Fixes for DPS can't come fast enough — literally

Fixes for DPS can't come fast enough — literally:

Fixes for DPS can't come fast enough — literally

Say this for more than a month of "sick-outs," unofficial strikes staged by Detroit Public Schools teachers — they've brought the district's horrors clearly into focus: a dead mouse in one elementary school, classrooms so cold that children expect to wear coats until noon; pictures from another school show a profusion of mushrooms growing out of a wall.

Deplorable conditions in the state's largest district are nothing new. But knowing the district is in tragic disrepair is different from seeing it in vivid color, from understanding that there are rooms with standing water or teachers juggling 39 kindergartners in one class.

And yet ... here's something almost as awful as the conditions in which we expect Detroit children to learn, and judge them when they do not: There is no help coming, not any time soon.

The district has spent the bulk of the last 15 years under state oversight intended to remedy its financial and academic problems. It hasn't helped. It's gotten worse. The district has too much debt to operate effectively, it continues to lose students at a staggering rate, and tensions between the district's management and its workforce are at an unbelievable high.

DETROIT FREE PRESS

Court of Claims denies injunction against DPS teachers

Attention in the state in recent weeks has, rightly, been focused on the City of Flint, where thousands of residents have been exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water because the state failed to properly regulate treatment of water pumped from the Flint River.

But the needs of the 47,000 children in Detroit public schools are pressing — and what plans do exist to improve the district's situation offer no immediate relief.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan toured some schools last week, and has said he'll have inspectors examine the remainder, a four-month process undertaken with a view toward using the city's building codes to compel the district to make repairs.

DETROIT FREE PRESS

Detroit teacher calls for 'full strike' amid protests

DPS spokeswoman Michelle Zdrodowski wrote in an e-mail that among the district's 97 buildings, "complete disrepair" is the exception, not the norm. The cash-strapped district addresses problems "based on the resources available, in as timely a manner as possible." For instance, DPS officials said Friday, the mushrooms pictured growing Fixes for DPS can't come fast enough — literally:

Denver’s unified school enrollments may offer Boston a lesson - The Boston Globe

Denver’s unified school enrollments may offer Boston a lesson - The Boston Globe:

Denver’s unified school enrollments may offer Boston a lesson

DENVER — A few years ago, parents here faced a bewildering array of options when selecting their children’s schools. There were more than 60 enrollment systems within Denver Public Schools alone, and another set for the city’s charter schools, each with distinct timelines and applications.

The confusion discouraged many low-income families from choosing at all, while parents with greater resources took advantage of the complexity to “game the system” in their favor, residents said.

“It did not promote equity with families,” said Karen Mortimer, a Denver public education advocate. “If you were in the know, you got the better schools.”

But four years after the Mile-High City adopted a common enrollment system that provides one-stop shopping for traditional, charter, magnet, and innovation schools, parents praise the ease and convenience of finding the right match.

Interviews with Denver parents, educators, and community groups suggest that the city’s largely controversy-free adoption of unified enrollment offers lessons for Boston, where a similar proposal by Mayor Martin J. Walsh and school leaders has met with vehement opposition from some parents.

In Denver, the unified enrollment effort began with education advocates — not politicians. And the push included community organizations that helped win early support from parents, especially among the Latino and black communities that include most Denver students.

“I think it helped a lot,” Mike Kromrey, executive director of Together Colorado, a nonpartisan, multifaith community organization, said of parental engagement on the issue. “We ended up having parents speak on radio shows, testify, do [public relations], and bring a voice of ‘we see this as an equity issue.’ ”

In Boston, there has not been a comparable effort to build parent support, and attempts to involve parents before going public with the proposal may have backfired. Members of the Citywide Parent Council who were among the first to learn of the unified-enrollment proposal quickly became some of its most vocal critics.

Some of these parents oppose charter school expansion and have tied the enrollment plan to ongoing, separate efforts to raise the state’s cap on the independently run public schools. Supporters of the plan deny there is any connection.

