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2006-01-19T09:20:00.001-06:00

PREA Prez has moved: New PREA Prez blog site

Discuss Small Schools with Deborah Meier.

2006-01-18T13:25:00.000-06:00

Small high schools pioneer Deborah Meier will answer questions and respond to comments on the National Education Association web site for about the next month. She was interviewed for the February issue of NEA Today, the
NEA member magazine, and the interview is posted at the NEA web site. If you have a question or comment specifically for Deborah Meier, please send it to Cindy Long, clong@nea.org, and she will relay it.

"I Know the Answer, But What's The Question?"

2006-01-18T12:15:00.000-06:00

65,000 seventh graders in New York City took the statewide English test yesterday.

For five questions, the letters labeling the answers on the multiple-choice test did not correspond to those on the answer form. In some cases, the exam booklet directed students to choose F, G, H or J as possible answers, while the answer sheet offered only A, B, C and D as options. In other cases, the reverse was true.

The test is used to measure school performance under federal law and to decide which students are eligible to move to eighth grade under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's promotion rules.

The NY Times reported that many students and parents were upset. "My daughter was hysterical," said Andrea Lella, whose daughter attends Intermediate School 7 on Staten Island. "She was convinced she messed it up and she was going to be held over."

Praise for a Pro-Union Blog. Thanks!

2006-01-18T11:03:00.000-06:00

Tom Hoffman, who has the blog Tuttle SVC, writes, "A pretty good chunk of teacher and ed policy bloggers spend much of their time bashing their unions, so taking a little time to come to the unions’ defense when they’re in the right is important." Hoffman says, "According to NEA President Reg Weaver, quoted in Fred Klonsky’s blog, 98% of that $65 million dollar fund went to local and state NEA affiliates for education programs and member services, and only 2% of the $65 million went to groups like Rainbow Push and GLAAD. Which sounds about right to me."

McCourt Interview

2006-01-18T10:51:00.000-06:00

I reviewed Frank McCourt's Teacher Man a few posts back. Here's an interview from NPR.

"No community in this country can boast of clean hands in the area of brotherhood."

2006-01-16T13:41:00.000-06:00

"We’ve got to come to see that the problem of racial injustice is a national problem. No community in this country can boast of clean hands in the area of brotherhood. Now in the North it’s different in that it doesn’t have the legal sanction that it has in the South. But it has its subtle and hidden forms and it exists in three areas: in the area of employment discrimination, in the area of housing discrimination, and in the area of de facto segregation in the public schools. And we must come to see that de facto segregation in the North is just as injurious as the actual segregation in the South. "

Martin Luther King, Speech at the Great March on Detroit in 1963.

Reg Weaver Calls Out the Wall Street Journal.

2006-01-16T13:31:00.000-06:00

Your Jan. 3 editorial “Teacher’s Pets” lambasted the National Education Association for donating “more than $65 million last year” to “dozens of advocacy groups.” You pulled no punches in claiming that teachers’ dues are being funneled into “hyper-liberal political goals.” But the Department of Labor’s Web site shows that the $65 million was the total amount the NEA spent on grants, contributions and gifts. Of that, $64.2 million – about 98% -- went straight to our local and state affiliates for education programs and member services.

Those programs are footnoted and spelled out in plain English in the disclosure document submitted to the Department of Labor. Of the remaining 2% of our total contributions, it’s absolutely correct that money went to groups such as the Rainbow Push Coalition and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination.

Our motivation for the contributions isn’t a deep secret or a hidden political agenda: It’s spelled out in our mission statement. We believe all students are entitled to quality public education, and to that end we support organizations that demonstrate their support for public education, and human, civil and economic rights for all.

Reg Weaver,
President, National Education Association

Glory Road

2006-01-15T14:08:00.000-06:00

I went to see Glory Road this weekend.

Very entertaining. It’s funny, moving and corny in spots. It is one of those classic Hollywood, last shot in slow motion, good against evil, unknown little guys against the big guys sports movies.

I love those kind of movies.

Glory Road does have an edge to it. And it is based on a true story.

The story is about the famous 1966 NCAA Championship basketball game between Texas Western University (now the University of Texas at El Paso) and coach Adolph Rupp’s University of Kentucky team.

Two decades after Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball, college ball was still a mainly white sport. As one of the characters in the movie says, the unwritten rule was that you could play one black player on the road, two at home and three if you were losing.

In the movie, the young white coach Don Haskins breaks the rule. In the Championship game he plays all five black players against the racist Rupp’s all white Kentucky team and wins. Pat Riley, who played on Rupp's 1966 Kentucky team, called the game the “emancipation proclamation of 1966.”

Well, maybe.

There is a moment in the movie when someone says something like, “Well, black players will never be a major force in basketball.” In the movie theater, the mainly young, racially diverse audience we watched Glory Road with broke up in laughter. This young audience saw whites-only basketball as a million years ago. It was, of course, not so long ago.

This got me thinking about Supreme Court nominee, Sam Alito and CAP. In the Seventies, CAP, the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, was formed to oppose affirmative action and women’s admission to Princeton. Sam Alito was a member. Six years after what Riley called “the emancipation proclamation of 1966,” CAP and member Sam Alito were still organizing to keep Princeton, and other institutions, all white and all male.

The Saturday night audience we watched Glory Road with couldn't dream of living in a world that existed before the events portrayed on the screen.

On the eve of his elevation to the Supreme Court, Alito and his crowd dream of those as the good old days.

The road they want to take us down is not so glorious.

In Memory: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

2006-01-13T18:08:00.001-06:00

James Baldwin wrote, "...for a moment, it almost seemed that we stood on a height, and could see our inheritance; perhaps we could make the kingdom real, perhaps the beloved community would not forever remain the dream one dreamed in agony."

"Houston, We Have A Problem."

2006-01-13T11:18:00.000-06:00

OK. Let’s talk about Houston, Texas. Let's talk about their new pay-for-performance plan.

1. Several years ago Houston school bosses were busted for lying about their dropout rates. When former Bush DOE Secretary, Rod Paige (yes, that Rod Paige. The one who called the NEA a terrorist organization) was superintendent. administrators were encouraged to cook the books on dropout numbers.

2. Then, several years later, Houston schools were caught again. This time it was for lying about test scores. Six teachers were caught, and several principals were demoted or reprimanded. Although the administrators were the ones who created the pressure and atmosphere that encouraged or tolerated the cheating, they will now supervise and financially benefit from Houston's new pay-for-performance plan. The teachers, of course, were fired.

3. Houston is now the largest school district in the nation to use a pay-for-performance scheme for teacher salaries.

4. The pay incentives are based on three "strands."

One will give cash to teachers based on how much their school's test scores have improved compared with the scores of other schools around the state. Another will compare student progress on the Stanford 10 to that of students in similar classrooms in Houston. The third measure will be student progress on the statewide Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test.

5. Oops. That means no bonuses for art teachers, P.E. teachers, music teachers, librarians, special education or K and pre-K teachers. In fact, only half the teachers in the Houston schools are eligible for the bribe.

6. The Houston teachers' union was not involved or consulted on the plan.

7. While the eligible teachers can make a couple of thousand dollars extra, administrators can make over $25 thousand in bonuses. No incentive for cheating there. No, not in Houston. Not with their rap sheet.

"I Got Friends With Low Wages."

2006-01-12T19:57:00.000-06:00

Push the speaker switch way up and sing along:

Take The Test.

2006-01-12T19:50:00.000-06:00

by Greg Palast

New York -- Today and tomorrow every 8-year-old in the state of New York will take a test. It's part of George Bush's No Child Left Behind program. The losers will be left behind to repeat the third grade. Try it yourself. This is from the state's actual practice test. Ready, class?

"The year 1999 was a big one for the Williams sisters. In February, Serena won her first pro singles championship. In March, the sisters met for the first time in a tournament final. Venus won. And at doubles tennis, the Williams girls could not seem to lose that year."

And here's one of the four questions:

"The story says that in 1999, the sisters could not seem to lose at doubles tennis. This probably means when they played

A two matches in one day
B against each other
C with two balls at once
D as partners"

OK, class, do you know the answer? (By the way, I didn't cheat: there's nothing else about "doubles" in the text.)

My kids go to a New York City school in which more than half the students live below the poverty line. There is no tennis court.

There are no tennis courts in the elementary schools of Bed-Stuy or East Harlem. But out in the Hamptons, every school has a tennis court. In Forest Hills, Westchester and Long Island's North Shore, the schools have nearly as many tennis courts as the school kids have live-in maids.

Now, you tell me, class, which kids are best prepared to answer the question about "doubles tennis"? The 8-year-olds in Harlem who've never played a set of doubles or the kids whose mommies disappear for two hours every Wednesday with Enrique the tennis pro?

Is this test a measure of "reading comprehension" -- or a measure of wealth accumulation?

If you have any doubts about what the test is measuring, look at the next question, based on another part of the text, which reads (and I could not make this up):

"Most young tennis stars learn the game from coaches at private clubs. In this sentence, a club is probably a

F baseball bat
G tennis racquet
H tennis court
J country club"

Helpfully, for the kids in our 'hood, it explains that a "country club" is a, "place where people meet." Yes, but which people?

President Bush told us, "By passing the No Child Left Behind Act, we are regularly testing every child and making sure they have better options when schools are not performing."

But there are no "better options." In the delicious double-speak of class war, when the tests have winnowed out the chaff and kids stamped failed, No Child Left results in that child being left behind in the same grade to repeat the failure another year.

I can't say that Mr. Bush doesn't offer better options to the kids stamped failed. Under No Child Left, if enough kids flunk the tests, their school is marked a failure and its students win the right, under the law, to transfer to any successful school in their district. You can't provide more opportunity than that. But they don't provide it, the law promises it, without a single penny to make it happen. In New York in 2004, a third of a million students earned the right to transfer to better schools -- in which there were only 8,000 places open.

New York is typical. Nationwide, only one out of two-hundred students eligible to transfer manage to do it. Well, there's always the Army. (That option did not go unnoticed: No Child has a special provision requiring schools to open their doors to military recruiters.)

Hint: When de-coding politicians' babble, to get to the real agenda, don't read their lips, read their budgets. And in his last budget, our President couldn't spare one thin dime for education, not ten cents. Mr. Big Spender provided for a derisory 8.4 cents on the dollar of the cost of primary and secondary schools. Congress appropriated a half penny of the nation's income -- just one-half of one-percent of America's twelve trillion dollar GDP -- for primary and secondary education.

President Bush actually requested less. While Congress succeeded in prying out an itty-bitty increase in voted funding, that doesn't mean the extra cash actually gets to the students. Fifteen states have sued the federal government on the grounds that the cost of new testing imposed on schools, $3.9 billion, eats up the entire new funding budgeted for No Child Left.

There are no "better options" for failing children, but there are better uses for them. The President ordered testing and more testing to hunt down, identify and target millions of children too expensive, too heavy a burden, to educate.

No Child Left offers no options for those with the test-score Mark of Cain -- no opportunities, no hope, no plan, no funding. Rather, it is the new social Darwinism, educational eugenics: identify the nation's loser-class early on. Trap them then train them cheap.

Someone has to care for the privileged. No society can have winners without lots and lots of losers. And so we have No Child Left Behind -- to provide the new worker drones that will clean the toilets at the Yale Alumni Club, punch the cash registers color-coded for illiterates, and pamper the winner-class on the higher floors of the new economic order.

Class war dismissed.

Greg Palast is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Read his investigative reports at www.GregPalast.com

The Flip Side of Consolidation.

2006-01-12T11:26:00.000-06:00

In a previous post I talked about the situation in Illinois where there seems to be redundant and bloated bureaucracy as a result of the large number of independent school districts, including multiple districts in the same town. Consolidating these school districts seems like common sense.

But West Virgina is an example of where consolidation has meant the consolidation of schools. In West Virginia's case, small town schools have disappeared, replaced by schools miles away from home. Elsewhere, small rural schools have been consolidated into huge centralized ones. This creates a whole new set of problems as described in a recent Teacher Magazine article.

Teacher Magazine reports, "Webster County High was built in 1974, after the county’s population fell nearly 30 percent in just a decade, to 9,800 people, where it remains today. Webster High has roughly 490 students, nearly two-thirds of whom receive free or reduced-price lunches. But it looks much like a suburban school, nothing about it suggesting poverty. While there are few frills, the library is attractive and well-appointed and the building clean. The achievements of the fine arts department and band are particular points of pride.

