Lack of Success?

Last week the Success Academy sent out invitations to an "Exclusive Candidate Reception" via D.o.E. e-mail.  Success Academy is opening its first high school and seeks to lure public-high-school talent.  Does the D.o.E. know that Success is using its e-mail service in an attempt to steal away its workforce?

Now, mind you, Success didn't personally invite me.  Instead, it invited someone who couldn't resist forwarding the invitation to me, albeit a week late, probably to see how far my jaw could drop. 

I was intrigued.  I read on.  If I attended, I would be welcomed by Ms. Moskowitz herself, her business in Albany being done.  I would meet "leaders" (whom, I imagine, must be more important than "followers") and "scholars" (whom I imagine must be more important than "ignoramuses").  

I would hear their stories of "Success."  (As everyone knows failure is not permitted at Success).  There would be a Q&A panel.  (I do have a few good questions, but they might not be welcomed).  And, guests could mingle amid wine and hor d'oeuvres.  One of my many good questions:  Does the City have to foot her bill for hor d'oeuvres as well as for her rent?

I 'm betting the kids at Success Academy are as nice as pie.  But, you know what, so are the kids at my public-school.  It's terrible to use kids as pawns and to pit one group against another, to strangle through co-location and further segregate society.  I guess I won't be attending any Success Academy "Exclusive Candidate Receptions" any time in the near future. Good thing I'm not too fond of caviar!



  

The Lost Princess of ED-ucation

The other day I read Baum's letter "To My Readers" which began The Lost Princess of Oz.  

To My Readers

Some of my youthful readers are developing wonderful imaginations.  This pleases me.  Imagination has brought mankind through the Dark Ages to its present state of civilization.  Imagination led Columbus to discover America.  Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity.  Imagination has given us the steam engine, the telephone, the talking-machine and the automobile, for these things had to be dreamed of before they became realities.  So I believe that dreams--day dreams, you know with your eyes wide open and your brain-machinery whizzing--are likely to lead to the betterment of the world.  The imaginative child will become the imaginative man or woman most apt to create, to invent, and therefore to foster civilization.  A prominent educator tells me that fairy tales are of untold value in developing imagination in the young.  I believe it.

Among the letters I receive from children are many containing suggestions of "what to write about in the next Oz Book."  Some of the ideas advance are mighty interesting, while others are too extravagant to be seriously considered--even in a fairy tale.  Yet I like them all, and I must admit that the main idea in "The Lost Princess of Oz" was suggested to me by a sweet little girl of eleven who called to see me and to talk about the Land of Oz.  Said she:  "I s'pose if Ozma ever got lost, or stolen, ev'rybody in Oz would be dreadful sorry."

That was all, but quite enough foundation to build this present story on.  If you happen to like the story, give credit to my little friend's clever hint.

L. Frank Baum, Royal Historian of Oz

As I was reading it, I felt the cold and cruel fingers of unimaginative reformers winding their way around the throats of children's natural creativity.  Creativity cannot be tested.  So, it must go.  Children must be prepped for tests.  Children must be made to read more manuals and the like and then tested on content.  Creativity cannot be valued since it cannot be measured.

I have been reading the entire Oz series with my family so that my younger 'uns can enjoy it.  They are captivated by the story line of The Lost Princess of Oz.  The book opens with the mysterious disappearance of Ozma and all of the magic tools of Oz.  My oldest ran to get a pen and paper to write down all the clues and compile a list of suspects.  My littlest followed and created her own list--though largely illegible to me.

My oldest commented that some of the clues might turn out to be "red herrings."  I was amazed by her analysis and the mere fact that she was familiar with that unusual expression.

She explained to me her so-called "Thee-OR-ree" about the crime.  I chuckled.  She had picked up the word "theory" through her own reading and naturally mispronounced it.  I asked her about her theory.  She explained to me that she always says "Thee-OR-Ree" and then proceeded to explain her theory to me.

As we read on in the book and met up with the character of the Frogman, she stopped me.  She said, "Mom, I'm going to make a text-to-text connection."  She pointed out that the humbug of a Frogman was very much modeled after Baum's other humbug, the Wizard of Oz.

As I pondered over this newfangled world of hifalutin Common-Core-based verbiage, I concluded that in the old days my third grader might have just blurted out, "Gee, Mom, the Frogman's a bit like the Wizard."  I don't think the Common Core will make my third-grader any smarter, but it has given her a new bag of tricks filled with hyper-inflated vocabulary.  The Wizard would be so proud!

Sometimes, I wonder if the Oz characters were here today what they might say about the Common Core.  It wouldn't be said directly and it'd be more shown than said.  It wouldn't be complimentary at all.  And, as I was thinking these things over, I just then realized that in a thousand ways, Baum has already addressed the likes of the Common Core.  If I only had a brain, I would have told you that long ago!

Will the Colosseum of the Educational Deformers Ever Stand in Ruins?

Yes, schools have issues.  Yes, schools have always had issues.  The issues that schools face, however, are largely a mirror of the issues faced by the larger society.  When I think about how teachers are used as scapegoats for the ills of society today, my mind races through history.