“This is really a proposal to make more obvious the schools that we have available to us,” Rahn Dorsey, Walsh’s chief of education, said in a recent interview. “This proposal does nothing to create a school or eliminate a school.”

Dorsey and other unified-enrollment proponents say the purpose of combining enrollment systems is to make it easier for all families, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, to come to informed Denver’s unified school enrollments may offer Boston a lesson - The Boston Globe:

Obama on Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders - Business Insider

Obama on Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders - Business Insider:

OBAMA: Bernie Sanders 'tapped into a running thread in Democratic politics'

In a Politico interview published Monday morning, President Barack Obama weighed in on the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has been surging in the race against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Obama also waged an insurgent campaign against in the 2008 contest.

Politico correspondent Glenn Thrush asked Obama whether he bought into the notion that Sanders was an "analog" for his own candidacy against Clinton eight years ago.

"I don't think that's true," the president replied.

Obama then heaped praise on both candidates.

"I think they're both passionate about kids having a great education," he said. "I think they want to make sure everybody has healthcare. I think that they both believe in a tax system that is fair and not tilted towards, you know, the folks at the very top. But, you know, they — I think Bernie came in with the luxury of being a complete longshot and just letting loose."

He added: "I think Hillary came in with the — both privilege and burden of being perceived as the front-runner."

However, Obama did concede that Sanders had "tapped into a running thread in Democratic politics that says: Why are we still constrained by the terms of the debate that were set by Ronald Reagan 30 years ago?"

"Why is it that we should be scared to challenge conventional wisdom and talk bluntly about inequality and, you know, be full-throated in our progressivism? And, you know, that has an appeal and I understand that," Obama said of Sanders.

NBC/YouTubeHillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders at a debate.

In contrast, Obama said Clinton had adopted a more pragmatic message. Clinton served in Obama's administration for four years after losing to him in the 2008 primary.

"I think that what Hillary presents is a recognition that translating values into governance and delivering the goods is ultimately the job of politics, making a real-life difference to people in their day-to-day lives," he told Thrush. "I don't want to exaggerate those differences, though, because Hillary is really idealistic and progressive."

The Iowa caucus is just a week away, and the various polls — which have been all over the map, showing both Sanders and Clinton with strong, single-digit leads — suggest a neck and neck race there. Obama predicted that if Sanders won Iowa and then New Hampshire, the second primary state, the Vermont senator would start facing serious scrutiny of his campaign proposals.

"I think that if Bernie won Iowa or won New Hampshire, then you guys are going to do your jobs and, you know, you're going to dig into his proposals and how much they cost and what does it mean, and, you know, how does his tax policy work and he's subjected, then, to a rigor that hasn't happened yet, but that Hillary is very well familiar with," Obama said.

The president later suggested Sanders' candidacy was something like a "bright, shiny object" to voters looking for something new.

"I've gotten to know Hillary really well, and she is a good, smart, tough person who cares deeply about this country, and she has been in the public eye for a long time and in a culture in which Obama on Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders - Business Insider:

Chicago teachers union leader pledges to enforce austerity - World Socialist Web Site

Chicago teachers union leader pledges to enforce austerity - World Socialist Web Site:

Chicago teachers union leader pledges to enforce austerity

Negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and the administration of Mayor Rahm Emanuel continue amid growing resistance from workers to austerity nationwide, including teachers in Detroit. In the face of this, the president of the CTU Karen Lewis insisted last week that teachers “understand” that they will have to make sacrifices.

A statewide budget crisis is being used to push cuts in virtually every quarter. Budget negotiations have been deadlocked in the state government for more than six months and state workers and Chicago teachers have been without contracts since the fiscal year ended on July 1.

