Union Bashing in Favor of an Improbable Solution

This from WFPL:

While Rallying for Charter Schools,

Supporters Ask Unions to Stand Aside

Advocates for charter schools in Kentucky took their cause to Frankfort today.

A handful of organizations support charter schools. One of the most vocal has been the Black Alliance for Educational Opportunities or BAEO. Its national president, Kenneth Campbell, helped lead the rally for charter schools at the Capitol. And he told the crowd Kentucky’s education system doesn’t serve all students equally.

“You know children and families in Kentucky are in crisis, as they are in a lot of places across this country,” Campbell said. “And the one tool we have for turning this whole thing around is education. And it doesn’t work for too many of our children. So what we want is for the political leaders of Kentucky to take a stand on behalf of children.

Many lawmakers were on hand for the rally, which came after a march around the Capitol. Former Louisville mayoral candidate Hal Heiner—who chairs a group running ads in support of charter schools—spoke to a crowded Rotunda audience. So did state Rep. Brad Montell, who has repeatedly filed legislation to legalize charter schools.

Supporters of the legislation are telling opponents—largely teachers’ unions—to get out the way.

“Again I think the only thing that holds it up are people who are supporting institutions more than children and families,” said Campbell. “People who are supporting adult issues and their organized interest versus the interests of children. At the end of the day nobody can look at our performance and say that what we have right now is working for all kids. And if it’s not then we need to talk about being bold and taking action.”

House Speaker Greg Stumbo has signaled an openness to charter school legislation this session. And House Education Chairman Carl Rollins says he may allow a bill to be voted on in his committee.

But opponents of charter schools say education improvement isn’t a certainty with charters. They point to mismanagement of charter schools in other states, lackluster improvement and the draining of funds from other public schools as reasons not to support charters.

Are High Schools Preparing College-Ready Students?

There is a lot of interest in college-readiness these days from education policy types. They argue persuasively of the need for a substantial percentage of Americans to hold advanced degrees - if we are to maintain our economic position in the world.

Are high schools preparing college-ready students?

Each semester I ask my 150 students (college sophomores and juniors mostly; 21+ ACTs, so we're talking top third of high school grads) to briefly reflect on their own high school experiences writing on the topic - "Ready (or not) for College: How my high school (and I) prepared me for college."

As one might imagine, their opinions are very mixed. Assessing their own contribution to their education along side those of their high schools, my students report stories of great teaching and great apathy from the various faculties in the state. They are industrious. They are slackers. About half of them got a rude awakening on campus.

Many brag about their high schools and remember their toughest teachers as the ones who readied them. Others tell stories of how high school is one great big negotiation with teachers. No assignment is late, no grade is final, until the teacher surrenders and "gives" the student the grade they want. After basketball and football, it may well be the most popular sport in school. One gets the distinct impression that during high school, such rubber-spined enablers are among the students' favorites. Later on, they are derided for their permissiveness.

This is also a pretty good illustration of why student opinion of teaching should only be given a small part in any teacher evaluation. Focusing too much on student opinion is inappropriate as a goal since it will ultimately lower the standards of teachers who are trying to earn points with their students. "Ya need more time for that month-old assignment? No problem."

Here's one student's reflection on her highly-regarded high school.

This from Sarah (with permission):

My high school did not prepare me for college. Yes, it had state of the art equipment and had much money put into its development, but that does not mean that it will educate it students.

Many of the teacher’s were not concerned about the education of the students. Every subject and lesson was taught based on what was on the test. After the test, there was no real teaching.

I do remember having a few really good teachers who were very interactive and truly valued the learning process. Though these particular teachers were tough in their testing and grading, they actually taught me something of value.

Teaching to the test does not always have to be a bad thing. However, it does nothing good for students if you merely put things into their brain, like you throw trash into a garbage can, so it is there for them to dig through if they need to. Then, the test comes around, just like a trash truck, and takes all of that knowledge from you because, in a students mind, they will never need it again. And so, the information for the test has been taken away from the student forever.

This is how my high school worked. And, for the most part, everyone was okay with this method. I learned nothing from this system because my parents raised me to be critical thinker. When I was told something in school, I not only remembered it, but I thought about what it meant and made connections to other things I had learned.

I did most of my own preparation for college. I took ACT preparation classes and bought many ACT preparation books to get the best information on how to prepare. If there were any content, such as pre-calculus, that I did not understand, I would go and seek out the answers. There was not someone standing beside me telling me all of the right answers; I had to seek them for myself.

While in my senior year of high school, I decided to actually attend college classes instead of taking all of my classes at my school. I learned more in two semesters than I had throughout all of high school. The coursework was rigorous and complicated, but I set a goal and worked extremely hard to excel in everything that I did.

While most people were hanging out with their friends and going out to different places, I did all of my homework, studied, and spent time with my friends if there was time left over. Taking a full college course load while in high school is not easy, but it is manageable.

In the end, though my high school did not appear to prepare me well for college, I am glad that I had my high school experience there. If I had gone to another high school, I may not have learned the necessity of critical thinking or the difference between a good teacher and a not-as-good teacher. I also would have never known how much more difficult college really is.

Though I may have prepared myself better for college on my own, high school prepared me for the real world where you must seek out the knowledge and answers you truly want on your own.

State now bearing cost of poor tax policy

This from the Herald-Leader:

With interest rates at historic lows, this is an opportune time for universities to tackle a backlog of maintenance and building needs.

Except Kentucky cannot afford to issue bonds to protect taxpayers' investments in the state's campuses. Kentucky cannot afford to take advantage of any opportunities and is barely carrying out some of its basic obligations to protect the public.

