Leave Education To Principals, Teachers, Parents
Miami Herald, Florida, November 28, 2007
I find myself increasingly convinced that much of what ails American schools can be traced to a bureaucracy that: a) doesn’t pay enough; b) does too little to encourage and reward creativity; c) doesn’t give principals authority over who works in their schools; d) makes it nearly impossible to fire bad teachers.

Rescue Kids Stuck In K-12
D.C. Examiner, November 28, 2007
Touted as a solution to poor school performance, the push for universal preschool nationwide is based on the questionable assumption that children will do better academically by spending even more time in an institutionalized school setting.

House Members Endorse NEA’s Favorite Bills
Education Week, Maryland, November 27, 2007
At the beginning of November, the National Education Association sent a letter to members of Congress, telling them they would earn favorable grades for co-sponsoring bills the union supports.

Fenty, Rhee May Close 24 Schools, Reduce Staff
Washington Post, D.C., November 28, 2007
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee are considering closing 19 schools next summer and five others by summer 2010, according to a confidential document prepared by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education.

UFT’s Drive For Charters Nears A Success
New York Sun, November 28, 2007
A campaign to bring charter schools into the union fold is poised to register its first victory: Teachers at a charter school in Queens have voted to make the United Federation of Teachers their exclusive bargaining agent.

Spitzer Orders Charters To Pay Union Wages
New York Sun, November 28, 2007
Without seeking legislative approval, the Spitzer administration has quietly ordered charter schools to start paying union wages on all construction, repair, and maintenance projects.

Parents Of Disabled Students Push For Separate Classes
Wall Street Journal, November 27, 2007
As policy makers push to include more special-education students into general classrooms, factions are increasingly divided.

Running From ‘No Child’
Washington Post, D.C., November 27, 2007
Congressional inertia in reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act could well mean that the shape of federal education policy is left to the next president.

Education Not Significant ‘08 Issue, Analysts Say
Crosswalk.com, Virginia, November 27, 2007
Nonetheless, education has thus far not emerged as a major issue in the 2008 presidential campaign, and analysts are divided over whether it will.

Charter School Teachers Get Bonuses Not Allowed For Lake District Teachers
Orlando Sentinel, Florida, November 27, 2007
Charter-school teachers have been banking bonuses while also collecting other bonus checks under the criticized Merit Award Program, School Board members learned Monday.

New York Defends Much-Criticized School Grades
New York Times, November 27, 2007
Not long after Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein announced plans last year to give grades of A through F to schools, principals at some of New York City’s coveted specialized high schools grew concerned.

California’s Achievement Gap: Is Racism Really the Problem?
One Republic, California, November 26, 2007
Last week State Superintendent of Education Jack O’Connell hosted a weekend summit on the disparity in performance between minority and white/Asian students.

Miami Herald columnist Leaonard Pitts, in his latest “What Works” essay, part of a  series about programs that are tackling the challenges faced by black kids, profiles two KIPP schools that are making progress in North Carolina. It’s the KIPP success story most of us know pretty well by now. So it was the reader comment, by a self-described cynical Dade County public school teacher, that particularly grabbed my attention:

The differences between this school and other schools aren’t particularly profound- longer school day and year, reintroduction of electives, higher teacher pay, and the ability to fire bad teachers. I noticed that nothing about KIPP seems to address the particular needs of black students, but I expected that, and I think Mr. Pitts will always have a tough time finding a program that does so.

When I first started working for Dade County Public Schools, I went into it very cynical, and that attitude has worked for me quite well. Although I’m proudly a member of the union, it’s unfortunate that our contract seems to ensure that teachers can be fired for everything except incompetence. Instead, we end up playing a game called “pass the trash”. The fact that KIPP can easily fire teachers is good, although I would be a tad nervous working in that environment- at least at first.

I would also like to point out that although KIPP doesn’t try to grab “the cream of the crop”, each student at least has the advantage of having a parent who cares enough of his/her education to enroll them in KIPP. That will result in a better, more motivated student body.
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- Adam W.

Miami Herald columnist Leaonard Pitts, in his latest "What Works" essay, part of a  series about programs that are tackling the challenges faced by black kids, profiles two KIPP schools that are making progress in North Carolina. It’s the KIPP success story most of us know pretty well by now. So it was the reader comment, by a self-described cynical Dade County public school teacher, that particularly grabbed my attention:

The differences between this school and other schools aren’t particularly profound- longer school day and year, reintroduction of electives, higher teacher pay, and the ability to fire bad teachers. I noticed that nothing about KIPP seems to address the particular needs of black students, but I expected that, and I think Mr. Pitts will always have a tough time finding a program that does so.

When I first started working for Dade County Public Schools, I went into it very cynical, and that attitude has worked for me quite well. Although I’m proudly a member of the union, it’s unfortunate that our contract seems to ensure that teachers can be fired for everything except incompetence. Instead, we end up playing a game called "pass the trash". The fact that KIPP can easily fire teachers is good, although I would be a tad nervous working in that environment- at least at first.

I would also like to point out that although KIPP doesn’t try to grab "the cream of the crop", each student at least has the advantage of having a parent who cares enough of his/her education to enroll them in KIPP. That will result in a better, more motivated student body.
 
- Adam W.

Miami Herald columnist Leaonard Pitts, in his latest "What Works" essay, part of a  series about programs that are tackling the challenges faced by black kids, profiles two KIPP schools that are making progress in North Carolina. It’s the KIPP success story most of us know pretty well by now. So it was the reader comment, by a self-described cynical Dade County public school teacher, that particularly grabbed my attention:

The differences between this school and other schools aren’t particularly profound- longer school day and year, reintroduction of electives, higher teacher pay, and the ability to fire bad teachers. I noticed that nothing about KIPP seems to address the particular needs of black students, but I expected that, and I think Mr. Pitts will always have a tough time finding a program that does so.

When I first started working for Dade County Public Schools, I went into it very cynical, and that attitude has worked for me quite well. Although I’m proudly a member of the union, it’s unfortunate that our contract seems to ensure that teachers can be fired for everything except incompetence. Instead, we end up playing a game called "pass the trash". The fact that KIPP can easily fire teachers is good, although I would be a tad nervous working in that environment- at least at first.

I would also like to point out that although KIPP doesn’t try to grab "the cream of the crop", each student at least has the advantage of having a parent who cares enough of his/her education to enroll them in KIPP. That will result in a better, more motivated student body.
 
- Adam W.