My website is dianeravitch.com. I write about two interconnected topics: education and democracy. I am a historian of education.
Diane Ravitch’s Blog by Diane Ravitch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at dianeravitch.net.
Arne Duncan strikes again! Trying to circumvent IDEA:
Dr. Ravitch,
I posted a link to The Business Plan to Liquidate Public Education on my blog along with one sentence of biographical info about you.
Have I erred in writing that you are (or were at one time) a Republican? This gives you more credibility with at least one person I know who will probably never read my blog though I wish he would. Better yet if he read your blog. He is a powerful person in NYC and is very upset about Bill De Blasio’s opposition to some charter schools.
FrY10cK,
I have been registered at different times in my life as a Democrat, an independent, and a Republican. I am currently registered as a Democrat. You can describe me however you wish.
On this Thanksgiving, I want to thank you, Dr. Ravitch, for this wonderful blog that helps to keep us all informed, for your support for using public education funds in a positive manner rather than as a source of profit for those who pretend concern but covet money and prestige, and for your respect for the hard work, professionalism, and sincerity of teachers.
Seconded. A true blessing.
Thanks. I’ll take that bit out. It’s kind of silly. Pardon my asking.
Oops. posted in the wrong place.
Eva Moskowitz, in today’s Wall Street Journal (November 29, 2014), has some pretty compelling arguments for charter schools improving the level of education for the entire district. I am surprised you have not got a counter-argument. Are the facts just too compelling?
I haven’t read Eva’s article in the Wall Street Journal. Did she explain why she has no kids with severe disabilities, and only half as many children with disabilities as the public schools in her district? Did she explain why she has few students who are English language learners? Did she explain why the number of students in her classes shrink every year and why she doesn’t replace them with new enrollments? I am waiting for Eva and KIPP or any of these miracle-makers to take charge of an entire district and prove they can educate ALL children, not just the ones who conform and comply.
Bill,
Eva’s piece is an Op-Ed. Take it from someone who was trained to write Op-Eds that it is easy to pick the facts you want to support your agenda.
A better way to judge this Op-Ed is to look at who owns/controls The Wall Street Journal. His name is Rupert Murdock, the Australian neo-conservative who owns/controls Media Corp and Fox News.
You may want to read this Op-Ed post from Truth Out—-this way you get to hear from the Resistance in the education war—-about Murdock and the other billionaires who are funding the corporate public education fake reform movement.
“In the battle over public education, the corporate foundations and right-wing billionaires who favor privatization, charters, and vouchers have funded and promoted several films, including “Waiting for Superman” and “Won’t Back Down,” as part of their propaganda campaign. Both view public schools as a total failure ,,,”
“Won’t Back Down” was distributed by 20th Century Fox, which is owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. News Corporation also owns Wireless Generation, a for-profit online education, software and testing corporation, recently rebranded as Amplify. Murdoch has long hoped to get a piece of the education system, which he once described as a “$500 billion sector in the US alone that is waiting desperately to be transformed.” To help Murdoch get a piece of that money, he hired Joel Klein, the former New York City school chancellor who runs Amplify. (Klein also is on the board of Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst.)
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/17455-go-public-finally-a-film-that-celebrates-public-education
Diane, simply thank you……….
http://the21stcenturyprincipal.blogspot.com/2014/11/myth-of-powerful-teacher-doctrine.html?m=1
What do you make of SED Commissioner John King’s suggestion that student feedback could be a tool in teacher evaluations?
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/education/2014/12/01/commissioner-king-says-teacher-evaluations-face-change/19755333/
Svenugop, I will consider the value of student evaluation of teachers after the Regents decide to evaluate John King’s performance factoring in parent feedback.
READ: Today (TUES. DEC-02-14), WASH. POST Print Ed., Metro – Virginia, ‘Charter school caught in local-state muddle’ By Moriah Balingit. Case study in School Board
scant knowledge of state regulations, guidelines re: charter schools and issues of
schools administration relationship-partnership-ownership in decision-making process!!!
FAQ from the FALL UPDATE from our friendly Common Core State-led Consortium:
What will happen when Smarter Balanced assessments are implemented in the 2014-15 school year?
Smarter Balanced is a consortium of states initially financed through Race to the Top funding and housed under the State of Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). In fall 2014, Smarter Balanced transitioned to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), becoming an independent operating unit of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. UCLA will provide access to faculty expertise and research support and offer a full array of administrative services that the Consortium requires after the conclusion of the federal grant in 2014.
Smarter Balanced will continue to be a state-led organization committed to providing high-quality assessment tools and information to educators and policymakers in member states. The Consortium will not seek any additional U.S. Department of Education funding for development work. Rather, ongoing development and continuous improvement will be funded and governed by the member states and territories.
http://smarterbalanced.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/r/73C33E22C3A6DD572540EF23F30FEDED
So the “state-led” consortium will be run from UCLA?
and who is paying UCLA for this opportunity?
Thank you so much for getting the truth out there about charter schools. For profit schools are not the answer. A child is not a commodity and should not be treated like one.
See
http://qz.com/301594/america-doesnt-have-an-education-problem-it-has-a-class-problem/
Can a more informed mind than mine shed some light here — McKinsey & Company DOES have ties to the corporate reform movement, does it not?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/12/06/whistleblower-alleges-agency-cover-up-over-300m-boondoggle-to-protect-obama/
Diane did you see this NYT piece “How Game Theory Helped Improve New York City’s High School Application Process”? I am a parent of a high schooler and middle schooler in NYC and had a different take on Game Theory. Here’s my reply:
I realize that the NYC DOE sees our children as numbers, so naturally the news that the Nobel Prize winning high school placement algorithm has improved the high school application process is perceived as good. However, if one happens to be an actual student, or a parent of one of the thousands of students who did not get a choice school, then understandably the Nobel Prize winning algorithm that nobody except the Nobel prize winner understands, seems less valuable. We parents and students only understand that those unlucky enough to be unassigned by and large do NOT get placed in a desirable school in subsequent rounds. Those schools are already filled with the thousands of other high achieving students who ranked them first. I have heard veteran parents say the NYC High School application process is more taxing and frustrating than the college process which I used to dismissed as hyperbole. Sadly, I have found that it is indeed true. At least a student can be accepted to more than one college and from there an informed decision can be made. With our high school process, there is no luxury of choosing; the computer decides for you.
The algorithm is one thing; the entire process leading up to it is quite another. First it must be stated that the process favors the middle class by virtue of the fact that so much time and energy is needed to a)identify suitable schools for your child b) visit these schools for an information session, open-house, tour and c) audition, interview or test at these schools you hope are a good fit for your child. Some schools only give tours during the day necessitating time off from work; impossible to do if you work for hourly wages. I am sure many NYC families are not even aware of the the algorithm and the virtues of Game Theory.
We are all familiar with a favorite reformer phrase, “A child’s course in life should be determined not by the zip code”. But as it turns out, this process has done nothing to alleviate the scourge of racial segregation. See the New York Times article on subject: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/22/nyregion/new-york-city-council-to-look-at-school-segregation.html “Though the New York City system as a whole is diverse, a report this year by the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that city schools have grown more segregated since 2000.”
Here’s an idea – have a well funded, well rounded high school for each neighborhood which meets the special needs of that particular community. This means if the neighborhood is home to large percentage of immigrant children, then ESL trained teachers should work at that school. Or, if a neighborhood is especially vulnerable to the ravages of poverty, then the high school should offer the extra support that those students and families would need. See Jeffrey Canada of Harlem Children’s Zone fame who offers wrap around services to his select few of lucky winners of a charter school lottery. Why doesn’t every child have access to these much needed services? Of course, it goes without saying that all schools regardless of where they are located in our stratified city should have a rich curriculum of music, art, drama, and sports, replete with science and technology labs – all the extras that students need to succeed and keep them engaged.
Too much money? How much was spent on developing the algorithm? How much time, money and energy is spent on the laborious application process for schools and families? How much money does the city spend transporting students across the the boroughs instead of providing students with a neighborhood school? Perhaps the DOE can hire one more economist to answer the really important questions. It’s going to take more than one computer program and a couple of hours to sort out the Class of 2019.
Here’s a great cartoon that says it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opcHQ_v6PuU
This teacher belongs on the honor roll:
http://www.salon.com/2014/12/09/this_victory_belongs_to_all_of_us_how_teacher_agustin_morales_got_his_job_back/
“This victory belongs to all of us”: How teacher Agustin Morales got his job back
After this English teacher protested the ed reform agenda, he lost his job. But a few weeks ago, justice was served
SARAH JAFFE
“This victory does not belong to me,” he says. “It belongs to the teachers who’ve seen the hostile takeover of their profession by corporate interests. It belongs to the parents who’ve seen their children start to hate school. It belongs to every student that has been dragged ahead in the name of No Child Left Behind. It belongs to all the students who’ve bottomed out in the Race to the Top. This victory belongs to all of us.”
Diane, I wanted to make sure you saw this video about TFA- it is only 9 minutes long and even though I wish it exposed more problems than it does, it does advertise the backlash and shows not everyone loves TFA. http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/2014/12/as-teach-for-americaspopularitygrowssodoesbacklashpartonea.html
Dear Dr. Ravich, reading ‘Left Back” I found that ‘Project based learning” goes back to Kilpatrick, 1918. In my school it is being presented as the new methodology that we all will adopt in the near future. I understand from you that the project method is the polar opposite of a pre-definite curriculum. Our school for the past few years made us write curriculum maps that we are supposed to follow. Are these two things contradicting each other? (it is a Catholic school)
By the way, I am a foreign language high school teacher and I am a foreigner. I apologize if I made English mistakes. I love your book! We are also in the process of adopting CC and I am very perplexed about that.
Franco, the Project Method and curriculum mapping are contradictory. It is like a plan to be spontaneous.
Do you have any thoughts on this article?
Concluding paragraph: “So, when I say that I’m concerned that we’re pulling kids out of elective classes, it’s not an issue of professional respect. It has nothing to do with feeling undervalued as an electives teacher. The truth is that I want students to become strong readers. However, that’s precisely why they need real science and social studies and writing and elective classes. That’s the only way that they’ll develop into better readers.”
I agree with the author in his valueing of electives and science and social studies classes. But I know that some students will not learn to read simply by being in this classes. Some students need direct reading instruction, in my experience.
http://empathyeducates.org/please-quit-pulling-kids-out-of-electives-to-do-more-reading-intervention/
Please Quit Pulling Kids Out of Electives to Do More Reading Intervention
Thank you for your thoughts.
More misinformation from the Dallas Independent School District led by Superintendent and Broad graduate Mike Miles:
More minority Dallas ISD students pass AP exams but don’t lead all urban districts as claimed.
http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/more-minority-dallas-isd-students-pass-ap-exams-but-dont-lead-all-urban-districts-as-claimed.html
Just received this from the AL State Department of Education.
Alabama’s Graduation Rate Hits Unprecedented Heights!
Four years ahead of the predicted schedule, the Alabama State Department of Education announces the high school graduation rate in Alabama has risen to a new record high – 86 percent! In accordance with PLAN 2020, the state’s plan for public education reform, the state ambitiously expected to reach a graduation rate of 86 percent by 2018.
One of the plan’s primary goals is to reach a graduation rate of 90 percent by the year 2020. For every one percent increase in the graduation rate, approximately 600 additional students graduate from high school. The graduation rate has increased from 72 percent in 2011, to 75 percent in 2012, to 80 percent in 2013, rounding out at 86 percent in 2014.
State Superintendent of Education Tommy Bice said the news of Alabama surpassing its previous record-breaking graduation rate of 80 percent, is further validation that teachers and students are working harder than ever.
My first thought was a sarcastic, “All those lazy terrible teachers allowed this to happen?” In reality, it’s too bad our Republican legislature will most likely never acknowledge the teachers’ part in this. I suspect their response will be another pay cut in the form of increased insurance rates or some such thing. February is right around the corner so we shall see.
