now.”
That’s why I call them adminimals, minimal thinking, cover their own butts, brown nosed yes men and women. Thoreau had something to say of their type:
“The mass of men [and women] serves the state [education powers that be] thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailors, constables, posse comitatus, [administrators and teachers], etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt.”- Henry David Thoreau [1817-1862],
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Yes, May is the month of spring concerts and terminations! In my first job, I was told the day of my concert that I was not going to be coming back. I had to face the students and their parents that evening without saying a word. Totally blind-sinded. It was for the best because I left a district that gave me zero support for a district that was all about helping a first year teacher.
Then several years later, I was one day away from our spring concert only to be told that I was going to be transferred to elementary school after having built up a highly successful middle school program. I had just finished conducting a fabulous performance by my middle school students when the superintendent in charge of related arts came back stage to congratulate me. I had a difficult time looking him in the eye, but I held my head up and thanked him anyway. My students went on to win three awards at the adjudicated festival that year. What a send-off! I was more concerned for the third year teacher who was RIFed that year then I was about me taking her place, although I was miserable having to start over again.
It comes with the territory, and music teachers are not immune. I will tell you that a person should never think they are not replaceable no matter how great their programs are. Is it fair? No, but I’m sure every teacher who is transferred or terminated feels they deserve better than to be reduced to a mere chess piece this time of year.
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My cousin’s granddaughter is graduating this year with a degree in music education in deeply in debt Pennsylvania. She has not found a job. I wonder how many other young people will find the door closed in their faces due to the mismanagement of policymakers.
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And pundits wondered why we have a teacher shortage?
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Lakeside School. Bill Gates. His two children. Performing Arts. Music. Read the page. Click on the two embedded videos.
Link: https://www.lakesideschool.org/podium/default.aspx?t=168454
Wonder why the above exists? On the above page click on “School Life Overview”:
[start]
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT ACADEMICS
Lakeside believes there is more to life than academic success. We actively uphold a balanced approach to education; one that develops students who excel both inside and outside the classroom.
We offer a diverse array of activities, from leading-edge experiential learning programs to numerous athletics endeavors, arts experiences, and student activities and clubs. Everyone can find whatever it is that interests them to deepen their involvement in our vital community.
Lakeside also recognizes that it can be hard for some students to achieve that balance. That’s why our student support team is ready to help. Thoughtful and motivated counselors, teachers, and administrators work with students and their families to ensure that all have the opportunity to reach their full potential at Lakeside.
[end]
Hmmmmmm…
😎
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It’s just too bad that the Gates Foundation doesn’t spend tons of money on improving public schools so that they can have at least some of the things that his kids receive in their expensive private school.
But no, the Gates Foundation is spending money pushing the Common Core, excessive standardized testing, charter schools that are not transparent and not accountable to the public that funds them…..
It’s an outrageous example of “It’s great for me and mine, but not for the rest of you and your children.”
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Well, I can think of two reasons, both of which are reprehensible. He was not renewed because they can get a cheaper model and save money or because he donated his bonus to NPE and they didn’t like that. Any evidence to support either scenario?
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They probably paid him a bit of a premium to come midyear, but these days filling a midyear teaching position should send most employed teachers running. Chances are they will dump you at the end of the year when a new crop of cheap teachers rolls out. I can’t say that I have seen many good results for those who fill positions midyear. You are just a stop gap for them.
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Diane, as you note this is not the first time you have made a post about Kevin Strang. He is clearly a strong voice for public education and a critic of high stakes testing and its use in teacher evaluation.
This is purely speculation on my part that follows. Being hired mid-year, he was probably on a one-year contract or even a long-term at-will substitute and if so had no claim on the position for 2016-2017. Maybe his advocacy profile was more than the administration was comfortable with. If that is the case it is deplorable and worth further attention. Again, pure speculation on my part.
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Under Florida law all teachers hired after 2013 (I believe) are at will, annual contract employees. The legislature passed an ALEC law and outlawed tenure and job protection based on seniority and advanced degrees. Although the law is not in full-effect yet, most districts have no qualms about dismissing teachers whenever they choose.
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The answer to this question is easy. He was let go because in Florida if you are lucky enough to have a Professional Service Contract (Tenure) you are essentially trapped in whatever District you teach in for the rest of your respective career assuming you want to remain tenured. If you leave to another District or resign and later come back to the field, you lose your Professional Service Contract forever therefore becoming a life long annual contract teacher whom can be let go at whatever time for any reason whatsoever. Not to mention when you lose your Professional Service Contract you are automatically disqualified from remaining on the traditional step salary schedule and are arbitrarily forced into the pay for performance scale for the remainder of your career. This is the least worrisome because in Florida the step schedule isn’t honored anyway and is one of the main reasons I left the profession all together. Gotta love Floriduh!
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Actually, I was in a district where you can leave and return to the same step you were on when you left. It is stated in the contract. I had to resign to go abroad for four years. I left that district at the top of the pay scale and with tenure. I returned six years ago and have not been able to get back into that district. After three years of being rejected by several districts who hired beginning teachers over me, I finally did get into another district and even though I had 25 years of experience, I had to begin at their hiring ceiling which was Step 5.
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Nothing like the private sector. You can’t negotiate.
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And yet, it’s mighty convenient to compare the public teaching profession to the private sector when talking about retirement and benefits.
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The district I taught in (in southeast Pennsylvania) never, and would never, cut back on the arts because the parents wouldn’t stand for it. It is an academic community that fully understands how important the arts are to development of a fully educated person. As Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
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Geeze… Why is this STILL HAPPENING is the EQ?
