Who Should Be Funding Schools, Again?

A quote from Ron Paul, of all people:

“You always wonder why your kid comes home from school and they say, ‘Mom, we need to raise money for pencils and computers and pens and paper.’ You wonder…”

As the Legislature grapples with how they will “fund” schools for the next two years, I’m led to wonder about this very idea. It used to be that students raised money to go on band trips or tours of Europe with the French class. Then came athletics, of all things. Being approached by a football player for money was a surprise to me. My hometown has a popular football team, with full stands every night of the “Friday Night Lights” season. Why would such a popular program need more money than the huge amount they must be generating?

Now my own children come home excited about the latest fundraiser for their elementary school. If they sell enough magazines…or candy…or decorative items, they get some plastic toy or something that will get caught in our vacuum cleaner. Parents are put in a tough position, wondering how polite it is to ask friends and family to buy over-priced items to fund schools.

I read conservative policy paper after conservative policy paper. They see this situation as an “opportunity.” A new bill filed in the Texas House would create the Center for Financial Accountability and Productivity in Public Education. This will consist of a grand total of three people, who will have whatever funding is necessary, and they will report which schools (if any) are acting in a fiscally responsible manner. The bill states, “A board member may not be a member of the board of trustees or an employee of a school district.”

It also says, “The center shall represent business, finance, public policy, education, and other interests considered appropriate by the center.”

Really? Then why isn’t an actual teacher (or even a school board member) allowed on this committee? We really need business leaders to tell us how to run districts in a fiscally sound manner?

Here’s a commentary on why schools are not businesses:

 http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/02/15/viewpoint-why-education-is-not-like-business/

Businesses use human capital to produce products and services. Schools use human capital to create…human capital. This comparison has never made sense. The further a state or district heads down the “schools as businesses” model, the worse-off they find themselves.

And you begin to wonder how much worse it can get. Right now, Texas is actually using child labor to fund its schools.

Where Is Their Accountability?

In recent years, major corporations (usually through foundations) toy with public education. They have “great ideas” that they shop to school boards looking to find new revenue to keep their schools afloat. The problem is that nobody seems to hold these foundations accountable. With enough money, you don’t have to actually face scrutiny.

Consider a recent conference held by the Texas High School Project. The THSP gets a fair amount of funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as many philanthropic groups from around the state and the nation. On the first night, they held a moderated panel on funding effectiveness.

 The first panelist was Stephanie Sanford, a national representative of the Gates Foundation. Her presentation was based on the recent Gates Foundation's Measures of Effective Teaching..."study." She gave a short PowerPoint presentation of the survey’s findings. Like several of the slides, the numbers showed things that any reasonable person would dispute. She even began some of her points with phrases like, “You’d think the opposite would be true, but…”  In one example, she showed “proof” that after five years, teachers don’t get any better—or worse. Not at all. The line was completely flat for almost twenty years. Of course, that’s based on test scores, but it doesn’t matter. The idea that a teacher can go 19 years without learning anything is ludicrous.

 It’s deeper than that, though. The National Education Policy Center had Jesse Rothstein read that same document. He is former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor and a former senior economist for the Council of Economic Advisers. He found the Gates report to be based as ridiculous as I found Ms. Sanford’s comments. I’ve never seen such a condemnation of someone’s research. Here is the review’s subtitle:

'Measures of Effective Teaching' report is based on flawed research, unsupported data and predetermined conclusions, review shows

I’ve worked in academic research for over a decade, and I’ve never read or seen such a review. The MET report made the reviewer (and the Center) so disgusted that they called the actual motives of the study into question. Not data analysis. Not an important set of data that was ignored. Not shoddy workmanship.

“Predetermined conclusions.”

Here is one screaming example:

The MET report's data suggest that teachers whose students have low math scores rank among the best at teaching "deeper" concepts. Yet the MET report draws the conclusion that teachers whose students score highly on standardized math tests "tend to promote deeper conceptual understanding as well.”

 This review was never brought up after she presented, and I didn’t get to ask any question on it. The other two members of the panel were Representative Rob Eissler (the chair of the Texas House of Representatives Public Education Committee) and Jesús Chávez, the superintendent of Round Rock ISD. They engaged in a heated discussion, and most questions were directed at the two of them.

Nobody held Ms. Sanford accountable, and nobody holds the Gates Foundation accountable. With 50 million public school children’s education on the line, somebody should.