While this appears to be good news, and it’s impossible not to be happy for those kids, I think of a principle of education policy that has been in place since before I started teaching (up until NCLB). Policymakers put policies in place and, as sure as the Sun rises in the East, a few years later they declare victory. The scary thing about modern reformers (see Duncan, Rhee, Cuomo, etc.) is that they are the first policymakers who have innoculated themselves from blame so that they are free to declare defeat…and blame the teachers. So, the Alabama DOE & State Superintendent (and surely the Governor) appear to have harkened back to the traditional educational politics. Declare victory. But don’t rest easy, because you can see the thinking that the success is a result of the reforms.
Please read this excellent story on segregation in Ferguson: http://www.propublica.org/article/ferguson-school-segregation
Suzanne M. Bump, Auditor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, has finished her audit of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE’s) oversight of the Commonwealth’s charter school system.
Since 1996, Massachusetts has spent $4.3 billion on charters, and this report shows that DESE—known for its emphasis with local public school districts on data collection and data-driven-decision-making—doesn’t ensure (maybe they can’t) ensure the collection, storage, security, reliability, validity or the dissemination of THEIR data. Such data has been the used to determine policy affecting the future of Massachusetts School Districts since 2009.
Here’s just a sampling of the report says:
•Charter school waitlist information maintained by DESE is not accurate. A lack of accurate waitlist information may result in ineffective planning and oversight, as well as policymaking consequences such as an inaccurate assessment of demand when charter school approval, renewal, or expansion applications are considered and when the Legislature makes decisions on changes to existing limitations on the number of charter schools.
•Operating under different statutory requirements, charter schools have lower percentages of licensed teachers than traditional public schools. Additionally, charter school teacher salary levels average 75% of those at sending districts.
•The reliability and accuracy of charter school information in DESE’s data systems are questionable.
•The extent to which the charter school system has provided a successful mechanism for developing and disseminating replicable innovation models is not determinable.
•DESE was inconsistent in its decisions regarding whether to impose conditions for school charter renewal.
For the whole report
http://www.mass.gov/auditor/docs/audits/2014/201351533c.pdf.
Education Activist has discovered Pennsylvania is the model for womb to
workforce data monitoring. The information is summarized in the link.
http://mobile.wnd.com/2014/11/whistle-blown-on-womb-to-workforce-data-mining-scheme/
A Turkish court has issued an arrest warrant for the influential cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Mr. Gulen, who is in self-imposed exile in the US, is accused of establishing and running an “armed terrorist group”.
He was once an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but has now been accused of plotting to overthrow the Turkish government – a claim the cleric strongly denies.
Yet we allow him to run a chain of Charter Schools in the U.S.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30552148
I sent this letter to the editor in response to today’s front-page article on the Common Core (who knows the likelihood of it getting in the paper?): http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2014/12/21/common-core-repeal-ohio/20737853/
So let me get this straight. The Ohio Department of Education suggests that parents have the option of holding their children out of Common Core tests…but “with consequences.” Failure to take the tests means their child will be retained…and won’t be eligible to receive their high school diploma…and their teachers and schools will be penalized to show the students learned absolutely nothing for the entire school year. That The Enquirer presents the propaganda of such a false choice as a legitimate counterpoint towards opposition to the Common Core (the number of parents who have opted their children out in the past has been negligible? Shocking!) is just one of the many reasons parents have little faith in media discussion of education reform. If ODE sincerely believes that the public will support the Common Core and the concomitant tests associated with it, they should provide parents a real choice to opt out.
With all respect for your remarkable blog, Diane Ravitch, the fact that Gulen has been accused by Erdogan, who barely conceals his contempt any more for democracy, of plotting to overthrow the Turkish government is not an argument about his running of charter schools. Please, let’s keep facts related to each other. Erdogan is increasingly despotic, accusing a broad range of people and governments of plots and conspiracy. Gulen’s charter school excesses need to be treated on their own. They definitely deserve scrutiny and criticism but not because of what is going on in Turkey.
Alexandra, I agree with you. I don’t understand the politics of Turkey, and I would not be for or against Imam Gulen because of his role in Turkish politics. However, I do wonder why the second largest chain of charter schools in this country, collecting hundreds of millions of dollars every year, is run by a foreign national, favoring the employment of foreign nationals and contracting with other foreign nationals to perform services. I would ask the same question if the foreign national was from England, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, China, Finland,Argentina, or Haiti. Our public schools are supposed to be integral to the teaching of American citizenship. There is an inherent conflict, I believe, in outsourcing our public school dollars to other nationals.
Fair enough and thanks for paying attention.
Diane –
A very special Merry Christmas & Happy New Year’s wish to you! Thank you for all you have done & continue to do for all!
I too thank you for everything you do. Merry Christmas to you and your family…..
Zuzu has the last inspiring words in Frank Capra’s iconic “It’s a Wonderful Life,”
but she learned them at school:
“Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.”
But, I’d kill to know if Clarence met or exceeded the standard.
Merry Christmas, Diane
mc
Article in today’s Atlanta Journal Constitution (In case anyone actually still believes test scores are worth anything.)
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/charter-schools-slip-on-latest-state-report-card/njXT8/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstub1#4f4a9a31.3618205.735595
Charter schools slip on latest state report card
Posted: 12:00 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014
Email 0Facebook 0Twitter 0ShareThis 7
By Eric Stirgus – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s public schools took a step backward academically, an annual state report card released last week found, and many charter schools did not escape the lower marks.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of the data found about three of five charter school grade clusters had lower scores on the state education department’s 2013-14 College and Career-Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) than they did the prior school year. Grade clusters are separated by the elementary, middle and high school levels.
+092413 CHARTER SCHOOLS BS3 photo BRANT SANDERLIN / AJC
CHARTING A WIN–September 23, 2013 Atlanta: Students at Wesley International Academy wait in line to go to lunch September 23, 2013. … Read More
The index shows several charter high schools are in trouble or need improvement. Three charter high schools were 50 percent or more below the statewide high school average for academic achievement. Academic achievement — how students fared on state end-of-course and standardized tests — accounts for up to 60 points, more than half the CCRPI score. In all, 15 of the 24 charter high schools reviewed by the AJC had academic achievement scores that were below the statewide high school average.
In addition to achievement, CCRPI grades schools on academic progress and closing the achievement gap between different groups of students. Each school and district can earn up to 100 points through those three areas and an additional 10 points by enrolling students in high-level academic courses and through strong academic performance from low-income students, special education students and those still learning English.
Georgia guidelines say a charter school that opened in 2014 could have its charter revoked if it does not beat the state and local school district’s average CCRPI score by the end of its charter.
The index was released before scores for some schools were final. State education department officials said they were still reviewing the data and declined to comment in detail about charter school performance. The department is finalizing its annual report on charter schools and analyzing the CCRPI as part of that report, said communications director Matt Cardoza.
“The analysis will give us important information on what is going on with performance at each school and guide charter school decisions on how to improve their academic results,” Cardoza said.
There was some encouraging news from the recent CCRPI findings for charter schools. Middle schools with data available were four points better than the state average. Elementary charter schools were on average five-tenths of a point better.
The data reviewed by the AJC showed charter high schools were on average three-tenths of a point below the statewide average.
Conversion charter schools, schools that began as traditional public schools, fared about as well as startup charter schools, the AJC’s review of available data found.
There were 116 charter schools at the start of the school year, according to state data. In recent years, many parents have opted to enroll their children in charter schools because they have greater latitude to experiment in the classroom. Many charter schools also have smaller class sizes, another selling point. For example, the Kindezi charter school in Atlanta has a maximum of eight students in its classes.
Some charter school educators and parent leaders said the state index is relatively new, (the first CCRPI evaluation was of the 2011-12 school year) and noted the calculations used for the results are frequently changing. One such measurement, the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, was removed this school year in exchange for a new student assessment, the Georgia Milestones exams.
“I think what we’re going through is districts and schools are trying to adapt to change,” said Detrius Jones, the legislative chairwoman for the Georgia PTA.
Many charter schools have been operating just a year or two and are still trying to understand the index. The Georgia Charter Schools Association, a nonprofit group that helps charter schools, held a “Demystifying CCRPI” summit earlier this month that discussed ways for schools to help their students improve academically and get higher scores on the index. The association said it was still digesting the data and declined comment.
Kindezi, which has students from kindergarten through the eighth grade, had an above-average CCRPI score for both its elementary and middle school students. However, its elementary school score dropped by about seven points from the prior school year.
Kindezi board member Bettina Love suggested the index be considered as one of several ways to measure a school’s performance.
“It gives us a road map, but it doesn’t give us a full picture,” said Love, who teaches at the school and is an assistant education professor at the University of Georgia. “I think we have to look at all of the measurements and all of the data.”
Re: The U.S. Department of Education is accepting comments on its proposed regulations about teacher education until January 2, 2015.
I followed your link and it says:
This document has a comment period that ends in 34 days (02/02/2015)
Are you sure comments have to be posted by January 2 instead of Feb 2?
Lynn C., there are two different due dates for comments. One is for the Office of Management and Budget, the other is for the U.S. Department of Education. One has a closing date of January 2, the other has a closing date of February 2. Post your comment.
Diane- I hope you can read my opinion piece about A Nation STILL at Risk…
I’ve worked with David Gamberg and Steven Cohen on Long Island, NY. I hope to hear from you soon.
A Nation STILL at Risk: The Imperative for STOPPING THIS KIND OF Educational Reform
An Opinion Piece
By Michael Hynes, Ed.D.
I love public education. As a school superintendent in New York, I am fortunate to work with children, parents, teachers, administrators, staff and community members. I believe in our public school system and have seen it work very well for thousands of students. Like all systems, it can and should be improved. The best organizations seek to do this. They look to continuously improve their system and those who work within it. As a school system seeks to progress one should often ask, “Is this best for kids?” I believe this question has never been asked by the U.S. Department of Education or the New York State Education Department. As I write this opinion piece, they are paving a road as “we” drive on it. As this road is paved, we have little to no say as to the road conditions that we see ahead of us, how fast we are going and where our destination is. I believe this is true at both the state and national level in relation to public education. Again, this is my opinion.
Over the years I have seen many things come and go. It’s the perpetual pendulum of mandates, ideas, movements, etc. There are some things that are still around that I wish were gone, and some things that are gone but I wish were still here. I won’t mention which things because it really is a matter of perspective. My perspective, my opinion. However; I believe it is a fact that public education is under assault and “we” are driving on a road that will lead to it crashing and crashing hard. When it does, what will happen to our children?
Months ago I wanted to gain a deeper understanding as to how we ended up on this terrifying road. When I say “road” I’m talking about the New York State Regents Reform Agenda which I believe is really the U.S. Department of Education Reform Agenda for public schools. As a superintendent it is imperative that I am accountable (for myself and others), as well as building up other people’s capacities to reach their potential. If an employee is not the right fit in my district, it is my job to find someone else who is. Every aspect of this Regents Reform Agenda has very little to do with child development and everything to do with the wrong drivers for improving schools. I’ll comment later on the right drivers. My question is, how are they accountable?
As I began my journey I decided to reread the original report A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform which was crafted in 1983. I first read the document in the mid-1990’s but now read it with fresh eyes. As I was read through this document I thought, “If our nation was at risk thirty plus years ago, are we in a better place now? Did we use any of the recommendations and incorporate the suggestions from this report? Did Secretary of Education Duncan or our New York State soon to be ex-Commissioner of Education ever read this?” The original report was published in April 1983 by The National Commission on Excellence in Education. At the time it was released it sent shock waves across the Nation. To my surprise, when I finished and compared the reports’ recommendations to our current reality in New York and in the United States…it actually seems like a much better road to drive on… or at least in my opinion it does.
This document made recommendations to focus on curricula and learning from other advanced countries. What I found most interesting was that the report doesn’t mention anything about how schools should run and rarely makes any remarks about testing. I was surprised and found that extremely refreshing.
I think you may find the National Commission’s charge thirty plus years ago very familiar to our current reality in education:
• Assessing the quality of teaching and learning in our Nation’s public and private schools, colleges and universities;
• Comparing American schools and colleges with those of other advanced nations;
• Studying the relationship between college admissions requirements and student achievement in high school;
• Identifying educational programs which result in notable student success in college;
• Assessing the degree to which major social and educational change in the last quarter century have affected student achievement; and
• Defining problems which must be faced and overcome if we are successfully to pursue the course of excellence in education.
