Archives for the month of: November, 2017
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Dark Money Billionaires Lick Their Wounds after Defeat in Massachusetts and Look for New Targets

By dianeravitch
November 16, 2017 //
7

I was tempted to give an entire day to this post about the Dark Money group deceptively called Families for Excellent Schools.

The “families” are financiers, billionaires, and garden-variety multimillionaires. They enjoyed great success in New York, where they made an alliance with Governor Cuomo and launched a $6 Million TV buy to promote charter schools. Under pressure from Cuomo, the state legislature compelled the City of New York to provide free space to charter schools and to give Eva Moskowitz whatever she wanted.

Then, Families for Excellent Schools opened shop in Massachusetts, where they launched a multimillion dollar campaign to increase the number of charter schools.

Parents, teachers, the teachers unions, Rural and suburban communities turned against charter schools. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren joined the opponents of charter schools. Before the vote, the backers of Question 2 were revealed in the media (though not all of their names), and the referendum to expand the charter sector went down to a crashing defeat.

After the election, things went bad for FES.

“This September, the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance fined Families for Excellent Schools a comparatively nominal $426,500. But it also forced the charter group to reveal its donors — a who’s who of Massachusetts’ top financiers, many of whom are allies of Gov. Charlie Baker — after it had promised them anonymity.”

In addition to the fine, FES was banned from the Bay State for four years.

One of the big donors to FES was the rightwing, anti-union Walton Family, which gave FES more than $13 Million between 2014 and 2026. The chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education gave FES nearly $500,000.

Now FES is trying to redefine itself.

Here is a suggestion: support the public schools that enroll nearly 90% of children. Open health clinics in and near schools. Invest in prenatal care for poor women. Lobby for higher taxes for the 1%.

Categories Accountability, Billionaires, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Corporate Reformers, Dark Money, Democracy, Education Industry, Hoax, Massachusetts, New York City, Privatization

Jennifer Berkshire: Meet the Pastor Who Fights for Public Schools in Texas

By dianeravitch
November 16, 2017 //
17

In this post, Jennifer Berkshire interviews the remarkable Charles Foster Johnson, the pastor who has brought together hundreds of religious leaders in Texas to fight for public schools and to oppose vouchers. His group, Pastors for Texas Children, is now working with like-minded clergy in other states, especially in the South.

Charlie Johnson believes that the best way to preserve religious liberty is to maintain separation of church and state. He encourages faith leaders to support public schools but keep religion out of the schools and in the houses of worship.

He was one of the keynote speakers at the annual conference of the Network for Public Education in Oakland. You will enjoy watching this passionate pastor win over an audience of educators.

Categories Network for Public Education, Religion, Separation of church and state, Texas

Hearings for Top ED Department Officials Start at 2:30 PM Today

By dianeravitch
November 15, 2017 //
7

If you are near a TV at 2:30 pm and afterwards, please report back on these hearings:

From Politico:

TWO EDUCATION NOMINEES FACE CONGRESS TODAY: The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this afternoon will take up the nominations of two people for top Education Department jobs – Mick Zais for deputy secretary and Jim Blew for assistant secretary of the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development. Both are expected to face tough questions from Democrats about Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ record on education issues and her decisions this year. They could field a number of tough questions about their own records as well.

– Zais, a retired Army brigadier general, checks off a lot of conservative boxes. He was most recently superintendent of South Carolina schools until he announced in 2014 that he wouldn’t run for reelection. As superintendent, Zais refused to participate in the Obama administration’s signature Race to the Top program, which encouraged states to adopt more rigorous academic standards like the Common Core in exchange for federal grants. Zais saw the standards, which were never mandated by the Obama administration, as federal overreach.

– Ranking Democrat Patty Murray could raise concerns about Zais’ past support for expanding school choice and his skepticism over early childhood education, according to prepared remarks shared by a Democratic aide with Morning Education. Zais previously opposed expanding public kindergarten for 4-year-olds, citing costs and that it could put private- and faith-based programs out of business. He has also been skeptical about the lasting benefits of early childhood education, citing studies of Head Start, a federal preschool program for low-income families.

– Murray could also raise concerns about Zais’ past support for abstinence-based sex education and about comments he made in 2014, reported by The Post and Courier at the time, about the teaching of natural selection in schools. Zais said, “We ought to teach both sides” of the principle “and let students draw their own conclusions.” Murray is expected to tell Zais that his comments “make me question your ability to help set a course for this agency based on facts, science and evidence.”