"I touch the future. I teach."--Christa McAuliffe

I may be dating myself here, but I think the matter merits my admission. Just keep in mind that I was a college freshman at the time.

I’d just gotten back from one of the more annoying college classes I have taken in three degrees’ worth of work. When I got to the dorm room my roommate, Bill, said, “You gotta see this.” He was notorious for skipping class, but this time it made sense.

The Challenger space shuttle had exploded 37 seconds after it had launched. Seven astronauts were killed almost instantly. The 25^th anniversary of that disaster will be tomorrow, January 28.

 Among those killed was the woman who was to be the first teacher in space: Christa McAuliffe. After a long, intense competition she had been chosen to represent the education world’s ties with NASA. She was also an NEA member.

Here’s something you may not have known: even on the day before the launch, Ms. McAuliffe sat in the crew quarters writing college recommendations for her students. She was first and foremost a teacher, even the day before she made history. She must have been terrified of the task at hand. It still didn’t stop her from thinking of her students.

Dennis Van Roekel, the president of the National Education Association and a former high school math teacher, also believes that Ms. McAuliffe played a significant role in opening doors in math and science education for women.

When you think of the time, that’s when we really started real efforts to knock down stereotypes that math and science were for boys and not girls. She was held up as someone who could elevate the profession, which she did so well.

Barbara Morgan, the Boise, Idaho, teacher who had been selected as Ms. McAuliffe’s backup and also trained with the Challenger astronauts, became the first Teacher in Space in 2007. Like McAuliffe, she was an NEA member. You can read about her in the cover story of our Spring 2007 Advocate. She put it this way:

Christa served as a great reminder to everybody that the key to education is good teachers, and that we had and have good teachers all over this country.

Dan Barstow, the president of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, also gave a quote to mark the anniversary.

 There’s a generation of teachers who were around and teaching at the time of the Challenger accident. For us, clearly, she was such an exceptional teacher, such an inspiring astronaut and educator. We still remember her and feel that. It was such a deep-searing moment in the nation’s soul, and we have an obligation to carry on that mission, that legacy, to inspire kids.

A day to remember in education. Touch the future today. Teach.

 

Out with the Old, In with the...Old

One of my responsibilities in this position is to cover the State Board of Education. I monitor the full board, as well as the Committee on Instruction.

When I arrived at the January meeting, the chatter in the room seemed quite happy. New board members were sworn in, and it looked as though the board would take a more sensible approach to things.

This was a conundrum for me. I watch a lot of meetings. Many of the meetings…lack anything interesting. We cover them to make sure nothing bad happens under our watch.

So I did kind of enjoy, in a guilty way, the circus that was the State Board of Education. On the good side, meetings would take less time. The chairs we sit in are uncomfortable, and this new approach would give me more time to do other things. Like blog.

That didn’t happen, though.

Usually, the board takes up the Board Operating Procedures and approves them pretty quickly. This time, though, new members had things they wanted changed. They threw many amendments out to the board, and almost all amendments were rejected. The two that did pass were (1) they would not allow signs in the gallery; and (2) seating would be determined by seniority, not district number.

It was funny watching them stumble around the inner circle. The whole scene looked like a cross between musical chairs and a white elephant gift exchange.

Then came the Committee on Instruction. One of the new members wanted a better definition of "expert." The board uses experts to review new TEKS. During the Social Studies debacle, the board appointed a minister and a former vice-chair of the Republican Party as "experts." The committee voted 3-2 to send a watered-down version of the term to the full board on the last day.

That led to another heated debate, which led to another heated debate, which led to another.

The good news is that this board remains interesting.

The bad news is that my neck is going to hurt a lot from sitting in those chairs again.

Let There Be Peace...

"The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they're going to be when you kill them." -- William Clayton

When I was a college professor, I returned to my parents’ home one Christmas to find this quote in the center of the Aberdeen, South Dakota headlines. It was on a button that a girl at Aberdeen Central High School had pinned to her backpack. It was the early 2000’s, and people were very sensitive about terrorism. Plus, not much happens up there. This was a pretty racy topic.

She was a high school junior, and she received a one-week suspension from school for simply having the button. Nobody told her to put it away or get rid of it. Suspension. A full week. Immediately.

When I returned to campus the next semester, my students and I talked about the situation in class. I couldn’t find a college education major who thought this punishment fit the infraction. It felt good to have my thinking validated.