The Commission made the following recommendations to the nation in 1983:
1. To review and synthesize the data and scholarly literature on the quality of learning and teaching in the nation’s schools, colleges, and universities, both public and private, with special concern for the educational experience of teenage youth;
2. To examine and to compare and contrast curricula, standards, and expectations of the educational systems of several advanced countries with those of the United States;
3. To study a representative sampling of university and college admission standards and lower division requirements with particular reference to the impact upon the enhancement of quality and the promotion of excellence such standards may have on high school curricula and on expected levels of high school achievement;
4. To review and to describe educational programs that are recognized as preparing students who consistently attain higher average scores in college entrance examinations and who meet with uncommon success the demands placed on them by the nation’s colleges and universities;
5. To review the major changes that have occurred in American education as well as events in society during the past quarter century that have significantly affected educational achievement;
6. To hold hearings and to receive testimony and expert advice on efforts that could and should be taken to foster higher levels of quality and academic excellence in the nation’s schools, colleges, and universities;
7. To do all other things needed to define the problems and the barriers to attaining greater levels of excellence in American education; and
8. To report and to make practical recommendations for action to be taken by educators, public officials, governing boards, parents, and others having a vital interest in American education and a capacity to influence it for the better.
When I read the recommendations, I found the following items absent:
1. Test children into oblivion;
2. Use tests from our children to grade and assess teachers and principals;
3. Develop new standards that have very little input from the educators who will teach the new standards to our children;
4. Do not trust teachers, principals, superintendents and school boards to make informed decisions about what is best for their children in relation to assessments, curricula and best practices at the local level;
5. Ensure that state and federal government (Governor and President) has significant influence over teacher accountability systems and assessments. They should decide what is best for children in public education (even if their children don’t attend public school);
6. Guarantee corporations will make billions of dollars in the age of compliance and testing
The recommendations from the Commission were meant for us consider, discuss and possibly act upon. I found the following extremely enlightening:
1. Focus on scholarly literature on the quality of learning and teaching. In my opinion, best practices dictate that teachers need time to collaborate with each other and students need to be inspired by their teachers and encouraged to take risks. It is almost impossible in this climate.
2. Examining, comparing, contrasting curricula, standards and expectations of several advanced countries. In my opinion, the New York and the US Department of Education clearly did not listen to this recommendation. If you look at top performing countries such as Finland, Canada and Singapore…you won’t find an over reliance on standardizing and the over-testing of everything. They don’t use the wrong drivers of reducing people by ranking and sorting. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. These countries hold educators and children in very high regard.
3. To review the major changes that have occurred in American education as well as events in society during the past quarter century that have significantly affected educational achievement. In my opinion, I think it is safe to say that the federal decrees of Goals 2000, NCLB and now the era of testing everything to death is not working. It never has and it never will. The fact is, if poverty was reduced it would solve many of society’s problems, including the achievement gap.
4. To hold hearings and to receive testimony and expert advice on efforts that could and should be taken to foster higher levels of quality and academic excellence in the nation’s schools, colleges, and universities. In my opinion, I don’t recall hearing anything about testimonies from experts when the Common Core Standards or tests were developed. I think Bill Gates, the Koch brothers and Pearson were contacted however. This is one of the biggest travesties. Big business prevailed.
I’ve only commented on a few of the recommendations but I think you get my point. Our current state of affairs in education is not only detrimental to our children, but I find our public school system under siege now more than when A Nation at Risk was released over three decades ago. To make matters worse, we are using the wrong drivers to change education and we are going at light speed down a road of ensuring our students only know how to bubble in test sheets, become proficient test takers and graduate into standardized widgets. Sadly, it reminds me of the book The Giver by Lois Lowry. Is this what we want for our children?
We can learn from A Nation at Risk. As Diane Ravitch stated in her book The Death and Life of the Great American School System, “Far from being a revolutionary document, the report was an impassioned plea to make our schools function better.” She also noted that, “It did not refer to market-based competition and choice among schools; it did not suggest restructuring schools or school systems. It said nothing about closing schools, privatization, state takeover of districts, or other heavy handed forms of accountability. It addressed problems that were intrinsic to schooling, such as curriculum, graduation requirements, teacher preparation, and the quality of textbooks”.
So what is the alternative? Some of us believe in trusting the local control of our school systems. I believe in the capacity building of our teachers and administrators both individually and collectively. It’s about climate control within our schools and trying to work with the command and control mentality outside of them. All State Education Departments should be working with school districts, not against them. This door is open to a better way of educating our children. The question is… will people go through it?
I believe the underpinnings of the New York Regents Reform Agenda have never been proven to work successfully AND longitudinally in any school district. If you did by chance find a school or district that you thought was successful, how would you define their success? State Test scores? Did you just use test scores as your measuring stick? As most educators know it is only one piece of a multi-dimensional pie. Unfortunately, that’s what many newspapers and politicians use. I prefer to appreciate how well rounded our students are (academics, the arts, social and emotional growth, sports, etc.). This will lead to their success at home, in school and after they graduate from high school.
If you look to where success leaves clues, you will find that we should be heading in the opposite direction at the state and national level. There are successful school systems in Canada, Finland, and New York State that our nation should be looking to learn from. As Alfie Kohn stated, “The goal beyond testing is about building a thriving democracy. It is about helping each child reach his/her potential as a human being and learner.” We must strip away the over-testing of students, tying student scores to teachers and principal evaluations, using the new poorly designed standards and the command and control mentality from our state and national education departments. Let’s focus on school districts collaborating together, teachers taking risks in the classroom, principal’s focusing on a more meaningful capacity building observation process and professional development plan for all teachers and staff members. Most important, we need to allow our children to thrive in a place where “one size fits all” does not exist….then I believe we will be on our way to being A Nation at Risk no more.
Cuomo veto: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/30/nyregion/cuomo-in-reversal-vetoes-bill-that-would-have-protected-teachers-from-low-ratings.html?action=click&contentCollection=N.Y.%20%2F%20Region®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&pgtype=article
Hey, Diane!
I was listening to a Chicago radio station which mentioned this site.. are you aware of it?
In particular check out its sponsors… Corporate Reformers, all.
https://www.teach.org/
Dallas ISD parents and some board members have had enough of Super. Mike Miles and his emphasis on excessive testing to evaluate teachers. Kindergarten students are taking semester exams in art!
http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/dallas-isd-trustees-might-reduce-number-of-tests-students-take.html/
Happy New Year! We have started a series of videos ( right now one is up, one is half completed) that are in the style of Schoolhouse Rock. We call it Public Schoolhouse Blues and we have t-shirts with our logo for sale to raise money for the Network for Public Education. Please check us out. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMsdGehVXXGGdV2Zd1WW8xQ
Any promotion you give us will go right back to NPE since it is your cause we are promoting and for you we are trying to raise money. We are a completely volunteer group (myself, my daughter and other family members who do not want credit). To know more about me I am an education researcher/professor and I got heavily involved with activism last year but it was taking a toll on my health and taking me away from my children. I have been a educator for over 30 years and I was a frequent person on this blog for a few months until I got ill. I was in the news a fair amount in North Carolina. Instead of being on the front lines, I have retreated into the background and using music and art and animation and time with my children to get the word out.
The website generating money for you all is here: http://teespring.com/public-schoolhouse-blues. I have no motives other than to help fight the privatization of education. Professionally, besides having a full load as an education professor I run the Dropout Prevention Coalition at UNCW and am heavily involved with preventing school to prison. But in the meantime this is what we do for fun!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/01/01/teacher-evaluation-going-from-bad-to-worse/
The short version of what she wants to do now is this—double down on test scores and strip away the power of local school boards to negotiate the majority of the evaluation plan. Tisch would get rid of the locally selected measures of achievement, which now comprise 20 percent of the evaluation, and double the state test score portion, to 40 percent. She also recommends that the score ranges for the observation process be taken out of the hands of local districts, and be determined by Albany instead.
There is a general consensus on what is wrong with the current structure of education and the pitfalls of the so-called educational reform. The question that needs to be investigated and addressed is; What will make a difference to have change? Is it parent uproar? If that is what will make a difference, then how do we fan the flame to make it burn more brightly? Is it informing legislators of the realities of education? If that is it, how do we capture that listening of legislators? Again, is it parent/voter pressure? What is it that will be the “spark” that ignites reform? Several years ago there was a video that went viral showing a bus monitor being verbally abused by several middle school students. They said horrible things, even bringing up the suicide of one of the woman’s children. The public reaction was overwhelming disgust at the behavior of the students. A fund was initiated for the woman which eventually raised about $600,000. This demonstrates the power of concerned citizens and the commitment, even financial, of people to education. Do we need a documentary/drama that accurately portrays the fallout of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top?
Diane, in the recent American Prospect is article about TFA appeared. Might be of interest to others. http://prospect.org/article/true-cost-teach-americas-impact-urban-schools
Diane: A posting on Facebook led me to find the Commonwealth Corporation’s report, which the State of MA relied on for a report to the Federal gov’t on Employment. This report “Closing the MA Skills Gap: Recommendations and Action Steps, April 2013” calls for a “pipeline” “involving all levels K12” and says “we need education and training that is closely linked to industry and can respond quickly to changing needs and is offered in flexible and accelerated models.” They call for education to align with the needs of industry. If I was ever unsure of the “career-ready” aspect of CCSS, there is no doubt now. It makes me heart-sick, what we are doing to our kids.
They called it life-long learners back in the late 20th century and that meant a high level of literacy. Once someone has a high level of literacy, they are a life-long learner and if they want—-after all, it is their choice what they learn and where they work—-they can go back to school and easily learn new job skills.
The solution, of course, to more life long learners is a national early childhood education program designed to foster a love of reading and a high level of literacy later in life—done properly without testing those young children to death, they could actually have fun learning to love books and reading.
I think the CCSS agenda was created by greedy robots who are stupid. Bill Gates comes to might. He might be rich and powerful, but he lacks common sense when it comes to how children learn.
Dear Diane,
In Denver last July, the National Education Association Representative Assembly supported a campaign that would end the test, blame, and punish system that has become prevalent in public education over the past ten years. The resolution to end “toxic testing” is a powerful statement and a step we must to take to protect our students. Along with this business item, another passed that would share with educators, the rights parents have when it comes to standardized testing and their children.
At the Washington Education Association Representative Assembly in Spokane, support for parents who refuse testing for their children, also passed. A strong connection between parents and educators needs to be fostered and nurtured if the removal of toxic testing is to be realized.
To that end, a group of parents, teachers, education support professionals, and concerned citizens have banded together and are ready to step it up in order to raise awareness about testing, parental rights, and how to get support when opting out. A rally is planned for February 16, noon-3PM, in Sylvester Park in Olympia. The event includes speakers and entertainment. All who attend are encouraged to set up meetings to lobby their legislators, in an effort to end testing madness.
We need you to join us in this battle! Getting educators, parents, and students to the rally is very important. Raising awareness of parental rights is powerful. So many teachers are scared to say anything about this option due to repercussions from their districts. Concerned citizens from all areas of public education must work together so that the message can ring loud and clear: Stop toxic testing!
What we ask from you:
1. Share with your organization
a. The rally is on Presidents’ Day so what better way to make a statement than to get people to show up!
2. Get involved—Contact Becca Ritchie at r.ritchie@comcast.net if you would like to help with planning, logistics, or any other part of the rally.
3. Reach out to parents, community members, and educators who would be willing to learn about testing and/or join in this action.
4. Arrangements for donations to cover organizing costs to can be arranged through Michael Peña at waoptout@gmail.com
5. Have a sign making party to share ideas for signs to use the day of the rally.
6. Contact Shannon Ergun at LincolnTEA@hotmail.com when your organization endorses the rally.
Let’s stand together, and with a collective voice, let it be known that we will not subject our students to the toxic testing environment that has overshadowed the many joys of teaching and learning.
In Solidarity,
All 720 Washington BATs
curious what your thoughts are of this new paper on charter school turnarounds in NOLA
http://www.nber.org/papers/w20792
PUBLIC HEARING ON SUCCESS ACADEMY’S SWITCH TO D1 IS THIS THURSDAY (1/8) at PS 20 ANNA SILVER! (That’s at Houston and Essex.)
We have almost 2300 signatures on our petition with more coming in.
