- Posted by David on July 1, 2010
District says it will keep the best teachers, regardless of seniority
The Battle of Chicago has heated up, with the school board taking aim at one of the teachers unions' most treasured traditions - tenure and the seniority system.
Last week the school board announced that it would start laying off the worst-rated teachers first, regardless of seniority. Officials say the new policy could affect up to 200 teachers who have recently been rated "unsatisfactory" by building principals.
Chicago teachers are annually rated as superior, excellent, satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Those who rate the lowest are generally given an opportunity to improve, but that luxury may no longer be possible during tough economic times.
When it comes to layoffs, district officials say they have a responsibility to keep the best and the brightest in front of the chalkboard and move lesser teachers out the door.
The policy will be invoked if the district follows through with plans for massive layoffs and to increase maximum class sizes from 32 to 35 students, according to officials. The district may also invoke the policy during future periods of layoff due to shrinking enrollment, they said.
The move by the Chicago board is the latest in a series of high-profile attacks on tenure throughout the nation. Lawmakers in Arizona and Colorado paved the way earlier this year by passing tough tenure reform laws, while Florida barely missed out when the governor vetoed strong reform legislation that was passed by the legislature with bipartisan support.
Lawmakers in California and Louisiana have also been debating tenure reform.
Karen Lewis, president-elect of the Chicago Teachers Union, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the new policy is "belligerent" and "confrontational," and quite possibly illegal. She said union attorneys would be investigating the situation in short order.
Chicago School CEO Ron Huberman quoted the state school code, which lists "performance ratings or evaluations" as criteria to consider when layoffs occur.
State law also gives the Chicago school district the right to overturn an arbitrators' decision and fire a tenured teacher following the regular appeals process, according to sources.
But others argue that the current teachers collective bargaining agreement, which calls for traditional layoff rules, takes precedent.
Regardless of the legal outcome, it's clear where both parties' priorities lie: The school board wants the best possible teachers for students, while the veteran teachers are mostly concerned about themselves.
"We think it would be wrong to lay off teachers who are performing for students when we know there are teachers who are not," Huberman told the Sun-Times. "We're trying to do what’s right for kids."
We hope the Chicago school board sticks to its guns and makes sure student needs take precedent over the self-serving demands of organized labor.
Push necessarily comes to shove
It's difficult to understand how the Chicago Teachers Union could be surprised by the board's attack on tenure. The two sides have been at odds for months, because the union refuses to make the slightest concession to help the district overcome a huge budget deficit.
Earlier this year Huberman and Mayor Richard Daley asked the union for a series of contract concessions to avoid massive teacher layoffs. The union said no and called for higher taxes instead.
Then the school board voted to increase the maximum class size from 32 to 35 students, to make way for the layoff of a great number of teachers. The union responded by filing suit to block the new policy.
Now push has necessarily come to shove.
The Chicago school district is in a great deal of financial trouble, and the board has to do whatever is necessary to improve the financial picture and academic opportunities for students. It would be wise, and morally correct, for the union to be a cooperative partner in this effort. But its leaders have continued to play an obstructionist role, leaving the school board no choice but to get tough.
Perhaps tenure wouldn't have become a target if the union had displayed some interest in compromise months ago.
But it's probably all for the best. Tenure is a huge problem that’s waiting to be tackled, in Chicago and throughout the nation. While it’s a bit dated, a 2005 investigation by Illinois journalist Scott Reeder illustrated how the current system is not effective in moving bad teachers out of that state’s classrooms.
According to Reeder's investigation, "The Hidden Costs of Tenure," only 61 of the Illinois' 876 school districts attempted to fire a tenured teacher since the law was changed in the 80s. Of those 61 districts only 38 were successful in firing a tenured teacher.
At the time the article was written, state arbitrators only approved an average of seven teacher firings per year.
Why is termination so rare? Because the law mandates a lengthy appeals process which often costs schools hundreds of thousands of dollars. School officials are often loathe to spend that kind of money on an uncertain outcome, particularly when state arbitrators are notorious for siding with teachers.
