Don't believe the "new union" hype

February 10, 2005

Every few years comes some event that is supposed to herald a new era of bipartisan togetherness on education. Five years ago, it was the news that former labor secretary Robert Reich supported school vouchers (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/102900-02.htm). Before that, there was John Kerry's 1998 speech on ending teacher tenure (http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=110&subid=135&contentid=1533). And of course, Ted Kennedy's co-sponsorship of No Child Left Behind - and muzzling of National Education Association opposition during that law's negotiations - was supposed to be a seminal moment during which a new "accountability consensus" emerged.

Well, like Charlie Brown and the football, you can't blame people for trying, no matter how many times the ball gets pulled away at the last minute. And while there are estimable Democrats who've made valiant efforts on behalf of school choice, rigorous accountability, charter schools, and the like - think of Dianne Feinstein, Tony Williams, and Howard Fuller - the list also includes any number of Democrats who paid a high price for their journeys off the education policy reservation. (Recall Floyd Flake, drummed out of the Congressional Black Caucus for his support of vouchers, as just one example.)

The latest such episode is the rumblings of a "New Unionism," one that's allegedly open to various verboten education reforms, maybe even vouchers. Two Sundays ago, the New York Times Magazine had a long profile of Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, who has thrown down the gauntlet to the

» Continued

Don't believe the "new union" hype

Budget blues and b.s.

February 10, 2005

Much caterwauling has accompanied the president's new budget. Senator Kennedy thundered that the proposal, which reduces Department of Education funding about 1 percent, to $56 billion, is "the most anti-student, anti-education budget since the Republicans tried to abolish the Department of Education." Suffice to say he is exaggerating. The budget actually increases Pell Grant funding by 45 percent (to $18 billion), and gives new money to math and science partnerships, charter school grant programs, high school reading initiatives, and Title I. Taking a hit are Safe and Drug-Free Schools programs (famously ineffectual), a whole bunch of tiny special-interest-group favorites, and outmoded voc ed programs. Given that Congress larded up the present year's education funding bill with hundreds and hundreds AND HUNDREDS of useless pork-barrel earmarks (see http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050109-120809-9076r.htm), we suspect that 1 percent will not cause undue hardship to the children.

"A cut for schools, a first for Bush," by Anne E. Kornblut, New York Times, February 8, 2005 (subscription required)

"President's FY 2006 budget focuses resources on students who need them most," Department of Education, February 7, 2005

President's FY 2006 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Education, February 2005

"Charter school programs level-funded," Charter School Leadership Council, February 8, 2005

» Continued

Budget blues and b.s.

More Vouchers for Ohio?

February 10, 2005

Ohio's generally risk-averse Governor Bob Taft is expected to astound the Buckeye State today with a budget-message proposal to expand the Cleveland voucher program such that kids trapped in some 70 chronically low-performing public schools elsewhere in Ohio could exit with $3,500 state vouchers in hand, redeemable in participating private schools. This resembles Florida's "opportunity scholarship" plan and would be a swell thing for Ohio's neediest kids - and a wake-up call for their current schools that nothing in the state's present accountability system can rival. With a GOP-majority legislature in Columbus and a serious school choice supporter in the House speaker's office, it even stands a decent chance of being enacted. Team it up with President Bush's proposed $50 million federal voucher fund and Ohio's kids might begin to see light at the end of their very long dark tunnel.

"Taft pushes vouchers for schools," Catherine Candisky and Mark Niquette, The Columbus Dispatch, February 10, 2005 (subscription required)

"Taft plans to expand school vouchers," Sandy Theis, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 10, 2005

"Taft program would widen school choice," James Drew and Jim Provance, Toledo Blade, February 10, 2005

Choice Incentive Fund, Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Summary, February 7, 2005

» Continued

More Vouchers for Ohio?