Last Wednesday, Illinois Republicans announced plans for legislation allowing for the city of Chicago and its school district to declare bankruptcy. In making public his support for the provocative legislation, Republican Governor Bruce Rauner targeted teachers directly, declaring, “I believe if we get involved we can take on the teachers union.” But the threat of bankruptcy is only one of many weapons being used to attack workers’ right and living standards across Illinois.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has reported an estimated $1 billion deficit and an operating budget shortfall of $480 million. Last Friday, CPS announced it laid off 227 administrative workers in its central office, including its chief financial officer and head of media relations, and cut 180 vacant positions for a reported savings of $45 million. No teacher layoffs were announced at that time.

In 2015, more than 1,400 teachers and other school workers were laid off as the city shaved $200 million from its school budget. Democratic mayor and former Obama administration chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel has in the course of negotiations with the CTU demanded that teachers agree to a pay freeze, pay all of their own pension contributions—amounting to a pay cut of about seven percent—and accept increased costs for health care.

In displaying their willingness to push through the cuts, CTU leaders have echoed the bipartisan claims about the “severity” of the budget crisis and boasted of their new rapport with Emanuel since his election victory against CTU-backed Democrat Jesus “Chuy” Garcia in an April runoff.

CTU President Lewis said last week that negotiations with the Emanuel administration were going well, because teachers—who have been under relentless attack for more than 10 years under both Presidents Bush and Obama—understand that the budget crisis requires their sacrifice!

“We're doing fairly well. Both sides understand that concessions have to be made.

“I think people understand what dire straits CPS [is in]. We're going to lose Chicago teachers union leader pledges to enforce austerity - World Socialist Web Site:

Detroit teachers face off with EM Earley over legality of 'sick-outs' Monday | MLive

Detroit teachers face off with EM Earley over legality of 'sick-outs' Monday | MLive.com:

Detroit teachers face off with EM Earley over legality of 'sick-outs' Monday

Check back with MLive after 11 a.m. for news on the outcome of the court hearing.

DETROIT, MI -- On the day President Barack Obama visited Michigan to attend the Detroit auto show, 88 of Detroit's nearly 100 public schools were closed. 

It wasn't due to burst water pipes, in-session training or a holiday. Union members simultaneously called in sick with the goal of drawing attention to the plight of their financially struggling school district. Some might even call the sick-outs a strike, which is illegal for Michigan teachers. 

Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Darnell Early and his staff filed a petition in the state Court of Appeals the same day most Detroit Schools were closed for the latest sick-out. There have been more than four sick-outs that closed dozens of schools during prior weeks. 

The District asked a judge to issue a ruling banning teachers from conducting further school-closing protests.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens declined to issue an immediate restraining order last week, but set a hearing for 11 a.m. Monday. 

Early and other "top administrators" plan to attend the hearing, according to Dave Murray, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Snyder. 

Detroit teachers are encouraging parents of District students to protest at 10:30 a.m. Monday outside Cadillac Place, 3020 W. Grande in Detroit's New Center, where the hearing is being held.

A Facebook event notice asks teachers to call in sick Monday and "pack" the courtroom; however, another message issued by the union says "most" will be in classrooms Monday doing their jobs, and urges teachers to wear red to show solidarity with the union members in court. 

Detroit Public Schools protest photosGus Burns | fburns@mlive.com 

The Detroit Federation of Teachers union has a number of grievances. They include claims of low pay, sparse textbooks, large classes, poor benefits and facilities that pose a health risk or adverse learning environment. There have been claims of rodent infestations, black mold, lack of heat, warped gym floors and leaky roofs.

The teachers' union has garnered national attention with its protests. President hopeful Hillary Clinton posted on Twitter last week: "No one would tolerate these conditions in a wealthy suburb. Detroit students and teachers deserve better."

For Detroit schools, bankruptcy would be inevitable without Lansing's assistance. While even the union acknowledges this, and is asking the state to pay its debt, union officials are also demanding less Lansing oversight.

• Related: Abandoned Detroit high school decimated by scrappers

This is, in part, is the motivation for the sick-outs Earley seeks to have declared illegal.

Earley, the former Flint emergency manager, took over Detroit Public Schools in January 2015  and earns a $225,000 annual salary.

State law says: "A public employee shall not strike and a public school employer shall not institute a lockout."

