NEA Attacks Administration's Education Reform Plan

Source: Washington Post

The nation's largest teachers union sharply attacked President Obama's most significant school improvement initiative on Friday evening, saying that it puts too much emphasis on a "narrow agenda" centered on charter schools and echoes the Bush administration's "top-down approach" to reform.

The National Education Association's criticism of Obama's $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" initiative came nearly a month after the president unveiled the competitive grant program, meant to spur states to move toward teacher performance pay; lift caps on independently operated, publicly funded charter schools; and take other steps to shake up school systems.

The NEA's statement to the Department of Education came a week before the end of the public-comment period on the administration's proposal, and it reflected deep divisions over the White House's education agenda within a constituency largely loyal to the Democratic Party.

The union, which boasts 3.2 million members, charged that Race to the Top contradicted administration pledges to give states more flexibility in how they improve schools. "We find this top-down approach disturbing; we have been down that road before with the failures of No Child Left Behind," the union wrote in its comments, "and we cannot support yet another layer of federal mandates that have little or no research base of success and that usurp state and local government's responsibilities for public education."

Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/08/21/nea_breaks_with_administration.html?hpid=topnews

great

He has little (if any) support of public school teachers. This is typical of his right-wing, republican-style programs that do nothing to solve the real problems and just create more resentment among teachers.

this retired teacher agrees wholeheartedly with you...

Just curious what your take on it is.

Just read the Education Forum here on DU.

NEA has practically rolled over and played dead on Arne Duncan's tactics and right-wing policies. For gawd's sake, it took them this long to object to Race to the Top?!!! I knew it was ridiculous and demeaning as soon as I heard about it.

Now, what is the NEA going to DO about any of this? My guess, not a damn thing.

I am glad to hear this news! Like someone else said, it's about time!

I will never forgive the Dems for buying into the entire Charter School undermining of public education, much less No Child Left Behind. They were so gullible of Bush's plans. I never really cared for Bill Richardson when he was running for office, but damn, he was right about education. Scrap NCLB and start from the ground up. We really need to address school funding at all levels.

States in the top 1/2 of the state get a screwin' like you can't believe. Rural schools have their struggles too, just like some urban schools. At least this formula is being re-evaluated in Wisconsin. Not sure what will come of it.

I was never a big fan, either, but his willingness to be direct and concisive, as well as right, about NCLB won him a lot of points with me. He was 3rd on my list out of the full contingent, whereas Obama was dead last.

more power to administrators, most of whom are ex-teachers who couldn't take the heat or ex-coaches who couldn't coach more power is nuts. And performance pay should go to all teachers. I am a retired teacher and it is amazing the dedication in this field. It is all that keeps teachers going back. Their love of the profession and their desire to help their students are the rewards. To pit them against each other and to embarrass those who do NOT for some reason get merit pay are unacceptable means to an unacceptable end. This will drive dedicated people out of the profession to the detriment of our young people.

:loveya: :patriot:

I'm surprised I'm not attending workshops on better chalk board erasing techniques that will lead to higher test scores. I'm surprised that the number of squares of toilet tissue I use at school are not calibrated and deducted from my pay.

...:7

...excellent and, I think, very taken for granted. They are being scapegoated in this reform effort. They need to be included in finding the solutions to improving public education. :)

Our entire society has gotten dumber and it is spreading to teachers and parents. We need a slave-driver right now to set things straight.

Never, I bet. Not every teacher or doctor or preacher is a saint but the ones I work with all have their hearts in the right place and work incredibly hard. Go grind your axe somewhere else.

You said it better than I did.

On top of that, we all are paid just amazing salaries, drive luxury sedans and do nothing on weekends, days off, summer vacations and after school.

Piss off, you asshat. If you think teaching is so easy, you should have come into my classroom before I moved out of country with my immigrant, non-English speaking Chicanos, my gangbangers, drug dealers, unwed teenage mother and the SPED kids whose parents say them as an embarrassment.

I've been relatively lucky. Of the nine teachers my kids have had only one was marginal, and she shaped-up after a complaint. A few were exceptional.

