tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70533064329041833852024-02-07T18:47:15.771-06:00One Teacher's PerspectiveA Wisconsin educator's perspective on public education-related matters and a bit more.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-67299850479286960722018-11-12T21:27:00.000-06:002018-11-12T21:42:41.253-06:00Walker's Legacy: A Divided Wisconsin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">An emotional and closely divided election is a fitting end to Scott Walker’s contentious career as Wisconsin’s governor this past Tuesday night.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"HE'S OUT, IT'S OFFICIAL. OMG I'M CRYING," texted my friend's son, who was just 11 years old when Walker dropped "the bomb" on Wisconsin. "My first ever vote helped take out the man who uprooted our family."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">An uprooted state will be Walker’s legacy. The formally folksy feel of Wisconsin was shattered by Walker’s “divide and conquer” politics. His policies drove a wedge between families and communities across Wisconsin. Walker's Act 10 and his big money politics upended small family budgets and many lives in big ways.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Walker’s politics are, indeed, personal. He and his GOP cohorts have gutted my teaching profession, sent my aforementioned friend and his family packing, cost me over $30k in take-home pay over his two terms, weakened my kids’ and students’ public schools, and heaped enormous stress on my family. In Walker’s Wisconsin, teachers and their families do more, for less, and with less.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Walker exploited the 2008 recession to scapegoat public employees. He bragged about balancing the state budget on the backs of public educators, like me, and state workers while giving a free pass to the reckless investors responsible for the recession that caused Wisconsin’s budget problems.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Walker abused the power of our state’s highest office for personal political gain and his presidential ambitions. His attacks on teachers and state workers and their unions were mostly payback to his big money donors.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Furthermore, Walker diverted precious tax dollars to a failed school voucher program, his business supporters, and foreign companies.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">...Enough.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">With gerrymandered GOP control of the state legislature, newly-elected Tony Evers and his team won’t be able to undo the Walker injustices, but this election will hopefully mark a defined turn, turn, turn in Wisconsin's state politics. Enough with the uprooting. It is "a time to plant."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="sewnhojc4wys251"></span><span class="sewnhojc4wys251"></span>Wisconsin's divisive politics of the past eight years belong to Walker. He can pack them up with his belongings. Together, somehow, we move forward Wisconsin.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Madison, WI, USA43.0730517 -89.40123019999998642.8875022 -89.723953699999981 43.2586012 -89.078506699999991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-84918012658453026152017-11-04T23:19:00.002-05:002017-11-05T11:37:47.448-06:00The Air Still Stinks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a trail race last winter, I gagged entering a park restroom serving as a makeshift locker room for sweaty, muddy runners.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It smells like crap in here,” I complained as I contemplated an immediate exit. However, with freezing temperatures outside, I had no choice but to endure the stench. Trying to ignore my odor-induced nausea, I cornered some space for my backpack and quickly got to work cleaning up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I went about unpacking, drying off, changing, and eventually packing up my race gear, I seemed to forgot about the foul fumes. I didn’t feel great, but ultimately my nose lost notice of the noxious smells.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I managed to exit the raunchy restroom, however, a sudden breath of the crisp, clean forest air instantly enlivened and enlightened me. With that intake of fresh air, I realized how lousy I felt and how I had simply acclimated to the cesspool conditions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am reminded this week of my cesspool experience as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker officially announces another bid for reelection. Teaching in Walker’s Wisconsin is like being trapped in a noxious locker room. Over the last seven years many public educators have acclimated to Walker’s world and maybe even suppressed memories of the initial bomb, but it still stinks what Walker and his GOP cohorts have done to public schools and professional educators in Wisconsin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As part of his grandstanding this week, Walker is sure to insensitively boast of how unintimidated he was balancing the state budget on the backs of school teachers and other public employees. Of course, Walker will ignore mentioning that the state budget deficit was largely the fault of a recession brought on by reckless investors, who were responsible for the 2000’s housing bubble and subsequent bust. Teachers were never the problem, yet we were scapegoated for Republican Party gains.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Walker is also sure to mask the stench he’s dealt with filthy lies about how public schools have improved under his reign. In Trump style, the lies are sure to be repeated over and over during his campaigning. Many will acclimate to the lies, yep, like many get used to foul fumes in a restroom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The truth is, with the passage of Walker’s Act 10, Wisconsin’s professional educators are locked into a crappy system. Working conditions and professional pay have declined. The future security we were promised in collectively bargained and mutually agreed contracts is going, going, and mostly gone. A teacher shortage looms as the exodus of colleagues continues. Teacher training is being gutted and fast tracked for easy licensure. Precious public school monies have been diverted to mostly, less needy private school students in the form of vouchers. And public school funding has been slashed. This stinks for public school teachers, parents, and students.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Personally, I’m down tens of thousands of dollars in take home pay, since Walker’s Act 10 took effect. My school district has not even been able to maintain annual cost of living adjustments for its staff. Rising healthcare premiums and costs have cut into meager salary increases. A financial advisor has calculated that my earning power will never exceed what I made five years ago. I, like many of my colleagues, are back to working second jobs to cover family budget shortfalls. While my professional pay has declined, my workload has increased. In Walker’s Wisconsin, I am doing more for much less. This stinks.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Much like what Trump’s words have brought to America</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Walker’s wind has brought in an air of animosity to Wisconsin. Even though many public educators have acclimated, Walker’s divide-and-conquer campaign has become the climate of Wisconsin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nonetheless, dedicated educators breathe through Walker’s foul air to keep Wisconsin’s public schools from asphyxiating. But oh, how we yearn for a breath of fresh air to enliven us and enlighten others.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0259217 -99.115016300000008 49.5429577 -78.460719300000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-49078979787478249732016-12-14T12:19:00.001-06:002016-12-14T20:32:29.231-06:00WWJD to Public Schools?<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span id="goog_1152453246"></span><span id="goog_1152453247"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a>Public education supporters have legit reasons to be worried about President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Living through the assault on government schooling in my home state of Wisconsin by Governor Scott Walker and his cohorts, I know firsthand how public education is mangled by anti-government types, like Walker and DeVos.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><a href="http://nyti.ms/2hyT9im" target="_blank">A recent New York Times op-ed</a> correctly connects DeVos to the extreme right wing of the GOP committed to dismantling anything government run. In their binary view of the world, these cult members approach all government-run entities as evil. If government anything succeeds, then everything run by government is possible--so, therefore, the evil government schools must be dismantled. Their anti-government education playbook includes vouchers, private charters, union busting, school choice, funding cuts, and anti-public school propaganda. </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">DeVos' family money is connected to all kinds of anti-public education groups, including the Education Action Group. EAG guises itself as a real news agency, but in actuality is an anti-public education organization funded by right wing operatives (like the Bradley Foundation) and works often with other Tea Party-type organizations (such as Breitbart and MacIver Institute). EAG's head demolition man is Kyle Olson, a free market, Christian apologist who makes his living trying to obliterate public education. The Michigan-based EAG asks, "What Would Jesus Do (WWJD) to public schools?" Olson and his DeVos-funded demo crew believe they are simply doing Jesus Christ's work in tearing down public education. EAG's mission is best summed up by <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/kyleolson/2011/03/18/jesus_isnt_in_michigan" target="_blank">this Olson quote:</a></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5ef33O7VV6K2oQtvapmdUG39_wl5cp4vMxZbINVJKahZtDydzQ6NpizrBn9XfqDNViCQ914U0CANwVrRveUg_SOm5RyjUb7-1B840SmymRaJgxoYBomsDgoY4GsyqIe7S6TFEVJzG7eQ/s1600/aid2536-728px-Pray-Step-8-Version-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5ef33O7VV6K2oQtvapmdUG39_wl5cp4vMxZbINVJKahZtDydzQ6NpizrBn9XfqDNViCQ914U0CANwVrRveUg_SOm5RyjUb7-1B840SmymRaJgxoYBomsDgoY4GsyqIe7S6TFEVJzG7eQ/s200/aid2536-728px-Pray-Step-8-Version-2.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I would like to think that, yes, Jesus would destroy the public education temple and save the children from despair and a hopeless future. And he would smash a temple that has been perverted to meet the needs of the administrators, teachers, school board members, unions, bureaucrats and contractors.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I know this may sounds paranoid or like "sour grapes" about the election (as Trump likes to say), but the damage done to public education in Wisconsin is real and adding a federal layer of attack is real scary. Since the anti-government Walker and his GOP cohorts have taken over Wisconsin's government, public schools have suffered. Experienced educators have kept government schools afloat, but the cuts have been deep and detrimental to Wisconsin's public schools. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Under Trump and DeVos, the piecemeal plan of dismantling government schooling state by state now goes national. Does Jesus really hate public schools?</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0259217 -99.115016300000008 49.5429577 -78.460719300000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-50620653433009461082016-09-02T10:30:00.001-05:002016-09-02T10:30:15.717-05:00It's Not That Simple<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
I love <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/08/31/492086321/my-father-stood-for-the-anthem-for-the-same-reason-that-colin-kaepernick-sits" target="_blank">this great political and personal weave</a> by Keith Woods of NPR. It is a worthy <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/08/31/492086321/my-father-stood-for-the-anthem-for-the-same-reason-that-colin-kaepernick-sits" target="_blank">read</a> and a better <a href="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/492086321/492288952" target="_blank">listen</a>. </div>
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"Love of country can't be accurately measured by whether someone sits or stands or slouches or sings. It's not that simple." ~Woods, NPR</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1dLZBkB22PpEJ97Qu7OpHeVWZ-eRLn7bD5lJL7YoWUI3brew6h4EfTG874-R03u9blkBBgXbf7u5zKUQd-TSryHcsGurOO4qq1sGY18ZubhisQhS_FfhvcG-CTqrPEslr4yuEISbgAsuJ/s1600/complicated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1dLZBkB22PpEJ97Qu7OpHeVWZ-eRLn7bD5lJL7YoWUI3brew6h4EfTG874-R03u9blkBBgXbf7u5zKUQd-TSryHcsGurOO4qq1sGY18ZubhisQhS_FfhvcG-CTqrPEslr4yuEISbgAsuJ/s200/complicated.jpg" width="200" /></a>Today I start my 20th year teaching history. "It's not that simple" will be a constant theme through almost all of our historical studies. Student opinions, perspectives, and emotions will swirl in class discussions on Colin Kaepernick's protest, civil rights history,<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"> US foreign policy, immigration, the upcoming POTUS election, work history, abuse/use of the environment, politics, and more.</span></div>
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Social studies is often mislabeled as a soft science. In actuality, social studies is tough because it is not a science. In the study of history, 2 + 2 sometimes does not equal 4. History is a complicated conversation, as I once learned, with seemingly an infinite number of variables and usually lacks<span style="line-height: 19.32px;"> definitive conclusions of historical happenings.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.32px;">History (and the present) is not that simple. That is what I love about social studies. </span></div>
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I'll be using Wood's essay in my opening lesson as a springboard into the messy, complicated, and powerful history of the United States.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Janesville, WI, USA42.6827885 -89.01872220000001342.496055 -89.341445700000008 42.869522 -88.695998700000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-10161602259678316382015-01-15T22:33:00.000-06:002015-01-16T06:02:43.512-06:00BATs v. Free Market Fairy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here we go again. Once more, the hope and promise of a new year is trashed by more divisive legislation proposed by Wisconsin's Republican Party. To the elation of the GOP's machismo-minded supporters, Governor Walker's <a href="http://youtu.be/K1S_Pxw2n-U" target="_blank">divide-and-conquer</a> approach to managing Wisconsin continues.<br />
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This new year the first piece of legislation to the floor is a <a href="http://www.publicschoolshakedown.org/what-school-takeover-bill-means-to#.VLbZhxT8S3Q.facebook" target="_blank">useless school accountability bill </a>designed to hand over school districts with high student poverty rates to the private charter industry for even less accountability. <a href="http://wisoapbox.blogspot.com/2015/01/assembly-school-accountability-hearing.html" target="_blank">(Wisconsin Soapbox spells out the absurdity.)</a> This, of course, is a national trend just now hitting Wisconsin. For the GOP, it is <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/02/school-choice-free-market-fantasy.html" target="_blank">the free market fairy to the rescue!</a><br />
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Fighting this annual assault on my profession and public education is exhausting. Some days I think, "why bother?" Challenging my pessimism is the persistent advocacy of many of my professional colleagues. Most consistent and persistent in challenging <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/04/curiously-george-will-joins-demolition.html" target="_blank">the forces trying to dismantle public schools</a> is the noble-minded, but tough-named, <a href="http://www.badassteacher.org/" target="_blank">Badass Teachers Association (BATs)</a>.<br />
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BATs is a <a href="http://www.badassteacher.org/category/history/" target="_blank">grassroots organization formed </a>"...for every teacher who refuses to be blamed for the failure of society to erase poverty and inequality, and refuses to accept assessments, tests and evaluations imposed by those who have contempt for real teaching and learning." BATs combat the false narrative of a failing public school system produced by those infatuated with the free market fairy. It is an epic battle of BATs v. the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMPrnyA71dWwQLyjLtrO44W5SH-eMdrx6hf6UPmMkU8WMKjiRp8YqtV1e5oHSM3CYvIGThGH7NmRjiqTeaVQa0t7MWLF0IKfq0_dML-J8wMqDnXFgMt_eUVsKaX-6Ed-oDPVtKrncPEbd8/s1600/fairy.jpg" target="_blank">free market fairy</a>.<br />
