Blame the teachers- its good politics

The ‘Blame the Teacher’ Movement, and the Public-Sector Union Crisis

Friday June 11 12:51 pm

By Richard Greenwald

Will government workers join the race to the bottom?

I was stopped dead in my tracks and felt a cold chill run down my
spine while reading the current issue of The Atlantic. Its cover story
is “The 14 3/4 Most Powerful Ideas of the Year,” which is a Top 10
list that makes fun of Top 10 lists (hence the 3/4).

Idea number 13 is the one that got me. It was written by The New York
Times’ David Brooks and titled “Teachers are Fair Game.” As Brooks
sees it, it is now open season for intellectually assaulting teachers.
To be honest, Brooks aims mostly for the teachers unions. The result
is yet one more mainstream media outlet joining the echo chamber
claiming that teachers and their organizations are at fault for the
poor state of education in America.

What I call the "blame the teacher" movement is smart politics for
those on the right. It shifts public debate away from funding and
economic equity issues to teachers on the frontline. In some ways it
is like a Fordist speedup without the $5 day. Newly proposed policy
would tie teacher salaries, merit pay, and even tenure to student test
scores. The pressure is up, but, with diminished funding, resources
are down.

Now, improving education is something everyone favors. It’s like
democracy. But how one gets there is the million-dollar question. Can
you improve education by putting increased pressure on teachers to
raise classroom test scores in a time of declining public funding for
education? We are about to see.


In my last Working ITT blog post, I bemoaned how we seem to hate
“career” teachers as a culture. We love the young, idealistic
missionary teachers. And we should: These recent college graduates are
energized, smart and dedicated. But they have a short shelve-life,
lasting a short time in the classroom before they are off to other
careers. One could argue that even this is good, as the experience of
a 2-3 years in a classroom changes them for the better.

Frankly, most teachers, it must be said, last only a short time in the
classroom. The challenges are so great, the emotional costs as well as
the salaries force many to rethink their career choices. Those that
stay in education (I mean in the classroom) do not typically do so
because they’re losers, or can’t find better jobs. They stay with it
because they care and believe they can make a difference despite the
hardships. It is precisely these teachers who have the nation’s eyes
focused on them. I can almost hear the collective buzz in their ears
from all this talk about them.

This public attention on teachers is part of a bigger public shift.
There seems to be a major reset (to use a phrase from geographer
Richard Florida) in the way we see public servants. It used to be that
those that worked in public service were seen as civic. They worked
hard, were valued and seemed to deserve their salaries and benefits.
Up until the 1970s, public-sector salaries lagged far behind
private-sector salaries. So state workers were working for less than
market value.

But as private salaries for blue-collar and clerical jobs dropped and
state salaries remained relatively stable, public-sector jobs looked
better. Now, there is an attempt to downsize state payrolls, and get
rid public servants. But rather than defending their service, we now
see public servants as having it easy. They simply had what most
American had, and lost.

What’s stopping many governors from this slash and burn are
public-sector unions. So we need to see the current push against
teachers as part of a larger push against public-sector unions. Rather
than let each union deal with this shift, the labor movement should
see the attack for what is, and coordinate a campaign to reverse this
cultural shift.

…

Returning to David Brooks and teachers, we learn

...that a new cadre of reformers have come on the scene, many of them
bred within the ranks of Teach for America. These are stubborn,
data-driven types with a low tolerance for bullshit. The reform
environment they find themselves in is both softhearted and
hardheaded. They put big emphasis on the teaching relationship, but
are absolutely Patton-esque when it comes to dismantling anything that
interferes with that relationship. This includes union rules.…

Put simply, teachers unions stand between teachers and the public for
better or for worse. Brooks points out some of the worse, but what of
the better?