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/no-need-for-success-academy?mailing_id=26933&source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=12122166
Now we need to stand strong and turn out for the hearing to let SACS, SUNY, and the DoE know that District One is strong, District One is united, and District One says NO THANKS!
Public speaker sign in starts at 5:30. Hearing begins at 6pm.
All are invited to join!
I was just infuriated by Solman’s piece on NPR last night. Subtext: what a really good teacher looks like (Ivy-League, designer dress, young) presenting a basic lesson to a large compliant (40-50?kids) in a tightly packed room. Bad statistics, obviously based on percentages of the kids who made it to the end, not all who started. And the Sesame Street clip: “self regulation” coming out of Cookie Monster’s mouth.
Oops, it was on the Newshour. My bad.
Hello Diane, Amazingly the Providence Journal published this Op-Ed of mine today. Here’s the comment I added to the online version:
Parents should be aware that the decision to Opt Out/Refuse the testing is a weighty one. Please inform yourselves before making the decision, and be aware that there may be pushback from your child’s district. For fuller information on the Opt Out/Refuse process in RI, please go to the Parents Across RI website and click on the tab for Opt Out/Refuse Testing. Another excellent source of information is the United Opt Out National website. On that website there is a RI Guide for Opting Out where specific RI info can be found, particularly at the end of the piece. For more info on the harm of standardized testing and authentic alternatives, check out FairTest (the National Center for Fair and Open Testing). Tragically, teachers have been intimidated into not expressing their true opinions about the Common Core and PARCC, so they need parents’ support to expose the fallacies and harm of this reform agenda. Please arm yourselves with knowledge and stand up for our children!
http://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/commentary/20150110-sheila-resseger-students-can-opt-out-of-new-tests-in-r.i..ece#slcgm_comments_anchor
oops–sorry–a problem with the link Hope this works: http://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/commentary/20150110-sheila-resseger-students-can-opt-out-of-new-tests-in-r.i..ece
Here’s another try for the link: http://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/commentary/20150110-sheila-resseger-students-can-opt-out-of-new-tests-in-r.i..ece#slcgm_comments_anchor
I don’t know what’s been going wrong, but if you highlight the entire link and then copy and paste, you should come to the article! Thanks for bearing with me!
Diane,
Did you hear this interview with Yong Zhao on Oregon Public Radio? It is so clear and important, it needs to be heard.
http://www.opb.org/radio/programs/thinkoutloud/segment/u-of-o-education-expert-takes-on-china/
Today I went to our local chapter of NCAE meeting and it was sad. It was like the scene in THE BOOK THIEF at the end after the bomb has gone off and they are cleaning up. It was all about fallout—M-class, Amplify, loss of tenure, etc. The only high point was talking about NC being one of the only (if not the only) state in the U.S. to add Democrats to our state legislature (our county added two).
This is very real now. The thing is, I still don’t think it’s going to go back. . .I think something new entirely is going to develop—not sure what yet. . .I hope it will still be traditional public schools, but with new slants (hopefully with less focus on testing).
I guess we did change our high school grading scale to a 10 point scale. That was positive, I guess. But overall, it was very, very sad.
Hi Dr. Ravitch
I was just curious at what school do they offer a Ph.D. in the history of American education? Sounds like a unique program, I’d be interested in that as I am doing research on the history of educational systems on a global scale….Ours….is presently not so great.
Thanks.
Chris
Find the historians you admire and see where they are teaching. Go there.
I am an attorney considering going back to school to become a teacher. In addition to attending public schools and having a child in public school, my mom taught special ed for 30+ years, so I am somewhat familiar with the teaching profession. I am interested in learning more about education policy as I begin pursuing enrollment in a teacher certification program. What books should I read? What other blogs are useful? What are the go-to resources to learn about the policy climate of public education? Who are the key players? Thank you!
Purdue’s Prez. and former Indiana Governor, Mitch Daniels (R-short), is all “accountability era” and touting Mitch’s best new thing. I prefer to call it product development and reveal – the inaugural Gallup-Purdue Index, claiming it is the largest data base ever assembled to evaluate the life success of American college graduates. He claims the intent from the outset was to become the first university to commission a contemporaneous study of its alumni, for comparison to the Index’s first-ever national benchmark. Regrettably the Gallup-Purdue Index measures, the most (only?) important outcomes of higher education in Mitch’s world — “Great Jobs, Great Lives.” The initiative also claims to aim to create a national movement toward a new set of measures, created by and for higher education, and to help foster a “new level of accountability for the sector.”
A new model, a new thing to monetize, a new thing to bash over the heads of instructors, a product to sell, sell, sell to other institutions. Grads can’t get jobs and trend goes down? We gotta fire and replace people! That’s right because your child’s success at getting a job and having a great life is directly connected to that statistics class and others that he or she barely showed up for and passed with a D.
BTW, after you click thru to read a report it takes you to Gallup and they want your contact info/e-mail address first before they give you a link. Thus a junk e-mail address comes in handy. http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/gallup/
Great letter about respect posted today by David Greene at https://dcgmentor.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/respect-code-switching-and-the-art-of-teaching/
Spin, Spin, Spin!
http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/01/19/3612950/senator-turns-back-on-students-of-color-and-civil-rights-in-new-education-bill/
Who funds thinkprogress.org again?
This poem seems to sum up what has been going through my mind as I have been reading your blog for the last few weeks- Cynthia DeMone
You may use this to help in this fight for the children in any way you see fit if you think it is up to par.
The Rights of the Children
An education is the right for us, the children
And even now here in the USA
More than half of us don’t have enough clothes or food
Please don’t test our educational rights away
Don’t fire those teachers who are on our side
Please don’t make them go away
Just because we couldn’t get those very high scores
Testing us doesn’t help us learn more
Testing us more doesn’t increase our scores
An education is our ticket to our future lives
So our kids won’t come home to what we do now
An empty home, an empty house
No one to help us study or do homework
Because our parents have to work hard and long
They do not care about tests, but they care what we learn
Please don’t test our educational rights away
Don’t fire those teachers who are on our side
Please don’t make them go away
Just because we couldn’t get those very high scores
Testing us doesn’t help us learn more
Testing us more doesn’t increase our scores
An education is our ticket to our future lives
Cynthia DeMone
1/19/2015 8:20 PM
My comment on the following article: http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20150120-education-commissioner-gist-confirms-shes-a-finalist-for-job-in-oklahoma.ece
Will my prediction prove correct? It’s a long shot, but I’ll get quite a chuckle out of it if it does. I just connected these dots this evening:
* * * * *
Gist’s perceived clout here in RI jumped the shark at the start of this past summer, when the legislature passed two bills that hamstrung some of her more egregiously flawed policies. Of course, it wasn’t a coincidence that this happened mere weeks after Bill Gates urged districts to slow down on the use of high stakes tests for the purpose of denying diplomas and evaluating teachers. You see, the corporate reformers had realized that their money making schemes were in jeopardy of being wrecked altogether by the “Last March of the (par)Ents” that was (and, despite their feint, still is) brewing in reaction to the policies they support.
No doubt Gist’s corporate reform patrons decided she’d better serve them as a “fresh face” in some other part of the nation. I suppose in Tulsa she’ll be more of a “local girl done good”, but it’s to be expected that the parents of Oklahoma will not yet have come to perceive her as the handmaiden of corporate education reform she has come to be seen here.
Unfortunately, Gist is right to be confident that Raimondo will do her best to continue corporate education reform policies. The governor’s husband has strong ties to McKinsey & Co. as well as Stand for Children. Since Raimondo is literally in bed with a corporate education reformer, we can expect to see Gist replaced with a face that is fresh to us, a “fresh face” to dress up the same old tired corporate education reform agenda that Gist has been pushing since she arrived in office.
Raimondo’s husband once roomed with Cory Booker, who would go on to become the corporate education reform pushing mayor of Newark, New Jersey:
As it happens, Newark’s recently disgraced state superintendent, Cami Anderson, may be looking for work after having been asked to resign by the current mayor:
http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/01/baraka_asks_for_newark_superintendents_resignation.html
Cami, like Gist, was listed as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people. Like Gist, she is a tireless minion of her corporate education reform patrons. Like Gist, she might do well as a “fresh face” in a new community that doesn’t yet associate her with the policies favored by her corporate reform masters.
When Anderson was hired, she was described as “an ally of Booker”. Again, Booker once roomed with Raimondo’s corporate education reform husband.
Watch for her. And if not her, then another “fresh face” with close ties to the failing corporate education reform movement.
Note that Booker was interviewed by the Journal, where he applauded Raimondo’s appointment of Connecticut’s ex-commissioner of education Stefan Pryor to the post of Commerce Secretary:
http://www.providencejournal.com/business/content/20141216-raimondo-taps-connecticut-education-commissioner-as-first-ri-commerce-secretary.ece
As the article points out, Pryor has previously worked for Booker. In other words, Cami wouldn’t be the first person with ties to her husbands college chum to get appointed to a state post.
Have you seen this, “NY Teacher Speaks for Kids: Strongly Objects to Common Core Testing #StopCommonCore.” It’s powerful, well reasoned, and well presented.
Big news out of Florida. The superintendent of Hillsborough County (8th largest school district in the nation) was ousted by the school board despite the fact that she is one of four finalists up for a national superintendent award. Elia has bought into the reform agenda, and while the usual suspects love her, more than half the school board had issues with her. The irony of the whole thing? Her contract was terminated “without cause.” Unfortunately it appears that the irony was lost on most of her supporters.
For your reading pleasure, I submit to you this:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/the-hillsborough-county-school-board-could-act-today-on-elia/2214290
The article left me confused. She buys into the Reform agenda, but the teachers support her?
Hillsborough is an interesting county. It is very large with rural, urban, and suburban zones. There is a lot of regional politics involved (you see that the board was split and that a few board members abstained). It has a very weak teacher’s union, and it is one of the districts that is awash in Gates’ money.
What you’ll find is that most teachers who have been teaching for more than 10 years are not fans of her or of the “reforms,” but that a fair amount of young teachers like her since they just received hefty raises over the past two years. Also, most of the teachers will complain about her to other teachers but won’t saying anything bad about her to outsiders for fear of keeping their job. And why shouldn’t they? Elia just provided a classic example of what happens to you if you get on the wrong side of someone and you don’t have job protection.
In the article, most of the people who supported her were business people, politicians, principals (they’ve been drinking the koolaide for a long time now in Florida, and another superintendent. Most of them have a very surface level view of her (how can you fire someone who has brought in all this money and who is winning awards?)
Trust me when I say that more than a few teachers broke out with this upon hearing the news: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6cnryxwH6A
Depends on the teachers the reporter talked to. What if all the teachers voted to see what all the teachers think?
I certainly don’t trust the media, but the article made it seem like the board majority were the only people in opposition to the Superintendent.
Indeed, and that wasn’t by accident. If you look at who the support came from, though, it’s telling. First mentioned are administrators. This county has been flooded with reform propaganda (Gates’ money), and if you want to keep your admin job, you are an enthusiastic supporter of the reforms; you won’t find an outspoken Carol Burris among this lot. Next mentioned, one teacher who thinks it embarrasses the county. After that, the superintendent and a board member from Pasco County, which is just North of Hillsborough. Before becoming Pasco’s superintendent, Kurt Browning is a career politician and a previous Secretary of State of Florida. Last, you have business leaders and politicians. So, there you have it.
Parents/voters are the real power here and they voted in the current elected school board.
“Harris telegraphed her decision at 7:15 p.m. when she recounted complaints voters shared about high-stakes tests, low morale, administrators who were not accessible and disharmony between Elia and the board.”
“In the lobby, which filled with district staff dressed in red in support of Elia, administrators shook their heads.”
I don’t think “district staff” means teachers. I suspect they were her administrative staff at the district headquarters—-people she may have hired.
Several parents of disabled students spoke at Tuesday’s meeting. “The district isn’t living up to what it needs to do for our kids,” Susan Parks said.
In addition, I only saw one quote from a teacher—one—-Boyette Springs Elementary teacher Wendy Taylor was close to tears. “It’s an embarrassment to Hillsborough County,” she said. “We are just sick about it.
