|
ED WATCH: Miscellaneous
Legal Ease: School Law Notes/'There-oughta-be-a-law-itis' Is Infecting Schools
Thomas Hutton, School Board News, July 7, 2007
Citing recent court rulings as examples, Thomas Hutton, the senior staff attorney at the National School Boards Association, draws attention to the increasingly litigious environment in schools and highlights specific commentary from Supreme Court justices, which point out the devastating effects of too much law in education. “The bottom line here is that lawsuits second-guessing educators resulted in a dramatic change in the legal landscape for schools struggling to do what society has asked of them -- and made the job that much harder,” Hutton insists. He believes that schools are suffering due to politics and warns us that, “When the hyper-legalization of public education means local communities end up with less and less voice in their schools on the really important questions, community engagement suffers. That has real implications for public support of schools. And that, in turn, has real implications for children.” article »
Tenure Causes Hurdles At Times
Omar Aquije, Post Star (NY), June 18, 2007
A report from the New York State School Boards Association indicates that state law “remains a major hurdle to school administrators who seek to penalize a tenured teacher and, as a result, school leaders seldom pursue such measures unless the circumstances are extreme.” Despite lawmakers’ effort in 1994 “to expedite the procedure,” Omar Aquije of the Post Star reports that the “process is still onerous.” “According to the report, the process took 520 days on average and cost districts more than $128,000 in 2005… In a state with 226,000 teachers, there have been 580 discipline cases that resulted in a decision from 1995 to 2005.” The School Boards Association also found that “the cost and time discourages school districts from initiating the (discipline) process except in urgent cases.” In the words of Irwin Sussman, superintendent of the Hadley-Luzerne district: "You better not tenure somebody without the idea that it could conceivably be a lifetime position.” article »
Students Hurt at School Can Sue Minneapolis District, State Supreme Court Rules
Shannon Prather, Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN), May 31, 2007
The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that Minneapolis schools can no longer rely upon “a little-known 1969 law that grants schools immunity from liability if they can't buy insurance at a rate of $1.50 per student.” Shannon Prather of the Pioneer Press explains that “[t]he immunity meant parents whose children get hurt on the playground or anywhere else at a Minneapolis public school wouldn't get very far if they sued to recoup medical bills.” The issue before the court was whether the law was still in effect. The case was initiated by the parents of two girls who ran into and injured one another in November 2001 “during a game of ’flashlight tag.’” article »
National School Testing Urged; Gaps Between State, Federal Assessments Fuel Call
Jay Mathews, Washington Post, September 3, 2006
The Washington Post reports that, with many states reporting their students’ proficiency rates at levels “much higher” than the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) – “‘the nation’s report card’” – does, “several influential education experts are calling for a move toward a national testing system.” “‘The more discontented the public is with confusing and dumbed-down standards, the more politically feasible it will be to create national standards of achievement,’" the paper quotes New York University professor and Common Good Education Advisory Board member Diane Ravitch. The paper also relates that the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, which is headed by Common Good Education Advisory Board member Chester E. Finn, Jr., recently released a report detailing several ways to effectuate national standards. “‘There's an assumption around that national standards are political suicide even if they make educational sense,’” Finn states. "‘We need to bust through that.’" Professor Ravitch and Andrew J. Rotherham of the Progressive Policy Institute, and also a member of Common Good’s Education Advisory board, contributed to the Fordham Foundation report. article »
State, in Response to Critics, Adds to List of Unsafe Schools
New York Times, August 23, 2006
The New York Times reports that New York State has added 17 new names to its list of “persistently dangerous” schools. Compiling such a list is one of the yearly requirements of No Child Left Behind. A recent state comptroller’s audit revealed that in previous years, “school officials had significantly underreported cases of violent and disruptive behavior, and that the State Education Department had made things worse by keeping sloppy records.” For example, since 2003 – the first year New York started identifying “persistently dangerous” schools – the list was comprised of only seven schools. The new list “use[s] a broader definition of disruptive cases,” and includes schools that were penalized for students’ possession of weapons – even when the weapons were detected prior to the students entry into the school – and 11 newly added schools that serve special education students. This updated list suggests that previous analyses of schools’ safety may have been incomplete and that there is a need for a more serious look at the causes of and responses to school crime and misbehavior.