RttT is little more, in my mind, than an attempt to throw teachers to the lions.  The current educational debates which focus upon bringing down public schools remind me of the showy gladiatorial games of ancient Rome.  The emperors of today seek to distract American audiences from the shortcomings of their own policies by entertaining the population with teacher evaluations based to a large degree upon student test scores.  

In this scenario, the Common Core is the hungry lion sent in to devour innocent victims.  And, when the victims are, so to speak, devoured, in walks cheap, unprotected labor to sweat away in now largely privatized schools. The emperors of today will manage these schools and earn either great profits for themselves or fantastic salaries.  

Yet, despite the gladiatorial show, the real and underlying problems of society have only grown worse.  Workers are demeaned.  Many lines of work continue to be outsourced to cheap, unprotected labor, working in sometimes dangerous conditions around the world.  The huge income gaps between the poor and the very, few wealthy have only grown worse.

Some Reflections on the APPR

I know I will be assigned a number this year to quantify my professional essence.  I've thought about the derivation of the numbers and the degree to which I can actually influence the outcome.  I have joked that my first set of numbers should be my first tattoo.

There is a part of the formula that reflects my teaching practices.  The rubric puts a premium on showcasing the students.  This is all very well and good, but when students sit in their lecture halls at a university, they may be sadly disappointed to learn that there is one expert in the room and it is not all about spontaneous student eruptions.  

My evaluation depends in large part upon the students in my room.  If my students do not speak English, they will be less than likely to erupt spontaneously as Danielson demands of highly effective teachers.  If my students are hungry, stressed out or otherwise distracted, our ship will float, but it may not be full-speed ahead.

Some teachers invite their A.P.s in for six observations; they are the smart ones.  I prefer to shoot myself in the foot.  You'd think if I had a student-centered lesson, I'd be smart enough to invite my A.P. over, but I'm not.  It's antithetical to my nature.  I do my job every day, as do my colleagues, and I'd prefer not to "put on a show."  I'd like to think that I design student-centered lessons,  with debates, presentations and group work, purely for the benefit of my students, not for the sake of an outside observer.

Of course, a large part of my evaluation will be the growth in student test scores.  I teach in my classroom, but I also give assignments to be completed at home, including studying.  I can largely control what happens in my classroom.  I have almost no control, however, over what happens outside my classroom.  I can make a few phone calls home, but they may have no effect.  I cannot threaten to take away a student's phone if said student does not study.  I resent the fact that I may be fired for factors over which I, ultimately, have very little control.  

I am aware that the APPR this year includes domains related to a teacher's participation in school activities.  I have always made a point to see the school musical.  I have always loved musicals and sometimes there is the added benefit of seeing my students perform.  I'd hate to think people now go to the shows just to rake up APPR points.  

A student invited me to a J.V. basketball game this year.  It turned out I had three kids on the team.  I ended up going to another game.  I clapped and shouted (only the good things because I am now a teacher) like crazy.  With something like five overtimes, it was "mad" exciting and a world of fun.  I never would have told my AP, "I went to the game, give me some APPR points!"  I went only to see my students.  It just so happened another AP noticed me there, doubtless yelling my head off, and mentioned it to my AP.  She mentioned it to me and said it fits a Danielson domain.  Sometimes, I get lucky, I guess.  In fact, I guess, looking back, I've been far luckier than the average bear.

We have all had to step out of our comfort zones this year.  I had to "manufacture" artifacts.  I made copies of copies, sometimes at home because the department machine went on strike.  I put together a sample lesson plan which, in reality, wouldn't be of much use to me, but it sure looked a little more showy than my originals.  Then, I copied some e-mails, my phone log, my grade book, my delaney book, some student work and the kitchen sink.  I even made copies of some copies, thinking I might need to submit the same "junk" stuff again and again and again....  Happily, this seems not to be the case.  But gosh, it looks like I will have to slap together some Unit Plans instead, for show.  These Unit Plans, fitted to someone else's form, will be of absolutely no practical use to me.

I have worked very hard thus far in my career.  I have rarely sat down in the classroom except when pregnant.  I have always, almost without exception, handed students' papers back the next day.  When I was a new teacher, I ran clubs, took Model UNs on trips, including overnight, chaperoned students to Italy, went to a number of conferences and wrote some curriculum.  Now, I am in a different stage of life.  I am older and I have little children of my own.  Although I believe I can still outrun most younger teachers, I would hate to think that I am being held up to a standard that, perhaps, only a twenty year old can maintain, for better or for worse.

A lot comes with experience.  As one loses speed, one gains much more.  Everything is put in perspective.  Things that seemed important in the past, sometimes don't amount to much any more.  I do not understand how deformers can merrily set about reforming the entire school system when they have only spent a few years in the classroom.  

I have been constantly evolving in my profession.  For me, teaching started with a feeling, quantify it, if you can, a love of history.  It became an appreciation of where my ancestors fit into the past and how it has shaped who I am today.  Then, I came to realize that my love of history is really a love for humanity.  Now, I appreciate that the things we do today will shape the history of tomorrow.  Ultimately, the older I get, the more I realize how little I know and the more I appreciate that my job helps me continually grow in an understanding of humankind.   

So, when I am rated for my APPR this year and next year and until everything is drained out of me, I wonder what my numbers will say.  I feel they are already out there somewhere, getting ready to speak to me.  And, I wonder if I might not be better off just shutting my ears and turning my gaze upwards.  Vissi D'arte. 

