From the Slog - She Speaks!

From Riya Bhattacharjee at the Stranger Slog, a story on the interview with Dr. Goodloe-Johnson on KING 5's Upfront with Robert Mak. (The story has the video.)

He asked about school reports. He asked her if, say, 4th grade math scores were down who should parents hold accountable? Everyone, she says, teachers, principals, herself (if only we could ask how to hold her accountable).

Teach for America was also a topic. From the Slog:

When King 5 reporter Robert Mak asked her if she was willing to fight to bring Teach For America to Seattle, given the hefty opposition from the teachers union, Goodloe-Johnson replied that she was a "little surprised" by the concern. "It's an innovative idea," she said. "It's not an idea to fight about" because TFA candidates will follow the exact same hiring process as any other teacher in the district.

How important is this program to you? It's very important she said and "there's nothing to fight about" because the TFA teachers go through the same Phase III hiring as other teachers." A little bit disingenuous there, eh Dr. G-J?

He asked about teacher evaluation being tied to student performance and said, "but you didn't quite get there." She said she did because student growth is tied to it but didn't fully explain how.

Also from the Slog:

Mak also asked her is she had been "personally disturbed" when the teachers union gave her a no confidence vote. Goodloe-Johnson replied that "there's been a lot of change happening"—referring to the program cuts, school closures, etc.—"that creates stress, so it plays out in many different ways." She said that she was engaging teachers in brown bag lunches to listen to their concerns.

How do you go forward? She said you have to look at the indicators but then rather than saying the vote indicates a lack of confidence and how she might face that, she said that whole thing about change as if that was the sole reason they voted no confidence. She said she really wants to hear their concerns.

I'm with Riya, this one was fun:

My favorite response was this, however. When Mak asked her about her biggest surprise since coming to Seattle, she said: "The lack of systems and innovation in a very innovative city."

I'm supposing she means innovation in SPS. I'd love to see what's happening in Charleston that meets her standard for innovation. And systems? Did she read the state audit? All the staff is doing now is setting up systems because of it.

Comments

An Excellent Teacher said…
Watch MGJ's eyes when she answers the question about the "no confidence" vote. My take, after watching that colloquy carefully, is that she is a) lying, and b) really trying hard to hold back her rage (disdain?). The eyes never lie.

"Brown Bag Lunches!?!" IF she meets with 30 teachers at a time, MGJ will have to choke down 147 bag lunches. That, my friends, is impossible given her schedule. Don't forget the vote was like 98% no confidence. It would be easier for her to replace all the teachers in SPS with TFA neophytes than to eat that many chicken sandwiches.

Oh, and, she hasn't come calling at our school with her brown bag. Our staff doesn't know a thing about brown bag lunches. In fact, we believe she avoids our school. Perhaps we are too successful. Maybe our families represent a class of people whose socioeconomic indicators don't merit attention. We like to speculate about that in the staff room when we are not working through lunch in our classrooms with students (or grading papers or filling out inane personal growth goals for the district).

Don't be surprised, when the TFAers show up at your child's school, that your teachers are sporting those badges with the little red slash through the letters "TFA" followed by the word "SCABS." Or, alternatively, your might just find your teacher's auto bumper festooned with the same message..."No TFA SCABS."

Emotions run high...
Anonymous said…
if this was a wv or pa union, then it would be spray painted on the car.
i remember learning the term scab in second grade during a state wide(?) teacher strike. i had a scab teacher for a week. she looked like a lady to me. (of course i let her know that)
-wish my union had teeth
Eric M said…
Haven't seen her at my school for a brown bag lunch either.

Anyone? Anyone?

As far as innovation, well, remember the MAP test? That it was going to inform instruction and help staff target inventions?
a) There's less money than ever for actual interventions.
b) Teachers have received ZERO training (and it's 1/3 of the way through the school year) on how to read, interpret, and apply MAP test results. So, as far as I can see, from my little perspective, the public is getting almost no help for their kids from this suspect multi-million-dollar investment.

That is indeed, an innovation that many parents and teachers are rightly aghast at, Superintendent.
charlestontoseattle said…
I don't mean to be too snarky, but it is worth noting that a good part of Maria Goodloe-Johnson's innovation in Charleston was falsifying test scores, as reported by the New York Times and Post and Courier:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/education/31charleston.html

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2008/sep/10/school_under_scrutiny53611/

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2008/jun/12/accomplished_principal_leave_charleston_44279/

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/jul/15/test_score_investigation_ended89264/

Not sure that everyone is aware of the history. At the time Maria Goodloe-Johnson was hired, she was considered a superstar superintendent, mostly because she was known nationally for remarkable improvements in test scores in her district of Charleston in South Carolina. After she was hired and a few months after she moved to Seattle, it was discovered that these test score improvements never happened.
Do not incite any kind of violence or untoward actions towards TFA recruits. They are cogs (and young ones at that). How existing teachers choose to relate to them on the job is their call.
old salt said…
Bemoaning lack of innovation?! This from the Queen of pacing guides, scripted lessons and fidelity of implementation?! After stamping out math fact practice sheets in elementary, Algebra 2 in middle schools, Poetry and Biographies in High Schools, She’s gunning for Marine Biology and Biotechnology programs next. She has done more to destroy innovation in SPS than anyone I can think of.
Central Mom said…
Old Salt, she means Business-type innovation. Like command and control processes and systems at JSCEE. She lives in the world of business not academics. And it shows, tellingly, in the examples you cite in the classroom itself.
mirmac1 said…
Central Mom,

With her business (non)sense, flubs, and boo-boos, she wouldn't last a minute at my company.

I'm surprised Riya and Mak still have their jobs. She usually guns after anyone who pisses her off.
mirmac1 said…
Journalists, don't feel bad. The Board isn't treated any better:

I'm only going to say it ONCE!
Joan NE said…
Charlestontoseattle: the stories you cited were about a particular principal cheating, not about MGJ cheating.

Would you send links that show that the test gains in Charleston that were attributed to MGJ's leadership eventually turned out to be non-existent?

Thank you.
ttln said…
This comment has been removed by the author.

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