Reeder's article pointed out that between 2000 and 2005, only one non-Chicago teacher was successfully fired in Illinois for poor performance. The case was in the appeals process for several years and the school district spent more than $400,000 to get rid of him.
It would be far better to get rid of the tenure system altogether, so school boards won't be afraid to remove bad teachers from our classrooms.
"There is one word for why school boards aren't doing something about problem teachers - unions," one reformer was quoted as saying in Reeder’s study. "For a school board to do anything about a problem teacher, it often will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars."
An educator quoted in Reeder's study put it simply and accurately when he said, "Tenure is bad public policy because it breeds mediocrity."
- Posted by David on June 24, 2010
6.23.10 - ARLINGTON, VA—While this Independence Day will certainly include the usual festivities – fireworks, cookouts, patriotic speeches and Americans dressed in red, white and blue – the meaning behind the celebration has not been lost on America’s next generation.
Perseverance and Courage Valued Most, Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson Inspire Most
A new nationwide survey of nearly 3,000 high school students, released today by the Bill of Rights Institute, Arlington, VA, provides a glimpse into what the nation’s future leaders think about American citizenship: what civic values they admire, who their political heroes are, and which of our Founding documents inspire them the most.
The survey, based on an analysis of the top 3,000 essays submitted in the Bill of Rights Institute’s 2009-10 Being an American Essay Contest – the nation’s largest high school essay contest, with more than 50,000 entries this year – concentrated on three themes: civic values, Founding Fathers and American heroes, and Founding documents.
The survey found:
1. WHAT CIVIC VALUES DO AMERICAN STUDENTS VALUE MOST?
“Perseverance” and “courage” were cited most often as the civic values essential to being an American, with each value being chosen by approximately 15 percent of participating students. Other civic values identified by large numbers of students included equality and respect (14 percent), entrepreneurialism (12 percent), responsibility (9 percent) and liberty (8 percent).
2. WHO ARE THEIR HEROES, PAST AND PRESENT?
Making the top five list, in order, were Thomas Jefferson (18 percent), Abraham Lincoln (14 percent), Martin Luther King, Jr. (12 percent), George Washington (10 percent) and Thomas Paine (9 percent).
3. WHICH FOUNDING DOCUMENT INSPIRES THEM THE MOST?
Students cited the Declaration of Independence (47 percent) and the Constitution (33 percent) as the two most important and inspiring Founding documents, followed by Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, Common Sense.
The breakdown of other Founding documents cited is outlined below:
These results were consistent across all high school grade levels, in all school settings (public, private and home school), with one exception: The majority of 10th graders identified President Lincoln, not Jefferson, as their top hero.
“It’s clear that students have strong opinions about what it means to be a modern American in light of our Founding Fathers and documents,” said Jason Ross, Ph.D., vice president of education programs for the Bill of Rights Institute. “Perhaps even more important: The students believe that American citizens have a responsibility to live by certain principles, or civic values, and understand the importance of perseverance and courage.”
The analysis was conducted by Social Dynamics, LLC for the Bill of Rights Institute and paid for with a donation from Dr. John M. Templeton, Jr. Copies are available online at www.billofrightsinstitute.org or by contacting Sonia Blumstein at 205.620.2087 or Sonia@PRoactiveSolutionsInc.net.
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About the Being An American Essay Contest:
Sponsored by the Bill of Rights Institute, this annual contest asks students to write an essay in response to the following question: “What civic value do you believe is most essential to being an American? Trace the enduring importance of this value throughout the American story by discussing: a Founding document that reflects this value; a figure from American history who embodies this value; and examples of how you have and/or could put this value into practice.”
In the 2009-10 school year, more than 50,000 students participated in the contest. Nearly $200,000 in prize money was awarded to students and their sponsoring teachers. The top three students from each of nine regions, and their sponsoring teachers, won trips to Washington, DC.
About the Bill of Rights Institute:
The Bill of Rights Institute, founded in 1999, is a nonprofit educational organization. The mission of the Bill of Rights Institute is to educate young people about the words and ideas of America's Founders, the liberties guaranteed in our Founding documents, and how our Founding principles continue to affect and shape a free society.