From what I read, most of her support is coming from outside of the district and from support staff who don’t work in the classroom. Any quotes from other administrators or elected politicians could be propaganda from the corporate reformers she supports.
What counts most is what parents, children and teachers think, and I’m using Google now to see if I can discover what classroom teachers think who teach in that district.
That school district has 190,000 students and 25,000 personnel. Why not call for a vote of confidence from the parents of those 203,000 students and the 25,000 employees?
And you may be interested in this piece dated November 8, 2012. This issue has been brewing for more than two years.
“A group of parents is asking for the resignation of Hillsborough schools superintendent MaryEllen Elia and school board member Candy Olson following the deaths of two special needs students.”
http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2012/11/08/protestors-asking-for-hillsborough-resignations-after-deaths-of-two-students-with-disabilities/
Good analysis, Lloyd. Some pro-Reform journalists are adept at cherry-picking sources for articles, and I you’ve alerted me to an important distinction about the red-clad supporters. I was under the assumption they were teachers, but now I think you’re right. The points about low morale were more in line with what I would expect of a superintendent so well supportive of and supported by the Testing Regime.
Opt Out, Palm Beach! Palm Beach County School Board – Please opt-out of all standardized tests immediately! Our schools have become test-prep factories year-round. If we continue down this path, we will destroy a generation of our children! A talk given to the School Board of Palm Beach County, FL. January 21, 2015.
Texas battling with DOE over teacher evaluations and tests: https://www.texastribune.org/2015/01/23/feds-tell-texas-try-again-teacher-evaluations/
This…in my town…
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/01/24/3599718/tacoma-area-parents-join-movement.html
and this…
http://www.livingindialogue.com/washington-state-democratic-party-committee-vote-rejects-common-core/
right in Bill Gates back yard! Whoot! Whoot! Yippee!
See you in Chicago in May friends.
The Florida Standards Assessments (Florida’s version of Common Core) Training Tests for ELA are flawed. There are several egregious errors. If interested, see my analysis (second and third posts) at http://www.synthesizingeducation.net or bestsite.us.
James Mulhern, Teacher in Broward County
Three amazing things happened in Washington State today. First, the Board of Directors for the Washington Education Association voted unanimously to endorse the WA BAT End the Toxic Testing: Give Teachers Time to Teach and Students Time to Learn Rally on Presidents’ Day, 16 February 2015.
Second, the WA Democrats voted to oppose CCSS (see Anthony Cody’s article here: http://www.livingindialogue.com/washington-state-democratic-party-committee-vote-rejects-common-core/ )
Third, the Tacoma New Tribune featured an article about the Opt Out movement (see article here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/01/24/3599718/tacoma-area-parents-join-movement.html )and included information about a local organization offering an Opt Out information night and the WA BAT rally.
Even out here on the west coast the tide is turning.
Thanks for posting, Shannon. Washington state has been the home of one of the few major bright spots in education policy. Legislature giving school districts the option to strip tests from teacher evaluation last year was incredible. I thought the article was pretty mixed. Senator Murray is presented as a balanced voice when she is actually completely in line with the Obama-Duncan agenda. Nonetheless, great appreciation for the good that is happening in Bill Gates’ home state.
This is a post that I assume is too long for the blog, but it is crucial for folks to realize that what Cuomo is proposing only will be realized if the legislature passes it into law. They will likely do so unless they hear from families, from educators, from the public. This is what I sent to all legislators in the state…. please contact your legislator (or more of them, or all of them) and let them know about your experience, your child’s experience with testing, with what is going on. They don’t know, and won’t listen unless we make it clear that they have to listen….
Governor Cuomo continued his assault on teachers and public education in his state of the state speech. His speech was full of hot rhetoric and strong statements, but woefully short of details or evidence supporting his claims. Thankfully, he does not make the laws, though he does carry a large stick, which he clearly is willing to use. I am hoping that those of you involved in actually making the laws will not be swayed by his rhetoric, and will take time to really learn about the issues, and about what is happening in our schools. It’s not easy to do because most educators, including administrators have been intimidated into silence. They have been warned to say nothing so that they don’t lose their jobs, so that their schools are not punished, or shut out of potential grants. The relative quiet you are hearing from the public school community is not evidence of agreement, but is the result of fear and intimidation. Good decisions cannot be made when those with the most information on a topic are shut out of the conversation.
I am a university professor who is in the schools on a regular basis as part of my work. Before that I was a classroom teacher for fourteen years. I can assure you that the governor’s characterization of what is happening in schools is way off base, and reflects ideology and anger rather than accuracy. May I humbly offer a few observations that I hope will be useful as you consider these incredibly complex issues about how best to serve and educate our children.
First, the single most significant determiner of school success for children is related to family/district wealth and income. Those children who come from homes in wealthy districts score higher on tests. It doesn’t mean they are smarter than children from families with lower income, or who attend schools with fewer resources, but they do score higher. A recent study done by the Southern Education Foundation found that more than half our country’s public school children come from low income households, and that they score significantly lower on tests. If we really want to do something about educating our school children we would reduce the inequality in our society, we would reduce poverty. That would be addressing an underlying problem rather than pretending to apply a fix that sounds good in a sound bite but does nothing. David Berliner’s research makes this point clearly and convincingly.
Second, there is virtually no one in the assessment community that would support making high stakes decisions based on a single high stakes test, and that includes the for profit companies that produce the tests. They caution that their tests should not be used in isolation to make high stakes decisions, though they continue to produce these tests knowing that they will be misused by districts across the state and country. Why do they do this? Money, of course. They are making incredible amounts of money by producing and scoring these tests. They are not in the education business; they are in business to make profits and Pearson is making incredible profits. This foreign based for profit business is turning our public school dollars that should be serving the needs of our students, and turning them into profits for their investors and upper management.
Third, there is no such thing as a standardized child. This one size fits all approach, which pretends that there is a particular place in the curriculum that all children in third grade should be on November 18th is ludicrous, and is not supported by any research or evidence. Children do not learn or develop at the same pace, and not in the same, nor should they. If you have more than one child, or grew up with brothers or sisters, or both, you know that there is no one assessment that could adequately assess all of those in your family. You have different strengths, interests, abilities, ways of knowing and communicating, and speeds at which you learn. We are pretending that standardizing a curriculum or test is possible, and that it is good practice to crack the whip and make everyone move at the same pace. No learning theory would support this. No psychologist would support this. No educator would support this? And no one in the educational community would think that punishing students or teacher for not moving at the exact same pace as others is a good idea, and yet that is what is being done, and the governor wants to ratchet up that practice. What is he basing that on? He is treating education as the equivalent of an assembly line producing widgets, and he is demanding that we quicken the pace of production. You can’t do this with children without doing harm. And to pretend that there is anything standardized about children living in Onchiota (a small town in the woods west of Plattsburgh) taking the same test as someone living in the Hamptons, or in Harlem is absurd. They live completely different lives, and bring an entirely different sense of the world with them to whatever they experience. One is not better than another, but they are different, and there is no one assessment instrument that can fully appreciate who all of our children are.
Fourth, putting all our attention into preparing students to take two standardized tests means we are marginalizing or eliminating many subjects and experiences that are of value to our children and to our society. When we think of who we hope our children will turn out to be, most of us want people who have knowledge and who can communicate and work with a range of people, who can problem solve and deal with the unexpected, who are creative and curious, who understand the world in which they live so that they can contribute to keeping it safe and sustainable, who have empathy and compassion for their neighbors and friends, who are willing to work hard and responsibly, who can contribute to the health and wellbeing of their communities, and so on. Employers give similar lists when they talk about who they are looking for in their new employees. Most of that list is outside the reach of what is tested in schools. Does scoring well on ELA and math tests give you an adequate picture of who that person is? Are those scores worth what it takes to get them, including marginalizing science, social studies, the arts, and recess?
Fifth, we are losing local control. Governor Cuomo is attempting to grab more and more control of what happens in our schools such that our teachers and administrators, who know the children and the community, have little or nothing to say about what goes on with our own children. Do you in Albany, who are not educators, know enough that you can make decisions about how to educate particular children in particular classrooms than those who are actually in with those children every day?
Sixth, when you think back about those teachers who truly made a difference in your life, was it because they helped you to score highly on a test? What was it about them that made learning come alive, that made you excited to be in the world that was becoming increasingly interesting because of what was happening in your classroom. Chances are that those things that made schooling interesting and compelling for you are being squeezed out of the classroom, to make room for test prep, work sheets, and more test prep. Is this what we want for our our children?
Seventh: the state continues to badly underfund education, continues to refuse to pay back the gap adjustment billions that were taken from education during the recession, while at the same time they keep demanding more from teachers and schools. You can’t keep taking away resources and demanding more if you really want more to happen. Costs continue to rise, especially related to testing, districts continue to cut personnel and programs that served the needs of children, and the unfunded mandates keep coming. This is an engineered crisis.
Eighth, there is no educational crisis. Our schools overall are doing just fine. When you factor poverty into the equation, our children are doing as well as any in the world. Where our scores fall is in those places that are underfunded, and where children live in poverty. Telling a lie over and over again does not make it true, so when Cuomo says that our schools are failing, he is not telling the truth. Let me hasten to say that there is more we can do, that there are improvements and changes that we need to make in our schools, but that does not mean the schools are in crisis, or that they are failing.
Ninth, charter schools, which the governor is pushing, are no more effective than public schools, even though they have more control over who they teach. Several studies make clear that charters do no better than public schools in serving students. There are some charters that are wonderful. There are some public schools that are wonderful. There are some of each that don’t do nearly as well as we wish they would; on average there is little difference. Where the difference shows up is in the profits that charters make for those companies and individuals who run them. For profit companies who own and run charter schools can reap significant financial gain from those schools.
Tenth: it is curious that those with virtually no actual experience in either being a student in public schools or actually working in one for any length of time are the ones claiming to have the best knowledge of what will serve those children they have never worked with or spent time with. This is arrogance of the highest order. When teachers and administrators speak about education and their students they are dismissed as either whiners or special interests. When politicians and business leaders talk, especially those with large bank accounts and rich friends, they are treated as knowledgeable experts. It is a problem.
I hope that you will consider these points and spend time in schools (more than a walk and wave through). Take the time to listen to teachers and parents and students, (who would much rather be attending to their lives rather than attending meetings and rallies and protests), who know what you cannot know, and that is what their experience is in schools.
You were voted into your offices to make good decisions for the people in your districts, not to curry favor with the governor or to make money for corporations and campaign contributors. Please take that charge seriously; it is what makes our democracy a democracy.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Doug Selwyn
Plattsburgh NY
Dr. Mercedes Schneider is one of the best investigative researchers uncovering the corruption of the corporate privatization movement that is destroying public education. Her blog is 2 years old today! Let’s give her a wonderful birthday present from all of us who read her blog religiously https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/
Mercedes is a public school teacher who speaks out for public schools but so far she has not been paid for her numerous speaking engagements (other than expenses). A Chronicle of Echoes is on its way to being a landmark book, but Mercedes does not see a dime until a year has passed.
A Chronicle of Echoes has been a fabulous who’s who in the corporate-education movement but it did receive one suggestion. We want an index! She has way too much information for us mere mortals to sift through. So her new book on the Common Core State Standards is aching to have an index. Unfortunately, indexes cost money . . .
And so does permission to use other people’s work. Mercedes has not shied away from using Bill Gate’s own words to illustrate his true intentions, but to quote him from the Washington Post interview costs money too . . .
So here is what I am hoping you can help fund:
One more year of Mercedes blog- $99
Permission to use Washington Post interview- $784
Index for new book- approximately $800
I know many of you were generous before and helped me to fund Mercedes a subscription to a database (we raised the $350 needed in just a few hours). She really appreciated it! Mercedes was too humble to ask for help then and I know she is uncomfortable asking now. But she will not be able to pay these expenses while she is waiting for future speaking fees, book royalties and potential funding.
So I would like to support her again. I am going to send her the costs of her blog, but who wants to help me with all the rest? If you can spare a few dollars it would mean a lot to Mercedes and to those of us who depend on her work. Let’s give her blog the best birthday present ever!
http://www.gofundme.com/g0ehic
I don’t understand how the Post can legally charge for quotes from an interview. The fair use doctrine allows such scholarly quoting.
