June 30, 2006
Changes
There are a couple of changes coming your way on Edspresso.
Regular readers know that the Featured Commentary section features a new article each day. That changes on Monday, when the section will become a weekly offering, with all new articles being posted on that day. After next week, the new edition of Featured Commentary will appear on Tuesdays. (Because of the Fourth of July, we decided to move next week's edition to Monday.)
Now, take a look at the tabs at the top of the screen. "Our View" is changing to "Daily View." It will no longer be restricted solely to folks with the Alliance, but will also include other third-party remarks that are too time-sensitive for the weekly editions of Featured Commentary.
As always, we welcome third-party submissions. And now, we have two platforms to run those submissions instead of just one.
Posted by Ryan Boots at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)Unions looking out for their own--period
Edwize goes after a Brooklyn charter school with a pipe wrench over the firing of teacher Nichole Byrne Lau, allegedly for questioning the school's pay practices. (This came, by the way, after Lau received overwhelming praise from her principal, other faculty members and students.) The school founder and CEO, who apparently never learned the first rule of holes, then reportedly said the teacher was fired because she "hates children and she's a racist." Every New York newspaper is reporting on this, so click a link for more information. Edwize sums up thusly:
That is why teachers in charter schools, like teachers in other public schools, need unions. And it is also why, as the case of Nichole Byrne Lau so pointedly illustrates, students in charter schools need to have their teachers protected by unions. If there was a union at the Williamsburg Charter High School, the students in that school would still have one great, wonderful teacher of English.
Joe Williams response provides some important perspective:
...if this one is for real, there is already a process in place to protect the teacher here, and the school's charter could (and should) be revoked if the allegations of union-busting are true.
We wholeheartedly agree that, if these allegations are true, the school richly deserves to be stripped of its charter. And while the UFTies are appropriately full of righteous indignation, there are other avenues for redress present (imagine lawyers presently strapping on the brass knuckles right now--rest assured there will be an awesome legal brawl over this). But Joe has another salient point on the union's posturing:
...I think Leo is making a stretch when he suggests that all charters need unions just because of one dude who seems to be on an ego trip.
Actually, it's not Leo--it's his boss. The Sun's report on the situation suggests the UFT may be using this as an agenda vehicle:
The head of the city's teachers union is latching onto a recent spate of firings at a Brooklyn charter school to push Albany to make it easier for teachers at charter schools to join the union...
In recent months, the union has tried to stop Albany from increasing the number of charter schools allowed under state law. While the state Senate voted in favor of the governor's push to raise the number of allowed schools to 250 from 100, the Assembly left Albany for the summer without voting on the measure.
Ms. Weingarten said she wants any legislation that allows for additional charter schools to include language that protects teachers who try to organize and ensures an expedited process so that administrators cannot interfere in organizing drives or harass pro-union workers. In that process, teachers could sign cards rather than have a secret-ballot election to form a union.
The policy director for the New York Charter School Association, Peter Murphy, called the union's efforts "counterproductive." He said that the charter law already stipulates a complaint process for teachers and that a school can have its charter revoked for violating a teacher's rights.
"She's exploiting this issue to try and organize the easy way, by having it mandated," Mr. Murphy said of Ms. Weingarten.
We make no secret of the fact that we generally view the teachers' unions as a major obstacle--not just to our efforts, but to any meaningful education reform. And in spite of what Edwize and likeminded unionistas would have you believe, it's not because we get warm fuzzies by seeing teachers indiscriminately shown the door by all-powerful principals.
It's because of stuff like this: the utterly insane process one must follow to fire a New York City public schoolteacher, brought to you almost singlehandedly by the unions. It is, for all practical purposes, nearly impossible to do so, no matter how bad he/she is. And if that's the case, what principal is going to waste his/her time on the mediocre ones--those who really don't measure up, but haven't done anything utterly reprehensible?
One of the advantages choice schools report enjoying over their public counterparts is the liberty to independently make personnel decisions. Free of the thickets of union laws, bylaws and regulations, they don't have to wade through a sea of paperwork and spend prohibitive amounts of time and money getting a slipshod teacher out of the way. Is it any wonder charter schools shudder at the thought of union contact?
The UFT has far more control than administrators in deciding which teachers go to which schools. It opposes merit pay. It has enormous power in deciding curriculum (another major advantage choice schools enjoy). Is it any wonder the New York Daily News ran a series of editorials last year practically begging the UFT to make some changes during contract talks last year?
If the unions were simply in the business of protecting and elevating good teachers, then we would probably count them as allies. But the unions are in the business of protecting and elevating all teachers, regardless of ability and quality, at any cost. That's the problem.
Has the Gates Foundation bitten off more than it can chew?
Alexander Russo thinks out loud about the Gates/Buffett philanthropic leviathan:
I wonder -- as many others probably do -- how the new money is going to be divided between education and health. Whatever the division, I wonder whether an even bigger amount of money to give away every year will help the program folks at Gates, or pressurize their thinking in ways that won't help them think and act as wisely as possible.
Here's why I'm optimistic. If Gates ran Microsoft--a much bigger organization than the Gates Foundation will ever be--successfully, I imagine he'll get the hang of philanthropy. And Buffett's natural skepticism, and ability to pick winners, is legendary. If he says the Gates Foundation is a safe bet, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Yes, the organization has problems--as Russo notes, the foundation is only at 300 staffers, which probably wasn't enough before the Buffett Bonanza came into the picture. And they've made more than a few missteps so far. But I imagine they'll get the kinks worked out soon enough.