I'm a historian, so it's important that I place this issue within its
larger historical frame. Teachers unions have only been around for a
little more than 100 years. They developed in large urban systems,
such as New York City and Chicago. These systems were totally
dysfunctional, patronage machines rife with politics. Professional
educators joined together to advance professionalism over politics and
patronage and to protect academic freedom.

These organizations were not like the trade unions of the day. They
were much more professional societies, part of a period drive toward
professionalization that historian Rober Weibe called “The Search for
Order.” One hundred years ago teachers could be fired for all sorts of
reasons, few related to the quality of teaching. Female teachers could
be fired if they married, for instance.

Teachers were respected culturally, but it was not a profession. These
early reformers demanded higher and better training for teachers as
well as licensing. They cared about their students and fought to find
ways to help them. But they also wanted decent wages and better
working conditions and as professionals, they demanded some limited
shared governance, or control over the educational mission (their
classrooms). They did not see these aims as being in conflict. This
professional focus has led to a more conservative style of unionism
for teachers that the public and the right seems to have forgotten.
They never felt fully comfortable as workers and their unions often
walked that fine line between professional association and labor
union.

Jump forward to the 1980s, when these unions were firmly established.
As budgets were slashed and a call for accountability began to be
heard, it was the teachers unions who mounted a campaign to retore
public support for school funding and who also joined the reform
efforts. Now, yes funding for schools helps their members. But, it is
not just salaries. Stronger school budgets mean better support, newer
books, smaller class sizes etc.

But teachers unions are now in a tough place. They seem to have lost
their ability to claim they speak for “education” as they had in the
1980s. And if they can’t speak for public education, who can?

Today unions are at a crossroads. The majority of union members are
public-sector workers. And these are precisely the same workers on the
chopping block today. Unions need to find a better way to protect
these workers than simply hiding behind the contract. The contract
will protect workers in the short run, but in winning the battle they
will lose the war.

We are losing an important aspect that informed public policy since at
least the age of Herbert Hoover: The public should be held to higher
standards than the private sector. My grandfather always told me it
was a sad day when New Yorkers had to to pay to take public
transportation. I remember him telling me if you pay, it ain’t public.

He was smart enough to know that his taxes paid for the fare. But he
also understood that while income taxes were progressive, subway fare
weren’t. He also knew that eventually the fares would just keep
rising. He died some years ago, but I think he was right. What we need
is a better sense of the public. If there are fewer good-paying jobs
left, we all suffer.

Put simply: If federal, state and local government workers join the
race to the bottom, we may well be doomed.

Teach for America : Looking past the spin

Looking Past the Spin: Teach for America
By Barbara Miner

Rethinking Schools - Spring 2010
submitted to portside by the publisher

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/24_03/24_03_TFA.shtml

    Most Teach for America recruits are idealistic and
    dedicated. But who is behind the organization, and
    does its approach bolster or hinder urban education
    reform?
Great article. explains much about the recent controversy in Sac City Unified

Sac City Superintendent gives pink slips to 700, chooses Teach for America

My name is Lori Jablonski and I am a SCTA site rep at C.K. McClatchy High School .  This email is to inform you about action at Thursday’s school board meeting that is being organized by a group of elementary, middle and high school site reps in response to both the issuance of 700 pink slips this week (affecting approx. 1/4 of the school district teaching corps.) and the related move to bring Teach for America interns to the school district.   This effort to organize a strong, united response to the assault on our jobs, our schools and the integrity of our professional careers is not intended to subvert the SCTA union leadership.   Instead, we hope to convince the leadership that rank and file teachers demand a more assertive, more communicative and more active effort on behalf of our membership before the school board and district administration.  Even more, we intend to clearly show the school board that we are ready to hold them fully accountable for decisions and actions taken by Superintendent Raymond that will seriously undermine education in this district.

We believe that when school opens tomorrow, there will still be a fairly significant number of teachers who will not be aware of the total number of pink slips that have been issued and the depth and breadth of the lay-offs.   Nor will they have a real sense of what the Teach for America program is about or the significance.  We are strongly suggesting that you (or ask your site rep) to call an emergency site union meeting on Monday or Tuesday at the latest. 