Answer.: BECAUSE THEY COULD.
BECAUSE NOTHING is stopping them!
Because they discovered that they were not going to be held accountable for ANY AND ALL actions they take in the work[lace, where teachers lost their civil rights, when the old union hacks looked the other way.
http://www.perdaily.com/2011/01/lausd-et-al-a-national-scandal-of-enormous-proportions-by-susan-lee-schwartz-part-1.html
That is what happened in 1998, to me, in a time in NYC, when before REAL teachers like Francesco Portelos and other REAL teachers decided to run th UFT, and make it a union FOR & BY the TEACHERS!
THIS happened to me, and to TENS OF THOUSANDS of other teachers for TWO decades, and now, seeing no impediment, THEY CAN DO ANYTHING THEY WANT TO A TEACHER.
http://nycrubberroomreporter.blogspot.com/2009/03/gotcha-squad-and-new-york-city-rubber.html
WHY DID THEY DO IT?
Because, even though everyone knows the abuse, the powers that run education (into the ground) DO NOT CARE about teachers: http://endteacherabuse.org/
or American citizens!
The EDUCATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX;
https://greatschoolwars.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/eic-oct_11.pdf needs the REAL teachers to DISAPPEAR, IN ORDER TO SILENCE their voices, because a REALl teacher knows What Learning Looks Like (WLLL) and WHAT IT DOES NOT remotely RESEMBLE, and real teachers that love learning and children—would NEVER accept the Common Core.
S,o on the local level principals and superintendents are encouraged and rewarded when they get rid of great teachers… even if they have to fabricate charges: http://www.perdaily.com/2015/01/were-you-terminated-or-forced-to-retire-from-lausd-based-on-fabricated-charges.html
AND THEY (the EIC) COULDN’T CARE LESS ABOUT THE CHILDREN!
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/06/lausds-treacherous-road-from-reed-to-vergara–its-never-been-about-students-just-money.html
Sorry for shouting… but you all know, Diane and friends, exactly what I am saying, as I NEVER SAY ANYTHING ELSE about WHY this continues.
JUST SAYIN….THIS AIN’T NOTHIN’ NEW!
See my comment on theA AFT petition in the next post. I tis relevant to what I say in this one!
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.I SIGNED the AFT petition in order to tell Governor Snyder to smarten up and stop hurting teachers. It is not merely sad, that this music teacher is gone.
It is an American Tragedy repeated across America, in 15,880 separate fiefdoms called school districts.
I added MY message to that petition so that the great teachers like the music teacher described in your post, Diane, would have a chance to show our nations’ kids what they KNOW HOW TO DO… because that is THE ONLY THING that we teachers do… they call it ‘teaching,’ but it is a SPECIAL KIND OF SHARING KNOWLEDGE. Teachers who reach kids have the gift. We need to keep them, and support them…. not hurt them. Who will want to teach if this continues?
Here is MY call to teachers.. my WARNING to the governors and the mayors and the principals… from the AFT petition, I signed:
“KNOW this, sir, WE TEACHERS ARE WATCHING and if YOU or your party want to remain in charge, then you are required to SUPPORT public education and do NOTHING THT HURTS a human child’s ability TO LEARN, because LEARNING IS ESSENTIAL for our progeny, in order to acquire the thinking skills that make work possible.”
“We, the teachers, are watching that you finally DO YOUR JOB, to see that you DO NOT hurt us or our authority, but help us to educate our nation’s citizens! Children now, but the citizens who run the nation in a few decades!”
“I personally urge Gov. Snyder to do his job, and DO THE RIGHT THING to “promote the Common Good” as demanded by our Constitution — which the governor upholds!”
“Know, Sir, that we have seen a hidden hand derail anything and everything that supports our children’s learning which the media calls “schools”
“This is not about schools. We need you to SUPPORT LEARNING– in our public schools. We teachers watch and see the:
* Defunding of education, so that schools fall apart and cannot supply needed materials and technology.
* Silencing of the voices of authentic teachers, while destroying their lifework & careers, so that anti-learning curricula and methods can be mandated.
* Removal of the most experienced teachers to lower costs, and thus, losing the practitioners who know What Learning Looks Like (WLLL).”
“We know, Sir, that THIS is THE PLAN , because WLLL is not easily recognized byMOST PEOPLE and thus, media pundits/experts like Duncan, Klein or Rhee, can BAMBOOZLE our citizens:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/BAMBOOZLE-THEM-where-tea-by-Susan-Lee-Schwartz-110524-511.html
with talk of magic elixirs (vouchers, charter school and screen tech) ironically called REFORM:”
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Magic-Elixir-No-Evidence-by-Susan-Lee-Schwartz-130312-433.html
“Know, Sir, that we are watching the behaviors of our government leaders at this time when teachers pensions are threatened by the same rhetoric that is trying to undo, and social security. “
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So well put!!!!
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Kevin Strang has clearly suffered a monumental injustice. Part of that injustice, perhaps all of it, arises from his manager not being accountable to anyone close enough to the delivery of services to matter.
At the (private, democratic) Sudbury school, the students and parents and staff in its yearly general meeting approve a budget and by direct democratic process vote on contracts for staff rehires for the following year by majority votes. Yes, the students and parents outnumber the staff and thus decide who they want their teachers to be.
Here is a revolutionary proposal. Make education purely private and let parents keep their school taxes and spend them where they will.
Depend on the voluntary generosity of the rich to fund the school fees of those families too poor to pay them. Gates might actually do some good that way, rather than the disasters he is funding now.
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