– Blew, in turn, is the director of the advocacy group Student Success of California, which advocates for performance-based systems for teachers and supports charter schools. He has also served as president of Students First, the national advocacy organization founded by former D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Murray plans to raise concerns about Blew’s history of supporting school choice, noting that the office he has been nominated for “is critical in developing and implementing policy – which impacts every student in the country. So your record of promoting school vouchers gives me pause that you will not stand up for students and public schools.”

– Chairman Lamar Alexander is expected to say that Zais “has an excellent and deep background” for the position of deputy secretary, according to prepared remarks provided by a Republican aide. Alexander will also note that Blew has spent two decades working to improve “educational opportunities for families and children by overseeing grants to low-income, high risk schools.”

– Absent from the hearing will be Michigan state Rep. Tim Kelly, after the Trump administration this week formally pulled his nomination for a top career and technical education post at the Education Department. Kelly, a Republican, was axed because of statements that he made on his blog, the “Citizen Leader,” between 2009 and 2012. In his blog, Kelly called for banning all Muslims from air travel, said that women aren’t interested in science careers and labeled low-income preschool parents “academically and socially needy.” In an interview with POLITICO last week, Kelly accused the “deep state,” “haters” and federal employees who don’t like President Donald Trump for making the nomination process “toxic” and “intrusive.”

– The hearing starts at 2:30 p.m. in 430 Dirksen. Watch the livestream here.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Early Childhood Education, School Choice, U.S. Department of Education

John Merrow and Mary Levy: The D.C. “School Reform” Fiasco: A Complete History

By dianeravitch
November 15, 2017 //
72

I intended to make this the only post of the day, but late last night I learned of the lawsuit in Florida challenging the disastrous HB 7069, a gift to charter operators.

So this is the last post you will see today. I want you to read it in full. The post was written by veteran journalist John Merrow with Mary Levy, a civil rights and education finance lawyer, and an education finance and policy analyst.

One of the key episodes in the short and divisive history of the corporate reform movement was the appointment of Michelle Rhee as Chancellor of the D.C. public school system. Rhee became the public face of the movement. Rhee was idolized by the media because of her take-no-prisoners style and her evident contempt for teachers and unions. Amanda Ripley wrote a cover story about Rhee for TIME magazine, which suggested that Rhee knew how to fix America’s schools. The cover showed her scowling and wielding a broom, ready to sweep out the bad teachers in D.C. Newsweek put her on its cover. I wrote a chapter about her in my book, Reign of Error, describing the adulation she received and the cheating scandal that broke on her watch. As it happened, Rhee identified one elementary school principal as exactly the kind of relentless, data-driven, no-excuses sort of person that she wanted more of. He received bonuses because of the incredible improvement of test scores. Incredible indeed, because his school was at the nexus of the cheating scandal, identified by the unusual number of erasures from wrong-to-right on standardized tests. He was soon gone. Immediately after Mayor Adrian Fenton was defeated in 2010, Rhee resigned, vowing to create a group called StudentsFirst, which would raise $1 Billion and enlist one million members. The name of the group typified Rhee’s divisive approach: education works best when students, teachers, parents, and the community work together. She never raised $1 Billion or one million members, but she actively supported vouchers and charters and gave substantial funding to candidates who would vote in the state legislature for privatization and against unions. She married the mayor of Sacramento, where she lives now. StudentsFirst merged with another anti-public school group.

But the myth of the transformation of the D.C. schools under Rhee and her successor Kaya Henderson lives on, Because to acknowledge the failure of teacher-bashing would harm the movement.

John Merrow contributed to the myth of Michelle Rhee, in a major way. To understand his credibility now, it is necessary to recognize his role in building that myth. As the PBS education correspondent, he featured her work in D.C. about a dozen times. He was a believer. But when he was doing his last show, a full hour about Rhee, he had an epiphany. Was it because she invited him to film her firing a principal? Was it the cheating scandal? Was it the effort to cover up the cheating? I don’t know. What I do know is that Merrow had the courage to change his mind. His admiration changed to doubt then to skepticism then to criticism. I understand his transformation because I have been there. I too once believed in what is deceptively called “Reform.” I saw the light. So did Merrow.

