Education Is A Right! That Is Why We Have To Fight!

by: Don Quixote

Fri May 24, 2013 at 09:00:00 AM CDT

A Big Grandiose Announcement!  People of Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel thinks the city is  "Too Broke To Keep [Chicago Public Schools] Open!"  How will the tax dollars intended for Chicago Schools be used?  The Mayor will build an Event Center [a Sports Stadium complete with exclusive shops and hotel accommodations.] The facility will house the DePaul University basketball team.... a team with a less than stellar win/loss record.  The cost of the glorious and gargantuan auditorium is $173 million dollars.  Fifty-five [$55] million of those dollars will come from monies raised through property taxes.  Citizens of Chicago understand these levies fund education.  Nine-year old student, Asean Johnson is affected by the decision and believes he cannot stay silent.  Asean sees and feels the error of this, "The Chicago Way!" and says...

Education Is A Right!  That Is Why We Have To Fight!

Littlest orator moves people on both sides of CPS debate

Just 4-feet tall, the tiniest student protester stands on a chair to reach the podium. The microphone is adjusted downward so that he can speak to the crowds, who are sometimes stunned for a second-who is this kid?-and then electrified.

People scream and clap for the 9-year-old boy in size-four shoes who, amid the battle to close more than 50 Chicago schools, emerged as an undeniably strong voice. And when his school became one of four taken off the chopping block last week, many were giving at least partial credit to the 3rd-grader who had stepped into the spotlight to fight for his school.

Some called for the boy to run for mayor. Others reached further, suggesting he could run for president. (Because of his age, he wouldn't be eligible until 2039.) As for Asean Johnson, he says he might consider a run, but honestly, he'd rather be a professional football player.

"President would be my second choice," he said on a recent day, taking a break from the playground at his South Side school, Marcus Garvey Elementary. "And I might want to be a scientist or a lawyer. Those are going to be my two backup plans."

The reed-thin boy with big ears and gap teeth shot to celebrity last week when a video of him speaking passionately on behalf of his school went viral on YouTube. As of Friday, the three-minute clip had been viewed 142,000 times, by people as far away as China and Australia.

Interviewed outside his school while standing next to his mom, Asean was charming and modest and said that he wasn't letting fame get to his head. Dressed in a red baseball cap that was slightly too big, and a large black backpack slung over his narrow shoulders, he acknowledged his role in fighting for the school, but was quick to give credit to others.

"I think I helped because we've been going to all the meetings, but I don't think it was just me. I think it was my fellow students and their parents because we all came out. It was a team effort," he said, as his mother, who has been acting as a press secretary of late, nodded in agreement.

Education; The Disaster

by: Betsy L. Angert

Thu May 23, 2013 at 11:29:00 AM CDT

Education; The Disaster

In the minutes, hours, and days after a "natural" disaster, such as the Oklahoma tornado or the recent Hurricane Sandy storm, we "assess" the damage. No one thinks that someone or ones must be held "accountable." Our hearts and minds are open to discovery.  We are able to embrace the unexpected and learn from it. We suspend disbelief and see countless causal relationships, each of which might help us assess.  This more thorough look at life, at the causes and effects does not lead us to draw spurious conclusions. Those come as a result of evaluations, a construct that is pervasive in today's education conversation. You might think the analogy a stretch, but please stay with me for at least another moment.

In our communities, parents have come to accept the narrative; we are in the eye of the storm. There is an education crisis.  Schools are a disaster. Students and Teachers are failing.  The question is do we assess the damage and learn how to improve or instead, do we lay blame?  Do we consider the countless possible causes and effects or do we arbitrarily anchor on correlations?   Immediately after a catastrophe, typically, we look around and assess the situation. This is being done in Moore, Oklahoma this evening.  It is only after calm has returned, or once we become comfortable in the new normal do we do as was done in education, evaluate, evaluate, evaluate.  Rarely if ever do we acknowledge that all we are doing is seeking affirmation for our beliefs and expectations,

Enter "accountability." In America policymakers and the people say, schools, Teachers,  and students too must be held accountable.  Even Educators articulate the meme, "take responsibility."  Do what is right.  The question is how do we determine what is "right" and by whose standards? Opinions vary.  Such is the nature of evaluations.

