By Rachel Johnson
by Frederick M. Hess • Apr 26, 2010 at 9:19 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
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In a new forum in the quarterly journal Education Next, Education Trust honcho Kati Haycock and Stanford economist Rick Hanushek address the issue of whether and how to more "equitably" distribute teachers (full disclosure: I'm an executive editor of Ed Next). With characteristic passion, Haycock calls for efforts to focus on attracting good teachers to high-poverty, low-performing schools. I strongly support what Haycock has to say in the exchange, but I worry about the possibility that some of her allies may take her suggestions too far.
In Ed Next, Haycock argues, "We know it is possible to bring high-quality teachers into urban schools...Districts can move up timelines for teacher resignations and transfers and give principals in hard-to-staff schools first dibs on new entrants and transfers. States and districts can establish a policy of 'mutual consent' that gives principals the right to choose their own teachers...States and districts can eliminate seniority-based layoffs, which should consider effectiveness instead, and make it easier to transfer or remove ineffective teachers who cannot improve."
Moreover, Haycock cautions, "Nobody thinks forced reassignments are a good solution and nobody is seriously proposing it. Every once in a while, district leaders become frustrated and make noises about the possibility of forced reassignments. But...a better solution lies in a creative combination of targeted incentives for teachers and policies that empower administrators and school leaders to recruit and retain effective educators." What
Only one of the state teachers of the year deigned to respond to my questions about the TOY experience: New Jersey's Maryann Woods-Murphy. Maybe my suggestion that they heckle Arne Duncan had something to do with it. Or maybe they had better things to do. In any case, if you want to know what at least one of the state teachers of they year thinks about merit pay, RTTT, and who's going to be named national teacher of the year, read on. An edited version of our email exchange is below.
Budget woes hit schools hard and harder The Inquirer
By Peter Schrag
By Dave Johnson
By Brian Leubitz
A story in today’s Sacramento Bee highlights the city council race for District 5. It’s an informative article that features the rise of SCUSD trustee, Patrick Kennedy, who has held a position on the school board for two years. Kennedy’s opponent in the race is Jay Schenirer, a former SCUSD trustee.
The underlying nuance in the article fails to mention that Kennedy’s position on the school board appears only to have served as a political stepping stone for higher ambitions.
Conversely, Schenirer’s history on the school board (and the decisions he made regarding Sacramento Charter High School) may serve as his stumbling block.
If Kennedy’s seat on the board is vacated because he is elected to a higher office, his replacement needs to be
