New Orleans Times-Picayune
Much to the dismay of many (including both congressional Pauls) who openly wish for its demise, the Department of Education has managed to survive another year. Yesterday marked 32 years since President Jimmy Carter signed it into law.
Last year, when it was only 30 going on 31, the DoE's boss, Arne Duncan, said this about Hurricane Katrina's effects on New Orleans schools:
I spent a lot of time in New Orleans, and this is a tough thing to say, but let me be really honest. I think the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans was Hurricane Katrina. That education system was a disaster, and it took Hurricane Katrina to wake up the community to say that 'we have to do better.' And the progress that they've made in four years since the hurricane is unbelievable.
For the record, since the storm, the city's educational system has evolved into one that is three-quarters charter schools, and has all but silenced the teachers' union. Last week, the New York Times editorial board picked up the Education Secretary's rhetorical baton, quoting positive statistics and attributing them to the aftermath of Katrina:
Many of the structural changes occurred because the hurricane essentially destroyed the old system, allowing the city to begin fresh. Charter schools, while a foundation of the system now, did not by themselves improve achievement. And finally, New Orleans has done the hard work of changing the school culture while embracing new instructional methods.
Education professor and school reform activist Mike Klonsky sounds the alarm, telling a very different story in a post today:
"Fresh" meaning the firing of every teacher in the city, the driving out from the city's schools more than 100,000 mostly African-American children, the busting of the teachers union, and the creation of a new two-tiered school system around a core of privately-managed charters. There is no evidence offered by the Times showing that these charters are any better...
So this is what reform is, according to the education experts at the Times. Create a system of schools that are "frequently worse" than traditional schools. Have kids stay in these schools longer and have mostly inexperienced and unqualified TFA teachers teaching poor kids "study and time management skills." I can only imagine what would happen if this recipe was foisted upon white, middle-class parents. But don't worry. It never will be.
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"For the record, since the storm, the city's educational system has evolved into one that is three-quarters charter schools, and has all but silenced the teachers' union."
Exactly what studies have been shown that "prove the system has evolved"?!? NONE! The whole point is to gut the UNIONS and bring in "new teachers" that haven't any classroom "experience", and pay them less!! That's not a "model" to be followed, that's trickle down again pee'ing on the more vulnerable in society!!
To be fair, evolution by definition isn't automatically for the better. What survives continues to evolve. What doesn't are what we call evolutionary dead ends. The common use of evolution is taken for granted to only mean change for the better (hence the need for DEVO), but technically the school system HAS evolved.
This is not a side note. This is the main chorus of the song.
So at best, the "system" as it stands with current leadership and unions had proven incapable despite a huge continuation of per student spending of fixing the problem. The best any poor performing school system can hope for is a national disaster of epic proportion.
"And so many of the people . . . were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." Barbara Bush on Hurricane Katrina refugees.
"Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? It's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that? Barbara Bush on the war in Iraq.
These 2 quotes from the Marie Antoinette of the 21st century illustrate that there is a mind set that has no frame of reference for, and therefore cannot grasp, the suffering of others. I don't think this is attributable to any particular political party (although it seems to me to be more prevalent amongst conservatives), but to a particular economic class (to which, unfortunately, most of our politicians belong).
It's hard to care about something you can't understand, and almost impossible to understand something you don't care about.
Diane Ravitch was talking about this today in Valerie Strauss' column in the Washington Post.
See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/ravitch-why-miracle-schools-arent-really-miracles/2011/10/18/gIQAM62RuL_blog.html
Mike Klonsky is right on point! EXCEPT "I can only imagine what would happen if this recipe was foisted upon white, middle-class parents. But don't worry. It never will be." Not true, if the ALEC-supported Republican Governor's like Chris Christie get their way!
Yesterday, Christie said that "after establishing a voucher program in poor school districts he wants to "spread it out further." Last year, he also said vouchers will be state-wide.
