These days, it has become totally acceptable for education leaders to blame poverty for our nation's achievement gap; to in effect say that all those kids can't learn in school because they're hungry, their families are dysfunctional, they are so far behind when they start Kindergarten that there's just no catching up, etc. These sweeping generalizations are very effective in removing all blame from the school system and preventing education reform efforts that could ensure that EVERY child receives the same quality of schools and teachers that wealthy students enjoy.
Posts filed under Education Equality
Clarity and Commonsense on Charter Schools
By Kelly Amis
Public school systems had been failing for decades -- especially in poor, urban neighborhoods. This is not news. When the idea of charter schools came along-- public schools that would 1) run themselves independently of the bureaucracies that were/are a huge part of the problem, 2) would get to hire their own staff members ensuring 'fit' with the school, AND 3) would be held accountable for results in educating students -- many amazing people stood up and said they would create and run great public schools where they were needed the most. You can see some great examples of these leaders and schools in our film Unchartered Territory. Some not-so-great charter schools have been launched as well. The difference is that when chartered public schools fail, they are required to improve or close; they don't get to keep operating for generations of failure.
To argue that charter public schools are taking money from the traditional public school system doesn't make sense; they are a part of the public education system. If parents are choosing them -- and children are benefitting from them- - it's even an odd argument to make. In most cases, the charter schools are spending less but doing more with the funding they receive.
How is that possible? Because their funding actually gets into the classroom -- to the school level. It's not sucked up by huge bureaucracies, or to pay salaries of people who are no longer in the classroom but can't be fired due to contract terms, or to work around archaic and indifferent policies that have evolved over time to protect adult interests over the students'.
The charter school design is an alternative public school model. Students' lives and future generations of families are being positively impacted by having these alternative schools appearing in their neighborhoods. The question shouldn't be "How do we stop funding from going to the alternative schools that parents are choosing for their children?" but "What do we need to do to streamline and improve the traditional system so that funding and control gets to the school level and is used effectively and in an accountable way in every school"?
To learn more, please read this great article by Mashea Ashton, CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund:
Moody's Report on Charter Schools Misses the Real Problem
The link: http://huff.to/1hmAwbj Follow Mashea on Twitter: @Mashea
Moody's Investors Service recently released a report claiming the rise in enrollment in public charter schools could pose a dangerous financial risk for traditional public schools, especially in urban areas with weak economies. Yet blaming charter schools for financial woes in the school district is unfair, and it drives a poisonous wedge between administrators, educators and the broader community, who should be working together to provide kids with access to high-quality education.
Public charter schools have long been the scapegoat for traditional public schools' woes. Moody's report follows the usual line of reasoning: charter schools have seen increasing enrollment, which means students are leaving traditional public schools. Because the students are leaving, those schools are losing funding, and they are struggling to stay open.
It's easy to blame schools' problems on a lack of funding. But that twists the issue. Basic fairness dictates that public funds should follow the students to the schools that are best able to provide a quality education, whether they are traditional public schools or public charter schools. (And in practice, charter schools are the ones getting the shorter end of the stick, on average receiving 70 percent of the per-pupil funding expended by district schools.)
The Moody's report highlights a couple of school districts with serious financial health issues predating charters that are struggling to adapt, but essentially ignores the many other urban districts where public charters and the district are able to grow together and thrive in fine financial health. The simple truth is that the schools that are failing are failing for other reasons, such as counterproductive policies, entrenched bureaucracy and a refusal by stakeholders to work together to find solutions that result in the best education for kids.
Outdated policies keep kids trapped in underperforming schools. For instance, hiring and firing policies in 11 states still adhere to Last In, First Out (LIFO), which rewards teacher tenure, not ability or success rates with student performance. Too many underperforming schools are allowed to remain open year after year, draining resources and using up space that could be allocated to schools that actually meet students' needs. It's problems like these that lead parents and students to look to charters for better educational opportunities in the first place. In Newark, N.J., support for public charter schools is overwhelming, with 71 percent of respondents supporting expansion of the sector.
These are very real challenges that face many urban school districts across the United States. Slowing the growth of charter schools won't solve the problems, though; it will only trap students in failing schools by taking away viable, affordable options for high-quality education. That's the main point Moody's report seems to miss. The true tragedy of failing public schools is that they're failing our children, who deserve better.
While resources and government relations can play an important role, they should never take precedence over the students themselves. It's important to remember that the funds raised through state and local taxpayers for education are dedicated to children, not districts, charters or any particular bureaucracy. Leaders in these struggling communities need to stop pointing fingers and start working together to expand access to high-quality education. Every legislator, bureaucrat, administrator, educator, reformer and parent should be asking how we can provide a system of great schools -- not a great school system -- to best serve our children.
I'm baaaaack
by Kelly Amis
I took a brief hiatus from this blog -- just never seem to have enough time to write as much as I would like to! -- but I'm baaaaack. I'll write when I can!
Today I read about California Assembly Bill 375 and couldn't believe my eyes.
Last year, when photos were found of a Los Angeles elementary school teacher blindfolding and feeding students his sperm (I'm not making this up), the rules around teacher firing were so ridiculous that LAUSD ended up PAYING HIM to leave. This is with PHOTO EVIDENCE.
