Seattle Schools Community Forum

Tacoma School District's Nate Bowling was recently selected as Washington State's Teacher of the Year.  Mr. Bowling teaches at Tacoma's Lincoln High (which is a success story unto itself.)  He teaches AP Government & Politics and AP Human Geography.  He is one of four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year.  That award will be announced in April. 

Teachers working without pay because... education.  From the Christian Science Monitor: The Chester Upland School District (CUSD) has struggled with economic and academic problems for years, but now a budget impasse in the state capital , combined with the explosive growth of public charter schools in the district, have conspired to put it on the brink of insolvency. CUSD officials informed teachers and support staff last Thursday that they wouldn’t be able to make payroll for the start of the school year. That day, the roughly 200 members of the local teachers union  voted unanimously  to work without pay. Secretaries, school bus drivers, janitors, and administrators will also be working without pay.  We all have decided to work without pay,” she continues. She starts to say “until” but then corrects herself. “As long as we can,” she says. “There is no ‘until.’ ” A West Virginia high school teacher - alone and without anyone on the outside of her class knowi...

Two thoughtful articles have come across my computer about race and education. The first is from the blog , The Becoming Radical written by P.L. Thomas, a professor at Furman University.  Professor Thomas' blog subtitle is "A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness and the article that caught my eye is entitled "Are We (Finally) Ready to Face Teacher Education’s Race Problem?"   I find this issue has coming up frequently because of the continuing push from TFA.  Despite all of TFA's claims, they have a largely white teaching corps and, in places like, New Orleans, have pushed out many teachers of color.  The teacher quality and teacher education debates have been absent a fundamental acknowledgement of race in the same way that school quality and education reform have mostly ignored race. While the mainstream press and education reform agenda remain distracted by the whitewashed “achievement gap”—a metric not only identified by but created by standardized...

Whether it's ed reform or just plain old reform, there is praise to be given to anyone who speaks up for public education.  I have respect for even those with whom I disagree because public education matters. (I do have less respect for those in ed reform who do not want to have a dialog unless you agree to agree with them.  That's happened to me on charter schools.  I also have less respect for those who only want to tell one side of the story.  Tell me the WHOLE story and then we can agree to disagree but ed reformers, taking a cue from conservatives will never say, for example, that there are any significant concerns with charters.) The Times had a guest op-ed by Kimberly Lasher Mitchell last week entitled "There's no shame in being an education reformer."   It was better than most ed reform writing and that's to Ms. Mitchell's credit. I waited to write about this because I had submitted an op-ed that challenges some of her statements and was wai...

I did link the latest Gallup poll on what Americans think about public education but it deserves an updated reprint. First, from Gallup itself, the highlights:

Charlie took the time to write a thoughtful thread about governance in our district, which is a real and serious problem. But it's the day after the first day of school and one parent had an important question about her child's teacher.   I certainly can understand the problem because I've seen it myself. I deleted the comment and all the ones that followed it but I'm going to post them here. But this will be the last time that I do this because we have rules about hijacking threads.  It makes it VERY hard for others, who come along later, to find information if threads are not on the topic they are labelled.  You are welcome to e-mail Charlie or me with your issue and request a thread.  Or wait for the Tuesday or Friday Open Thread. Do not hijack a thread unless there is breaking news.  To the issue:  I don't know where else to post this .. So here it goes: My son just started second grade, and when being asked about his first day, said tha...

 Update:   a great column at the Washington Post by UW College of Education professor Ken Zeichner about the issue of the issue of "highly qualified teachers" that references right with this thread. Our federal government supports a practice of putting the least-prepared teachers in the highest-need classrooms — classrooms that are most often filled with children from low-income families, English language learners, students with disabilities and students of color.  There are powerful players in the education reform world who are advocating for the Obama administration and Congress to maintain a federal policy that promotes this practice. Parents and guardians should be accurately informed about the certification status of their children’s teachers so they can question the wisdom of the policy that has supported the disproportionate assignment of the least qualified teachers to our most vulnerable students. You might remember that I had advocated for parents...