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Yeah, BATs have an edginess I like, but mostly BATs provide an inspiring and motivating defense of public education for those of us beaten down by <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/06/explaining-failed-recall-to-my-preteen.html" target="_blank">plutocrats orchestrating the attack on Wisconsin's public school system</a>. For example, just a couple days ago, I ran across this beautifully written post by fellow <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/WisconsinBATs/" target="_blank">Wisconsin BAT</a>, Allison Pratt. <br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The expectation by communities of our public schools has changed. It’s no longer “Help us teach our children.” It now is “Raise our kids.” No generation of teachers and administrators in history has had to fulfill this mandate. And each year, the pressure grows upon Educator's shoulders. We carry 500 pounds while trying to balance the twirling plates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Our country's social and economic conditions demand that Educators develop the full potential of every child. An Educator's future is tied to student success as never before through evaluations, goals and standards. But this is a job for an entire community. Everyone, in every community, must help remove the obstacles to student success. We must recognize our common interests, and do our part to help our schools create the graduates and citizens we need. Our public schools cannot do it alone. Survival of our neighborhood public schools depends on a partnership of respect and problem solving. What are you doing to speak out and save your public school and community?</span></blockquote>
Thanks for the lift, Allison. I'm writing again. I'm speaking out for social justice and what is right in my kids' schools. I join the BATs in fighting back the free market fairy. True to my New Year's resolution, I am #teacherstrong.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Janesville, WI, USA42.6827885 -89.01872220000001342.6827885 -89.018722200000013 42.6827885 -89.018722200000013tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-10876269121021423142015-01-07T00:54:00.000-06:002016-12-15T11:26:39.976-06:00Full Steam Ahead: Ignoring the Evidence on Performance Pay<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Piles of Education Research</td></tr>
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My letter to the editor (below) was <a href="http://www.gazettextra.com/20150104/your_views_pay_for_performance_plan_is_wrong_for_janesville_schools" target="_blank">published this week in the Janesville Gazette:</a><br />
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<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Janesville School District officials are pitching a pay-for-performance teacher salary structure not supported by educational reasoning or research.</span> </b></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>The <a href="http://www.gazettextra.com/20141227/janesville_school_district_unveils_teacher_compensation_proposal" target="_blank">proposed Professional Performance Structure (PPS</a>) will move my kids’ district from a simple, fair, objective and efficient teacher salary schedule to an unproven, complicated, labor-intensive, divisive and stack-ranked pay system. While the proposal may please free-market ideologues, it will not better motivate teachers and improve my kids’ district.</b></span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Our local officials, who tout evidence-based leadership, should yield to the motivational and educational evidence related to merit pay. Overwhelmingly, the motivational research shows labor involving highly cognitive skills—such as teaching—does not improve with incentivized pay. Dozens and decades of teacher merit pay schemes have failed to improve student achievement. Local school leaders have yet to produce substantial educational research to support this radical reform proposal.</span> </b><br />
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<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Beyond measure are the adverse effects PPS would have on the collaborative learning environment most parents want for their kids. The byproducts of PPS—stress, fear, competitiveness, erraticism and adversarialism—have no place in a nurturing school environment.</span> </b></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b>Lastly, labor-intensive attempts to make a fair system of merit pay, like PPS, are an imprudent use of precious public-school energies and resources. Janesville should not get caught up in the ideologically induced teacher accountability craze distracting districts across this nation. Instead of creating more bureaucracy, local officials and teachers should be collaborating to reverse the tide of declining public-school resources and mitigate the powerful effects rising student poverty has on student learning.</b></span></blockquote>
Of course, this topic is much deeper than the 250-word limit for the letter to the editor.<br />
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I <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/11/meritless-pursuit-of-pay-for-performance.html" target="_blank">wrote at length about pay-for-performance</a> (PfP) schemes in education about a year ago when I first got wind my kids' district was looking at revamping the teacher salary structure.<br />
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I have written and spoken to board members and school leaders on multiple occasions over the past year about the proven pitfalls related to PfP. Last winter, my district's superintendent and a couple of her administrative team members tasked out on creating a new teacher salary structure heard me out. While I knew the anti-PfP research and reasoning was not powerful enough to hold back the political forces pushing forward incentivized and disincentivized pay, I had hoped I would be involved as the process rolled forward.<br />
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Disappointedly, I was not invited to be part of an <a href="http://sdjsuper.blogspot.com/2014/11/educator-effectiveness-and-professional_5.html" target="_blank">ad hoc team formed to consult on the developing PfP plan for teachers</a>. Surprisingly to many, the make up of this consulting team was not even announced until after the group had already met twice. Even more discouraging is the absence of teacher union leadership from the ad hoc team. I do not know for sure why union leaders were not invited to be part of this team, but this unprecedented snub–made possible by Act 10–sure feels like anti-unionism.<br />
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This past month the district unveiled the much anticipated <a href="http://www.janesville.k12.wi.us/Portals/1/hr/Professional%20Performance%20Structure%20-%20Draft.pdf" target="_blank">draft of the Professional Performance Structure</a>. As expected, the <a href="http://www.gazettextra.com/20150103/our_views_performance_pay_plan_for_janesville_teachers_is_good_if_it8217s_fully_developed" target="_blank">Gazette's editorial board has jumped on board.</a> Holding teachers more accountable and paying teachers according to performance makes sense to them and many outside the education world. The local power players are on board. Full steam ahead.<br />
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Conventional wisdom on this matter does not, however, sync with the reality of public education. In my kids' district, motivational and educational research is being shelved for an unproven idea that sounds good to non-educators.<br />
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This salary reform effort is not worth the energy and resources of a district facing significant budget shortfalls and increasing demands brought on by rising student poverty. PPS is an attempted fix on what is not broken. Teachers were already motivated under the previous salary system that provided the same financial security afforded almost all other highly-educated professionals. Furthermore, instead of <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/08/public-educations-eight-ball-student.html" target="_blank">focusing on needy kids</a>, administrators will be expending unhealthy amounts of time trying to keep up with teacher evaluation demands of PPS.<br />
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While <a href="http://youtu.be/Wjwt2Ey5pT4" target="_blank">we do play at school</a>, we are not playing school. Teaching and learning are extremely complex. Measuring either is like <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/02/along-with-learning-lets-measure-love.html" target="_blank">trying to measure love</a>. Evaluating the worth of a teacher is a non-scientific guess. Teachers serve an immensely complex variety of learners from a variety of backgrounds. Consequently and expectedly, teachers are <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/story/302602-dear-reformers-teachers-are-neither-heroes-nor-zeroes/" target="_blank">heroes to some students and zeroes to others</a>. Simply put, my kids' district is not capable of taking this immensely complex social construct and reconstructing it fairly into a stack ranking pay system.<br />
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Also concerning is how PPS will value one style of teacher and conversely devalue the worth of another. This devaluing is a disruption to the professional learning community model desired by most professional educators. I work with mostly altruistic professionals who value teamwork over competition. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stack-ranking-employees-is-a-bad-idea-2013-11" target="_blank">Even private sector work places have discovered the perils of stack ranking systems</a>, like PPS.<br />
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In parting, it is worth noting the hypocrisy of conservatives ardently supporting new, heavy-handed regulations and accountability measures for teachers, when the conservatives traditionally bemoan almost all forms of government regulation. Predictably, PPS will require more government bureaucracy. Why the reversal in ideology? They tell us it is all about the kids. I have my doubts.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Janesville, WI, USA42.6827885 -89.01872220000001342.496055 -89.341445700000008 42.869522 -88.695998700000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-91764144816073860042015-01-01T17:37:00.001-06:002015-01-07T13:46:44.152-06:00Teacher Strong<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">A whopping two blog posts published in 2014. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What gives? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Loss. Then grief. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is not much good about grief, Charlie Brown. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grief dug in and dragged me down this past year. The initial stages of grief--all necessary and normal, the experts say--left me feeling unhealthy in many ways. Spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and psychologically--I was dribble. Close friends and family did not recognize me. Grief left me despondent, unmotivated, scattered, and self-absorbed.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">During this emotional fog, a healthy relative told me, “Give grief time and it will become another &#*%ing growth experience.” I did not believe it. I could not see past my grief.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sure enough, the life experts were right. Time passed. Family and friends built me back up. Grief gave way to growth. This is a growth lesson I would rather not have learned through grief, but--nonetheless--I have learned. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjObyJLjyTyzZ2r0YLK9QEpTgsEgeswMBGbijVRNSjMr-U9viM032N9Tl6c9QxzMliPJYpnHTrXt2ul3r4eKb3o_SuxKt9kbTW5FmLaNl4YDBF8NGnArc4zLwSU34cGR2JrVN1IMC7ia_Y2/s1600/Teacher+Strong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjObyJLjyTyzZ2r0YLK9QEpTgsEgeswMBGbijVRNSjMr-U9viM032N9Tl6c9QxzMliPJYpnHTrXt2ul3r4eKb3o_SuxKt9kbTW5FmLaNl4YDBF8NGnArc4zLwSU34cGR2JrVN1IMC7ia_Y2/s1600/Teacher+Strong.jpg" height="243" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grief is powerful and leads to powerful growth. Coming out of this stupor, I have developed a new and more powerful appreciation for what it takes to be a public school teacher. New Steve better appreciates the old Steve. I have developed a deeper respect for what it takes to be a teacher. Teachers are strong. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A little secret I never revealed in all my teacher activism is that, for most of my teaching career, I thought my teaching gig to be relatively easy. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sure, the day-to-day grind gets old at times, papers can pile, politicians and educrats inappropriately mess with my profession, and the school-related stress can spike during predictable parts of each season, but--for the most part--the daily execution of teaching usually comes easy to me. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the peak of the grief, however, I questioned my ability to teach. I thought about taking an extended absence. As the school year started, I didn’t know how I would survive. How could I meet the needs of my students when I was so needy myself? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Through this despair, I have come to realize how strong I used to be and how much I give psychologically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually to my students. After the fog lifted, I could see more clearly now how much strength is actually required to help needy students on many levels. Teaching is not an easy gig. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like <a href="http://www.boston.com/sports/marathon/blog/2014/03/the_real_meaning_of_boston_str.html" target="_blank">Boston Strong in the wake of the 2013 marathon bombing</a>, Teacher Strong is my new mantra for 2015. Teaching comes easy to me when I am healthy and strong. I have been fortunate to have been mostly healthy and strong during my professional career. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teachers serve students, parents, and our communities in powerful ways. Teaching takes profound strength to serve an <a href="http://jgweb.sx3.atl.publicus.com/storyimage/JG/20140827/ARTICLES/140829727/EP/1/1/EP-140829727.jpg" target="_blank">increasing number of students with significant socio-psychological needs. </a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My period of despair has left no doubt. To teach, you have to be Teacher Strong. What teachers do is important and matters. What I do matters and makes a difference. In 2015, I will not take being strong and healthy for granted. What is my nature will now be nurtured. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Goodbye 2014. Goodbye Grief. Hello 2015. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#teacherstrong</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com1Janesville, WI, USA42.6827885 -89.01872220000001342.496055 -89.341445700000008 42.869522 -88.695998700000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-82919659661798651792015-01-01T00:40:00.001-06:002015-01-01T00:40:25.215-06:00A New Year, A New Banner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks to a friend for the redesigned banner</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My New Logo</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Janesville, WI, USA42.6827885 -89.01872220000001342.496055 -89.341445700000008 42.869522 -88.695998700000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-57015809793378736952014-03-02T20:33:00.002-06:002015-01-07T13:45:51.543-06:00Walker's Act 10 Devalues Teaching in Wisconsin<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wisconsin Teacher Value Not Adding Up</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My first teaching contract 19 years ago at a Midwest Catholic high school grossed $15,000. My retirement benefits consisted of a whopping $500 401K. Cutting into my take-home pay was a $1500 annual premium for an inadequate health insurance plan with a high deductible and 80-20 coverage on remaining family medical bills.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Money aside, I was a good Christian soldier. I taught a full load with 3 or more preps, moderated the school newspaper, ran the service program, coached baseball, drove the school bus to athletic events, and volunteered for all kinds of school activities.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Considering money, I was a naive Christian soldier. I did not think finances mattered all that much. After </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-tale-of-two-janesvillians-paul-ryan-me.html" target="_blank">growing up on the lower rim of the middle class</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the $15 grand I grossed in my first year of teaching felt like </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/01/if-i-had-million-dollars.html" target="_blank">a million dollars</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. When the family budget tightened as college loans came due and the family grew, I practiced my own personal </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://edushyster.com/?p=1700#more-1700" target="_blank">“no excuses” policy</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and doubled down on work by milking cows in the evening and on weekends, painting houses in the summer, and working a variety of odd jobs. While many Americans were <a href="http://youtu.be/FHDwRECFL8M" target="_blank">"moving on up" </a>during the 1990’s, my wife (also an educator) and I shuffled funds around trying to survive on less-than-professional pay.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">In these conditions, my teaching suffered. My professional goal of getting my masters degree by age 30 came and went. I recycled the same lesson every year. Innovation was limited to what I could concoct late at night or each morning before school. I was a resourceful teacher, but not a developing educator.