Merrow and Levy call this post “A Complete History” of Rhee’s reforms. It is one part of the history, but it is not THE Complete History. “The Complete History” would be a job of deep investigative research that would determine why Rhee, who had never been a principal or a superintendent and had taught only briefly in a privately-run contract school in Baltimore, was chosen to lead the D.C. system. It would examine the claims she made about the spectacular score gains in her classes (which G.F. Brandenburg debunked on his blog). It would investigate the negotiations among funders like Gates and Broad, who let it be known that their money would be cut off if Rhee left the district. It would delve into the district’s relations with the reactionary Walton Family Foundation, which targeted D.C. for charter saturation.

John Merrow’s knowledgeable perspective is important. The story is not all bad. He calls attention to the positive changes that occurred on Rhee’s watch. But where he comes down hard is on the mistaken idea that the route to success requires administrators who “crack down” on teachers, who offer rewards and punishments for teachers based on test scores. That strategy produces teaching to the test, score inflation, gaming the system, and narrowing the curriculum.

That is why this is the only post you are likely to see today. It is long, and it deserves your full attention.

Categories Broad Foundation, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, District of Columbia, Education Reform, Rhee, Michelle, StudentsFirst, Vouchers

Florida: Lawsuit Challenges Constitutionality of Disastrous HB 7069

By dianeravitch
November 15, 2017 //
5

Nine school boards have filed suit in Florida Supreme Court, asking the court to block HB 1069, passed by the legislature in May.

The law is a giveaway to charter schools and covers a hodgepodge of subjects, all intended to cripple public education.

“The school boards late Monday filed a constitutional challenge at the Supreme Court to the bill, which has become known in the education world by the shorthand HB 7069. The 274-page bill, spearheaded by House Speaker Richard Corcoran, dealt with a wide range of issues, including controversial subjects such as charter schools and teacher bonuses.

“The challenge contends the law violates part of the Florida Constitution that requires legislation to deal with single subjects. It alleges HB 7069 is a “prototypical example of logrolled legislation” — legislation that puts together a patchwork of issues.

“School districts also have filed two lawsuits challenging HB 7069 in Leon County circuit court. But the new case filed directly to the Supreme Court involves different legal grounds and contends that immediate action is needed to block the law from moving forward.

“Waiting for a trial court determination and its subsequent appellate review will allow irreversible damage to the function of the public education system to occur throughout the state of Florida,” the lawsuit said.

“Plaintiffs named in the case are the school boards of Alachua, Bay, Broward, Hamilton, Lee, Polk, St. Lucie, Volusia and Wakulla counties.

“In arguing the Supreme Court should take up the case, the school boards are seeking what is known as a “writ of quo warranto” finding that the Legislature violated the Constitution because of the single-subject issue. They also are seeking what are known as “writs of mandamus” that, in part, would direct Education Commissioner Pam Stewart to stop carrying out the law and direct Secretary of State Ken Detzner to expunge the law from official records.”

Read more about the legislation here.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Privatization

Land-Grant Universities “Have Lost Their Way”

By dianeravitch
November 14, 2017 //
37

Land-grant universities were established as “the people’s universities,” to make higher education affordable and accessible in every state. But state legislatures have been cutting their budgets, shifting the cost from the state to students.

POLITICO posted an interview with a leader of this sector who says they have lost their way.

http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1bad34eb551bafa437b0b32b8476fc18108fba152bd1b68f868aded88ac306a79cfc8879fa7f05bdbe813161ee947288

HAVE LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITIES LOST THEIR WAY? That’s what West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee argues. Land-grant universities, created by Congress in the 1800s, were meant to be “the people’s universities,” Gee told Morning Education, “not necessarily to do basic research or discover the cure for cancer, but to make sure the people in their state and region were served very well and had access to American opportunity. Over time, I think that has been lost.”

– Gee, who has spent 25 years leading land-grant universities, sees a crisis: Legislatures have slashed support for universities, while Americans are increasingly losing faith in higher education.

– “Universities have a clear and present danger and they don’t realize it,” Gee said. “I believe we are living on fumes.” Gee said he thinks a “fundamental restructuring” is needed in higher education – largely on the parts of universities themselves. They are too homogenized, all chasing the same version of prestige pushed by a rankings-fueled culture that often benefits the wealthy, he said.

– Land-grant universities need to remember their purpose, Gee said. “The major research universities, the Browns and Vanderbilts, need to to do their thing. Their role is not to be a land-grant institution. My role is not to be Vanderbilt or Brown.”

