Senate OKs bill to abolish teacher tenure. MCT Regional News, Wed Mar 24 2010. Mike Salinero, Tampa Tribune, Fla. (excerpts for space! Emphasis mine)
Mar. 24--TALLAHASSEE -- Republicans .... [passed] a bill in the state Senate that would tie teacher pay and continued employment to student learning gains.
On a 21-17 vote, the Senate approved the bill which would do away with multiyear contracts teacher unions now negotiate with their county school boards. Teachers would get annual contracts with their evaluations based heavily on learning gains by students.
Teachers who do not show learning gains in four out of five years will lose their certification.
....
"How can we expect teachers to be responsible if their students skip school or arrive ill-prepared ...?" Dockery [ Republican Senator who opposed the bill] "The idea that teachers are solely responsible for a child's performance goes against everything we know about what makes children successful."
The bill's sponsor, Sen. John Thrasher, said it endeavors to make sure every student, rich or poor, has the "benefit of an effective teacher."
"Our bill and the language in it ends the practice of giving contracts to ineffective teachers because we are going to base future teacher assessments on success in the classroom," said Thrasher, a St. Augustine Republican.
Thrasher's bill does away with years of service as a consideration in setting teachers' pay levels. .....
Democrats characterized the legislation as a draconian attack on teachers that would demoralize the profession and hurt teacher recruitment. They said the great majority of teachers are dedicated and work for pay below the national average because of their commitment to students.
"This seeks to weed out bad teachers by assuming all teachers are bad," said Sen. Dan Gelber, a Democrat from Miami Beach. "It takes a sledge hammer to the teaching profession."
....
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
School Board Meeting ....
Fernie had its annual turn at hosting a board meeting last night, and as usual attendance was less than capacity. From my seat in the public gallery, there were two of us, myself and a parent from Fernie.
What news came out of this meeting? Well, the preliminary 'numbers' for next year show that expenses could be nearly $1,000,000 (as in 'one million dollars') more than revenue. We all know that means "cutbacks". What we don't know is "from where". As usual, Mr. Norum is doing an excellent job of containing costs and preventing deficits and some of the other ("evil") accounting tricks that have happened in other districts.
Student enrollment in SD5 is down 9 student FTE from January, and down 85 from September 09. International students = 68 and they are not included in my figures.
The meeting was mostly taken up with discussion around whether or not to fund all-day K at Highlands Elementary School (HES) - which currently has not been allocated any of the 200 'seats' being funded by the Government for the 2010-2011 school year. The discussion revolved around fairness 'to all', and even included disagreement over the cost to the district of the additional teaching and support time (would it be $54,000, or $120,000+...) - agreement could not be found on a 'figure' to use. No mention was made of the fact that at HES you have the Chairperson of the Provincial Primary Teachers' Association, one of the people involved in the creation of the all-day K implementation plan, one of the people who is in the lead of various other primary program planning.... Certainly there seemed to be wide-spread agreement that all-day K is good for many (most) children!
In the end, the trustees defeated the motion, so as of this morning, HES will need to wait one more year....
To end on a really positive note, the Superintendent was extremely complementary toward teachers and CUPE, proudly praising many folks who have contributed so much to education - it was fantastic to see (but not surprising, as he does this regularly). During the "Trustee Bouquets" session, they too praised teachers and CUPE, as well as our students who participated in the BC Winter Games and so on.
What news came out of this meeting? Well, the preliminary 'numbers' for next year show that expenses could be nearly $1,000,000 (as in 'one million dollars') more than revenue. We all know that means "cutbacks". What we don't know is "from where". As usual, Mr. Norum is doing an excellent job of containing costs and preventing deficits and some of the other ("evil") accounting tricks that have happened in other districts.
Student enrollment in SD5 is down 9 student FTE from January, and down 85 from September 09. International students = 68 and they are not included in my figures.