Bill Gates, the Nation's Superintendent of Schools
Diane Ravitch, Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2006
Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Diane Ravitch, a professor of education at New York University and member of Common Good’s Education Advisory Board, wonders – in the wake of Warren Buffett’s $31 billion gift to its endowment – what direction the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will now take in terms of reforming the American education system. “Never before has a private foundation had assets of this dimension,” she writes. “Never before has any individual or foundation had so much power to direct the course of American education …. Educators are waiting with bated breath to see which direction this multibillion-dollar behemoth will take.” Ravitch relates the “mixed record” of previous and current foundations’ and philanthropists’ influence on education, including differing reactions to the Gates Foundation’s billion-dollar efforts “to persuade school districts to break up large high schools into small schools of 500 or fewer students.” The Foundation’s ultimate goals in education, she writes, are “to promote higher standards and closer relationships between students and teachers.” The piece concludes with: “With the ability to hand out more than $1 billion or more every year to U.S. educators without any external review, the Gates Foundation looms larger in the eyes of school leaders than even the U.S. Department of Education, which, by comparison, has only about $20 million in truly discretionary funds.…Bill Gates is now the nation's superintendent of schools. He can support whatever he wants, based on any theory or philosophy that appeals to him. We must all watch for signs and portents to decipher what lies in store for American education.” article »
Shools Seek Teachers from “Real World”
Karen Rouse, Denver Post, May 11, 2006
Colorado’s Douglas County School District has asked the state for permission to institute a new licensing program to allow more nontraditional teachers with “real-world experience” into the classroom. The proposed program would give a five-year “‘technical professional license’ to workers in hard-to-fill teaching positions” and create “a ‘teacher-in-residence’ program,” which would allow these teachers to renew their licenses through a teacher academy. Members of the State Board of Education have “praised the proposal as an innovative way of bringing public and private entities together to benefit students” and one member “compared it to ‘blowing a big hole’ in the Berlin Wall.” “’The guardians of bureaucracy and rules and regulations should be threatened in Douglas County,’ he said.” The proposal comes at a time when the district is seeking more nontraditional teachers for its new Castle View High School, an alternative school made up of four academies, including an engineering school, a language school, and an e-media/business school. article »
Who's Picking Up the Educational Tab?
Christine Mahr, Desert Sun, September 2005
Each year, students around the country return to brightly decorated classrooms rich with brand new school supplies and instructional materials. What many do not realize is that the money for these learning tools often comes straight from their teacher's own pocket. Musical instruments, supplemental textbooks, "School House Rock" DVDs, and holiday treats are just a few of the items teachers say they purchased for their classrooms. According to the National Education Association, the average teacher spends $443 out of his or her own pocket every year. Although many schools provide the basics, teachers often feel that it's the little extras that "make the classroom environment more nurturing and enrich the education of their students."
"'No one makes us do it,' said Diana Fry, a third-grade teacher at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School in Indio. 'We do it for the kids.'"
State Needs a Merit Pay Plan for Its Teachers
Editorial, Herald-Dispatch, September 13, 2005
An editorial calls for school administrators to seriously consider the benefits of establishing a merit pay plan for the next generation of school teachers. "Good and excellent teachers deserve more than what they are paid now. Bad teachers must be weeded out of our schools...Now would be a good time to start working on it."
Principals Take Their Pick of Teachers
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 11, 2005
Philadelphia principals have taken advantage of a new provision that allows them more control over their own schools. This season, more than 500 teachers were handpicked to fill vacancies that had previously been assigned in order of seniority. The change was written into the teachers' union contract that was ratified last fall in an effort to promote "more cohesive staffs and happier teachers."
Although a large number of principals opted not to exercise their new right, district officials believe that will change once principals become more familiar with the process.
"'First year, we're pleased that most of the principals took great advantage over their newfound site-selection powers,' said Paul Vallas, district chief executive, 'Some people need to get used to their new authority. I think this number will climb.'"
Related: How to Hire a Public School Teacher
Report Urges Input From the Trenches
John Gehring, Education Week, August 10, 2005
A new report finds that giving teachers and principals a greater role in developing school instructional policies is the best way to ensure their effective implementation.
The study, performed by the Chicago-based Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform, revealed a significant gap "between how central-office administrators envisioned instructional change, and how teachers and school leaders thought about their directives."
The 104-page report also found that the lack of collaboration has left many school principals weighed down by "an array of responsibilities" that often work "at cross-purposes with their roles as instructional leaders." article »
Job Pressures Could Shrink Pool Seeking Schools Post
Scott Stephens, Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 7, 2005
"Long hours. Disgruntled parents. A hostile press. Meddling politicians. Demanding unions. Shrinking budgets. For many educators, the slings and arrows that go with a big-city superintendent's job simply aren't worth it any more. ... Many big-city systems change leaders every three to five years. Last year alone, at least 11 of the nation's largest school districts spent time and money on superintendent searches. ... A 2003 survey of superintendents from the nation's 100 largest school districts by the University of Washington found that 90 percent believed they needed more power to hire and fire employees, adjust the curriculum and retool underperforming schools. 'The consensus of urban school superintendents is that many of their job conditions set them up to fail,' said one of the study's authors, former Milwaukee Superintendent Howard Fuller."