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the midst of this mess, one of my kids became seriously ill. She did a few tours in the hospital before some highly skilled and professionally-priced specialists got a handle on her condition. The medical bills mounted. Things became desperate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I made a desperate move. I sold my soul and left teaching for a year. I searched for funds in other fields. In the midst of this despair came some soul-saving, professional advice from my brother teaching in Wisconsin. He coaxed my wife (also an educator) and I to move to his neck of the woods, where we could earn professional pay and benefits by teaching in Wisconsin’s public school system.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOdtnb6iu5f53b7gUQ8ThNtdN9dJlnyEKThW8iBDGDm_7gMEZJDD2AxoW03tqMODbncyyoxwhA0B9aaNJLshTcuChY_W-t5wndQOLiLpDvEA5ARNHCUn3VA45VedLRdQcAflA6kU_iHCpV/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOdtnb6iu5f53b7gUQ8ThNtdN9dJlnyEKThW8iBDGDm_7gMEZJDD2AxoW03tqMODbncyyoxwhA0B9aaNJLshTcuChY_W-t5wndQOLiLpDvEA5ARNHCUn3VA45VedLRdQcAflA6kU_iHCpV/s1600/Untitled.png" height="70" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the move north, our lives took a financial one eighty. The affordable healthcare coverage alone was an immediate boom to our family budget. My wife also found a good paying teaching job in a neighboring district and our incomes steadily improved. Over a decade into our professional careers, we could finally breathe easier. We weren’t rich, but we were middle class professionals.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Under these much-improved conditions, my teaching improved. I’ve been able to ditch most of my part-time work and focus on being a professional educator. I’ve spent some of the extra time collaborating with other well-paid professionals and developing better lessons for my students. Middle class living has allowed me to read </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/01/spirit-of-this-blog.html" target="_blank">and write</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> about curriculum, pedagogy, public school history, and current education policy (and politics). Professional pay and the promise of advancement allowed me to invest in over a dozen professional courses and pick up my masters degree. My district, school, and students have benefitted from the community investment in my professional development.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">This move to a new state and professional pay, however, did not move me to a state of ignorant bliss. My journey seasoned me. I am no longer naive. I know money matters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thus, I am keenly aware of the detrimental effects Governor Walker’s school funding cuts are having on the professional pay of public educators around Wisconsin. Walker’s Act 10 hit my school district this school season and consequently shifted a percentage of district expenses onto the backs of public school employees.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunny days for district budgets are financial storms for teachers. Thanks to Walker’s new teacher taxes, I take home about 8% less (-$5039) in regular pay than I did last school year. Walker’s soldiers will argue that the new pay deductions </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: line-through; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">keep</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> put public educators, like me, inline with private sector workers, who are already chipping in similar amounts for healthcare and retirement benefits. Of course, the Walker apologists will ignore that </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/28/news/economy/public_workers_earn_less/index.htm" target="_blank">public school educators’ earn less than comparable private sector professionals</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The Walker disciples also hypocritically support Act 10 regulations that limit future negotiations for teacher pay increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) even though they are usually big critics of such heavy-handed regulations.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Headlines in local newspaper mislead public </td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The average Wisconsin taxpayer has little understanding of how the teaching profession is being devalued. Contrary to the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.gazettextra.com/article/20140129/ARTICLES/140129642" target="_blank">local paper’s misleading headline (“Teachers to see pay hike”)</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, almost no returning teacher in my kids’ school district saw a pay raise this school season. District leaders recently imposed a teacher’s contract that fell well short of last year’s 2.07% CPI. For me, the imposed salary adjustment only covers about 5% of the Walker-imposed deductions from my pay. The $265 salary advancement given to almost every teacher was calculated by multiplying .75% by the lowest possible base wage (BA+0, $35,370). This salary adjustment was far less than the $1000 or more given by most area school districts to their teachers. To play this out, if this year’s salary adjustment becomes a pattern over the next 15 years, I’ll be a lucky guy to finish my career with the same pay I received last year. Toss in the rate of inflation, I am well past my professional peak.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/hedgies-versus-teachers/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=2" target="_blank">hedge fund managers</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> setting up a ponzi scheme, Walker and <a href="http://www.walkergatefiles.com/walker-associates.html" target="_blank">his cronies</a> have concocted a teacher salary scheme under Act 10 so complex it takes numerous pages to explain it and so ambiguous that interpretations vary from district to district. Act 10 requires teacher salaries to now be divided into two categories--a base wage salary and a supplemental salary. In my kids’ district, the former is calculated by equating the worth of every teacher to that of a rookie teacher with only a bachelor’s degree. Thus, almost all teachers in my district, regardless of their experience and (self-funded) advanced degrees, are paid the same salary adjustment. Pay I previously earned for my experience and advanced degree is now considered to be like bonus pay (i.e.-supplementary).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I tried explaining this newfangled pay system to two financial professionals. The supplemental pay that makes up almost half of my salary is also foreign to them. Under Walker’s system, veteran teachers, like me, see around half of their pay classified as “supplemental.” Granted, annual bonuses (i.e.-supplemental pay) are attached periodically to many private sector professionals’ regular pay--but the financial professionals tell me these bonuses are usually just a small percentage of someone’s salary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Doing an end-around on Walker’s Act 10, some local district leaders in my kids’ district promise teachers that their supplemental pay is not actually supplemental at all and teachers can rest easy and be assured that no teacher will move backwards in pay. However, under Walker’s reign, the promise of guaranteeing supplementary pay is ambiguous and certainly not binding, like a contract. A school board/superintendent or two later and teachers’ supplemental pay could be a new source of revenue for a struggling school district and/or the anti-government types.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">My money experts also confirmed that percentage raises in the private sector world are almost always figured as a percentage of a professional’s total current salary. This is no longer the case for many Wisconsin public school teachers. The money pros also confirmed for me, with Act 10’s rules limiting salary negotiations to base wages and the CPI, veteran teachers’ regular pay will not keep pace with inflation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Adding to the unfairness, districts, like mine, do not subject administrators to this base wage system. I do not begrudge administrators being paid raises as a percentage of their total current salary. However, it is ironic that those defending base wage raises on teachers continue to have raises calculated as a percentage of their total salaries.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A feeling of being shafted permeates the teaching profession in Wisconsin. Paternalistic school officials simply </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://youtu.be/G2dtc8v8qBM" target="_blank">dismiss professional educator’s angst as entitlement thinking</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. On some sort of free market mission, they are determined to break teachers from desiring security. They ignore that almost all other experienced and highly educated professionals are afforded autonomy and security. They also disregard </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the <a href="http://youtu.be/u6XAPnuFjJc" target="_blank">latest research related to motivation in highly cognitive professions</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, like teaching. Increasingly in Walker’s new world order, important decisions are made about teachers and without teachers. A new age paternalism prevails. Along with pay, the teacher’s perspective is devalued.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ignoring that </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/15849/teachers_were_never_the_problem" target="_blank">teachers were never the problem</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, reformers further contend educators must be held to higher standards of accountability and perform better. Even though educational research does not support it, some districts across Wisconsin recklessly forge ahead designing (often without teacher involvement) and implementing new teacher pay plans built around complicated, unproven teacher evaluation systems that are connected to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://vamboozled.com/" target="_blank">flawed valued-added testing measurements</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The aforementioned financial experts assure me private sector pay increases are almost always linked to something easily measurable, like improved sales or cost-saving initiatives. Never mind that </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/11/meritless-pursuit-of-pay-for-performance.html" target="_blank">incentivized pay plans are not backed up by educational research</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and good teaching and diverse learning are beyond measure, the MBAs act as if they know better than educators what is best for the teaching profession.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Act 10 has led some school leaders to act as if they have sole ownership of the local public school system. No means no, even if professional educators know better. In business-like fashion, they tell professional educators who do not agree with the new metric-driven initiatives to acquiesce or leave.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">What these corporate types do not know best is how public schools are supposed to work. Government-run school districts are not private businesses. Attempts to make them such are wrong. Government schools are public entities. Local teachers, administrators, support staff, union members, coaches, board members, taxpayers, voters, parents, students, and even business owners are all stakeholders. Local school districts are owned and operated collectively.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teacher Roots Run Deep</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Complicating this collective undertaking are a large percentage of educators, like me, who are invested in local schools on many levels. I am a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Teacher_Man.html?id=YhgcwJ1L-s0C" target="_blank">teacher man</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, taxpayer, involved constituent, coach, union leader, and parent of students in the local school district. I’ve grown roots that run deep and in many directions. I’ve connect with layers of students, their parents, colleagues, and community members.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I harbor no fantasies about the strength of these roots though. In Walker’s new world order, veteran teachers can be uprooted tomorrow. Like in deforestation, removing strong-standing and long-standing teachers can lead to enduring detrimental effects on the wider environment. Sure, cheaper and easier-to-handle saplings can replace veteran teachers, but new teachers will be planted in a less nurturing environment. To survive many school seasons, the next generation of professional teachers in Wisconsin will have to be seasoned young, impervious, and able to manage doing more, for less, and with less.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The present devaluing of the teaching profession feels like my early professional years. This <a href="http://marquetteeducator.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/why-devaluing-teachers-hurts-everyone/#comments" target="_blank">devaluing of the teaching profession </a>brings erraticism to my kids’ schools and students' lives. All the while, the scapegoating of teachers distracts communities from </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/08/public-educations-eight-ball-student.html" target="_blank">public education’s eight ball.</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> For the kids’ sake, I hope the roots hold strong. Politics brought on the devaluing of educators in Wisconsin. <a href="http://burkeforwisconsin.com/" target="_blank">Politics can restore educators' professional standing.</a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-15965633124846940362014-01-28T00:20:00.000-06:002014-03-03T06:10:09.609-06:00False Narratives Dogging Public Education<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/detail/3370" target="_blank">Yale Commencement, 1962</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">In annual class discussions about slave history, almost always some student asks, “Why didn’t slaves resist slavery?” Of course, this is a fallacious question. I do not blame the annual questioner since the premise is rooted in a false narrative retold many times in the historiography of American slavery.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have learned to anticipate the question and use it to launch into deeper lessons about false narratives in history. The retelling of the slave compliance myth was certainly a byproduct of our country’s persistent racism. Thankfully, </span><a href="http://youtu.be/WfusLVvOlRM" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ex-slave testimonies</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and the work of </span><a href="http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/teachers/modules/slavery/historiographical_essay.html" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">revisionist historians challenged this myth</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and unveiled how slaves resisted slavery often and in many ways during America’s antebellum era. However, the yearly recurrence of the slave resistance question in class discussions shows how these false narratives dog the study of American history long after facts have refuted the myth.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Likewise, many falsehoods persist in the public education narrative. The central approach of historian Diane Ravitch’s brilliant new book, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reign-Error-Privatization-Movement-Americas/dp/0385350880" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reign of Error</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, is to counter the many national myths dogging public education. As anticipated, Ravitch’s facts are ignored by the opponents of public schools in defense of their strong held beliefs that government can do no good and MBAs know more than teachers about schools and students. Corporate-minded reformers cling to their beliefs and turn a blind eye to the facts.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In “</span><a href="http://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/2013/12/01/belief-culture-we-dont-need-no-education/" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Belief Culture: ‘We Don’t Need No Education’</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,” the insightful Paul Thomas highlights the development of false narratives in public education and American culture. Religious fundamentalism, Hollywood, and the sensational U.S. press feed the belief beast. Sprinkle in partisanship politics and, as </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128490874" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">research</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> shows, facts often do not matter to believers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The truth is devalued and beliefs dominate in too many public school decisions. Corporate-minded believers dismiss truthsayers as naysayers. As Ravitch points out in Reign of Error,</span><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They exist in a giant echo chamber, listening and talking only to one another, dismissing the concerns of parents, teachers, and communities.