If the administration feels a strike has occurred, it files an allegation with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC). MERC has 60 days to conduct a hearing. Teachers found guilty of striking may be fined a day's pay for each day of the strike, and the union can be $5,000 for each day of the strike. The proceeds go to the state's School Aid Fund.

Rather than waiting for a MERC hearing, the District filed the petition for a restraining order to hasten the process.

It's unclear if Earley has filed a strike complaint with the state.

MLive attempted to reach Lynn Morrison, the staff attorney and listed contact for MERC, but received and auto-reply email stating she won't be available until Tuesday.

Declining enrollment and property tax revenue hit Detroit schools hard in recent years, though the District says enrollment is stabilizing. Snyder said the District Detroit teachers face off with EM Earley over legality of 'sick-outs' Monday | MLive.com:

Charter schools' rapid growth questioned | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com

San Diego charter schools stir conflicts | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com:

Charter schools' rapid growth questioned

San Diego charter school advocate now facing felony charge ignited boom in charters

 By the time Steve Van Zant left the Mountain Empire School District in 2013, he had overseen the authorization of more than a dozen charter schools to operate in other districts throughout the county — with several going on to hire his education consulting firm.

All the while, Van Zant coached at least one other district on how to approve out-of-town charters, according to emails obtained by the San Diego Union-Tribune. As more districts approved far-flung charters, Van Zant’s EdHive consultant business took on some of the schools as clients.

The San Diego District Attorney’s Office arraigned Van Zant Jan. 15 on one felony conflict-of-interest charge from an undisclosed incident in May 2010 while he was superintendent of Mountain Empire.

The District Attorney’s Office declined to disclose details of its investigation, and it is unclear whether the charge relates to his work with charter schools. According to the criminal complaint, Van Zant violated laws that prohibited him “from being financially interested in contracts made by him in his official capacity.”

The San Diego Union-Tribune has tracked a charter empire built by Van Zant by taking advantage of what some say is a shortcoming in state law that gives districts a financial incentive to place charters in other school districts.

Van Zant, 53, declined to comment on the criminal charges and EdHive business model through his attorney Garland Peed.

More than 80 out-of-district charters have been approved in San Diego County, the vast majority of which were authorized by small East County districts — several with help from Van Zant, who includes a list of charter clients on his LinkedIn professional network profile.

By putting charters in outside its boundaries, a district can raise new funds — up to 3 percent of a charter’s revenue — without any threat to enrollment or state attendance funds.

When Van Zant accepted the job in 2013 as superintendent of the Sausalito Marin City School District, he was positioned to devote even more time growing his consulting business. He would commute from his Mission Bay home for the three-day-a-week position in Northern California with a starting salary of $165,000 andSan Diego charter schools stir conflicts | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com: 

Report’s Replete with Points to Consider About Testing of Garden State Students - NJ Spotlight

Report’s Replete with Points to Consider About Testing of Garden State Students - NJ Spotlight:

REPORT’S REPLETE WITH POINTS TO CONSIDER ABOUT TESTING OF GARDEN STATE STUDENTS

Panel’s review of use of standardized exams stresses need to review goals of all student assessments and to not rush change

Lost in the drama over whether New Jersey would drop the Common Core State Standards was a second report from the Christie administration this month that raised a number of important points about state testing.

The final report from the Study Commission on the Use of Student Assessment was the result of year-long effort by panel members from across the philosophical spectrum, ranging from the state chamber of commerce to two panelists nominated by the New Jersey Education Association, the teachers union.

Some notable news from the report has already been aired, including its continued backing of the online PARCC exams and some recommendations for new high school graduation requirements starting in 2020.

RELATED LINKS

STUDY COMMISSION ON THE USE OF STUDENT ASSESSMENTS: FINAL REPORT

But the report included close to 50 recommendations, including several calling for more effective communication about the value and purpose of the standardized assessments. It made clear that current lines of communication are not working.

While the report supported ongoing review of the Common Core, it also suggested that the state give districts ample time to adapt and not change too much at once.

