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Denver: Teachers Likely to Strike Due to Low Pay

By dianeravitch
February 11, 2019 //
20

Denver teachers are likely to go out on strike, CNN reports, due to absurdly low salaries. 

They can’t afford to live in the city where they teach.

A city and state that refuses to pay a decent middle-class wage to its teachers doesn’t care about its children or its future.

Of course, Denver is the city that Corporate Reformers admire because it has adopted the “portfolio model” of charters intermingled with public schools, instead of paying its teachers appropriately.

CNN reports:

For 14 months, teachers in Denver have been negotiating with Denver Public Schools for more pay. On Saturday, the Denver Classroom Teachers Association said talks had broken off and they’ll walk on Monday.

Yes, it’s about money, many have told CNN. But it’s also about the uncertainty of living paycheck to paycheck. It’s about the necessity of taking on a second or third job. It’s about the untenability of carrying on this way much longer.
Katie McOwen has had to make some tough decisions when it comes to money.
At the end of this month, she’s giving up her one-bedroom apartment and will move into a friend’s basement. The move sacrifices some of her independence, but it affords her some wiggle room with her finances.
The sixth-grade math teacher at Place Bridge Academy in Denver said she makes about $50,000 per year. After paying $1,050 in rent, plus student loan payments, bills and other expenses, there’s not much left over. She also nannies during the summers to supplement income.
“I really am living paycheck to paycheck right now,” McOwen said. “If my car broke down or anything, I would be really hurting.”
McOwen is lucky that she doesn’t have to make car payments. She drives a 2000 Honda Accord, which just hit 310,000 miles. It works now, but she worries about the future.
“I know if something really happens, I will be in big, big trouble,” she said.
Why? Because she wouldn’t be able to go to work.
The 35-year-old is originally from West Virginia, the state that launched a teacher strike and inspired similar movements across the United States last year. Her mother and sisters, who also live in Denver, have talked about moving back east, or somewhere near there, to find a more affordable life.
“My option was to either move there or I’ve been contemplating moving into a camper van,” she said with a laugh. “I knew something was going to have to change. It was either to move completely out of Denver or to bunk with my friend.”

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Denver, Education Industry, Portfolio District, Privatization, Teacher Pay, Teachers

Angie Sullivan: “Reform” in Nevada is Teacher-Hatred

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2019 //
11

Angie Sullivan manages to write a regular eloquent letter to every legislator in Nevada.

She teaches young children in a high-poverty school in Las Vegas.

Here is her latest:

 

I think the Nevada State School Board is moving in the wrong direction and causing a lot of issues in CCSD.  
My priority would NOT be reform.  
Reform is code for:   HATE THE TEACHER. 
It does not work and it makes us mad.  
Reform is  “teacher hate”  bought by millionaire and billionaire eduphilantrophists.   It is also known as union busting.  We do not need another well-funded group that hates the people in the classroom.  You have abused us for a couple of decades and nearly ruined your school system.  Enough. 
 