At McClatchy, for example, we will be calling for a meeting tomorrow during lunch in the staff lounge, a time that is most convenient for the teachers on our campus.  Please choose the time and place where you believe you can get maximum attendance.   (You might also consider taking notes, copying them and distributing by hand to those teachers unable to attend your meeting). 

At the meeting, we are suggesting you briefly explain these major points:

1. Over 700 pink slips have been issued, including pink slips for those who teach Math, Science and Special Ed.  These “hard to place” categories are important to emphasize because the Superintendent has said several times this week that lay-offs would not take place in these categories.

2. As he issues 700 pink slips, the Superintendent is working to bring the Teach for America (TFA) program to Sacramento.   The plan is to pay the private non-profit TFA corporation $2.7 million (the money will be raised by the district from the private sector) to recruit and train 30 TFA teaching interns to teach in Sac City schools. Their salaries and benefits will be absorbed in the general fund.  TFA recruits recent college grads to sign up for two-year teaching stints in under-performing schools and school districts. The Superintendent claims that the TFA interns will not replace Sac City teachers, but will instead supplement our current teaching staff in hard to staff areas, specifically Math, Science and Special Ed. An additional 30 TFA interns will be added to the district staff roster each year for at least the next three years.  In the event of future lay-offs due to ongoing budget woes, TFA interns would be skipped and would not receive pink slips.  The presence of TFA will cost younger, less senior teachers their jobs.

Attached, you will find some additional talking points regarding TFA.  

And below check out the Bee article:

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/11/2598445/sacramento-vies-for-teach-for.html

3. The Superintendent and his Chief of Staff have told parents and school board members that TFA is necessary because teacher education graduates from Sac State and Davis will not work in Sac City schools.   Therefore, TFA is necessary to fill the new teaching positions that Sac State and Davis can’t.  I spoke at length with the coordinator of the Sac State secondary teacher training preparation program this weekend. She denies that this is the case and said that Sac State regularly graduates more fully credentialed teacher applicants than the district and all surrounding districts can absorb—even in hard to staff areas.   She also said that she believes probably half the teacher corp. in Sac City was trained at Sac State .  Her current student teachers (and she has them throughout the district, even in the highest need schools) would love to work in Sac City , if there were any jobs available.

4. TFA is being used in school districts across the nation, including Charlotte-Mecklenburg, where our superintendent comes from, to undermine and weaken the union, to reconstitute teaching staffs at low-performing schools, and to suppress the overall wages and benefits paid to teachers in these districts. 

5. Urge your teachers to attend the school board meeting on Thursday, March 18^th.   We want teachers to stand in unity behind several teachers from the elementary, middle and high school segments who will speak out regarding the pink slipping and TFA.   We expect the board to give us no more than 15 minutes total to cover everyone who wishes to speak out.  Therefore, we would like to get an idea of the total number of folks who want to speak and organize the speaking cards appropriately so that we have a nice sampling of voices and messages.   Most teachers will simply be asked to stand silently in support of their colleagues. 

The plan is for teachers to arrive by 6:00 pm to get a seat in the board chambers.  The item number to be addressed will come up at 7:27 pm; Item 9.1

During the public comment when folks are speaking, all the teachers present in the board chambers will be asked to stand up, some right next to the speakers.  

We plan on calling out with a show of hands those teachers who received their teacher training at Sac State and Davis .

We understand that student teachers might be reluctant to show up to the school board meeting, so please make a list of all student teachers/interns at your school site.  If student teachers decide not to attend, we can compile the lists and wave them in front of the school board as evidence of prepared teacher applicants eager to teach in Sac City .

Finally, please distribute the following phone number and emails of SCUSD Board Members at your emergency union meeting.