Posted by Ryan Boots at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)Education News for Friday, June 30
Nation's "best schools" fail minorities - Many of the high schools on "Newsweek's" popular annual lists of the nation's top 100 schools have glaring achievement gaps between the races and high dropout rates, according to a new report. (more)
South Carolina and tuition tax credits - The commission is being sued by South Carolinians for Responsible Government. The group wants the state to give parents tax credits or money to help pay for private school tuition. (more)
Reading gains slowing, study says - A No Child Left Behind report's author says that states inflate progress. California's gap between state and federal scores is among the smallest. (more)
Check back later for more education news.
Reading Between the Lines (Nancy Salvato)
Sunday papers don't ask no questions
Sunday papers don't get no lies
Sunday papers don't raise objection
Sunday papers don't got no eyes
-Joe Jackson
Everyone has an agenda. To truly read between the lines, a person must be able to recognize flaws in an argument, misinformation, and ideological bias. More importantly, a person must be cognizant of why some stories are buried in the midsection of the paper and why some are not included at all.
Continue reading "Reading Between the Lines (Nancy Salvato)" »
Posted by Featured Guest at 01:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)June 29, 2006
Searching for a cause in Sausalito
From time to time I've mentioned the disastrous Kansas City experiment, which tends to be a rallying point for those who dare to contradict the Kozol doctrine that increased spending will cure all that ails American education. Looks like somebody didn't get the memo, because we have a Kansas City for the new millennium:
Sausalito Marin City teachers are the highest-paid in the county, with an average salary in 2004-05 of $70,981 compared with the Marin average of $58,256. The district has three schools, an annual budget of almost $5 million, an enrollment of 283 K-8 students, and a pupil-to-teacher ratio of 14 to 1. Per pupil expenditure is $22,232, three times the state average.
Still, more than 50 percent of the district's students fail to graduate from high school - sparking an attempt by trustees to turn around the district's educational program.
This is a school district that has nearly everything in its favor. It has a tiny number of students overall. It has a ridiculously small class size (i.e. student/teacher ratio). While it includes the city of Marin, which tends to be low-income, it also includes the upscale town of Sausalito in its boundaries. And it has more money than it knows what to do with. But performance has been so odious that parents traditionally flee the district for private schools!
Poor academic achievement in the Sausalito Marin City School District has rendered the concept of public neighborhood schools largely meaningless as dozens of children in the district, both black and white, flock to private schools.
Even the district's relative wealth - it spends $22,232 per pupil annually, more than three times the state average - is not enough to coax students into the district.
"They are really being deprived of an education," said Marin City resident Catherine Shine, whose youngest daughter, Olivia, 6, attends private St. Patrick School in Larkspur, and oldest, Ashley, 13, briefly attended the district's Willow Creek charter school before attending Mill Valley Middle School.
"These kids are getting a (poor) education and nobody seems to care. É I can't figure out where the money goes."
George Stratigos, president of the Sausalito Marin City School District Board, said Shine's complaint sounds familiar.
"Those were my words from 10 years ago," he said.
Nearly a decade ago, Stratigos led "Project Homecoming," a successful recall campaign of the school board that culminated in his ascent to the position of board president. In an interview at the time, he vowed to change "the long-standing culture of failure of the Sausalito Schools District to a culture for excellence."
In effect, Stratigos said, his goal was to attract would-be private school students to the public schools.
Today, Stratigos and another recall proponent-turned-trustee, Shirley Thornton, invoke nearly identical language to describe the district's condition.
It's been ten years. And nothing has changed. More on Stratigos here. His blog is here. And other Marin Independent Journal stories on this may be found here and here. (Hat tip to Alan Bonsteel--who, come to think of it, really should start blogging--for bringing this to my attention.)
Villaraigosa and the LA Times: parting of the ways
The colorful minds behind School Me! are still off vacationing, so we haven't heard a lot of commentary from them yet on the progress of the takeover plan. But one thing is clear: Villaraigosa has lost the LA Times editorial board on the idea.
United Teachers Los Angeles opposes merit pay for top-performing teachers. It makes the firing of bad teachers almost impossible. It's against allowing administrators to assign teachers to the schools where they are needed most. It's sharply critical of charter schools. The union doesn't like having a unified curriculum, and it thinks that teachers shouldn't have to put up with training from coaches.
In other words, the union is largely opposed to most reforms that demand more of teachers. (Individual teachers, many of whom applaud changing the schools to benefit students, are another matter.)
One of the biggest criticisms of the school board has been that the union wields too much power over its decisions because the union is by far the biggest donor to board candidates. Mayoral control of schools, in theory at least, dilutes that power because mayoral candidates draw from a larger pool of donors, and a mayor's decisions receive more public scrutiny.
So much for theory. As it turns out, a mayor eager to work out a legislative compromise — and who has a long history with the teachers union — can hand far more to the union than the school board has ever agreed to.
And here's the stinger:
A weakened school board, as beholden to UTLA as ever, makes an ideal negotiating partner for a powerful union. A superintendent who isn't answerable to the board gives the union enough wiggle room to continually challenge district policy. A situation in which no one is dominant provides a perfect opportunity for the strongest player to emerge as the leader of the district. And UTLA is a strong, well-financed player. No wonder (UTLA president A.J.) Duffy likes this deal so much.
Go read the whole thing.
UPDATE: The editorial didn’t tell the whole story on just what Duffy said at yesterday’s hearing. Mike Antonucci fills in the blanks:
In testimony before the California Senate Education Committee, Duffy defended the deal between UTLA and Mayor Villaraigosa by saying:
"This bill has been criticized for fragmenting authority over the system so that no one person is accountable, but that is precisely the genius of this legislation."
Duffy is absolutely right. It takes sheer genius to craft a proposal so cleverly that an operation involving tens of thousands of employees, hundreds of thousands of students, and billions of dollars holds no one accountable.
Bravo, sir.
Who would have thought Duffy would be so forthright about it?