The Rising Costs of Graduation: The Hassle Over a Tassel

Perhaps graduation ceremonies are becoming more Common-Core aligned.  I read a news story in The Post explaining how seniors at the Gateway to Health Sciences secondary school are being asked to pay 60% more for their graduation fees this year, $160 instead of $60.  Apparently the cap and gowns cost $25 and the tassels alone cost $20.  I imagine they must contain strands of pure gold!  

Some parents called for greater transparency.  One student defended the policy, claiming that prices last year had been artificially low, leading to a deficit of some thousands of dollars.

This year the price of caps and gowns has increased twofold.  Graduation tickets increased threefold, from $5 to $15.  The price of programs increased five fold, from $5 to $25, not to mention the additional expense of the newly introduced haute couture tassels, coming at $20 a piece.  What would Coco Chanel say?  And, do you think people's salaries have been going up at the same rate?

Time to Say Goodbye, Retro?

When considering the new contract, I was painfully made aware of the fact that I would need to wait until the year 2020 to secure all my lump-sum payments because retro is "not a God-given right" (Michael Mulgrew, May 19, 2014, webcast). 

In his webcast, Michael Mulgrew indicated that it is not currently stated in the contract whether beneficiaries of teachers who die before 2020 will receive the lump sums of those for whom they are grieving.  I imagine this is "not a God-given right" either.  Mulgrew did say, however, the Union would work to make sure that family's in distress get what's coming to them.  I believe him.  Although Mulgrew has promised to fight for our estate, we will lose the retro if we are fired, dismissed or so discouraged we give up.  Kiss your retro, goodbye!

MY TOP-TEN WAYS YOU MIGHT KISS YOUR RETRO GOODBYE

10.  Our department might actually win the Mega Millions for which it periodically pools its money in the hopes of potentially escaping educational deformity.  But if we do win, we lose retro.  Arrivederci, Retro!

9.  We might suffer "Death by Danielson," now eight elements, but still six observations.  Mulgrew says, "get over it," but what if some of us don't?  What if we die at the hands of Danielson instead?  Adieu, Mon Ami, Retro!

8.  What if we get a new mayor, my school closes, I become an ATR, I yell twice in the hallway and I am carted away for a new expedited one-day hearing.  I am fired.  Adios all my hard-earned cash!  You'll hear me yelling now, "Ciao, Retro!"

7.  What if our spouses' jobs at Walmart are outsourced to Bangladesh and we must pick up and move to maintain our standard of living?  Do svidan’ya, Retro! 

6.  What if, God forbid, a kid becomes crazed out of his mind from the Common-Core curriculum and returns to school with a weapon.  What if I take a bullet in an attempt to stop him, somehow survive, but am so entirely traumatized and disheartened that I must resign.  I'd be a hero.  You could bet though, I'd lose my retro.  Ja mata ne / じゃまたね, Retro! (That's Japanese.  I looked it up!)

5.  What if I go to Disneyworld and am convinced by my own children to take up permanent residence in one of their parks?  Zai jian/再见, Retro!  (Chinese, I looked that one up, too!)

4.  What if all this nonsense, makes me so discouraged that I decide to leave the profession I love so much and settle like a reclusive hermit in those far-away hills over yonder.  See ya, Retro!

3.  What if I get hit by truck, or a Success Academy chauffeur going to bring a kid to school on time for his Common-Core testing, and there is no one except a beloved pet to whom I might leave my money.  Bon voyage, Retro unless they let me leave it all to you, dear Fido.  You lucky, dog!

2.  What if like Gregor Samsa, I wake up one morning in this age of educational deformity to find that I have metamorphosed into a giant cockroach?  Auf Wiedersehen, Retro!

1.  What if I decide to toe the Unity line and willingly carry out all my marching orders to perfection with ne'er a question.  I might be promoted to a full-time salary exceeding what I make as a teacher, with far better conditions, far fewer evaluations and a double pension.  Sounds attractive, no?  But Sayonara, Retro!  We must never forget that sometimes the Unity faithful will be asked to make sacrifices, too!  

What is Noble in the Education Reform Movement and What is Not

1.  It is noble to try to help minorities, English-language learners and students with special needs perform better in school.  It is ignoble, however, to blame the very teachers who dedicate their lives to trying to help these same students for the low scores.  It is also idiocy.

2.   It is noble to try to give all students an equal education.  It is ignoble for the self-same reformers to send their children to private schools that advocate none of their reforms.

3.  It is noble to test students to measure their understanding and retention of material, if this information can be used to help students.  It is ignoble, however, to use test scores to devastate underprivileged neighborhoods by firing teachers and closing schools therein.

4.  It is noble to try to raise the standards of all students.  It is ignoble to purposefully concoct a test so difficult that the vast majority are slated to fail. 

5.  It is noble to want kids to do better on tests over time.  It is ignoble to put such an emphasis on tests that schools become test prep centers rather than centers of broader thought and creativity.  It is ignoble when money is funneled away from the classroom to testing companies.  It is ignoble when test standards are manipulated from easy to hard and then back again, all for political ends. 