Performance pay: coming soon to a union near you

February 10, 2005

Despite unions' knee-jerk opposition to any plan that takes teacher performance into account when setting salaries and determining raises and bonuses, teachers around the country are warming to the idea. For instance, the Washington Post's Jay Mathews writes about the increasing popularity of National Board Certification, which, according to some educators, is "the single most powerful merit pay system in public education today." Fred Lampazzi, a National Board certified teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia, said that he applied for this mark of distinction because he "felt that [he] was a very good teacher who takes pride in understanding the pedagogy of teaching, and [he] wanted affirmation of [his] abilities from a rigorous evaluation process." In La Crescent, Minnesota, where a pilot pay-for-performance plan has been in place for four years, teachers get an annual raise only if they fulfill performance goals. There, according to Brian Bakst of the Associated Press, "teachers are trying hard to prove they're worth the money, from more frequent student testing, to emailing parents, to trying out different styles for their students." Education Week reports that pay-for-performance plans have now been proposed in at least 5 states, including Minnesota, Texas, and California. And, while the NEA and most of its state affiliates maintain an anti-merit pay stance, arguing that such programs can be "too subjective," the union seems to be losing allies—including some affiliates and local branches. Bill Walsh, of the Minnesota Department of Education says,

» Continued

Performance pay: coming soon to a union near you

Second verse, same as the first

February 10, 2005

The Washington Post's V. Dion Haynes reports on a "new" People for the American Way "study" of the D.C. voucher program. New only if you were on vacation in June 2004, when the Washington Post and the Washington Times (click here for our take) both pointed out that, in the program's first year, most voucher recipients were already enrolled in private schools, mainly due to a lack of applications from students in underperforming public schools, mainly due to the program's late start. This week's story reminds readers that "scholarship fund officials have said . . . more public schoolchildren would have applied if organizers had more time to publicize the program." Next year, WSF will an opportunity to prove it. A thought experiment: If 100 percent of D.C. voucher students came from public schools, would PFAW be happy? We somehow don't think so.

"Group opposed to vouchers cites shortcomings," V. Dion Haynes, Washington Post, February 7, 2005

» Continued

Second verse, same as the first

High standards for thee but not for me

February 10, 2005

In Duvall, Washington, parents are objecting to a "senior project" graduation requirement for high school seniors that requires a report, an oral presentation, and a "product" of some sort. Sounds reasonable enough to us, especially since everybody knows that big chunks of senior year are pretty much wasted. But a group of parents - perhaps the same parents who once "wore black armbands to graduation after three seniors were barred from the ceremonies for plagiarizing parts of their papers" - have sued the local district to have the requirement removed. Reports the Wall Street Journal, "Sally Coomer, a mother of seven, maintains that some teachers and administrators seemed more focused on maintaining their power to set and enforce standards than they were on inspiring students to excel. 'In my entire life, I have never seen such bizarre, power-trip behavior as I have with this whole senior-project thing,' she says." After parents picketed, the school board cravenly caved, reducing both the workload and the project's impact on final grades, with predictable results: "[S]tudents began to take the project less seriously: 43 percent of the graduating class of 2004 received Fs on their papers, up from 9 percent for the class of 2003, the year before the changes." But Coomer and others aren't satisfied. What's the lesson for the kids? If at first you don't succeed, hire a lawyer and sue! The parents of Duvall must be busting with pride. This sequence

» Continued

High standards for thee but not for me

Giving in to North Dakota

February 10, 2005

As recently as two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Education reconfirmed in writing the message it had conveyed to North Dakota educators in December: the state's plan for designating elementary teachers as "highly qualified" does not meet NCLB requirements (click here for more). The caterwauling from North Dakota's congressional members and state leaders was tremendous, but the feds seemed prepared to hold the state to the letter of the law. And North Dakota teachers sensibly began to accept the fact that they wouldn't be deemed highly qualified just because they'd spent years in the classroom. Many started to take steps to come into compliance. In other words, people's behavior was starting to change, exactly as NCLB intended. Unfortunately, just last week - a mere three days after Margaret Spellings was confirmed, and perhaps before she really focused on this episode - the Department reversed its earlier decision and told North Dakota that all elementary teachers currently practicing in the state with certification and an education major will be considered in compliance with NCLB's highly qualified teacher provision. At least for now and maybe longer. While Spellings "wouldn't characterize [the move] as a reversal by any stretch," because North Dakota supposedly has a "high, objective, uniform state standard for evaluation" - a.k.a. HOUSSE, the loophole that has been exploited by many states - we question whether this move sets the right tone for a leader who claims

