Welcome. You'll find comments and information here about education in Tennessee with a focus on Nashville as well other issues as I keep an eye on legislation and news. You'll quickly realize I'm a conservative Christian who isn't the quiet submissive type and doesn't mind rankling, if necessary, to get the job done.
Showing posts with label system v. the children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label system v. the children. Show all posts
There is so much more to be upset about in our public education system than a 20 minute speech by Obama and some badly prepared lesson plans. Instead of taking children out, parents with children in public schools should go into those schools for this event. The system can easily work around your child’s absence for this speech. They can easily marginalize you as a reactionary nut for withdrawing your child. By being there you make it clear that you support efforts, from the top down, that encourage your children to value their education. You also make it clear to the system that you're watching them and will hold them accountable.
And then plan on returning over and over again. If you're in the school regularly you will discover so much more that needs your attention and you will have your first person testimony as evidence of the real problems. It’s more important that parents spend time learning what goes on day-to-day than react to a speech from the supervisor of the US Department of Education. When you find excellence reward it, point it out, and encourage it. Otherwise, reveal those teachers and staff that obviously need to be in another line of work. Find the incompetent management of resources. Attend school board meetings and out the regular rubber stamping of the administration. When was the last time your school board actually asked about anyone on the tenure list before approving it? When was the last time they asked a serious question about a contract, a textbook, a new policy? Read your child’s textbook and do some googling about its inaccuracies and/or bias. Find out what’s in those daily lesson plans. What organizations with what POV are your children subjected to while in school? Whether to have uniforms or candy in the lunchroom are such minor and foolish issues to waste the finite educational lives of children on when in loco parentis has allowed the government so much control over children, their minds and their hearts than parents realize.
Parents, if Superintendent of US Schools Obama’s speech caught your attention—great, but don’t waste your time focused on that. Don’t major in the minors. There is real work that needs to be done. Start in your child's classroom and don't quit until people who believe like TN House Rep. Tommie Brown (D-Chattanooga), featured in the video above, are no longer in charge of your family's life.
Sixty-one percent of people say funding for public education should be increased, but that figure drops to only 51 percent when people are given accurate information about how much is currently being spent. That’s the finding from a survey conducted by William Howell and Martin West. Howell and West, who describe their survey in the Summer 2009 issue of Education Next, also find that accurate information about teacher salaries causes support for higher teacher salaries to drop from 69 percent to 55 percent.
Mission creep: Something Nashville can look forward to even if they don't work toward providing the education parents want for their children. The system will try to maintain its presence and so they'll expand their mission for survival's sake like St. Louis is doing.
"Long plagued by declining enrollment and academic struggles, the school district wants each new "full-service" school to serve as a community hub. The district is using roughly $1.7 million budgeted for schools already offering community education programs to turn them into full-service schools. (snip) Windom said security measures also are in place to make sure students don't come in contact with members of the public who seek services. BND.com
This made me laugh. After expressing that he was 'apoplectic' at the prospect of me being on the school board back in 2006 Councilman Mike Jameson (East Nashville/downtown) doesn't have much sympathy when someone else's ox is gored. He is quoted after this last Council BOE appointment as saying:
“The process is certainly not perfect." Tennessean
That's for sure.
Not very encouraging: This among new BOE member Kay Simmons' initial comments:
“I think my experience has taught me to look objectively, at everything,” Simmons said. “The truth is that … there’s not an urban school district across the country that’s succeeding. We do need to look at different things. Nobody has the answer. My guess is that we won’t find the silver bullet either, but we need to peck away.” City Paper
The children don't have time to for the adults to just peck away at these problems with the view that no one has the answer. We need wholesale commitment to providing options for students that will work for them instead of offering the excuse that no one else can get it done either.
NEA To Do List: Every 4th of July the National Education Association holds its annual convention. What is voted on there is regularly outside the mainstream of America and often very surprising to parents who are trusting their children with these folks for so many hours of the day. Some items are just head scratchers. Why is this important to the education of children or the well-being of teachers on the job? For a peek check the New Business Items from the last Representative Assembly.
to inform and influence President Obama's proposal to turn around 5,000 schools with $5 billion in five years beginning in the fall of 2010
Develop success indicators beyond standardized tests while making sure that curricula promote the development of 21st Century Skills
the local Association must be involved in any discussions regarding school reorganization, including but not limited to, charter school conversion;
Tell the story to America of the importance of unions in assuring great public schools for every student
NEA will zealously advocate for national health care reform that is consistent with the policies, resolutions, and legislative programs of the NEA and its state affiliates
NEA will take such actions as may be appropriate to support efforts to (a) repeal any federal legislation and/or regulations that discriminate against same-sex couples, and (b) enact federal legislation and/or regulations that treat same-sex couples and similarly-situated heterosexual couples equally with regard to social security, health care, taxation, and other federal rights and benefits.
To help state affiliates be more effective in opposing funding for charter schools that do not meet NEA criteria for support,
The NEA will publicize and seek members' participation in the campaign for the defense of labor and human rights in Iran and for the release of the recently arrested Iranian trade union leaders, including Ali-Reza Hashami of the Teachers Organization of Iran.
NEA will work with the Department of Labor in order to review and modernize the definitions of "teacher" and all other education professionals in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT).
We oppose any efforts to restructure the U.S. educational system or local educational units on any basis that would allow schools to "cherry pick" students or institute separate and unequal educational models which could lead to further marginalization and segregation of student populations.
The NEA go on record in support of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) in their organizing drive to represent workers in the new Delta Airlines.