"But as at other consolidated schools across West Virginia, Webster kids are often unable to join athletic teams or other extracurriculars because of difficulty getting home after games or activities on nights and weekends. Parent involvement is also often lacking. Monica, for example, has been shut out of nearly all extracurricular activities. She had to give up band midway through 9th grade because, after traveling to football games or music competitions held out of the county, she wouldn’t get back to Hacker Valley until anywhere from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., and then her parents would have to drive down the mountain to fetch her. The school offers late buses leaving at 6 and 7:30 p.m., but they only go as far as Hacker Valley School, and the Shaffers, both of whom are medically disabled and live on a fixed income, can’t afford the 20-mile round trip to pick up Monica in their 14-year-old gas-guzzling truck. Getting to the high school for parent functions would cost $20, she says, so they almost never do."

Read the entire story.

To Bush and Spellings, "There's No Success Like Failure, And Failure's No Success At All."

2006-01-11T17:17:00.000-06:00

This story seems to repeat itself over and over again. This week Michael Winerip writes in his education column in the New York Times the story of Public School 48 in the South Bronx. Winerip explains that the school serves some of the city's poorest minority children. And he explains that P.S. 48's test scores have soared in the last few years. In 2005, 86 per cent of fourth graders scored proficient in math, and 68.5 per cent in English, placing P.S. 48 near the top of the Bronx's 130 elementary schools.

Says Winerip, "The principal, John Hughes, has mixed feelings about all the testing that goes on these days, but professionally, he has put that all aside. 'The profit margin in this business is test scores,' he said. 'That's all they measure you by now.'"

New York School's Chancellor Joel I. Klein has applauded the school's efforts. Klein even attended the 2004 graduation wearing a t-shirt that read, "P.S. 48 -- The Best School in the Universe."

But in George Bush's world, the world of No Child Left Behind, the world of the federal Department of Education, in DOE Secretary, Margaret Spelling's world, P.S. 48 is a failure.

Says Winerip, "In the No Child world, state and federal officials plug test results from schools that few of them have ever seen into a series of complex formulas. The calculations are so technical that it took city officials many hours over several weeks to finally pinpoint why P.S. 48 was labeled failing."

Read the entire story.

Bush On Bilingualism.

2006-01-10T10:26:00.000-06:00

"In order to convince people we care about them, we've got to understand their culture and show them we care about their culture. You know, when somebody comes to me and speaks Texan, I know they appreciate the Texas culture."

Gunfight At the OK Corral.

2006-01-09T10:59:00.000-06:00

Superintendents and principals would be allowed to carry firearms in school if a proposed bill passes in the upcoming legislative session in Oklahoma.

According to House Bill 2075 filed by Rep. Glen Bud Smithson, D-Sallisaw. Superintendents and principals would be required to have a conceal-carry permit.

The proposal allows school administrators to carry weapons only on school property where they are employed, he said.

Big Schools, Large Class Sizes AND Big Administrative Bureaucracies.

2006-01-08T12:53:00.000-06:00

As the saying goes, God must love Illinois school district administrators. He made so many of them.

While class sizes are getting larger and schools are getting larger, school districts throughout the state remain relatively small. Translation: Big schools, big classes, and BIG redundant administrative and school board bureaucracies.

The Sunday Tribune provides some interesting data:

Illinois has 875 local school districts.

More than 200 of those districts have only one school.

Several dozen towns are served by more than one district.

Florida has one school district for every 37,909 students. In North Carolina, it's one district for every 11,418 students.

Illinois has one district for every 2,334 students. That's fewer students per district than in any of the 14 largest states, except New Jersey.

Every Illinois district, of course, has a superintendent, a staff and a full school board with expenses. Oh yes, and an attorney.

According to the Tribune's analysis, this costs $643 million per year just on administrative expenses. These are dollars that never find their way to the classroom.

These administrative costs have to be placed in the context of reduced federal and state financial aid to local school districts and increased dependence on local funding which tax caps and commercial tax appeals have hamstrung. This has forced school boards to depend on frequent referenda, which frequently fail.

Maine South High School in Maine Township High School District 207 and Park Ridge Niles District 64 serve the same community. Almost all District 64 students feed into Maine South.

The District 207 teachers’ salary schedule tops out more than 10% higher than District 64. The District 207 superintendent earns about $225,000 a year. The District 64’s superintendent’ salary is roughly $200,000 a year. Same town. Same students. Same taxpayers.

I can’t see how this makes any sense.

Florida Vouchers Shot Down by State Court.

2006-01-06T18:16:00.000-06:00

In a very significant ruling, what has been called by the press, "a stunning blow to the education policies (of) Jeb Bush", the Florida Supreme Court struck down the state's tuition voucher program Thursday, saying it violates the state Constitution because it diverts public money to private schools.

Although the 5-2 ruling applies only to one of three voucher programs now in existence, it could place all such Florida programs in legal jeopardy.

Read the entire story in the Miami Herald.

Read the entire story in the Pensacola News.

Dead End Street - Lou Rawls

2006-01-06T17:59:00.005-06:00

I was born in the city that they call the
windy city.

They call it the windy city because of
the hawk. The hawk! ; the almighty
hawk. That's the wind; takes care of
plenty business, 'round winter time.

The place that I lived in was on a street
that happened to be one of the Dead
End Streets, where there was nothing
to block the wind, the elements; nothing
to buffer them for me, to keep 'em from
knockin' my pad down, Jim.
I mean, really sockin' it to me.

When the boiler would bust, and the heat
was gone, Jim, I had to get fully dressed
before I could go to bed.
'Cause I couldnt put on my galoshes,
they had bumpers on em, and my folks
didnt play that; they said don't you
tear up my bed clothes with them galoshes on.

But I was fortunate; soon as I was big
enough to get a job and save enough
money, get a ticket, catch anything,
I split. I said one day, I'm gonna return
and I'll straighten it all out.
I'm about ready to go back now, so I
thought I'd tell you about it

They say this is a big, rich town
But I live in the poorest part
I know I'm on a Dead End Street
In a city without a heart.

I learned to fight before I was six,
The only way I could get along.
When you're raised on a Dead End
Street,
You've gotta be tough and strong.

Now, all the guys they's gettin' in
trouble, thats how its always been,
When the odds are all against you,
how can you win.

I'm gonna push my way outta here,
Even though I can't say when.
But I'm gonna get off of this Dead
End Street, and I ain't never gonna
come back again.

No, I ain't gonna come back to this
Dead End Street no more.

'Cause I'm gonna get me a job,
I'm gonna save my dough.
Get away from here, I ain't gonna
come back no more.

I'm tired of a Dead End Street,
I want to get out in the world and
learn something.
Tired of breakin' my back,
I want to start using my mind.

"Teachers Deserve a Contract." You Can't Say That!

2006-01-05T14:09:00.000-06:00

By Christine Legere Wallgren, Boston Globe Correspondent | January 5, 2006
EAST BRIDGEWATER -- Local teachers say the administration's ban on wearing union solidarity buttons in school is unconstitutional, and they have filed an unfair labor practice charge with the state Labor Relations Commission.

The union's attorney said the East Bridgewater teachers have the contractual right to wear union insignia on the job. But Superintendent of Schools Margaret Strojny, who banned the buttons, said it is an educational issue and not a union issue.

The teachers in December had decided to wear buttons stating ''E.B. Teachers Deserve a Contract" after working without an agreement since the end of August. The stalled talks between the East Bridgewater Educational Association and the administration are being overseen by a state-appointed mediator.

The union's attorney, Donna Buckley, said little progress has been made, and the next mediation session won't take place until late this month. ''This group has been incredibly patient and professional," Buckley said.

Union president Claire Kirkcaldy-Rossi, an English teacher at the high school, said the teachers had decided to keep the mood positive this fall as negotiations dragged on. They even joined in a car wash one Saturday to raise scholarship money for graduating seniors, she said.

Kirkcaldy-Rossi said the teachers wanted to be ''visible" in the community in a positive way.

On Nov. 17, teachers at the elementary, middle, and high schools decided to wear buttons stating ''E.B. Teachers Deserve a Contract." The next day, the principals at all three schools issued identical memos stating that the buttons were not to be worn in the school buildings. ''None of us dispute that you deserve a contract, and we are empathetic that the process has been difficult. However, the children are not the messengers and the classroom is not the arena," the memos stated.

Strojny said she, and not the School Committee, was responsible for outlawing the buttons. ''It was never an attempt to squelch their right to free speech," Strojny said. ''The decision was strictly educational. Students in at least four high school classrooms asked the teachers about the buttons and class time was then used to discuss the labor dispute. That's not an appropriate use of educational time.

''This was an educational issue, and I treated it as an educational issue."

Kirkcaldy-Rossi said the teachers were angered and surprised, since no one had tried to prevent them from wearing the same buttons three years ago when negotiations on an earlier contract were stalled. Strojny said she did not recall the buttons last time around.

On Dec. 19, Buckley filed the unfair labor practice charge against the School Committee as the employer of the teachers, but she held off on filing a court complaint on the constitutional violation, she said, because ''having to go to court will cost the school district all kinds of money on something that's indefensible."

Kirkcaldy-Rossi said the teachers are complying with the ban, but some have altered their buttons to state ''E.B. Teachers Deserve Respect." No one has stopped her or other teachers from wearing those altered buttons at school, she said.

Some teachers have put posters in their car windows in the school parking lots that state ''E.B. Teachers Deserve a Contract," since the memos stipulated only that the slogan not be worn in the buildings. ''No one wants to be insubordinate," Kirkcaldy-Rossi said. ''We've just done other things."

Buckley sent a letter on behalf of the union to the superintendent's office and to the School Committee on Nov. 29 warning that the button ban violated contractual working conditions as well as the teachers' constitutional right to freedom of expression. She also attempted to reach the School Committee's attorney, she said. ''People," she said, ''feel disrespected and disregarded."

School Committee chairwoman Lisa Forbes said Buckley's letter on Nov. 29 was the first her panel had heard of the button dispute.
''It wasn't the School Committee's responsibility to respond to the letter because it's a building administrator and building principals issue," Forbes said of the committee's lack of response.

Deborah Bourne, chairman of the teachers' negotiating team, said the whole button issue has left the teachers disheartened. ''People are very upset," she said. ''We were just trying to be together as an association."

Strojny said she was saddened to hear the teachers charge the School Committee and administration with a lack of respect. ''That is very disappointing."

Empowered Teachers or "Efficiency and Control?"

2006-01-04T09:26:00.000-06:00

What happens when you remove teachers from the change process? What happens when administration emphasizes "efficiency and control" at the expense of teacher judgment and professionalism?

Edwize reports, "Fifteen years ago Michelle Fine, at that time a professor at University of Pennsylvania published a transformational work entitled “Reframing Dropouts: Notes on the Politics of an Urban Public High School.” Fine spent a year in a New York City comprehensive high school that she called CHS. She interviewed school staff, students and parents, attended meetings, sat in on classrooms and interviewed dropouts. She paints a chilling portrait of a school organized around “efficiency and control” in which a caring staff was “disempowered,” ignored and marginalized by the school administration."

Go to the blog.

Teachers: Targets, Victims or Agents of Change?

2006-01-03T15:08:00.000-06:00

S. Paul Reville, president of the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy and a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education reports that, "Conspicuously absent in the debate on intervention has been the role and voices of teachers and teacher unions, arguably the front line troops in any ''turnaround" strategy. There seems to be a belief in some policy circles that school improvement can be accomplished in spite of teachers rather than with them." Read the whole article.

Left us in 2005.

2006-01-01T13:06:00.000-06:00

Richard Pryor
“I went to Zimbabwe...I know how white people feel in America now, relaxed! Cause when I heard the police car I knew they weren't coming after me!”

James Forman, founding member of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee.
"A strong people's movement was in progress, the people were feeling their own strength grow. I knew how much harm could be done by interjecting the Messiah complex -- people would feel that only a particular individual could save them and would not move on their own to fight racism and exploitation."

Shirley Chisholm, first black woman to make a serious bid to be President of the United States.
“As there were no black Founding Fathers, there were no founding mothers -- a great pity, on both counts.”

Arthur Miller, playwright.
“I am not sure what "The Crucible" is telling people now, but I know that its paranoid center is still pumping out the same darkly attractive warning that it did in the fifties.”

Ossie Davis, actor.
“And we will know him then for what he was and is. A prince. Our own black shining prince who didn't hesitate to die because he loved us so.”- Eulogy to Malcom X

Oscar Brown Jr., singer, writer, composer, activist.
“I'm trying to calculate my damages
From a lifetime of manmade savages
Bad food canisters
Fast food managers
And school principals.”

