Category: General

Imagine We Had a Real Governor?

California’s Governor Jerry Brown

Imagine we had a governor who said things like this about education…

In the right order of things, education—the early fashioning of character and the formation of conscience—comes before legislation. Nothing is more determinative of our future than how we teach our children. If we fail at this, we will sow growing social chaos and inequality that no law can rectify. 

In California’s public schools, there are six million students, 300,000 teachers—all subject to tens of thousands of laws and regulations. In addition to the teacher in the classroom, we have a principal in every school, a superintendent and governing board for each school district. Then we have the State Superintendent and the State Board of Education, which makes rules and approves endless waivers—often of laws which you just passed. Then there is the Congress which passes laws like “No Child Left Behind,” and finally the Federal Department of Education, whose rules, audits and fines reach into every classroom in America, where sixty million children study, not six million. 

Add to this the fact that three million California school age children speak a language at home other than English and more than two million children live in poverty. And we have a funding system that is overly complex, bureaucratically driven and deeply inequitable. That is the state of affairs today. 

The laws that are in fashion demand tightly constrained curricula and reams of accountability data. All the better if it requires quiz-bits of information, regurgitated at regular intervals and stored in vast computers. Performance metrics, of course, are invoked like talismans. Distant authorities crack the whip, demanding quantitative measures and a stark, single number to encapsulate the precise achievement level of every child. 

We seem to think that education is a thing—like a vaccine—that can be designed from afar and simply injected into our children. But as the Irish poet, William Butler Yeats said, “Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.” 

This year, as you consider new education laws, I ask you to consider the principle of Subsidiarity. Subsidiarity is the idea that a central authority should only perform those tasks which cannot be performed at a more immediate or local level. In other words, higher or more remote levels of government, like the state, should render assistance to local school districts, but always respect their primary jurisdiction and the dignity and freedom of teachers and students. 

Subsidiarity is offended when distant authorities prescribe in minute detail what is taught, how it is taught and how it is to be measured. I would prefer to trust our teachers who are in the classroom each day, doing the real work – lighting fires in young minds. 

My 2013 Budget Summary lays out the case for cutting categorical programs and putting maximum authority and discretion back at the local level—with school boards. I am asking you to approve a brand new Local Control Funding Formula which would distribute supplemental funds — over an extended period of time — to school districts based on the real world problems they face. This formula recognizes the fact that a child in a family making $20,000 a year or speaking a language different from English or living in a foster home requires more help. Equal treatment for children in unequal situations is not justice.

With respect to higher education, cost pressures are relentless and many students cannot get the classes they need. A half million fewer students this year enrolled in the community colleges than in 2008. Graduation in four years is the exception and transition from one segment to the other is difficult. The University of California, the Cal State system and the community colleges are all working on this. The key here is thoughtful change, working with the faculty and the college presidents. But tuition increases are not the answer. I will not let the students become the default financiers of our colleges and universities. 

Those words were really spoken by California’s Governor Jerry Brown during his state of the state speech today.

Instead we are stuck with this buffoon, the “lobbyist for students” who has done nothing but harm NY State’s students…

MORE Presidential Candidate in the NY Times; More on Seattle

Michael Powell with a great read in the New York Times about Mayor Bloomberg’s fight with the UFT.  Julie Cavanagh, a teacher in Red Hook, Brooklyn, who is running for UFT President this year as the MORE caucus’ candidate, was quoted several times in the story, including this gem…

“The ‘bad teacher’ narrative as a way of explaining what’s wrong with our school system gets really old,” Ms. Cavanagh said. “Our union has taken a stance that we will collaborate and compromise and that is shortsighted when the other side seems bent on destroying you.”

Julie Cavanagh during her appearance on MSNBC this fall.