6.  It is noble to fund research to try to find new methods to improve student learning.  It is ignoble to use this funding with the cards stacked against public schools and a workforce with union-protected rights. 

7.  It is noble to try to increase graduation rates.  It is ignoble when it drives schools to lower standards through credit recovery schemes as a means to accomplish this.

8.   It is noble to try to increase the availability of twenty-first century technology in the classroom.  It is ignoble to think that this technology can replace teachers.  Based on experience, I might add it is also naive to think this technology will not crash at some point.

9.  It is noble to give parents and students a choice about their education.  It is ignoble to create (sometimes for-profit) charter schools to strangle public schools.  It is absurd that these same charters force out under-performing students, many times those with special needs or English-language deficiencies.

8.  It is noble to try to ensure that every classroom has a qualified teacher.  It is ignoble to use this as an excuse to destroy tenure for all, berate teachers and demoralize an entire profession.

9.  It is noble to try to use the media to attract attention to the need for change.  It is ignoble when the reformers control the media and warp the news to their own political ends.

10.  It is noble to hold public forums and hear the opinions of community members.  It is ignoble when the voices of parents, educators and community members are drowned out by the hyper-inflated egos of some reformers who have spent little-to-no time in real classrooms.

It is noble to say you want to attract the best teachers, it is ignoble to make reforms which entirely discourage such teachers or drive them from the profession they love so much.

The City's BMI Funhouse--in Which Few Have Fun

I read a follow-up story in the NY Post entitled "City to rethink distribution of schoolkids' Fitnessgrams."  The gist of the story seemed to be that Gwendolyn Williams won a big victory.  The City "may" no longer ask kids to carry home poorly sealed envelopes containing their potentially disturbing BMI reports.

I suppose this is all very nice.  There is a bigger issue, however.  Stories have popped up of perfectly healthy and incredibly athletic kids who are told, in effect, that they are fat, including one Mia who is a "trim" gymnast.  Athletic boys are also apparently harassed (see here).

As witnessed by these stories, the BMI is not a good measure of overall health. Physical ed. teachers should encourage healthy and physically active lives, but they should not be asked to compile statistics which belie the real health level of kids just as standardized tests and VAM belie the real quality of an education.  Ironically, I wrote about this in a post entitled "Unhealthy Obsessions" two weeks ago.

Some health specialists and certainly many parents and concerned citizens find these BMI measurements less than helpful.  I would not want these same letters sent directly to parents.  Some children may open them before their parents.  Some may find them lying around the house.  Some may hear of the letter and quiz their parents.  And, some parents may share the information willingly with their kids.  

This information can have all kinds of adverse effects.  Some kids may compare their numbers.  Some may starve themselves to get the best numbers.  Some may be devastated.  Some may develop eating disorders.

Based on the stories that I have read, these one-sided BMI results distort the real quality of children's health like a funhouse mirror, but without the element of fun!  

The "Fitnessgram" Fiasco

Gwendoln Williams "Fitnessgram" on Left; An Imagined "Fitnessgram" for her Phys.-Ed Teacher on the Right 

As if it isn't enough that NY State failed 70% of its students on the 2013 Common-Core aligned tests, NYC has added to the misery by sending children home with letters identifying some as obese.  Despite the fact she looks like a little model, Gwendolyn Williams received the obnoxious version of the letter, aimed directly at her self esteem.  

I am not sure who develops these brilliant ideas.  They may have good intentions, but they lack basic common sense, not to mention any expertise in childhood psychology.  On the same day, the NY Post explained that "school cafeterias are part of the obesity problem."  This new "Fitnessgram" policy seems the physical health equivalent of the new Common Core academic standards.  It's aimed to take people down and fast.  And, I'm guessing it's only a matter of time until this little girl's gym teacher and her entire cafeteria staff are fired.  Let's hope she and others like her do not develop eating disorders.  And let's hope that the people who put forth this policy will listen more to parental concerns than the Common-Core reformers!

Race to the Top Toys Revisted, Item #7

Miss Williams' Fitnessgram Fiasco (see post above) reminded me of item #7 on my RTTT Toys post last December.  

7.  This charming jump rope comes equipped with the latest technology, including a heart- rate monitor and microphones at each end.  The microphones will ask your child Common-Core-based questions as she jumps to ensure her academic fitness equals her physical fitness.  If your child is not working the rope at an ideal heart rate or she fails to answer the quizzes correctly, the microphones shout encouraging phrases at her like, "You'll never get to college at this rate"; "Pick it up or you'll die fat and stupid."  Upon initial use, your child will probably not meet the standards of the rope.*  But with encouragement from the rope and you, she will soon touch the sky.

* Consumers are reporting an average academic and physical fitness failure rate of 70%.

You May Be College and Career Ready, But is the Economy Ready For You?

You may be college and career ready, but will the economy be ready to offer you a career that pays your college debts?

How many middle-class jobs will be available?  And how many of us will be working at minimum wage, over-educated and underpaid?

Capitalism and Public Education

Both public education and capitalism are enshrined in the history of the United States.  Although one is private and the other is public, they both claim to operate in the name of public welfare.   In Book V of his Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith seems to indicate that education is necessary and affordable at public expense (see "Adam Smith on Education" and Book V, Part I, Chapter III, Article II).  