More is Less on Test Scores at City Schools
David Andreatta, New York Post, July 24, 2005
The New York Post reports: "Money can't buy happiness--or good grades for that matter. City school districts that consistently reported top scores on standardized reading and math tests over the past five years spent far less per pupil than districts whose grades were in the cellar, a Post analysis found. At PS 188 in Flushing, Queens, where 96 percent of kids were reading at or above grade level in 2004, the school spent just $9,664 per pupil compared to $14,080 per child at MS 399 in The Bronx, where just 5.6 percent of students were reading at grade level. ... [T]he 10 districts at the bottom of the pack in any given year spent an average of $1,340 more per student--or about 12 percent--than the 10 leading districts."
New Union Leader to Focus on Teacher Retention
Diana Mota Morgan, Maryland Gazette, July 21, 2005
As the new President of the Frederick County (MD) Teachers Association (FCTA), Gary Brennan believes "advocating for competitive wages is important, [but] 'workload is the No. 1 issue [with teachers].' ... [Teachers] need time to complete paperwork, use technology and contact parents--all the things that are expected of them," Brennan said.
After a 10-Year Run, Boston 'Pilot' Schools Sore Point for Union
Caroline Hendrie, Education Week, July 13, 2005
Two years ago, teachers at Boston's Thomas Gardner Elementary School voted to join the city's popular "network of 'pilot schools,'" which have autonomy in the areas of staffing, budgeting, curriculum, and governance. But now, "whether the 300-student school will ever make the switch hangs on the outcome of an increasingly bitter standoff between the Boston school district and the 7,000-member Boston Teachers' Union (BTU)." The "pilot" schools are exempt from union work rules, and BTU President Richard F. Stutman believes this autonomy has led to "abuses." In particular, some schools "require teachers to put in longer days and to devote summer days to planning and training. ... 'It's forced overtime,' [Stutman says]. '[Teachers] cannot stay in the school without working that extra time.'" Stutman also opposes as "unfair" the fact that some schools have decided to give stipends for overtime work, while others do not.
The district argues that "pilot teachers know what they're getting into and have the right to transfer to other schools if they want out. ... [F]orbidding schools to set calendars that depart from the contract would erode the flexibility that has helped make pilot schools a popular option in a district that continues to lose enrollment to charter schools." article »
Summer School Hires Based on Experience Okay
Beth Fertig, WNYC, June 17, 2005
In New York City, an arbiter has ruled that summer school teachers "may be hired based on their experience, not seniority. ... Chancellor Joel Klein said the decision that seniority should not trump qualifications should be true in all cases, including regular teaching positions." article »
Related: How to Fill a Teacher Vacancy in the New York City schools
HISD Has Incentives to Change Merit Pay
Jason Spencer, Houston Chronicle, April 4, 2005
A survey found that only 32% of principals say they have "enough autonomy to 'reward outstanding teachers and staff'"--a problem that has led many experts to call for merit pay. But in Houston, where a merit pay system is in place, most say the incentives are too little and too easy to obtain. "Virtually everyone--from the teachers to the man in charge of the state's largest school district--agrees something is wrong with the merit system that last year deemed 80 percent of the 12,000 eligible Houston teachers worthy of a bonus. Most of them received the maximum payout of $440. All told, the Houston Independent School District spread about $6.5 million among employees in 81 percent of the 288 eligible campuses because their students achieved their goals on standardized tests and other criteria. Teachers say the $440 bonus wasn't what motivated them to put in extra hours and effort helping students learn. 'It's not an incentive,' said Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. 'It's almost a joke.'" The National Center for Teacher Quality "recommends average teacher incentives of $5,000."
How Do the New Teachers Measure Up?
Teresa Mendez, Christian Science Monitor, March 8, 2005
A study concludes that high-aptitude women are driven away from teaching by "'pay compression,' whereby the salary differential between high- and low-aptitude public school teachers has narrowed since the 1960s, so that today 'those with the highest aptitude earn no more than those with the lowest.'" Susan Moore Johnson, director of Harvard's Project on the Next Generation of Teachers, agrees that "new teachers do expect differentiated pay that reflects their value and skills." But today's over-legalized schools do not have the freedom to introduce merit-based pay--or other "creative new strategies" to attract and retain the best teachers. Louis V. Gerstner, chair of the bipartisan Teaching Commission writes, "[T]he teaching profession remains constrained by arcane and arbitrary rules, regulations and pay systems that tie school districts' hands in the hunt for the best and brightest. It is hard to think of another profession that offers virtually no financial rewards for a job well done or other recognition of excellence." article »
Calls for Revamping High Schools Intensify
Lynn Olson, Education Week, January 26, 2005
An in-depth report from Education Week details troubling statistics about high school achievement and looks at the complexities of high school reform. "Just 36 percent of seniors are 'proficient' in reading ... [and] only 17 percent are proficient in mathematics. ... [U]p to 30 percent of high school freshmen never earn a standard diploma." But reformers have been reluctant to address high schools because of their complexity. "[T]he sheer size, departmental structure, mission creep, and other political impediments at the secondary level have made it hard for reformers to gain a toehold." article »
Mr. Mayor, Eva’s Right
Richard Schwartz, New York Daily News, October 28, 2004
Editorialist Richard Schwartz argues that the New York City public schools should give teachers a raise, "but only if bad teachers can be tossed from the system fast and reliably. ... Last year, the system canned fewer than 75 teachers for cause. That's less than one out of 1,000. No human endeavor has a 99.9% success rate. In that same period, 370 teachers were arrested for crimes such as theft, drug possession and sexual abuse." article »
Study of College Readiness Finds No Progress in Decade
Karen W. Arenson, New York Times, October 14, 2004
According to a study by ACT (the creators of the college-entrance exam), "American high school students are no better prepared for college than they were 10 years ago. ... [O]f the 1.2 million students who took [the ACT test] this year, only 22 percent were ready for college-level work in English, mathematics, and science. ... Not surprisingly, the report found that on average, preparation for college differed among racial and ethnic groups. Fewer black, Hispanic and American-Indian students took a minimum set of core courses than non-Hispanic white students or Asian-Americans."