Evaluations quantify what occurs.  When we evaluate, we measure.   We count and calculate  numbers. Look at the statistics and ultimately see little beyond gains or losses.  How many people died?  How many times has Moore been hit?  How fast were the winds moving? What about the expanse and/or intensity?  Can we actually gauge the force or fury felt when our loved one is killed or injured?  Is there a scale that weighs our heart or the joy we feel when we find a treasure we feared lost buried in the wreckage? Few of us can put a price on personal pain and pleasure. We cannot begin to imagine what another might experience.  Consider two persons in the same storm. If my home is in ruins and yours' remains standing will we assess the damage differently?  Who will be the judge or jury that evaluates our claims?

Scientists will try.  Statisticians too will look at the data.  Each will offer evidence and either could claim to be correct.  Certainly, we see this in education.  As a nation, we attempt to quantify learning, a concept so amorphic that it is invisible to the eye.

Teaching America: A Glimpse at the Teaching Profession

by: Don Quixote

Thu May 23, 2013 at 11:00:00 AM CDT

Teaching America: A Glimpse at the Teaching Profession

The average day of a public school teacher doesn't end when the bell rings and the students are gone. Class preparation, grading, bus duty, club advising, coaching and other non-instructional activities are often left out of the discussion on teacher compensation.

3.7 million: number of full-time elementary and secondary school teachers. 1
(project for Fall 2011)

3.3 million public school teachers.
0.4 million private school teachers.

7: percentage of increase in teachers between 2001 and 2011.

SALARY - Average Annual Contract Salary: 2
$49,482: (before deductions, for all teachers for the school year 2005-2006, not including supplemental pay for extra duties).
By Gender3:
$50,505: male teachers
$48,998: female teachers

By Education 4:

$44,138: Bachelor's degree or less
$52,710: Master's degree or higher

By Region 5:
$57,936: Northeast
$41,597: Southeast
$49,082: Middle
$48,746: West

Global Stats 6:
The U.S. ranks 12th out of 37 countries in teacher salaries

Average Starting Salary - How Do Teachers Stack Up 7?
$30,377: teachers

$43,635: computer programmers

$44,668: public accounting professionals

$45,570: registered nurses

WHAT ABOUT SUMMERS OFF 8?

Most teachers spend summers:

Working second jobs
 Teaching summer school
 Taking classes for certification renewal/career advancement at their own expense. (Most full-time employees in the private sector receive training on company time at company expense.)

DEMOGRAPHICS (most recent data from 2006) 9:
Gender:30: percentage of all teachers who are male

70: percentage of all teachers who are female

Age:
46: average age for all teachers

44: average age for male teachers

46: average age for female teachers

10: percentage of teachers under 30

21: percentage of teachers 30-39

27: percentage of teachers 40-49

42: percentage of teachers 50+

WORKING HOURS (most recent data from 2006) 10:
7 hours, 24 minutes: average length of the required school day for all teachers (instructional)

37 hours: average school workweek for all teachers (instructional)

Instructional Hours:

10: percentage of teachers that work less than 35 hours per week

68: percentage of teachers that work 35-40 hours per week

22: percentage of teachers that work 40+ hours per week

Working 40+ hours - Influencing Factors 11:

School system size (number of students)
22% of teachers working in large systems (25,000+ students)
19% of teachers working in medium systems (3,000 to 25,000 students)
28% of teachers working in small systems (less than 3,000 students)

Geographic Location
5% of teachers in the Northeast
17% of teachers in the Southeast
26% of teachers in the Middle
37% of teachers in the West

Non-Classroom Hours 12:
10: number of additional hours spent on instruction-related activities such as lesson preparation and paper grading, on average.

9.1: number of additional hours spent on instruction-related activities such as lesson preparation and paper grading by male teachers on average.

9.8: number of additional hours spent on instruction-related activities such as lesson preparation and paper grading by female teachers on average.

Compensated Additional Hours 13:
5.2: number of hours spent on compensated non-instructional activities (coaching, etc) per week, on average.

Non-compensated Additional Hours 14:
3.8: average number of hours spent each week on non-compensated non-instructional activities (bus duty, club advising, etc) by all teachers.