That NEA recommend to its State Associations that "Juneteenth," a celebration by many African American communities that acknowledges the end of over 200 years of slavery in the United States, be placed on their written and electronic calendars. This day is June 19.
The Rep suggests:"While we are at it why not allow parents to at least see teacher performance reviews? How did students from one teacher at a school compare to students from another teacher? Currently those records are not available to parents."
I'd like to see some basic information posted outside their classroom doors:
Welcome to Mr. John Smith's Classroom Masters in Education and a minor in music from Baylor University, 1973 TVAAS rating is 8.9 John.Smith@mnps.edu Supervisor: Dr. Sally Jones sally.jones@MNPS.org
It seems amazing to me that we require parents to place their children in the care of people they've hardly had a chance to vet. It's even more amazing to me that the BOE grants tenure on a wholesale basis. Too much 'just trust us' going on.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to invite you to share your personal stories with my staff and me. Please email your personal stories to us at CherylDMayes@gmail.com. We would like to know about the great things you and your students have experienced with MNPS. Please also share your concerns and your ideas for making our school system the best nationwide."
She's got a poll at the bottom of her blog asking "Are you satisfied with the type of education your child currently receives with MNPS?" Here's a clue, Ms. Mayes, check the number of folks who have chosen NOT to enroll their children in MNPS if you want to know what improvements to make. Last week I saw corporate suits from a rival grocer at Aldi's. You've got to know your competition.
Next August 5 of the seats on the School Board will be up for election. Once again Nashville has an opportunity to change the majority on the Board. Obviously, it's not too early to begin working on ensuring the board has the best qualified applicants who will provide the system with the oversight and vision it needs to provide a good education for every MNPS student. Get involved early.
We need a few more parents like this fellow in San Diego:
"David Page says the problem is that parents are on their own. Teachers have a union. So do principals. School board members get to vote plans up or down and top administrators make decisions in the salmon-pink offices of San Diego Unified.
But parents are often too intimidated to speak up or too star-struck with school staffers to question them, Page said. Education is a world loaded with its own numbing lingo -- categorical funding, supplement not supplant, program improvement -- and it seems overwhelming to understand it, let alone to fight it." Voice of San Diego
He's right. There really isn't a union for parents and child child advocacy organizations rarely stand behind parental rights.
Local connection: "Under Terry Grier, [Page] has been critical of the way the school district is planning for the stimulus dollars earmarked for disadvantaged kids, especially an early effort to develop plans by "clusters," as haphazard and lacking real input from parents." Yup, Terry Grier Vandy grad and the former Superintendent of Williamson County, TN schools.
"The BOE candidates addressed the Nashville Council on Tuesday 7/21/09 prior to their voting to fill the open District 9 seat. The final vote was 9 for Elizabeth Merkel and 29 for Kay Simmons. After viewing the video I understand why Simmons was the easy vote. She's a known quantity, she wasn't shy about reminding them she'd brought $12 million into the system, she had touching emotional stories. Regardless, I'm very disappointed that other than Merkel, no other candidate got any votes at all. Obviously, this Council doesn't appear to have any issues with the current MNPS administration and is content to send to them another of their ilk. Council lady-at-large Megan Barry was quoted in the Tennessean as saying "I want somebody who's going to be challenging, but not somebody who's going to be disquieting to the board." She certainly got someone who wasn't going to rock the boat. Whatever we do, let's not 'disquiet' the board.
Simmons was head of the Nashville Alliance for Public Education. When she stepped down former BOE Chair Pam Garrett took her place. Now, Simmons is on the BOE and will likely end up taking Garrett's former position as Chairman if she's re-elected next year. Throw in the lack of seemingly promised change in the central office and one begins to realize if the best we can do is shuffle the deck chairs...the children are in serious trouble indeed.
Here's the video from last week for those interested along with my comments.
Paul Brenner started by apologizing for his casual attire. His excuse was that some of the candidates didn't the letter about the evening's proceedings. He also answered questions that were asked previously because, according to him, councilmen came late and didn't get to hear Brenner's answers. He accuses the system of picking people even before the interviews have occurred. (Something Kennedy also touches on later.) Brenner comments on school uniforms (all or none), mayoral takeover (going to do the best job I can), charter schools (I'm against), cell phones (not in classroom), Pedro Garcia 1-10 (2. Part of the reason Brenner retired).
Brenner's solid no on charter schools because they're not the same as regular schools, take money from regular schools and don't have certified teachers like regular schools is just the sort of party line statement that got him the MNEA endorsement in 2008. I wonder if he realizes that the man he was hoping to replace is now head of the charter school office that is going to be expanded. Brenner's is a completely wrong point of view for 21st Century education.
Rich Haglund starts with a quote from the band U2: "Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die." [Crumbs from your table for those that aren't up on your U2 lyrics.] According to Haglund all discussion of schools should be focused on children, teachers and schools leaders. As an attorney it's Haglund's opinion that the rules are tools to be used for the children's benefit. "The Board's job is to empower other people and then get out of the way."
Rich Haglund works for the Tennessee State Board of Education as their attorney. The number of potential conflicts of interest that could arise would handicap the MNPS Board in many ways. He should never have even considered holding both positions. Further, he leaves out parents and taxpayers as having standing in those discussion of schools. Since the MNPS BOE already knows how to "empower other people and get out of the way" I don't see that they need Haglund.
Martin Kennedy definitely unloaded on the Council regarding the process that Brenner also commented on early. This father of 5 MNPS students (one with autism) and economist makes it clear that there is a socio-economic bias at MNPS which says is part of a protected monopoly he calls the education blob. He asserts that low income parents should have education choice. "The public funding of education is not the same as public provision of education."