Kenneth Clark, psychologist.
"A racist system inevitably destroys and damages human beings; it brutalizes and dehumanizes them, blacks and whites alike."

Ibrahim Ferrer, Buena Vista Social Club.
“When I was younger I thought I was going to travel the world with my music. The only chance I got was when I came to Europe in 1962. Then there was the missile crisis. I played in Paris and Eastern Europe with Pacho Alonso’s orchestra and then I was stuck in Europe. I had to stay until everything settled down again before I could go home. Then nothing happened for thirty-five years."

Little Milton, blues singer.
“Age ain’t nothin’ but a number.”

Rosa Parks, mother of the civil rights movement.
" When he saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up and I said, 'No, I'm not'. And he said, 'Well, if you don't stand up, I'm going to have to call the police and have you arrested.' I said, 'You may do that.' "

Corky Gonzalez, one of the founders of the Chicano Movement.
"Would it not be more noble to portray our great country as a humanitarian nation with the honest intentions of aiding and advising the weak rather than to be recognized as a military power and hostile enforcer of our political aims?"

Book Report.

2005-12-31T09:36:00.000-06:00

Teacher Man
By Frank McCourt

I knew that Frank McCourt had written Angela’s Ashes. I never read it and I didn’t see the movie. I guess I thought it would be kind of an Oprah book thing.

But over the break I did read McCourt’s Teacher Man.

You should read this book.

I knew I was going to like it when I read, "I was uncomfortable with the bureaucrats, the higher-ups, who had escaped classrooms only to turn and bother the occupants of those classrooms, teachers and students."

Teacher Man is all about story telling. It tells the story of McCourt telling stories about telling stories in the classroom and getting his students to tell their own stories as well.

McCourt started teaching at a working class high school in Staten Island and ended up thirty years later at the prestigious selective admission Stuyvesant public high school in Manhattan.

If McCourt was only half the teacher he makes himself out to be, he was the high school English teacher I would have wanted.

“I never wanted to fill out their forms, follow their guidelines, administer their examinations, tolerate their snooping, adjust myself to their programs and courses of study."

Instead, most often subversively, he created his own curriculum -- the McCourt-centered curriculum.

In one episode McCourt has his students read recipes aloud from a cookbook, one of them accompanied by the flute playing of a fellow student and the singing of the student’s mother, the song she sang whenever she cooked the dish. Recipes as stories -- It only takes a minute for his students to get it.

He has them read NY Times restaurant reviewer Mimi Sheraton’s reviews. Then they write their own reviews on the school cafeteria as well their favorite local pizzeria (most of the student reviews of the cafeteria end with “it sucks,” so he hands them back asking for a more descriptive rewrite).

He couldn’t teach his students to diagram a sentence. He couldn’t do it himself. So he tells them stories of his childhood in Ireland, the experience of America as an immigrant, laboring on the docks, struggling through attempts at education, failing at marriage and the trials of life.

And with that he has them tell and then commit to paper their own stories and the stories of their families, their homeland, their neighborhood and their street.

McCourt’s memoir is very timely in this age of forms, guidelines, high stakes exams and snooping from the higher ups.

Happy Holidays.

2005-12-16T18:23:00.000-06:00

Today is the last day before the Winter Break. I'll be back January 2nd. Happy Holidays.

Letters to the Tribune on Their "Fire 'em" Editorial.

2005-12-15T23:45:00.000-06:00

This is regarding the Dec. 9 editorial “Protecting mediocre teachers,” which ended with, “ . . . (T)here is no compelling reason to keep the tenure system in public schools. It doesn’t protect good teachers. It protects incompetent ones.”

There is a glaring problem with your argument. While you cite considerable evidence for your conclusion that the system protects incompetent teachers, you provide none that it fails to protect competent ones. To make that case you would have had to show that we have such fair and discerning politicians in Illinois that we no longer need to fear that, if they could, many would use their positions to threaten the jobs of competent teachers who criticize and otherwise distress them. That, as you indicate earlier in the editorial, was the reason for legislating tenure in the first place. Nothing printed in your paper in recent months—or even years—would suggest that such is the case.

Please, the next time you decide to editorialize about our educational system, try to remember what you were taught in school that so many today seem to have forgotten: Conclusions based on evidence tend to be more compelling than those that are not.

Robert Suchner
DeKalb

I read with great interest your Dec. 9 editorial advocating the elimination of tenure for public school teachers.
Although it is difficult to disagree with the contention that retaining incompetent teachers is a problem, the editorial fails to address an important issue: Who defines incompetence?

Is it a principal who has never taught a particular discipline and has no idea how to evaluate teachers in a specific subject area? Is it a department chair so firmly rooted in traditional pedagogy that he or she rejects cutting-edge methodology? Is it a school board or local school council, often made up of people who have not set foot inside a classroom since they took their last class as students? Is it the Illinois State Board of Education, an organization in such disarray that the governor saw fit to take it over and completely restructure it?

The reason such safeguards as tenure are in place is because no one has clearly delineated effective criteria by which a teacher’s ability may be judged.

Furthermore the editorial states, “The Illinois tenure system was created 64 years ago, ostensibly to protect veteran educators against political reprisal by their bosses. Today, though, tenure seems to protect only mediocrity."
Anyone who thinks that political reprisal and economic expediency would not rear their ugly heads without the protection of tenure is disingenuous.

An 18-year veteran of private schools who now teaches in a public high school, I have seen firsthand what can happen to unprotected teachers who speak their minds and/or reach a point at which they are deemed too expensive to retain. In private schools it is euphemistically called “non-renewal of contract.”

It is easy to sit in a cubicle in the Tribune Tower, to examine school report cards, to determine that tenure is a bad idea and to write an opinion piece suggesting the removal of tenure protection for the state’s public school teachers. It is a bit more challenging to get the facts. I would suggest that the writer of the piece do a bit more “homework” before expounding further on the topic.

Michael Conroy
Chicago

IEA Fires Back at Tribune Editorial Lies.

2005-12-15T14:11:00.000-06:00

To the Editor:

No one, especially another teacher, wants bad teachers in classrooms. Yet, based on a recent newspaper series that argued that "teacher tenure" keeps insufficient numbers of Illinois teachers from being fired, some might think otherwise. They would be wrong.

The false premise is rooted in a lack of understanding of what "teacher tenure" means.

Every new teacher has a probationary period, during which the teacher can be dismissed for any reason. This safeguard winnows out those incapable of teaching at a "satisfactory" (the term used in the state statute) level. Every year thousands of people not cut out for a teaching career leave Illinois classrooms during their probation.

The reality of "tenure" is far from the myth of "a job for life." Teachers who survive the probationary period: a) qualify for an opportunity to improve if found to be "unsatisfactory," and b) can have a hearing if targeted for dismissal.

When a teacher's evaluation is "unsatisfactory," the local teachers' association works with the administration to develop a plan spelling out what the teacher must do, over a 90 day period, to improve. Each year, teachers having difficulty in the classroom benefit from the support of their fellow teachers and are able to become good and oftentimes outstanding teachers.

Non-probationary teachers who fall short of "satisfactory" are entitled to a hearing, but these are rare because teachers incapable of improvement nearly always resign voluntarily. Again, it needs to be said: No one, especially a teacher, wants a bad teacher in a classroom. It's also worth mentioning that no one wants to be a bad teacher.

Just as there are doctors, lawyers and other professionals who should leave their profession, scattered among the 95,000 teachers in our state are some who should leave the classroom. The Illinois Education Association is proud of the role our members play in enhancing teacher quality by encouraging school districts to modernize their evaluation instruments and by supporting better evaluation training for principals.

Teachers always will need protection, whether it is from arbitrary firings by administrators, parents seeking to intimidate teachers, or school boards that would cheat students by firing a good, experienced teacher to save money. But protection needn't be an obstacle to the goal of having a high quality teacher in every classroom.

As administrators and teachers increasingly work together for the good of the students, Illinois public schools are improving. Those of us who care deeply about public education look forward to reading stories about that in the newspaper.

Ken Swanson, President

Illinois Education Association

Enzi-Kennedy Stealth Voucher Plan May Be Added to Defense Bill.

2005-12-14T20:27:00.000-06:00

In a backdoor parliamentary maneuver to create what would be the nation’s first-ever voucher program for private and religious schools, Senators Enzi (WY) and Kennedy (MA) are working to include their voucher proposal in the must-pass Defense appropriations (spending) bill (H.R. 2863). Congress is likely to vote on the bill as early as tomorrow and no later than this weekend.

Enzi, Kennedy and supporters of vouchers have gone out of their way to steer clear of the word “vouchers” in describing the proposal. They’ve instead couched it as the best way to help students and schools affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But vouchers are exactly what they are: the proposal would result in direct cash payments to private and religious schools.

Write and call your Senators and Representative TODAY at 1-202-224-3121. Tell them to keep the Enzi-Kennedy voucher proposal out of the Defense appropriations bill (H.R. 2863) or any other bill.

School Reform Chicago-Style : Detention if you're white. Jail if you're black.

2005-12-14T08:26:00.000-06:00

By Tracy Dell'Angela
Tribune staff reporter

December 13, 2005

More than 8,800 children were arrested at Chicago schools last year--a practice that disproportionately affects black students charged with typical teen misconduct such as fights and talking back to staff.

Fueled by these disparities, an advocacy group on Monday called on Chicago Public Schools to reveal which schools have the most arrests.

"I want an education, but all our zero-tolerance policies do is make me want to give up," said Raymond Collins, a 17-year-old student at Schurz High and a member of the Youth Council for the advocacy group Blocks Together. "Once they decide you're a bad student, ... they find ways to get rid of you."

Blocks Together, a West Side neighborhood group, decided to tackle the issue of student arrests based on student surveys in the North Garfield Park and West Humboldt neighborhoods, said youth organizer Martine Caverl. Students complained about overzealous security guards who escalate conflicts, she added.

"We were hearing about a lot of kids' getting arrested, but we couldn't get hard numbers," Caverl said.

A report released this spring by the Advancement Project offered the first glimpse of arrest trends in the Chicago system and two other urban districts.

The report concluded that the schools were criminalizing routine student misbehavior with a "take no prisoners" approach--punishing students with suspensions and a trip to the police station.

The "Schoolhouse to Jailhouse" report analyzed arrest numbers from 1999 to 2003, which showed that 75 percent of all children arrested over the five-year period were African-American though they make up 50 percent of the district's enrollment. The district is 38 percent Latinos, who account for 20 percent of arrests.

According to the most recent Chicago Police Department data provided to Chicago Public Schools, the numbers aren't getting better. In 2004, 8,845 students were arrested, 78 percent were black. About 10 percent of arrests were of children aged 12 and under.

The arrest statistics mirror overall district discipline numbers that show black students are disproportionately punished: Between 1999 and 2003, 84 percent of all elementary pupils suspended were black.

It's an issue district officials say they are trying to tackle, both by working with high-violence schools and exploring alternatives to arrests.

In October, board president Michael Scott convened a group of experts to talk about the growing outcry over discipline and arrests. Scott said then that schools face a difficult balancing act in trying to keep order in schools without overreacting to minor misbehavior.

While advocacy groups say the district hides arrest numbers, a schools spokesman said the district does not compile arrest statistics. The only information it has comes from the Police Department, said spokesman Mike Vaughn.

He added that the district does not have accurate school-by-school arrest records. Principals are supposed to file hand-written incident reports on every arrest, but he said such data are not reliable because not all principals comply with the requirement.

Next year a computerized student information system will include data about arrests.

"I'm not sure we have a handle yet on how big of a problem this is," Vaughn said. "We want to do a better job of keeping data on when police are called. We want to make sure our schools are not too quick to call police to get them involved in student discipline."

He added that the disproportionate numbers of black kids being disciplined remains "an area of concern for us."

David, a 16-year-old student attending a largely Latino school, believes he was targeted because he is black. David said he was quarreling and pushing with another student last year when a security officer intervened and threw David against the lockers.

David said he was suspended for 10 days, arrested on misdemeanor battery and assault charges, and hauled out of the school in handcuffs. The charge was dismissed, but he never stopped feeling like a target. He has since dropped out and is attending an alternative school.

"I felt kind of bad because my mom had to go to the police station," he said. "I guess they just don't want us in the school."

Standards and Testing.