Fast forward about eight years. Health care reform legislation is up in Congress, and the Tea Party are called to a Code Red Rally on the Washington Mall to fight the reform. The signage included this one:



Saturday brought news of a young man shooting Congressman Gabrielle Giffords in the head with an automatic weapon.

Sarah Palin, the de facto leader of the Tea Party movement, had Congressman Giffords in her sites last November with this poster.

  

When Congressman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head on Saturday, I remembered these two signs. I also remembered that high school junior. How would a principal, parent, or board member take it if a teacher stood in front of a class and said something to the effect that if a Brown can’t do it, a Browning can? Was that button in South Dakota really a terrorist threat?

The pendulum swings back and forth in public discourse. Time for it to come back to the middle.

 

Something to Consider During the Holiday

TSTA is off the next couple of weeks. I'm posting twice today. The post below is standard format. Can't give Michelle Rhee the holiday off, not after this new attack.

 This post is going to be less standard. You see, when we consider the future, it's possible we have no idea what's coming. Others are starting to plan it, though.

If you had told someone about the Internet in the early 1980's, this would have been a ridiculous idea to them. Or consider those black things we used to spin to hear music. Tell someone in the 1970's about the last 25 years or so. "Digital music? What's that?" Then "Music without cd's?" Then "Pay by the SONG?" Then "What do you mean, there are no moving parts in this player?" How about this last question: "You mean the player is in this portable phone thing?"

In the 2004 election, there was no Facebook to speak of. Twitter didn't exist. In the 2008 election, these were primary means of communication. Technology is changing history...and the way we are making it.

There is a site you might want to hit over the break. It's called 2020 Shaping Ideas. It comes from Ericsson, the telecom/cell phone company in Sweden. They chose 20 leaders, visionaries, to speak about the future in health care, global poverty, education, and other issues. You may need a sleep aid after watching the videos. You need to watch them, though.

Two of the videos should be especially interesting to you. The first is significant because it deals straight-up with education. The man's name is J.P. Rangaswami. Watch it, and you will get perhaps your best-ever idea for a student assignment.

The second is both absolutely thrilling and absolutely terrifying. The key questions are these: What if electronic communication wasn't limited to information? What if it was possible to send more than copies over a fax machine or pictures through an email attachment? What if you could send things, physical objects, through electronic means?

They're already starting that one. To see the very beginnings of the brave, new, terrifying world, watch Adrian Bowyer's post on his RepRap machine. Anybody need a coat hook? Children's shoes? Another RepRap machine?

And that's just the first phase. I can't imagine what is coming next. But I probably need to start trying.

Ariana Huffington agrees with me in her video--you don't know what's coming in 10 years.

Still, we need to brace for it, and hopefully embrace it.

Here you go. Have a safe, happy, restful, and rejuvenating break!

http://www.ericsson.com/campaign/20about2020/

Teachers Last ≠ Kids First

Leave it to Michelle Rhee to find yet another way to mistreat teachers. Publicly. She got sacked in Washington, DC because she mistreated people. What do you do? You start a think-tank-advocacy-group-focus-on-education-make-me-money foundation. And pretend it's not about you. They've got a new video out. It's three minutes long, and it has real, live teachers slamming other teachers. Sometimes I wonder if people realize what they are saying. Here are a couple of examples of "educators" who love the Rhee philosophy:

Allison, a 10th grade math teacher, put it this way:

We're raising our next generation. We're raising our next doctors. We're raising our next lawyers. We're raising our next politicians.

Are we raising the next generation of teachers? Who cares? Right, Allison?         

I have a better one:

When we have to contract out how many hours a teacher spends, how many hours they get paid for after school if they stay after school, how many hours they're required to be on school premises, that's not putting kids first.

                                                                                --Barbara, Learning Specialist

Seriously? Teachers don't put kids first if they want to be treated as, well, HUMAN? My good friend Barbara here thinks that teachers must spend whatever she decides is necessary.

That's the difference between TSTA and Michelle Rhee. See, I'm a Teaching and Learning Specialist. As her title implies, she flat out doesn't care about teachers. She doesn't care whether teachers get paid to work or not.

Therein lies my key belief on the teacher shortage. Teachers are often treated this way in Texas. If an elementary teacher has to report at 7:15 a.m. each day and stay until 6:30 p.m., they should do that. After all, that's putting kids first (never mind if the teacher has kids at home). This lack of respect, this lack of commitment, this lack of caring, puts teachers last.

And that's not putting kids first.