I already blogged my support for Kennedy and Kennedy blogged his prepared comments before the vote. He did vary from the text somewhat. I truly believe that MNPS needs someone that can look at the system from an econmic and marketing point of view and say the reason we're losing children (and so our customer base and reason for being) is X and Z. Let's fix that.
Michael LeHaie was the fellow that seemed most personable. He gave a nod to Martin Kennedy saying his "comments were excellent" which probably was when folks stopped listening. He's an assistant principal at St. Cecelia Academy and it looks like they're fortunate to have him. He does have some experience in MNPS schools. He supports charters, the rezoning and dress codes. He's wasn't keen on mayoral control. Obviously, a bullet dodged for now.
Julie Lamb begins her presentation by having her daughter Georgia speak first to tell council members "she'll fight for what's right". As a parent in the Hillwood cluster, a former Parent Advisory Council Chairman and a small business owner she feels she's right for the job. A litany of her activities was given as well as her assertion that she does know the needs and parents of District 9 and the issues on the table. She did say she was excited by former BOE member Alan Coverstone's new job overseeing charter schools.
Unfortunately, while obviously an involved parent I remembered her support for Pedro Garcia (who created the Parent Advisory Council) and her comment back in 2006 that the district had made "awesome progress since Dr. Garcia arrived". We all know better now.
Elizabeth Merkel's comments included all the right buzz words: I'm a new voice, the system is broken, I'm a coalition builder, implement change right away to impact the students right away, school board needs to support teachers, we need to engage the community... She did point out the absolute fact that people are leaving the system saying there are 32,000 in elementary schools, 19,000 in middle schools and 24,000 in high school. She also reiterated that the average ACT score in Metro is 19 which won't qualify students for the lottery scholarship.
Those statistics are some that no one really wants to be reminded of. Parents start out their children in MNPS elementary schools with high hopes and good words about the local school and then look toward the future and say "No way" and we never get 8,000 of those children back into the system. Until MNPS is willing to take a long cold look at the marketing end of this equation and is willing to deal with what drives all those families out that's never going to get better. MNPS is looking toward being the education delivery system for those that have no other options. That whole "educating children is the most important thing a community can do" bumper sticker campaign has got a pretty hollow ring to it about now.
And so the star of the show, Kay Simmons takes the microphone. She reminds everyone that she's been working with the MNPS system for 35 years, and through NAPE she's brought in $12 million to MNPS, she's got heart wrenching stories of her own personal interaction with needy children and many of the folks on the Council already know her. She went through the motions of asking for their vote but they'd obviously pledged them beforehand.
Citizens, parents and taxpayers didn't get much of a chance to weigh in on these candidates. It'll be a year until they do. I don't think Simmons was a bad choice. I just don't think it was the best choice. I don't see how MNPS can make the great strides forward that are necessary with merely good choices and essentially the same folks in charge. And every year it takes to improve is a year gone in the life of a student. They've got a finite number of educational years but the system, the educational blob, goes on forever.
"You can't just wake up one day speak truth to power and expect the scales to drop from the establishment's eyes. It doesn't work that way. You have to prime the pump. You have to make the connections and form the personal relationships. Quite simply, you have to play the game. You don't have to like it, but you have to do it. Then you can hit them with a bit of truth."
"...with a bit of truth." Kleinheider's got it right. If you work exceptionally hard at making those connections, bide your time and play the game they might hear a bit of truth. They might even make some small symbolic effort at changing, but it doesn't last long and then there's a new director, new fad, new unfunded mandate from the Feds. The MNPS blob resents anyone outside their circle and if any dare point out the the emperor has no clothes the blob won't even examine the truth but react by attacking the speaker. They hardly tolerated truth from Board members like Murray Phillips, Mebenin Awipi or Kay Brooks (that interloper of the highest order) and they certainly weren't going to take it from CM Eric Crafton. The blob values the messenger and his delivery more than the actual message. It values its own preservation more than the education of the children.
And that exceptionally disheartening truth is why it's taken me a week to finish this post.
"The battle to improve public education in America is pitting powerful special interest groups against the interest of children. In one corner we find a powerful coalition of teachers unions, lawmakers, and government officials bent on upholding the status quo while benefiting from the $600 billion education industry. In the other corner await 50 million school children whose lives are directly impacted by the decisions made by the education establishment.
This groundbreaking new documentary by Bob Bowdon investigates the condition of public education in New Jersey—the state that spends more per-pupil on public education than any other state in the country, and a microcosm of the issues plaguing American education. What Bowdon finds should trouble parents, teachers, and taxpayers across the country; it should trouble anyone concerned with the struggle to improve the educational opportunities for American children."
Don't make the mistake of thinking...oh, that's Jersey. It happens here too. Closets stuffed with perfectly good resources but they're last year's fad program. The rare teacher dismissal hearings. A well-paid top heavy administration and no copy paper for classrooms. Bathrooms you wouldn't tolerate in your own home (or the BOE office) but is 'good enough' for public school children. A Council that overwhelming votes in a player and not someone who'll help watchdog the system and advocate for real improvement. Legislators, mayors, Chamber of Commerce types who all have options for their children but limit the number of choices for those without means. Unions who are more concerned about keeping their power at any price. Parents thrilled the football team had a winning season and offended that others think the school isn't good based on test scores. Taxpayers willing to embrace the guilt driven demand for more money while withholding their children from the system because they know what their money buys isn't good enough.
