Assigned Reading

Our profession lost one of its giants today. Jaime Escalante, the East LA high school teacher made famous as the subject of the movie Stand and Deliver, has died of cancer at the age of 79. Washington Post education writer Jay Mathews’ book about him was titled Escalante: The Best Teacher in America, and many agreed with Mathews.

You can read Escalante’s obituary in the LA Times, and a particularly moving tribute by Michelle Malkin on her website.

“I teach with my heart and my soul and not with my mouth alone.” –Jaime Escalante, 1930-2010

AFT President Randi Weingarten was a guest panelist on Bill Maher’s HBO show last night. And it was shameful.

Weingarten yucked it up with musician Rob Thomas and a Washington Post columnist as Bill Maher did his usual shtick. With crude language and vile analogies, Maher ridiculed Christians in general, and Catholics in particular, as well as those on the political right. Weingarten laughed. He used “incendiary” language to explain what should be done to the Republicans opposed to healthcare and other initiatives from the left. Quoting voicemail Tiger Woods left for his girlfriends, Maher dropped f-bombs again and again, referred to Republicans as “bitches” that deserved to be slapped. Weingarten laughed some more as she back-slapped her fellow panelists.

No self-respecting teacher seeking to be a model for his or her students would have participated in such a public display of hostility and vulgarity. Yet there was the leader of the second largest teachers union in the country, all smiles.

When asked by Maher, Weingarten expressed support for the California initiate that would legalize marijuana, and not just for medicinal purposes. Maher seemed surprised, and then to the camera called the initiative teacher endorsed.

Weingarten seemed to be enjoying the celebrity of it all. But we teachers, who pay her salary, should be horrified as she further denigrates our struggling profession. What a disgrace.

Note: Newsbusters has some of the text from Bill Maher’s monologue. Its language is graphic, so I prefer not to quote it here directly.

The Illinois state senate has passed a school voucher bill for Chicago students. The legislation was sponsored by Chicago Democrat James Meeks. The bill will not move to the House for consideration. As one can imagine, the teachers unions oppose the bill.

We should be thankful that money has been secured to restore most of the athletic programs previously cut in Cranston. According to the ProJo blog, the New England Laborers’/Cranston Public Schools Construction Career Academy has “agreed to contribute $88,241″ to save the programs. “The money is being drawn from the charter school’s surplus fund.”

Good. But I’m left wondering how Cranston can be in such financial turmoil that it cannot fund sports programs, while this public charter has a significant surplus. Is Cranston providing too much money, are private donations a factor, or is money just being better managed?

Regardless, the charter school leaders put the kids of Cranston first, and that’s the right thing.

There are those teachers who will let their anger get the best of them. The Central Falls teacher who hanged a doll of President Obama in his classroom is one such example.

Our classrooms should be places of respect for our leaders, our country, and its citizens. Many will view this incident as one of disregard for the president. Hanging a doll of the first black president might even lead to accusations of racism. Both would be legitimate.

But as a fellow teacher, it is the attempt to influence students’ thinking that I find so disturbing. We were told by Central Falls union leaders that students had expressed, without influence, support for the teachers. These students were speaking out because their own experiences compelled them to do so.

And then this teacher reveals that the truth might be something different.

The Obama doll was, according to reports, holding a sign in support of the administration’s decision to fire the teachers. This teacher was making sure students knew what opinions were welcomed in his class. Students who support school reform at CFHS must already feel uncomfortable sharing their opinions; this teacher added intimidation to the mix.

It’s worth asking if students are being coerced, if they are being used as part of the union media campaign. Most teachers wouldn’t do so. But it’s hard to believe that CNN knew this was happening inside Central Falls high, and the other teachers and administrators did not.

Dr. Gallo has further evidence in support of her school reform plan.

Bill Felkner of the Ocean State Policy Research Institute got it right with his Sunday Journal commentary. He is wary of bureaucrats, armed with good ideas, seizing power from local schools and districts. Commissioner Deborah Gist is making positive changes, but in doing so is solidifying greater authority at the state level. Felkner argues on behalf of parents.