More news from Seattle where Garfield High School teachers have decided to boycott standardized tests that they were to be evaluated on…

  • Superintendent Jose Banda has issued a warning to teachers who fail to administer the tests, threatening them with a ten day suspension.  The insistence of the teachers to go through with the boycott in spite of such threats makes their actions even more heroic.
  • NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, president of those Seattle teachers’ parent union, has finally broken his silence on the matter with this statement of support…
“Today is a defining moment within the education profession as educators at Seattle’s Garfield High School take a heroic stand against using the MAP test as a basis for measuring academic performance and teacher effectiveness. I, along with 3 million educators across the country, proudly support their efforts in saying ‘no’ to giving their students a flawed test that takes away from learning and is not aligned with the curriculum. Garfield High School educators are receiving support from the parents of Garfield students. They have joined an ever-growing chorus committed to one of our nation’s most critical responsibilities—educating students in a manner that best serves the realization of their fullest potential.
“Educators across the country know what’s best for their students, and it’s no different for our members in Seattle. We know that having well-designed assessment tools can help students evaluate their own strengths and needs, and help teachers improve. This type of assessment isn’t done in one day or three times a year. It’s done daily, and educators need the flexibility to collaborate with their colleagues and the time to evaluate on-going data to make informed decisions about what’s best for students.
“If we want a system that is designed to help all students, we must allow educators, parents, students and communities to be a part of the process and have a stronger voice in this conversation as they demand high-quality assessments that support student learning. Off-the-shelf assessments that are not aligned with the curriculum or goals of the school are not the answer.”

The Latest on Garfield High School

Recently we told you about the teachers at Garfield High School in Seattle who were refusing to give the standardized tests that they were supposed to be evaluated by.  Today we bring statements of support for them.

60 noted educators show their support.

Matt Damon and his mother, early childhood educator Nancy Carlsson-Paige released this statement:

We are writing to support all of the teachers at Garfield High School.  We admire your strong and unified stand against the district mandated standardized test. Teachers, students, and parents do not have to accept practices that are harmful to them and to the whole meaning and purpose of education. We know it takes courage to risk your jobs in order to stand for what you know is right.  But your example holds the promise of inspiring teachers in school districts all over the country to take similar action.  Thank you for your strength and courage.  We admire you and are behind you all the way.

The AFT’s Randi Weingarten:

Dear Garfield High School Teachers:

Thank you. Thank you for taking a courageous stand against the fixation on high-stakes testing and its harmful impact on our ability to give our students the high-quality public education they deserve.

Your actions have propelled the national conversation on the impact of high-stakes testing. Every educator understands that appropriate assessments are an integral part of a high-quality education system. But an accountability system obsessed with measuring, which punishes teachers and schools, comes at a huge cost to children. This fixation on testing has narrowed our curriculums and deprived our students of art, music, gym and other subjects that enrich their minds and make learning fun. Teachers have been forced to spend too much time on test preparation and data collection, at the expense of more engaging instruction. Ironically, this fixation on high-stakes testing actually does the opposite of what its proponents tell us it will do.

Learning is more than a test score, and teaching and learning—not testing—should drive classroom instruction. We need to be focused on growing and nurturing the minds of our students—to ensure that they can think creatively and analytically. It’s no longer enough to teach kids to memorize a bunch of numbers and terms; they must think critically and be able to absorb and interpret knowledge. We must ensure that our children are able to not only dream their dreams but also achieve them. At the same time, we must prepare students for civic engagement and to value that we all have a collective responsibility to one another.

The AFT and tens of thousands of educators, parents and students stand with you in this effort. The AFT passed a resolution at our national convention last summer focused on rebalancing our national education priorities and ensuring that teaching and learning drive our education policies. And we are focused on uniting communities across the country around this issue.

Thank you for leading this conversation.