2005-12-13T10:10:00.001-06:00

I came across a thoughtful piece by Alfie Kohn on the the issue of standards and testing. Although written in 2001, it certainly has meaning today as the high-stakes testing mania seems to be an ever-expanding movement.

For example, Kohn writes, "Consider a comment made by Sandra Stotsky, the deputy commissioner of education in Massachusetts: 'Explore isn't a word that can be put into a standard because it can't be assessed.' This assertion is obviously false because there are plenty of ways to assess the quality of students' exploration---unless, of course, "assessment" is equated with standardized testing. But suppose for the moment that Ms. Stotsky was correct. What if we really were faced with a trade-off between an emphasis on exploration in the classroom and the demands of measurement? Most thoughtful educators would unhesitatingly choose the former, whereas those who write and enforce state standards often opt for the latter. Clearly, it is much easier to quantify the number of times a semicolon has been used correctly in an essay than it is to quantify how well the student has explored ideas in that essay. Thus, the more emphasis that is placed on picking standards that are measurable, the less ambitious the teaching will become."

Kohn says the standards should be examined on the basis of four criteria:

1. How specific are they?

2. How quantifiable are they?

3. How uniform are they?

4. Are they guidelines or mandates?

Read the whole article.

Inflation Trumps Teacher Salaries Says NEA Report.

2005-12-12T11:36:00.000-06:00

Across the nation, teachers are losing spending power for themselves and their families as inflation outpaced increases in teacher salaries last year. According to the National Education Association's (NEA) update to the annual report titled, "Rankings and Estimates: Rankings of the States 2004 and Estimates of School Statistics 2005," inflation increased 3.1 percent over the past year, while teacher salaries increased by only 2.3 percent. Some of the key findings of the report include the following:

Teacher salaries, which rose 2.3 percent to $47,808 since last year, failed to keep pace with the nation's 3.1 percent increase in inflation.

Average teacher salaries actually declined in three states -- Maine, West Virginia and Alabama.

Education revenue increased 4.1 percent since last year.

Education expenditures rose 4.7 percent over the past year.

Read the NEA Report.

Decatur Teachers Vote to Approve New Contract.

2005-12-11T22:05:00.003-06:00

From the Herald & Review: The Decatur Education Association approved a tentative agreement with the Decatur School District on Sunday.

DEA President Alida Graham said 585 members voted and 97.4 percent voted to ratify the settlement.

"It was a strong vote and our members were very pleased," she said.

Until the board approves the contract, which is expected at Tuesday's school board meeting, she said, no details on the length or terms of the contract can be released. Those details will be available at the board meeting if the board also ratifies the agreement.

School will be in session on Monday.

The Storm Ain't Over, Four.

2005-12-11T14:26:00.000-06:00

Sunday roundup of NOLA news:
"Death of An American City."
"Giving Up On New Orleans."
"They're On Their Own in Battered New Orleans."
"Kanye West Was Right."
"Bell South Takes Back Donation to New Orleans Over Free WiFi."

IEA President Swanson Joins Debate Over Tenure.

2005-12-10T14:53:00.000-06:00

IEA President Ken Swanson joined the debate over teacher tenure and evaluation with a statement on the IEA Website. Swanson specifically responded to the original newspaper series on which the Chicago Tribune based their "fire the teachers" editorial.

Swanson said the series erred by focusing on districts with low numbers of hearings and dismissals instead of spotlighting districts that are modernizing the evaluation process.

Swanson pointed out that, “school districts hoping to enhance education quality are adopting new evaluation tools that identify teachers who need improvement while providing clear direction as to what the teacher must do to attain a high standard of performance.”

He went on to say, “Well-trained administrators armed with solid evaluation instruments can help capable teachers reach their potential. In addition, skillful evaluations can pave the way for those who fall short to leave the classroom without an expensive dismissal hearing”

Swanson said that the Riverdale School District in west-central Illinois, which was cited in the original series, is a good example of how a modern evaluation system enhances teaching quality and teacher job satisfaction. Three years ago, Riverdale replaced the standard checklist with a new evaluation instrument.

"The new instrument is based on extensive research showing how a teacher’s performance compares to scientifically-tested qualities of good teaching. Areas where the teacher needs to improve are identified, as is a structure for that improvement," said Superintendent David Bills, who worked with the teacher’s union to implement the new process.

"You don’t achieve excellence by firing people who, if shown a path to improvement, can become good or even outstanding teachers. We want to capture that teacher’s experience and potential and turn it loose in the classroom," Bills said.

Describing the connection between tenure protection with teacher retention, Swanson defended tenure laws. "The right to due process protects good teachers from undue harassment, for example, from a parent angry over their child’s grade, or a school board member who didn’t agree with a teacher’s approach in the classroom. Without some protection, teachers would be dismissed without a hearing and that would make attracting and retaining quality teachers even more difficult," he said.

One More Thing About the Trib Editorial.

2005-12-10T12:23:00.000-06:00

Go down to the bottom of the Trib editorial which calls for firing more teachers. The one actual case they refer to is:
1. Not a teacher, but is an administrator.
2. Not "mediocre," but a child molester and a rapist.
3. Someone who would be in a position to evaluate and fire teachers.

Jerks.

The Chicago Trib's Recipe for School Reform: "You're Fired."

2005-12-09T15:31:00.000-06:00

The drumbeat of teacher bashing continues. Once again, the failure of the Bush reforms is being covered up, and teachers are once again targeted as the problem.

Now it is the Chicago Tribune. Of course, in the case of the Trib, hatred for teacher unions and contempt for the professionalism of teachers is a recurring editorial theme.

We haven’t fired enough teachers says the Trib in their editorial, “Protecting mediocre teachers.”

Most serious observers of the education crisis will tell you that NOT having enough teachers is the problem. They would tell you that the inability to provide fair compensation and an atmosphere of professional respect and autonomy has created a crisis in teacher retention. But not the Chicago Tribune.

Several years ago the Illinois legislature, responding to the teacher scapegoating by those like the editorial board of the Trib, increased probation from two to four years. That means that in every school district in the state, administrators can release teachers without cause at any point during the first four years of their employment.

Most research on the subjects suggests that teachers reach a solid level of instructional skill by the fifth year of teaching. Do the math. Any administrator can fire any teacher without even giving a reason for the first four years. If the administrator hasn’t gotten rid of poor teachers by then, what’s with that?

Recall also the problem of teacher retention. Of 100 people who enter a teacher ed program in a college or university, six are in the classroom five years into their teaching career.

Apparently that is not a low enough figure for the folks at the Tribune.

Read the entire editorial.

Decatur's Herald & Review: "The Board is responsible for prolonging the walkout."

2005-12-09T10:43:00.000-06:00

Deactur's local paper, the Herald & Review, has been neutral during the strike, siding with neither the Decatur teachers or the board. That all changed on Friday. Friday's editorial said:

The school board must get serious about negotiating

If you peel away the rhetoric, there is only one conclusion you can draw from the Decatur teachers strike.

While the teachers decided to strike, it is the school board that is responsible for prolonging the walkout.

The Herald & Review editorial board has tried to be neutral on the issues that caused this strike. We've encouraged the two sides to meet and reach an agreement. Our position has been that reasonable people can come up with a contract that will work for all and get our schoolchildren back into the classroom.

But enough is enough.

It's time for the school board and administration to seriously come to the table and negotiate.

Read the entire editorial.

The Storm Ain't Over, Three.

2005-12-08T17:16:00.000-06:00

Each year Park Ridge's Lincoln faculty and staff raise money for their Holiday Gift Fund. This year they raised $5000 dollars and voted to give it to the NEA Hurricane Relief Fund. The NEA fund targets support for teachers, students, supplies and schools in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

Most exceptional.

Decatur School Board Refuses to Talk.

2005-12-08T09:05:00.000-06:00

On Monday, the Decatur Education Association received a letter from Superintendent Elmer "Mac" McPherson refusing to set a date for the next bargaining session, The board has demanded that teachers accept a temporary settlement for the remainder of the school year, with the salary increase agreed to previously by both sides. They have also demanded that teachers accept a three-year contract offer that does not include changes to the workday that teachers have proposed.

"The letter sent to the DEA clearly indicates that only surrender by the teachers will cause the board to show up for a meeting that would bring students and teachers in from the cold," said Alida Graham, association president, via an e-mailed news release. "This letter shows the uncaring attitude that this board has for the students, the parents and the teachers in our district."

The only remaining issue standing in the way of a settlement, Graham and board President Jan Mandernach said in separate interviews Tuesday, is the definition of the workday. Salary, benefits and other issues have already been ironed out or taken off the table.

Graham reiterated that on Wednesday.

"There is one issue on the table; virtually everything else is settled," she said. "We can be in school within hours if the board will come to the table with an open mind and develop with us a compromise that will get students and their teachers back in school."

2005-12-07T11:15:00.000-06:00

The Storm Ain't Over, Two.

2005-12-07T10:21:00.000-06:00

From the NY Times, December 7, 2005:

New Orleans today:

15.5% unemployment rate.

Labor force 465,801 compared to 633,654 before Katrina.

Percentage of operational buses in the City: 10%

Homes with gas service: 50%

Percentage of operational hotels in the Metro area: 46%

Percentage of operational restaurants in the Metro area: 30%

Open libraries in the Metro area: 58%

Number of schools open in the City: 1

The Storm Ain't Over.

2005-12-07T10:02:00.000-06:00

“There’s three thousand children still missing,” Cyril Neville, youngest of the Neville brothers, told us at the Vic on Monday night. “The storm ain’t over, y’all.”

For a thirty-five dollar ticket, proceeds to Katrina relief, we got to see a pretty eclectic mix of performers. The concert and tour is being organized by Arlo Guthrie, son of Woody, father of singer Sarah Lee and and keyboardist Abe Guthrie. Comedian, Richard Pryor underwrote the costs and the all the artists donated their talents.

Arlo is calling it the “Ridin’ on the City of New Orleans” tour. And they will be taking the train to the crescent city with performance stops along the way. They’ll end up at the historic Tipitina’s in New Orleans on the 17th.

The show was pretty good. The sound board guy seemed to disappear every once in a while. That caused the bench to vibrate. And you could tell that the rehearsals had been few. But Arlo sang a few songs and told a few stories in that same rambling way he did 40 years ago on “Alice’ Restaurant” (you remember Alice?). At one point, in the middle of a story about performing in Chicago in 1964, he stopped to admit that the story had no point. But, with Arlo, isn't that the point.

Most of the acts did about three songs. From Austin, Ramsay Midwood, did some good bluesy numbers with a too-cool slacker attitude. Sarah Lee Guthrie has a really good voice. It falls somewhere between Maria Muldaur and a low-key Janis Joplin. But Cyril Neville got people on their feet with a reggae-styled version of “Sister Rosa.”

I thought of all the times I’ve heard the Neville Brothers sing about the fire on the bayou and the wild tchoupitoulas. The memories reminded me of why I was glad to be there.

And don't we need to be reminded that “the storm ain’t over, y’all.”

Bears 9-3

2005-12-07T07:42:00.000-06:00

Matthew complained that I made a big deal over every White Sox game during the playoffs but that I am not paying due attention to the Bears. Sorry.

In South Africa, AIDS' Toll Also Felt in Schools.

2005-12-06T19:41:00.000-06:00

SOWETO, South Africa — A million children have been orphaned, and 40% of childhood deaths are HIV-related. Some students drop out to care for ill relatives.

A primary school principal in Soweto has many roles: social worker, grief and sexual abuse counselor and charity worker organizing food parcels and secondhand clothes. Even, occasionally, funeral director.

Read the entire LA Times article.
Make a donation.

School Change, Equality and Winnie the Pooh.

2005-12-06T17:20:00.000-06:00

Some have argued that the issue of race and economic status and the issue of improving schools are separate issues. They further argue that those who speak of race and class, such as Jonathon Kozol, have a different agenda than those who focus on school change.

The following excerpt from an interview with Kozol demonstrates the thinking of someone who sees the close relationship between genuine school improvement, the reality of the classroom and the struggle of equality.

"So many teachers in poor, inner-city schools have great personalities, but they have to deny them and adopt a rigidity, a false persona. A teacher who loves literature cannot say, "I read 'Winnie the Pooh' aloud with my class today, and they loved it." That would suffice in a good suburban school. But in the test-driven school in the age of George W. Bush, she can't do that. She has to say, "I used the story of Pooh and Piglet to deliver the following three proficiencies that will be on the state exam." And then she has to list those proficiencies on the blackboard with a number next to each of them, saying, "We used Pooh's disappointment about the honey pot to deliver the following three skills." What happens in these schools is not only that the children are treated as industrial products in preparation but that they're also subjected to a type of rote and drilled training that denies them almost all access to the joy of learning and to any form of cultural capaciousness.