At the Times, Lynne Varner continues her string of unintentionally funny editorial pieces .   She starts out right: If we’re going to talk about money, let’s talk about the future of teaching because nearly 80 percent of education spending goes toward salaries. Okay, BUT when 22% of American children (and that's about the same here in Washington State) live in poverty and you ignore that fact, then you are missing a HUGE piece of the puzzle. As well, most of the money may go to salaries but the Legislature is not funding schools enough to provide funds for other needs.  Your biggest and most primary need is always going to be a teacher. She then says: A recent Seattle Times front-page story pointed to a rapprochement between teachers and ed reformers at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Imagine if the two sides had been working together all along. Well, I 'm sure the teachers (and their unions) would have been more than happy to work with Gates b...

Two items of interest from the Times. One is an editorial pushing for the district to fulfill its Special Education obligations to students.  One key paragraph: The School Board must demand a more informed, inclusive tone around special education.  Board discussions about special education services are frequently framed in terms of costs.  But board members must take care not to make special education a scapegoat for broader budget woes. Correct on all points but the district needs a clear assessment of the issue before them before they make any changes/corrections.  What is working, what isn't and how do principals/teachers feel?  I introduced myself to the new executive director of special education, Zakiyyah McWilliams, at the Board retreat, and she could not have been warmer.  I think an ability to make people feel welcome to come to her is a big step. But if the State does not even get close to meeting McCleary AND now OSPI is threatening to...

The Times has two editorials from this weekend that leave a lot to be desired. One is about forced teacher placement at schools.  We get a story trotted out about what, yes, sounds like a terrible teacher.  The parents in one classroom at West Woodland kept their kids home for some number of days in 2011 because of her.  But what the editorial lacks is what happened from there.  What did the district do?  Did the principal really, in the face of what sounds like constant complaints, really sit back and do nothing?  That's on the principal who does have the power to exit a poor-performing teacher. The writer, Jonathan Martin, then pushes Senate Bill 5242 that the Senate Republican ed reformers (and our not-a Dem Senator Rodney Tom).  This bill would give principals the sole discretion over who gets into their building, no matter the teacher's background/skills.  That means HR could think a teacher could be a good fit but the principal could sa...

I know, we should appreciate them every day, but everyone likes a pat on the back (or hug). For inspiration, here's a link to a speech by the National Teacher of the Year, Jeff Charbonneau of Zillah High School.  He's a great guy.

There can be no doubt that Bill Gates is a smart guy.  What I have a tough time with is that because he is smart AND has lots of money that somehow that makes him an expert on anything he decides is important. Mr. Gates, like Eli Broad and the Waltons, have created a playbook (probably via our friends at ALEC) for ed reform. Just to be fair, I'm sure it is as frustrating to them as it is to all American citizens at the stubbornness of the opportunity gap, the numbers of students who drop out, the need for new skills/rigor in our classrooms and the need for the best-trained, best quality teachers. But here's the playbook they created (this via the Edushyster blog ).  1. Bad News Bears.   The news is bad folks. In fact it’s worse than bad. It’s *terrible.* You thought you knew just how badly our union-stifled public schools were doing? Take what you thought you knew and ratchet up (or is that down?) the failure by a factor of 9—no, make that 10. While there may...

From The Stranger Slog (with the headline "Rodney Tom Hates Teachers"): With zero notice Sunday, just one day before it was heard by the Ways & Means Committee, millionaire state Senate Majority "Leader" Rodney Tom (R-Medina) filed a bill that would eliminate defined pension benefits for most state and public school employees , replacing them with a risky 401-K-style savings plan that would subject future retirees to the whims of the market. SB 5856 , of which Tom is the sole sponsor, would apply to all future public employees and all current public employees under the age of 45. That means if you chose a career as a school teacher twenty years ago, trading the opportunity to strike it rich in the private sector for the promise of a secure retirement, you are totally fucked . Of course, a lot of states have catastrophically underfunded their public employee pension plans. But not Washington . No, Washington has the second strongest funded pension sy...

By the numbers:   In an interview on the Huffington Post in December 2012, TFA founder and CEO Wendy Kopp said the following: "On average, our corps members stay in the classroom for eight years." Anthony Cody of the Living in Dialogue blog at Ed Week asked for substantiation of this claim because the generally previously accepted number was more that only 10-15% of TFAers stay past their third year. Others doing the math f ound that one study found that about 40% of TFAers leave after two years and another 25% after four years.  So if Kopp's claim is true, then 40% would have to be there for 14 years and another 25% for 12 years.  That's the only way you get an "average" of eight years. So Cody asked a TFA spokesperson who said:   "stat is a best estimate"  "data involved is national and based on our alumni survey"  Kopp finally answered saying her comment "created confusion. We can't definitively say what the ave...