Reform has a bad taint across the nation because it is associated with disruption and destruction.  Nothing of value replaced the chaos.  It is not enough to starve and destroy – you still have 320,000 students.  Most districts are abandoning failed reform systems which were expensive and not research based in the first place. 
Reform is a disguised attack teacher working conditions and due process.  The assumption being teachers caused the issue –  when the administration was failing.  Wrong target.  Hit the right place next time. 
Business management is not education leadership. 
Leadership creates synergy and productivity.  Management makes everyone scared and sad. 
Reform means mandates, demands, and crushing job tasks for teachers.  Regressively taxing teacher time and money.  Driving thousands from their education careers by using excessive burdens.  
Leadership should include folks with actual public school experience.   Someone who has studied education preferable.  This seems logical but we have not had someone like that – for awhile.  And it shows.  
Reform means leaders with a background in communications are paid well to attack teachers in the media.  If you ask reformers for their background – it is not often education.  It is usually sales.  Or marketing. 
Those who are associated with reform – are usually not educators, lead from the top instead of gaining labor buy-in, and misuse the funds.  
Reform means expensive computer programs but less staff to care for children.   Computer software is not capable of replacing a human being.  
We do not need to buy anymore $500 million systems.  A corporation should not be allowed to control the district.  
Reform means money changes hands in dirtydowntown and numbers are dark to keep it covered. 
We do not need more testing. Testing is not instruction.  Testing is not learning.  
Reform means authentic care and learning are ignored while schools focus all resources on testing.  Kids are more than a score.  
We do not need to attack Vegas neighborhood schools. 
Reform means takeover and turnaround for public schools in minority at-risk Vegas instead of actually addressing the real failing schools (Rural and Charters – both are predominantly white).  Brown folks are easier to attack.  Enough with the racism.  
We do not need or privatize or sell our schools to for-profit corporations.  
Reform means $350 million in Nevada Charters creating the worst performing, non-graduating, for-profit corporate, and bankrupt system in the state.  
We do not need any more consultants.
Reform means young folks imported from Tennessee, Chicago, Oakland to preach to old grizzled teaching veterans.  A nice suit does not mean you know a thing.   And they open their mouths and it is confirmed – nothing.  I am sure they are paid well.  
We do not anymore reformers.   They just do not know what they are doing.  We tried it their way for a couple of decades and millions of kids suffered.  
How about some good old education leadership?  
 
Clean the house of corruption.  Void bad deals.  Cancel bad contracts.   Review leases.  
 
Shut down the charters.  
 
Get the finances in order.  
 
And hire a fully prepared, skilled and dedicated teacher for every classroom – who is then retained by good working conditions.   Supplies.  Reasonable class size.  
 
Teaching needs to happen.  Not junk science bought by someone on a ship while drunk.  
It’s not exciting.   It works.  
The Teacher,
Angie. 
PS.  Nevada State Board Memers should not  be given $10 million contracts.  We should make a law that puts folks in jail for that.   But would we have a board left?  
Categories Accountability, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization, Teachers

West Virginia Teachers Authorize a New Walkout If Legislature Passes Offfensive Bill

By dianeravitch
February 9, 2019 //
9

Teachers in West Virginia warned that they are still united and #55Strong and prepared to renew their walkout if the legislature passes a bill that contains obnoxious provisions that affect their working conditions and charter schools.

Last year every school in the state’s 55 counties closed down and teachers marched on the State Capitol to demand a 5% pay raise. The governor agreed he would not permit charter school legislation.

The legislature, however, passed a bill that authorized both charters and vouchers.

The announcement comes a day after the House Education Committee approved a stripped down strike-and-insert version of Senate Bill 451 — as compared to what was passed earlier this week in the Senate.

The House Education Committee’s version removes many of the provisions opposed by educators and the leaders of their unions, including provisions that would force members to sign off annually on the deduction of union dues, education savings accounts, and withholding pay during a strike. A non-severability clause — which would make the entire measure null and void should any of its provisions be struck down in a court challenge — was also pulled from the committee’s proposal.

Other provisions in the bill — including the establishment of charter schools — have been significantly altered through amendments in the committee.

While union leaders say they are happy with the bill being whittled away, nothing is final until the legislation is signed by Gov. Jim Justice. The House Education Committee’s strike-and-insert amendment is also merely formative until it is adopted on the chamber floor. If approved with any changes to the version passed by the Senate, the bill would be sent back to the upper chamber.

The teachers of West Virginia have the fighting spirit of the coal miners of that state.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Resistance, Teachers, Unions, Vouchers, West Virginia

West Virginia: Gov. Justice Promised to Block Charter Schools But He Lied

By dianeravitch
February 2, 2019 //
7

 

During last spring’s historic teacher walkout in West Virginia, which closed every school in the state, Governor Jim Justice promised to block charter legislation.

https://www.register-herald.com/news/republicans-vote-down-democratic-amendments-on-charter-schools-esas/article_e531ec82-0c49-5fd7-8da3-39103fd1826a.html

He lied.

The legislature is set to pass both charters and vouchers.

Trachers in charters won’t need certification. Vouchers will include home schooling. Both bills mean less funding for the state’s underfunded public schools.

Gov. Justice could veto the bill but would it have gotten this far without his support?