So even when school systems sometimes boast that they've reduced the learning gap between the races, in fact they have increased the cultural gap between the races. And these test score gains are always spurious and temporary. It means nothing; this is the result of teaching to the test, and in some cases, like Houston, it's the result of cheating. If these were real gains -- learning gains, not testing gains -- you'd see the results four years later when they get to eighth grade. But I meet the same kids four years later and they can't write a cogent sentence and they can't read a social studies text, and by the 12th grade the difference is catastrophic. The numbers that come from the Education Trust say that the average 12th grade black and Latino student in America reads and does math at the level of the typical seventh grade white student. George Bush says his testing plan is working, and it is a flagrant lie; it's a deadly lie because it's deceiving the parents of the poor, and it's the worst possible crime because once these years are taken from the kids you can't ever give them back."

—Jonathan Kozol, Interview, Salon.com, 9/22/05

Decatur Board Balks at Talks. Teachers and Students Still Out.

2005-12-06T10:07:00.000-06:00

The following is this morning's statement by the Decatur Education Association:

December 5, 2005, The DEA Team met with the District until 2:45 am but failed to reach a settlement. During that time, the District rejected 3 DEA attempts to meet the District’s interests including one that would have put us back to work today. The District resubmitted 2 prior proposals containing the same workday ultimatums presented last July.

The District remains steadfast on the 2 irregular class periods at the High School that, if eliminated, would go along way towards getting students back in school with minimal disruption to student instruction. When the DEA team questioned the District team on how the time in the irregular periods is currently used, we were told to ask ourselves.

In another proposal, the DEA asked that DEA High School teachers be given a workload that would allow them time for quality instruction and is comparable to most other Central Illinois Districts. The District labeled this proposal unrealistic and maintains the teachers, not the District are responsible for providing instruction well beyond the expectations for quality instruction in other Districts.

The DEA Bargaining Team is extremely disappointed that it could not negotiate a settlement that is good for children and would have put students back in the classroom on Monday. It also knows all too well what parents and students feel today. To have their hopes raised by the Board of Education only to have the classroom door slammed in their face by an unwillingness to find a solution that provides the highest quality instruction for students.

Wal-Mart funded KIPP School Closes in Chicago.

2005-12-05T15:16:00.000-06:00

In a November 21 posting on PREA PREZ, I quoted from a study of right-wing philanthropies such as the Foundation funded by Wal-Mart.

“The Waltons tend to fund the most mind-numbing and cultish (of school reform groups), giving in 2003 alone nearly $3 million to Knowledge Is Power (KIPP) schools and millions more to other schools using the KIPP curriculum, which emphasizes regimented recitation rather than critical or creative thinking. Particularly widespread in low-income neighborhoods, such schools seem bent on disciplining and exhorting the poor rather than developing human potential (much like Wal-Mart as a workplace, with its relentless company cheers and dead-end jobs)."

The Chicago Tribune reports that KIPP Chicago Youth Village Middle School will close this summer. KIPP is one of three small schools housed at Williams Elementary within the Dearborn Homes housing project on Chicago's south side.

Decatur Teachers Offer the Board a Way to Get Students Back in the Classroom.

2005-12-05T13:52:00.000-06:00

Another attempt by the Decatur Education Association will be made this evening to end the strike in Decatur.

A negotiation session is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Stephen Decatur Middle School.

Members of the DEA have been forced by the board to walk the picket line since Wednesday.

Decatur Education Association President Alida Graham says teachers have delivered a temporary settlement proposal to the administration in the hopes of returning to classrooms tomorrow.

Graham says the proposal would allow the board and teachers to reach an agreement for the remainder of the school year while bargaining continues for a more permanent agreement. Capturing additional instructional time has been a key issue for teachers.

DonorsChoose.org

2005-12-05T09:15:00.000-06:00

Big foundation grants have always been a double edged sword. They provide funding to public schools that state and the federal government either can't or won't provide. But they frequently end up driving the curriculum based on their own agenda. They can end up creating one more obstacle to teacher professionalism.

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune describes another way:

Chicago's West Side-- DonorsChoose.org, recently recognized by Amazon.com as the Internet's most innovate non-profit organization, celebrated its first year in Chicago at a birthday party thrown by pupils and staff at the Cooper Elementary Dual Language Academy on the West Side.

The party was arranged to thank DonorsChoose for funding several classroom projects during the past year through the organization's partnership with the Chicago Public Schools.

DonorsChoose works by allowing teachers to post on its Web site a list of needs, such as books and materials, costing no more than $1,000. Donors can then help a specific school.

At the event, adults and pupils shared two Eli's Cheesecake birthday cakes, one twice the size of the other.

"It was great," CPS spokesman Tim Tuten said. "The whole idea was, we're making a bigger cake that we can all share. We're always about fighting for our pieces of the pie or of the cake, and here we're saying you can have your cake and eat it too."

Check out their website and think about them as a resource and a recipient of a donation..

More on NAEP and NCLB.

2005-12-05T08:58:00.000-06:00

The following is a letter from Monty Neill, an activitst in the movement against high stakes testing. He comments on the poor NAEP score showing in many urban school districts and the failure of the Bush administration programs for school improvement, including NCLB. Go to the Fairtest home page.

I've read the AP, Ed Week and several local paper reports - Cleveland, Boston - and have been struck by the spin: now the spin is to make the numbers look as good as possible. So the typical story focuses on grade 4 math gains, does not talk about the flat scores in reading until the very end, and either fleetingly touches on or does not discuss at all the context, NCLB or more broadly the resource starvation affecting too many urban schools coupled with the poverty of the students. I suppose there is something nice about not bashing urban schools - but it has the effect of not challenging NCLB and the dangerous illusion that the US can focus on standardized tests and accountability and actually "close the achievement gap." The NAEP scores of this past year all add evidence that even if achievement is narrowed to test scores, the gap cannot be closed and "proficiency" cannot be generally attained with the approaches the government has legislated.

Monty Neill, Ed.D.
Co-Executive Director
Fairtest

Juror Tells School Voucher Scam Artist, "I work too hard for my money."

2005-12-04T15:24:00.000-06:00

OCALA — A jury Thursday convicted a bankrupt Ocala businessman of stealing $268,125 intended for private-school scholarships, the first criminal prosecution in the state's problem-plagued voucher programs.

James K. Isenhour was found guilty of grand theft for using the money, intended for vouchers for poorer children, instead to prop up his financially troubled correspondence school, to pay his ex-wife, and to buy a new bedroom set for his house.

Before trial, he declined a plea bargain that would have given him three years in state prison. He now faces as much as 30 years at his sentencing in coming weeks.

Juror, Susan Merry, a registered nurse said, "I work too darn hard for my money. My husband works too darn hard for our money," Merry said, adding that $268,000 was more money than she would earn in a decade.

Can We Learn From California?

2005-12-04T13:37:00.000-06:00

The state IEA leadership had what they called a town meeting as one of the workshops at this weekend’s Winter Advocacy Conference in Springfield. I thought I’d go. I wanted a break from talk about insurance, salary schedule spreadsheets and negotiating retirement packages.

President Ken Swanson, Vice President Bob Blades and Secretary Cinda Klickna sat around a table in a breakout room in the basement of the Convention Center. About a dozen or so members sat around the remaining tables.

Ken introduced himself. He told a story of how he got active in the Association back in his old district in Belvidere. Bob and Cinda introduced themselves as well. Bob is from a small town in southern Illinois called Greenup. Cinda is a teacher from Springfield.

But the discussion soon turned to political issues and the recent legislative session.

“I know you’ve all have given this some thought.” I asked, “Why did we do so poorly in this last session?”

Swanson talked about some of the conditions and forces that were hostile towards our issues, issues that included tenure reform, state contributions to our pension, the ERO and fair funding. He said that he was hopeful that House Speaker Madigan would be more open to allowing tenure reform to get to the floor in the spring session that starts in January.

Here is what I don’t get. When you look at what happened in California this past November, an interesting picture emerges. Where do teachers find a more hostile political environment than existed in Sacramento and in the California governor’s office before the November election?

But a giant coalition of public employee unions, including a united California teacher’s union (California has one state teacher union, not two) beat Schwarzenegger solidly.

Compare the strategy of building a big coalition of public employee unions to the Lobby Days the IEA sponsored last fall. I’ll never forget the sight of 1,000, mostly white, IEA members marching up the front sidewalk of the Capitol right past several hundred red-shirted, mostly black, members of the Chicago Federation of Teachers. Both groups were in Springfield for the same purpose. Each was acting as if the other wasn’t there.

This is not a recipe for coalition building. We need to learn from California. If we don’t, the future of our legislative agenda is bleak.

Decatur Teachers Strike for Teacher Quality.

2005-12-03T17:26:00.000-06:00

"December 2, 2005--The members of the DEA submitted a settlement agreement to the District. An acceptance of this proposal by the Board would have DEA teachers reunited with students on Monday morning. We are not optimistic however as the District has made it clear it is unavailable to meet until Sunday, December 4 at 6:00 pm and the offer expires at 4:00 pm.Read the DEA settlement proposal."

The Decatur teachers are striking over the impact of NCLB and other regulatory intrusions into their instructional time. We are talking about time that is precious. It is time that is increasingly being taken away from teaching and instructional prep time. At a moment when teacher-bashing has moved to the editorial pages of the L.A. Times, NY Times, and heard from a range of brilliant education pundits, it is ironic that we find Decatur teachers forced to go on strike, not just for salary and benefits, but for the time to to pursue teaching quality.

A rally of DEA members took place at the Decatur movie theater. The theater marquee said, "Walk the Line."

City of New Orleans, Ain't No One Keeping Score.

2005-12-03T15:47:00.001-06:00

ARLO GUTHRIE & FRIENDS: RIDIN' ON THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
Bringing Back the Music - Benefiting Victims of Katrina

Monday Dec. 5, 7pm
The Vic Theatre
3145 N. Sheffield Ave.
Tickets: 312-559-1212 or http://www.ticketmaster.com/

Hosted by Arlo Guthrie. Featuring Cyril Neville, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Abe Guthrie with Xavier, Ramsey Midwood, John Flynn, Kevin Kinney with Drivin' and Cryin' and The Burns Sisters.

Arlo Guthrie & Friends will travel the Amtrak City of New Orleans train for twelve days in December, performing along the way to benefit the small venues in the train's namesake city that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Arlo & Friends will start at The Vic Theatre in Chicago on Dec. 5 and arrive in New Orleans to perform at Tipitina's on Dec. 17th.

"... your head is filled with the clamor of the classroom."

2005-12-03T13:57:00.000-06:00

In his latest book, best-selling author Frank McCourt recounts 30 years as a public high school teacher in New York City. Here's an excerpt:

F. Scott Fitzgerald said that in American lives there are no second acts. He simply did not live long enough. In my case he was wrong.

When I taught in New York City high schools for thirty years no one but my students paid me a scrap of attention. In the world outside the school I was invisible. Then I wrote a book about my childhood and became mick of the moment. I hoped the book would explain family history to McCourt children and grandchildren. I hoped it might sell a few hundred copies and I might be invited to have discussions with book clubs. Instead it jumped onto the best-seller list and was translated into thirty languages and I was dazzled. The book was my second act.

In the world of books I am a late bloomer, a johnny-come-lately, new kid on the block. My first book, Angela's Ashes, was published in 1996 when I was sixty-six, the second, 'Tis, in 1999 when I was sixty-nine. At that age it's a wonder I was able to lift the pen at all. New friends of mine (recently acquired because of my ascension to the best-seller lists) had published books in their twenties. Striplings.

So, what took you so long?

I was teaching, that's what took me so long. Not in college or university, where you have all the time in the world for writing and other diversions, but in four different New York City public high schools. (I have read novels about the lives of university professors where they seemed to be so busy with adultery and academic in-fighting you wonder where they found time to squeeze in a little teaching.) When you teach five high school classes a day, five days a week, you're not inclined to go home to clear your head and fashion deathless prose. After a day of five classes your head is filled with the clamor of the classroom.

Hundreds Attend IEA Conference in Springfield.

2005-12-02T14:54:00.000-06:00

I'm in Springfield today along with members of our local's bargaining team.