You may well have heard or seen Michelle Rhee on tv in the last week.  She has a new book, Radical, that's she pushing.   I have read a few excerpts and they don't fail to startle.  As I had previously mentioned, the PBS series, Frontline , had Ms. Rhee as a focus of one show.  It was quite the show as this was during the time period when she was DC Chancellor of schools.  The reporter did a brilliant job of just letting her talk and allowing her actions and her words to speak for themselves. Highlights from the Frontline show:

I knew it. I met the Washington State teacher of the year, Jeff Charbonneau, last week.  He was so impressive and I told him I wouldn't be surprised if he were one of the four national finalists.  And it was announced today that he is a finalist.   The National Teacher of the Year will be announced in April. Jeff teaches physics, chemistry and engineering at Zillah High School in Zillah, Washington (outside of Yakima).   They have 400 students.  After years of perseverance,  he was able to offer college-level classes.  In his classroom alone, students can earn 24 college credits.  What makes Zillah outstanding?  Despite a high minority population (Latino), the school graduates 96% of their seniors.

From Ed Week : Student feedback, test-score growth calculations, and observations of practice appear to pick up different but complementary information that, combined, can provide a balanced and accurate picture of teacher performance, according to research released today by the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation.   The $45 million study, in progress since 2009, is one of the largest and most extensive research projects ever undertaken on the question of how to identify and measure high-quality teaching. It involved some 3,000 teachers in six districts: Charlotte-Mecklenberg, N.C.; Dallas; Denver; Hillsboro County, Fla.; Memphis, Tenn.; and New York City.  To the amazement of all:   Basing more than half a teacher’s evaluation on test-score-based measures of student achievement seemed to compromise it, the researchers also found.  Another piece suggests that teachers should be observed by more than one person to ensure that observations are reliable. ...

If you consider Washington State one of those (as the ed reformers in our state like to do), then how is this true? (from SPS Communications and OSPI): For the fourth consecutive year, Washington state has placed second in the country in new National Board Certified teachers.  Numbers released today by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards show that Washington has the second-most new NBCTs (575), behind only North Carolina, and is fourth overall in the total number of NBCTs (6,817).  At Baker Middle School in Tacoma, the entire teaching staff – 35 teachers – participated in the certification process: Twelve completed the process and are now NBCTs and 23 were TakeOne! candidates. According to Jillene Partrick, a social studies teacher at Baker, the team atmosphere helped everyone. “We were able to support one another or at least listen to one another with a greater sense of understanding about what we were all talking about,” she said.  ...

There has been a lot of name-calling and demonizing of teachers over the last few years.  The teachers and those who represent them in the workplace - the teachers' union.  The teachers (and staff) at Sandy Hook saved lives.  Gave their own lives - standing between the shooter and the children - and died for those children.  Young teachers, new teachers - all of them, right down the custodian.   The Stranger Slog has this devastating interview with a first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary from ABC news.  This teacher saved her students' lives and gave them love in what she thought might be their last minutes.   Attached they have a column from the Daily Kos that lays bear all the terrible things said about teachers by elected officials and others.  It is an angry column but worth reading.  Michelle Malkin When they weren't ditching their students, radical teachers steeped in the social justice ethos of National Education A...

 An update to this thread comes from this op-ed by Allison LaFave, a teacher in a charter school in NYC.  She says: Last week, Deborah Kenny wrote an op-ed piece (in the NY Times) decrying the heavy influence of test scores on teacher evaluations. Kenny rightfully claimed that the practice “undermines principals and is demeaning to teachers” and leaves little room for innovative teaching and learning. S he went on to say that test-based evaluations inhibit the “culture of trust" between principals and teachers and “discourage the smartest, most talented people from entering the profession.” While I agree that test-based evaluations are inherently flawed (when was the last time our politicians, Democrats or Republicans, truly analyzed a Pearson test ?), I am baffled by Kenny’s ultimate argument. It seems that Kenny bashes test-based evaluations because ... wait for it ... they make it harder for her to fire teachers she doesn’t like – specifically a teac...