Not all parents are fools

October 21, 2004

The Washington Post reported on October 19 that PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) membership nationwide has fallen from 12.1 million four decades ago to fewer than six million today. Not even one in four U.S. public schools now has a PTA chapter.

What a pity, you say. This benign, honorable, virtuous school-betterment organization of your youth is sputtering. How could that be?

Some would have you think it's due to today's hyper-busy lifestyles, family decay, and the disinclination and/or inability of parents to involve themselves with their children's schools.

Wrong. Parents opting out of the PTA are not abandoning their kids' schools. Instead, many of them are starting their own school-specific groups, commonly known as Parent-Teacher Organizations, or PTO's. All of the energy and dues of a PTO generally go into projects and activities at one's own child's school—be they supplies for the art room, band uniforms, lights for the night football games, after-school programs, or the ninth grade trip to Colonial Williamsburg. Parents typically pay dues but may also raise money through festivals, car washes, bake sales, magazine subscription sales, and so forth. If the PTO gets involved with school policy, it's usually directly with the principal and it's apt to address immediate issues facing the particular school.

But isn't the PTA just like that, too? Once, yes. But like so many other once-useful organizations (the League of Women Voters comes to mind, along with the American Civil Liberties Union), it's been politicized, ideologized, bureaucratized

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Not all parents are fools

New Idaho charter rules a start

October 21, 2004

Out in Idaho, which came late to the charter school party (the state's charter school law was only passed in 1998), the public is being invited to comment on proposed new regulations that will significantly alter the charter scene there. They're a mixed bag. We like the creation of a public charter commission to serve as an authorizer and court of appeal for charters denied by the local district - something that has happened far too often there. (Still, we would have been happier with a more diverse set of authorizers that included nonprofits and universities.) And while a six-per-year cap on the creation of new charters won't be a problem immediately in a small state like Idaho, it may become one as charters expand under the more friendly state charter board. Perhaps the biggest shortcoming of these new rules is that they don't correct the serious per-pupil shortfall in state funding for charters - Idaho charters get 60 to 70 percent of what district schools get on a per-pupil basis, with no facilities assistance. So, the new rules are a start, but let's hope not the end, of a needed loosening of the Idaho charter environment.

"Locals suggest charter rules," by Jessica Adams, Idaho Press-Tribune, October 16, 2004

"Rules governing public charter schools," Idaho Board of Education

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New Idaho charter rules a start

Teacher test, 20 years and counting

October 21, 2004

In Alabama, a long and tortuous saga of teacher testing has gotten even more complicated. In 1981, the state began requiring new teachers to pass content tests in the subjects they teach. That law was challenged on grounds that it was racially discriminatory, and in 1985 the state dropped the test, though the lawsuit continued to wend its way through various courts for 15 years. In 2002, the state education department, Alabama State University, and the Alabama Education Association came to an agreement that requires college students who want to be teachers to pass a general knowledge test (though not a true subject-mastery test). That agreement was scheduled to be ratified by a state judge this week - until a group of Alabama State University education students filed their own petition to block the new test on discrimination grounds similar to the first complaint more than 20 years ago. Now, where would a group of education students get the money to file a lawsuit in state court? The students aren't saying, but their lawyer has represented the AEA in multiple suits before. Has AEA changed its mind on the agreement? Was the agreement a sham from the get-go? Unanswered questions and strange coincidences abound in this case, which is now scheduled to go to trial on December 20.

"Teacher testing in trouble again as ASU students oppose it," by Phillip Rawls, Associated Press, October 15, 2004

"Teacher testing under fire

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Teacher test, 20 years and counting

The power of one percent

October 21, 2004

In the midst of the ongoing debate over charter schools, this week's New Yorker includes a profile of one highly successful Boston charter school - the Pacific Rim Academy - that serves as a reminder that charters, while not a panacea, offer hope that the hardest-to-teach students don't have to be left behind. Like most charter success stories you read, this one includes vignettes about students who are going on to solid four-year colleges against all odds, of  dedicated teachers who believe that each and every student in the school can succeed and who devote themselves to teaching and counseling students who might otherwise slip through the cracks. What makes this profile especially memorable, though, is the honest portrayal of the students who buy into the school's promise of success, but somehow fall short of their goals. Yes, this year Pacific Rim saw 100 percent of its students graduate, but one missed graduation and his college freshman orientation because he had suffered two gunshot wounds, was arrested for assault with a dangerous weapon, and was sent to the Suffolk County jail. And, yes, the staff is dedicated, caring, and professional, but this year the principal will have to replace a third of the faculty, most of whom left to find jobs with bigger paychecks, fewer hours, and less emotional depletion. Yet, despite these challenges, Pacific Rim students show achievement gains that rival or surpass the best traditional public schools in

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The power of one percent

The British Diploma Project?