We're attending the IEA Winter Advocacy Conference. It use to be called the Winter Bargaining Conference. I have no idea why they changed the name. The purpose for us being here remains the same. We're preparing for negotiations. We sit down with our board in the Spring. Our contract runs through August.

There are several hundred other teachers here from around the state. The Winter Advocacy Conference represents the state Association at its best. It provides a real service to members.

I have learned a tremendous amount. In my wildest dreams I never thought I would become knowledgeable about school budgets, salary schedules, school labor law, effective negotiating techniques or health insurance. I'm just an art teacher, for god's sake.

It is a three and half hour drive from Chicago to Springfield. Seven hours on the road coming and going. I've been doing the coming and going for 15 years. Back in the day, you couldn't even get a good cup of coffee near the meeting hall. Now there is at least a Starbucks across the street in the Hilton. One by the exit of I-55. Springfield is changing.

I asked Tom, who I drove down with, if the conference was worth it. A member of the negotiating team, this will be his first negotiation. "Absolutely," he said.

When the IEA meets in convention in Rosemont this coming March, the leadership and delegates need to remember that it is this kind of thing our members need more of. One can only hope that any restructuring plan that gets adopted keeps the needs of locals and regions in mind. This conference is a good model. A good example of service to members.

Decatur Teachers Walk.

2005-12-01T19:59:00.000-06:00

Decatur schools are shut down due to the school board's refusal to address an issue hurting students, teachers and education quality, the president of the teacher's union said Wednesday.

"The problem with the contract is not a matter of money or benefits. It's a matter of time for teaching and for helping students," said Alida Graham, president of the teachers' union.

"We want language that will be equitable. That means all teachers, no matter what building they work in, no matter what level they teach, will have working conditions that allow them to meet the needs of all students," she said.

According to Graham, teaching has increasingly become a smaller part of what a teacher does.

"More and more, teachers have been required to attend meetings, do paperwork, meet the requirements of grants, perform assessments and a host of other things that take time away from meaningful planning and preparation for teaching. Enough is enough. We want to spend more time with students, we want to work with parents to help their students succeed, but we need some parameters around the demands on our time."

Graham said the teachers want a contract that spells out what is required and what is voluntary. "Priorities need to be set if we are to give the students the quality of education they deserve. Since the district has refused to prioritize, we are looking for it in the contract."

Graham suggested everyone who cares about students in Decatur should contact the superintendent and school board immediately and insist they offer a fair contract that supports education quality.

"The teachers' working conditions are the students' learning conditions, so the board needs to offer a contract that supports quality education. The quality of education for our students is at stake, so parental and community involvement is crucial," Graham said.

Send correspondence to:
Alida Graham, DEA President
410 N. Water, Suite A
Decatur, IL 62523

“Too often, criticism of the public schools fails to reflect our present societal complexity."

2005-12-01T10:44:00.000-06:00

"At a moment when childhood poverty is shamefully wide-spread, when many families are under constant stress, when schools are often limited by lack of funds or resources, criticism of the public schools often ignores an essential truth: we cannot believe that we can improve public schools alone. They alone can neither cause nor cure the problems we face. In this context, we must address with prayerful determination the issues of race and class, which threaten both public education and democracy in America.”
--National Council of Churches Policy Statement on NCLB

2005-11-30T16:50:00.000-06:00

"When other measures of inequity are growing its a lot to expect schools alone to reverse the trend if we restrict the evidence to test scores."

2005-11-30T16:13:00.001-06:00

Deborah Meier is the author of numerous books, including Many Children Left Behind: How the No Child Left Behind Act Is Damaging Our Children and Our Schools. She was the founder and first principal of the Mission Hill School in Boston and is on the faculty at New York University.

Meier writes: I appreciate that the latest federal intervention - called No Child Left Behind - added equity to our goals. But simply narrowing the test-score gap between rich and poor, black and white, is not a solution to our class and race inequities. In fact, test scores are particularly sensitive to reflecting family income and race. At a time when all other measures of inequity are growing (e.g., income disparities are wider than they have been since the turn of the last century), it seems a lot to expect schools alone to reverse the trend, especially if we restrict the evidence to test scores.

But I look at the task of public education with a different eye to what it's all about. I figure that a society intent on spreading democracy abroad ought to first concern itself with democracy at home - and it's in our schools that training for democratic life must take place. Where else? That once was, and should remain, the prime public rationale for involuntary schooling, at enormous public expense. The gap we need to think about is the appalling voting gap between rich and poor and black and white, not to mention its disparate influence on politics. Luckily, I know of no reason why in learning the skills, knowledge, and habits of mind upon which democratic life depends that we have to sacrifice other purposes, but I do know that if we aim just at test scores, we undermine the culture of democracy.
Read the entire article by Deborah Meier.

The Latest NY Times Disinformation Campaign.

2005-11-30T09:20:00.000-06:00

In an editorial yesterday, the NY Times applauded the decision of a Michigan federal judge to toss out the NEA lawsuit against NCLB.

The Times editorial says, “The teachers' union tipped its hand when it argued in the lawsuit that its members were being stigmatized when the schools where they worked were found to be performing poorly under federal law. Why does it put so much emphasis on the teachers? What about the children whose lives are cast into permanent shadow when they have to attend dismal, nonperforming schools?”

Of course there is a concern that labeling a school as "failing" stigmatizes teachers. Only someone sitting high in the comfortable editorial suites of the Times would dismiss that so easily. But the NEA claims more than that. The stupidity of NCLB is that labeling schools as “failing” does little to fix what is broken. The law creates a new set of hoops to be jumped through, creates testing mandates with no funding and punishments without support. How does that help students who have fallen under the permanent shadow of dismal, nonperforming schools?

Sure. Teachers are victims of NCLB. But we are not the only victims. Students and parents are victims too.
Read the entire NY Times editorial.

Trico Teachers in Southern Illinois End One Week Strike.

2005-11-29T08:30:00.000-06:00

CAMPBELL HILL, Ill. Teachers and students in the Trico School District in Jackson County are heading back to school today after a week-long teachers strike.

The strike officially ended yesterday with the Trico Education Association's unanimous approval of a new three-year contract.

The contract calls for two-percent pay increases each year of the contract -- retroactive to the beginning of this school year.

The teachers won't see health insurance changes this year. Next year, there will be a cap on insurance costs paid by the district equal to this year's costs. And the cap in the third year won't exceed ten percent more than the previous year.

The IEA affiliate represents 64 full- and part-time employees and the southern Illinois district has an enrollment of about 950 students.

"No school administrator should ever receive a percentage raise greater than the raise teachers get," says Anna Quindlen.

2005-11-28T21:32:00.000-06:00

Newsweek columnist Anna Quindlen writes: "The National Education Association has been pushing for a minimum starting salary of $40,000 for all teachers. Why not? If these people can teach 6-year-olds to add and get adolescents to attend to algebra, surely we can do the math to get them a decent wage. Since the corporate world is the greatest, and richest, beneficiary of well-educated workers, maybe a national brain trust might be set up that would turn a tax on corporate profits into an endowment to raise teacher salaries. Maybe states and communities could also pass regulations with this simple proviso: no school administrator should ever receive a percentage raise greater than the raise teachers get. Neither should state legislators." Read Qundlen's entire piece.

The Kappan's Gerald Bracey Takes on the NY Times' Brent Staples (Another Brilliant Education Pundit).

2005-11-28T16:46:00.000-06:00

In a lengthy letter to the NY Times "Public Editor," long-time education writer, Gerald Bracey goes after columnist Brent Staples.

Among Bracey's comments:

"Dear Public Editor,
The New York Times must fire Brent Staples."

"Brent Staples is to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) what Judith Miller was to weapons of mass destruction (and No Child Left Behind is to public education what Katrina was to New Orleans)."

"Staples chastises President Bush, saying 'he should have reminded the nation that as long as it fails to take school reform seriously, American children will fall further and further behind their peers abroad.' The implication, clearly, is that they have been falling further behind. But they have not. In the three TIMSS studies of 1995, 1999 and 2003, only 3 of the 22 nations that participated all three times had larger gains in math than U. S. 8th graders: Hong Kong, Latvia, and Lithuania. Japan and Singapore actually lost ground. This pattern repeated itself in science. Hong Kong is competitive, but it has fewer people than New York City."

"The groups that studied the NAEP achievement levels recommended they be replaced. They have not been replaced and there is no movement to replace them simply because there is so much political hay to be made by saying American kids and American schools stink."

"Mr. Staples’ position that schools stink calls to mind Mr. Cheney’s position that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and is in cahoots with Al Qaeda. Barring a fifth heart attack, we must suffer Mr. Cheney’s delusions another three years. There is no reason to put up with Mr. Staples’ false information another minute."
Read Bracey's Entire Letter to the Times.

More From the Brilliant Education Pundit

2005-11-26T13:05:00.000-06:00

The Brilliant Education Pundit, Alexander Russo (let’s call him “Bredpu”) tells us that there are basically two main worldviews when it comes to thinking about education these days. Bredpu says that one side looks at the problems of schools through the lens of poverty and racism. The other side says that poverty and racism cannot be allowed to be used as reasons for failing schools.

From reading his blog, which claims to be “THE BEST EDUCATION NEWS AND ANALYSIS," the Brilliant Education Pundit clearly sides with the latter.

The Brilliant Education Pundit complains that all we ever hear from these days are those who view the fight against racism and economic inequities as core values in changing schools for the better. Bredpu lashes out at people like Jonathon Kozol, Alex Kotlowitz, Gary Orfield and Richard Rothstein for claiming that diversity and equity are values worth fighting for.

He bemoans that writers such as Diane Ravitch, who he calls “brilliant,” and the right-wing school-privateer, Checker Finn, are not given their due.

The Brilliant Education Pundit asks why do the ideas of Kozol and Kotlowitz resonate with the public more?

They do? More on that some other time.

He says that the problem is rooted in the ideas and actions of those who have always made opposition to segregation and the fight for equity a core value of school reform. Apparently, the problem rests in the decision made more than 50 years ago: Separate but equal schools violate the Constitution of the United States, as well our people’s core values.

Not so, says the Brilliant Education Pundit. “Schools can excel without diversity.”

This should not be news. Under slavery black people taught themselves to read even under the penalty of death. Under Jim Crow laws, black people created outstanding colleges and universities for their children.

But then I suppose that even during slavery and Jim Crow laws there were brilliant education pundits.

Judge Throws Out NEA's Lawsuit Opposing NCLB.

2005-11-26T07:45:00.000-06:00

The lawsuit aimed at blocking the NCLB act, filed by the NEA and the states of Michigan, Vermont and Bush's home state of Texas, plus 10 NEA chapters in those states and Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah was tossed out by a federal judge Wednesday.

The school districts had argued that the law is costing them more than they are receiving in federal funding.

The law requires states to revise academic standards and develop tests to measure students' progress annually. If students fail to make progress, the law requires states to take action against school districts.

Reg Weaver, president of the NEA, said there would be an appeal.

"Parents in communities where school districts are financially strained were promised that this law would close the achievement gaps," he said. "Instead, their tax dollars are being used to cover unpaid bills sent from Washington for costly regulations that do not help improve education."

Illinois, for example, will spend $15.4 million annually to meet the law's requirements on curriculum and testing but will receive $13 million a year.

Happy Thanksgiving.

2005-11-24T07:02:00.000-06:00

For the DOE, Measuring Growth Is Just an Experiment.

2005-11-23T11:33:00.001-06:00

DOE Secretary Margaret Spellings announced this past week that she will grant, as an experiment, a waiver to as many as 10 states to try "growth models" for determining whether schools make adequate yearly progress. Such models could enable states to credit schools for the academic growth of individual students even if their test scores fall short of state standards.

This is good.

I agree with NEA President Reg Weaver when he responded to the Spellings announcement. He said it represents, "the calls of millions of educators for a 'growth model' that truly reflects the great progress we are making in the classroom."

The data supports a growth model. In California, just 56 percent of 9,200 public schools made AYP in the past year. But the state found that four out of every five schools made significant gains.

"It's a much more realistic measure of student performance," said Jack O'Connell, California's superintendent of public instruction. "It gives every school, every year, a shot at success."

A couple of questions and observations:

Why are “growth models” just an experiment? Why shouldn’t all schools be measured on the basis of how well they improve as opposed how they do when measured against other schools?