Gov. Steve Beshear described the budget that he proposed last week as "inadequate," which is an understatement. Instead of investing for the future, Kentucky will be making more cuts.

As the economy picks up, it hurts to think about how much better positioned the state would be to capitalize on the upturn if a succession of governors and legislatures had not ducked tax reform.

Twenty years ago, the late Gov. Wallace Wilkinson called for broadening the tax base by taxing services. Numerous studies have highlighted exemptions and loopholes that should be closed. It still hasn't happened.

At the beginning of his second and last term, Beshear is launching a tax reform effort that could have proposals ready for a special legislative session late this year.

If this budget doesn't sell Kentuckians on tax reform, nothing will...

Teen moms clueless about how they got pregnant

This from TeenTribune:

A new government study suggests a lot of teenage girls are clueless about their chances of getting pregnant.

In a survey of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies, about a third who didn't use birth control said the reason was they didn't believe they could pregnant.

Why they thought that isn't clear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey didn't ask teens to explain.

But other researchers have talked to teen moms who believed they couldn't get pregnant the first time they had sex, didn't think they could get pregnant at that time of the month or thought they were sterile.

"This report underscores how much misperception, ambivalence and magical thinking put teens at risk for unintended pregnancy," said Bill Albert, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Other studies have asked teens about their contraception use and beliefs about pregnancy. But the CDC report released Thursday is the first to focus on teens who didn't want to get pregnant but did.

The researchers interviewed nearly 5,000 teenage girls in 19 states who gave birth after unplanned pregnancies in 2004 through 2008. The survey was done through mailed questionnaires with telephone follow-up.

About half of the girls in the survey said they were not using any birth control when they got pregnant. That's higher than surveys of teens in general, which have found that fewer than 20 percent said they didn't use contraception the last time they had sex...

Is It Fair to Use Erasure Analysis to Expose Erasure Parties ?

One former Atlanta Area Superintendent doesn't think so 

Former Superintendent Wilson: "I have a decision to make 

based on how we finish this conversation 

and where I go from here. 

And remember, I'm the old guy. 

I have nothing to lose. 

I really want to be part of helping make this good.

But I can go wherever I need to go."

State Investigator Mathers: "What do you mean by that?"

Wilson: "I'm not going to give you any threats. 

But let me tell you, I can get there."

One can only be thankful that he didn't threaten her or use "Gestapo tactics."

This from WTSB-TV Atlanta:
James Wilson, a well-known former superintendent in Greater Atlanta's Cobb and Fulton County school systems, was caught on tape bullying and threatening a state education official during that state's investigation of wide-spread cheating on state exams.

The issue was Georgia's use of "erasure analysis" to spot cheaters (many of whom later admitted to attending "erasure parties"). It was erasure analysis that revealed test administration anomolies suggestive of misconduct in Atlanta and Dougherty County schools. Wilson had been hired to defend the county schools and was caught on tape threatening the career of the governor's lead official looking into the scandal. He suggested she would "pay dearly" if she couldn't make things right. The message sounded a lot like back off, or else.

This from Dan Rather:

In just 30 years, Finland transformed its school system from one that was mediocre and inequitable, to one that consistently produces some of the world's best students, while virtually eliminating an achievement gap. And they do it without standardized testing.. Dan Rather Reports.

C-J Editorial: Charter school mirage

This from the Courier-Journal:

Like an unwelcome relative at family gatherings, the push for charter schools has returned to Kentucky.

Politically, it needs to be taken seriously. Charter schools have had support in the past in the state Senate, and Senate President David Williams supported them during his unsuccessful Republican campaign for governor last year. Previous bids to authorize charter schools have died in the House, but there are some high-stakes issues confronting the General Assembly — expanded gambling, tax reform, a bid to create a state university in Pikeville, painful budget cuts — that could prompt game-changing bargains. Gov. Steve Beshear, who has seemed open to charter schools, can’t be counted on as a last line of defense.

But charter schools should not be approached as a political matter — or even as a financial one. (Some education officials and advocates argue that Kentucky must create charter schools in order to win Race to the Top federal dollars, but that actually is not a requirement.)

Charter schools are offered as an educational remedy. They are chartered by states, receive public money (and often funds from private foundations) and are technically public schools that cannot charge tuition and must offer open enrollment on a space available basis. But they are largely organized outside the daily operational control of state and local officials. In return, they agree to be held accountable for meeting results specified in the charter.

That has sounded good to some parents in other states, but the single most important consideration is that charter schools overall do not do as well as traditional public schools — even though charter schools generally can boot out children who don’t perform well.

A national assessment of charter schools in 2009 by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University found that only 17 percent of charter schools reported academic gains that were notably superior to those of traditional public schools, 37 percent showed gains that were worse, and 46 percent of charter schools showed no significant difference.

Moreover, they are simply not needed in Kentucky. Like charter schools, site-based management councils, under the KERA education reform, can make decisions for each school that supersede a school board’s authority. For all the hand-wringing, public schools in Jefferson County and statewide have been making significant progress in national rankings without charter schools.

And, at a time of cutbacks, this is no time to divert money from public schools.

Nationally, the charter school movement often has an anti-union ideological component. But in Kentucky, that would be creating a clash with unionized teachers that doesn’t exist now. Jefferson County teachers, to take one example, have agreed to modify significant traditional seniority-based processes on teacher assignments, particularly at persistently low-achieving schools.

Everyone wants to make Kentucky’s schools better. Charter schools are the wrong way to do it.