As much as I would not favor unregulated capitalism or unregulated charters, I still admire Adam Smith.  In high-school Economics IB, I read Richard Heilbroner's essay on Smith.  It described how he might walk along so absorbed in his ideas that he might fall into a ditch and hardly realize it.  (Sometimes, I think some of the Common-Cored people may be a bit like this!)  And, all this before the age of cellphones!

Here, instead of focusing upon Smith's Book V, Part I, Chapter III, Article II, I would like to focus upon how some sacred tenets of capitalism might kill the sacred institution of public education.

1.  If schools are privately owned, they may not operate in the public's welfare.  They may be run primarily to generate profits.  Poor-performing students may be excluded.

2.  Supply and demand have little value in education.  If students generate demand, I can tell you they will rarely opt for the more challenging teachers.  If principals generate demand, many may look for the cheapest work force. 

3.  The principle of economies of scale are crushing schools.  Many schools today are overcrowded.  It places severe obstacles in the way of academic achievement as well as overall safety.  Schools do not benefit when classrooms and hallways are packed like sardines or when students are banished to backfields to learn in trailer parks.

4.  Schools will not function well when primarily moved by the profit motive.  Students are not products or commodities.  Their interests should not be sold.  Education should not be market-driven.  Schools should never put profits above people.

5.  Schools should not have to spend needed resources for advertisements to generate demand.  Some charters spend a great deal of money advertising their schools with glossy pamphlets and door-to-door activity.  If valuable financial resources are being redirected towards artificially creating demand for a school, students will suffer.

6.  As educational reformers attack labor unions as being in restraint of "trade," they threaten the livelihood of teachers.  Given the necessity of academic freedom and due-process rights, teachers need unions to guarantee them a living wage and the respect due their profession.

7.  Pearson should not grow into a monopoly.  

Pearson began to corner the market when it became clear that Common Core could generate enormous profits.  They make the tests and sell review books to prep for their tests.  In the past, the review books contained passages from the tests. 

8.  Standardization of education is not desirable. 

Eli Whitney was praised for standardizing firearms.  Standardizing education does not work so well.  Students are diverse.  They have vastly different interests and vastly different types of intelligence.  Standardized test measures fail to capture the complexity of individuals.  They often operate by using the lowest common denominator.

9.  A school is not an assembly line.  We do not need to stamp and package all students as Common-Core aligned.  With the emphasis on standardized tests, it threatens creativity.   It threatens the arts.  It threatens individuality.

10.  Competition is necessary in life, but sometimes cooperation must take precedence.   We need to teach students to work side-by-side with students of diverse backgrounds.  We need to teach students to view themselves as citizens of the world and to look for solutions to the problems confronting our planet.  Furthermore, some students may fall by the wayside.  We must not trample or turn a blind eye to those who do not "succeed."  They are not discardable parts of some production process. 

Unregulated capitalism has failed in ways that Adam Smith could not have foreseen.  Now, the corporate agenda for education is failing as well.  The frequent stories about student attrition rates and widespread corruption at charter schools only confirm my worst fears.   Just as a family should not be run as a business, a school is first and foremost a community, not a capitalist venture. 

 

The Slow and Steady Poisoning of the Twenty-First Century Teacher

I read the title below in yesterday's NY Post:  Boys put rat poison in teacher’s water: cops.  Happily, the teacher is OK. 

 

One wonders how the VAMers will judge the value-added measure of the 62-year old fourth-grade teacher who suffered poisoning at the hands of a nine and twelve-year old.  I suppose in the warped world of some statistician, or more likely a politician like Duncan because that seems  to be the last hold out for the veracity of VAM, the teacher is at fault.  Since teachers are responsible in large part for their students' test grades, teachers are also responsible in large part for their own poisoning at the hands of their students.  I am sick of it.

When I stop to think about it, I feel like ed. deformers have been slipping poison into the waters of all teachers.  They use teachers as scapegoats.  Instead of trying to solve the problems of poverty in society that undercut education, they blame teachers for the underlying poverty.  That's a poison of sorts.

Folks like David Coleman say one shouldn't "give a shit" about what people think or feel.  We must boldly press on with a Common Core even if it is developmentally inappropriate or failing to meet the more immediate social, emotional and economic needs of children.  Who "gives a shit" what lifetime teachers or experts in the field think?  More poison for the soul and for our budding little people.  

The ed. deformers tell me twenty years of experience and a Masters in history count for nothing.  Teachers need not be treated as professionals any longer when they can be replaced by the likes of Stanley Kaplan "test preppers."  VAM is not a measuring stick as much as a punishing rod.  More Poison.  Saddest of all, some people profit by selling such poison to the public. 

Dry Facts (Set to "Feelings" and Fondly Dedicated to Mr. David Coleman of Common-Core Fame)

Chief architect of the Common-Core, David Coleman, supposedly tried to become a teacher, but could not be hired.  He took his brilliance elsewhere and wrote national standards for the rest of us.  

In his most memorable quote, he said, as "you grow up in the world you realize people don't give a shit about what you feel or what you think."  I suppose then if I told him what I think of his Common Core he wouldn't, in his own words, "give a shit."  Indeed, I am sure his viewpoint forms the overarching attitude of the whole RttT pep-rally team.  