5.1: average number of hours spent each week on non-compensated non-instructional activities (bus duty, club advising, etc) by senior high school teachers.

Total Time Spent on All Teaching Duties 15:
52: mean number of hours spent weekly on all teaching duties.

54: number of hours spent weekly on all teaching duties by senior high school teachers.

6: percentage of teachers that spent 35-39 hours/ week on all teaching duties

19: percentage of teachers that spent 40-44 hours/week on all teaching duties

22: percentage of teachers that spent 45-49 hours/week on all teaching duties

19: percentage of teachers that spent 50-54 hours/ week on all teaching duties

13: percentage of teachers that spent 55-59 hours/ week on all teaching duties

20: percentage of teachers that spent 60+ hours/ week on all teaching duties

CLASS SIZE (most recent data from 2006) 16:
Non-departmentalized Elementary Schools

22: average number of students per class

Departmentalized Secondary or Elementary Schools

29: average number of students per class

Students Taught Per Day Departmentalized Secondary or Elementary Schools

87: average number of students taught per day, per teacher

Do new exams produce better teachers? States act while educators debate

by: Don Quixote

Thu May 23, 2013 at 00:00:00 AM CDT

Do new exams produce better teachers? States act while educators debate

Mario Martinez, a graduate student in California State University Northridge's teacher preparation program, examines a high school algebra test he created for a class assignment. (Photo by Jackie Mader)

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.- It took less than a minute for Mario Martinez to finish the first six questions of the algebra exam that his professor, Ivan Cheng, had just handed to him. The high school-level test was supposed to be a good example of an exam, so that the graduate students in Cheng's math methods course at the California State University, Northridge's school of education would better understand what rigorous high school-level questions look like, and how to write tests for their own lessons.

By the end of the first page, Martinez had already learned an important lesson: "Beware of redundant problems," he scribbled on the side of his paper before flipping it over to finish the problems on the back.

Mario Martinez, a graduate student in California State University Northridge's teacher preparation program, examines a high school algebra test he created for a class assignment. (Photo by Jackie Mader)

Martinez has until the fall to hone his skills before he will be sent into a classroom to practice as a student teacher. And he has at least a year before he will have to prove that he can not only teach math, but also create tests and analyze student results. It is a skill that many educators say is a sign of a good teacher, and one so important it was included in a lengthy exit exam that all aspiring teachers must take before they receive a teaching credential from the state.

Aspiring teachers videotape themselves teaching a lesson and write several lengthy reflections. California introduced the performance assessments in 2001 to adhere to a 1998 state law. Teachers must pass them in order to receive certification.

Every teacher preparation program in the state must choose one of three versions for students to take, each of which centers around the teaching and self-reflection activity. The Performance Assessment for California Teachers, or PACT, is the test of choice for Northridge and more than 30 other teacher preparation programs in the state, and many classes, like Cheng's math methods course, design curriculum around the assessment to ensure students are prepared to pass.

Although it is largely untested and debated amongst educators, the PACT has served as a model for a national exam, known as the edTPA, that at least 25 states are introducing. Developed by 12 California institutions in 2001, the PACT was put on hold when the state suspended the performance assessment requirement in 2003.Three years later, the requirement was reinstated, and in early 2007 the state's Commission on Teacher Credentialing approved the assessment.

Protests Fail to Deter Chicago From Shutting 49 Schools

by: Don Quixote

Wed May 22, 2013 at 21:00:00 PM CDT

Protests Fail to Deter Chicago From Shutting 49 Schools

CHICAGO - Officials here in the third-largest district in the country voted Wednesday, after an emotional meeting, to close 49 public schools that they said were not being fully used.

The decision, passed overwhelmingly by the Chicago Board of Education, came after weeks of contentious public hearings that brought more than 34,000 people out to oppose the school consolidation plan at dozens of meetings across the city.

The move, which singled out schools that district officials said had too many empty desks after years of population loss - but that opponents argued unfairly targeted low-income minority communities - makes up the largest group of city schools to be closed at once in recent memory.

"The greatest challenge facing our school system right now is that tens of thousands of children every year are trapped in underutilized schools and under-resourced schools," said Barbara Byrd-Bennett, the chief executive of Chicago Public Schools, who had to pause her remarks more than once when protesters began shouting. She later added, "We cannot maintain a system that cannot be sustained and does not benefit the children."