But I have read stories on how hard it is to fire under-performing teachers. It's almost impossible in many places. Districts sometimes have to spend over $100,000 building a huge case in a years-long investigation only to have one appeals panel somewhere shoot the whole thing down. Don't build enough of a case, teacher is free. Build too much of a case, teacher is free (monitoring classroom performance has been used to get teachers off, intimidating apparently). While they're building the case the teacher is still hurting students. Once the dismissal process is started the teacher sits for months or years on the payroll doing nothing while the appeals process goes through. Often it's cheaper just to buy the teacher out, and the teacher moves to another district without a firing for cause on his record.

Think of the finances. More than the salary and benefits of a teacher for a year are spent to investigate and fire one bad teacher.

Teachers need protection from frivolous claims, but this should not be acceptable to anyone.

of renewal. When they want to get rid of someone, they simply don't give them a new contract for the next year. No need to fire anyone. Costs nothing.

Underperforming teachers is a little hard to define. Around here, it's based on TAKS scores. I know one department head who teaches all AP and IB kids who had 100% meet the standard and 85% reach commended levels. That's with great students in classes of 12 each.

In the same department, a person who teaches trailer courses (repeat courses for students who have already failed at least once) has an average of 30 students per class, six classes per day, and got 80% to meet the standard. He's in danger of being fired, because he's under the 95% state average.

See any problem here? One of these teachers is wonderful, and the other is no good? Class size and composition don't matter? Not with one size fits all evaluations, which are popular with lazy administrators because they are easy. No study has ever followed up high test scorers and low test scorers for 20 years to see if their life outcomes are in any way correlated to their test scores, but we hand everything on those scores, and create categories of "bad" students, "bad" teachers, "bad" schools, and even "bad" districts without knowing any real results at all.

Chicken entrails, anyone?

Arne Duncan is the most vocal proponent of these easy, lazy measures which shift blame for any problems right onto teachers, period.

Many teachers just get a group of students who are not as good at tests. An evaluation needs to be more comprehensive.

But I do like the short-term contract idea.

janitors, cafeteria workers, and all other employees of a school fired in the Chicago "model."

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/23_03/arne233.shtml

Narrowing the Curriculum

Although gutting bilingual education, curtailing culturally relevant and critical pedagogies, and teaching to the test were byproducts of Chicago's high-stakes accountability policies before Duncan, since he took over, accountability has increased. Before Duncan, schools could be put on probation and have external partners forced upon them, but now schools are phased out, closed, or "turned around" by private contractors (some funded by the Gates Foundation). In the turn-around model, everyone is removed from their position, from principal to custodial workers. Accountability measures drastically increase pressure to do well on standardized tests. "Extracurriculars" rapidly disappear, like art, physical education, and recess, as reported in an Aug. 25, 2008, Chicago Sun Times article.
Much more at the link.

One other unforeseen side effect of one year contracts has been that teachers and coaches are also free to leave for greener pastures with no notice to the district. Our nationally recognized art teacher went to Georgia, perennial playoff softball coach to Dallas, last 3 chemistry teachers to the local JC, terrific English teacher to the local university. Many more, and this is just one campus. Creates a bit of unpredictable brain drain.

School starts tomorrow, and we have no Algebra II teacher, no chemistry teacher, no economics teacher, need two special ed aides, one assistant principal, and several other elective positions to fill. Students will be there, and so will subs.

I am an "old" teacher on professional (continuing contract). Last year some yo yo scheduled all our 8th grade kids who needed to repeat their science classes back into that class again and put them on the internet to make up the next years class. Unfortunately they were going to be tested on the stuff they were trying to learn themselves on a rinky dink computer program and were being re-taught the stuff they were already exposed to with labs and real teachers to ask questions. So we asked to have them rescheduled into their grade level classes and put on the computer for the 9 weeks or so of make-up they would get for a years course for the class they failed. The answer was no until I asked my young principal the third time in a meeting. I asked politely with more reasons why both the student and the school would be hurt by this practice each time. After the third time he gave up (didn't know I was done bringing it up ;-))and we had them re-scheduled by the next day. The young teachers on short term contracts sat by quietly while this went on and the two of us on continuing contract kept asking because it was important to our kids and because we could. This is the real advantage of continuing contracts. Teachers who work with the kids daily and are there natural advocates are able to actually advocate for them without being afraid for their jobs. Maybe next time I will be advocating for your kid!