Posted by Ryan Boots at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)More on K-12/college partnerships
Taking remedial classes in college is pretty typical for most high school graduates. The Dallas Morning News explains why:
The answer lies partly in the unique history of American education, according to Michael Kirst, an education professor at Stanford University.
"We built two mass, disconnected systems. The K-12 system built up on its own, and higher education grew away from it," Dr. Kirst said. Over time, they've developed in "splendid isolation" of each other.
In England, Germany and many other developed countries, the two systems developed together. They have a long history of cooperation. For instance, together they create tests for college admission and placement, Dr. Kirst said. And here?
Many states require students to pass a test built on their state's curriculum – in Texas, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills – to graduate from high school.
But to get into many colleges, students must take the ACT or SAT, tests that were created by national companies and that don't really reflect the skills states require for graduation.
Then, many colleges give another test once kids arrive to place them in classes.
And often, the K-12 and collegiate tests don't even resemble each other. For instance, students can use calculators on the math portion of the TAKS, but not on many college entrance and placement tests.
Coming on the heels of yesterday's post on the growing partnerships between K-12 and universities, this history--which, I think, most of us intuitively understand but never really acknowledge--kind of helps fill in the picture a bit as to why the disconnect exists in the first place. Finally, these parallel universes seem to be joining together. Faster, please. (Hat tip to Education at the Brink.)
Posted by Ryan Boots at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)Do teachers get a summer vacation?
Get Schooled has a pretty interesting blog discussion on this subject. Check out the comment thread for some entertaining thoughts on both sides of the debate.
Education News for Thursday, June 29
Teacher Union Speaks Out Against Closing Schools - Leaders of the Chicago Teachers' Union went before a City Council committee Tuesday to spell out their objections to the public schools' Renaissance 2010 plan. (more)
Reform for L.A. Schools Advances - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's bid to assert significant control over the Los Angeles Unified School District cleared its first legislative hurdle Wednesday, with state lawmakers voting 7-1 in support of his plan despite expressing deep reservations. (more)
Mayor clears hurdle No. 1 - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's controversial Los Angeles school-takeover plan cleared one of its first significant legislative hurdles Wednesday, winning approval from the Senate Education Committee even as lawmakers, school officials and parents questioned whether it would really help schools. (more)
Union bosses today, school bosses tomorrow - Editorial: In the muddled deal for authority over L.A. schools, one thing is clear: The teachers union would win. (more)
Antonio's Theory of Relativity - Can Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa really claim victory with his compromise school plan? (more)
Passing Marks - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s plan for L.A. Unified still faces another committee, the full Senate and the state Assembly. But Wednesday’s 7-1 committee vote sent some strong messages to partisans on both sides: The train is leaving the station, and Democrats are going to send the bill to a welcoming governor no matter how many questions are raised regarding the new L.A. Unified flow chart — one crafted in a burst of late-night negotiations just last week. (more)
Napolitano defends acceptance of school-choice measures - Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said Wednesday she still opposes vouchers, but accepted several measures helping students afford private schools to gain legislative approval of additional spending for all-day kindergarten, teacher pay and other priorities. (more)
It's a Wrap! - A super-sized legislative session comes to an end in Arizona, with education the big winner of the budget negotiations. (more)
Panel calculating how U.S. schools should teach math - The National Math Advisory Panel is holding its second-ever meeting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina this week, with members discussing ways to raise math achievement of students across the United States. (more)
Unions: For the Children? - Opinion: Who would obstruct the fight against sex trafficking of children? The Vancouver Education Association (VEA) comes to mind. (more)
State needs to step up - Editorial: Massachusetts has long boasted of the strongest public schools in the nation. It's discouraging to see new data showing we're losing ground. (more)
How did primary affect the schools? - Both sides of Utah's education reform debate are claiming victory after this week's primary election. (more)
Reforming the school district - Los Angeles teachers and residents weigh in on the mayor's LAUSD takeover plan. (more)
Parents applaud, complain as LAUSD proposal advances - As California lawmakers push ahead with a radical shake-up of the Los Angeles Unified School District, parents are as divided as the politicians over the plan promoted by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. (more)
Teacher unions to merge Sept. 1 - New York's two teachers unions will officially merge Sept. 1, creating a lobbying entity 600,000 strong. (more)
Posted by Daily News at 05:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)Charter Schools: Why Test Scores May Not Matter (Kevin R. Kosar)
As the charter school movement has grown, so has the intensity of the political brawls over them. Whenever a study appears showing that charter schools raise student achievement, opponents hammer it for bad methodology. Whenever a newspaper reports on a charter school mismanaging funds and going out of business, advocates dismiss it is as an exception.
Continue reading "Charter Schools: Why Test Scores May Not Matter (Kevin R. Kosar)" »
Posted by Featured Guest at 01:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)June 28, 2006
UPDATED 6/28--A Deeper Look at the Graduation Rate Debate (Dan Losen vs. Joydeep Roy, with comments by Larry Mishel)
Of all the debates we've done so far, this one has been the most spontaneous.
Posted by Featured Guest at 01:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)School Choice Victories (Anna Varghese Marcucio)
If there ever was a time to expect the unexpected, it was last week when Governor Napolitano (D-Arizona) signed three new school choice programs into law, and when the overwhelmingly Democratic Rhode Island General Assembly approved a scholarship tax credit program for low income families. It was a banner week for school choice advocates, and it came as a welcome surprise.
Continue reading "School Choice Victories (Anna Varghese Marcucio)" »
Posted by Featured Guest at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)High-tech texts (or: all the cool kids are doing it)
So last week I put together a lengthy post on how the spread of technology can help resolve the ongoing problems in textbook selection. What timing! Melissa Wiley, who wrote here, here and here on the related issue of selecting a homeschool curriculum, also has an Edspresso article out today on the same subject. (Side note: Melissa is hosting this week's Carnival of Education, which links to my post from last week.) And Mike Petrilli also wrote here about harnessing high-tech in the classroom.