– Turns out a lot of land-grant presidents might agree. Gee is working on a book with Ohio State University Professor Stephen Gavazzi, for which the two interviewed 27 land-grant leaders (anonymously, which they said was like giving the presidents and chancellors a “truth serum”). The leaders described an “existential higher education crisis” in America, Gee said. Many took responsibility and said they struggle to understand how to change the narrative. The two presented early findings at the Association of Public & Land-grant Universities conference in D.C. on Monday. They plan to release the book next fall. They spoke to Morning Education before the panel.

– So what should land-grant universities be doing? “Our plea is one of purpose,” Gee said. Stop chasing rankings and try to solve immediate problems in their communities, such as the opioid crisis. “The land-grant universities need to be attacking that directly and creating reasons for people to come out of that crisis,” Gee said. They should also find ways to make it easier for people to attend. “You have to create opportunities for people to have access,” Gee said.“

Categories Higher Education

Yohuru Williams at the NPE Conference: A Spectacular Analysis of Betsy DeVos’ Rhetoric

By dianeravitch
November 14, 2017 //
5

If you watch one video today, watch Yohuru Williams take apart the rhetoric of the reformers, piece by piece, word by word.

Yohuru gave this dynamic talk at the annual conference of the Network for Public Education.

He deconstructed Betsy DeVos’ speech at Harvard University. He gave it a close reading.

He literally brought down the house with his humor and sharp intellect.

Yohuru Williams is Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas University in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

He is an expert on African American history. You have probably seen him on one of his many appearances on PBS and the History Channel.

We are fortunate that he is a member of the board of the Network for Public Education.

I was blown away by his presentation. I think you will be too!

Categories Betsy DeVos, Education Reform, Network for Public Education, Networkfor Public Education Action Fund, Race

Tennessee: Is a Computer a Teacher? Does a Student Have a Right to a Teacher?

By dianeravitch
November 14, 2017 //
39

A Tennessee court might rule on whether a student has a right to a teacher, and whether computers count as teachers. The district wants the case dismissed.

Do the rights of Tennessee students to a public education extend into the right to have a teacher, and if so, does a computer program count?

Those questions were posed to a state appeals court Tuesday during oral arguments in a case involving a Nashville student, Toni Jones, that could set a statewide framework defining school districts’ obligations to their students.

Jones was a freshman at Pearl-Cohn High School who was pulled out of an algebra class before an end-of-course test and placed into a computer-based credit recovery program, Jones’ lawyer, Gary Blackburn, said. He said the student was struggling in the algebra class but had a passing grade.

The appeal stems from a lawsuit Blackburn filed in 2015, alleging the district was padding test scores by moving Jones and others to the other program. Several teachers who spoke out about the testing practices are suing the district in a separate case, saying they were inappropriately reprimanded by the district.

He said precedent set in Tennessee court cases entitled Jones to a teacher, and that due process protections were violated when she was moved into the other class without notice to Jones or her family.

“The slippery slope so to speak is that if a teacher is not essential, then a school system can be offered entirely by computers,” he said. “Students can be placed in a gymnasium and put a computer on a desk, and say, here is your teacher. And we’re going to have a hall monitor to keep you from acting up. That is basically what happened to Toni Jones. That’s not teaching.”

Does a computer count as a teacher? Is a corporation a person? What do you think?

Categories Teachers and Teaching, Technology, Computers, Tennessee

New York City Parent Challenges Eva’s Claim That She Does Not Select Her Students

By dianeravitch
November 14, 2017 //
66

A regular reader of the Blog who calls herself or himself “New York City Public School Parent” decided to fact check Eva Moskowitz’s claim that she does not cherrypick the students at her Success Academy charter chain. Like NYCPSP, I have long been troubled by the media’s tendency to accept test scores on state tests without considering such important questions as demographics (Does she really enroll the same proportion of students with disabilities, including serious disabilities, as nearby public schools? The same proportion of English learners?), attrition (what percent of the students who are enrolled in third grade remain until eighth grade?). On another thread, NYCPSP pointed out that 87:000 economically disadvantaged students In grades 3rd through 8th grade scored proficient or above on the NY State Math exam. “To put that in perspective — Those 87,000 3rd through 8th grade students living in poverty who attend NYC public schools who score proficient and above is more than 4 times the TOTAL 3rd through 8th grade population of the entire Boston Public School system.” Thus, if a charter school or chain chooses carefully and removes the laggards, It can produce spectacular results.