The meeting was mostly taken up with discussion around whether or not to fund all-day K at Highlands Elementary School (HES) - which currently has not been allocated any of the 200 'seats' being funded by the Government for the 2010-2011 school year. The discussion revolved around fairness 'to all', and even included disagreement over the cost to the district of the additional teaching and support time (would it be $54,000, or $120,000+...) - agreement could not be found on a 'figure' to use. No mention was made of the fact that at HES you have the Chairperson of the Provincial Primary Teachers' Association, one of the people involved in the creation of the all-day K implementation plan, one of the people who is in the lead of various other primary program planning.... Certainly there seemed to be wide-spread agreement that all-day K is good for many (most) children!
In the end, the trustees defeated the motion, so as of this morning, HES will need to wait one more year....
To end on a really positive note, the Superintendent was extremely complementary toward teachers and CUPE, proudly praising many folks who have contributed so much to education - it was fantastic to see (but not surprising, as he does this regularly). During the "Trustee Bouquets" session, they too praised teachers and CUPE, as well as our students who participated in the BC Winter Games and so on.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Latest on that Rhode Island school mass firing....
Deal possible over proposed R.I. teacher firings: Compromise would save jobs, overhaul struggling school, The Washington Post, Thu Mar 4 2010. Nick Anderson (excerpts for space)
A Rhode Island school superintendent and union leaders, who have been at odds over a decision to fire every teacher at a struggling high school, signaled Wednesday that a compromise that would preserve jobs and overhaul the school may be possible.
......Superintendent Frances Gallo said in a statement. She said she welcomes union input in developing "a dynamic plan to dramatically improve student achievement" at Central Falls High School.
Gallo's statement followed an overture Tuesday from the Central Falls Teachers' Union, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. The instructors have offered support for a longer school day, as well as more rigorous evaluations and training, among other steps.
That appeared to pave the way for reopening negotiations on the proposed dismissals.
.....
Experts say there is little evidence to determine whether firing teachers en masse will improve a troubled school, despite President Obama's support for Rhode Island officials who appeared on the verge of taking that drastic step earlier.
.....
Despite Wednesday's developments, experts say the effectiveness of Obama's school turnaround strategy remains an open question.
"There just is very little evidence in terms of what works in quickly turning around a persistently low-performing school," said Grover "Russ" Whitehurst, a Brookings Institution scholar who oversaw education research under President George W. Bush.
Whitehurst said the federal Institute of Education Sciences pursued that question under his tenure but failed to find enough examples for solid answers. ......
"We could find no evidence that any one particular approach worked better than any other," Jennings [Jack Jennings is president of the Center on Education Policy] said. Obama's statement on the Rhode Island school, he said, shows that the president wants to crack down on academic failure, "but there's no assurance that kids are going to be any better off."
Removing all or most of a school's faculty, experts say, raises the obvious issue of finding effective replacements. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday that schools elsewhere have been rejuvenated after changing staff. His aides cited cases in Chicago, Colorado and Los Angeles.
......
Gerald N. Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, criticized the requirement that a principal be replaced in order for a school to qualify for federal funds; he said anecdotal evidence of success is not enough to justify it.
A Rhode Island school superintendent and union leaders, who have been at odds over a decision to fire every teacher at a struggling high school, signaled Wednesday that a compromise that would preserve jobs and overhaul the school may be possible.
......Superintendent Frances Gallo said in a statement. She said she welcomes union input in developing "a dynamic plan to dramatically improve student achievement" at Central Falls High School.
Gallo's statement followed an overture Tuesday from the Central Falls Teachers' Union, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. The instructors have offered support for a longer school day, as well as more rigorous evaluations and training, among other steps.
That appeared to pave the way for reopening negotiations on the proposed dismissals.
.....
Experts say there is little evidence to determine whether firing teachers en masse will improve a troubled school, despite President Obama's support for Rhode Island officials who appeared on the verge of taking that drastic step earlier.
.....
Despite Wednesday's developments, experts say the effectiveness of Obama's school turnaround strategy remains an open question.
"There just is very little evidence in terms of what works in quickly turning around a persistently low-performing school," said Grover "Russ" Whitehurst, a Brookings Institution scholar who oversaw education research under President George W. Bush.
Whitehurst said the federal Institute of Education Sciences pursued that question under his tenure but failed to find enough examples for solid answers. ......
"We could find no evidence that any one particular approach worked better than any other," Jennings [Jack Jennings is president of the Center on Education Policy] said. Obama's statement on the Rhode Island school, he said, shows that the president wants to crack down on academic failure, "but there's no assurance that kids are going to be any better off."