Ultimately, the balance of power must be shifted from government to the parents. This is the free-market approach to education reform: Instead of changes being centrally dictated by a mayor, superintendent or education commissioner, they are driven by the cumulative choices of individual parents. This ensures that purchasing power is in the hands of those with the most vested interest.

The new school-funding formula Gist proposes is the perfect opportunity to greatly expand choices for parents. A per-pupil formula would let the money be tagged to individual students, following them to any geographically reasonable public school, mayoral academy, charter school or even a private school.

The proposed funding formula does, in fact, attach money to students. Why not allow parents choice in determining where that money will be spent?

The legislature approved today a measure to increase the number of charter schools allowed in the state. And if success at the BV Mayoral Academy continues, expect to see more of these schools in the near future. These are real choices for parents.

As I have argued again and again, decision-making power should be ensured and maintained at the local level, within the school communities that know their students strengths and needs. Centralizing power, whether with the unions or bureaucrats, has the same effect; it hinders our attempts to provide kids with the very best education, the education they deserve.

There are those who understand what is happening in Central Falls, and those who do not. The Providence Journal provides us with two columns of evidence in today’s edition.

As can be predicted, Bob Kerr’s column attempts to show that teachers are not to blame. He cites two students who graduated from CF High, and went off to college. These two young adults feel good about the education they received in CF, and look negatively upon Dr. Gallo, the superintendent who fired the teachers. Writes Kerr:

[CF graduate Justyna] Szulc says she is completely appalled by the firing of all the teachers at the high school by Supt. Frances Gallo. Szulc can’t understand how a woman who has been on the job only a few years can undo the work of people who have spent their careers there.

And the other student was quoted as saying, “It’s just a mess and for no reason.”

The teachers at CF High should be proud of these two young ladies. They undoubtedly played a part in their success. But Kerr didn’t take the time to meet with any of the students who dropped out, as more than half do each year. He didn’t speak to any of the more than half that are failing all their classes. He didn’t talk to them about their teachers, or their success after CF High. In reality, it’s been a mess for a long time.

Dr. Gallo is surely proud of these students. She just wants and expects more successful graduates from her school. Who can blame her.

But the situation in Central Falls is not about blame. The school is failing too many students, and the reasons are probably endless. We cannot continue with such failure, and therefore the players must change. Those satisfied with the status quo need to be thanked for their service, and then asked to move on.

Of course the teachers want to keep their jobs. They should only be allowed to do so, however, if they are willing to join in their school’s reform. Their expectations for students–all their students–must also increase.

Because despite the union garbage, the events in Central Falls are not about teachers. They are, obviously, about students. Julia Steiny understands this, as evidenced by her column this morning.

Inevitably, fingers will point accusingly at labor, at management, and most unkindly, at the kids and their families. But the time for blame is past. Kids’ lives are being ruined. The feds are right: 5,000 horrible schools should be closed, reconstituted, redesigned or handed over to a charter-management company.

It’s not about blame. The teachers are not being fired because they are blamed for the school’s failure. The teachers are being fired because they demonstrated, through their union leaders, that reform had to be negotiated. The teachers were thinking about themselves, and how reform would impact their lives. But schools are about kids. Steiny says it perfectly.

But it is time for the adults to come second. The kids must be first. However rude, ill-parented, or academically limited, all kids stuck in bad schools deserve better. And we the public need schools to teach those very kids to be much more successful so they stay off the welfare roles, out of prison and take good care of themselves.

Kerr celebrates two who succeeded. Steiny wants many more to experience such success. I’m with Steiny. All good teachers should be.

At the Fordham’s Flypaper blog, Andy Smarick is suggesting a far-less mentioned cause for the Superintendent’s firing of every teacher at the high school. Competition.