Let's explore this just a bit further. Possibly one of the most exciting aspects of this is the liberty it allows educators to innovate. Melissa's posts indicate a dizzying array of curriculum options (some of which, in the best traditions of the Internet, come free of charge). Just think of the freedom that could be extended to public schoolteachers if they were allowed a bit of flexibility to build their own curriculum.
However, a potential trainwreck could be on the way, especially after reading Mike's thoughts on reliance on technology:
To be sure, well-conceived technology could make inexperienced teachers more effective, and might even allow for larger teacher-to student-ratios. Yet great teachers have little to fear on this score. The best media tools in the world won't be half as effective without an informed, passionate instructor guiding them through it.
Mike said this in connection with the potential barrier of teachers' unions stonewalling efforts to pour more money into classroom technology. (For a huffy response, visit NCLBlog.) But where I see that some educators could (rightly) complain about this is the use of technology as a crutch. As Sarah has pointed out here and here, improved technology via calculators may have inflicted harm on students' ability to grasp mathematics.
So increased technology cuts both ways: increased opportunities for creative liberty, and increased opportunities for intellectual laziness. How do we find the middle ground?
More university involvement in K-12
We recently reported that high schools may start to resemble universities before long. More evidence of this can be found here:
Now that Wildcat Secondary School has a building and a staff, it's ready for the most important part: students.
Enrollment has begun for the only charter school in Arizona sponsored by a state university, in this case the University of Arizona. Richard Reyes, the charter school's director, said they're looking for 160 sixth- and seventh-grade students in the first year.
"We wanted smaller class sizes," he said. "We didn't want it to be too big. It's more personalized instruction."
The Wildcat School, one of four charters opening in Tucson this fall and one of 92 in the city, will be primarily a math and science academy. And though it is open to any Tucson resident and is free, the school's application says a student's parents must not be a graduate of a four-year university.
(snip)
Arizona State University also is getting into the charter school act. Officials there are setting up plans for four charter campuses to begin operations in 2007 and phase in through 2009. The schools' goals haven't been fully formed yet, but each campus will correspond to one of ASU's four campuses, said Maggie Mangini, ASU's director of university-school partnerships.
Starting next month, the staff will begin looking for models to follow, including the Wildcat School and a charter school at the Minneapolis Zoo, she said.
And this is pretty neat:
Val Griffin, a mother of three, had the future of her children — and her country — in mind when she signed her son and daughter up for what few people would consider a lighthearted summer activity.
"I wish they'd go to school all year," Griffin said as she picked the kids up from PREP, the Prefreshman Engineering Program at the University of Texas at San Antonio. "So many countries are so far ahead of us with technology."
The eight-week summer program helps middle school students get a leg up on math, science and engineering, and it's just the kind of activity that New York teacher William White would have applauded.
In 1906, White tested his students' math skills before and after summer vacation. He found they'd lost speed and accuracy after the long break and, with that, discovery launched the fear of so-called "summer learning loss" or "summer slide."
That's the term educators use for the brain drain students can suffer after a summer spent vegetating in front of the television or hanging out at the pool.
More on the program here. It seems there's a clear trend of connecting secondary schools with the university system, which overall is a very good thing.
Improving public school choice in California
The San Juan Unified School District northeast of Sacramento is making some noteworthy changes to its public school choice program:
The San Juan Unified School District board unanimously approved major changes to its open enrollment policy Tuesday night, likely affecting how many students will win admission each year to the most popular schools.
The new policies are part of what Superintendent Steven Enoch called a "customer service" approach to managing enrollment across the district.
In probably the most significant change, a school will accept students through the open enrollment process until its physical capacity is reached. Currently, the district caps enrollment at the most-requested schools to ensure less-popular schools have adequate enrollment.
Good for them. If a preferred school has room, why not let the kids in? Answer:
Trustee Thomaysa Glover suggested the proposal would hurt less-popular schools.
"We're happy when we can fill a certain school, but … I feel a little bit uncomfortable with how that would affect schools surrounding schools that are in high demand," she said.
Education isn't about the schools--it's about the children. If they can get a better deal at a different school, let 'em go.
Also, it's kind of interesting that they're called "less-popular" or "schools surrounding schools that are in high demand." Great pains are taken to avoid calling these schools "bad", "unperforming", or otherwise undesirable.
Education News for Wednesday, June 28
AZ Legislature of 2 minds on poorest schools - In a matter of a few days towards the end of the session, Republicans passed two bills: one that speaks to those school's amazing success and another that speaks to their miserable failure. (more)
NY union seeks rule change for charter schools - The head of the city's teachers union is latching onto a recent spate of firings at a Brooklyn charter school to push Albany to make it easier for teachers at charter schools to join the union. (more)
New Fl law makes it easier to start charter schools - The Florida Schools of Excellence Commission, created when Gov. Jeb Bush signed a House bill Monday, will pave the way for more charter schools in the state. (more)
2006 South Carolina elections - Education, particularly vouchers or tax credits versus public schools, is one such issue.Sanford has supported school vouchers in the past and as governor has advocated for tuition tax credits for private school tuition. (more)
The issue of government operated schools - Government operated schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Compulsory education laws spawn prison-like schools with many of the problems associated with those prisons. (more)
Check back later for more education news.