Spellings claims that comparing schools is an “essential principle” for the Bush administration. She said she would not compromise on these essential principles. Foremost, she said, is ensuring that all students are tested in reading and mathematics from grades 3 through 8, and once in high school, with results reported separately for racial and ethnic minorities, disabled students and other groups. The law's twin goals, says Spellings, are to close achievement gaps and ensure that all students reach proficiency by 2014. Sure. OK.

If it is an essential principle then why is she granting a waiver to these 10 states? How does one give a waiver to an “essential principle?”

Because, as this year’s Kappan survey showed, public support for NCLB has eroded significantly. The punitive labeling of schools is polling worse than Dick Chaney.

One Laptop Per Child

2005-11-22T13:49:00.000-06:00

Wired Magazine reports,
TUNIS, Tunisia -- If tech luminary Nicholas Negroponte has his way, the pale light from rugged, hand-cranked $100 laptops will illuminate homes in villages and townships throughout the developing world, and give every child on the planet a computer of their own by 2010.

The MIT Media Lab and Wired magazine founder stood shoulder to shoulder with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to unveil the first working prototype of the "$100 laptop" -- currently more like $110 -- at the U.N. World Summit on the Information Society. The Linux-based machine instantly became the hit of the show, and Thursday saw diplomats and dignitaries, reporters and TV cameras perpetually crowded around the booth of One Laptop Per Child -- Negroponte's nonprofit -- craning for a glimpse of the toy-like tote. MIT's Media Lab-One Laptop Per Child.

Strike by NYU Grad Students is Two Weeks and Counting.

2005-11-22T13:38:00.000-06:00

News reports that as a strike by graduate student teaching and research assistants at New York University entered its second week yesterday many on campus seemed to be settling in for a prolonged strike. Go to GSOC Home Page.

Compare Charter, Contract and Chicago Public Schools.

2005-11-22T11:49:00.000-06:00

An interesting chart is provided by the Chicago Teachers Union (AFT) comparing charter, contract and CPS schools when it comes to teacher compensation, union rights, pension benefits and qualifications. SIMILARITIES and DIFFERENCES.

Teachers. Problem or Solution?

2005-11-21T17:13:00.000-06:00

In the wake of the NAEP results and other data that challenges the value of NCLB, the talk has intensified in putting the blame on teacher quality. I’ve talked about recent editorials in the NY Times and LA Times.

Local education blog writer Alexander Russo has a post today which has him joining the club. He responds to a column in the NY Times this morning by Brent Staples. Staples column is just junk, a rehash of the stuff we read ten years go. It basically argues for US schools to follow a Japanese model.

Russo rejects that, but makes some proposals of his own.

He says districts should take a much stronger role in teacher preparation.

He says we should expand the use of alternative cert training programs to supply classroom teachers. “What if the district allowed TFA (Teach for America) to credential and certify teachers, not just train them,” Russo asks.

He says states should allow districts and even outside providers to take over all or part of teacher prep a la charter schools of education and NCBL-style teacher preparation "vendors."

Weather these proposals have aspects that may or may not be useful to consider, they look to solutions that are based on the assumption that when schools fail, the failures are rooted in the poor teaching skill of individual teachers and that teachers and teacher training should now be the target of top down "NCLB-style" answers.

When will these brilliant educational pundits start looking to teachers as the solution, rather than the problem? Read the entire post.

Link Wray Dies.

2005-11-21T12:35:00.000-06:00

Link Wray has nothing directly to do with schools or education or teacher's unions (of course, neither does the current win-loss record of the Chicago Bears), but a great rock guitarist, Wray died on November 5th.

If you don't know who he is, find out about Wray at Wikipedia.

To hear "Rumble."

Bears 7-3

2005-11-21T10:42:00.000-06:00

Wal-Mart's Philanthropy Funds Attack on Public Schools.

2005-11-21T10:24:00.000-06:00

In a joint venture, The Nation magazine, The American Prospect, In These Time and AlternNet have been investigating the philanthropic dirty dealings of America’s greatest retail bottom-feeder, Wal-Mart.

What are some of the things they found?

On paying their taxes: “Wal-Mart and the Waltons have been notably reluctant to pay them. Not only has the company lobbied for tax breaks in communities all over the nation, the Waltons--the family that former Wal-Mart board member Hillary Clinton has called "the best America has to offer"--have campaigned vigorously against the estate tax. They have donated money to its opponents, Republicans like John Thune of South Dakota and David Vitter of Louisiana, and enlisted one of Washington's top lobbying firms, Patton Boggs--a leading anti-estate tax lobbyist--to represent their interests.”

On how we subsidize Wal-Mart: “The Waltons' philanthropy--and their hostility to paying their fair share of taxes- needs to be viewed in the context of tax subsidies Wal-Mart has received for building new stores, which Good Jobs First places at more than $1 billion, an estimate that does not include the many other ways taxpayers subsidize Wal-Mart stores, for instance, through numerous forms of public assistance--Medicaid, Food Stamps, public housing--that often allow workers to subsist on Wal-Mart's low wages. A report by the House Education and Workforce Committee conservatively places the latter at $420,750 per store.”

On who receives their donations: “From 1998 through 2003 the WFF contributed $25,000 to the Heritage Foundation, $15,000 to the Cato Institute, $125,000 to the Hudson Institute, $155,000 to the Goldwater Institute, $70,000 to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, $300,000 to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, $185,000 to the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy and $350,000 to the Evergreen Freedom Foundation.”

On Wal-Mart’s funding the Wal-Mart Curriculum: “The Waltons tend to fund the most mind-numbing and cultish (of school reform groups), giving in 2003 alone nearly $3 million to Knowledge Is Power (KIPP) schools and millions more to other schools using the KIPP curriculum, which emphasizes regimented recitation rather than critical or creative thinking. Particularly widespread in low-income neighborhoods, such schools seem bent on disciplining and exhorting the poor rather than developing human potential (much like Wal-Mart as a workplace, with its relentless company cheers and dead-end jobs). Several years ago the principal of New York City's John A. Reisenbach Charter School, which uses the KIPP curriculum and received $118,000 from the Waltons in 2003, told me proudly, as we watched fidgety second graders chant meaningless slogans, "We are getting them ready for business."

On Wal-Mart’s funding the privatization of schools: “The WFF has become the single largest source of funding for the voucher and charter school movement.” Read the entire story.

Scores Show NCLB Failing. Blame Teacher Unions.

2005-11-20T16:15:00.000-06:00

After the NAEP results were released showing that the Bush/Kennedy NCLB a developing failure, the NY Times editorialized that the problem must be the teacher's poor teaching skills, the universities that train them and their unions that protect them. After all, what else could explain it?

Now the LA Times has gotten a copy of the Bush education talking points and they have tried to join in with an editorial of their own. Only its really lame.

The LA Times editors write: "The study by the nonprofit New Teacher Project found that teacher contracts place seniority over what's best for students, especially by favoring longtime teachers for desired teaching slots over newer teachers who might be better for the job."

And then they add: "Poor and minority students have long borne the brunt of these rules, because teachers often want jobs in more affluent communities. Though disadvantaged students need more educational support, they end up with the least experienced teachers."

Get it? Because of teacher unions, more experienced teachers get a position over an inexperienced teacher who might be better but disadvantaged students get inexperienced teachers over experienced teachers who might be better.

If you find this line of argument hard to follow, its not your fault. Read the entire editorial.

NYU Grad Students Union On Strike.

2005-11-20T15:53:00.000-06:00

From the GSOC: "In 2002, the Graduate Student Organizing Committee won the first contract for graduate assistants at a private university. Our contract improved the lives of graduate students dramatically and was praised by the NYU administration. Now, thanks to a regressive Bush administration ruling, NYU is refusing to bargain a second contract with GSOC. GSOC members voted by a margin of 85% to strike for a new contract, and our strike began on Wednesday, November 9."

"The Nerds Are Pissed: New York University opts for war with its best and brightest," headlines NY's Village Voice. Read the entire story.

Sisters in Action Blasts NCLB.

2005-11-20T12:34:00.000-06:00

The Oregonian writes:
Sisters in Action is a nonprofit organization for low-income girls and girls of color. About 125 are members, with about 15 who come to weekly meetings, all 11 to 18 years old. Many attend Portland Public Schools that face sanctions under No Child Left Behind because of low test scores. Some adults work as paid staff for the organization, but the group is led by the girls, who research and take stands on issues that affect them. The organization, which formed 10 years ago, is best known for lobbying TriMet to cut in half the price of a monthly youth bus pass.

Last year, the group decided to research and speak out about the local consequences of No Child Left Behind. The girls read and analyzed the legislation. They scoured press clippings. They interviewed teachers and students for their opinions. They came away convinced the legislation undermines neighborhood schools with provisions that require schools with consistently low test scores to let students transfer to better-performing ones. Read the entire story.

Assured Failure.

2005-11-19T14:52:00.001-06:00

John Horn's blog, Schools Matter, raises the proposition that the yearly increase in schools who fail to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is the intent of NCLB.

Why?

To undermine public support for public schools and build support for privatization.

Horn says, "Here is a chart from a Massachusetts study done by Ed Moscovitch of Cape Ann Economics. It shows what everyone knows who has examined the consequences of this reckless attempt to undermine and replace public schools in the U.S. As the numbers of failing schools rise as they are now in Illinois as well, as reported in Chicago Tribune today, public attitudes toward the public schools will plummet unless this thinly-veiled attempt at school privatization is exposed."

More than 200 schools--10 times as many as last year--face the most drastic federal sanctions for poor performance, and state education officials are bracing for the number to multiply. By next year, the figure is likely to double, state school Supt. Randy Dunn told Illinois State Board of Education members at a meeting in Chicago on Wednesday. Go to Horn's blog.

Paradigm Shift: Theory of Dumb Design.

2005-11-18T10:59:00.000-06:00

Out of the controversial debate pitting the theory of evolution against the theory of intelligent design has emerged a new theory, dumb design, which some experts believe may explain the televangelist Pat Robertson.

The theory of dumb design holds that human beings were designed by a superior being, but one who mysteriously designed certain humans in a particularly dumb way.

Enter Rev. Robertson, whom many experts in the theory of dumb design are calling “Exhibit A” in their effort to prove that the theory holds water. Read the entire story.

Supreme Court Ruling "Bad News to Parents."

2005-11-17T09:32:00.000-06:00

The NY Times reports on the impact of the Supreme Court ruling on special education:"This is something where it would be very hard to predict exactly what's going to happen," said Arlene Mayerson, directing lawyer of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. "Obviously it's bad news to parents. But how bad the news is we'll have to wait and see."

Ms. Mayerson said she believed that at the very least some parents would be deterred from pursuing complaints against school districts. She added that districts, knowing that parents have to assemble convincing cases, might be less likely to compromise beforehand.

"It's like one more message to the parents that they're up against formidable odds," she said. Read the entire story.

Study Falsely Links Low Teacher Quality to Union Contracts.

2005-11-17T09:18:00.000-06:00

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) today expressed outrage at the lack of real solutions for hard-to-staff schools-as well as meritless attacks on unions-in The New Teacher Project (TNTP) report, "Unintended Consequences: The Case for Reforming the Staffing Rules in Urban Teachers Union Contracts."

"The TNTP report completely misses the mark on the challenge of retaining new teachers in urban schools," said AFT Executive Vice President Antonia Cortese. "Almost 50 percent of new teachers leave schools within five years. If we want to solve this problem, we need to spend more time on retention strategies like peer mentoring and other supports, and less on human resource management issues, like how the districts are managing teacher transfers." Read the entire story.

National School Board Association Gleeful at Supreme Court Ruling.

2005-11-16T20:45:00.000-06:00

The National School Board Association statement following the 6-2 Supreme Court ruling against parents of special education students: "The National School Board Association applauds the U.S. Supreme Court for today’s 6-2 decision that concurs with NSBA’s amicus brief, which argued for placing the burden of proof on the challenging party when a student’s individualized education program (IEP) is questioned." Read the entire statement.

"Small is Not Enough."

2005-11-16T19:34:00.000-06:00

Writing from Miami my brother, Mike Klonsky, asks the question about a for-profit charter school in Florida, "What are they doing that's so innovative that they require autonomy from state and district mandates and non-union teachers?" This following a tragic incident in which 17-year-old girl faces attempted murder charges after she reportedly shot another girl who had punched her during a brawl. Read the entire story.

Student Academic Performance and the Arts.

2005-11-16T10:51:00.000-06:00

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes: "It may sound counterintuitive, but schools in Pittsburgh and around the country are raising students' test scores by concentrating more on the arts -- yes, the arts -- than on the subjects that are tested. Around the world and close to home, the best schools with the best students have the best arts programs."

Now, as an elementary Art Teacher I don't want to suggest that schools not place more emphasis on the arts. I've never been able to find any defensible research that would suggest that there is a direct link between studying the arts and improved student performance in other disciplines of knowledge. In fact, Eisner among others has pointed out the dangers of promoting this theory: since it is unsupported by research data, it just gives districts another reason to cut it during economic hard times.

What the relationship between high student performance on subjects that are tested in schools that provide quality arts programs does demonstrate is what this article states. The presence of the arts demonstrates strong community support for the school, and students like it and are eager to be there. Read the entire story.

Marsha Joyner has name inscribed on the “Wall of Tolerance” at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.

2005-11-15T17:17:00.001-06:00

Marsha Joyner writes: "I was the first “colored girl” to graduate (1956) from an integrated school in Baltimore MD after the Brown vs. BOE (1954), walked many picket lines, participated in sit-in demonstrations, gone to jail for having the audacity to ask to be served a 10 cent hamburger at the White Castle, faced death at the hands of an angry white mob when I had the impudence to attempt to register people to vote and walked the ever moving line of Jim Crow. But today I was in the company of real heroes, people who had practiced non-violence here in the overtly violent south." Read the entire story.

6-2 Supreme Court Vote Places Burden of Proof on Children with Disabilities. And Thats Without Roberts and Alito.

2005-11-15T11:10:00.000-06:00

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that parents who disagree with a school system's special-education plan for their child have the legal burden of proving that the plan will not provide the "appropriate" education to which federal law entitles all children with disabilities.

The 6-to-2 decision, in a case from a Washington suburb, Montgomery County, Md., affirmed a ruling last year by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. did not take part in the case, which was argued on Oct. 5, because the school district had been his client.

Read the NY Times report:6-2 Supreme Court Decision

Read Justice Ginsberg's dissent:Ginsberg

Can Senator Schoenberg Fix What He Broke?

2005-11-14T10:32:00.000-06:00

A few weeks back I reported on a rather heated meeting between local IEA leaders and State Senator Jeff Schoenberg about the new 6 percent pension rule and other issues related to TRS and the state’s contribution to the retirement system.

Schoenberg seemed quite amazed that local IEA leaders would be angry with him as the chief sponsor of the ERO legislation. He started out with a kind of, “well, I saved ERO. Won’t anything satisfy you people,” attitude.

But IEA local president after local president got up and explained how the 6% cap was so non-specific that in contract negotiations school boards were including stipends, coaching, or basic raises, rather than the bonuses that the legislation was allegedly going after. Schoenberg seemed to get the message.

Schoenberg promised to go back and try to fix what the legislation had broken during the recently concluded veto session. Although he failed to do that, there seems to be some progress on repairing the damage.

Nearly 60 members of the House have signed on to HB 4166, the IEA-backed bill calling for changes to the new 6 percent pension rule.

Schoenberg met with the IEA, IFT and school management groups this week to discuss his bill, SB 2151 , the companion bill to HB 4166 .

Schoenberg said the bill is “a top priority” when legislators return to Springfield in January and he plans to ask Senate President Emil Jones for his support.

We’ll see if Schoenberg can fix what be broke.

Feds Sue SIU. Bush's Justice Department Opposes Programs That Aid Minorities and Women.

2005-11-13T17:01:00.000-06:00

The Sun-Times reported Sunday that President Bush's administration has threatened to sue Southern Illinois University, alleging its fellowship programs for minority and female students violate federal civil rights laws by discriminating against whites, men and others.

In a move Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said "just doesn't make sense," the U.S. Justice Department charged that three SIU programs that aim to increase minority enrollment in graduate school exclude whites, other minorities and males, in violation of Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act. Sun-Times: U.S. accuses SIU of anti-white bias.

Two Thousand African Children Die Every Day of Malaria.

2005-11-13T13:39:00.000-06:00

Ralph Nader writes, "Suppose every day for the past umpteen years, four fully loaded Boeing 747 Jumbo Jets crashed full of African children. Suppose further that no one doubted that similar children-filled jumbo jets would crash at this level every day into the indefinite future. Don't you think that at some point something big would be done about this slaughter of the innocents? Well, every day about 2000 African children die from malaria as their predecessors have died for centuries. Only now the mortality levels are as high or higher than they have ever been in this modern, technology-driven 21st century. What goes here?" Read Nader's entire piece.

NCLB Becomes An Issue at the Bargaining Table.

2005-11-12T15:18:00.000-06:00

In Sandy, Oregon local members of the Oregon Education Association have been on strike for three weeks. Salary and insurance are issues, of course. But so is No Child Left Behind.

In school districts around the country, the Bush administration's centerpiece education law is emerging as an issue at bargaining table after bargaining table.

"No Child Left Behind is creating issues we didn't expect four or five years ago," said Larry Wolf, who heads the OEA. "The law's approaching deadlines raise flags for both sides."

Under No Child Left Behind, schools that are repeatedly identified as failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress (as District 64’s Emerson did this year) can face a series of sanctions including being shut down or handed over to a private corporation.

In Oregon, OEA locals are attempting to negotiate the right to take part in developing new curriculums required under No Child Left Behind, and are demanding protection for staff members who are threatened with lost of their jobs if a school fails to make AYP.

School board officials, though, say that laws such as No Child Left Behind affect what can and cannot go into the contract.
"We can't incorporate things that would violate or conflict with those laws," said Oregon Trail school board member Wayne Kuechler.

In Philadelphia, where the public school system is now run by the state, the teachers union gave up certain seniority hiring rights in the latest round of contract talks to give the district more options in hiring teachers to staff schools that are marked as low performers under the federal law.

"At every turn in the contract negotiations, the press and demands of No Child Left Behind were always present," said Philadelphia union spokeswoman Barbara Goodman. "The bottom line is, there were a lot of changes made in seniority."
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Evolution of a Dover Voter.

2005-11-12T07:41:00.001-06:00

What A Head Case, Part II.

2005-11-11T16:52:00.000-06:00

Fox's Bill O'Reilly reacted to San Franciscans approval of Proposition I, which discourages military recruiters on public high school and college campuses.

He advised President George W. Bush to react by withdrawing any military protection for the city. "...If al-Qaida comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead," O'Reilly said.

What A Head Case.

2005-11-11T16:25:00.000-06:00

"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city," Radical Cleric Pat Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, "The 700 Club."

"And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he might not be there," he said.

Californians Celebrate Defeat of Anti-Teacher, Anti-Union Ballot Measures.

2005-11-11T16:18:00.001-06:00

Photo: David Bacon

Excerpt from Jonathan Kozol's "Shame of the Nation."

2005-11-10T19:56:00.001-06:00

A teacher at P.S. 65, one of the South Bronx elementary schools I’ve visited repeatedly, once pointed out to me one of the two white children I had ever seen there. His presence in her class was something of a wonderment to her and to the other pupils. I asked how many white kids she had taught in the South Bronx in her career. “I’ve been at this school for 18 years,” she said. “This is the first white student I have ever taught.”

One sunny day in April, I was sitting with my friend Pineapple at a picnic table in St. Mary’s Park in the South Bronx. I had met Pineapple six years earlier, in 1994, when I had visited her kindergarten class at P.S. 65.

The next time I visited her school, it was the spring of 1997. She was in third grade now and she was having a bad year. The school was in a state of chaos because there had been a massive turnover of teachers. Of 50 members of the faculty in the preceding year, 28 had never taught before; and half of them were fired or did not return the following September. Very little teaching took place in Pineapple’s class during the time that I was there. For some reason, children in her class and other classes on her floor had to spend an awful lot of time in forming lines outside the doorways of their rooms, then waiting as long as 30 minutes for their turn to file downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch, then waiting in lines again to get their meals, then to go to recess, then to the bathroom, then return to class. Nearly two hours had elapsed between the time Pineapple’s classmates formed their line to go to lunch and finally returned.

In the following year, when she was in fourth grade, Pineapple had four different teachers in a row. Pineapple, who had always been a lively and resilient little girl, grew quite depressed that year. When Pineapple used to talk to me about her school she rarely, if ever, spoke in racial terms. Going to a school in which all of her classmates were black or Hispanic must have seemed quite natural to her -- “the way things are,” perhaps the way that they had always been. Since she had only the slightest knowledge of what schools were like outside her neighborhood, there would have been no reason why she would remark upon the fact that there were no white children in her class. This, at least, is how I had interpreted her silence on the matter in the past. So it surprised me, on that pleasant day in April as the two of us were sitting in St. Mary’s Park, while Pineapple’s little sister, who is named Briana, wandered off at a slight distance from us following a squirrel that was running on the grass, when Pineapple asked me something that no other child of her age in the South Bronx had ever asked of me before. Leaning on her elbows on the picnic table, with a sudden look of serious consideration in her eyes, she seemed to hesitate a moment as if she was not quite sure whether the question in her mind might somehow be a question you are not supposed to ask, then plowed right on and asked it anyway.

“What’s it like,” she asked me, peering through the strands of beaded cornrows that came down over her eyes, “over there where you live?” “Over where?” I asked.

“Over--you know . . . ,” she said with another bit of awkwardness and hesitation in her eyes.

I asked her, “Do you mean in Massachusetts?”

She looked at me with more determination and a bit impatiently, I thought, but maybe also recognized that I was feeling slightly awkward too.

“You know . . . ,” she said.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

“Over there--where other people are,” she finally said.

Jonathan Kozol is the National Book Award-winning author of Death at an Early Age, Savage Inequalities, and Amazing Grace. He has been working with children from inner-city schools for more than 40 years.

Intelligent Voters Not Just in California. Dover, Pa. Votes Out Intelligent Design.

2005-11-09T18:02:00.000-06:00

All eight members up for re-election to the Pennsylvania school board that had been sued for introducing the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in biology class were swept out of office yesterday by a slate of challengers who campaigned against the intelligent design policy.

California Voters: "No, No, No, No."

2005-11-09T17:50:00.000-06:00

California (my home before Chicago) voters said, "No" to the anti-union, anti-teacher ballot measures proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

New IEA Leadership. Don't Miss an Opportunity.

2005-11-09T17:28:00.000-06:00

It seems to me that the choice of Jo Anderson to be the new executive director of the IEA seems like good news.

The fact that Clay Marquardt is no longer going to hold that position in the organization is definitely good news.

What kind of leader was Clay? I go back to that day at the IEA Representative Assembly several years ago when he put uniserv director salaries on an overhead as a show for the entire convention. I remember thinking, "How shabby." It was a cheap attempt to blame uniserv director contracts, our employees, for the financial troubles of the organization. The financial issues were presented with barely any advance notice to members. Hmm. Keep people in the dark until it is too late to do anything. Then blame the employees for the financial troubles. Typical management tactics.

But now Ex-president Anne Davis and Clay are gone from leadership. What kind of leadership will President Swanson and Jo Anderson provide? The first test, I think, will be what they do with the restructuring proposal. If they proceed with it, it will be a signal that things really haven’t changed that much. As I have written here before, the restructuring proposal keeps a bloated operation in Springfield and cuts service to members at the region and local level of the union. In fact, with bigger and fewer regions and with more responsibilities placed on the shoulders of the already overloaded un-paid local presidents, things could be worse under the restructured IEA than they were under the Davis-Marquardt leadership.

That would be a shame. And a missed opportunity.

Jo Anderson Picked as New Executive Director of the IEA.

2005-11-08T16:17:00.002-06:00

A longtime advocate for public education employees and school improvement and good friend of the PREA has been named executive director for the Illinois Education Association (IEA), the state's largest education employees' union.

The IEA Board of Directors on Saturday, Nov. 5, approved the hiring of Jo Anderson for the top staff position with IEA.

"Throughout his IEA career, Jo has shown he is a tireless advocate for education employees and a leader in school improvement," said IEA President Ken Swanson.

Jo Anderson has worked closely with the PREA and District 64 administration through his role as the director of the Center for Innovation and executive director of the Consortium for Educational Change.

Jo and other CEC staff have facilitated school improvement efforts with a number of District 64 schools and our school-based teacher-led Quality Improvement Teams, including Roosevelt and Carpenter. Jo was instrumental in helping District 64 establish our District Quality Leadership Team.

"The trust the IEA Board has shown in me is very gratifying," Anderson said. "I look forward to helping the organization accomplish its mission; to be the primary advocacy organization for public education employees and students."

Anderson succeeds Clayton Marquardt, who announced his retirement last spring.