As I think back on my own education, I don't regret the facts I stuffed into my brain, but I do realize how useless many have proven since my school days.  Occasionally, I spy a student with math homework and, out of interest, I see if I can help with stuff I haven't used in thirty years.  Some day, I may need to help my own kids with the same stuff.  

If Coleman must know the truth, all the things that he doesn't "give a shit" about have had the most lasting and meaningful effects upon my life and those around me.  I learned how to be a caring, socially-concerned citizen in school as well as at home.  Feelings motivate the most meaningful actions in my life.  With this in mind, I have rewritten the tune "Feelings" (1975), as sung by Morris Albert.  In it, I lament all the Dry Facts we learn in school and the Fact that later in life we rarely, if ever, see them again.  I fondly dedicate it to Mr. David Coleman.  

Dry Facts

Dry facts, nothing more than dry facts,
Trying to forget my dry facts of school.
Test scans rolling across my desk,
Trying to forget my dry facts of school.

Dry facts, for all my life I'll know them.
I wish I've never learned you, fact.
You'll never come again.

Dry facts, woo-o-o, dry facts,
Woo-o-o, know you again in my brain.
Dry facts, dry facts like I've never lost you,
And dry facts like I'll never have you again in my head.

Dry facts, for all my life I'll know it
I wish I've never learned you, fact; you'll never come again.

Dry facts, dry facts like I've never lost you,
And dry facts like I'll never have you again in my head.

Dry facts, woo-o-o dry facts,
woo-o-o, dry facts again in my brain.
Dry facts, woo-o-o, dry facts,
Woo-o-o, dry facts.

The Contract for Education: Day and Night, Night and Day

Is it possible that the two sides that see day and night in our contract may actually be looking at two entirely different documents?  Or, could it be cultural relativism at work?    

One need only go to the U.F.T. website to sense Unity patting itself on the back:  The contract pays homage to the hard work that teachers do every day in their classrooms and restores "dignity" to the profession.  Bloomberg left the cupboard spitefully bare to taunt us, but now teachers will receive their long overdue payments by 2020, reflecting an 18% raise with health benefits and pensions left intact. New channels are created to grieve excessive paperwork and more time is allotted for professional duties.  Exemplary teachers will be rewarded with extra pay for sharing their expertise.  PROSE schools will foster experimentation that allows for the development and dissemination of best practices.

After one leaves the Unity love fest, one begins to hear things that might make even Pollyanna sour.  Excessive paperwork will be challenged; yet, we must carry formatted unit plans with us everywhere.   The City will hold our money interest free until 2020.  If teachers choose to leave the profession before then, for reasons other than retirement, they will lose their unpaid balance.  If the estimated health-care savings are not reached, God only knows, but our raises may be negated.  Other unions don't want to touch our deal with a ten-foot pole.  They view the U.F.T. as selling out unionism by settling for a less than favorable pattern of raises. 

The con arguments continue.  The rank and file will be further divided.  Although ATRs will be placed in schools, they face a severely streamlined process for removal--a process with which none seem happy.  The contract enshrines a test-based system of evaluation, albeit in a seemingly less oppressive way than before.  The system will be used to help separate the effective from ineffective teachers.  With new positions of Ambassador, Master and Model teacher, one smells merit pay by another name.  PROSE schools seem to be charters under another name, hosting workers who will pay union dues, but lose protections.  Divided, we fall. 

Then, one reads the press and other outlets that despise public-school teachers.  Jenny Sedlis of StudentsfirstNY views the contract as a near-satanic deal.  ATRs, largely left adrift by Bloomberg's school closings, will be able to return to classrooms and teach in peace after some years of living through hell.  Teachers who just might be ruled ineffective (probably largely because of the test scores of their students) might receive the same $5,000 bonus as a highly effective teacher for teaching in a hard-to-staff school.  (I still say send Jenny Sedlis to save the day single-handedly and enlighten the impoverished, language-deficient and special needs children of our City, with 34 to a room!)  PROSE schools won't be able to completely tear apart Union protections.  Shucks!  The contract waters down the evaluation system and introduces Peer "validators."  Yuck!

In a recent Daily News editorial, the author who seems to have no first-hand experience in schools, but has swallowed whole the arguments of teacher-bashers, also finds fault.  Teachers will receive large raises.  (Why lose this opportunity to put them further in the red?)  Teachers who actually have experience will enjoy seniority rights.   (Imagine that!)  Evil ATRs will be treated a little more humanely.  (Whatever are they thinking?)  "As for the kids, they got next to nothing." 

The more I think about it, the more I am sure that the biases one brings to the table color significantly one's outlook.  In the case of Mulgrew and Co., something clearly above the horrors of the Bloomberg days is a definite coup.  From the perspective of the "NO" crowd, it is not enough.  And from those who have always hated us, "NO," but for entirely different reasons.  Teachers must be beaten to a pulp.  

One must decide for oneself.  Does the contract address issues of personal critical importance?  I, for one, would have liked to have seen more said on class size, but I'm guessing that was not even on the table.  In addition, one must decide how much or how little one deserves, when one deserves it, when one can practically get it, and, ultimately, how much value one places upon union solidarity.  And for anyone who advises me to make my decision out of fear, I question their motives and their morals.