UPDATE:
Ed Week (subscription required) Report Urges Business Groups to Advocate for High-Quality Preschool Programs - In a new 74-page report released today, the Washington-based business public policy group maintains that costly academic-remediation programs are draining state and federal budgets... (more)
Report tracks MN rising school spending - Despite declining enrollment, Minnesota schools are spending money faster than the rate of inflation, according to a report released Tuesday by State Auditor Patricia Anderson. (more)
MN governor offers college tuition to top students - Gov. Tim Pawlenty offered a deal Tuesday to those students: Graduate in the top 25 percent of your high school class or score well on college entrance exams and go tuition-free to any Minnesota public college. (more)
LA Times editorial: Confusion instead of school reform - The state's plan for Los Angeles Unified's schools has too many ingredients and dices responsibility too finely. (more)
CNN: No summer vacation for failing schools - Lou Dobbs: For just about a third of all high school students in this country, summer brings no respite from the failure of our public education system. (more)
Posted by Daily News at 05:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)The Curriculum Buffet (Melissa Wiley)
It's June, and the mailboxes of homeschooling parents everywhere are being flooded with catalogs. The home education discussion boards are buzzing with conversation about curriculum: What do you use? What are you using next year? Is Product X worth the thirty/forty/fifty bucks?"
Continue reading "The Curriculum Buffet (Melissa Wiley)" »
Posted by Featured Guest at 01:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)June 27, 2006
The next chapter in the school student finance debate
The big buzz in the edusphere right now is Rod Paige's NYT column, where he kills two birds with one stone: while simultaneously taking a swing at the 65% solution, he talks up a different concept also being endorsed by Fordham:
Instead of gimmicky fads, we need fundamental reforms. One good idea now picking up support is "weighted student funding." Under this approach, each child receives a "backpack" of financing that travels with him to the public school of his family's choice. The more disadvantaged the child, the bigger the backpack.
When that money arrives at a school, principals have freedom to spend them as they see fit. Does the school need to pay more to snag a top-notch math teacher? Are extra hours needed to allow for intensive tutoring? Principals would be able to allocate resources accordingly; accountability systems like No Child Left Behind give them strong incentives to make good decisions.
What about reducing administrative waste, the primary aim of the 65 percent solution? Weighted financing handles this better, too: because principals are given full control over their budgets, they can choose whether to forgo a new coat of paint — or, better, consultants and travel expenses — in favor of an additional classroom aide.
Weighted student financing was pioneered in Edmonton, Alberta, in the 1970's and has now been tried in a handful of cities including Houston, San Francisco and Seattle. These experiments have shown considerable promise. In Edmonton, education reforms based on a weighted system helped turn the city's struggling public schools into some of Canada's finest — 80 percent of students regularly score at or above grade level on standardized tests.
Perhaps the best thing about weighted student financing is that it's a reform both liberals and conservatives can support. Liberals should like the extra investment in needy children; conservatives should appreciate its positive effects on deregulation and school choice. That's why Democrats like John Podesta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, and former Gov. Jim Hunt of North Carolina have joined Republicans like me and former Education Secretary Bill Bennett in supporting weighted financing. When it comes to educating our children, we should all put politics aside.
It's got broad bipartisan support--hey, Eduwonk has signed on, so you know it's got legs!
The thing that's vital to consider here is alluded to in the title of this post. Rather than funding schools, where the money tends to get absorbed in great big bureaucratic sponges, the funding in this concept is tied directly to students. But for more on our point of view, let's hear from Clint.
Tracking educorruption, Texas-style
Once again, Peyton Wolcott does edureporters' jobs for them.
Education News for Tuesday, June 27
Debunking the fictions that block school reform - Opinion: A coalition of unions published a glossy report this month complaining that poverty was largely to blame for the poor performance of Rhode Island's public schools. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the document discounted any responsibility by the unions for poor student performance, or any need for greater accountability by teachers. (more)
Study shows more quit school than previously reported - Editorial: The fact that three of every 10 children who enter high school in Indiana never receive a diploma should be a priority concern to all. (more)
Aspiring teachers experience diversity - Pennsylvania education majors participate in a Philadelphia program designed to help them understand racial and ethnic differences. (more)
Take it to the people - Editorial: The defenders of the education status quo in L.A., most notably Superintendent Roy Romer, members of the school board and the bloated bureaucracy they support - are apoplectic over Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's reform plan. To overcome this massive resistance, Villaraigosa is going to need to do what he does best - appeal directly to the people. (more)
Improper spending alleged in Camden - State investigators are looking into whether two Camden (New Jersey) principals improperly spent tens of thousands of dollars of district money on a big-screen plasma television, iPods, laptops, and other electronic equipment. (more)
No Child Left Behind input sought - During the next few weeks, some Utah legislators will be weighing in on the potential reauthorization of No Child Left Behind. Most want to either throw it out or make some adjustments. (more)
Invest less in tests, more in learning - Opinion: While proposed changes to the Delaware student testing program are welcomed improvements, they still leave open a fundamental choice in our state: Will we continue to invest in a custom, multi-faceted assessment system, or will we join the states that restrict investment in testing in order to drive more resources into improving teaching and learning? (more)
Check back later for more education news.