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The facts conclusively show corporate reforms do not work in public education. As </span><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2014/01/01/reflections-on-the-year-that-was-from-a-personal-point-of-view/%20" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ravitch recently wrote,</span></a><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All the competition, testing, accountability, merit pay, privatization, and other policies have failed. They fail again and again. They don’t improve education. They are damaging our precious public school system, skimming off the best kids when they can or discouraging them by taking away the joy of learning. They are hurting children, demeaning education, demoralizing educators.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like with new fashions and fads, educational reforms tend to start on the coast and in urban districts before making their way to the typically more methodical Midwest. Not being a trendsetter has its advantages. By avoiding the pole position, Wisconsin and my local school district are in a great situation to learn from the failings of the corporate reform movement in other states and districts.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sadly though, the national reform trends have trickled down to my kids’ school district in Wisconsin. Beliefs trump facts. Local believers are racing to hardwire business-world beliefs in the local public school system. Surveys, data, metrics, </span><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/11/meritless-pursuit-of-pay-for-performance.html" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">merit pay</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/12/dressing-up-and-dressing-down-teachers.html" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">business-world dress codes</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, stack ranking systems, high-stakes standardized tests, accountability measures, global competition, and a “no excuses” mantra dominate the local education discussions. The believers provide little educational evidence that the aforementioned initiatives matter much and that the school system previously in place was in need a major overhaul. Local believers, like the national reformers, are trying to fix what is not broken. Believers walk a </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.epi.org/files/2013/bba-rhetoric-trumps-reality.pdf" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;">faith-based journey full of fallacies.</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just as I do for my students who fall into false narrative traps, I have some sympathy for local believers caught up in the corporate-style reform movement. Like the slave compliance myth, the false narrative of failing government schools has been told loudly and many times over. </span><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/17455-go-public-finally-a-film-that-celebrates-public-schools" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sensational movies</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-ravitch/obamas-race-to-the-top-wi_b_666598.html" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">politicians of both parties</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-turner/gutless-media-has-failed-_b_854799.html" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the national media</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><a href="http://jonathanturley.org/2013/03/03/a-look-at-some-of-the-driving-forces-behind-the-school-reform-movement-and-the-effort-to-privatize-public-education/" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">powerful force</span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">$</span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> market the myth. What else are school leaders to drink when only Kool-Aid is being served?</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Digging for the truth beneath the anti-public education propaganda is an arduous task. Working regularly with professional educators takes time and resources overworked administrators and school leaders do not have. For school leaders serving in the more controlled and data-driven business world, the multifarious and qualitative nature of public education is foreign to them. By relying on limited statistical evidence, believers miss </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/15849/teachers_were_never_the_problem/" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;">the larger truth.</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://gwax.com/content/tootsiepop.html" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;">Research shows it takes far more than three licks</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to get to the center of the tootsie roll pop. Likewise, I realize it will take many more licks to get believers to </span><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/08/public-educations-eight-ball-student.html" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the center of the counter reform movement</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. With the past being the best predictor of the future, we can guess that the false narrative of failing government schools will dog public education for years. Thankfully, revisionists, like Ravitch, are relentless in </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpn4x8xaqgI" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;">speaking the facts.</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The facts show that the </span><a href="http://billmoyers.com/2013/06/07/new-data-shows-school-reformers-are-getting-it-wrong/" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“reformers” are getting it wrong.</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> As the </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/07/15/the-educational-value-of-being-born-rich/" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">truthsayer Paul Thomas writes</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">...without addressing childhood poverty, workforce stability and quality, the costs of living, single-parent homes, and concentrated high-poverty communities, most education reform measures are doomed to be fruitless.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is not too late for my kids’ school district to learn from the fruitless reforms efforts of those who have gone before us. The truth is school leaders need to embrace the reality about student poverty and act in </span><a href="http://www.boldapproach.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">broader and bolder </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ways.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0145452 -99.115016300000008 49.5543342 -78.460719300000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-12522263839344383442013-11-30T21:48:00.000-06:002014-11-05T15:02:18.829-06:00Meritless Pursuit of Pay-for-Performance<div style="color: #222222;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The history of merit pay in schools is almost as old as public education in America. It has failed many times over and in many forms. Many have pursued pay-for-performance (PfP) for teachers as a panacea for alleged public school ills. Progressives and conservatives have promoted it. Both President G.W. Bush and President Obama have supported it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chapter 12 of Diane Ravitch's brilliant new book, <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reign-of-error-diane-ravitch/1114975619" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Reign of Error,</a> lays out the old and new history related to merit pay in schools. In short, old schools and new schools of many types pushed by many different entities have failed to implement successful PfP plans. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, my kids' <a href="http://sdjsuper.blogspot.com/2013/11/pay-for-performance.html" target="_blank">district keeps signaling</a> a move from the current teacher salary schedule to a complicated, labor-intensive, stack-ranked pay system for teachers. I worry a PfP is being produced by local officials without a thorough look at the educational reasoning and research.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Utilizing financial incentives for <a href="http://sdjsuper.blogspot.com/2013/02/grassroots-leadership-teacher-led.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">teacher leaders</a> (who take on added responsibilities) and for retaining and recruiting professionals serving in areas of teacher shortages seems sensible. However, a relentless pursuit of a pay-for-performance plan is not best for my profession, my students, my kids' schools, <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/01/if-i-had-million-dollars.html" target="_blank">or me</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teacher accountability and compensation structure are far from the greatest problems facing public education. The PfP discussion is a distraction from <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/08/public-educations-eight-ball-student.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">the eight ball in public education</a>. <span style="color: black;">The more relevant point is that teachers and their compensation packages </span><a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/15849/teachers_were_never_the_problem/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">were never the problem</a><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Social science research over the last few decades has shown that two thirds of student achievement is a product of out-of-school factors - and among the most powerful of those is economic status.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We should not get caught in the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMPrnyA71dWwQLyjLtrO44W5SH-eMdrx6hf6UPmMkU8WMKjiRp8YqtV1e5oHSM3CYvIGThGH7NmRjiqTeaVQa0t7MWLF0IKfq0_dML-J8wMqDnXFgMt_eUVsKaX-6Ed-oDPVtKrncPEbd8/s1600/fairy.jpg" target="_blank">ideologically-induced</a> accountability craze. School officials and teachers should be focused on reversing the tide of declining public school resources and to mitigate the <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-much-evidence-do-we-need.html" target="_blank">powerful effects of rising student poverty on student achievement.</a> Labor-intensive attempts to make a "fair" system of bonus pay are an imprudent use of precious public school energies and resources.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/12/05/fp_passanisi_peters_motivates.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Teacher motivation is an incredibly complicated conversation.</a><span style="color: #222222;"> It is so complicated it is a stretch to think the creation of a manageable and fair system of bonus pay that motivates masses of teachers is possible.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reformers should yield to the latest research on this complex matter. As </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Dan Pink's motivational research shows</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, labor involving cognitive skills--like teaching--does not improve with incentivized pay. The masses of teachers I know are not motivated, like rock stars, by reward and recognition. Pink advises paying employees reasonably well and then leave them to create. As Pink said, "Pay people enough so that they are not thinking about money, they're thinking about the work." </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.363636016845703px;">The current, well-defined pay schedules already used by most school districts provide the security necessary to motivate educators.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A recent NY Times article about </span><a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/13/microsoft-abolishes-employee-evaluation-system/?_r=0" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">a failed stacked-ranking evaluation system at Microsoft</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is worthy of review. Here is a telling excerpt:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the most hated aspects of the stack-ranking process was that, throughout its various forms over the years, it required managers to grade their subordinates on a bell curve. That meant that a few people got great scores, many people got average scores and a few people got bad scores...The demise of stack ranking is another sign of the sweeping changes happening at Microsoft, including a major restructuring now underway that is aimed at increasing cooperation...The negative publicity around Microsoft’s old employee review system reverberated loudly around the company, according to people who work there. It most likely was a deterrent to some recruits, too.</span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sue Altman did not miss the </span><a href="http://edushyster.com/?p=3646" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">irony in this Microsoft development</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Altman pointedly asks,</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The big business method of evaluation that now rules our schools is no longer the big business method of evaluation? And collaboration and teamwork, which have been abandoned by our schools in favor of the big business method of evaluation, is in?</span> </blockquote>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Experienced teachers should be given autonomy along with the resources and a labor structure to work collaboratively. The best things I have done in my professional career have involved working directly with other staff on common initiatives. Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are built around the concept of collaboration partially because this motivates many teachers and learners. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For many,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">motivation is found in relationships. As a now-retired teacher used to preach often, "It's all about how you treat people." Lots of my professional development training over the past decade has focused on building relationships with students. Schools should focus on people. Stacked-ranking pay systems put the focus on data and pits professional against professional. Behavior science shows high-stakes, data-driven systems in schools are dangerous (see </span><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/05/25/what-is-campbells-law/" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Campbell's Law</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">). I contend that collaborating with teachers is more "productive" than a complicated, labor-intensive stack-ranking system.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Many faulty studies promote the idea of PfP. A flawed Arkansas <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct08/vol66/num02/When-Merit-Pay-Is-Worth-Pursuing.aspx" target="_blank">merit pay study</a> has been repeatedly promoted by numerous free market think tanks. This makes sense since the study's funding came from the <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2013/11/30/do-you-shop-at-walmart-dont/" target="_blank">bias Walton Foundation.</a> A </span><a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED502254.pdf" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">peer review of the study found the study's conclusions unsound</a><span style="color: #222222;">. The fate of this study was outlined by a teacher leader in Little Rock, Arkansas, who wrote me,</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The plan remained for three years... the test scores had not increased at a rate greater than schools with similar student populations. In fact, if I recall correctly, one school's growth lagged behind "like" schools. When presented with the evidence, the LRSD School Board had no choice but to discontinue the program.</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the face of this evidence, it is concerning my kids' district continues to cite the Arkansas study as a successful merit pay plan even though the study's PfP plan is no longer in existence.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">School officials should take more stock in the gold standard of merit pay studies. Vanderbilt economists conducted one of the most thorough tests of merit pay. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The bonus was $15,000. <a href="http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2010/09/teacher-performance-pay/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">It failed to raise student test scores.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">One pay study worth noting is the recently publicized </span><a href="http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/education/tti.asp" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Talent Transfer Initiative (TTI) study.</a><span style="color: #222222;"> Early reports in this study indicate gains in math and reading scores in high-poverty schools. Beware this </span><a href="http://vamboozled.com/?p=351" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">study's findings are already being scrutinized</a><span style="color: #222222;">. However, implementation details of the TTI pay plan are significantly different than other pay studies and worth noting. For instance, a $20,000 bonus was paid mostly to highly-educated (Masters degrees+), highly-experienced (12 years average), and older (42 years average) teachers who applied to teach and remain in the program for 2 years. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><b>Experience, education, age, and teacher willingness to participate seem to matter</b></span><span style="color: #222222;"> in this case. T</span><span style="color: #222222;">he TTI findings interests me simply because </span><span style="color: #222222;">I have long supported aligning our most experienced teachers with the neediest schools and students.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pay notice that pay-for-performance advocates will incorrectly cite this recruitment-pay study as a merit pay study. Unlike other teacher pay studies, this was a low-stakes study. Testing scores were </span><u style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">not</u><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> connected to the bonus payout. Teachers selected were paid the "bonus" for their service regardless of student performance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Further note the limitations in the TTI findings--such as the achievement gains were only noticeable in elementary grades and that only a small percentage of qualified candidates were enticed by the $20,000 carrot. In addition, like all PfP plans, the TTI study does not address <a href="http://www.igs.net/~cmorris/sternberg_2.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">what is most important for success in schools and life.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While pay-for-performance has no known link to what goes on in the classroom, the traditional teacher salary schedule system has many advantages, including:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Fairness:</b> A salary schedule equally values each teacher because we work together to educate students and are not in competition with one another. Also, it is worth remembering that standardized pay played an important role in public education history by eliminating unequal pay between men and women, elementary and high school educators, and white and minority teachers. Opening the door to differentiated pay reopens the door to unfairness.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Objectivity:</b> A salary schedule protects teachers from the whims and biases of administrators, who might award merit pay based on personal reasons or on a teacher’s willingness to speak up on issues affecting students and school staff. Our students benefit from a system based on objective criteria that all teachers can attain and understand.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Efficiency: </b>The salary schedule allows for predictable funding year-to-year, and requires minimal administrative effort to supervise. The increased bureaucracy sure to follow any PfP plan will distract teachers and administrators from working with students.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Novel ideas--like PfP--must be scrutinized with as much vigor as traditional teacher salary schedules have been worked over by the "no excuses" reformers. </span><span style="color: #222222;">I remain unconvinced that a </span><span style="color: #222222;">pay</span><span style="color: #222222;"> overhaul will improve schools, teaching, and learning. </span><span style="color: #222222;">A stack-ranking system will bring unnecessary erraticism to my kids' school district. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/Otm4RusESNU" target="_blank">"That's all I have to say about that."</a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com1Janesville, WI, USA42.6827885 -89.01872220000001342.496055 -89.341445700000008 42.869522 -88.695998700000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-85066410223941277412013-11-11T23:50:00.001-06:002013-11-11T23:50:51.918-06:00How Much Evidence Do We Need?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8uH9e0RUPzUgihX3eb-2ubpKsVKFCv4IyFLF82XQzfphhnhgRbAV5VFshaHf34iIAd1-ARdmNO527Cl5Td5CbchGHTo2iWste2FrzhMaoIlGuLYcMRUEQBKOB83GQ8QsRtIJU-oYd848j/s1600/serious.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8uH9e0RUPzUgihX3eb-2ubpKsVKFCv4IyFLF82XQzfphhnhgRbAV5VFshaHf34iIAd1-ARdmNO527Cl5Td5CbchGHTo2iWste2FrzhMaoIlGuLYcMRUEQBKOB83GQ8QsRtIJU-oYd848j/s400/serious.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/15849/teachers_were_never_the_problem/" target="_blank">Teachers Were Never the Problem</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuALT-S-X4Er9OqiJ1IWlcuWRIGzhSgH7mSgqrMW_5emYZjtSJY5sUfFt-rigCTAt-yEYRt8RaixjCWBtaDONr-vZ0pZSLorZFU3uoGV3ZOuvQqsJHlye0WogBHI21bRDVuS0sXG2u5GbL/s1600/eightball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuALT-S-X4Er9OqiJ1IWlcuWRIGzhSgH7mSgqrMW_5emYZjtSJY5sUfFt-rigCTAt-yEYRt8RaixjCWBtaDONr-vZ0pZSLorZFU3uoGV3ZOuvQqsJHlye0WogBHI21bRDVuS0sXG2u5GbL/s320/eightball.jpg" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/08/public-educations-eight-ball-student.html" target="_blank">Public Education's Eight Ball</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUB4b8DRBD0VRGaaawkYUcBNdhv0k1rfnyqp7Zg2xatjd6MkK5jhTVouMgMoW-anCc9_vXv-X_gXKiIMibOA2C1Q8URcJE2sPFQY0bcDPtsdWx97K36P5Qf23Lety4jnQhW5inErGa9xl/s1600/equality.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUB4b8DRBD0VRGaaawkYUcBNdhv0k1rfnyqp7Zg2xatjd6MkK5jhTVouMgMoW-anCc9_vXv-X_gXKiIMibOA2C1Q8URcJE2sPFQY0bcDPtsdWx97K36P5Qf23Lety4jnQhW5inErGa9xl/s400/equality.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pasisahlberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Chicago-HF-2013.pdf" target="_blank">International Evidence: Finnish Lessons</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolIfFeAVbjPNHgYes3AafXednIoMOrRTbkJVWaxDMPFM9Hy0xjlxs0kaktJe7aWfRk4pglZ5C-MpAVq7vmYBMrsiXzvMoo9GwO4FXCJOO6b6-voMjqukfs1FAZ3QV4XgWv3c0Xm8684oJ/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolIfFeAVbjPNHgYes3AafXednIoMOrRTbkJVWaxDMPFM9Hy0xjlxs0kaktJe7aWfRk4pglZ5C-MpAVq7vmYBMrsiXzvMoo9GwO4FXCJOO6b6-voMjqukfs1FAZ3QV4XgWv3c0Xm8684oJ/s400/Slide1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://forwardinstitute.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/wisconsin-budget-policy-and-poverty-in-education-2013.pdf" target="_blank">State-wide Evidence: Wisconsin DPI</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTsyKQn5YUxH0fWSRrqISYpJRvbokNyJYxgSkZgf8GF-91iGryXFrPD-YhoZww72zcqv-Fr04fIkzLvfsnH2ufEza5kSwNCPUSmcyAlHppwG5GKELUQwLrt6EYlZLSrTanXZBYncy1DYcQ/s1600/SDJscores.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTsyKQn5YUxH0fWSRrqISYpJRvbokNyJYxgSkZgf8GF-91iGryXFrPD-YhoZww72zcqv-Fr04fIkzLvfsnH2ufEza5kSwNCPUSmcyAlHppwG5GKELUQwLrt6EYlZLSrTanXZBYncy1DYcQ/s400/SDJscores.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Local Evidence<br /></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0145452 -99.115016300000008 49.5543342 -78.460719300000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-55467515312856967642013-10-02T21:40:00.000-05:002013-11-11T23:51:18.830-06:00Turn This Ship Around<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0H5Alfjt0ui39TaDzwVUis8nxrQiIefUS5XFsMWxCbNnIEZeX5d_qfprbTVrCCEKM6mTBsv1yyaTHj2NecJjzIZaxk7k7n7qlEzYgHUaNS3G25Ig57Qlmg32QeiJPx4D4VCqzneGMjxmL/s1600/Sinkship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0H5Alfjt0ui39TaDzwVUis8nxrQiIefUS5XFsMWxCbNnIEZeX5d_qfprbTVrCCEKM6mTBsv1yyaTHj2NecJjzIZaxk7k7n7qlEzYgHUaNS3G25Ig57Qlmg32QeiJPx4D4VCqzneGMjxmL/s1600/Sinkship.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>My good friend, Fr. Joe Zimmerman, chimes in this week with his own review of Diane Ravitch's new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reign-Error-Privatization-Movement-Americas/dp/0385350880/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380767319&sr=8-1&keywords=reign+of+error" target="_blank">Reign of Error</a>. Zimmerman blogs at <a href="http://ivyrosary.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: transparent;">ivyrosary.blogspot.com</a>.</i></div>
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Diane Ravitch has bitten off a lot to chew. She aims to change the direction of ten years of national education policy. She attacks No Child Left Behind, the Bush administration program which she originally promoted. But she attacks with equal vigor the Race to the Top program of Barack Obama’s Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan.</div>
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Author of fourteen books on education, she has been awarded the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize sponsored by the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and like Moynihan, takes opinions from both sides of the political spectrum seriously.</div>
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<i>Reign of Error</i> will surely distress wealthy backers of charter schools and vouchers, starting with with Bill Gates. Today (<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_126759222" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">October 2, 2013</span></span>) <i>USA Today</i> has an article (p. 8a) by Laura Vanderkam titled “Focus on Teacher Performance: Tougher Common Core highlights importance of well-trained teachers.” Since Ravitch’s book was just published last week, I would have expected comment on her book on this opinion page. Maybe her opponents have chosen to ignore her as the best strategy to defeat her.</div>
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Anyone who wants to see evidence for her position that the testing strategy of NCLB and RTT is failing need only follow up the abundance of sources she cites. Extreme testing and charter school enthusiasts will likely not be moved by evidence, but multitudes of educators will read her carefully. She has a remarkable ability to state her message clearly and forcefully. No one can mistake the message: TURN THIS SHIP AROUND. </div>
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<i>Reign of Error</i> is opening a national debate that is long overdue. I hope that the outcome of that debate will free public school teachers to enrich the lives of their students with art, music, drama, and history and other social studies. Test-test-test is no way to prepare children for the world in which they will soon be leaders. Continuous testing followed by firing teachers and closing schools is a throwback to the nineteenth century.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Quincy, IL, USA39.9356016 -91.40987259999997139.8381991 -91.57123409999997 40.0330041 -91.248511099999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-69303891457268096252013-09-17T12:07:00.001-05:002013-10-02T21:45:21.930-05:00Diane Ravitch: Public Schools' Modern-Day Dewey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4yzdb-VWg7mazrhbZGPH_AvQirCWczu4bZiB0MWULI11Jy36Hy7BzEAhPInY2ZEMAaFPMxl2WAvGCjHVE1Rv2gE3_ZK82u7q_So7k6ForHxBpBABLZOH-gI5NdKAq2NKa0ErJGLqVYeGS/s1600/Reign+of+Error.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4yzdb-VWg7mazrhbZGPH_AvQirCWczu4bZiB0MWULI11Jy36Hy7BzEAhPInY2ZEMAaFPMxl2WAvGCjHVE1Rv2gE3_ZK82u7q_So7k6ForHxBpBABLZOH-gI5NdKAq2NKa0ErJGLqVYeGS/s1600/Reign+of+Error.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Three years ago, a colleague of mine kept telling me I just had to read Diane Ravitch’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Death-Great-American-School-System/dp/0465025579" target="_blank">The Death and Life of the Great American School System</a>.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
Admittedly, I knew little about Ravitch then and was less enthused to
take on the read, realizing Ravitch previously served in President
George W. Bush’s administration. My colleague, however, was relentless
in getting me to take on the book. The persistent pestering paid off and
her book instantly became one of my favorite professional reads.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Two pages into Ravitch’s reflection on her life’s work, I was hooked. She jumped right into a courageous </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">mea culpa</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
for formerly supporting failed education reforms--such as
accountability, high-stakes testing, and school choice. At the time of
her conversion, Ravitch was already well-past retirement. Instead of
looking back nostalgically, Ravitch reflected critically on her former
support for competition-based education reforms. Ravitch asked herself,
“What should we think of someone who never admits error, never
entertains doubt but adheres unflinchingly to the same ideas all his
life, regardless of new evidence?” I was and still am impressed with
Ravitch’s open-mindedness and authenticity. Since then, I have soaked up
almost <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/" target="_blank">all that she has written.</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ravitch was a renowned education historian long before </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Death and Life of the Great American School System</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,
but has emerged in the past three years as the most respected,
modern-day defender of public education. She is refreshingly authentic
in an educational world saturated with <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/blog/self-serving-v-service-teaching-celebrity-culture" target="_blank">self-serving reformers</a>. She is as
critical of President Obama’s test-based education policies as she is
of Republican plans to dismantle public education. She stands for public
education. Her style is direct. Her work is reasoned and researched.
She courageously takes on the corporate education reformers determined
to inject free market ideology into public education. She thinks
critically and is a prolific writer. She is the <a href="http://www.biography.com/print/profile/john-dewey-9273497" target="_blank">John Dewey</a> of our era.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Today, Ravitch’s much-anticipated new book, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reign-Error-Privatization-Movement-Americas/dp/0385350880" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reign of Error</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,
hits Kindles, Nooks, mailboxes, libraries, schools, and bookstores
across the country. While the title smacks of sensationalism, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reign of Error</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
is actually a methodical dismantling of the many myths degrading public
education and a detailed historical account of the privatization
movement fueling the myths. Ravitch was soul searching in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Death and Life of the Great American School System. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reign of Error, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ravitch
has found her voice. She is unapologetic in her defense of public
schools and takes on the reformers intent on injecting their free market
ideology into public education.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">While
Ravitch is a superhero to many discouraged public educators, she
rejects superhero solutions to public education problems. “I have no
silver bullets--because none exist--but I have proposals based on
evidence and experience,” writes Ravitch. A life lived looking at
schools certainly affords her this perspective. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reign of Error</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
spells out the comprehensive, community-wide solutions required to
support public schools plagued with socioeconomic problems larger than
what public educators can handle by themselves. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/npe-friends-allies-2/" target="_blank">For those of us</a> who have regularly followed<a href="http://dianeravitch.com/" target="_blank"> Ravitch’s recent work</a>, we do
not find anything in her new book shocking. Many of my own blog postings
have piggy-backed off Ravitch’s thoughtful work. Ravitch calls for
tried-and-true reforms focusing on equity, improving early childhood
care, ending high-stakes testing, expanding middle class-like enrichment
to needy students, developing and respecting educators, reducing class
sizes, fully funding public education, and more.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reign of Error</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> will hopefully serve as an antithesis to the 1983 </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nation at Risk</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,
which was the catalyst for thirty years of misplaced blame put on
public schools for what in reality are problems caused by trends.
Ravitch calls for a re-do on school reform. As Ravitch stated, “You
can’t do the right things until you stop doing the wrong things.”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Public
education advocates will also not be surprised to see the free market
reformers lash out with well-funded, emotional messages attacking
Ravitch. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reign of Error</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
outs the <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/04/curiously-george-will-joins-demolition.html" target="_blank">reformers trying to raze public education.</a> Their typical
defense is to speak loudly and attack the messenger. This is, after all,
just part of the free market process. For market-focused reformers to
get ahead, government-run education must not succeed. Free marketeers
pretend to be reforming when they are actually focused on destroying.
Sadly, America’s neediest kids get pinned under the rubble.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In coming weeks, I plan to share more from </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reign of Error</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
and how its many themes play out in Janesville and across Wisconsin.