Randi Weingarten
AFT President

Tuesday Morning Links

On the coldest day of 2013 a few links to read by the fire…

DOE affirms parent right to opt out of standardized testing

Michelle Rhee hires a criminal attorney in response to her cheating scandal

Rethinking Schools on the new teachers union movement

Some people describe this new unionism as an organizing model. Others call it “social justice unionism” or “social movement unionism.” Regardless, the Chicago teachers demonstrated its main features:

  • Unapologetically defend wages and working conditions of public school educators. Teachers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions.
  • Stand up for students, the teaching profession, and an equal and nurturing education that embraces the whole child.
  • Defend public education—the only educational institution in our communities that has the capacity, commitment, and legal obligation to serve all children.
  • Forge alliances with parents and community organizations to work for better schools and for social justice in the entire community.
  • Build democratic union structures that encourage members to be organizers and active participants.

In cities around the country, teachers and other education activists are strategizing how the lessons from Chicago’s strike can be applied to their specific situations. It is time to use the energy and lessons from Wisconsin and Chicago to refocus the national narrative on education, to strengthen and transform our unions, and to broaden the fight for quality education for all.

School Bus Drivers on Strike

School bus drivers in New York City, members of ATU Local 1181, are going on strike.  Read AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento’s statement:

“School bus drivers and crews are going on strike for one reason and one reason only; the Mayor has decided to put his pride over the safety of New York City children.  Rather than admit that he created this problem and can solve it simply by putting safeguards in the bid, he is hiding behind an unrelated court decision that he falsely claims is forcing his hand.  The only hands that have been forced are those of school bus workers, whose only choice is to stand up to the City’s utter disregard for safety and demand that children are driven by the experienced and highly skilled workforce they deserve.

“No one is more disappointed by the need for this strike than the workers who have dedicated their careers to serving school children and their parents, but sometimes difficult and painful choices must be made in order to protect what is fundamentally right.   The Labor Movement stands proudly with our brothers and sisters in ATU Local 1181 as they fight to ensure that New York City children’s safety comes first.”

Statement by New York City Central Labor Council President Vincent Alvarez:

“The impending strike has been a manufactured crisis from the beginning.  This is a completely avoidable situation that the City could solve in an instant if it only had the willingness to do so.  It is unconscionable that City Hall is putting our children’s safety at risk by removing contract language that has been in place for thirty years, and that the City has advocated for as recently as 2011.  We need to make sure that only the most experienced and highly skilled workforce is responsible for transporting our most precious cargo day in and day out.  At the end of the day that is what this strike is about.”

Bravo Garfield High School Teachers!

The faculty of Garfield High School in Seattle has voted unanimously not to administer reading and mathematics tests this year.  Despite the fact that there will certainly be serious ramifications for these teachers, they have taken a stand, stating that these tests waste time, money, and precious school resources.

Shortly after word of this got out, more Seattle teachers have decided to follow suit.

The teachers are also being supported by their local union, the SEA as well as their school’s PTSA.

Via Diane Ravitch, Adam Urbanski, President of the NYSUT Local Rochester Teachers Union stated:

“In his letter from the Birmingham jail, Martin Luther King wrote, ‘There are just laws and unjust laws. And we are obligated to disobey the unjust laws.’ A nationwide movement of creative insubordination may be the only way to put a stop to the injustice now imposed on America’s public schools, teachers and especially students.” (emphasis mine)

You can sign a petition in support of the teachers of Garfield High School here.

Thank you Garfield High School teachers… your fight is our fight!

Barack Obama and the Destruction of American Public Education

You may remember Bill Ayers for the whole “Barack Obama pals around with terrorists” bit that the McCain/Palin ticket played during the 2008 election.  Bill Ayers is actually a Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  Last week he eloquently penned a letter to President Obama, calling out the president and many others for their destructive education policies.  Every teacher should read the letter, given that it states much of what we would love to scream from the top of our lungs.

Keep in mind that Obama, endorsed twice by the AFT and NEA, has looked into a camera on multiple occasions and claimed that teachers need to stop teaching to the test.  All of this as he hypocritically  has pushed Race to the Top onto us, forcing public schools to become only about testing.