For example, it recommended the state stick with its current science standards, which are not as high profile as the Common Core but equally significant , at least for science educators.

And it called on local school districts to be more open about their own testing outside the state-mandated exams in terms of what tests they give their students and why they are administered.

Here, verbatim, are10 key recommendations in the report:

No. 3: The Study Commission recommends that the NJDOE provide school districts with the time, support, professional learning, and communication necessary to accommodate any changes to the standards that might impact the school district’s planning, implementation, and decision making about curriculum, instruction, and/or instructional resources.

No. 5: The Study Commission fully supports the NJDOE’s efforts in the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and recommends that all education stakeholders support and promote the new science standards.

No. 14: The Study Commission recommends that the NJDOE, in cooperation with State educational associations and advocacy groups, develop and launch a proactive communication campaign throughout the State regarding: (a) the State’s role and responsibilities … ; (b) best practices in assessment of all student populations … ; and (c) what the NJDOE determines to be the most common, frequently occurring, and widespread misunderstandings and inaccuracies about educational standards and the use of student assessments in New Jersey’s public schools.

No. 20: The Study Commission recommends that school districts conduct a thorough inventory and analysis of their own student assessment systems …

The Study Commission further recommends that the NJDOE commission a comprehensive research study in which the information generated in the above Report’s Replete with Points to Consider About Testing of Garden State Students - NJ Spotlight:

Counting What Counts: Five Dilemmas Facing Education

Counting What Counts: Five Dilemmas Facing Education:

Counting What Counts: Five Dilemmas Facing Education

This is a guest post by Dr. Helen Janc Malone, Director of Institutional Advancement and National Director, Education Policy Fellowship Program at the Institute for Educational Leadership.

In his new book, Counting What Counts: Reframing Education Outcomes, Dr. Yong Zhao challenges our current approach to student success measurement and proposes a new paradigm, one that is focused on personalized and authentic learning.

Dr. Zhao posits that the overemphasis on testing has moved the United States away from broader discussions on the purposes of education, the importance of embracing diversity, and the need to cultivate creativity and entrepreneurship. He noted five dilemmas facing the U.S. education as part of the American Educational Research Association/Institute for Educational Leadership lecture series.

Homogenizing vs. diversifying. Dr. Zhao argues that the existing U.S. accountability system can be characterized as one that is deficit-driven (overemphasizing gaps), standardized in its testing, and prescriptive in its curriculum. It is isolating in its practice, with classrooms continuing to operate as islands with teachers receiving 'just-in-case' teaching support. He argues that the existing assessment system is designed to measure mediocrity, where all students need to meet standardized criteria that do not speak to their unique skills, abilities, competencies, or potential. It is not a system to support greatness. He warns that what the existing accountability system perpetuates is sameness, instead of embracing intellectual diversity and pluralism of ideas.

Short-term vs. long-term. Much of the education reform focus, Dr. Zhao warns, is on meeting short-term outcomes -- have students made progress on their test scores? We tend to be less concerned about the long-term implications of our short-term strategies. Unlike the medical profession, education rarely discusses the intended and unintended consequences of our interventions, or as Dr. Zhao calls them, education side effects. Yet, mounting evidence suggested that overemphasis on testing cuts into holistic curriculum, creativity, and diverse forms of learning and expression. Thus, he asks the education community to closely examine the possible long-term side effects of standardized testing on student engagement in learning, on curiosity, and on students' individual confidence. He challenges us to rethink education with an emphasis on learning, not on test taking skills.

Academic vs. nonacademic. Much of existing education reform, Dr. Zhao explains, has been in service of improving academic outcomes, such as reading, writing, math, and science. However, a growing body of research is widening the conversation to include nonacademic measures. Some have called such measures 21st Century skills, noncognitive, or a growth mindset. Each captures a broader set of 'nonacademic' skills and competences that interplay with academic success, such as teamwork or problems solving. Although the 'nonacademic' skills are not well defined, and there is lack of consensus of what to call these types of skills, there is growing recognition that educators ought to take a strengths-based, asset-driven approach to student learning, emphasizing social intelligence and critical thinking, in addition to the academic content, as both are necessary for postsecondary success.