She/he writes:

“Moskowitz urges those who would “try to explain away our results” to consider Bronx 2, a school in the network whose demographics are similar to nearby PS 55. Yet this is a misleading suggestion, because an overall comparison shows that Success still serves fewer students from both groups and therefore can maintain higher scores.”

“In my opinion, this is the big lie. Moskowitz’ challenges people to “explain away our results” but critics don’t spend the time to gather the numbers and figures from the NYSED data website that would allow them to debunk this great lie. Bronx 2 doesn’t have “similar demographics to PS 55” and it doesn’t have similar demographics to Bronx District 9 where it is supposed to draw its students.

“It is easy to check the data at NYSED. On the state math tests, only 259 of the 413 Success Academy Bronx 2 students taking the state math tests were economically disadvantaged. That’s 63%. It is a shockingly low figure when you consider that Bronx 2 serves the students in Bronx District 9, where over 90% of the students taking the state exams were economically disadvantaged.

“And at nearly PS 55, which Moskowitz claims has similar demographics, over 92% of the students taking the state math test were economically disadvantaged! PS 55 serves even MORE of its’ share of the very poorest students while Success Academy Bronx 2 teaches 30% fewer poor students than they should be teaching. It takes a special chutzpah for Eva Moskowitz to claim Bronx 2 serves similar demographics. But she is smug in her knowledge that journalists almost never bother to analyze the data themselves. Instead her critics use unconvincing vague arguments “she doesn’t serve her share of special needs kids” which Moskowitz loves because she can easily dismiss it as “but that doesn’t even begin to explain my 99% passing rates”.

“Moskowitz can’t explain away the extraordinarily low number of poor students she serves in districts that have over 90% poor students that easily.

“And that very low % of economically disadvantaged students in Bronx 1 should have been a huge red flag whenever a journalist reports on a charter network who justifies its expansion by their claim of wanting to teach at-risk students failed by public schools.

“Here is the second red flag that journalists ignore:

“Despite Eva Moskowitz convincing lots of affluent white folks that getting 259 poor students in Bronx District 9 to pass a state test is a “miracle”, it turns out that in the District 9 pool from which she draws students there were 2,777 economically disadvantaged students passing state math tests who were taught in underfunded public schools. That is TEN TIMES the number of proficient students in the surrounding District 9 public schools than at Success Academy Bronx 2. There are too many truly ignorant and racist Success Academy cheerleaders who act as if there are no high performing children among the economically disadvantaged so how could Moskowitz cherry pick enough to fill her school? But that is another great lie that she gets away with. There are 10 times as many very poor students doing well in the public schools surrounding her district. It is just that they are not concentrated in a single, very rich charter school.

“Now how do we know that Eva Moskowitz cherry picks those few hundred economically disadvantaged students in SA Bronx 2 from among the thousands of proficient students? Because of Moskowitz own actions.

“Some of Moskowitz’ longest wait lists are in the Bronx. But in that very poor District 9 where her single Success Academy school has nearly 1/3 fewer poor students than it should have, has she opened a second school to address this great need for good schools?

“The answer is, of course, that Moskowitz still has only ONE school in all of District 9. One of the poorest NYC districts, and she has only one school.

“Compare that to District 2, Manhattan, one of the very richest districts where Moskowitz’ first two schools served MORE middle class and affluent students than economically disadvantaged ones. Guess where Moskowitz just located a 3rd school? District 2. What about all those poor kids stuck in failing schools in the Bronx where she challenged critics to prove that she could have possibly have cherry picked her students?

“But Moskowitz could very easily could and did cherry pick students in Bronx 2 and the fact that she has 3 times as many schools that give priority to the students who live in one of the richest NYC school districts than schools that give priority to the students who live in one of the poorest demonstrates exactly how ridiculous her claims that she doesn’t cherry pick really are. If she didn’t cherry pick and believed her own lies that she is doing this for poor kids trapped in failing schools, she would have 3 times as many schools in Bronx District 9 than she has in Manhattan District 2. Not the other way around.

“I wish a journalist would ask her to her face why she keeps opening new schools in rich districts where her wait lists are shortest.