UPDATE:
FOR SCHOOL EQUALITY, TRY MOBILITY - DUMB liberal ideas in education are a dime a dozen, and during my time as superintendent of Houston's schools and as the United States secretary of education I battled against all sorts of progressivist lunacy, from whole-language reading to fuzzy math to lifetime teacher tenure. Today, however, one of the worst ideas in education is coming from conservatives: the so-called 65 percent solution. (more)
The Charter Fight Ahead - That the obstructionism of the United Federation of Teachers and its pawn in Albany, Sheldon Silver, prevented the Legislature from lifting the limit on the number of charter schools is a defeat, but it may have its virtues. (more)
False choice, no choice - The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute inadvertently offered a false choice to Pennsylvanians about how to lower property taxes. The results of a recent survey indicated there was overwhelming support to raise the state sales tax in order to lower property taxes. However, the Quinnipiac analysis of that finding can easily mislead anyone who accepts the implication that there are only two choices. (more)
Mo. Considers Tax Credit for Scholarships- A plan to create tax credits for individuals and businesses that contribute money to K-12 scholarship organizations was introduced in both chambers of ... (more)
Arizona Charter Makes Top 100 List
When Newsweek released its list of the top 100 high schools in the nation May 1, a charter school in Tucson made history. (more)
Can Political Leaders Find the Courage to Liberate Education? - This is the final installment of a seven-part series showing why charter schools do not have the freedom needed to create significant educational improvements ... (more)
Overhauling a Broken Educational System -From the first paragraph of his book's introduction, Frederick Hess sets forth a contrarian view of today's American public schools that suggests significant ... (more)
Diverse Panel of K-12 Leaders Backs Weighted-Student Method of Funding A diverse group of leaders in K-12 education policy are advocating a dramatic change in the way schools are financed, saying they should receive money based on the number and types of students they serve and that principals should determine teacher pay, professional development, and many other matters currently set by districts. (more)
Parents May Not Recover Expert Fees Under IDEA, Supreme Court Rules The main federal special education law does not authorize parents who prevail in a dispute over their child’s individualized education program to recover expert fees, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled today. (more)
Troubled charter schools can just swap sponsors
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: June 27. Some of Ohio's charter schools are like the guy whose doctor told him he was drinking too much, so he changed doctors. "Sponsor hopping"—the practice of a charter school leaving a rigorous sponsor in favor of a less demanding one—might not rival alcohol abuse as a social problem. But as many charter schools decide this week whether to re-sign contracts with their current sponsors, it's enough of a problem to concern even charter school supporters. (more)
State agency will have say on charter school approval - A new state agency will take over responsibility for approving and overseeing charter schools, under a law signed Monday by Gov. Jeb Bush. (more)
Teachers' Unions as Monopolies (Michael J. O'Neal)
One can only chuckle at the bumper stickers on SUVs whose drivers look forward to the day when schools get all the money they need and the Defense Department has to hold a bake sale. Bake sale indeed. Annually, public education is a $446.3 billion enterprise. That’s a whole lotta cookies.
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Posted by Featured Guest at 01:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)June 26, 2006
Gates Foundation supersized
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which already enjoys a $24 billion endowment, just got a raise:
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett said Monday his decision to leave most of his wealth to charity now was "logical," adding that he feels "terrific" about the reversal of his long-stated plan to distribute his billions upon his death.
Buffett, the second richest man in the world, announced his plans to gradually give 85 percent of his wealth to five foundations in an exclusive interview with Fortune magazine published over the weekend.
The vast majority will go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, run by Microsoft chairman - and the world's richest man - Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda. The foundation, which has about $30 billion in assets, focuses on world health as well as improving U.S. libraries and schools. Buffett's contribution will double the foundation's current assets.
"I feel terrific," Buffett said at a meeting Monday at the New York Public Library and monitored by Webcast. "This has been coming for 50 years; the exact method became clear in the last year."
The plan calls for Buffett to donate 10 million Berkshire Hathaway class B shares of stock to the Gates' foundation, another 1 million to the Susan Thompson Buffett foundation, named for his late wife, and another 350,000 shares each to the three foundations run by Buffett's three children, Susan, Howard and Peter.
Though the Foundation has supported laudable structural reforms, and Bill Gates has pronounced public high schools a failure, the Foundation has not yet taken the bold and necessary step of supporting school choice. Perhaps the infusion of resources will make it more willing to consider different approaches that could enhance its prospects for delivering high-quality opportunities for all schoolchildren.
Arizona voucher reax
The East Valley Tribune gets reaction on Arizona's new voucher programs. Highlights:
“If you had asked people at the beginning of this session to bet this would happen, you would have gotten very few people making that bet,” said Chuck Essigs, a lobbyist for the Arizona Association of School Business Officials, former Mesa Unified School District official and an observer of the Arizona Legislature for more than 25 years. “It would be like a 50-to-1 long shot at the Kentucky Derby.”
Yet, to some educators, it’s precious little to celebrate. John Wright, president of the Arizona Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, has posted an ominous message on the AEA Web site: “The deal is not worth the damage.”
An "ominous message". Gasp! In case you missed it, here's our reply to that statement by Robert Teegarden, our director of state projects. Horrors!!!
Eric Kurland, president of the Scottsdale Education Association, said he believes Napolitano did the best she could do in tough circumstances, but he is not happy with the trade-off.
“There are some things in the budget that are not palatable. Vouchers are among those, because they’re taking money away from public education,” he said.
"Taking money from public education", eh? Let's go back and look at how the final budget turned out.
Nearly half a billion dollars. Full-day kindergarten in every school. Raises for teachers. Millions more for special education funding. When it’s all tallied up, Arizona’s public schools will get an increase in state funding of more than $480 million — more than double the amount they have been getting each year for the past 15 years...
While state law required the Legislature approve an increase of at least $217 million for teacher pay, benefits and enrollment growth, lawmakers went above and beyond that, adding another $100 million.
Napolitano also convinced lawmakers to push up the timeline for implementing statewide full-day kindergarten, allotting enough money to bring the program to every school by the 2007-08 school year.
Next year, $118 million will go for kindergarten programs — more than triple the $38 million spent on the program this year.
In the 2007-08 school year, the state will increase that by $80 million to a total of $198 million — more than five times the amount spent this year.
In addition, the budget includes a $5 million increase for special education students and $5 million more for school districts’ transportation costs.
But in order to get these measures, Napolitano had to agree to spend $5 million on new voucher programs that allow children who are disabled or in foster care to attend private schools with taxpayer dollars.