October 21, 2004

This week, former chief inspector of schools in England, Mike Tomlinson, released a report proposing sweeping changes to the nation's secondary-school accountability system, which currently requires students to pass achievement tests (A-levels) if they want to continue on to university. The changes would transform the A-levels into a new diploma system over the next decade. This new system would require all students to pass tests in three "core" skills areas—literacy, mathematics, and information and communication technology—that are needed not just for higher education, but for the workplace. According to Tomlinson, "this would be the first time that a qualification gives employers the guarantee that students have these skills." In fact, the suggested changes—and the rationale behind them—are similar to those put forth by the American Diploma Project (click here for more). If passed, there will be a four-year pilot test of the program, with changes to existing exams scheduled for 2007.

"Blair defends new exam proposals," BBC news, October 18, 2004

"Key points: the Tomlinson report," Guardian, October 18, 2004

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The British Diploma Project?

Mr. Smith goes to Washington

October 21, 2004

The charter movement has long needed a national voice, a gap the new Charter School Leadership Council is looking to fill. And now the new voice has an old hand to lead it: Nelson Smith. We can't think of a better choice. Nelson has worked with New American Schools for several years, has experience as a federal, state, and local policy maker, is a crack researcher, and a helluva nice guy. New president Smith and CSLC board chair Howard Fuller will need all their wits about them in the next few months as they seek to counter the continuing charter backlash being led by the unions and some quarters of the media. We wish them well.

"Charter School Leadership Council selects veteran policy expert Nelson Smith to lead organization," CSLC press release, October 13, 2004

"Policy expert hired for charter council," Education Week, October 13, 2004 (registration required)

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Mr. Smith goes to Washington

San Diego Review

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / October 21, 2004

Frederick Hess, American Enterprise Institute
September 2004

At the invitation of San Diego superintendent Alan Bersin, the Council of the Great City Schools and the American Enterprise Institute teamed up to conduct an ambitious review of Bersin-era reforms in the San Diego City Schools. This has yielded 18 draft papers, a swell conference in late September, and an article in Education Week. Some of the papers are outstanding, especially those by Julian Betts (dealing with choice and accountability), Michael Usdan (school board), and Joe Williams (teachers union). San Diego is a lively and complex place, and a momentous school board election is just weeks away, on which may hinge the fate of Bersin and his dynamic, multi-faceted reform endeavors. The papers will be revised before publication, but you can access the drafts here, local coverage here, and Lynn Olsen's excellent article here.

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San Diego Review

Stimulating the Supply of New Choice for Families in Light of NCLB

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / October 21, 2004

Bryan Hassel and Lucy Steiner, Education Commission of the States
2004

The U.S. Education Department funded this short paper outlining ways that states can expand the supply of decent education options for kids who are theoretically given the right to exit their under-performing schools but today have nowhere to go. Among the ideas: expand charter schools by loosening caps; create (and fund) new authorizers; strengthen incentives (and freedoms) to launch new schools; replicate proven models and clone good schools; develop support systems (e.g. incubators, back-office service providers) for new schools; and assist with facilities. These seem like excellent if sometimes obvious ideas, but each brings its own cost in dollars and/or politics. Then again, how serious are we about choice? You can find the paper here.

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Stimulating the Supply of New Choice for Families in Light of NCLB

Closing Low-performing Schools and Reopening Them as Charter Schools: The Role of the State

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / October 21, 2004

Todd Ziebarth, Education Commission of the States
2004

This 12-page paper tackles the proposition, incorporated in NCLB, that one cure for a failing district school is to reconstitute it as a charter school. I've long harbored doubts about the feasibility of "involuntary" charter schools, since a successful charter school is likely to have been created and led by people who want to run a charter school, not people ordered to do so. If, however, a state is game to empty out a failing school and recycle its building as home to a brand-new charter school that's founded and run by people with the requisite zeal (and competence, a sound plan, etc.), and if the state's charter law and funding mechanisms are such that charter schools are really viable there - then by all means. At that point, it resembles "outsourcing" the school to a new operator while taking advantage of freedoms permitted under the charter law. Ziebarth's paper explores these and more issues; state leaders should surely read it and consider this option. You can find it here.

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Closing Low-performing Schools and Reopening Them as Charter Schools: The Role of the State

Are L.A.'s Children Ready for School?

October 21, 2004

Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo, Anne R. Pebley, Mary E. Vaiana, Elizabeth Maggio, RAND Labor and Population
2004

This detailed study addresses the "school readiness" of children in Los Angeles County. The authors focus on basic skills and behavior problems, the most important components of school readiness. Through detailed research, the authors conclude that two factors are especially significant predictors of school readiness: the mother's level of educational attainment and the poverty level of a child's neighborhood. No surprises there. More revealing is that the authors also show that other factors, such as ethnicity and immigrant status, are not significant predictors of L.A. kids' school readiness. The authors give no novel policy advice: one recommendation is to "focus . . . resources on the children who need them most," for example. If you care to browse, though, you can do so here.

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Are L.A.'s Children Ready for School?