To Suspend or Not to Suspend, That is the Question

Hammurabi, the Lawgiver

Numerous sources point to the "cradle to prison pipeline."  Some believe schools are a critical link in this pipeline.   According to a recent New York Times article, "black students are suspended and expelled at three times the rate of white students."  Despite the fact that African-American children compose 18% of preschool enrollment, they account for about half of the children who are suspended more than once.

According to a 2012 Chalkbeat piece, suspensions slightly declined in the City's public schools between 2010 and 2012 (with superintendent suspensions declining more than principal suspensions).  There were 73,441 suspensions between 2010-2012 and 69,643 between 2011-2012.  There was a slight rise in crime in schools though.  According to Dignityinschools.org, overall suspension rates continued to decline to 53,465 between 2012 and 2013.  However, African-American students and students with disabilities still suffer a disproportional amount of suspensions.

Keeping these things in mind, NYC public-schools chancellor, Carmen Farina, seeks to implement a policy of "restorative justice."  According to this model which seeks to establish "social emotional" connections, there would be a greater focus on conflict resolution, peer mediation and student-teacher conferences.  Instead of emphasizing punishment, students would be encouraged to make amendments for wrongdoings.  Of course, common sense tells one that it is always better to prevent future conflicts than to deal with their repercussions, just as preventative medicine is better than hospitalization.

   
As I pondered the statistics of suspension several thoughts came to mind.  Obviously, stats can lie.  For one, the City's discipline code has been rewritten.  There are fewer student offenses which are classified as worthy of suspension these days.  Also, if the ratings of schools and their principals depend in part upon their suspension rates, it would behoove school authorities to overlook a good deal and only rarely suspend, more so during the Bloomberg era when the mayor had a penchant for closing schools on a dime.  As students get away with more though, they may be emboldened to engage in bigger offenses.

Between 2002 and 2003, at the start of the Bloomberg years, there were only 31,879 suspensions, half of the number by the end of his "threepeat."  I am always somewhat suspicious of stats.  Yet, I have always thought that increasing stress in society during this period, soaring poverty rates in the City as well as the spread of a test-based psychosis which overlooks students' emotional and social needs, might have played a role.  I have no evidence though, just a feeling.

Growing up relatively mild-mannered, I marveled in the stories of how the younger of my two older brothers bust out of his crib as a baby, leaving scraps of wood here and there.  Rumor had it he was expelled from nursery school.  Trying to confirm the legend with Mom the other night though and understand the causes for such an unthinkable thing, Mom concluded that he might not have been expelled.  They might have just decided to move him to a less restrictive environment.  So much for legend!

Regardless, I do remember clearly waiting outside the elementary school upon a number of occasions with my oldest brother, twelve years my senior, who had come to walk us home from school.  We had to wait and wait for my brother whom a third-grade teacher held after school regularly for acts of misbehavior.  I hardly know what he did, and I'm a little hesitant to ask him now, but I believe he merely made some witty, but unwelcome, comments out of turn and that his strait-laced teacher failed to identify with his sense of humor.  He had not been engaged in any fighting.

I am sure there are a lot of things that teachers, administrators and public schools can do to lessen suspension rates (unless, of course, you're a charter school that thrives on this stuff, here and here).   We used to have SPARK coordinators speak regularly to our classes.  They would come in for a week and hit different grade levels with a different set of lessons.  It was all about prevention, stopping alcohol and drug abuse and conflicts.  Perhaps the budget has been cut.  Perhaps these programs do not fit in with the Common-Core agenda.  There are still SPARK counselors, but they rarely make it into the classroom for scheduled visits as in years past.  Maybe this will change with a promotion of "restorative justice."

Growing up with a "trouble-maker" brother, I never saw him as such, and I, of course, never classified him as such.  Although I like discipline in my classroom, I appreciate probably more than the average person a student with a sharp wit, even if he calls out occasionally.  It is nice to think that I in no way feel threatened by this student or worry about the erosion of my authority.  If students were to start fighting in my classroom, however, this would be entirely different.  I would use every skill in my repertoire to try to defuse the conflict and, if all else failed, call for the security guards as quickly as possible.  Thankfully, in twenty years, my classroom has not yet been a battleground.

Neither will I be Pollyanna, however.  While I fail to understand high suspension rates in the youngest grades, I can appreciate that severe behavior may be hard to head off in teenagers.  I favor prevention, but I do not favor loosening the code or failing to apply it adequately.  I believe laxness will only further embolden students and we will see the worst abuses grow in frequency.

In case you're wondering if my "trouble-maker" brother was on a crib to prison pipeline, let me allay your fears.  He eluded prison.  Instead, he endured a truly rigorous education, graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy, serving his country with discipline, honor and courage, and all of that from a kid who couldn't be controlled by authoritarian figures!  He earned his current rank of Colonel, making a little sister more proud than words can say.  

The Stanley H. Kaplan Elementary School for the Performing Tests

With the likes of U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, suffering from P.I.S.A. envy, South Korea's test-prep success is glorified.  In an overly simplistic fashion, success becomes synonymous with high grades on high-stakes standardized tests.  For the most part, Duncan and his corporate backers turn a blind eye towards the costs of it.  U.S. teachers are asked to aim for the same via RttT test-based evaluation methods.  Keeping this in mind, I propose a new line of schools, starting with the Stanley H. Kaplan Elementary School for the Performing Tests.  