As with charter schools, this will begin in 4 or 5 poor school districts, then will move to the entire state, with the money for children to attend completely unregulated voucher mills coming from existing public school budgets. Christie confirmed yesterday that it will be state-wide. This bill is designed to open the door for a massive transfer of money from public education to voucher mills, in order to de-fund public education. The ultra right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council is pushing this legislation in order to privatize public education nationally.
In NJ, we are fighting for passage of a bill that would give communities the right to vote on whether new charter schools are opened using our local tax dollars. It has passed the assembly but faces, but faces opposition in the Senate, where many of our elected officials are owned by party bosses who have a financial stake in the game. Clearly, our Governor is not interested in giving the people in our State a voice in how "reform" will work. If you live in NJ, please support us by signing our petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/new-jersey-communities-want-local-control-over-new-charter-schools-2
My middle class (for the moment) children attend NO public schools. What I can state is that the current situation is very complex. It behooves all commentators on this topic to actually be down here and involved in the system before pontificating on such.
As a NOLA resident, I just have to add in for the umpteenth time, that the hurricane did not flood New Orleans. It was the absolute failure of the Army Corps of Engineer levvees system, chich they later admitted themselves, was "protection in name only."
And once again, a big thank you to all Americans that helped us in our time of need.
Good point. It actually strengthens my view that these decisions should be made locally by the people and children these policies affect. In NJ, we are fighting for the ability to make these decisions in our communities. Unfortunately, we live in a state with a broken charter school law. The lone person in the entire state who can approve a new charter is our commissioner of education, who, by the way, has no academic or professional background in education, and is a Murdoch crony! That's right: the same Murdoch who keeps reminding us how much money there is to be made in the privatization of our country's education system!
Our education system is not working for everyone. It has three tiers: parochial/private, schools, public charter schools and regular public schools. We have thrown a lot of money at public school education with only marginal results. One of the major problems in education is the lack of required courses which were prevalent before 1970. The second problem is the lack of vocational schools at the high school level. In the past, there were numerous vocational schools that were dedicated to specific occupations. As much as we would like everyone to succeed, we need to recognize that some people are not graduating high school with any job skills. Tracking was abandoned in the 1970's because we did not like students being pigeonholed. That was a mistake because tracking allowed counselors to help students who were not college material follow an educational path that advanced their job skills. Women still dominate the secretarial/typist pool but get no real education commensurate with those job skills. These type of classes were abandoned because they were considered sexist.
The worst problem in public schools is the lack of parental involvement in their children's education. But that should not deter teachers from being demanding when it comes to school work. Parents and students complain about too much reading and writing. You cannot have too much of reading and writing since those are the basic elements of an education. If you can't read or write, then you cannot learn. Students who do not meet the educational standards need to have more remedial courses in addition to their regular studies even if it means the students have to give up sports, art classes and study halls which are generally worthless.
we have cast out labor jobs as being a waste of life. we programmed the youth to think college and a desk job will make a better life. those that fail to are doomed to unskilled labor. the unskilled labor is a dime a dozen and is easily replaced.
what we have created over the years is a polarization of corporate desk jobs and replaceable unskilled labor. anyone who is educated but is a skilled labor is thought to ask for too much and is being suppressed. skilled labor gets paid too much and demands to much.
all the states that are trying to dismantle public schools are doing so in trying to break the union. charter schools can choose to keep their teachers out of any unions.
it's not about education, it's about money.
Spoken like a true man! Bravo! First of all I am an involved parent AND a certified teacher. I don't have a classroom right now because my own children need me more. However, I am constantly butting heads with teachers who refuse to put time into their classroom because they have to run to pick up their kids from another school NOT in our district! Or they can't possibly be expected to call every parent to let them know how things are going, "Do you know how many students I have?" My children enter high school in advanced courses only to be put back in regular class because we actually expect the advanced teacher to know their content enough to "Teach" my child something they don't already know! These teachers are paid more because they are supposedly teaching advanced classes! Vocational classes were at one time very beneficial, however, by the time they were abandoned they were merely warehouses of inactivity for students whose behavior made them too disruptive to be in academic classes. Secretarial classes were abandon because the skills needed to be a secretary changed to involve the computer while teachers were not required to learn basic computer skills, let alone enough to teach someone else how to use one! It had NOTHING to do with gender! As for Art being a waste of time, significant studies have shown that students who take art and music do much better academically then those who do not. Typically these students carry a B+ or better and take more difficult courses.
There is not a single problem, nor a fix all solution. The whole system is broken! Starting by paying teachers less though is hardly going to help! How about paying administrators less and having fewer of them? They contribute nothing to the direct education of children, suck money out of the budget for their sinfully high salaries and most often delegate reponsibilty to lesser paid assitants anyway! Start there.
I would have been a teacher because that was my major. But I did not complete the student teaching part. I watched the educational process turn from parents saying "Why did my kid flunk?" to "Why did you flunk my kid?" If I teached, my students would not know what daylight looks like. I believe in a lot of reading and writing. You can only get better in those areas by doing a lot of reading and writing.
Does anyone here at Maddowblog or at the TRMS staff have information on where Duncan is getting his justification for the school district's improvement? Specifically is there a study he is referring to, a recent poll, etc? I am just curious as to how he is coming to his conclusion.
Arne Duncan was the head of the Chicago Public School system before he went to work for Obama. I think that makes him qualified to render an expert opinion.
Of course there are many measures done down here. Scores are going up. Now one can debate why this is happening, but one cannot debate what direction things are trending.
http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2011/10/no_schools_continue_climb_even.html
I was never calling into question his intellect or expertise and personally Mike your response represents a huge pet peeve for me. Asking someone to justify their position with facts, asking follow up questions, and/or asking critical questions of a person analysis/belief is NOT a form of criticism.
Burnt that is something far more what I wanted to see, thank you. Also for anyone else looking for information:
www.doe.state.la.us/topics/sps2011_release.html
Duncan is a manager and not an educator. His conclusions are based on the objective criteria that school performance is measured. However, whether the criteria demonstrates students are getting a better education is a question for educators. I don't particularly like the objective criteria used to measure performance because it demonstrates whether students are good test takers and not whether they are getting a proper education. Essay questions are a good supplement to the standardized testing and are a better determinative factor.
I agree. I am perturbed that student participation and involvement/interest inside the classroom (or perhaps more specifically the ability of a teacher to encourage such things) is not considered as part of the education criteria. Teaching someone to repeat facts like a parrot isn't necessarily the same as someone showing improved intelligence.
High school students are not tested only on the facts they know, but their critical analysis, vocabulary, writing and communication skills. That is true for the better schools. But in the poorer schools it is social promotion because very few kids flunk a grade. That is wrong.
Someone tell Duncan and the president that it is never a "good" think when thousands of kids are forced out of their schools and into a mass private education experiment pushed by corporate interests and conservative zealots. Charter schools are a step down the path of doing away with public education entirely, with zero accountability and massive costs for taxpayers. This is not the language you would like to hear from a Democratic administration. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
Mattpfl:
The topic was NOLA schools.
Kids were "forced" out of their schools as they were flooded and not reopened for 6 month, 1 year, and many still not reopened. (My kids are still in a "temporary" school.
Vast majority of charters down here are not run by "for profits."
There is no "zero" accountability.
Some have had their charters revoked already. Like I have stated, it is a very complex situation, but the truth is the more parents are involved, the better chance for a more favorable outcome. (some charters were specifiacally started by parents).
Wow!
Mr. Klonsky - what a facile assumption on your part!!!! White, middle-class students are under the same attack, by the same elite as all the minority students. It's called the dumbing down of Americans and it has no favorites or exemptions except for the wealthy and elite. Obviously you are not paying attention to the decimation of schools across the country from Wisconsin to Washington DC and all ways beyond. This attack on our schools, teachers and children doesn't know racial, ethnic or religious borders. It's the one and only truly equal in the Conservative plan from ALEC.
I'm so glad I didn't get suckered into TFA.
The voucher and school privatization movement worries me a lot. The idea that American business can apply standardized business metrics to education and produce better results is built upon a faulty premise. A factory constructing widgets can dictate the amount and quality of the raw materials it will use in the construction process. Not so for schools, our populations of children vary from year to year and our children don't all sit at the middle of the bell curve on any measured attribute. Plastic or steel will respond uniformly to various manufacturing techniques without exception, each responding in predictable ways to the physics applied during assembly. Again, not so with children, if we could compare the human brain to a computer, we could say each child comes not only with different software but also different hardware. The idea that each child should hit certain benchmarks at a specific time is just not supported by research.
The other issue that troubles me as an American is the potential for vouchers to be used to support parochial schools. I, as a taxpayer, do not want to have to support religious inculcation of any kind. The idea that a taxpayer can be forced by the full force and might of our government via our taxes to contribute to the religious education of children is beyond absurd. Thomas Jefferson wrote that: “[T]o compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical.” I don't know how we have gone backwards on this issue. Oh wait, actually I do. The religious right it is various forms throughout history has been complaining about the 1st Amendment and the implied Separation of Church and State since the day it was ratified and has been lusting after a seat at the table of government since then. What would be the best way for a church to increase its customer base? Have the state do the religious education for you.
I recently had the opportunity to substitute for 2 classes here in MN. Both were under the same "Co-op System". However, the differences were stunning to me.
The first class were students with various problems (I wasn't privy to what, who or why) but I was seriously impressed with the class, the students and the teacher. They were being taught real life skills. How to determine a menu, find recipes for that menu on-line, determining the products needed to make those recipes, purchasing the food at the best cost, finding an apartment, how to contact the managers and ask relevant questions about location, services, cost of utilities, what was included in the rent, etc. In addition, each of the students had a "job" outside of the classroom to attend. Their assignments included issues about relationships, attitudes, working with others, etc. I was impressed with the diligence of the students, the class demeanor and the progress that was being tracked.
The second job was a shock. It was presumably a math class (the teacher warned me the students were "jerks") but I noticed very little math being taught. The teacher started each class with a half hour showing of the same movie (about a teen age boy who was entered in a singing contest whose father was killed in a war). The students sat quietly for the movie, and after just played with their smart phones, wandered in and out, chatted with each other and generally ignored the teacher. She was busy handing gum through the door to the students in the next classroom. In the 4 hours I was there, she assigned a pop quiz (after the movie) to one class, assigned a 1 page algebra assignment to be done in class to the second class (3 of 6 weren't even trying to work on the assignment) and the third class was supposed to be determining the cost of a particular career (schooling, cost of transportation, living expenses, etc.), however there were only 3 working on the project. One young girl was too busy putting on her make-up, 2 fellows were at the classroom door chatting with people in the hall, one fellow was just pouting at his desk. I left that place thinking of the waste of funds spent not only on the salary I was paid (I got to sit at a desk in the corner of the room for 4 hours doing absolutely nothing!) but on the classroom, equipment, and the teacher's salary.
If you looked at one class the funds were well-spent and the students would arrive as adults with the skills to function in the adult world. The other class will turn out individuals totaling lacking in discipline, work ethic, and knowledge of anything but what movies they want to see next week.
This is an area that needs much more than just numbers and monies to provide for our children. It needs real attention to individual progress, to real awareness of what is happening in each classroom, to the level of education the teachers are truly giving to the class. It isn't something we can praise or pan unilaterally. It is a much more important issue than even those of us who are somewhat aware of the impact this will have on our country's future can imagine. I hope for our children's sake, there is an answer beyond money or cost.