Point 2. At our school we had a teacher who did not belong in the classroom and it was the teachers who complained on a weekly basis about her, not the administrators who just wanted the system to keep working. Teachers finally pestered our administrators enough that they took her out of the classroom. So be careful what you wish for. You might get it if you want to dis-empower your child's natural advocates
PS my principal is really very good and does listen as you can see above. The best systems allow the kind of dialogue we have at my school but those conversations would not be possible most places without union contracts!

My response was just to the poster who seemed to think that teachers had some protected status. Not in Texas.

Obviously, someone thinks tenure is a good idea, otherwise judges, including Supreme Court justices, wouldn't be appointed to life terms. When your job hangs on every loose comment, it makes for timid folk in too many cases.

And you're right that it's teachers who spot the unfit first. Today's the first day of school, so last Friday, we had a meet and greet for new faculty. One young woman told me that this was just a temporary job, because she was waiting for some insurance position to open up, hopefully by Christmas. This is the kind of thing a teacher shortage does. And one of the reasons we're short is the insecurity of these short contracts.

Thanks for your service!

Teacher basher and union basher. I call it like I see it.

or present some facts from a reliable source that backs up your scandalous statement.

Teachers on DU are sometimes made to feel like repukes. There's at least one in every teacher/union thread.

I doubt that anyone can say they loved all their teachers, but I was blessed to have some extraordinarily caring, dedicated and talented men and women heading up the classrooms when I was in school. Most all of them were active and vocal members of the NEA. They were responsible for much of what's right in my life.

about the bad teachers and their unions, instead of pissing on this thread? Some links would be nice too.:)

I've been teaching for more than 2 decades now. I've taught in huge districts and small. Across 2 states and 1200 miles. Teachers are still passionate about doing every thing we can to best serve our students.

Considering that the system is stacked against us, and that we get less respect every year, it takes that kind of dedication to keep us coming back every fall.

It's sure as hell not the pay, the working conditions, or the lack of respect we get for doing so.

devoted and committed and caring and hard working as they ever were. Why the hell d'ya think anyone goes into the field? For the glamour and the glory? Or maybe it's the riches and all of the prestige that comes with being a teacher?

Get a reality check. Our teachers are another part of the infrastructure that is in bad shape and in need of a major upgrade in terms of where we place them on the priority scale. Along with nurses and some other 'traditionally ' women's' jobs that are lower paying but essential, including a lot of civil service type labor.We've been able to artificially hold down the wages on such jobs by making them 'women's work' and belittling their worth.

Certainly all the 'free market capitalists,' all y'all that say the market determines what a job is worth, can't claim at this point to be surprised when the hens come back to roost and we reap the consequences of decades of y'all cutting education budgets, voting no on every school bond measure in every election because it would cost you 50 cents a year in new taxes and some fat rat bastard in a shiny suit told you that the bible said taxes were ungodly.

:rofl:

Go piss up a pole.

:patriot:

There's nothing inconsistent in that.

I understand your desire to defend the President.

I'm sorry that, in your dedication to that mission, you are willing to turn on public education and defend him when he's not only wrong, but WORSE than GWB.

I wish his defenders were honest enough to defend what's defensible, and to acknowledge what is not.

Let's hear it, goddamnit! How many years teaching do you have? This teacher heard the complete opposite from Obama before the election. Fucking union-basher. This administration has done one helluva bait-and-switch which is very disappointing / disturbing after watching NCLB just about shred any last remnant of respectability in this profession.

:loveya: :thumbsup: :hi:

Obama has always promoted these reforms so don't start with the Union Bashing stuff...There are problems within our education system and they start with teachers who simply can't teach! You may not be one of these teachers but you know them! AND DON"T SAY YOU DONT! GODDAMNIT!