Ask members to write and express their strong opposition to what’s taking place.  We need to have an unprecedented show of strength and unity before a school board that was elected with the strong support and sweat equity of Sac City teachers.

Board central phone number: (916) 643-9314 

ellynebell@yahoo.com; (Ellyne Bell)

patrick@patrickkennedylaw.com; (Patrick Kennedy)

jerry@housemanconsulting.com; (Jerry Houseman)

Donaldterry4schoolboard@yahoo.com; (Donald Terry)

gustavoarroyo1@gmail.com; (Gustavo Arroyo)

Diana4scusd@yahoo.com; (Diana Rodriguez)

leadershipnow@att.net; (Roy Grimes)

Superintendent@sac-city.k12.ca.us; (Superintendent Raymond)

Don’t hesitate to email me with any questions.   Please see the Real Teachers Facebook site for updates:

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=real+teachers&init=quick#!/group.php?gid=350702650204&ref=ts

Thank you.  In unity,

Lori Jablonski

C.K. McClatchy Teacher
Note. The  Bilingual/Multicultural Education department at Sac State has prepared over 400 teachers for Sac City Schools, and there are over 30 presently looking for a job. 
So, this approach by Sup. Raymond is based upon his lack of knowledge of the local area. 
Please let him know of his errors.

A response to Teach for America

In prior posts I explained this difference and the anti Klein petition. Here is a response to the advocacy of Teach for America

Teach for America (TFA), which claims to be for equity in education, opposes education equity champion, Linda Darling-Hammond for Obama’s Secretary of Education and indeed, any role in the Obama administration! Why? In the words of TFA’s political arm, Leadership for Education Equity, Darling-Hammond’s appointment “COULD HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR TFA!”

What is TFA afraid of? To ensure equity in education, Darling-Hammond has advocated for putting only qualified teachers in every classroom. She has opposed assigning unqualified teachers to the poorest and most vulnerable students. TFA teachers are just such unqualified teachers. Darling-Hammond’s research as well as the research of other objective education researchers has shown that the students of untrained TFA teachers do poorly on standardized tests compared to the students of trained teachers. Her research shows that once TFA teachers participate in quality teacher preparation programs and become qualified their students perform better. The problem is that 66% of TFA teachers never get trained. They leave at the end of 2 or 3 years. Darling-Hammond.

When put to the test, TFA puts its self interest above equity for students! TFA is supporting NYC School’s Chancellor for Education Secretary, because he will protect their organization, even though education equity under Klein has taken severe blows:
• Parents have been silenced. In a recent survey, more than 75% or parents felt that Klein was doing a poor job.
• The percentage of Black and Latino students admitted to NYC’s top performing high schools has declined!
• The percentage of Black and Latino students admitted to NYC’s gifted and talented programs has declined!
• The percentage of Black and Latino students admitted to NYC’s 4-year colleges has declined!
• The percentage of Black and Latino educators in the school system has declined!
• According to the NAEP, NYC students have made no gains in reading and math!
• Klein has only one person of color in his leadership team: the invisible position of Deputy Chancellor for Curriculum and Instruction.
• Klein has narrowed and dumbed-down the curriculum to all test-prep all of the time.

Tell the Obama transition team that you want a Secretary of Education who has a proven track record of equity in education. That is Linda Darling-Hammond! For over 20 years, Darling-Hammond has developed accountability policies and practices that focus on student learning and achievement, eliminating harmful practices and ensuring effective practices at the classroom, school, district, state and Federal levels. Her work is accepted by teachers, school, district, and state administrators, parents, policy makers, politicians, researchers, business leaders, and heads of teachers, principal and superintendent preparation programs. Like Obama, Darling-Hammond has been successful in bringing together diverse stakeholders to support education equity. She worked closely with former NY State Education Commission, Tom Sobol to develop NY’s standards, assessment, and accountability system.