Diane,
I’d really like to see you and other folks weigh-in on the latest brainstorm from the Governor of the great state of Indiana, the creation of a state-run news service, supported by taxpayer dollars. Mr. Pence’s “Just IN,” will be, by most accounts, an online multimedia state-supported news operation to be written, produced and edited out of the governor’s office.
The Indianapolis Star (hardly a liberal rag) and numerous other newspapers in Indiana and elsewhere have whole-heartedly condemned the idea, as has the Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, Brian Bosma (R). Editorials and reader comments, since the story broke Monday, have been hot and heavy.
Comparisons to Pravda, TASS, ACN, Izvestia, Xinhua, Sana, IRNA, whitehouse.gov and KCNA are popping up. Mr. Pence is being compared to Putin, Obama, Kim and Castro. It’s taken on quite a life of its own.
Of course, as an educator in Indiana, the idea of such an endevour scares the bejeezus out of me. I’ve seen just what the clown car in Indianapolis has done to public education here, as well to other social programs. We have capitalism run-amuck here (aka. Corporatism, Corporatocracy, Kleptocracy, Fascism). Everything is about business. Citizens United is thriving in Indiana. And… I’m really getting tired of hearing spewage from the director of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.
For those of you who have been dealing with the severe storms in the East or have been pre-occupied with Deflate-gate, here are a few links to check out to get you up to speed:
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2015/01/26/pence-starts-state-run-news-outlet-to-compete-with-media/22370005/
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Voices/2015/0128/A-state-run-news-agency-for-small-government-Indiana-Huh
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/01/27/opinion-welcome-to-the-gulag-love-mike-pence/
Click to access just-in-state-of-indiana-news-service.pdf
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/27/pravda-on-the-plains-how-indiana-governor-mike-pence-wants-to-make-news.html
There’s so much more to look at. It would be comical if it wasn’t.
Of course, Pence has now back-pedaled, saying that he has been misinterpreted, that he’s not been clear about the agency’s true purpose, that a clarification is forth-coming, that he’s committed to transparency of the governor’s office in Indianapolis… Me thinks the governor’s fly is still open…
DEzerov, If Governor Pence opens his own newspaper to trumpet his achievements, it will be a laughing stock, as will he. Legitimate media will be offended, and the public will recognize it as state propaganda.
“an online multimedia state-supported news operation to be written, produced and edited out of the governor’s office.”
The model for this state-supported news operation may be found in Communist China or Fox News.
Disturbing and shocking. Two members on the board against: Docca and Durso are former MCPS Principals.
http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/Starr-Likely-Out-as-Superintendent-Post-reports/
Shocking.
Teacher Pepper Sprayed.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/watch-seattle-cop-pepper-sprays-teacher-directly-in-face-for-walking-too-close/
This is a preview of the future of a United States as a total police state ruled by the oligarchs. The police are already being equipped and trained to be storm troopers—not protectors and peace keepers.
There are almost 200 countries in the world and the United States has already made the top ten list for the most brutal and deadly police forces in the World. The U.S. is ranked #10 right behind China as #9.
http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/top-ten-most-brutal-and-deadly-police-force-in-the-world-number-1-is-shocking.453445405/
Ranked #10 by whom?
@Lloyd Lofthouse. Thanks for posting the link.
Click the link and find out. Who knows? There’s all kinds of lists out there. And all are suspect no matter what the source used—-for those who don’t want to accept what they hear or read.
But consider this:
The US has the largest prison population on the planet. We didn’t get that way with touchy-feely police forces, court systems, fair laws, and people who were free to smoke pot, for instance, just like someone who drops by a local bar for a shot of whiskey or a bottle of cold brew.
And China, often touted in the US press as ruled over by a brutal, authoritarian Communist government is only ranked in 2nd place in a country with more than four times the number of people.
The U.S. locks up 707 people per every 100,000 (the link to the source is at the bottom of this comment). The U.S. also has the 3rd largest population on the planet. There’s only one country on the planet that locks up more people per 100,000 than the U.S. and that is the Seychelles at 868 per 100,000—-but that total prison population is only 736 with a total country population of about 89k.
China is #1 for total population but only locks up 124 people per 100,000
India is #2 for total population but only locks up 33 per 100,000 and India is also a democracy.
How about a few of the other major democracies like Canada, the UK, France and Germany?
The United Kingdom locks up 149 per 100,000
Germany locks up 80 per 100,000
France locks up 102 per 100,000
Canada, our northern neighbor, only locks up 118 per 100,000.
What about Finland, since the US eduction system is often compared to that socialist democracy? The answer is 55 per 100,000
And what about nasty old Russia? They lock up 467 per 100,000 people.
http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison-population-total?field_region_taxonomy_tid=All
Hey, “who knows” is good enough for me. The U.S. is on the top ten list of the world’s most brutal and deadly police forces.
Diane- Indiana needs your help- the are trying to remove Glenda Ritz from power and push through policy that does not help the children or teachers in Indiana- get the word out-
I know about the Pence machine in Indiana. I know that Glenda Ritz got more votes than Pence, and he is outraged that he doesn’t control education.
Governor Pence is trying to reverse the election of 2012. The voters chose Ritz.
Start a petition to oust him for being a bully.
Governor Cuomo swimming against the current: http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2015/01/29/gov-cuomos-big-fix-for-evaluations-bucks-national-trend/#.VMsCH2TF_7V
Another good argument against Cyberschools.
The article you reference is a blog that starts with an article produced by an organization called “Top Criminal Justice Programs” which itself is a blog/advertising organization devoted to enrolling students in the “top” criminal justice programs.
Many of the contributors are law enforcement officers/agencies and after reading what the article said about the USA, not sure we’re all that bad.
Diane: Thought you might be interested in the latest development in California. California districts take funding very seriously. And unfunded mandates are killing already cash strapped districts. Santa Ana gets a large amount of Title 1 money. Other districts are relying on parents and PTAs to fund their computer needs. People are done funding technology so that our students can take mandatory tests. Hopefully this will be the the beginning of the end.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/districts-649666-state-school.html
Diane, Today on NPR I heard that President Obama’s proposed budget has more funding for charter schools. What about public schools? When will this madness end? This has to be a time to make a stand for public schools. What do you suggest?
Cjonson, join the Network for Public Education. Join United Opt Out. Join the BATs. Get involved. Organize.
I will look into those organizations. The President seems to have a deaf ear toward the needs of public education. Even Matt Damon hasn’t been able to reach him. Arnie Duncan is the worst Secretary of Education ever. Margaret Spellings is the runner up, however.
Just saw this “program”. It is advertised as “free”, and open to anyone who has a Bachelor degree. Perhaps there is a need to look into it?? Should this be the way to train good principals?
http://www.brightohio.org/
Words just escape me. Online Preschool classes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/02/02/and-now-online-preschool-classes-really/
Look out West Virginia, you are in for the next reform wave
http://www.statejournal.com/story/27972595/west-virginia-legislature-looks-at-education-reform
And we know what that means: CHARTERS!
I think this video is worth sharing:
Standardized Testing is not Teaching
A little something I helped to write. It will be featured in Fairtest this week too. http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/02/04/4530781_moving-beyond-test-and-punish.html?rh=1
I have kids in Buffalo Public Schools. For the record. I did NOT vote for this board member. But, this happened the other day:
http://www.dailypublic.com/articles/02062015/bps-and-its-shiny-new-police-state
Thought this might interest you
An article written by several NYS incredible teacher leaders. I hope it receives a wide audience.
http://m.timesunion.com/tuplus-opinion/article/You-made-it-personal-We-are-not-the-enemy-6068440.php?cmpid=fb#comments
Mary S, the Times-Union article is behind a paywall. I can’t read it. I know it is a letter by 7 trachers of the year to Cuomo. Could you copy and send to me at gardendd@aol.com? I will excerpt with care.
http://m.timesunion.com/tuplus-opinion/article/You-made-it-personal-We-are-not-the-enemy-6068440.php?cmpid=fb
I think this link works.
—Great Article—
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120794/chinese-education-system-prizes-intense-hard-work
That only works if you have a subscription.
Turley’s blog focuses on civil rights and liberties. Usually the denial of. Here’s a NYC Principal post. Note the picture.
New York Principal at Struggling School Accused Of Building Private Gym
This might explain Gulen charters in the United States. And even John Kerry is involved.
Gulen Movement woos US congressmen with campaign donations and free trips
http://www.turkeyagenda.com/gulen-movement-woos-us-congressmen-with-campaign-donations-and-free-trips-1959.html
Diane,
You were quoted extensively in this article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/modeledbehavior/2015/02/08/the-paradoxes-of-education-reform-critics/ It is ripe for a response!
3 anti-corporate reform tracks by a punk band called Axebomber.
http://axebomber.bandcamp.com/track/opt-out
http://axebomber.bandcamp.com/track/profitless
http://axebomber.bandcamp.com/track/lost-content
Wanted to share some recent events from Ohio and the PARCC testing approaching 2/17/15
Superintendent Dr. Bob Hill Firelands School District https://ffalcons.wordpress.com/2015/02/09/an-open-letter-when-is-enough-enough/
Little Miami Superintendent Greg Power
http://highlandcountypress.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=20&ArticleID=26188
Stacie Starr Elyria Teacher Resigns
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/oh-lorain/elyria-teacher-known-for-winning-top-teacher-contest-announces-resignation
Arne Duncan, chameleone or champion?
http://smartblogs.com/education/2015/02/10/its-past-time-to-move-beyond-no-child-left-behind-addressing-americas-teachers-and-principals/?utm_source=brief
OSU researchers report on report cards
“In Ohio, we found that 70 percent of school districts deemed to be ‘failing’ by the federal government were actually average or above average, in terms of how much their students were learning in the classroom.
http://glennschool.osu.edu/news/federal-education-reforms-backfired/?utm_campaign=oncampusToday_021115&utm_medium=email&utm_source=EOACLK
Arne Duncan = scam artist, fraud, Judas, quisling, double-dealer, double-crosser, back-stabber, snake in the grass, colluder, betrayer, deceiver, hypocrite, sneak, imposter, puppet, pawn, tool, jerk, patsy, minion, bootlicker, brownoser,lackey, parasite, stooge, toady …
You know him well…
The National Education Association has identified the problem!!!
http://neatoday.org/2015/01/16/shameful-milestone-majority-public-school-students-now-live-poverty/?utm_source=nea_today_express&utm_medium=email&utm_content=students_poverty&utm_campaign=150211neatodayexpress
but no one cares.
I suspect you may already have seen this, but it’s worthy of attention, alongside the growing evidence of the big money & politics that are strangling our system of public education.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/pearson-education-115026.html
Teachers in the Denver Public School district received this email today. Since DPS is a model for ed-reform I think others should know about Mr. Boasberg and his lack of teacher support. He was just in Washington testifying how great our district is doing and how wonderful his turn-around schools are doing now that they are charters and innovative schools…which is not true.
My guess is he knows what his salary will be next year.
From: DCTA [CO] [mailto:DCTA@coloradoea.org]
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 7:32 AM
Subject: ProComp Update – Action Needed!
Importance: High
Dear Denver Educators,
Yesterday ProComp negotiations stalled between DCTA and DPS. Tom Boasberg refuses to guarantee how you will be paid for the 2015-2016 school year.
DCTA wants to fix LEAP and end the bias against teachers in red, orange, and yellow schools.
DCTA wants a new ProComp that:
· Ensures all Denver students get and keep the best teachers,
· Increases the incentives for teachers dedicated to serving our highest needs students,
· Starts teachers at $50,000 per year,
· Provides all teachers equal access to incentives, and includes a ProComp opt-in window,
· Guarantees base-building, not one-time bonuses,
· Isn’t complicated and everyone understands.
But creating a system teachers want takes time, thought, and teacher voice. For now, we need an agreement to guarantee teachers get the pay they earn for 2015-16.
Mr. Boasberg keeps saying he wants to hear from teachers. We need you to tell Superintendent Boasberg to stop playing games and wrap up negotiations on the current ProComp system so we can move forward.