I can cuss too!

I have been teaching for 17 years and I have taught in many regions of the country and abroad. I have worked with hundreds of teachers now, and out of those hundreds I can honestly say that 3% of them at best needed to move on. You cannot defend your position with facts because the facts don't exist.

Something has to be done.

We test all our students in science and math and our scores our compared with those who do not.

You have some fight in you. I admire that, but please fact check your assumptions.

Do you know anything about the nature of public education in the era of high-stakes testing? Do you not realize that what we have today is a falling backwards into the factory mode of education geared toward making business happy? Fuck business. I want to teach about life.

failures here are due to poor teaching.

Mostly its because we as a society don't value people who excel in these things--whether teachers or direct practitioners--nor respect the time and study it takes to master any of these pursuits.

Education in America is valued as a means to end, rather than as an end in itself.

a "deleted sub-thread" soon enough.

( between 7 am and 7:30am) stay on your feet all day long, take a short lunch---while working---stay after school till almost 5pm--take work home ( because you had no time to do it during the day)......

and then come back and make a statement, then someone might pay attention to your opinion.

Please understand that many of the teachers do a great job, however when it comes to pay we should focus on better system of paying our teachers; I say, yes to higher pay, yes to benefits, but please try to see how a Physics teacher who has to be trained Math and Physics should be payed more than an elementary education teacher.

If we believe in reform it has to start with parents first, then revamp k-5, then 6-8, and high school and the administration overall. As a licensed teacher in Ohio I can't buy a job. I am an instructor at a Community College, were I am exposed to carcinogens, chemicals and treated professionally like dirt, by our administration and F/T faculty. These people complain with full benefits, good wages and work a mere 28 hours a week starting at 45k up to 78k for the 30 weeks they work and get 1.5X pay for summer and most are teaching web courses (sorry they are web facilitators) and teach overloads. Union this! We need people responding to these posts to get up and realize that in the Toledo area alone there are something like 4,000 potential union members talk about the potential for growth and bargaining, in NW Ohio there are may more but we can be fired for discussing the subject b/c some already have been fired for mock circumstances... Dumb we are part of the root and the cause lets change this ....

"but please try to see how a Physics teacher who has to be trained Math and Physics should be payed more than an elementary education teacher."

Excuse me?? I taught Physics, and I think elementary teachers should be treated with respect and paid on the same scale.

If you don't have good elementary school teachers, you will never see good students later on. I don't care if you have degrees up your butt in everything from Physics to education and have been declared "Master Teacher of All That Moves." Let the elementary schools drop, and see how far you get!

And its "paid" more not "payed." Now that's a tell. "Elementary, my dear Watson."

but I disagree with this 100%


"who has to be trained Math and Physics should be payed more than an elementary education teacher. "

both require a BA, both require specialized training, preposterous and egotistical to assert that one is worthy of higher pay than tge other.

Elementary learning is crucial to secondary success, just as parenting is crucial to elementary success. It's dangerous to undervalue a colleague whose field of expertise is different than yours.

I've taught K-8th grade over the course of my career. K and 8 are the toughest of that range. I KNOW that the vast majority of secondary teachers are not going to manage the the socialization of, the hyper-supervision of and sensitivity for, the bottomless well of patience, kindness, and gentle firmness with, the substitute parenting of, and the miles wild range of developmental readiness present in a room full of 20 -30 5 yo chlldren, and make sure that they all learn what they need to, especially on 2-3 hours a day.

and you know it too

Really curious after your "we need a slave-driver" comment.

You see, there have been other folks who yearned for a strongman in power, and who hated unions, and you know what they were called.

I went to public school in the 80s and late 70s. It was nothing like the stories I hear now. Teachers were free to teach subjects as they wished and the only standardized testing was the "CAT".

Now, I'm not sure if all the problems are concentrated in certain "depressed area" schools, or whether even previously good schools have faltered as well.

I just know something needs to be done. Teacher's unions don't like charter schools but certain types of kids who always fall through the cracks may need a more targeted approach.