The larger lesson learned from Ravitch’s research is how widespread and
consistent the attacks on public education are across this nation. In
reading </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reign of Error</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,
I recognize more than ever how Wisconsin and Janesville are pawns in a
larger game designed to discredit America’s government-run schools and
their teachers. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">More public education supporters must understand the bigger game. Be a player. Be informed. Read </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reign-Error-Privatization-Movement-Americas/dp/0385350880" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reign of Error</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0145452 -99.115016300000008 49.5543342 -78.460719300000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-754369650279962132013-09-01T15:10:00.000-05:002013-09-17T12:08:51.394-05:00Just in Time for Labor Day, A New Employee Handbook<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtBQsMdkO2vZDUDmCPi56WJizn6Lw1avYJU2olLHcZWv2av-EcJHHEOw5JeMwRgyazene_k28Pf2nubFlGEbms3ToCp8PqUmlgxEUyDXElCYvhjtxUwAFjZyi3iPty74zo6WvWTpIj9_S/s1600/Law.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtBQsMdkO2vZDUDmCPi56WJizn6Lw1avYJU2olLHcZWv2av-EcJHHEOw5JeMwRgyazene_k28Pf2nubFlGEbms3ToCp8PqUmlgxEUyDXElCYvhjtxUwAFjZyi3iPty74zo6WvWTpIj9_S/s200/Law.jpg" height="200" width="178" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">A big deal to many Janesville school employees, but a sidebar note in the local paper (and just in time for Labor Day!) was the unanimous board approval of <a href="http://www.janesville.k12.wi.us/Portals/1/documents/Handbooks/Employee%20Handbook/SDJ%20EMPLOYEE%20HANDBOOK%20.pdf" target="_blank">the school district’s employee handbook</a> this past week.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">As noted in my last posting, the Janesville’s teachers union is one of the last holdouts in Wisconsin to be subjected to Gov. Walker’s discriminatory Act 10 legislation, which ends most collective bargaining rights for almost all public employees. This </span><a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/state-supreme-court-agrees-to-hear-appeal-holding-up-act-10-b9934269z1-211615111.html" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">questionably constitutional </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">and purely partisan legislation forced districts, like mine, to shift the rules and regulations of work conditions from collectively bargained labor contracts to district-produced employee handbooks.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, this is what Wisconsin (and </span><a href="http://brookfield-wi.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/outofstate-donors-buoy-gov-scott-walker" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">more commonly non-Wisconsin) neo-cons</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> wanted. Top-down management dominates. The public educator’s perspective is devalued. Under Act 10, hierarchical bureaucracy now trumps collaboration and teamwork in many Wisconsin public schools. This is a step back from the collaboration-focused </span><a href="http://www.allthingsplc.info/pdf/articles/DuFourWhatIsAProfessionalLearningCommunity.pdf" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">professional learning community (PLC) model</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I desire for all Wisconsin public schools. Most frustrating, this neo-con concocted </span><span style="font-size: 15.454545021057129px; line-height: 15.454545021057129px; white-space: pre-wrap;">counterfeit medicine distracts all of us from <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/08/public-educations-eight-ball-student.html" target="_blank">the eight ball.</a> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I understand teachers’ territorial attitude toward work conditions perplexes my market-world friends, who live contently under management-dictated rules and regulations. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ironically, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I suspect the same thrill entrepreneurs get building a business is similar to the feeling employees get when they are directly involved in organizational decision making. <a href="http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/02/15/viewpoint-why-education-is-not-like-business/" target="_blank">School districts, however, cannot follow the corporate model.</a> Declining and shrinking school resources prevent districts from buying the “buy-in.” Regardless, building together is the best buy (as the <a href="http://youtu.be/u6XAPnuFjJc" target="_blank">latest motivational research shows</a>) for the “buy -in.” Generally, the market-world lags behind in the employee empowerment model making empathy for educators’ angst difficult.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to duh reformers, the clampdown on educator empowerment was necessary because unions had too much power and its members too many liberties. Indeed, the collective bargaining process did empower professional educators with a collective voice on work conditions. Indeed, compromise and collaboration were key components in creating the labor contracts. Also indeed, teachers had a voice and a vote in approving contracts. However, the final vote in negotiations always belonged to school boards. An important checks and balance system was at play in this dynamic.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Admittedly, the collective bargaining process was messy at times. Looking back, I wish my involvement might have been different at times. However, creating can be messy and clean up is part of most creation processes. Mutually agreed contracts provided the climate for clean up. Fence-mending previously was an equally shared responsibility of both school management and labor leaders following contract negotiations. With district leaders exclusively producing the employee handbooks, school officials now shoulder the load.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The process of creating new employee handbooks has further revealed the </span><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/03/collective-bargaining-is-vital-to.html" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">wisdom of the old collective bargaining process</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Many Wisconsin school districts had to race to complete handbooks in the wake of Act 10. With time constraints, some districts just plagiarized heavily from the old collectively bargained contracts.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even with a two-year window for completion, my own district struggled to complete its handbook before this school season. This struggle is understandable. Decades of quality and evolving work put into past teacher contracts by hundreds of former teachers, board members, and administrators cannot be replicated by a single, resource-strapped administrative staff. The teacher contracts of old had roots, like natural grass, nurtured over many seasons. The new-fangled employee handbooks seem a bit like the </span><a href="http://legallysociable.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/BradyBunchHouseBackyard.jpg" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Brady Bunch’s backyard lawn.</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> They have an artificial look and feel. I have always favored the look and feel of natural grass and teacher contracts. I also prefer the nurturing process that goes into developing something lasting and rooted.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">To be fair to my school district, I acknowledge that many efforts are made to involve teachers in curriculum design, school improvement, and development of programs. Our neighborhood schools certainly have tight working units. Impressively, </span><a href="http://sdjsuper.blogspot.com/2013/02/grassroots-leadership-teacher-led.html" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">the district is empowering more teachers in leadership roles.</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Appreciatively, my own building administrator meets with representative staff monthly to address building and staff concerns. And, admittedly, most school district leaders hear me out--even when we disagree--and reply in timely and thoughtful ways.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some corporate ideas were also attempted by my district in creating shared ownership in the employee handbook. However, the </span><a href="http://sdjsuper.blogspot.com/2012/08/next-steps-in-handbook-development-part.html" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">focus groups</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and “</span><a href="http://sdjsuper.blogspot.com/2013/04/meet-and-confer-what-does-it-mean.html" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">meet and confers</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">” were not effective at replacing the collective bargaining process that empowered teachers and school officials to both claim ownership in the final product. The current system of asking for employees’ opinions and then locking labor out of the actual document creation is not empowering to employees. Ownership comes from being involved fully in the decision making process. This requires intense collaboration.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Educators understand collaboration. Our professional culture is centered around it.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Our classroom activities are often and increasingly designed with collaborative practices. Moreover--consensus building, compromise, democracy, and other collaborative practices are consistently part of teachers’ union decisions. Teachers understand s<span style="color: #1a1414;">haring power creates shared ownership.</span> We are aware that shared ownership is essential to school culture.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5VRqYUYFCDU2vklVazjawlCATBUng6bNGpn2Qm-5xony64bJ9aF4340yrVXnUQG8pOu-z6NmLhy-k5Mj9pe1YWkHWJukq4h5paOnxyy8p1pao5ZDs7BSTkkWwkxQm2GBNyrxqLQKhNyft/s1600/question.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5VRqYUYFCDU2vklVazjawlCATBUng6bNGpn2Qm-5xony64bJ9aF4340yrVXnUQG8pOu-z6NmLhy-k5Mj9pe1YWkHWJukq4h5paOnxyy8p1pao5ZDs7BSTkkWwkxQm2GBNyrxqLQKhNyft/s400/question.jpg" height="97" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want my own kids’ teachers to feel like they own the rules and regulations they work under. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The current employee handbook does not belong to my kids’ teachers. Teacher empowerment was missing in the handbook creation. The rules and regulations--like <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/12/dressing-up-and-dressing-down-teachers.html" target="_blank">the dress code</a>--are owned by the handbook’s creators. Like in learning, the process is more important than the product. My district’s decision to not include teachers and their union leaders as equal partners in the handbook creation was wrong. The current handbook is about us, but made without us. A paradox exists in the current exclusionary policymaking process. How can district leaders fully entrust the care of children to teachers, but not trust teachers to develop reasonable working conditions?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Putting </span><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/08/why-are-optimists-so-negative-about.html" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">my pessimism</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> aside, I have not given up on my district’s handbook. Certainly, remnants of the teachers' old contract snuck into the new handbook creating some de facto ownership. I look forward to a full briefing of the changes in work conditions. I hope for district receptiveness to employees’ suggested revisions. I wish my kids to be taught by teachers who feel greater ownership in district initiatives.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many school districts across Wisconsin successfully and directly worked with teachers and union leaders in creating acceptable handbooks. What’s right is for my district to do the same.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com1Janesville, WI, USA42.6827885 -89.01872220000001342.496055 -89.341445700000008 42.869522 -88.695998700000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-49574988009406158172013-08-24T16:49:00.001-05:002013-09-07T14:07:04.088-05:00Embrace Yesterday and Today for Tomorrow<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_fxRF6LDJ8hANAWicaV7noeiLfHDo4o_Lt49OgD3_AeW4wpVjwobWBhG9luOZ0VaPwla9gz0h-EXcJBwASfWZZjrggA0Rg_F6Z5gPDALRc4KJm6pjB4mLxZXS8L5_v0KdAIAjCcJT63zr/s1600/wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_fxRF6LDJ8hANAWicaV7noeiLfHDo4o_Lt49OgD3_AeW4wpVjwobWBhG9luOZ0VaPwla9gz0h-EXcJBwASfWZZjrggA0Rg_F6Z5gPDALRc4KJm6pjB4mLxZXS8L5_v0KdAIAjCcJT63zr/s1600/wi.jpg" height="169" width="200" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Monday I “officially” report for my 11th year of teaching in Janesville’s public schools. This year, however, will be my first season of servicing Janesville without a negotiated contract between the district and my teachers union.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Janesville’s teachers union is one of the last holdouts in Wisconsin to be subjected to Gov. Walker’s discriminatory Act 10 legislation, which ends most collective bargaining rights for almost all public employees. Even though the </span><a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/state-supreme-court-agrees-to-hear-appeal-holding-up-act-10-b9934269z1-211615111.html" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">constitutionality of Act 10 is still in question and now before the Wisconsin State Supreme Court</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">, my district and union are forced to stumble together into uncharted territory this upcoming school year.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we stagger forward, the historian in me finds value in looking back. History matters. I concur with </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/20604-learn-from-yesterday-live-for-today-hope-for-tomorrow-the" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Einstein</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">, "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning." Better understanding the past allows us to move forward better.</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Contrary to <a href="http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2011/jul/30/changes-state-law-put-schools-vexing-tax-situation/" target="_blank">repeated misinformation out of the Governor’s office</a>, the contract that Janesville teachers worked under up until this school season was, in good faith, collectively bargained and mutually agreed upon by the teachers’ union and the school dist</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">rict two months before <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/03/scott-walker-negotiate-wisconsin-union-recall" target="_blank">Walker lied about his willingness to negotiate with unions</a>, four months before his inauguration, and nearly six months before <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/two-years-since-scott-walker-dropped-the-bomb-and-state/article_606a46a0-7518-11e2-bc13-001a4bcf887a.html" target="_blank">Walker dropped the bomb</a> that has since divided our state.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By devious design, <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2011/02/unions_arent_to_blame_for_wisc.html" target="_blank">public workers were scapegoated and consequently falsely blamed for state budget troubles</a> that were in actuality caused by a persistent recession. This recession and state budget woes were most directly connected to an unprecedented housing market crash caused mostly by the reckless actions of unscrupulous lenders and investors. State troubles had little to nothing to do with public worker benefits. Yet, the state budget discriminatorily targeted public workers as the sole solution to statewide economic woes. This </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: line-through; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">brave</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> divisive new world was brought to Wisconsin and Janesville by <a href="http://www.policymic.com/articles/9179/scott-walker-gets-a-boost-in-wisconsin-recall-from-koch-and-tea-party-event" target="_blank">Gov. Walker’s and his Tea Party </a></span><a href="http://www.policymic.com/articles/9179/scott-walker-gets-a-boost-in-wisconsin-recall-from-koch-and-tea-party-event" style="line-height: 1.15;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">$</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">upporter</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">$</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Walker’s Act 10, a poorly designed and pure-partisan piece of legislation, brought out the worst in Wisconsin. Walker’s bomb sent several local school board members scurrying to stand-with-Walker or recall-Walker bunkers. The </span><a href="http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2011/feb/23/school-board-meeting-strained/" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">ideological barrage that followed was intense</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and further divided a community already at odds.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The local and state vitriol intensified as public workers refused to just lie down. Protesting persisted and canvassing began. Almost </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/over-a-million-signatures-filed-to-force-recall-of-wisconsin-gov-scott-walker/2012/01/17/gIQAXPT55P_blog.html" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">a million signatures were gathered</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to force an unprecedented recall election of Gov. Walker. In the midst of this </span>chaos (<a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/03/public-education-is-what-democracy.html" target="_blank">originally concocted by the Koch Brothers</a>)<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the anti-public education klan came to Janesville. The Michigan-based, Bradley Foundation-supported </span><a href="http://eagtruth.wordpress.com/" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Education Action Group (EAG) </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">crossed state lines to take some </span><a href="http://eagnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Wisconsin-Act-10-Report.pdf" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Tea Party pot shots</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at Janesville’s teachers. Even more offensive were the </span><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/04/from-mlks-playbook-stand-against-anti.html" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">clandestine Walker supporters</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> distributing </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XXuHShRFUBNfSYtPOOkOYuhxS0pA2wDuzTXYwZioloY/pub" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">bigoted, anti-public education propaganda pamphlets </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">throughout Janesville.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Wisconsin GOP’s new-fangled state budget </span><a href="http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2011/aug/23/janesville-school-board-will-have-swallow-more-cut/" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">added to my district's financial woes.