A state legislator then introduced a bill that would make it easier to fire teachers who have abused children. That bill died because legislators "owned" by the very powerful teachers' unions cowardly refused to vote either way on it. Btw, before you get your so-and-so's all in a bunch, it's not "anti-union" to call this for what is is: insane. awful. anti-child. take your pick.).
But it gets worse: now the CA legislature has passed a new bill, AB 375, as a guise for facilitating the firing of abusive teachers....but it actually makes it HARDER to do so! Are we living in a George Orwell novel? Do leaders in this state have NO concern for children's welfare?
Ya know, many unions fight for the "underdogs": in battles around living wages, for instance, between low-level employees and huge corporations that want ever more profits funneled away from the workers and into the hands of the already-insanely-wealthy leaders at the top. But in education, the teachers' unions do not represent low-skilled, minimum wage, easily-replaced workers: they represent professionals who are paid to SERVE CHILDREN. We're not talking about producing cars to make profits, we're talking about educating CHILDREN.
Hard-working teachers do not want bad, ineffective or, especially, abusive other teachers around the kids they serve. Are our teachers unions representing THEM anymore? OK, so the unions don't represent children or their parents -- we get that -- but do they even represent good teachers? Or just the worst of the worst?
My guess is this inflexibility with regard to making it easier to fire teachers (no matter WHAT they do) is bound up with the teachers' unions wanting to keep the incredible level of power they have achieved over the last few decades no matter what it takes. I'm sure those at the top rationalize it along the lines of "If we do not retain and control the billions of dollars we now have to invest in political campaigns (and a whole slew of random non-profit organizations and programs -- you gotta see it to believe it), that money will end up elsewhere and could be used against us. And we can't retain and control those billions (that come from teachers' dues) if we allow any changes to how teachers are hired and fired. We must control it from A-Z even if it means sacrificing a few kids to the bigger picture of the unions controlling the teaching profession."
It hasn't always been this way, but it's where we are today, and it's time to bring some checks and balances (and commonsense and balance) into the processes surrounding teacher hiring, retention and firing.
More reading about the California story here:
http://dropoutnation.net/2013/09/19/jerry-browns-opportunity-to-act-like-a-leader-for-children/
Using Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers
Today I'm thinking about how and why we got to this point in the evolution (painfully slow as it is) in K-12 education that we need to put so much emphasis on the test scores of students within an individual teacher's room, in a sense to force accountability for good performance from the outside of the school (i.e. we're not increasing the power of the principal to make staff decisions from the inside).
Random Thoughts on Random Readings
Every morning I peruse the edreform stories of the day, including in Education Week and the Washington Post.
The first two random articles I read today would both get 'D's" in a high school writing class (if I was teaching it anyway, snap!). The first one is about something the new-ish Education Chair of DC's City Council, David Catania, is pursuing in DC. He's hired a law firm to do research and help write legislation that would take all that's happened in DC education to the next level (it sounds like, from the article that is linked to in this essay).
The entire essay is based on this generalization stated early on: "hiring a small team of lawyers is the least likely path towards achieving imaginative and effective policy."
BE THE CHANGE - LOS ANGELES
This is the first in what will be a series of personal recommendations for those who watch the TEACHED films and want to get involved in making a difference in their city or state.
In honor of UCLA's "Academic Inequality Awareness Week" and our TEACHED Vol. I screening there tonight, I will share some links below to a few organizations that are doing amazing work in Los Angeles and state-wide (and a few national groups).
YOU CAN BE THE CHANGE by following, supporting and joining these organizations (there are many more, but this would be my initial go-to list):
Democrats for Education Reform - LA
Students for Education Reform - Various
Teacher groups:
National groups (but hopefully venturing into CA sometime soon):
Black Alliance for Educational Options
Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options
Great place for education reform analysis:
Change in the Heart of the Heartland
I was born and raised in a small town outside of Omaha, Nebraska and recently took the opportunity to spend about two months there with my family. It turns out a lot of education reform is happening in Omaha that could make major, positive changes for the low-income, minority students who have not benefitted from great schools as much of the rest of the city has.
TEACHERS SPEAK
I am very proud to see amazing teacher and L.A. pilot school founder Pearl Arredondo--featured in the second TEACHED short film "The Blame Game: Teachers Speak Out--writing as a teacher fellow at TeachPlus! Pearl, a first-generation college graduate from East L.A., is not just a great teacher but a natural leader. I have said it many times already: I highly expect to see her as Superintendent of L.A. Schools in the not too distant future.
Read her op-ed on the notion of introducing a teacher "bar exam" to the field:
SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK
Takepart.com asked me to write a column during this year's School Choice Week, which celebrates parents accessing new educational options for their children, mostly through charter schools and publicly-funded private school vouchers. I was happy for the chance to reflect on where we are today in the fight to give more children the opportunities that are normally reserved for wealthy parents only. Please read:
IF YOU THINK SEGREGATION IS OVER THINK AGAIN
QUESTIONING UNIONIZATION
My last blog post inspired this op-ed, an exclusive for TakePart. It's getting some strong feedback, so clearly I've touched a nerve. Change is hard, but isn't it time for us to RETHINK the education system and the structures that surround teaching if they aren't benefitting anyone??
What We Need to Ask is: Does Unionization Still Make Sense?
Read it here: TAKE PART Op-Ed 9-18-12