» Continued

Giving in to North Dakota

Confronting the madrassas

February 10, 2005

Any long-term strategy for peace in the Middle East has to include dealing with the pernicious influence of radical madrassas, the Islamic schools used to spread a venomous version of Islam and to grow new extremists and terrorists. A Washington Post review of a new book, The Idea of Pakistan, by Brookings South Asia expert Stephen Cohen, identifies one reason madrassas are so popular in that country: parents have no alternative in a land where the state school system has all but collapsed. "On recent trips to Pakistan," reviewer Owen Bennett Jones writes, "I visited two village schools without warning. Both times, the children were sitting in serried ranks, ready and keen to learn. But no teachers were present." Pakistan is one of 12 countries that spends less than 2 percent of GDP on education. Confronting the madrassas would be an enormous political challenge, but Pakistan not only ignores them, it doesn't attempt to provide a decent alternative, despite promises by Pakistani leader Musharraf to improve the schools. Concludes Jones, "Musharraf's failure to make good on his education pledges is his gravest sin. After all, what is the point of a military government if it can't implement policies that have widespread support and require only a modicum of political will?"

"With friends like these," by Owen Bennett Jones, Washington Post, February 6, 2005

» Continued

Confronting the madrassas

Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work?

Kathleen Porter-Magee / February 10, 2005

Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Achieve, Inc.
February 2005

A survey of recent high school grads, employers and college instructors, released this week by Achieve, Inc., provides compelling statistics to back up the proposition that standards in U.S. public high schools are distressingly low and that they are inadequately preparing students for success in college and the workplace. According to the Achieve survey, "fewer than one-quarter of high school graduates feel that they were significantly challenged and faced high expectations in order to graduate from high school" and "an overwhelming majority of graduates say that they would have worked harder if their high school demanded more of them and set higher academic standards" - findings that take wind out of the sails of critics who believe students can't possibly rise to the expectation of higher standards and stricter accountability. Further, more than half of college students say that "high school left them unprepared for the work and study habits expected in college," and an astonishing 31 percent of students who think they were extremely well prepared for college level work nevertheless took at least one remedial course. Worse still, 41 percent of employers are "dissatisfied with graduates' ability to read and understand complicated materials," 42 percent are dissatisfied with graduates' ability to think analytically, 39 percent with their ability to apply what they learn to solve real-world problems, and 34 percent with their communications skills. A meager 18 percent of college professors

» Continued

Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work?

Building a Better School Funding System

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / February 10, 2005

Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Financing Student Success in the State of Ohio
February 2005

No matter that "government by commission" hasn't served Ohio well in the past (though it's gotten plenty of issues off Governor Taft's desk). No matter that Ohio is now one of the highest-taxed states in the land, that its economy is a wreck, and that it's pauperizing itself via excessive public spending. Never mind that a Noah's Ark style panel of "stakeholders" can never agree on anything except more, more, more. No matter. In 2003, the Governor empanelled a "Blue Ribbon Task Force on Financing Student Success" and charged it with devising a new school finance system for the Buckeye State, which the Supreme Court had mandated but the executive branch and legislature have never been able to agree on. Now that group has reported and, with a couple of exceptions, its report is as awful as you might expect. Though the Task Force correctly diagnosed a host of ills in Ohio's current public education system, and though it uses fine rhetoric about boosting student success and pupil achievement, this report is not about the education system's effectiveness, efficiency, or productivity. It's about adding to the system's inputs, i.e. revenues, and doing so according to the Marxist principle that "state resources be distributed to the districts whose students are most in need." Indeed, the Task Force explicitly calls for school funding to be based on "inputs"

» Continued

Building a Better School Funding System