</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> School programs, courses, support staff, and teachers were cut. Class sizes were raised. A</span><a href="http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2011/apr/21/janesville-teachers-pledge-money-fundraiser-save-s/" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank"> good faith, but desperate attempt to save the local school district through charitable donations was made</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but it was hard to raise money with Walker’s War raging.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The ambiguity of Act 10 created all kinds of uncertainty for teachers, like those in Janesville, still under contract. Partisan legislation was then passed in an attempt to remedy the ambiguity of Act 10 related to Janesville and other districts with existing labor contracts. Undemocratically, </span><a href="http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2011/may/13/knilans-says-he-wants-save-teachers-jobs-parr-says/" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">this legislation was crafted without any discussion with union members</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> directly affected by its passage. Distrust and resentment grew between public workers and those supporting the scapegoating of public workers and teachers. <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/03/public-education-is-what-democracy.html" target="_blank">A divided Wisconsin was Walker’s bed,</a> yet we all had to lay in it.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Act 10’s destructive policies have persisted since the failed recall attempt. Public schools are not anymore efficient than before Act 10. The needs and costs of running quality public schools remain. </span><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/11/not-waterbed-without-water.html" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">As Bill Conway writes, it is the old waterbed effect</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Expenses do not disappear just because you push down on one side. The alleged savings in the Act 10 legislation is actually made possible by shifting district expenses to employees’ family budgets. Consequently, public educators in Janesville and across Wisconsin are doing more, with less, and for less this upcoming school season.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">So ready or not, here we go--into the unknown and beyond. Yeah, yeah--I know--we should not live in the past, </span><a href="http://sdjsuper.blogspot.com/2013/08/embracing-change.html" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">embrace change,</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> yada, yada, yada. However, if </span><a href="http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/lightinaugust/quotes.html" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Faulkner is right when he writes</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1414; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">, “Memory believes before knowing remembers. Believes longer than recollects, longer than knowing even wonders”--then Wisconsin's divisive past joins us on our journey forward. No matter how conflicted, we best not ignore the past. Embrace yesterday and today for tomorrow.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com1Janesville, WI, USA42.6827885 -89.01872220000001342.496055 -89.341445700000008 42.869522 -88.695998700000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-5192411513921746762013-08-12T23:39:00.002-05:002013-08-24T16:55:12.315-05:00A Lesson George Zimmerman Never Learned<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Usually I trend toward indifference on high-profile court cases, like the George Zimmerman trial, when the constant media coverage kicks in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, this case was different. I was and continue to be enthralled on many levels.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">My anger toward Zimmerman and his supporters persists. Regardless of what the jury’s "not guilty" ruling indicates, Zimmerman’s inappropriate racial profiling, unnecessary gun-toting, and his obvious hypermasculinity (which allowed him to ignore the </span><a href="http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/326700-full-transcript-zimmerman.html" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">911 dispatcher’s advice for restraint</a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">) are deserving of some sort of just punishment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">This Zimmerman case reminds me of my involvement in a criminal chase. I have shared this following story from time to time with my students and long before the Martin-Zimmerman incident. I wish Zimmerman had heard it before he played sheriff in pursuit of Trayvon.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I once was in the vicinity of a mugging by a pathetic, forty-something crook--who stole the purse of a senior in a McDonald’s parking lot. I had heard the victim scream, “He took my purse!” Without much thought, my own machismo kicked in and I began to give chase after the perpetrator. The foolish mugger fled across an open 100-yard parking lot. I had a clear view and was quickly gaining ground on him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">In telling my students this story, I usually ask them at this juncture what they think happened and what they would have done in chasing the mugger. My macho students predictably and consistently jump in with strong opinions and predictions of a smack down on the mugger at large.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">To the disappointment of the hero seekers, the distance between the mugger and I was great enough to provided plenty of time for me to think and check my emotions. I started to worry about what would happen if I caught this guy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">My virile students usually ridicule me at this point in the storytelling. They desperately desire a movie-like hero and old Mr. Strieker was not delivering.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I remember thinking during the chase how getting killed or in a violent altercation with the potentially dangerous mugger was not worth whatever was in the purse. Humbly, I believe my life as a father, husband, son, brother, teacher, friend, and neighbor was worth more than the valuables in the purse, hero accolades, and any boost to my "manliness."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like Zimmerman in pursuit of Trayvon, I had time to call 911 as I pursued the mugger. The dispatcher was just terrific. She was already aware of the mugging from other calls. Like the dispatcher who spoke to Zimmerman, my dispatcher followed the script by confirming my location, the direction I was heading, and then advised me to keep my distance from the fleeing crook.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unlike Zimmerman, I followed the dispatcher’s instructions. I slowed my pace, but kept the crook in sight. I was able to see the apartment complex where the mugger retreated and to accurately direct the police upon their arrival. In short time, the professionals had apprehended the mugger. The cuffing of this forty-something mugger was a pitiful scene I still remember vividly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I share my criminal chase story in class not to promote myself, but rather as a rejection of the Rambo-like attitude adopted by Zimmerman and too many other young men in our society. American culture fails terribly at teaching a manliness and courage that promotes a reasoned mentality and controlled emotions. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">For Trayvon’s sake, this is a lesson I wish I had a chance to teach Zimmerman at a younger age.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0145452 -99.115016300000008 49.5543342 -78.460719300000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-83589885056349104832013-08-10T07:17:00.004-05:002013-08-24T07:14:06.555-05:00Why are Optimists so Negative about Pessimists?<span id="docs-internal-guid-7dc2db47-65b5-c719-b27d-c947a47eb38e"></span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-7dc2db47-65b5-c719-b27d-c947a47eb38e"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why are optimists so negative about pessimists?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pessimists have much to offer society. I would not go as far to write that pessimism is the best policy, but I would not take the other extreme and support </span><a href="http://sdjsuper.blogspot.com/2013/08/optimism-is-best-policy.html" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">my superintendent’s pitch that “Optimism Is the Best Policy.”</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">True to the optimist approach, my super outlined in a recent blog posting the many positive benefits of optimism, like</span><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “...that optimists are: healthier, less likely to give up, more successful in school, on the job, and on the playing field, more successful in relationships, depressed less often, and for shorter periods of time.” Furthermore, she affirms “optimists help create some of the good they come to expect, so they are probably right more than not – and they don’t waste time worrying about what they’re not right about.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who would criticize such an optimistic view of optimism? Optimists won’t. The dirty, but noble work of critical thinking is left to the pessimists.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pessimists bring much to the table to be valued--including a healthy skepticism about conventional wisdom. In my field of study, I was trained to look at the past and present critically. I teach this same skill to my history students. In the historical field, it is understood that, quite often and more so as time passes, cognitive dissonance kicks in and distorts reality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Historians are critical thinkers by design and most often in search of the truth. As <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281" target="_blank">James Loewen exposed in his important examination of United States history textbooks</a>, the past is often misrepresented in an overly optimistic way to promote patriotism and avoid the conflict and drama of our country’s history. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I worry those promoting optimism might negatively view thinking of this type as unhealthy pessimism. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Of course, this is a pessimistic view.</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-7dc2db47-65b5-c719-b27d-c947a47eb38e"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.454545021057129px; line-height: 15.454545021057129px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Disconcerting to optimists might be the <a href="http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/study-pessimists-live-longer-healthier-lives" target="_blank">latest psychology research</a> showing "...that optimists may look at life through rose-colored glasses and ignore the truth about the health risks associated with aging, while the pessimists have a more realistic view of the threats ahead and thus may be more proactive about taking care of themselves." </span></span></span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-7dc2db47-65b5-c719-b27d-c947a47eb38e"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Labeling me, or anyone, a pessimist is much more complicated than conventional wisdom presumes. I suspect most people jump between being fair-weather optimists and unfair-weather pessimists. In my own life, I have felt far more optimistic about life's challenges when I have felt empowered in determining outcomes related to those challenges. In contrast, I tend to be more pessimistic about things when I have little control over the conditions dictating my life.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Truth be written, pessimism is not usually the producer of negative situations, but more often the product of negative conditions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">For instance, just two and half years ago I was very optimistic about my professional future. I had just completed my master’s degree, my district had agree to a stable teacher’s contract, my school gave me the green light to create and teach my dream course on historical research, the high school where I teach had recently completed a major remodel, my children and students were being taught in smaller classes, and (for the most part) teachers in my community and state were left to teach.</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-7dc2db47-65b5-c719-b27d-c947a47eb38e"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then Governor Walker <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/two-years-since-scott-walker-dropped-the-bomb-and-state/article_606a46a0-7518-11e2-bc13-001a4bcf887a.html" target="_blank">dropped the bomb</a> and <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/in-film-walker-talks-of-divide-and-conquer-strategy-with-unions-8o57h6f-151049555.html" target="_blank">successfully divided Wisconsin.</a> Since, much of Wisconsin is understandably mired in a pool of pessimism. Over the past couple years, my own school district and I have suffered through premature staff retirements, unprecedented resignations and departure of friends and colleagues, larger class sizes, divisive politics, program and staff cuts, teacher pay and benefits cuts, increased workloads, the accountability craze, partisan attacks on unions, and <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/04/from-mlks-playbook-stand-against-anti.html" target="_blank">anti-public education propaganda.</a> These happenings have produced my and others’ pessimism. Treating this stress with optimism is like using a Band-Aid for serious hemorrhaging. Listening and acting on teachers angst is a healthy antidote for the trauma inflicted on our profession and public education. Just writing this, makes me feel better.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For optimists, pessimism perpetuates problems. For pessimists, negativity can be powerful fuel. In my aforementioned era of professional bliss, I was largely oblivious and uninvolved in larger professional concerns. My local optimism blinded me to the national attacks on public education already underway and headed Wisconsin’s way. In the pessimistic state that followed, I was enlightened. I am now more fully aware of <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/04/curiously-george-will-joins-demolition.html" target="_blank">the nationally-orchestrated attacks on public education</a>. The negative lens further <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/08/public-educations-eight-ball-student.html" target="_blank">widened my understanding of inequity and poverty</a> in our school systems. Most importantly, my awakening <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/05/teachers-cannot-be-bystanders-to.html" target="_blank">pushed me into an activist role</a> and introduced me to some <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/" target="_blank">great critical thinkers</a> around the state and the country.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This posting is not a promotion of pessimism. I actually concur with others that too much pessimism is unhealthy. While <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/04/mildly-depressed-teachers-perspective.html" target="_blank">I still wrestle with mild depression,</a> I have personally banked some of my negative passion for the long haul that will be required to undo the damage done to public education in Wisconsin over the past couple years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Far more dangerous than pessimism, however, is absolutism (belief in absolute principles in political, philosophical, ethical, or theological matters). Absolutism in an optimistic manner can lead to unrealistic views of the past and present. Absolute optimism can also lead to impractical goals for the future. In addition, absolutism can lead to insensitivity toward divergent views, a condescending attitude toward critical thinkers, and an unfair dismissiveness of others' environmental conditions. </span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In my own district and others, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/the-bottom-line-on-no-excuses-and-poverty-in-school-reform/2012/09/29/813683bc-08c1-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_blog.html" target="_blank">no excuses policies</a>, sacrosanct standards of professional behaviors, and <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/12/dressing-up-and-dressing-down-teachers.html" target="_blank">non-negotiable employee handbooks</a> move our school communities dangerously toward absolutism. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Promoting and accepting divergent views is healthier. A monoculture of optimism is bad policy. Balancing pessimism and optimism is best policy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For a less pessimistic and more balanced look at optimism, check out <a href="http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2074067,00.html" target="_blank">this Time Magazine psychology article.</a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com1Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0145452 -99.115016300000008 49.5543342 -78.460719300000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-30760235245953090672013-06-12T09:10:00.002-05:002013-08-10T07:19:45.314-05:00Voucher Schools: Inherently Unequal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><b><a href="http://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/cullen/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">State Senator Tim Cullen</a> </b>is one of Wisconsin's finest. He consistently provides reasoned,
historical perspective on state matters. This is Sen. Cullen's finely-crafted essay on
the latest voucher proposal being pushed through the state budget bill. </i><br />
<br />
Last week, I expressed my extreme disappointment when
the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee voted along party lines to
create a statewide unaccountable school voucher program. <br />
<br />
Make no mistake – this plan creates two separate school systems in Wisconsin, both paid for
by taxpayers. <br />
<br />
In 1954, late Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Earl Warren said,
“Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” His words hold
true today.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
While the agreement creates a 500-student cap during the program’s first
year and a 1,000-student cap in subsequent years, the cap could be
lifted in the future or may be line-item vetoed by the governor. The
ultimate goal of voucher supporters is not to open the voucher program
to 500 or 1,000 students, but an unrestricted expansion of vouchers.<br />
<br />
The private school voucher effort is a political movement, not an
educational movement. It is a top-down movement funded by tens of millions of dollars in
out-of-state campaign contributions and the hiring of several
highly-paid lobbyists.<br />
<br />
The voucher expansion is not just a loss for public education, but also
for state taxpayers like you and me.<br />
<br />
Governor Walker and legislative Republicans are creating a second
statewide school system funded by taxpayers, yet this voucher system
will provide no transparency or accountability when it comes to how
those taxpayer dollars are being spent.<br />
<br />
Instead of creating a two-tiered school system and diminishing our
public schools, we should be recommitting to public education.<br />
<br />
The problem with public education test scores and graduation rates lies
with the lives students are forced to live the seventeen hours per day
they are not in school. Far too many children live in disruptive homes
with no discipline, no encouragement, no curfews, and poor nutrition.