Removing all or most of a school's faculty, experts say, raises the obvious issue of finding effective replacements. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday that schools elsewhere have been rejuvenated after changing staff. His aides cited cases in Chicago, Colorado and Los Angeles.
......
Gerald N. Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, criticized the requirement that a principal be replaced in order for a school to qualify for federal funds; he said anecdotal evidence of success is not enough to justify it.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
News Story Teasers....
THRONE SPEECH TURNS A BLIND EYE
Ignoring the painful reality of school closures, oversized classes, dwindling support for students with special needs, and boards of education struggling to manage, the throne speech contained vague statements with no detail or mention of any monetary commitment. The list includes:
- a new Master Teacher program
- public/private partnerships to provide preschools for three- and four-year olds
- greater parent involvement in shaping the education to a child's needs and passions
- new forms of schooling for greater choice and diversity
- voluntary Kindergarten for this September and full day for all by September 2011
- greater focus on resources for students and less on administrative costs
- neighbourhood learning centres to meet the needs of families seven days a week.
The BCTF contacted the deputy minister of education following these announcements to get further details and was told that the ministry knew nothing about them and had not been involved in their development.
*****
BRACING FOR THE BUDGET
The provincial budget is to be announced [today]. Teachers and parents need and expect an increase in education funding to deal with overcrowded classrooms, reduced student services, depleted district resources, and overdue school maintenance.
This developing funding crisis was not caused by boards of education but by a government downloading costs that are not taken into account in the funding formula, such as:
- loss of annual facilities grant
- teacher salary and benefit increases that were provincially negotiated
- new carbon tax and carbon-offset charges
- increased MSP and WCB premiums
- new costs for implementing full-day Kindergarten
- additional costs of provincially legislated class-size limits.
The Association of School Board Officials (formerly secretary-treasurers) has said that the education system desperately needs an immediate injection of $300 million in 2010-11 to offset a funding shortfall.
*****
12,000 CLASSES EXCEEDING THE CLASS-COMPOSITION LIMITS
The government's own legislation sets the limit at three students with an Individual Education Plan per class. In 2010 there are close to 12,000 class-composition violations. That is up from 11,000 in 2009 and 10,000 in 2008. The data presented by the minister of education also shows 3,229 class-size violations with more than 30 students for the 2009-10 school year. That is down a mere 100 classes from 2008-09, but still higher than in 2007-08 when there were 3,179 violations. It has been more than four years since BC's teachers went on strike to improve classroom conditions, and in that time no progress has been made and government has refused to fund its own legislation.
The full report can be found in Overview of class size and composition in British Columbia Public Schools for 2005-10, at the Ministry of Education website http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/reporting/district_data_summary.php.
*****
FRASER INSTITUTE TURNS TO BLACK
In an unexpected move, CanWest announced that the Vancouver Sun and The Province would not be publishing the annual Fraser Institute ratings of BC's elementary schools this year. Various reasons have been given for this decision, including financial woes, Olympic coverage, and dwindling parental interest and support.
*****
ALBERTA TEACHERS TO GET 5.99% INCREASE
In a decision handed down [in February], an arbitrator ruled that teachers working in the province's public, separate, and francophone schools, should receive an increase in salaries and allowances amounting to 5.99% in the 2009-10 school year. The increase is consistent with the average growth in the earnings of Albertans from 2008 to 2009 as reported by Statistics Canada. The arbitration decision upholds the Alberta Teachers' Association's (ATA) position concerning the application of a formula linking teacher salary increases with annual changes in Alberta average weekly earnings. The formula is embedded in the Memorandum of Agreement between the province and the ATA and the resulting five-year collective agreements that came into effect in the 2007-08 school year in all 62 public, separate, and francophone school districts across the province.
*****
LET'S TEST EVERYONE
Michael Smith of Tennessee, writing in the latest issue of Kappan, proposes that everyone- students, teachers, parents, and citizens-take national tests. Such a test, he says, could be computer-adaptive, based on standards that span preschool to the PhD. Using mathematics as an example, everyone could have a personal national mathematics score. With this in hand, students could compare their scores to their teachers and parents; workers could compare their scores to other workers and supervisors and to every other citizen in the United States. Ultimately, of course, such results could be used for employment decisions and continued screening throughout a person's career.