The budget also doubled the size of corporate tuition tax credits for private schools, allowing businesses to donate up to $10 million for private school scholarships for lowincome students.
School choice programs are getting $20 million. Public schools are getting nearly half a billion dollars. Look, just be honest--this isn't about the money, it's about the monopoly, isn't it? Go read the whole thing.
CORRECTION: It has been brought to my attention that the first quote is in reference to the overall increase in eduspending and not to the voucher programs in particular. My mistake.
Clint's WSJ column and LAUSD
Quite a few edublogs responded to Clint's recent WSJ article. One of those responses connects nicely into events currently unfolding in California.
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Posted by Ryan Boots at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)Education News for Monday, June 26
Study casts doubt on "boy crisis" - Jay Mathews from the Washington Post writes about the NAEP findings that over the past three decades, boys' test scores are mostly up, more boys are going to college and more are getting bachelor's degrees. (more)
The wrong way to argue charter schools - The undercard of the marquee fight over whether or not to lift New York's cap on charter schools is a vitally important battle over how to define these schools' success. (more)
PA: "Buts" are hurdles for charter schools - Though some education reformers tout testing as a way to evaluate success, for some students the real test is simply surviving to the next day. The situation is not hopeless, however. Charter schools in Philadelphia and across the commonwealth have created a haven for students that allow the fundamental need of safety to be met - setting the stage for learning. (more)
Utah PAC fueled with out of state funds - An infusion of out-of-state money is raising the profile and influence of the Utah political action committee Parents for Choice. Organized five years ago, the advocacy group for private-school vouchers and tuition tax credits has given $64,000 to 21 state Legislature candidates this year. (more)
UPDATE:
Charter schools increasingly popular with parents - A decade ago, charter schools existed largely on the fringes. Many were startups operating out of rented church basements -- alternatives to failing urban schools that struggled to teach the basics. (more)
Education-linked PACs active in races- A pair of education-related political action committees are active in legislative primary races this year, utilizing telephone banks and mailing lists as well as making contributions to favored candidates. (more)
School vouchers deal angers some - Nearly half a billion dollars. Full-day kindergarten in every school. Raises for teachers. Millions more for special education funding. (more)
Residency rule's demerits at least merit a discussion- It's hard to spot the St. Francis-Milwaukee boundary as it splits hedges on the southeast side. You have to inspect the stamp in the sidewalk concrete to know which side you're on. (more)
Outsiders fund 'school choice' PAC- Parents for Choice in Education has a grass-roots image and a name ready-made for focus groups…(more)
Other Voices: Increase school choice in Virginia - Public education is on the verge of collapse in this country. Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp., last summer told a summit meeting of the nation's governors that America's high schools are obsolete and unable to teach students what they need to survive in today's global marketplace and that creative new ideas are needed to meet these challenges. (more)
School's Out, but Few Are Cheering at Doomed St. Columba - As one boy walked out the door of St. Columba school in Chelsea yesterday, his cheeks were streaked with tears. Another student's grandmother fell quiet and turned away from the building to keep from crying. On the sidewalk, parting handshakes between teachers and parents were somber. (more)
White House Proposes National Opportunity Scholarship Initiative - This spring, the Bush administration proposed an initiative to give thousands of underprivileged children in failing public schools the option to attend private school. A report from the U.S. Department of Education released in February found more than 2,100 public schools have failed to meet adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) for five or more years. (more)
Statistics Released on Second Year of D.C. Vouchers - The official evaluation team for the D.C. voucher program released its descriptive report for the program's second year in May. According to "Evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Second Year Report on Participation," by Georgetown University's Patrick Wolf, Westat's Babette Gutmann, and Chesapeake Research Associates' Michael Puma. (More)
Boys Behind in Graduation Rates: Study - A wide gender gap in high school graduation rates is most pronounced among minorities in large urban school districts, according to a report from the Manhattan Institute. (more)
Posted by Daily News at 06:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)Kicking the Ed School Blues ("John Dewey")
The fan mail is rolling in and paparazzi are following me to work every day despite the great lengths to which I’ve gone to protect my identity.
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Posted by Featured Guest at 01:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (2)June 23, 2006
School choice past and future
Just spotted this: a recording of Robert Enlow of the Friedman Foundation speaking on the recent history of school choice programs across the nation. Pretty nifty to see--er, hear--where we've come from and where we're headed.
Education News for Friday, June 23
Attacks aside, school choice is the right choice - AZ Rep. Steve Yarbrough: I am indeed a supporter of school choice. I am also a product of and strong supporter of public education, which is the key to the future of more than 80 percent of our current students. (more)
Romer: Antonio sold out - The powerful teachers union in the Los Angeles Unified School District would get unprecedented control over what kids are taught and how schools are run under a deal brokered by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to save his reform plan, LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer charged Thursday. (more)
Chaos creates opportunities - David Kirkpatrick from the U.S. Freedom Foundation writes about New Orleans schools. (more)
AZ Legislature wraps with something for everyone - The budget includes $2.5 million each for education vouchers for two programs, one that allows disabled children to attend the school of their choice at state expense, and the other providing the same benefit to former foster children who have been adopted. This sets an uncomfortable precedent of spending public dollars for private and parochial school tuition, but ended up being a bargaining chip. (more)
Ohio charter schools oversight criticized - State education officials handed out millions in federal dollars to charter schools, but failed to have an effective system in place to ensure that the money was being spent properly, Auditor Betty Montgomery said Thursday. (more)
Swann details his plan to boost education in PA - Lynn Swann, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, yesterday laid out his education platform in the most detailed fashion so far, pledging to double funding for the state's Educational Improvement Tax Credit program and to earmark the additional money for low-achieving schools. (more)
NY unions seek joint bargaining with city - Sixteen labor unions that represent about half of New York City's municipal work force have formed a coalition to bargain on wages and benefits, a move intended to strengthen their leverage and speed negotiations. (more)
Update:
Attacks aside, school choice is the right choice – I was disappointed but not surprised to read on the very first day of the campaign that Donna Wallace chose to initiate a personal attack on me, my work and my ethics ("Use state tax dollars for underfunded public schools," My Turn, June 15). Mark Pentz, I understand a little bit of how you must feel. (more)
Swann details his program for boosting education in Pa - Lynn Swann, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, yesterday laid out his education platform in the most detailed fashion so far, pledging to double funding for the state's Educational Improvement Tax Credit program and to earmark the additional money for low-achieving schools. (more)
Educators praised for progress -State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum praised educators Wednesday for making "remarkable" improvements in South Carolina's schools, but she also warned that challenges such as combating poverty, boosting the graduation rate and preparing students for a global economy remain. (more)
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New Choices in Arizona (Lisa Graham Keegan)
On Wednesday, Arizona’s Legislature and governor continued a proud tradition of leading the country in matters of school choice by agreeing to offer three new options to those already available in the state. Along with an expansion of the current corporate tax credit and the addition of a scholarship for students with disabilities, Arizona has become the first state to offer children in foster care the right to a scholarship for attending a private school.