“I appreciate the [Obama, Alexander, Dean] input, but none of them have kids in public schools.”
A reminder that the public school system requires taxpayer dollars and citizen votes in order to be run. Until it doesn't need our money or our votes...mere voters and taxpayers have as much standing as any anyone in how the system is run. Ditto President Obama, Senator Alexander and Mayor Dean.
Is it unfair for them to bar reasonable educational choices when they've certainly had the opportunity to choose differently for their children? Certainly. But it doesn't bar them from expressing their opinion and working toward improving the system as they see necessary. No member of the legislature was elected by just parents of public school children, or TEA members. They have a responsibility to represent all the voters in their districts. They have a responsibility to put the children's needs ahead of adult politics.
Someone's smelling the morning coffee: This from South Carolina:
Today this black Democrat [Sen. Robert Ford] says the new civil-rights struggle is about the quality of instruction in public schools, and that to receive a decent education African-Americans need school choice. He wants the president's help. "We need choice like Obama has. He can send his kids to any school he wants."(WSJ)
And from Tennessee:
Bound by the unit rule, House Democrats killed the [charter schools] bill but Republicans are attempting to resurrect it.
"We have not changed our caucus position. We've asked everyone to hold our positions on that but I don't know if everybody will or not," said [Rep. Mike Turner (D-Nashville) ]. "If somebody breaks, there won't be any horse heads in the bed in the morning. There'll be some teeth gnashing, but there won't be any permanent damage." (Commercial Appeal)
I will, again, encourage the passage of the charter schools bill and would suggest that TEA (Tennessee Education Association) leaders buy dental night guards. Standing in the school house door and keeping children from an educational choice that works because the TEA will lose some members or cannot force charters to be just like the failing public schools they do control is evil. It's not about TEA membership. It's not about paying back campaign markers. It's about the children--remember? Don't make them wait another year to get the education they were promised long ago. They don't have the time to spare. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. A step forward is better than no movement at all. Seriously consider what you would want if these were your children. Vote for expanding charters.
Liz Garrigan's opinion piece in today's City Paper takes on Metro Nashville Education Association President Erick Huth. Having observed this man for many years now I found her piece spot on. I especially liked her comments on his comment that charters cherry pick students. The truth is charters are gleaning the ground for the students that have fallen off the MNPS educational tree. Further they are finding that these children are not too bruised to still be successful. Educational Neanderthals just let these children fall to the ground to rot and yet still demand that no one else pick them up and salvage them. MNEA should be encouraging charters as part of the team effort of educating all the children because professional educators are all about ensuring the children get what they need.
Garrigan does the piece interview style. Here's one of several questions:
Can you share with us where your passion for counterrevolution began?
(Pauses to answer his early-model Nokia cell phone.) I remember being very young and hearing about this thing called Xerox. It was coming in to replace the Ditto machine, whose smell of wet ink made me simply intoxicated as a little boy. There was just nothing like paper with blue smudged type. I led the protest movement in our kindergarten to keep out the new technology, something the administrators claimed would make things more efficient.
Teacher pay: Suddenly the Tennessean is for it in today's Op Ed. Superintendent of Schools Mayor Karl Dean is also for it. Not surprisingly the head of the teacher's union is against in an article titled "No proof to back performance pay". Little wonder when the unions fight tooth and nail any attempt to provide proof that it does work. If they won't participate...we can't gather data and so their only legitimate argument against it stands. That's convenient.
Their other arguments against get no sympathy from anyone who works for a living. Whining about how it used to be in 1940 smacks of the abortionist fear mongering about hangers. It's not 1940. We've got laws against discrimination and abuse of power and a population that embraces litigation. Whining about how unfair the boss can be won't cut it either. Who hasn't had an unfair boss? Life isn't fair. Whining about how some teachers will 'feeeeel' bad because they don't merit more money sounds just like it came from one of the ineffective self-esteem lessons that pass for education now days. How about we consider how hard working teachers feeeel about the dead weight in the next classroom who is getting paid exactly the same? If the union was half as diligent about policing their own and actually acting like a professional organization taxpayers and voters might be more willing to listen to their concerns.
This is what I'm talkin' 'bout: The MNPS School Board is seeing the light and backing Director Jesse Register's plan to overhaul "adult high school learning"
Students in the proposed program could take classes in the morning, afternoon or evening, or through their computers or independent study. Classes could be taken in shorter, more intensive periods — two courses every eight weeks to move toward earning four credits each semester — and students could schedule class combinations that fit their academic needs. City Paper
Now let's expand this to more students quickly. All this will save student's time and will save MNPS money in the (not too) long run. I've no doubt that this is an option that will meet the legitimate needs and wants of students across the district. It's 2009...surely we can agree that mastering a skill and not warming a seat is the goal.
"Keeping your worst teachers is a crime against children," said [Tim] Daly, president of the Brooklyn-based nonprofit [The New Teacher Project] dedicated to putting highly qualified teachers in hard-to-staff schools. Tennessean
Continuing to pay them as if they were qualified is a crime against the taxpayers.
Support for German homeschoolers? The Tennessee legislature is all for supporting homeschooling in Germany but try and let a homeschooler get a job as a police officer or auctioneer and we get a two hour fillibuster by some of these very same Democrats. Come on guys...which is it? It is a legitimate option or not?
Month-to-Month Director: The folks at Cheatham County School Board Watchdog are still doing the grunt work of examining their director's contract and counter offers. One suggestion: dropping the 90 day notice for canceling the contract to just 30 days.