Thank you,
Your Advocates in DCTA
Please post this editorial… We need your help to advocate for more and equitable funding not linked to outlandish reforms:
Another Voice: Cuomo is holding schools and students hostage in his reform effort Updated Wed, Feb 11, 2015 04:51 PM ESTBy Jeffrey R. Rabey
The challenges we face in providing our students the education they deserve are not unique to Western New York, but shared by countless school districts across New York. An inequitable distribution of state funds, unfunded mandates, state aid cuts and now the fourth year of the tax levy cap are forcing school districts to make very difficult decisions on an annual basis. Apparently, this year will be no different, due to the new budgeting tactic taken by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
At Depew, our student-first and fiscally responsible approach has left us a little better off than some, but not as well as a number of the wealthier downstate districts that have lost significantly less state aid per student than we have. It was our hope for this year that the governor would have appreciated the dire situation schools are in and presented a responsible education budget, which addressed the lack of funding support from the state.
However, after the recent State of the State address and his budget presentation, he is now threatening the much-needed finances against his educational reform agenda. In fact, his proposal is simply to accept his reforms or school districts will not receive any significant increase in state support. This tactic is holding schools and their students hostage, while the governor attempts to push his initiatives forward. Collectively, we need to reach out to our legislative representatives and advocate for the much-needed financial support public education needs in order to protect our children’s future.
As an educational leader, I hope our representatives listen and actually pursue real change in the financing of our schools and don’t stop until there is a new and equitable funding mechanism put into place. If nothing changes, schools will be both financially and educationally insolvent in the near future.
At a time when reform efforts and demands on school districts have increased, the resources that we need to successfully implement these reform efforts are being taken away and directly impacting our students. Over the past several years, due to the state’s defunding of our schools, Depew had to make more than $5.5 million in reductions, including some 29 staff members. We have also utilized about $6 million in reserve funds and fund balance.
We are regularly asked by our district residents, “What can I do to help?” Collectively, we need to remind our elected officials that they represent our children as well. We need to ask them, “Where is the mandate relief?” “Where is the equitable funding distribution?” “How can schools be expected to provide a sound basic education with diminishing revenue streams?”
We will be interested in the answers and are now desperately awaiting better news from Albany.
Jeffrey R. Rabey, Ph.D., is superintendent of Depew Union Free Schools.
Sent from my iPhone
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Diane, Is there some reason why the “comments are closed” for your most recent post, “Indiana: Senate Committee Approves Bill to Exempt Voucher Schools from State Testing” or was that done in error?
More foolishness in Tennessee. My daughter teaches in Nashville, went to Vandy and Harvard, but cannot qualify for an admin license… has to have a master’s from one of 19 approved TN schools…. by the way, Vandy is not approved. First article in Nashville Tennessean, then follow up as two state legislators are filing a bill to change this policy.
http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2015/02/06/harvard-educated-teacher-principal-tennessee/22997239/
http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2015/02/12/bill-addresses-states-principal-licensure-process/23304027/
I’ve been reading all the garbage that Cuomo has been saying about our schools and thought that his claims that schools are failing can easily be disproven with his own data. Since our state test scores mirror the NAEP test and proficient is equivalent to an A wouldn’t that prove that those students who passed the test are actually above grade level? Don’t we actually have a high number of students who are on grade level, but that information is hidden from the public because the cut scores won’t account for grade level work?
Let’s Not Waste School Reform on Failed Ideas
02/13/20150 Comments
I’ve been planning to start a blog for a good year, but somehow it never gets started. Well, today folks, necessity is going to be the mother of invention. The commentary below was published yesterday, 2/12/2015, on the Providence Journal’s op-ed page and was also featured in its e-edition. As luck would have it, yesterday was the day that the Projo reformatted it’s e-edition. Stuff was lost, including my piece. Here it is instead:
Last year the Carnegie Corporation of New York awarded a $3 million, three-year grant to the Providence Public School District to design two small high schools in the city. At a press conference announcing the grant at the end of July, Providence Public Schools Superintendent Susan F. Lusi said, “We have a chance to create these schools from the ground up, to let them be proof points that we can succeed in taking a different approach to education.”
However, the schools are not being created from the ground up. Superintendent Lusi announced at the end of October that the new schools will instead be located in already-existing high schools, one at Mt. Pleasant and the other at Hope. As a former Hope High School teacher, I would love to see the plan succeed, but there is good reason to fear the project is doomed from the get-go. Why don’t we pay attention to the research on schools located within larger schools? Failing that, why don’t we learn from our own history?
A review by the U.S. Department of Education in 2007 of all the research available on small schools located within larger schools concludes that very few schools-within-schools have been fully implemented; they do not obtain “sufficient separateness and autonomy.” Specific problems include rivalry between the larger school and the smaller school unit; inequitable tracking; and weakening the role of the building principal. In summary, attempts to do it on the cheap, inserting a small school within a larger one, have generally failed.
Hope High School is a sterling example of the problems that surface when a small high school is located within a larger one. When I began teaching at Hope in 1995, the Essential High School had been located on the top floor since the early 1980s. The differences were obvious immediately, even to my untrained eye. Most of the school building was chaotic, with students roaming the halls all day and huge classes where teachers were constantly dealing with behavior problems. On the third floor, where the Essential School was located, the halls were calm and there was a sense of pride and enthusiasm in the air. For the first couple of years, when I saw students in my classes who were eager to succeed, I’d take them quietly aside and encourage them to start the application process that could gain them entry upstairs. Losing them was hard but it was a small price to pay, I thought, for knowing that someone who wanted to learn would be in an environment where they could.
All children start off wanting to learn, but by high school most urban students are dealing with a long history of discouragement. There are a multitude of discouraging influences, but a significant factor at Hope at the time was the sense students had that, if they weren’t in the Essential School, they were in the “Unessential School.” That was what they called themselves and that’s how they felt every time another good student disappeared upstairs or they heard about another special event the Essential School students were involved in. Their envy and anger came out in many destructive ways, both big and small. I realized eventually that the presence of the Essential School was actually contributing to the problems of the larger school and stopped sending students upstairs.
A few years later, I became involved in the process to create small learning communities for all of the students at Hope. It took a few years of trial and error but by the early 2000s, the Essential School was replaced by three all-inclusive communities, test scores were climbing, and morale was high. That continued until 2009. Shortly after that, the communities were summarily dismantled by administrators with other plans.
With the Carnegie grant, we’ve come full circle, looking to small schools as a way to improve urban education, but once again we’re trying to cut corners by plopping a small school down in an already-existing school. We cannot improve urban education on the cheap; urban students need more services than their peers elsewhere; many are dealing with a new and difficult language and most are dealing with the tremendous pressures and instabilities that poverty causes. If the district is committed to going down the small school road again, it needs to develop a plan with buy-in from the community, not just a knee-jerk reaction to whomever has a couple of million to spend. And, above all, let’s not waste our time on something that’s a proven failure, the school-within-a-school model.
Author
Carole Marshall taught high school English in Providence, Rhode Island for two decades until NCLB and RTTT turned the learning experience for urban students into abuse. She is the author of Stubborn Hope: Memoir of an Urban Teacher.
The small school concept has been tried before and failed. Bill Gates spent several hundred million on a small school concept and then due to no success quickly dropped it and moved on to attack teachers through Common Core rank and yank policies.
“In the past eight years, the foundation has spent nearly $4 billion promoting his personal education agenda; at first providing subsidies to districts that would agree to close down large neighborhood high schools and start small schools in their place; and now encouraging the rapid and widespread proliferation of charter schools. Gates also is aggressively promoting efforts to create programs that link teacher evaluation and compensation to standardized test scores. …
“Actually, it has reached lot more students than that, as its small-schools initiative had a profound impact on inner city schools with the most disadvantaged children.
“In recent years the Gates initiative has turned districts upside-down, at first establishing as many small schools as possible, creating thousands of new administrator jobs, eating up classroom space, and compelling the neediest kids who were excluded from the new small schools to travel long distances to attend even more overcrowded large schools in worse conditions than before, relegating those schools to failure.
“The small schools created in their place, with several schools sharing one building, were forced to fight fiercely over scarce space, losing science labs, art rooms, libraries, and intervention spaces in the process. The same situation is now unfolding in NYC as the rapidly proliferating charter schools are wedged into public school buildings. As a result, the existing public school, with much higher concentrations of English language learners, special needs students, and homeless children, is now in many cases forced to provide instruction and mandated services in hallways and closets. …
“Some of the new small schools failed miserably; while others succeeded, but when I asked the researchers who wrote these studies why they had not examined class size to determine its possible relationship to these schools’ ability to improve student engagement and achievement, they responded that they had not been allowed by the Gates Foundation to include this as a factor in their analysis.”
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/teachers/bill-gates-troubling-involveme.html
https://www.longislandadvance.net/articles/2015/02/05/Pat-Med-super-pokes-holes-in-governors-reform
Michael Hynes, the story is behind a paywall and I can’t open it
Photo By ADV/ALLEGREZZA: Patchogue-Medford Superintendent Michael Hynes views Governor Cuomo’s education reforms unfavorably.
Pat-Med super pokes holes in governor’s reform
Story By: NICOLE ALLEGREZZA,
04 February 2015
Prior to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State Address announcing his new education reform, Patchogue Medford Superintendent Michael Hynes crafted his ideology on the matter.
Hynes said his ideas stemmed from a report written in 1983 called “A Nation at Risk.” The report proposed that American schools were in trouble and “to watch out.”
“My concern is that what he is doing as a governor is overstepping his rights and responsibilities,” Hynes said of Cuomo’s reforms. “It is impacting and impeding on public schools [ability] to function the way that they should.”
One of Hynes’ biggest criticisms is the way Cuomo announced that public schools will receive $1.2 billion in state funding. While the money seems favorable, Hynes explained Cuomo did not break down exactly what each school should expect to receive during the critical time of planning for next year’s budget.
“He is not telling schools in advance. We have no idea what his thoughts are about state aid,” said Hynes. “It makes it very difficult to plan still not knowing and to me that is a major bullying tactic that he really shouldn’t be doing.”
Additionally Hynes disagrees with Cuomo’s plans for teacher evaluation reform. He believes Cuomo is overstepping his role as the governor by designing a new teacher plan, which “is not his job.” Rather, Hynes states, the job belongs to the Commissioner of Education and the Board of Regents.
Further, according to Cuomo’s state address, he is looking to offer $20,000 bonus incentives to those evaluated as “high performing” teachers. Cuomo stated there also would be improvement plans to those who score poorly.
Hynes stated that incentives are inefficient and categorize teachers by putting them in boxes.
“He is looking to create a cast system of teachers and it just doesn’t work because it pits people against each other. Competition in schools doesn’t work,” explained Hynes.
Also, in Cuomo’s reform proposal he suggests evaluating teacher’s effectiveness on both test scores and observations equally. The outcome, according to the governor, will stop the inflation of almost all teachers being rated as effective. It would also limit tenured teachers by only granting tenure to those who have achieved five consecutive years of “effective ratings,” as opposed to the original three-year requirement.
Hynes suggests that if teachers’ evaluations are highly dependent upon test scores, they will become more anxious about testing and teach to the tests. In effect, students will be highly impacted by not only feeling the pressure to score high for their own good but also for their teacher’s well being. “That is a lot of pressure that I don’t feel our students need. In fact, I actually think that it is child abuse,” he said.
Some changes that can be made in his opinion, include removing some old antiquated state mandates forced upon the public schools. He also believes teacher evaluation tools can benefit from following a “growth model” rather than a “deficit model” where observers are always looking for the negatives.
“The governor proposes to look for things that are wrong,” he said. “What I would like to do, and I know our principals certainly do here, is if I am observing in the classroom I am going to notice the things done well and some of things that need to be augmented and tweaked.”
Hynes explained because the issue of “ineffective” teachers equates to such a minimal amount, a deficit model is unnecessary. “A significant amount of teachers leave the profession after the first five years because of all the stresses that go on but the number one thing that makes them leave is that they don’t feel they are doing a good enough job,” he said. The growth model in effect will create a more positive approach to teacher evaluation. He added that by also providing mentors to first- and second- year teachers, it effectively produces better quality, long term teachers.
The real reason for underachievement, which is rarely addressed, is poverty. “Schools that have a significant amount of poverty in their school district will have low achievement,” he emphasized. Bad test scores, according to Hynes, “really comes down to schools that don’t have enough to serve the needs of the kids.”