If you like the education policies Obama has been discussing, let his transition team know that you want more of Linda Darling-Hammond: .
Jackie Ancess

Its Darling-Hammond vs. Klien

The Opinion of Teach for America. Note, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has been a close associate of Teach for America.
Teach For America suggests it’s Darling-Hammond vs. Klein

by Elizabeth Green
In case you were not fully convinced, it appears that, yes, Teach For America is flexing its muscle to influence Barack Obama’s Secretary of Education pick. The organization is concerned about the possibility that Stanford professor Linda Darling-Hammond, who has criticized TFA and is chairing Obama’s education policy committee, could get a prominent role in the Obama administration.

In a mass e-mail today, Teach For America urged alumni to “stay on top of about [sic] what is happening and not happening regarding education reform at the national and local levels.” The e-mail (pasted below) also directed them to the Web site of TFA’s new political group, Leadership for Education Equity, where alumni are invited to post comments on several Web sites (including this one), saying, “Decision makers do watch online reactions.” We hope so!


Here’s the e-mail, after the jump:

Dear [Redacted],

Happy Thanksgiving! As you’re all relaxing and celebrating with friends and family this long weekend, you’ll undoubtedly discuss the local and national politics of the day. Toward that end, I want to encourage all of you to check out LEE (www.educationalequity.org), our 501c4 sister organization (Leadership for Education Equity) that supports Teach For America alumni interested in political engagement and elected office.

As alumni and education reformers generally (regardless of our sector or political affiliation), we must stay on top of about what is happening and not happening regarding education reform at the national and local levels; I truly believe LEE is synthesizing this information better than any other source out there. I especially want to encourage all of you to read the article entitled: Wendy Kopp touted for Obama Cabinet and to share with your fellow alumni your perspectives on how President Elect Obama should staff and structure his education team.

If you haven’t been on the site in a while (or yet), you can sign up easily and/or use the “Forgot Password” function to change your password or be reminded of your username.

Following on the November 15 New York City alumni summit, the Teach For America New York City Alumni Affairs team will be following up with many of you who indicated interest in getting involved in the community organizing, local political engagement, and advocacy side of things.

Before your December calendar fills up completely, I wanted to make this particular opportunity — a citywide forum where you can voice your perspective on mayoral control of the New York City public schools — available to all of you: http://gothamschools.org/2008/11/18/speak-out-about-mayoral-control/ . Going forward, we’ll be posting many such opportunities on LEE, as well.

Have a wonderful holiday.

My best,
Jessica

Jessica Cordova Kramer
Vice President, Alumni Affairs & District Strategy
Teach For America · New York City
519 8th Ave. - 15th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Tel. (212) 279-2666 x430
Fax (212) 279-2663www.teachforamerica.org

Meanwhile here is the anti Klein effort which I authored;

The Petition to oppose the appointment of Joel Klein.

We, the undersigned, devoted thousands of hours of volunteer time to the election of Barack Obama as President. As Professional educators we were encouraged by the promise to have an open and respectful dialogue within the educational community about NCLB, its limits, and its failures.
Now, a trial balloon has been advanced in the media for Joel Klein, Chancellor of NYC schools to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education in an Obama Administration. ( It is quite possible that Klein himself promoted the trial balloon.) Trial balloons are trials. They are floated to see how people will react.
This petition is a reaction.
The administration of Joel Klein as Chancellor of Schools in New York City is representative of a particular rigid approach to school change promoted by NCLB which we oppose. Rather than take the advice of educators, Chancellor Klein repeatedly championed and implemented policies that support corporate interests as opposed to children. The NY City Department of Education under Joel Klein has been run like a ruthless dictatorship – with no input from parents or educators. Teachers have not been respected, consulted, nor listened to. And little thought has been devoted to how the policies he has imposed on our schools have been destructive to the children and their futures.

Teachers, educators, and future teachers, read the entire petition and sign it at:

http://www.petitiononline.com/campd227/petition.html
Duane Campbell