- Posted by David on June 3, 2010
But any honest assessment of the bigger picture is more depressing. That's because the real race we're in is not a "race to the top" within the United States but a race to maintain middle-class living standards in a world where rising, hungry powers such as China and India now threaten them. It's a race against other advanced nations whose school systems routinely outperform ours.
Seen in this light, the outer limits of the Obama administration's ambitions are demonstrably unequal to the challenges we face. A one-time $4.5 billion incentive fund in a system that spends $600 billion a year simply can't produce fundamental change. As a result, for all the useful progress these efforts will bring, it is virtually certain that even if we get eight years of enlightened federal leadership from President Obama and Arne Duncan, America in 2016 will:
-- Still systematically assign the least-qualified teachers in America to the poor students who need great teachers the most -- and recruit teachers for poor neighborhoods from the bottom third of college graduates.
-- Still tolerate dramatic differences in per pupil funding between wealthy and poor districts in ways that no other advanced nation would accept.
-- Still have the federal government contributing a dramatically smaller percentage of K-12 funding than any other wealthy nation.
-- Still be spending more on K-12 than other advanced nations, with mediocre results.
-- Still be losing ground to other nations in college graduation rates and attainment.
-- Still expect American students to incur levels of debt to get a college degree that no other advanced nation allows. And Pell grants, despite increases, will still cover a smaller percentage of college costs than they did 30 years ago.
I'd be thrilled to be proved wrong on these predictions. But suppose, on the trajectory that's been set on education policy, that I'm right? What should we make of this paradox? The most innovative national education leadership we've had in decades -- yet leadership unequal to the magnitude of the challenge.
That's our lesson for today, class. It will take a bolder brand of leadership to get past this conundrum, and to promote an agenda that can deliver what the country needs.
Your homework at the dawn of the 21st century is to figure out how our leaders can ever get there if their followers -- that means you and me -- aren't demanding much, much more.
Matt Miller, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and co-host of public radio's "Left, Right & Center," writes a weekly column for The Post. He can be reached at mattino2@gmail.com.
- Posted by David on May 11, 2010
A controversial teacher bill took another step forward in its legislative journey Monday as it narrowly passed the House appropriations committee to set up a vote today on the House floor.
But Monday's 7-6 approval in committee of Senate Bill 191 was fraught with emotion, a recurring theme as the bitterly fought legislation linking teacher evaluations to student academic growth and changing the way teachers get and keep nonprobationary status makes its way through the legislature.
"This is the most difficult bill that I've dealt with since I've been down here," said Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, whose parents are teachers.
"There is a lot of emotion on this bill from both sides," said Ferrandino, who broke down in tears before voting for the bill.
Ferrandino, who credited special-education teachers for getting him through school, said he understands "how hard teachers work."
"To go against them and hear their reactions and come down on a different side was very hard," he said.
Ferrandino and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, were the only Democrats in committee to vote for the bill.
All Republican committee members supported it, repeating the party-line theme of the bill's progress. Senate Republicans two weeks ago voted in a bloc along with a handful of Democrats. Republicans in the House education committee voted together.
For this morning's vote on the House floor, supporters believe they have at least six Democrats who support the bill — including Speaker Terrance Carroll of Denver, co-sponsor; Rep. Christine Scanlan, D-Dillon; and secondary sponsor Joe Rice, D-Littleton.
They believe they also have votes from Ferrandino, Karen Middleton of Aurora and Kathleen Curry, I-Gunnison.
If all 27 Republicans stay together, that would be enough to pass the heavily amended bill on second reading in the House — one day before the session's end.
It would give the House one more day for the required third reading and any compromise work to reconcile the House bill with the Senate's version. Gov. Bill Ritter has said he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
Changes to the bill were still being written Monday. By the time it gets a vote in the full House, up to 140 amendments may be affixed to the bill — half of which have been accepted.
That is the reason Ferrandino on Friday decided to support the bill.
"This legislation, as amended, addresses many of the concerns that I have had with it," he said. "It is trying to ensure we have the best teachers."
However, outside of the committee hearing, leaders of the 40,000-member Colorado Education Association — an affiliate of the National Education Association — said they are still vehemently opposed to the bill, and so are most Democrats.