Related: Discipline, the Achievement Gap, and the Law, a thoughtful review of Richard Arum's book, Judging School Discipline; No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning, by Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom
Poll: Parents Back Empowering Principals
Mensah M. Dean, Philadelphia Daily News, September 29, 2004
A poll of Philadelphia parents found that 71% believe "giving principals the power to hire and fire teachers would help reform their children's schools." The city and the teachers' union are clashing over the district's proposal to "give principals the power to pick the teachers who transfer to their schools ... instead of teachers picking assignments based on seniority. Firings are not part of the district's proposal."
Fast Track to Classroom
Arizona Republic, August 17, 2004
Arizona State Superintendent Tom Horne wants to allow qualified "post-graduate students who are in the workforce" to become teachers without navigating lengthy and complex licensing requirements. " Arizona has a serious teacher shortage," this editorial notes. "[T]he average statewide is but 1.2 applicants per job opening. While higher public-school salaries would certainly help attract more candidates, tearing down the impediments to academically qualified teacher-candidates would do at least as much to deepen the pool. ... The theory behind [Horne's] proposal also is quite practical: The candidates for this method of certification are adults who likely cannot afford the luxury of dropping their responsibilities for a year or more to gain traditional certification."
Teachers' Union Irate Over Pact Offer
Susan Snyder, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 2, 2004
The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers is opposing a new contract proposal from the district that would take away teachers' right to "select schools based on their seniority." Principals of new schools and schools deemed failing under the No Child Left Behind law "would gain sole authority over teacher selection. ... At so-called performing schools, vacancies would be filled by a school committee, not based on seniority." The city argues that seniority rights have relegated "the district's most inexperienced teachers" to its "lowest-performing schools."
Truancy Due to Fear Rises
Associated Press, July 30, 2004
A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that "the number of teenagers skipping school for fear of getting hurt increased over the last decade, even though violence in schools actually declined."
Latino Parents Decry Bilingual Programs
Samuel G. Freedman, New York Times, July 14, 2004
In New York City, Latino parents say the bilingual education system has "consigned their children to a linguistic ghetto"--it's "almost impossible" to get a student out of the bilingual track and into mainstream classes. This article notes that "[f]or years, bilingual education coasted along on its perception as a virtual civil right for Hispanics. Maybe such a reputation was deserved 30 years ago, when the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund sued and won a consent decreee requiring that New York City offer bilingual education. But as innovation hardened into an orthodoxy, and as a sort of employment niche grew for bilingual educators and bureaucrats, the idealistic veneer began to wear away."
Drunken Sailors in Our Schools
Frederick Hess, Education Gadfly, April 9, 2004
"American schools are actually well-funded . . . [and] education spending in the U.S. more than tripled between 1960 and 2000." Yet personnel costs are growing even faster than school budgets. Frederick Hess of AEI argues: "It's possible that, even if we spent every penny wisely, creating the schools we desire would end up costing more than we are currently spending. However, until we start wringing out inefficiencies and finding ways to use today's dollars more effectively, there's no way to know. Until we start rethinking how we use education dollars, boosting expenditures is little more than a costly recipe for avoiding hard decisions." article »
Education SOS
Craig R. Barrett, Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2004
Craig Barret, CEO of Intel, argues that the high school diploma may be "nothing more than a broken promise to American graduates who march out into the world with false confidence."
Changing the Culture of Our Public Schools
Associated Press, January 27, 2004
"[T]o really effect a transformation in our schools, ... [w]e need to change the culture," Joel I. Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools, argued in an insightful speech this past January. more »
Back to EdWatch »
| 