And how much did this special treatment cost? The MNPS budget is getting trimmed and the system has serious needs regarding facility maintenance (and texts and copy paper and ...) but somehow the system finds the money to pay for a second graduation ceremony for Hispanic students? Why should any people group get a second ceremony? I'm all for it if you want to do this with private funds but on the taxpayer's dime? I don't think so. Seems like yet another enabling of cultural separation despite public education being created specifically to encourage assimilation.
UPDATE: This from MNPS Spokeswoman Olivia Brown this morning: "That celebration event is arranged and hosted by COPLA, the Hispanic parents organization. It is not an MNPS event, however, it is one we support and participate in. I don’t know the cost, but COPLA raises funds and solicits donations for it."
Glad to read this clarification from MNPS. So, 'Nevermind'.
And speaking of wasting money: the ACLU has decided to sue MNPS because some websites have been blocked preventing MNPS students from viewing them on school time and with school equipment paid for by taxpayers. I'd like to see a cost benefit analysis of their efforts. How much money is wasted by these folks to benefit so few.
Shuffling kids shuffles teachers, or so it did in Charlotte, WV.
“An important implication of these findings is that policymakers should be cautious when advocating policies such as vouchers, school choice, district consolidation, or school busing that require the reshuffling of students across schools,” the study concludes, because the resulting shifts in student population might also lead to shifts in the quality of teachers. Education Week
Former Granberry PTA treasurer will do more time. Julie Buchanan has only done 2 years out of a 15 year sentence for " theft, money laundering and forgery" involving some $150,000 according to this Tennessean article. Part of that money was raised to benefit a child who has since passed on. Buchanan's actions harmed more than that child. She made fundraising and PTA activities across the state more difficult as systems overreacted to a simple lack of accountability over these finances. I'm glad Buchanan's doing well in prison. School volunteers and their students are still suffering as a result of her actions.
CitizenNetMom thinks spending 'stimulus' money on personnel might be acceptable this time around. "Thus, it seems to me that the most appropriate use would be to use those funds to continue programs like extended contracts, where teachers are paid a small stipend to do extra things like before- or after-school tutoring (of particular benefit to special ed or economically disadvantaged students)."
Will Frist SCORE? Not if he keeps moving the same pieces around the same game board. It's going to take some real backbone, some willingness to offend the status quo and its keepers and some dollars to get the message out to the public in order to obtain their backing. Without that backing the progressives will win the day and we'll be a full step behind where we are now.
"SCORE will achieve this goal by (1) developing a strategic plan for K-12 education reform in Tennessee via a statewide Steering Committee of key stakeholders (2) launching a number of Project Teams to initiate both statewide and local education projects and (3) running a grassroots campaign to promote the state's new standards, identify education activists across the state, and create conversations among local community leaders about how each community can improve its local schools."
"Don't even begin to tell me about programs that have "worked" elsewhere in terms of graduation rates or test scores until you make clear that a fundamental goal of reform is to expand parental choice. Those who believe in the power of programs miss the point. It is the power of a system that is important. On the one hand you have a thriving market system that serves affluent consumers and on the other a public monopoly system that enjoys a captive market, those who can't afford the market system."
Sarah Moore opines about our coddling of students. Here's a snip:
"Students should not get an “A” just because they really, really tried. You might study for hours every day for your organic chemistry and never understand some of the tougher concepts. So, you earn a “C” in the course. Sounds fair to me. A graduate school or employer who looks at your transcript and sees an “A” should be able to assume that you actually understand the content, not that you just read the book."
Along that same train of thinking:
The Rev. Enoch Fuzz sees big problems when students earning A’s and B’s in their Metro high school classes cannot earn high scores on the nationally standardized ACT test.
“These are children who study, and get good grades, and aren’t disciplinary problems,” Fuzz said Monday. “Someone should offer a type of relief, or apology, to some of these families.” City Paper 2/17/09
I don't think I'll ever forget a call I got from a woman whose child had received excellent grades in MNPS schools and suddenly crashed into reality at MTSU. She felt betrayed and cheated. She and her child had been lead to believe things were fine when they were far from it.
Adult literacy spurs confusion. Yes. I'm confused about how these adults lived under the compulsory attendance laws and yet still didn't master this basic skill. I'm not happy at having to pay twice for these people to obtain these skills. I think it's a shame that our public education system failed them in this essential skill. Regarding the other classes--I do have a problem with taxpayers providing yoga, basket weaving, swimming and cake decorating classes for the highly discounted rate of $20 or so. Click here for the latest class list and fee schedule. The fees should accurately reflect the cost of facilities and advertising and support. Then we can talk about finding scholarships to make them affordable.
An idea long used by homeschoolers is now being considered by the Adams County school district near Denver, CO. For K-8 students they're dumping grade levels and moving children through based on their actual progress in mastering the subject instead. They call it a Standards Based Educational Model.
The change that's getting by far the most attention is the decision to do away with traditional grade levels – for kids younger than eighth grade, this first year, though the district plans to phase in the reform through high school a year at a time. Ultimately, there will be 10 multiage levels, rather than 12 grades, and students might be in different levels depending on the subject. They'll move up only as they demonstrate mastery of the material.
But Dr. Selleck and others are quick to emphasize that that's only one piece of a radically different, more student-centered, approach to learning – and that it's not the same as tracking, the currently out-of-favor system of grouping students by ability.