Measurable vs. unmeasurable. The existing assessment system emphasizes testing to the lowest common denominator, whether the standardized tests are for Counting What Counts: Five Dilemmas Facing Education:

Some of Those Gov.-Snyder-Released Emails on the Flint Water Crisis | deutsch29

Some of Those Gov.-Snyder-Released Emails on the Flint Water Crisis | deutsch29:

Some of Those Gov.-Snyder-Released Emails on the Flint Water Crisis

On January 20, 2016, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder released a 274-page file of his emails related to the Flint water crisis.

The January 20, 2016, Detroit News article references certain emails in Snyder’s release as being key to understanding state culpability in the water crisis.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

Lansing — Gov. Rick Snyder was advised in late September that the state bore responsibility for Flint’s water problems because former state Treasurer Andy Dillon made “the ultimate decision” to let the city leave the Detroit system, according to emails released Wednesday.

The city later turned to corrosive Flint River water that caused aging pipes to release lead into the drinking water. …

In late September, then-Chief of Staff Dennis Muchmore offered a contrarian view at times about whether the state was on the hook for costs associated with switching Flint back to Detroit’s water.

“I can’t figure out why the state is responsible except that Dillon did make the 

Some of Those Gov.-Snyder-Released Emails on the Flint Water Crisis | deutsch29:

Over 200 Educators in New York Receive Erroneous Scores Linked to Student Performance - The New York Times

Over 200 Educators in New York Receive Erroneous Scores Linked to Student Performance - The New York Times:

Over 200 Educators in New York Receive Erroneous Scores Linked to Student Performance

 More than 200 teachers and principals received erroneous scores from New York State on a contentious measurement that ties their performance to how well their students do on tests, according to state documents obtained by The New York Times.

The error, which affected a small percentage of scores for the 2014-15 academic year, could be another blow to the practice of linking educator performance to student exams, a system that has come under fire in recent years.

A letter sent to district superintendents on Friday said that certain test results had been excluded from state-provided growth scores — which track student performance on state exams — for less than 1 percent of the more than 40,000 educators who received such feedback.

The state Education Department attributed the error to a contractor, American Institutes for Research, a behavioral and social science research group based in Washington, and said the blunder affected principals and certain teachers whose growth scores included schoolwide measurements of student performance. (Teachers whose scores incorporated only their own students’ tests were not affected.) The letter said the problems occurred “almost exclusively” in grades nine through 12.

The error involved numerical scores that are translated into growth ratings, which can be classified as “highly effective,” “effective,” “developing” or “ineffective.” Dennis Tompkins, a spokesman for the Education Department, said that while about 250 principals and teachers received incorrect scores, the error was large enough only to change the growth ratings for 30 educators, all of whom were principals. That metric is just one of several components in an overall performance rating, and Mr. Tompkins said that no overall performance ratings were affected by the errors.

Nonetheless, he said scores for the more than 40,000 educators would be recalculated at the contractor’s expense; the higher score would be the one that counts.

“No one will be negatively impacted by A.I.R.’s error,” Mr. Tompkins said.

It is not the first time there have been errors in test-based ratings. Three years ago, the Washington public school system said that problems in its measurements had led to erroneous ratings for 44 teachers, one of whom was fired as a result of the poor evaluation.

In New York, the practice of linking evaluations to student test performance has faced criticism. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo pushed hard last Over 200 Educators in New York Receive Erroneous Scores Linked to Student Performance - The New York Times:

The Call to Stand Up For Students:

The Call to Stand Up For Students

Rank and File Teachers Call on NYSUT Leadership to Do More

 The Call to Stand Up For Students:

We are a coalition of educators motivated by a desire to provide our students with an authentic, developmentally appropriate, culturally relevant, and child-centered public education. As we near the 2016 testing season, hundreds of thousands of young learners will be asked to submit to 9 hours of flawed and harmful state assessments that reduce teaching and learning to a test score, narrow the curriculum, label the majority of children failures, and squander resources, ultimately providing no educational benefit.

