Assigned Reading

My mind keeps returning to a comment made by NEARI leader Bob Walsh on a local blog. He wrote this in response to a post on charter schools:

Unfortunately, for some advocates of charter schools, their interest begins and ends with union busting, and the students are an afterthought.

When it comes to those actively involved in charter schools, Mr. Walsh is all wrong. My experiences have shown that RI charter schools are run by dedicated teachers and administrators who want to provide the best education possible to children in our state. Successful charters like Paul Cuffee, The Learning Community, and Beacon are located in depressed communities where the needs are greatest and the work challenging.

Politically however, Mr. Walsh may be correct. There probably are some who see charter schools as a political tool to best the unions. But Mr. Walsh should also consider the strong opposition to charters by the NEA. For many in the union leadership, students are most definitely an afterthought. Unions represent labor, the teachers. As I noted in an earlier post, longtime NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin said:

NEA and affiliates must never lose sight of the fact that they are unions, and unions first and foremost represent their members.

It’s naive to suggest that union representatives are thinking about children when they negotiate contracts. There are too many involved in education that consider students only as an “afterthought”.

Excellent editorial in today’s LA Times.

When even your best friends aren’t on your side, it’s time to pay attention. Teachers unions in California would be wise to listen as new challenges to their most cherished doctrines come from the very politicians they have counted on as allies.

It is time to put students first when making decisions that impact our public schools.

What happens when the best performing school in an otherwise poorly performing urban district is a KIPP school? Knock ‘em down. Just outrageous.

Still believe the union officials who tell us it’s all about the children?

“NEA and affiliates must never lose sight of the fact that they are unions, and unions first and foremost represent their members.”

Outgoing NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin spoke these words to the representatives at this year’s annual NEA assembly (h/t eduwonk). It’s precisely the kind of quotation union critics pray for, so I am certain you’ll hear it again and again. But it’s important to understand that Mr. Chanin is right.

Unions were organized by teachers for teachers. And they survive with the dues paid to them by teachers. The role of the union is to represent the interests of these teachers. And they do it quite well.

The problem, in my opinion, has been the imbalance of power; unions have held too much power during the past several decades. Taxpayers, parents, and children have been poorly represented.

So while I am often critical of teachers unions, I understand they have been doing what they are paid to do. Change must be made at the bargaining table.

For too long, negotiations have been conducted like those of labor contracts; management and employees sit down and hash out salaries and working conditions. But education requires a much different type of negotiation, and a much different type of contract.

A negotiating table must include seats for parents, students, and taxpayers as well as teachers. School committee members have to wear too many hats, and often end up the financial guardians for the community, particularly in these trying economic times. Two seats at the table must be filled with those whose duties are to represent the interests of students, another two to represent parents, and a pair to represent taxpayers.

To negotiate a contract that is, above all else, best for the children the schools seek to educate, all parties must be represented. Instead of looking at union proposals and determining if it’s affordable, the team will ask if it is best for kids, for families, and for taxpayers as well.

Unions should continue to represent their members, as Mr. Chanin suggests. The rest of the educational community deserves equal representation.

The new hiring procedure in Providence is good news for kids. For the first time, principals will be able to fill positions in their schools with the most qualified teachers. It seems like a no-brainer, but the contract in Providence, and most public schools in RI, declares seniority the highest determinant.

Former state commissioner Peter McWalters ordered the change after city schools consistently failed to meet education goals as determined by the Department of Education. The new hiring practice is in place at four schools for the coming academic year, and will be used at all city schools in 2010.

McWalters’ order puts the hiring power in the hands of the principal, and a committee made up of teachers. The principal, however, will have the final say.

To improve our schools, we must return to them decision-making powers. Neither the educrats nor the union leaders can determine which teachers will best fit in a learning community. Principals and teachers are bettered prepared to match new educators with the philosophies and student needs of their schools.

The response from the local teachers union president Steve Smith was as expected. He complained that the new practice violates the collective bargaining agreement.

We want experience to count for something. This is all about control. We want a partnership.

Undoubtedly hiring committees will consider experience. But I’m sure Mr. Smith knows that seniority and experience are not synonymous. The union has threatened to sue.

For now some control has been returned to those who know their students best. Congratulations to Mr. McWalters for making this happen. Hopefully more RI schools will be given this opportunity.

Who said this?

“To get the results we seek — at the speed we want — we must make transformative changes that boost achievement for students, improve quality choices for parents, and increase opportunities for teachers. We need to empower our educators to quickly innovate and implement what works. I believe that the increased flexibility that charters provide can . . . help us close the achievement gap.”

You may be surprised to learn these words belong to Boston Mayor Tom Menino, a Democrat who has long opposed non-union charters. In a speech last week, he declared his position had changed, and now wants to convert about 50 failing schools into charters.

“Betrayal,” was the response of the Boston Teachers Union.

Menino complained about the unions: “Every time we try to do a reform they stop it.” The mayor also hopes to receive some of the education reform funding soon to be offered by the Obama administration, which will be linked to expansion of charter schools.

The long tenure of Education Commissioner Peter McWalters came to an end this week. Deborah Gist officially assumed the role on Wednesday, July 1.

Deborah A. Gist, the former State Superintendent of Education for the District of Columbia and an experienced classroom teacher, took office today (July 1, 2009) as the Commissioner of
Elementary and Secondary Education.

Gist, who was appointed to the post in April by the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education, succeeds Peter McWalters, who served for 17 years.

Gist wants to make herself accountable and available, and provided her own e-mail: deborah.gist@ride.ri.gov

A glimmer of hope. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke frankly at the NEA annual meeting in LA. He encouraged merit pay and more effective methods of teacher evaluation, and told the educators they must be willing to change.

Attendees were generally polite in their reception of Duncan (he is, after all, a Democrat), despite the unions opposing positions on these issues. Duncan also called for a change in the rules outlining tenure.

Elementary schools are often dominated by female teachers, and this creates unique problems when teaching and encouraging boys to read. Within the past decade or so, much attention has been brought to the disparity in reading ability between boys and girls. Fictional narratives favored more by girls filled classroom libraries and where more often chosen as whole-class reads.

Today teachers are more aware of the need to instruct using books from a variety of genre and subjects, and to fill their classroom libraries with books attractive to boys as well as girls. The struggle, then, is to help female teachers understand what types of reading will interest boys, and how to provide male role models to recommend books.

Mary Ann Zehr reported for Edweek on a Virginia conference that focused on boosting boys’ interest in reading. Most of the presenters were authors, such as Jack Gantos, Jerry Pinkney, and Jon Scieszka. The article is worth reading. Scieszka is passionate about the subject, and maintains the Guys Read website that can assist teachers with finding books for boys.