Many have explained the Central Falls shake-up as a result of the Obama administration’s focus on meaningful interventions for failing schools and/or the state’s desire to show gumption leading up to the Race to the Top competition. But perhaps this new schools push is also relevant. Not only do new entrants provide a bit of competition, more importantly, high-performing new schools show what’s possible, raising the expectations of everyone involved. In other words, meek interventions for failing schools become untenable options.

According to the blog post, there are five charters servicing ten percent of Central Falls’ student population. That number is expected to double in the next couple of years. Parents are already making the case that change is needed at the high school by choosing to send their kids elsewhere.

This is telling. When Superintendent Gallo and the CF union leadership agreed last week to return to the “table”, they didn’t seem to have the same table in mind. According to a Journal article on Tuesday, Dr. Gallo believed teachers were agreeing to rejoin the discussion on how to reform the high school. Union leaders thought they would be sitting at a negotiating table.

There lies the difference, does it not? Dr. Gallo hopes to talk about the school and reform, while the union wants to discuss contracts and money. I thought it was about the kids?

So it looks like the Central Falls crisis may be coming to an end. Certainly the teachers worked over their union leadership; those pink slips were tangible proof that the administration was serious. And Dr. Gallo, who considers herself an advocate for students and teachers, must have been uncomfortable in her role as the teachers’ Grim Reaper. The teachers will have to convince Dr. Gallo and the Board of Trustees that they are willing to implement true reform. Dr. Gallo has indicated the pink slips will not be rescinded until she has assurances from all teachers.

The union leadership is the biggest loser in this standoff. A majority of the public seemed to side with Gallo, and were critical of teachers asking for more even as schools fail and the economy suffers. Now these leaders will return to the table to discuss reform (read: money) without any real job security. If the teachers try hardball tactics again, Dr. Gallo can just walk away, and allow the pink slips to take over. The union will not, however, give up its legal actions against the school district, which may increase animosity between the two sides.

I must admit I’m disappointed. While I felt for the teachers whose jobs were threatened, I so desperately wanted to see a public confrontation that exposed the true union motives and interests. It seemed we were approaching a real crossroads in education, and many teachers I know were debating the merits of both sides. I was surprised at how many, whether in person or in writing, expressed their dissatisfaction with the union position. Perhaps there’s still hope for our profession yet.

Stafford Palmieri at Fordham’s Flypaper blog agrees.

Still, it’s depressing, because here was the top brass all the way down in D.C. standing up for the very tough decision of little district’s supe. And here was the union scrambling to find a way to respond to the situation, when the stats at Central Falls HS basically spoke for themselves. And where was hard-knocking reformer RI State Supe Deborah Gist while all this reconciliation was going on?

And so goes the 24-hour media cycle. Sadly, Central Falls students are definitely no better, and maybe even worse, off today than they were earlier this week.

Education blogger Joanne Jacobs thinks a touch new principal with firing power is what CF High really needs in order to improve.

When a school is as dysfunctional as Central Falls High, it’s not just the teachers. It’s a succession of ineffective principals, faddish and incoherent curricula, poor support from parents and a lot more. A bad school drags down average teachers and drives out the most ambitious. What this school needs is an exceptionally good principal — competent is not good enough — with the authority to replace the least-effective tenured teachers. Central Falls might get a strong leader, but is unlikely to let the new principal fire the teachers who flunk those “rigorous evaluations.”

I agree with Joanne as well. I have long argued that bureaucrats and union leaders, equally, have stripped the principals of any real power to bring change to their schools. Teachers at CF have complained of the high turnover of principals at the high school. It doesn’t take long for principals to realize the hostility towards change, and the lack of any meaningful power to do something about it. Quick leadership turnover reflects badly on teachers and administrators in a school district.

The Central Falls debacle did promote a national discussion, and even the president participated. Although I shouldn’t have been, I was surprised at how much misinformation was out there. Even the respected Jay Mathews messed up, and embarrassingly admitted so. We can only hope that the needs of students someone finds its way to the center of the table as Dr. Gallo and union leaders sit down and continue their discussion about school reform.