(snip)
Selleck says most parents she talks to are enthusiastic, and the district is doing an enormous amount of outreach and education to explain the changes to them. (She often uses a video game analogy: Students are engaged, take as much or as little time as they need to at each level, and can't move on to the next level until they've mastered the one before it). Christian Science Monitor
We've got to acknowledge that the goal of education is actual mastery, not time in seat. As a taxpayer that's what I intend my taxes to be paying for--children able to read & write, do sums and understand their responsibilities and rights and citizens. I'm completely convinced that this system will result in children who are more willing to expend the effort necessary to make progress. When we give them a clear goal to work toward and reward them with moving on they will. Balance this with emphasizing that all people learn at a different pace, none of which is necessarily wrong or bad, and we'll have freed these students up to concentrate on following the educational path that is best for them...not the system.
A strong voice for children and their parents is gone. Marshall Fritz has passed according to his Separation of Church and State site.
He wisely advised that "Sunday School, Monday School—Neither is the Business of Government." He wrote, "some people think that the American "public school system" is broken so they try to fix it. The truth is that public schooling is not broken. Rather, it is succeeding in its main objective—strengthening government by undermining parents..."via Lisa Snell at Hawaii Reporter
This is another reason to be thankful they'll be a Republican House and Senate in Tennessee. We can rewrite these charter school laws so that the school boards, which consider these public schools competitors, don't have the authority to approve or deny these applications in such a routine manner. Alan Coverstone (District 9) has the right idea. Let's approve them with provisions. Especially ones with track records of success like Smithson-Craighead and KIPP that want to expand. Typical protectionism. If you can't or won't improve your own job performance, make sure there are no other choices.
And here's the incredible truth that makes one wonder why, when one considers the lack in their own system, the MNPS BOE should have any say in judging a charter school's fitness:
Both Smithson-Craighead and KIPP Academy have met all benchmarks set by federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, despite serving populations of students considered by many to be high-risk. All of Smithson-Craighead’s students, and 94.3 percent of KIPP Academy’s, are considered economically disadvantaged by state Report Card data. LEAD just completed its first year of operation, so no Report Card data is available.
Erick Huth, president of the Metro Nashville Education Association, which advocates for local teachers, said charter schools are not the answer to the district's woes and could end up hurting more than helping because they will take tax dollars away from already struggling schools. Per-student funding follows students to the charter schools they attend.
"There's not much a charter school can do that public schools couldn't do," he said. "But some people rally around charter schools because of a belief that public education is evil or awful."
Let's go through this lesson one more time.
First off, money does not equal a good education as MNPS has so clearly demonstrated and every charter school demonstrates.
Secondly, charter schools ARE public schools. Obviously, charter school parents don't believe that public education is evil or awful. It's working well for their students.
"They're making better grades, their scores are up. I see a big difference in my kids." [East Nashville father Scott Gray]
Thirdly, there is, apparently, something those charter schools can do that some public schools can't:
"Publicly funded but independently operated, all three of Nashville's charter schools met state standards and had waiting lists at the beginning of this school year for the first time." Tennessean
The only people standing in the way of more charter schools (and so the education of children) are those who are already running or enabling the ailing public education system--like the MNEA. Let go of the children and let them succeed in the school that suits them best.
FAA officials often are former execs of the airlines they now regulate.
Education officials are often former employees of the schools they now regulate.
Which is the actual, "shocking" headline in today's Tennessean? The former. Somehow, it's a headline maker when FAA officials have a conflict of interest but it's an asset when education officials have that same conflict of interest. They don't call it that though, it's called 'experience' and it's become an essential qualifier for positions on the school board and in community groups charged with improving the system, for Dept. of Education staffers and just about anyone else interacting with the system.
The article goes on to say: What the education industry wants from government it often gets, and no wonder. The people who work in schools one day can become education executives the next -- and vice versa. (snip) The industry's revolving-door relationship with the education industry is under fresh scrutiny after two education officials accused...
Oh, wait, no..."What the airline industry wants from Washington it often gets, and no wonder..."
Heads up, folks. Often the very people that create the public school mess have got jobs advising and fixing the problems they helped create. They act as hedges of protection and their alliances with the public education system too often keep them from cleaning house.
Conflict of interest is no better in the education field than it is in the aviation field. Customers in both industries fail to get to the destinations on their ticket if real accountability isn't part of the system.
Gleaning from the 2004 Campaign Financial Disclosure Statements of Gracie Porter , District 5 Representative for the Metro Nashville Public Schools reveals the tremendous investment that Democratic PAC's and the unions involved in the public school system made in ensuring Porter's election.
For those unaware, I was appointed by the Metro Council to fill the unexpired term of the former BOE rep in May of 2006. Just 11 weeks later was the general election and Porter and I, and two other candidates, all ran for the seat. It was obvious during the campaign that big guns were pulled out to keep me from retaining my appointment on the MNPS Board of Education. I think many people will be surprised at how much money and manpower these Democratic PACS and these unions expended to ensure that I wasn't around to ask questions, hold people accountable and provide answers to parents, taxpayers and voters.
Here is ample evidence that the foxes are guarding the hen house. No real progress will be made in Nashville schools until we break the conflict of interest that results when a BOE member owes their seat to the folks they are supposed to hold accountable.
This chart shows $18,300 from PACS and unions. That's 88% of her contributions coming from "Democracy" for America/TN, SEIU, MNEA, AFL-CIO, the Tn Democratic Women's PAC, and the Chamber of Commerce's Success PAC which fought hard to keep Pedro Garcia in charge of MNPS.
So, who do you think is going to ensure her reelection?
All of this is important to keep in mind as this is the final week to qualify to run for any MNPS BOE seat. Petitions must be picked up from the Metro Election Commission and returned before noon on Thursday, April 3. If you are unhappy with how MNPS schools are being run do something about it. Be or back a candidate that will hold the system accountable with your time and your treasure. It's not too late to get 25 fellow district voters to qualify a candidate.