If and when Cuomo’s educational plans become reality, Hynes believes there will be a “seismic shift” in the way educational services are delivered to the students. With the agenda on the table, one question remains for Hynes: What will be the next step before Cuomo pushes his reform in early April? While he’s unsure whether or not local legislatures can help at this point, “I am counting on my fellow superintendents who are in support of what I am talking about, the PTAs, and the moms and dads to say `this is inappropriate,’” he said. ”Enough is enough. What you’re doing is going to destroy public schools.”
Those who oppose the governor’s plans should attend board of education meetings and voice their concerns and write letters to the governor, the Commissioner of Education, and the Board of Regents. Additionally, if any parents from the Patchogue-Medford school district have any questions or concerns, Hynes encourages them to call or make an appointment to meet with him to discuss the issue at hand. He can be reached at (631) 687-6380 or mhynes@pmschools.org.
Michael J. Hynes, Ed. D.
>
Diane, I work closely with David Gamberg, Joe Rella and Steven Cohen on LI. I hope you find this blog acceptable to publish.
Regards,
Mike Hynes
Public Schools Work- We Need to Focus Below the Iceberg
Everyone in American education hears the relentless and consistent criticism of our schools: Compared to schools in other nations, we come up short. But the evidence on which that judgment rests is narrow and very thin.
A January study released by the Horace Mann League and the National Superintendents Roundtable, School Performance in Context: The Iceberg Effect, challenges the practice of ranking nations by educational test scores and questions conventional wisdom that the U.S. educational system has fallen badly behind school systems abroad.
The study compared six dimensions related to student performance—equity, social stress, support for families, support for schools, student outcomes, and system outcomes—in the G-7 nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) plus Finland and China. They then examined 24 “indicators” within those dimensions.
Of the nine nations, the United States remains the wealthiest with the most highly educated workforce, based on the number of years of school completed, and the proportion of adults with high school diplomas and bachelor’s degrees.
“Many policymakers and business leaders fret that America has fallen behind Europe and China, but our research does not bear that out,” said James Harvey, executive director of the National Superintendents Roundtable.
Despite high educational levels, the United States also reflects high levels of economic inequity and social stress compared to the other nations. All are related to student performance. For example, in American public schools today, the rate of childhood poverty is five times greater than it is in Finland. Rates of violent death are 13 times greater than the average for the other nations, with children in some communities reporting they have witnessed shootings, knifings, and beatings as “ordinary, everyday events.”
Some key findings:
• Economic Equity: The United States and China demonstrate the greatest gaps between rich and poor. The U.S. also contends with remarkably high rates of income inequality and childhood poverty.
• Social Stress: The U.S.reported the highest rates of violent death and teen pregnancy, and came in second for death rates from drug abuse. The U.S.is also one of the most diverse nations with many immigrant students, suggesting English may not be their first language.
• Support for Families: The U.S. performed in the lowest third on public spending for services that benefit children and families, including preschool.
• Support for Schools: Americans seem willing to invest in education: The U.S. leads the nine-nation group in spending per student, but the national estimates may not be truly comparable. U.S. teachers spend about 40 percent more time in the classroom than their peers in the comparison countries.
• Student Outcomes: Performance in American elementary schools is promising, while middle school performance can be improved. U.S. students excel in 4th grade reading and high school graduation rates, but perform less well in reading at age 15. There are no current studies comparing the performance of high school graduates across countries. All nations demonstrate an achievement gap based on students’ family income and socio-economic status.
• System Outcomes: The U.S. leads these nations in educational levels of its adult workforce. Measures included years of schooling completed and the proportion of adults with high-school diplomas and bachelor’s degrees. American students also make up 25 percent of the world’s top students in science at age 15, followed by Japan at 13 percent.
“Too often, we narrow our focus to a few things that can be easily tested. Treating education as a horse race doesn’t work,” said HML President Gary Marx.
American policymakers from both political parties have a history of relying on large, international assessments to judge United States’ school performance. In 2013, the press reported that American students were falling behind when compared to 61 other countries and a few cities including Shanghai. In that comparative assessment—called the Program for International Student Assessment—PISA controversially reported superior scores for Shanghai.
The study doesn’t oppose international assessments as one measure of performance. But it argues for the need to compare American schools with similar nations and on more than a single number from an international test. In a striking metaphor, the study defines test scores as just “tip of the school iceberg.”
A fair conclusion to reach from the study is that while all is not well in the American classroom, our schools are far from being the failure they are painted to be. Addressing serious school problems will require policymakers to do something about the huge part of the iceberg that lies below the waterline in terms of poverty and economic inequity, community stress, and support for families and schools. We must stop blaming public schools and demonizing educators. The problem is not at the tip of the iceberg, it is well below the surface.
**************************
Michael Hynes is the superintendent of the Patchogue-Medford School District and member of the National Superintendent’s Roundtable
Photo By ADV/ALLEGREZZA: Patchogue-Medford Superintendent Michael Hynes views Governor Cuomo’s education reforms unfavorably.
Pat-Med super pokes holes in governor’s reform
Story By: NICOLE ALLEGREZZA,
04 February 2015
Prior to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State Address announcing his new education reform, Patchogue Medford Superintendent Michael Hynes crafted his ideology on the matter.
Hynes said his ideas stemmed from a report written in 1983 called “A Nation at Risk.” The report proposed that American schools were in trouble and “to watch out.”
“My concern is that what he is doing as a governor is overstepping his rights and responsibilities,” Hynes said of Cuomo’s reforms. “It is impacting and impeding on public schools [ability] to function the way that they should.”
One of Hynes’ biggest criticisms is the way Cuomo announced that public schools will receive $1.2 billion in state funding. While the money seems favorable, Hynes explained Cuomo did not break down exactly what each school should expect to receive during the critical time of planning for next year’s budget.
“He is not telling schools in advance. We have no idea what his thoughts are about state aid,” said Hynes. “It makes it very difficult to plan still not knowing and to me that is a major bullying tactic that he really shouldn’t be doing.”
Additionally Hynes disagrees with Cuomo’s plans for teacher evaluation reform. He believes Cuomo is overstepping his role as the governor by designing a new teacher plan, which “is not his job.” Rather, Hynes states, the job belongs to the Commissioner of Education and the Board of Regents.
Further, according to Cuomo’s state address, he is looking to offer $20,000 bonus incentives to those evaluated as “high performing” teachers. Cuomo stated there also would be improvement plans to those who score poorly.
Hynes stated that incentives are inefficient and categorize teachers by putting them in boxes.
“He is looking to create a cast system of teachers and it just doesn’t work because it pits people against each other. Competition in schools doesn’t work,” explained Hynes.
Also, in Cuomo’s reform proposal he suggests evaluating teacher’s effectiveness on both test scores and observations equally. The outcome, according to the governor, will stop the inflation of almost all teachers being rated as effective. It would also limit tenured teachers by only granting tenure to those who have achieved five consecutive years of “effective ratings,” as opposed to the original three-year requirement.
Hynes suggests that if teachers’ evaluations are highly dependent upon test scores, they will become more anxious about testing and teach to the tests. In effect, students will be highly impacted by not only feeling the pressure to score high for their own good but also for their teacher’s well being. “That is a lot of pressure that I don’t feel our students need. In fact, I actually think that it is child abuse,” he said.
Some changes that can be made in his opinion, include removing some old antiquated state mandates forced upon the public schools. He also believes teacher evaluation tools can benefit from following a “growth model” rather than a “deficit model” where observers are always looking for the negatives.
“The governor proposes to look for things that are wrong,” he said. “What I would like to do, and I know our principals certainly do here, is if I am observing in the classroom I am going to notice the things done well and some of things that need to be augmented and tweaked.”
Hynes explained because the issue of “ineffective” teachers equates to such a minimal amount, a deficit model is unnecessary. “A significant amount of teachers leave the profession after the first five years because of all the stresses that go on but the number one thing that makes them leave is that they don’t feel they are doing a good enough job,” he said. The growth model in effect will create a more positive approach to teacher evaluation. He added that by also providing mentors to first- and second- year teachers, it effectively produces better quality, long term teachers.
The real reason for underachievement, which is rarely addressed, is poverty. “Schools that have a significant amount of poverty in their school district will have low achievement,” he emphasized. Bad test scores, according to Hynes, “really comes down to schools that don’t have enough to serve the needs of the kids.”
If and when Cuomo’s educational plans become reality, Hynes believes there will be a “seismic shift” in the way educational services are delivered to the students. With the agenda on the table, one question remains for Hynes: What will be the next step before Cuomo pushes his reform in early April? While he’s unsure whether or not local legislatures can help at this point, “I am counting on my fellow superintendents who are in support of what I am talking about, the PTAs, and the moms and dads to say `this is inappropriate,’” he said. ”Enough is enough. What you’re doing is going to destroy public schools.”
Those who oppose the governor’s plans should attend board of education meetings and voice their concerns and write letters to the governor, the Commissioner of Education, and the Board of Regents. Additionally, if any parents from the Patchogue-Medford school district have any questions or concerns, Hynes encourages them to call or make an appointment to meet with him to discuss the issue at hand. He can be reached at (631) 687-6380 or mhynes@pmschools.org.
Hello.
So I really am hoping to read more about what people are saying about “growth” in test scores and progress monitoting. Is saying, “well as long as a higher proportion is focused on growth than just on performance, then we can live with VAM and high stakes” cop out on the part of those hoping to protect the quality of the experience at school, or is it a true middle ground? I’m eager to know what thoughtful people might add to that question.
I have been a teacher for thirteen years. I graduated with highest honors from Rutgers University, earned my masters degree from Queens College, graduating with honors and begun work on my PhD to help me become a better teacher. The teacher I am today is not the teacher I was yesterday, nor is she the teacher I will be tomorrow. I learn every day from students, families, colleagues, professional development, research and my own mistakes. In thirteen years, former students of mine have become writers, teachers, philanthropists, doctors, nurses, mechanics, beauticians, small business owners, etc… My employment as their teacher has been carved from a relationship I have built with the district that employs me. The district I graciously serve. I am a public servant. I do not take this assignment lightly.
Governor Cuomo is holding state aid to public schools hostage. His ransom? Using eleven hours of tests, that the state scores, and converts to teacher ratings, assigning a great many teachers, including myself, ineffective. One score. Six days of testing to remove a teacher who works 12 hours a day, gives her students her cell phone number so she can help them with homework at home and invites Spanish-speaking parents in to the classroom to explain, in Spanish, the value of reading and writing. A teacher who will stop at NOTHING to push her students forward. Passing rates on the state test vary year to year from 72% to 83 % depending upon how the state wants teachers to be perceived from year to year.
Governor Cuomo and the New York State Board of Regents want to use test scores it assigns to my students, against me, their teacher. This is not the role of assessment. Assessment has a single purpose – to inform instruction. Its responsibility is to let students, teachers and families what students know, and what they do not know. Under the Governor’s proposed plan, these scores would warrant my removal from the classroom, violating the agreement that my school district and its community have established with me, by using children as its weapon of choice.
We get no feedback from these scores. No view into what our students know or don’t know or what we as teachers have taught well nor what we have not. But it costs millions of dollars to implement each year.
As a mother, I will not permit my own four children to be used as pawns against their teachers. The only way we can stop this abuse of power is to refuse to permit our children to be used as pawns.
The cornerstone of public education in the United States is the local community school district. Allowing scores the state assigns our children after six days of testing to be used to remove teachers we have placed in their classroom is an unacceptable, egregious overstepping of power. We have power as parents to protect our children from harm, and we have an overwhelming responsibility to keep the over-reaching powers of the state from reaching into our children’s classrooms.
Bad news from Minnesota
Minnesota House passes teacher seniority bill
http://erstarnews.com/2012/02/24/minnesota-house-passes-teacher-seniority-bill/
Rebecca Miller
Sorry guess this was an old article. MPR reported similar bill just past. But I guess it hasn’t been reported yet.
Bad news from Minnesota
Minnesota House passes teacher seniority bill
http://erstarnews.com/2012/02/24/minnesota-house-passes-teacher-seniority-bill/
Rebecca Miller