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Posted by Featured Guest at 01:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)June 22, 2006
Meanwhile, back in California: LAUSD takeover roundup
While we celebrated yesterday, Villaraigosa put the finishing touches on a deal with the unions and legislators for his takeover plan. Here's a rundown...
Very lengthy LA Times here:
After tough negotiations with two forceful teachers unions, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa struck an agreement Wednesday that would give him significant sway over Los Angeles' troubled public schools but fall short of the total takeover he had sought.
Under a compromise expected to be drafted by Friday and considered by the Legislature next week, Villaraigosa would effectively gain veto power over the selection of the superintendent, and that official would assume most budget and contracting authority now handled by the elected Board of Education, the mayor's aides said.
Teachers and principals, meanwhile, would have new authority to shape classroom instruction, loosening the district's reins on how best to teach — a change the union has vociferously sought for years.
The current seven-member Los Angeles Unified School District board, which the mayor has accused of micro-management, would lose virtually all of its authority to oversee billions of dollars in contracts and make line-by-line changes in the district's $7.4-billion operating budget.
District officials attacked the agreement as a late-night, back-room deal that would harm the district, and they discussed the possibility of litigation.
This whole thing has made the LA Times an interesting study in contrasts. While Villaraigosa is given some op-ed page real estate to tout the compromise, the editorial board has soured on him--just two days after applauding the move. In an "I told you so" moment, School Me! says that lots of people are going to fight this once the initial euphoria wears off. Right on cue, the LA Daily News offers some rather qualified praise and goes a bit deeper in describing opposition to the deal:
Blindsided by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's announcement of proposed school-reform legislation, angry LAUSD board members, the superintendent and parents vowed to fight it and said too many questions are unanswered.
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Roy Romer said an outline of the proposed legislation makes it unclear whether his successor would report to the L.A. mayor, the school board or a council of mayors.
"Who's going to be the person in control?" asked Romer, who plans to leave his post in the fall.
Board member Jon Lauritzen echoed Romer's concern: "No one can serve two masters," he said.
School board members vowed to fight the legislation and seek a productive partnership with the mayor, union members, teachers and parents.
"I wouldn't have expected anything less from a mayor who believes he's the education guru, the mayor whose education was saved when he came to a public school, a mayor who sends his kids to private schools," said Julie Korenstein, who has served on the school board for 20 years.
"Mr. Mayor, what are your grandiose plans for curing the ills you profess? Are you going to play with the lives of 727,000 students so you can become the next governor?
"I will not go down without a massive fight."
Even though the mayor fell short of his goal of full control of the LAUSD, a group of parents said they would fight to block the scaled-down version being proposed.
"What concerns us is that none of the parents were ever talked to," said Scott Folsom, president of the 10th District Parent, Teacher, Student Association. "... All we are asking for is a serious discussion between the mayor, the school district and parents to discuss what is in the best interests of the children of the district."
Also, check out this interesting nugget from the Sacramento Bee:
And Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who typically does not take positions on bills before they reach his desk, said he would sign this one -- even before details have been worked out.
In a written statement, he praised Villaraigosa's "bold leadership" and said the legislation "is exactly what needs to be done."
It seems like this thing has an awful lot of political momentum right now. The question is whether it will retain that momentum in the face of what promises to be a pitched battle against the administration and parents.
David versus the textbook
The Vamos a Cuba flap is emblematic of a significant problem in the K-12 education system: the collision of competing values mixed with the lack of parental power in the system. In fact, it's sort of an offshoot of another highly contentious process: the selection of textbooks. Fortunately, an army of Davids could help unravel this mess.
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Posted by Ryan Boots at 02:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)What's In a Name? (Robert Teegarden)
In a rather poignant moment in the movie, “Schindler’s List,” Isaac Stern, the captive Jewish comptroller of Oskar Schindler’s factory, shares a toast with Schindler in which he tries to explain that he knows what is his fate, he knows the inference in the language “final solution.” Stern says to Schindler, “Do we have to invent a whole new language (just to explain what’s going on)?” The presumed answer is “Yes.” And just like “Schindler’s List,” we have to invent a whole new language in education.
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Posted by Featured Guest at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)Toe-Hold Strategies (Clint Bolick)
When the Arizona legislature concludes its 2006 session in a few days, it will set a record for school-choice legislation by enacting four new or expanded programs allowing disadvantaged children to attend private schools. Even more remarkable: The programs were enacted in a state with a Democratic governor.
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Posted by Ryan Boots at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)