He lied.

 

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Lies, Privatization, Teachers, Vouchers, West Virginia

West Virginia: Governor Refuses to Add Charter Schools to Pay Increases

By dianeravitch
January 31, 2019 //
9

 

 

Republican legislators in West Virginia want to tie pay increases for teachers—which they were promised when they went on strike last year—to the introduction of charter schools and vouchers. They think that school choice will raise test scores, which it won’t.

Governor Justice said he won’t support charter schools. The state can’t afford it. Presumably he won’t support vouchers either, which not only reduce revenues but lower test scores.

Governor Justice comes out against one W.Va. big education bill

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization, School Choice, Teachers, West Virginia

Eric Blanc: Five Big Lessons from the Los Angeles Teachers’ Strike

By dianeravitch
January 25, 2019 //
14

Eric Blanc has covered the wave of teachers’ strikes that started in March 2018. He has been on the ground at everystrike, talking to the rank and file to get their perspectives as working teachers.

In this article, he describes the big lessons of the strike on Los Angeles.

He begins:

It would be hard to overstate the importance of this victory in the country’s second-largest school district. Against considerable odds, Los Angeles teachers have dealt a major blow against the forces of privatization in the city and nationwide. By taking on Democratic politicians in a deep-blue state, LA’s strike will certainly deepen the polarization within the Democratic Party over education reform and austerity. And by demonstrating the power of striking, LA educators have inspired educators nationwide to follow suit.

With new walkouts now looming in Denver, Oakland, Virginia, and beyond, it makes sense to reflect on the reasons why LA’s school workers came out on top—and what their struggle can teach people across the United States. Here are the five main takeaways.

Strikes Work: For decades, workers and the labor movement have been on the losing side of a one-sided class war. A major reason for this is that unions have largely abandoned the weapon of work stoppages, their most powerful point of leverage against employers. Rallies, marches, and civil disobedience are good, but they’re not enough.

Like the red state rebellions of 2018, the depth of the victory in Los Angeles underscores why the future of organized labor depends on reviving the strike. LA also shows that the most powerful strikes, particularly in the public sector, fight not only for the demands of union members, but on behalf of the broader community as well—an approach the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) calls “bargaining for the common good.”

The Status Quo Is Discredited: LA’s educator revolt is a particularly sharp expression of a nationwide rejection of decades of neoliberalism. Unlike many labor actions, this was not primarily a fight around wages—rather it was a political struggle against the billionaires and their proxies in government.

Like the electoral insurgencies of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, the upsurge of Los Angeles rank-and-file teachers, and the overwhelming support they received from the parents of their students, shows that working people are looking for an alternative to business as usual. Work actions like LA’s will be an essential part of any movement capable of defeating Trump and the far right.

That’s only lesson number one and two.

Keep reading to learn the other lessons.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Los Angeles, Privatization, Resistance, Teacher Education, Teachers, Unions

Denver Teachers Vote to Strike!

By dianeravitch
January 24, 2019 //
12

The Teacher Revolt continues!

Fred Klonsky reports here that 93% of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association voted to strike.

Denver has been the epicenter of merit pay since 2005. It has confused and demoralized teachers.

The city school board is completely dominated and bought by reformers, who hold every seat, thanks to out-of-state money. The board has jumped on the portfolio model, closing public schools and opening charter schools. Typically the charters and other alternatives are non-union. Betsy DeVos has praised the Denver model, and hopes it will one day add vouchers.

Read Tom Ultican’s appraisal of the failure of Denver’s portfolio district.

Be it noted that Colorado just elected a Democratic Governor Jared Polis, who started two charter schools, and strongly supports school choice, not public schools.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Denver, Education Industry, Education Reform, Merit pay, Portfolio District, Privatization, Teachers, Testing, Unions

Cory Booker Opens His Presidential Campaign in New Orleans

By dianeravitch
January 20, 2019 //
55

Cory Booker sent a complicated message at his campaign kickoff in New Orleans at Xavier University, where he was sponsored by charter chain and spoke to students.

He told the audience that the power of the people outweighs the power of money.