Let us forget for a moment that young children need to develop their hearts and souls as well as minds to function well in our society.  Let us, instead, focus exclusively upon test prep in our schools.  Let us render therefore unto Duncan the things which are Duncan's and "unto God the things that are God's."  Do you imagine there could ever be a conflict?

What Mr. Osterweil Might Say: John B. King's Speech on the 60th Anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Ed.

As a full-time teacher and parent of little ones, you might guess things get pretty busy at times.  With these two roles dominating my life, I don't see how I could turn a blind eye to what is happening in education today.  I see it in my classroom.  I hear it from my children's teachers and I feel it all around me.

I found the time late Thursday night to catch up on NYS Commissioner John King's remarks in honor of the 60th celebration of Brown v. Board of Education.

King points to ever-present gap in performance between minorities and White students.  He asks the listener, "Why are we silent when just 58 percent of African-American and Latino students graduate from high school compared to 86 percent of White students?"  He points out that NY has "the most segregated schools in the country." He says schools need to be the "great equalizer."  I would agree...so far.

Now, here is where I disagree.  John King helped found a charter school, Roxbury Prep which claimed fantastic success at the at the expense of high student attrition rates.  So, I guess it is no doubt that he identifies charter schools as a potential solution.  According to King, "We created charter schools--some of which are defying the odds and outperforming some our wealthiest schools in the state."  Some charters achieve phenomenal test scores and sometimes perfect graduation rates by refusing to take on some of the highest needs students and through the expulsion of those who fail to meet the grade.  In the case of Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone, a whole cohort was evicted and overall student attrition rates are high.  Studies show that charter schools make the segregation which King so rightly criticizes so strongly far worse.

King speaks about equalizing and holding all children accountable to the same high standards.  From what I can tell from his high-stakes tests that determine the fates of teachers, administrators and schools as well as students, he desires to equalize all children in equally mundane prep for tests.  At times, I have thought we might just as well abolish schooling and send all students to Stanley Kaplan.  All this prep leaves little room for the plays and NYT articles found in the classroom of Mr. Osterweil, King's favorite teacher. 

King says we need to "teach to high standards and hold ourselves accountable."  King set the cut scores on the 2013 Common-Core aligned tests so high as to further equalize children by failure:  70% of the state's students shared in failure.  Now, "white, suburban Moms" (Arne Duncan) could see how it feels, too.  Unfortunately, differences in economic class and social race were not eradicated.  There was still a large gap with minorities, special-ed. students and English-language learners falling far behind (see here).

King bemoans the fact that many students may fall through the cracks.  They may pass ten to twelve years in school without learning how to read or how to solve mathematical problems.  He says some students will "cover up their low self-image by acting out, by bullying, by abusing substances, or just withdrawing completely."  I hate to say it, but if we act in accordance with King's Common-Core game plans, I believe we will see many more social ills.  Children will revolt against the relentless test prep and the fact that the state keeps failing them.

King says this isn't about "privatization or federal curriculum or enriching testing companies."  Unfortunately, for the many vultures who are rushing into education with dollar signs in their eyes, this is exactly the bottom line.  King can try to pretend it is not, but, if so, then he is either lying to himself or to us.

King points to teachers who have embraced his core with open arms.  He says, "Thirty-year veteran teachers tell me how their work on the Common Core has helped children achieve at levels they never thought possible."  I wonder if he is deaf to the overwhelming majority of teachers who would tell him he is killing the love of learning in their classrooms.  Given his October 2012 speaking tour, I am guessing he is also deaf to parents.  Sometimes, I think he would only listen if Mr. Osterweil told him to turn back now.

I wonder how long it will take for King to learn that all his well-intentioned policies will not solve the issues that trouble our educational system.  He says a new NY state law has invested "more than $500 million in professional development to help everyone improve."  If I could attempt to speak for Mr. Osterweil for a moment, I would tell him I was very proud of what he is attempting to do and the level of success which he has achieved in life.  I might ask him to remember that I was his teacher for three consecutive grades, fourth, fifth and sixth.  I might tell him we never prepped for tests. 

I might ask him, "where are the wonderful plays we staged?"  Budgets are being directed away from the arts and into testing-related services.  I might point out that students no longer have time to read The Times (what an irony!) because most current events will never make it to the test.  Teachers are turning more and more to Pearson review texts to get the upper edge on test scores.

I might tell him I share his vision that all students can succeed in life, but that it will not be through a test-based world of accountability.  I might tell him if teaching had been such in my day, I would have been sorely tempted to leave the profession.  I might have told him that students can benefit the most from a loving, stable environment, not one of stress and frayed nerves.  

I might tell him to make smaller class sizes.  I might tell him to mold a profession that does not demean teachers, one that allows students to build lasting bonds with teachers who go above and beyond the vision of a Stanley Kaplan.  I might tell him, "What you have so far are some great intentions and a misguided rough draft that fails to realize your dream.  It needs great revision.  Let's scrap it and start again.  Better sooner, than later, John."