Chicago now has 145,000 fewer school-age children than it had more than a decade ago, according to district data, and the district had already closed about 100 schools since 2001. In March, the Chicago Public Schools identified 53 more elementary schools that it planned to shutter, expecting to save about $500 million over 10 years in a district facing a $1 billion deficit.

The plan drew outrage from many parents in Chicago's South Side and West Side areas. Opponents raised safety concerns about children having to walk farther distances, possibly crossing gang lines, to their new schools.

At the meeting on Wednesday, Ms. Byrd-Bennett removed four schools from her original recommended closing list, plus a fifth school she suggested should not be closed until next year. She said the district and the Police Department were working to develop a safety plan for consolidating schools.  

Today we mourn. Tomorrow we continue our fight.

by: Don Quixote

Wed May 22, 2013 at 20:00:00 PM CDT

Today we mourn. Tomorrow we continue our fight.

Today is a day of mourning for the children of Chicago. Their education has been hijacked by an unrepresentative, unelected corporate school board, acting at the behest of a mayor who has no vision for improving the education of our children. Closing schools is not an education plan. It is a scorched earth policy. Evidence shows that the underutilization crisis has been manufactured.  Their own evidence also shows the school district will not garner any significant savings from closing these schools.

Our fight for education justice has now moved to the courts, but it must eventually move to the ballot box.  The parents are amazing leaders in their school communities and because of this administration's actions we have all become closer and more united.  We must resist this neoliberal savagery masquerading as school reform.  We must resist racism in all of its forms as well as the escalating attacks on the working -class and the poor. Our movement will continue. This is the next level:

Chicago Teachers and Parents Launch Three Day March Against 54 Schools

by: Don Quixote

Mon May 20, 2013 at 13:00:00 PM CDT

Chicago Teachers and Parents Launch Three Day March Against 54 Schools
Republished by EmpathyEducates and TruthOut. May  20, 2013

Jaisal Noor, TRNN Producer:  In Chicago, hundreds of teachers, parents, and students have launched three days of marches to mark a final protest against plans to shutter 54 public schools. The march route includes the targeted schools, which are almost all in low-income black and Latino neighborhoods in Chicago's south and west sides. The protests will culminate with a mass demonstration and civil disobedience in downtown Chicago Monday, and direct action is also expected to escalate for Wednesday's scheduled final Board of Education vote over the fate of the schools.

Brandon Johnson is an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union, which led the protests.
Brandon Johnson, Organizer, Chicago Teachers Union:    People are tired of their communities being disinvested in. People are frustrated with the mayor and CPS ignoring parental and community teacher voice. You know. So we want our voices to be heard loud and clear. We want to raise the consciousness of the communities that are most impacted by these failed policies so that there can be some real conversation about what our students deserve and what education should look like moving forward.

Noor: : This final week of protests are the culmination of months of marches, demonstrations, and civil disobedience organized by unions, parents, and community organizations. They aim to pressure Chicago's board of education to reject the closures. A recent poll found that six out of ten voters oppose the plans. But the board is handpicked by Rahm Emanuel, who says although the closures may be painful, they will help bridge the school system's billion dollar budget deficit.

Barbara Byrd-Bennett, CEO, Chicago Public Schools:    These proposals have caused community anguish, and I understand that. Change is really hard. Change is frightening. And we all get really uncomfortable when the status quo, even part of the status quo, is changed. But when the status quo is not working, change is inevitable.

Noor:   But opponents of the closures got a boost last week when the city's hearing officers--retired state and federal judges--came out against 13 of the closures, arguing they would force parents and children to cross gang lines and endanger their lives. One of the schools cited was Manierre, located in the Near North Side, where the Cabrini Green projects once stood. The city wants to close Manierre and send its students to Jenner. Retired Cook County judge Paddy McNamara recommended the school not be closed, saying, quote, "There is a history going back over 40 years of rivalry between the two schools."

Two Chicago police officers on patrol in the area also told The Real News that the closure of Manierre would likely cause fights, but they said, hopefully, not result in gun violence.