"It's like taking a car that has lost its bearings and fixing up the upholstery," said Rep. Wes McKinley, D-Walsh.
Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, chairman of the appropriations committee, scolded a state official who said that if Colorado doesn't win $175 million in the federal Race to the Top education-grant competition, the state will fund the $240,000 annual expenses of Senate Bill 191 by dipping into a reserve fund.
Pommer said the state had earlier said it had so little money that the Colorado Department of Education would not be able to pay people to pick up the phone.
"We let you fund your school-finance unit by taking money from every student in the state," he said. "I thought at the time that you were really short of money and it was something that we could do for you, but you tricked me."
But Associate Education Commissioner Rich Wenning said the bill will help the state win Race to the Top funding. A separate federal fund will help the state create new assessments, and districts are already building tests that can be shared across the state, he said.
"We see this as establishing some important structures," Wenning said.
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
- Posted by David on April 1, 2010
Even if you don’t live in Florida, you should pay attention to what is going on there.
Teachers, parents and even students in the Sunshine State call it the “Education Debacle.” And they are no longer sitting quietly, hoping that common sense will magically prevail with state legislators seemingly intent on passing legislation affectionately called a “hammer” on the teaching profession by its sponsor.
They are taking to the streets, literally and digitally, to transmit their horror over legislation that would end teacher job security, increase student testing and tie teacher pay to student test scores. It also prohibits school districts from taking into account experience, professional credentials or advanced degrees in teacher evaluation and pay.
Protests are planned around the state this week, including one Thursday afternoon that will bring people onto U.S. Highway 1 from Jacksonville in the northern part of the state to Miami in the south.
They also plan to bring their protest to Washington D.C. soon, to let their representatives in Congress and federal officials know that they don’t want what they consider an assault on their livelihood and on public education.
A growing coalition of teachers, students, parents, school administrators and others are publicly protesting what is probably the most heavy-handed attack on teachers in the country at the moment.
Thousands of people have signed petitions being sent to Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist, demanding that he veto the bill if it passes the legislature. He's indicated that he supports the legislation but is coming under more pressure than he probably expected.
The protesters had hoped the Obama administration would end the high-stakes standardized testing culture and pseudo-accountability regime of No Child Left Behind; after all, Barack Obama bashed NCLB when he campaigned for president.
But now, President Obama and his education secretary, Arne Duncan, are finding new ways to continue some of its egregious features. Just this week, Duncan announced the first two winners (Delaware and Tennessee) in his “Race to the Top” competition, a chance for states to win federal funds to enact school reform in the form that Duncan likes: more tests, more charter schools, etc. Sounds a lot like NCLB.
Unfortunately, part of the criteria for winning Race to the Top money is a scheme that links teacher pay to standardized scores, which is part of the legislation that Florida’s teachers are protesting. Known as Senate Bill 6 and House Bill 7189, the legislation would require:
*School systems to evaluate and pay teachers primarily on the basis of student test scores. (Testing experts say this is unfair and unworkable.)
*School systems to ignore a teacher’s experience, advanced degrees or professional credentials in any evaluation or pay.
*School systems to put newly hired teachers on probation for five years and then give them annual contracts for the rest of their careers.
*The creation of more standardized tests for students, to cover subjects not already assessed.
The Senate has passed its version of the bill; the House may take it up Thursday.
Teachers and their supporters in Palm Beach County are communicating about the bill on Facebook at a page called Testing is Not Teaching, and in response, someone apparently connected to Republican legislators launched a counter page deceptively called “Support Florida’s Teachers.”
The folks running that page write in support of the legislation, and then delete posts from people who oppose it. Now that’s right in the spirit of the openness of the web, isn’t it?
The Senate bill was sponsored by state Sen. John Thrasher, the new head of Florida’s Republican Party. He calls the bill “the hammer,” which he says is necessary to force the Florida teachers union to end its opposition to merit pay for teachers.
I will say this for Thrasher: He doesn’t make any pretense about the heavy hand he believes should be used with Florida teachers.
This approach could easily spread beyond the borders of Florida. It’s everybody’s business.
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By Valerie Strauss | March 31, 2010; 3:00 PM ET