Here are the current BOE members up for re-election in August.
Board member George Thompson said it’s important to keep in mind that Warden, though she is board chair, was representing only herself in the e-mail.
“We have not authorized her to say anything, or to do anything,” he said.
Thompson pointed to a portion of the board’s governance process policy, which states that the Board of Education chair should “refrain from exercising any authority as an individual to supervise or direct the Director.”
He's exactly right, but of course the BOE hasn't authorized HIM to say this either.
I expect you to review the questions asked at the meeting and present written responses to those questions to Ms. Smith, the members of the Metro Council, they Mayor, and the local press. I expect this to be done immediately.
in her email to MNPS Director of Schools Dr. Pedro Garcia yesterday was going to be fulfilled, think again. What I would have liked Mr. Thompson to say is something along the lines of: "I happen to agree that this information must be provided to these people as quickly as possible and I'll present a motion at the next BOE meeting to instruct Garcia to do so." If he did, no one is reporting that.
2. Board members may not attempt to exercise individual authority over the organization.
a. Members’ interaction with the Director and with staff must recognize the lack of authority vested in individuals except when explicitly authorized by the Board.
b. Members’ interaction with the public, press or other entities must recognize the same limitation and the inability of any Board member to speak for the Board except to repeat explicitly-stated Board decisions.
c. Members will not publicly express individual negative judgments about Director or staff performance outside the formal evaluation process. Any such judgments of Director or staff performance will be made only by the full Board.
This Governance Policy is part of the problem with the BOE and thus the entire system. I'm not saying we need to adopt a free for all BOE but this policy becomes a very convenient excuse as well as a crippler for real action. I knew if I had stayed on the BOE I was going to violate this policy eventually. It's too easy to characterize legitimate public discussion of issues as 'negative judgments'. Never mind whether those judgments are accurate or not.
Anyone wanting to take on the task of running for School Board this August should read this entire document. Frustrated citizens and parents should be familiar with it also.
Each week during the legislative session the Tennessee Education Association provides an overview of legislation they support and oppose. Don't wait to read these. They haven't archived these in the past.
Choice: Last week's included solid objection to charter and virtual schools along with vouchers and help for private pre-K programs. Obviously they are eager to protect their educational monopoly regardless of whether these options are good for children.
Money for Classrooms--Not: Requiring 65% of the BEP money actually get to the classroom is objectionable to this union because it could impact 'support services'. I hope that teachers on the front line, in those classrooms, (many of whom are union members) go back to this union leadership and remind them that the classroom is where the bulk of this money belongs.
Feeding Children: Further TEA objects to reducing the sales tax on food. These very same union leaders will likely also demand expansion of school breakfast and lunch programs recognizing that some families cannot afford to feed their children and good nutrition is essential to the learning process. But we cannot allow those families that extra 1/2 cent to help them do the job themselves. Please, folks, we're currently running a budget surplus of over $115 million. Money isn't the problem. It's where the money goes that's the biggest problem. Let's leave more at home--the first and best 'support service'.
Lottery Bank of Tennessee:
And they want to carve out their own little lottery niche:
Legislation has been introduced which will provide financial assistance to individuals preparing to be teachers in the areas of mathematics or science. SB 223/HB 450 would require that the Tennessee Student Association Corporation (TSAC) administer a loan-scholarship program for students training to become mathematics or science teachers.
Do we really want the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (that's student assistance) enabling these fledgling adults to get into debt? Why is a lottery scholarship not sufficient? Oh, yeah, that's right, it's akin to pay for performance.
Gov. Bredesen has already suggested in his State of the State address that lottery funds be used for loans to local school districts. I'll remind you that the excess funds are artificially created by not fully funding scholarships for students.
This session, I will ask the General Assembly to pass legislation to enable us to set up a state-wide bond pool which will give individual school districts access to capital at the lowest possible cost—the lowest possible transaction cost and the lowest possible interest cost. This will particularly help smaller rural districts.
In order to give that pool the credit it needs to borrow as inexpensively as possible, I will ask you to transfer $100 million from the lottery reserves—about a quarter of the total—to this bond pool for use in enhancing credit; getting the best possible bond rating and interest rate.
And the referenced legislation allows TSAC to use funds from sources other than the lottery losings to provide these loans. Do we really want the TSAC to become a banking entity? I don't.
Debt is a dangerous and unforgiving master. The State of Tennessee should not become one of its partners.
Equal Pay for Equal Work?: And don't even talk about tying pay to performance.
WASHINGTON — Oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court have been set for April 18 in the long legal fight over whether the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association can punish Brentwood Academy for allegedly recruiting athletes. Tennessean
If we don't know where they are, how do we know if they've been left behind? Metro Nashville Public School Board of Education is wrestling with line items on their budget. They've decided that keeping accurate records on the status and progress of students isn't a first tier budget item and have added it to the 'unfunded priorities list'. That means if they get more money than they're asking for--they'll put it toward this essential record keeping.
“What happens right now is we lose kids – we can’t find kids and it takes forever,” [Superintendent Pedro] Garcia said about bookkeeping woes. “Part of the problem is we have lots of hands in the pie – we got counselors and sometimes secretaries.” (snip) “I can tell you, if you have a person [at the school] that you know that’s in charge of records and someone that’s diligent, I think it’s a start,” said board member Gracie Porter. City Paper
We're paying twice for the same product:
More than half of all students who enter college in Tennessee are not academically prepared and require at least one remedial course, according to the Tennessee Board of Regents. The problem is growing.