While the opt out movement has captured the attention of policymakers,there has been no substantive change. The only change is that school districts must now use limited time and resources to negotiate another APPR plan that requires both more testing for NYS children and a continued focus on evaluating teachers through test scores.

Despite this glaring lack of relief for students, the state teachers union (NYSUT) has failed to sound the alarm, and instead has launched a million dollar member-funded “multi-media campaign to highlight progress.” While a campaign video vaguely states that “there is still a lot of work to do,” the campaign is absent of any call to action. A similar campaign by the UFT–the state’s largest local union, based in NYC–goes so far as to spread misinformation, making the false claim that teachers will not be evaluated by test scores for the next 4 years. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

As educators, we are committed to sharing factual information so that those impacted by these policies can make informed decisions. Here are the facts:

• The Education Transformation Act of 2015 requires that 50% of  a teacher’s evaluation be based on a student performance measure. This will not change unless the law is amended.  

• Although teachers will still receive a growth score based on state tests, a 4 year moratorium has been passed on the use of state-provided growth The Call to Stand Up For Students:

Ed Notes Online: Salon on WE CAUCUS: “11,000 smart, committed teachers can change the world”:

Ed Notes Online: Salon on WE CAUCUS: “11,000 smart, committed teachers can change the world”: A group of working Philadelphia teachers is looking to upset the status quo of the teachers union:

Salon on WE CAUCUS: “11,000 smart, committed teachers can change the world”: A group of working Philadelphia teachers is looking to upset the status quo of the teachers union

From left: Amy Roat, Yaasiyn Muhammad, Ismael Jimenez, Kelley Collings.

Salon on WE CAUCUS: “11,000 smart, committed teachers can change the world”: A group of working Philadelphia teachers is looking to upset the status quo of the teachers union

UP FOR A VOTE: "SOCIAL JUSTICE UNIONISM," IN WHICH EVERY TEACHERS UNION MEMBER PARTICIPATES IN EDUCATIONAL CHANGE

MORE's homies from Philly get noticed.

The solution WE is offering is part of a national movement that seeks to drastically change the modus operandi of the teachers union from one in which union members pay dues and trust that the big decisions are being made by the leaders and lawyers at the bargaining table to one in which every single teachers union member actively participates in grass-roots educational change. This new approach, called social justice unionism, comes with a track record of success in cities like Chicago, St. Paul, Seattle and Portland.

I remember sitting in a bar in Chicago a few years ago chatting with some future WE Caucus people. They were interested in the idea of a caucus and were asking MORE people for some ideas. Then lookie down the road and these guys really may have a shot at winning something in the elections next month.

Some of you may have seen the very idea of social justice unionism, which is a merger of bread and butter issues with issues of concern to parents and students, being trashed as turning people off. Yet the only real challenge to Randi's control of the teacher union movement has come from SJ movements in the cities named above. Philadelphia has its own version of the Unity Caucus loyalty oath machine run by president Jerry Jordan.

Roat and Muhammad are running for president and vice president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) in the union’s upcoming leadership election, which will take place by mail-in ballot Feb. 4-23. PFT elections happen every four years, though they are usually non-events and many teachers report being unaware there are elections at all; the current leadership team, the collective bargaining or “CB team,” which is headed up by Jerry Jordan, has been steering the ship since the 1980s. Roat is part of a slate of nine candidates, all of whom come out of the Caucus of Working Educators (WE), the first group to seriously challenge the leadership of the PFT in three decades.

Three decades without a real election in Philly. The way Randi and Mulgrew like it. I wrote about Randi's visit to Philly to Ed Notes Online: Salon on WE CAUCUS: “11,000 smart, committed teachers can change the world”: A group of working Philadelphia teachers is looking to upset the status quo of the teachers union: