Can Teachers and Reformers Get Along?

The Education Gadfly / August 24, 2011

In case you missed it or were distracted by, say, the D.C. earthquake, the video of yesterday's thought-provoking ?When Reform Touches Teachers? discussion between American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and the American Enterprise Institute's Rick Hess is up on our website. ?Fordham's Mike Petrilli moderated the discussion and posed some tough questions about whether reformers and educators could find common ground.? A peek at some of the lively conversation about teacher compensation, evaluation, and collective bargaining, and you watch the whole conversation or check out some of the highlights below.

How teachers are perceived and the negative tone in some education debates was a point of contention.

Weingarten: New poll says teachers are respected more than ever, but 2/3 of reporting on education is negative.

Hess:? Republican governors are making measured cases for reform and are threatened or compared to tyrants.

Weingarten:? ?Educators have a right of freedom of speech, but we have a responsibility as to how we use it.?? Both sides of the debate are guilty of ?demagoguery.?

Both speakers reflected on the value of disagreement, but came to

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Can Teachers and Reformers Get Along?

The lesson from Education Reform Idol: Elections matter

yes Michael J. Petrilli / August 11, 2011

It was hardly a surprise that Indiana took home the Education Reform Idol trophy today. Pundits from across the ideological spectrum have lauded the Hoosier State for its comprehensive reforms enacted this spring?including a best-in-the-nation teacher bill, an expansive private school choice program, and a serious effort at collective bargaining and benefits reform.

But why 2011? Mitch Daniels has been in office since 2005; Tony Bennett since 2009. While they haven't been twiddling their thumbs (last year, Bennett enacted new regulations revamping teacher professional development, for instance), legislators didn't get religion on reform until now. How come?

The answer is obvious: The 2010 elections, which gave Indiana Republicans control of the House and a super-majority in the Senate. The same thing happened in Ohio, where the House and governor's office both switched from blue to red. Big GOP victories in Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, and other states led to similar dynamics. Though it's not an ironclad law, it's still generally true that when Republicans take power, reforms take flight.

This point might be obvious, but it bears repeating, because so much of the energy within the reform movement today is about moving Democratic legislators toward more reform-friendly positions. That's certainly worthwhile, and the work of groups like Democrats for Education Reform and Stand for Children deserve support and encouragement. But let's not be na?ve: Getting rank

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The lesson from Education Reform Idol: Elections matter

What our Education Reform Idol contestants accomplished this year on teacher effectiveness

Guest Blogger / August 9, 2011

Which of the five states competing to be America's next Education Reform Idol did the most to advance teacher effectiveness during the 2011 legislative session? Consider our analysis below, and attend our event Thursday morning (8:30-10:00AM) to see key players in all five states defend their records in front of a panel of ed-reform celebrity judges?Jeanne Allen, Richard Lee Colvin, and Bruno Manno. And click here to cast your vote for Education Reform Idol.

Florida

Florida made important strides toward ensuring teacher quality in the state this year. Governor Rick Scott signed Senate Bill 736, which ties teacher evaluation to student performance on standardized tests for the first time, using a ?value-added? model. The new evaluation system (which bases 50 percent of evaluation scores on student growth) will be used to inform decisions regarding pay raises and dismissals?these decisions will no longer be based on number of advanced degrees and/or last-in, first-out policies. Salary increases and bonuses will be awarded to teachers demonstrating high levels of performance, and to those who work in low-performing schools or high-need subject areas. Although the new law doesn't circumvent existing teacher contracts and pay plans, all teachers will take part in the test-evaluation system and are eligible to lose their jobs if they perform poorly. All newly hired teachers, regardless of performance, will sign annual contracts that may not be renewed if the

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What our Education Reform Idol contestants accomplished this year on teacher effectiveness

The schools--and the deficits--we deserve

yes Michael J. Petrilli / August 4, 2011

The latest Education Next poll results are packed-full of interesting findings on topics ranging from choice to merit pay, from NCLB to tenure reform. But particularly timely, in this era of fiscal austerity, are new insights about the public's views on school budgets. And guess what: On education, like everything else, Americans don't want to make tough choices. They want to keep taxes low while boosting school spending. Sound familiar?

Let's start with taxes. Question 25a asked: ?Do you think that local taxes to fund public schools around the nation should increase, decrease, or stay about the same?? Sixty-five percent of the public wanted taxes to remain steady or drop. The numbers were a little lower for African Americans, Hispanics, and parents, but not by much. (Half of teachers even expressed this view.) Interestingly, even more people (73 percent of the public) opposed raising local taxes, even if they were to be targeted to local (instead of national) schools.

OK, Americans don't want higher taxes. So they must want school spending to remain flat, right? Wrong. Question 3b queried: ?Do you think that government funding for public schools in your district should increase, decrease, or stay about the same?? Here, 60 percent of the public wanted increased spending on their schools. (Not surprisingly, the numbers were even higher for teachers, parents, and minorities.) Granted, that sentiment softened significantly when respondents were told how much their local districts actually spend?it kicked

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The schools--and the deficits--we deserve