“The very few times that a journalist does their research and asks a follow-up question — as John Merrow did in that PBS report — Eva Moskowitz sputters and shifts and looks like a liar. That should be happening every time she is interviewed by a journalist. Instead they just let her get away with her dishonest premises as she did here when she claims Bronx 2 shows that she is a miracle worker! Without her schools not a single poor kid in the entire district would ever get a good education. The fact that there are 10x as many District 9 public school students doing as well as her far less disadvantaged cherry picked group is never ever mentioned and she gets away with that very big lie. Without the need to squirm and prevaricate and look like the dishonest person she is during the John Merrow interview.

“It’s nice to have everyone accept your dishonest premise when you are promoting yourself as the savior. Eva Moskowitz feels very good because she knows that very few journalists ever bother to do their homework. They read the press releases and ask a question and write down her “response to critics” without including the data that shows just how much of an outright lie her claims were. It’s similar to the reporting we saw during the campaign where Trump would say so many outright lies and the reporters would say “but the other side says this” and leaves the public to think that the truth is a matter of opinion and not fact.

“There are reams of data that prove that Success Academy cherry picks. I didn’t even mention Success Academy’s own commissioned 2017 MDRC study that buried a few very inconvenient facts in footnotes. Do you know that in this charter school that parents are supposedly desperate to send their children, half the lottery winners don’t enroll their kids? “Of the lottery winners in the sample (both kindergarten and first-grade entrants), about 82 percent attended a welcome meeting. Approximately 61 percent of lottery winners attended student registration, 54 percent attended a uniform fitting, and 50 percent attended a dress rehearsal. With few exceptions, lottery winners who did not attend an activity did not attend subsequent activities. Ultimately, about 50 percent of lottery winners enrolled in Success Academy schools in the 2010-2011 school year.”

“Mysteriously – throughout all those “pre-enrollment” meetings – Success loses an extraordinarily number of students. 82% of those parents desperate for the great SA education attended an enrollment meeting but only 61% attend student registration. And then Success loses another chunk of students who registered and only 50% make it to the first day of school.

“The fact that Success Academy’s documented attrition rate — which includes ONLY those 50% of lottery winning students whose parents didn’t give out their supposedly coveted spots after attending during those pre-enrollment meetings — is STILL higher than almost every other charter network in NYC should also be a huge red flag. Even among the most motivated families who stick it out through all the pre-enrollment meetings, Success still rids themselves of a number that SHOULD make every journalist and certainly their oversight agency ask questions.

“The data shows exactly how Success Academy cherry picks. The fact that Moskowitz gets away with that challenge shows how little journalists understand the data.”

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Reform, Harlem Success Academy, Privatization

BBC: More Than 50% of Teachers in England May Quit in Next Two Years

By dianeravitch
November 14, 2017 //
17

England has pursued education policies as retrograde as those in the U.S. for many years. It has a national curriculum and national tests. It turns over schools to businessmen who are willing to invest enough capital to privatize them. Forgotten in these grand schemes are the teachers, without whom there is no education.

The BBC reports that more than 50% of current teachers may quit in the next two years due to working conditions.

“The survey, conducted by the National Union of Teachers, found 61% of those wanting to leave blamed workload and 57% desired a better work/life balance.

“Two thirds of the 1,020 primary and secondary school teachers questioned felt morale in the profession had declined over the past five years.

“Schools minister Nick Gibb pledged to tackle excessive workloads.

“The findings of the survey are timely, because last month the five main teaching unions warned of a crisis in recruitment and retention, although the government maintains the vacancy rate has stayed stable at about 1%.

“The survey, undertaken with a representative sample of teachers, also suggested many were unhappy with some of the government’s plans.

*76% said forcing schools that require improvement to become academies would damage education

*62% said the plans for 500 new free schools would also damage education

*54% were not confident the new baseline test for four-year-olds would provide valid information about a child’s ability

“General secretary of the NUT, Christine Blower, said: “This survey demonstrates the combined, negative impact of the accountability agenda on teacher workload and morale.

“Teachers feel that the Department for Education’s work thus far to tackle workload has been totally inadequate.

“Meanwhile, nearly one million more pupils are coming into the system over the next decade. The government’s solution so far has been to build free schools, often where there are surplus places, and to allow class sizes to grow.

“Add to this a situation where teachers are leaving in droves and teacher recruitment remains low. We now have a perfect storm of crisis upon crisis in the schools system.”

Categories Education Reform, International, Teacher Shortage, Teachers
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