This is inspirational indeed. It says that those of us fighting the power of the Walton family, the Sackler family, the Koch brothers, Bill Gates, Eli Broad, the DeVos family, Paul Singer, and the many other billionaires attacking our public schools will WIN and the billionaires WILL LOSE.

We–the people–will defeat the powerful.

We will not let them close our public schools with their lies and propaganda. We will not let them turn other American cities into New Orleans.

We want every aspirant for the presidency in 2020–any party–to say where they stand on the issue of the future of public schools, the future of the teaching profession, and the future of collective bargaining.

Thanks, Cory, for reminding us that the power of the people can beat the billionaires and Wall Street, especially those privatizers and hedge funders now supporting your campaign. Itworked for Obama, but it won’t work for you. We know now about the privatization movement.

Tell us where you stand on privatization, the teaching profession, and unions. Or let us guess.

Categories Accountability, Billionaires, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Education Industry, New Orleans, Privatization, Teacher Pay, Teacher Shortage, Teacher Tenure, Teachers, Unions

Los Angeles: How the Resistance Undermined the Propaganda About Teachers

By dianeravitch
January 20, 2019 //
12

Sara Roos, aparent in Los Angeles whose children are no longer in school, muses about the major impact of the Teacher Revolt. It seems there is overwhelming public support for striking teachers (as there was last spring in Red states).

Remember the bad old days when Michelle Rhee, Campbell Brown, and Raj Chetty (not to mention their billionaire funders) were demonizing teachers? I recall a PBS interview with Melinda Gates in which she confidently asserted that “we” (she and Bill) knowhow to make better teachers.

Where are they all today?

How many of the Reformers arespeaking out for more funding and smaller classes?

Let me know if you find them.

Roos, the Red Queen in LA, writes:

To and from today’s tremendous rally in front of LA’s City Hall, you could feel overwhelming support from random people, everywhere. On the expo a stranger tosses out: “Good luck with your strike”. From bus drivers in uniform and lunch couriers in beat-up Hondas, waiting at every intersection from downtown to our neighborhoods blares the staccato horn of support. Professional cameramen trained to remain unfazed and neutral nevertheless emanate waves of sympathy. Business and car windows display signs of solidarity. Workers at City Hall open their windows to hear. Supersaturated among our populace is a pent-up frustration with where we’re at politically, and how to get ourselves heard.
This is Resistance writ huge. This is our women’s march, the march of our teachers. Our teachers are leading the way and giving We the People a voice here in LaLaLand.

These teachers are actually kinda the same old apple-faced Good People they always ever were. There hasn’t been some gigantic social evolution. It’s just the propaganda that’s changed; the underlying reality, not surprisingly, is robust, centered on social service for the betterment of us all. Our teachers haven’t changed, only the corporate, capitalist-centered narrative surrounding all of it has.

By the way, it turns out the long-sought after solution to LA’s traffic gridlock may be simply: stop sending kids far afield to some school of “Choice” and choose to value and invest in your own neighborhood. Anyone else notice how empty the streets have been all week long? When parents aren’t racing their kids hither and yon in a frenzy of Choosing Excellence, everyone’s lives get a little more deeply vested in their surrounds. It is everyone’s right to have the same excellent education as the next families’. But education isn’t a value added commodity to buy off the shelf whether the salesman peddles snake oil, false promises, educational spyware or a social panacea. Like democracy itself it’s a collective activity valued by the value which we each add.

Categories Los Angeles, Parents, Propaganda, Resistance, Teachers

Los Angeles: Black Lives Matter Releases Statement Supporting UTLA Strike

By dianeravitch
January 14, 2019 //
5

Please read this statement released by Black Lives Matter in support of the United Teachers of Los Angeles and their strike for better conditions for teaching and learning.

It reads, in part:

The demands of the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) strike are in direct support of students and parents, and are directly aligned with the four demands of the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. It is therefore our duty to stand with UTLA in it’s fight for:

More nurses, counselors, school psychologists, librarians

Smaller class sizes

Less standardized testing

Sustainable community schools

End to privatization and charter expansion

End to criminalization of students through unlawful and random police searches

Categories Los Angeles, Students, Teachers, Union
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