Remedial education costs the state more than $25 million a year and the number of students enrolled in these courses is expected to grow by about 30 percent over the next decade, said Treva Berryman of the TBR, the governing board for 19 of the state's four- and two-year colleges. Commercial Appeal
America's third world education:
One of the state's top education officials said Wednesday that the United States is at risk of becoming a Third World economy if its public schools don't improve, and his Knoxville audience was glad to hear Tennessee wants to raise standards. KnoxNews
He may want to remember that some of those countries considered third world--are ahead of us in several subjects.
"In fourth grade, American kids do above average internationally. By eighth grade, they slip a bit, and by 12th-grade, they've slipped a lot," Marsh said. "We're the only country that slides down that much from fourth to 12th grade." USC Daily Trojan
This is something Save Our Students told us last year but people got bogged down in who the messenger was instead of the truth of the presentation. Maybe this year they'll listen.
Will someone step up?
BRISTOL, Tenn. - It's official: No one is officially running for the District 2 seat on the five-member Bristol Tennessee Board of Education. (snip) "Recent history has shown that parents are more reluctant to serve in positions that have less direct impact on children, such as PTA Council and the Board of Education," Bailey said. "This is especially true when there is a perception that anyone who does serve on the Board of Education will be unjustly criticized in the media."
Boy, don't I know that. There's still a fellow out there insisting he knows the truth about who I am and how I got on the school board. He's dead wrong--but that inconvenient truth isn't impeding him at all in the pursuit of his agenda. People are going to write and say ugly things--truthful and not. People are going to call you and expect you to solve things you have no authority to solve. People are going to unrealistically expect you to have all the answers. But, here's a real opportunity for someone to put their hand to the rudder that will set the course for thousands of children's future. I hope someone steps up via a write in candidacy. These schools need oversight outside of the administration and their professionals.
Bob Krumm tells us where the state can find $225 million--like they actually 'need' anymore. Of course, it does require a bit of effort from the grown-ups. Here's number five from the list Bob posts:
5. Family and Community Involvement. This may be the most important element of all. One of the knocks on magnet schools is that it often removes the most involved parents from the neighborhood schools. While that is likely an effect, children of uninvolved parents are less likely to succeed whether or not they are surrounded by peers whose parents are involved. We need more family and community involvement in education. An answer might be to stop forcing kids to attend schools outside their own neighborhoods so that communities can actually develop around their neighborhood schools.
I do believe that a rising tide lifts all boats and so increased involvement by some parents has a good chance of enhancing the lives of other people's children as well.
I also believe that we need to get back to smaller neighborhood schools. Bob's right--our neighborhoods took a hit when parents ended up with children in a couple of schools 'over there' and traveling began eating up whatever time they may have had to volunteer at or monitor the schools.
This week's must read comes from the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. While I'm wary of business interests helping shape education policy (Chambers of Commerce come to mind) I am certainly willing to at least give their POV a listen/read. I do frame their comments with the fact that their interest is in obtaining worker bees and consumers. Yes, that's a very narrow description but this study group's own site states something similar:
The final report proposes a restructuring that America’s economic preeminence hinges on the preeminence of our educational system. Skills Commission.org
There are certainly some things in this report that I can support and would encourage others to seriously consider. The first being to dump what I call 'time in seat'. Too often the educrats are appalled at the mere mention of the fact that it is possible for a child to obtain a normal K-12 education in less than 13 years. I've advocated for years that these children be allowed to take the appropriate tests to prove their skill level and then be released to go on and get the skills/education they and their parents determine is best for them. There are many children out there that consider K-12 a jail sentence. If they knew that it was possible to shorten the jail term I believe they'd be energized and encouraged to pass those tests in exchange for their freedom. This report echoes my thoughts this way:
One of the biggest proposed changes - the state board examinations that would allow qualified 10th graders to move on to college - would eventually add up to $67 billion in savings that could be reallocated elsewhere, the report estimates. Christian Science Monitor
Further they suggest:
Improve school salaries in exchange for reducing secure pension benefits, and pay teachers more to work with at-risk kids, for longer hours, or for high performance.
I've always advocated for paying great teachers great wages. And I'm all behind allowing people to handle their own pensions. I certainly think that some sort of 'combat' pay to reward teachers for successfully taking on the really hard jobs is right.
The article on this study goes on--
"We've squeezed everything we can out of a system that was designed a century ago," says Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, and vice chairman of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, which produced the report. "We've not only put in lots more money and not gotten significantly better results, we've also tried every program we can think of and not gotten significantly better results at scale. This is the sign of a system that has reached its limits."
He's right. It's been some 100 years since those industrial giants created our current education system for an economy that hardly exists anymore. The trick will be to persuade those whose livelihood or political power depend on the current system continuing as is to put the needs of the children at the forefront.
I do not agree with their recommendation to scrap local school funding for state-wide funding. I am a firm believer in local control of schools. See "Local Control is a Must" regarding our own Tennessee Comptroller's reach.
We've got some Nashville mayoral candidates who've already made the education of the children here part of their political platforms--let's hope they're willing to use that bully pulpit to encourage some legitimate reform.
Update: This was done before.
The commission is the second of the same name. In 1990 the first commission released a report similarly detailing the failings of American education, and its influence helped advance the standards movement that culminated in the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, which became law in 2002. Stateline.org
The state of Tennessee recognizes the inherent value of education and encourages its support. The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance, support and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools. Article XI, Sec. 12