For instance, many white teachers simply ignore black kids. They herd them into low-expectation remedial classes at the first sign of struggle instead of challenging them like the white kids.

Go get hit by a bus.

now I see you slam teachers.

about Education REform...you call yourselves Democrats then fall for the REpug line of Vouchers, Charter Schools, Privatization and School REform. Stand up like a DEM on this!!!

Not looking good. When Duncan used one of the Chicago stadiums as a place to pitch his plans, he invited no one from the community, only business.

:sarcasm:

Means more work to transmute what I feel in reaction. ... not what I voted for.

entitled "Dehumanized" it is no wonder that Arnie speaks to business and ignores the input of teachers and other experts in the field. The thrust of the piece is that education has latched onto the mantra of "whatever business wants." No wonder we are testing kids to death and killing true learning.

Serfs for all. Get your serfs here. Can't run a fiefdom without serfs.

You know, like a teacher?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arne_Duncan Long time friends with business people.

Not.

:hi:

:patriot:

...about this: http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/13028/

Everything is a commodity. That includes education.

This guy has been a f*cking disaster with one sell-out after another. Reading the news threads is almost as depressing as when Bush was president - more so in some ways, because this sell-out pretends to be a Democrat.

It's pretty sharp criticism. The NEA is pissed.

IMO it's time to look at the very foundations of our educational system, maybe try to use the Internet and new communication technology as a core part of education rather than an accessory to an educational system that is in it's foundations stuck in Industrial Age and designed around a society of factory workers.

.

appointing the CEO of CIGNA to be the Surgeon General.

Education was the one thing I didn't support Obama on, and so far he hasn't failed me.

Wonder if there'll be anything about this?

...so. :7

The NEA cannot oppose the Obama/Duncan plan for education strongly enough, loudly enough, often enough, or actively enough for me.

about incompetent teachers and bad test scores in math and science have been used to smear public education since before we put men on the moon, invented the personal computer, mapped the human genome and produced more Nobel Laureates in physics, medicine and economics than any other nation.

Fact is that American students from the wealthiest and best public schools virtually tie with Singapore (the first place country on the TIMSS (Trends in International Math and Science studies) test.

The big discrepancy in educational outcomes is not between the United States and foreign countries but between rich and poor, black and white school systems here.

The problem is not with teachers of math and science. They teach the curriculum as well or better than their foreign counterparts. The problem is with a curriculum that is a mile wide and an inch deep. In Singapore, students are introduced to an average of 7 new concepts a year. In the US the number is closer to 30 than 7. Also, foreign teachers spend more time on problem solving skills because they deal with the introduction of fewer concepts. Both the broad curriculum and the emphasis upon learning facts over solving problems are gifts of the "education reform movement" and its NCLB stooges in Congress. It's akin to committing a rape and then blaming the victim for dressing provocatively.

years teaching post secondary students (voc-ed) I am well aware of the sad state of education. Each year more and more time was devoted to remedial training of math and verbal skills.
A would be plumber, electrician, or welder needs these skills to absorb and master technical subject matter.

Then there was this recent thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4021712&mesg_id=4021712




Kids going to secondary Voc-ed programs are often not even this good.

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20090823/WDH0101/908230453/1981


WASHINGTON -- The National Education Association pointedly criticized the Obama administration, saying the president is relying too heavily on charter schools and standardized tests in his attempt to overhaul the nation's schools.



"We urge the administration to step outside of this narrow agenda," the nation's largest teachers union said in a public statement filed Friday with the Education Department.

The comments reflect that President Barack Obama has taken positions on school reform that conflict with teachers unions, an influential segment of his Democratic base.

NEA official Kay Brilliant said the adminstration already knows about its concerns. "This won't come as a surprise," Brilliant said. "We've done our best to also praise them for the things they've done well."

Austin has kick ass charter schools that help students like me, who could not and would not go through regular public prisons er, I mean high schools. I went to one that had an Americorps program, a free health clinic that offered STD tests and birth control, and to top it off a top notch art program. My significant other went to one focusing in on Theatre Arts.