Go to http://pdkintl.org/ for the full story, Kappan, February 2010.
Ignoring the painful reality of school closures, oversized classes, dwindling support for students with special needs, and boards of education struggling to manage, the throne speech contained vague statements with no detail or mention of any monetary commitment. The list includes:
- a new Master Teacher program
- public/private partnerships to provide preschools for three- and four-year olds
- greater parent involvement in shaping the education to a child's needs and passions
- new forms of schooling for greater choice and diversity
- voluntary Kindergarten for this September and full day for all by September 2011
- greater focus on resources for students and less on administrative costs
- neighbourhood learning centres to meet the needs of families seven days a week.
The BCTF contacted the deputy minister of education following these announcements to get further details and was told that the ministry knew nothing about them and had not been involved in their development.
*****
BRACING FOR THE BUDGET
The provincial budget is to be announced [today]. Teachers and parents need and expect an increase in education funding to deal with overcrowded classrooms, reduced student services, depleted district resources, and overdue school maintenance.
This developing funding crisis was not caused by boards of education but by a government downloading costs that are not taken into account in the funding formula, such as:
- loss of annual facilities grant
- teacher salary and benefit increases that were provincially negotiated
- new carbon tax and carbon-offset charges
- increased MSP and WCB premiums
- new costs for implementing full-day Kindergarten
- additional costs of provincially legislated class-size limits.
The Association of School Board Officials (formerly secretary-treasurers) has said that the education system desperately needs an immediate injection of $300 million in 2010-11 to offset a funding shortfall.
*****
12,000 CLASSES EXCEEDING THE CLASS-COMPOSITION LIMITS
The government's own legislation sets the limit at three students with an Individual Education Plan per class. In 2010 there are close to 12,000 class-composition violations. That is up from 11,000 in 2009 and 10,000 in 2008. The data presented by the minister of education also shows 3,229 class-size violations with more than 30 students for the 2009-10 school year. That is down a mere 100 classes from 2008-09, but still higher than in 2007-08 when there were 3,179 violations. It has been more than four years since BC's teachers went on strike to improve classroom conditions, and in that time no progress has been made and government has refused to fund its own legislation.
The full report can be found in Overview of class size and composition in British Columbia Public Schools for 2005-10, at the Ministry of Education website http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/reporting/district_data_summary.php.
*****
FRASER INSTITUTE TURNS TO BLACK
In an unexpected move, CanWest announced that the Vancouver Sun and The Province would not be publishing the annual Fraser Institute ratings of BC's elementary schools this year. Various reasons have been given for this decision, including financial woes, Olympic coverage, and dwindling parental interest and support.
*****
ALBERTA TEACHERS TO GET 5.99% INCREASE
In a decision handed down [in February], an arbitrator ruled that teachers working in the province's public, separate, and francophone schools, should receive an increase in salaries and allowances amounting to 5.99% in the 2009-10 school year. The increase is consistent with the average growth in the earnings of Albertans from 2008 to 2009 as reported by Statistics Canada. The arbitration decision upholds the Alberta Teachers' Association's (ATA) position concerning the application of a formula linking teacher salary increases with annual changes in Alberta average weekly earnings. The formula is embedded in the Memorandum of Agreement between the province and the ATA and the resulting five-year collective agreements that came into effect in the 2007-08 school year in all 62 public, separate, and francophone school districts across the province.
*****
LET'S TEST EVERYONE
Michael Smith of Tennessee, writing in the latest issue of Kappan, proposes that everyone- students, teachers, parents, and citizens-take national tests. Such a test, he says, could be computer-adaptive, based on standards that span preschool to the PhD. Using mathematics as an example, everyone could have a personal national mathematics score. With this in hand, students could compare their scores to their teachers and parents; workers could compare their scores to other workers and supervisors and to every other citizen in the United States. Ultimately, of course, such results could be used for employment decisions and continued screening throughout a person's career.
Go to http://pdkintl.org/ for the full story, Kappan, February 2010.
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