When they arrive at school, they are unprepared to learn. The political
voucher movement points the finger at public schools for these problems,
which is not a fair assessment.<br />
<br />
There is no evidence that private schools, which are able to cherry pick
the students they will allow to enroll, can do anything better regarding
these seventeen hours that students are not in school.<br />
<br />
Parents in Wisconsin have every right to send their children to private
schools or to home school them, but taxpayers should not be required
to pay that cost.<br />
<br />
Despite such a dramatic change in the Republicans’ voucher expansion
proposal, all of this damage to public education is buried in the state
budget bill, with no separate statewide public hearings on these
significant changes. <br />
<br />
To paraphrase Beloit Memorial High School principal Tom Johnson, our
public school teachers, principals, and administrators have given too
much sweat equity, school pride, and hometown devotion to allow
legislative leaders to diminish their work in favor of an unaccountable
privatization of our school system.<br />
<br />
I believe there is a chance that the governor's new voucher expansion
plan could be changed before the budget is passed. I assure you that I
will be working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to try to
stop this unfair voucher plan.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0145452 -99.115016300000008 49.5543342 -78.460719300000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-49487795228638004442013-05-03T19:54:00.004-05:002013-06-24T09:52:32.292-05:00Wisconsin's Private School Vouchers Prove Wasteful<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">John Forester, Director of Government Relations for the <a href="http://wsaa.org/saainfo/" target="_blank">School Administrators Alliance (SAA)</a>, shares in this blog posting more sound reasoning opposing Wisconsin Governor Walker's private school voucher plan.</span></i><br />
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Many observers have called Governor Walker’s proposal to expand private school vouchers bad education policy. I agree. But, today, I would like to address voucher expansion from the perspective of fiscal policy.<br />
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If voucher advocates are successful in expanding private school vouchers in this budget, vouchers will eventually become one of the largest taxpayer‐funded entitlements in Wisconsin.<br />
<br />
I realize this is a strong statement. I also understand that voucher proponents argue the governor’s proposal increases voucher eligibility to just nine new school districts in 2013‐14. But, if you let the nose of the camel inside the tent, it won’t be long before the rest of the camel is inside the tent as well.<br />
<a name='more'></a>The ultimate objective of private school voucher advocates is a statewide system of private school vouchers for all Wisconsin school children. Voucher advocates, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, have repeatedly voiced their support for statewide vouchers. But, this objective really became crystal clear in a recent news interview when School Choice Wisconsin Vice‐President Terry Brown identified the goal of voucher proponents as “a voucher in every backpack.”<br />
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So, how much could this entitlement end up costing Wisconsin taxpayers?<br />
<br />
Let’s just focus on those students currently enrolled in private school, because of course, lawmakers wouldn’t deny those children access to a voucher simply because they are already enrolled in private school. It wouldn’t be fair and, it probably wouldn’t be legal either. Let’s also remove the question of income eligibility because Governor Walker has already expressed his desire to remove the income eligibility requirements for vouchers.<br />
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According to the Department of Public Instruction, we have 97,488 students currently enrolled in private schools in Wisconsin but not receiving a taxpayer‐funded voucher. If we multiply that number by the current voucher payment of $6,442, we get just over $628 million.<br />
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But, the governor’s proposal would increase the voucher payment to $7,050 for K‐8 students and $7,856 for high school students. So, just for perspective, if we multiply the private school enrollment figure by $7,050, we get over $687 million. And, if we multiply the enrollment figure by $7,856, we get almost $766 million. Clearly, voucher expansion will be a large and growing fiscal commitment for Wisconsin taxpayers.<br />
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So, what would voucher proponents have lawmakers do to fund this growing entitlement? Raise taxes? In the 1990s, Governor Tommy Thompson was asked about his lack of support for statewide voucher expansion. He answered, “We can’t afford two systems of education.” His words ring just as true today as they did then.<br />
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We simply can’t afford two systems of education in Wisconsin.<br />
<br />
After spending nine years on the staff of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, I have to say I am perplexed that so many fiscal conservatives would support growing entitlement spending of this magnitude.<br />
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Voucher expansion is not only bad education policy. It is bad fiscal policy as well.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com2Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0154717 -99.115016300000008 49.5534077 -78.460719300000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-48506723757375175552013-04-24T00:26:00.002-05:002013-05-03T19:56:54.220-05:00Dittoing Diane on School Vouchers<b id="docs-internal-guid-25d78874-3a5f-23c7-8cf0-d2da1156d750" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQO6kn9IBP7FhmDzETiTUzt83BL28BtSm1_Vn6Cbvnd-rQ8WFzJdJ3qRv5WOHjbgz6y8EJUNbfzjcpXp_M8mN1yiyCXGDJYtonTE8DYoYwDU1zopGOgkH9IzNIJgJJGdSPe3KfqKSPd7AH/s1600/ditto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQO6kn9IBP7FhmDzETiTUzt83BL28BtSm1_Vn6Cbvnd-rQ8WFzJdJ3qRv5WOHjbgz6y8EJUNbfzjcpXp_M8mN1yiyCXGDJYtonTE8DYoYwDU1zopGOgkH9IzNIJgJJGdSPe3KfqKSPd7AH/s1600/ditto.jpg" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-25d78874-3a5f-23c7-8cf0-d2da1156d750" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yesterday's release of <a href="http://news.dpi.wi.gov/files/eis/pdf/dpinr2013_48.pdf" target="_blank">Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) choice school data</a> is ditto to what Diane Ravitch has been reporting on Wisconsin's voucher program for some time.</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-25d78874-3a5f-23c7-8cf0-d2da1156d750" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-25d78874-3a5f-23c7-8cf0-d2da1156d750" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">America's premier education historian, Diane Ravitch has been building the case that Wisconsin’s <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2013/01/07/how-to-reform-milwaukees-schools/" target="_blank">“voucher schools perform no better than public schools.”</a> </span></b></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-25d78874-3a5f-23c7-8cf0-d2da1156d750" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-25d78874-3a5f-23c7-8cf0-d2da1156d750" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the third straight year since being required to pony up test scores, Wisconsin's voucher schools trail neighboring public schools in reading and math scores and lag significantly behind the state averages in student achievement, according to <a href="http://news.dpi.wi.gov/files/eis/pdf/dpinr2013_48.pdf" target="_blank">DPI's reporting.</a></span></b></div>
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<a name='more'></a><b id="docs-internal-guid-25d78874-3a5f-23c7-8cf0-d2da1156d750" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-25d78874-3a5f-23c7-8cf0-d2da1156d750" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ravitch dedicated a big chunk of her landmark book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Death-Great-American-School-System/dp/0465025579" target="_blank">The Death and Life of the American School System</a>, to the flaws and failures of voucher systems in Wisconsin and elsewhere. Ravitch can add <a href="http://oea.dpi.wi.gov/oea_mpcp_results" target="_blank">DPI’s 2013 data</a> to her pile of reports showing how Milwaukee's and Racine's voucher schools have seen minimal to no gains in student achievement compared to its neighboring public schools over the past two decades.</span></b></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-25d78874-3a5f-23c7-8cf0-d2da1156d750" style="font-weight: normal;">
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-25d78874-3a5f-23c7-8cf0-d2da1156d750" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like Prohibition, school vouchers in Wisconsin began, in part, as a noble experiment. The voucher test, however, has lasted nearly twice as long as the failed Prohibition experiment. The noble sentiments have long since past on the voucher program, yet artificial life keeps getting pumped into this <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/03/dnr-school-vouchers.html" target="_blank">flatlining</a> school voucher plan by <a href="http://millermps.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/money-behind-walkers-voucher-expansion/" target="_blank">“wealthy campaign contributors and shadowy electioneering groups.”</a></span></b></div>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prohibition was a worthless and wasteful government charade in its dying days before repeal. The same is true of the lingering voucher program. As <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2013/01/07/how-to-reform-milwaukees-schools/" target="_blank">Ravitch recently wrote</a>, “More of the same is no answer. Doubling down on failure is a bad bet."</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ditto, Diane.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is time to repeal Wisconsin’s voucher program and <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/04/restore-pride-in-wisconsin-schools.html" target="_blank">reinvest in the noblest of ideas--Wisconsin’s public schools.</a></span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0154717 -99.115016300000008 49.5534077 -78.460719300000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-75481651792141586642013-04-21T18:04:00.001-05:002013-04-24T20:16:43.914-05:00Restore Pride in Wisconsin Schools<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>With my teaching schedule, I am unable to attend the public hearings on this year's state budget, so I sent the following letter to Wisconsin state legislators to express my serious concerns about inadequate funding for public schools. </i></span><br />
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Wisconsin Legislators:</div>
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As you ponder this season's state budget, you should weigh heavily <a href="http://gazettextra.com/news/2013/apr/19/evansville-residents-voice-support-school-referend/" target="_blank"><b>this reporting out of Evansville</b>.</a> This story adds to the mounting accounts of how the recent state cuts to public education are not working for Evansville or Wisconsin. </div>
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Evansville's story is Wisconsin's story. Educators and school leaders in this small community have done nearly everything asked under the state proposals of the past two years. Nevertheless, this tight-knit community is being ripped apart from the outside by the reckless state government policies of the past couple years. </div>
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Community leaders have tried to keep it taped together. Since Act 10, the Evansville Community School District (ECSD) has cut to the bone, drained its reserves, and petitioned for savings from school staff. The teachers and school staff have negotiated significant savings not once, but twice with thrice in the works for the upcoming school year. Yet, today the community still faces another district budget deficit and rounds of damaging cuts to its students' education.</div>
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Community members and parents recognize the damage being done in the wake of Act 10 and other recent school-funding cuts. The lack of thoughtful leadership by those controlling state government is forcing local property owners to speak up and lead. Don't take my word for it. Listen to a local farmer's call, applauded by many in Evansville, to restore his kids' schools to "..where they were two or three years ago." </div>
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“My opinion is relatively simple. We have already cut too much money out of this budget. We’re being nailed to the wall by forces of state government, and we need to do what we can to fight back. Let’s get a referendum started and raise the money that we need for these schools. We can’t be pushed around by these folks in Madison.”</blockquote>
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Consider further the words of an Evansville parent who is left to pleading for what is right for her kids. </div>
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“On behalf of them, I beg you, please don’t continue cutting teachers, and don’t cut specials and phy. ed. and language arts, and all of those areas that give kids opportunities to express themselves and to succeed."</blockquote>
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This call for reinvesting in education is not about me, but consider for a moment my wife and her colleagues teaching in Evansville who are doing more, for less, and with less in subsidizing the state cuts to education. God bless them and the thousands like them across this state practicing life-saving triage in Wisconsin's public schools. </div>
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Evansville is a telling sample of what is happening all around the state. Generations of Wisconsinites -- conservative and progressive alike -- proudly built one of the finest public education systems in the country. Three years ago, Evansville was proud of its developing school system. Now the ECSD is left with inadequate tools to properly fund the services needed for its student's education.</div>
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For those of you rooted in ideologies that stand against government-run anything, consider for a moment the recent tragedy in Boston. Let your foundation be shaken by the impressive results of <a href="http://media.gazettextra.com/img/photos/2013/04/20/boston_police_t700.jpg?f40c0e74b997dbb01ce524758e0d04a31382c8af" target="_blank">government agencies and the public working together</a> for the well being of all. As one Boston bystander in an interview said, "Sometimes tragedies like this make you appreciate things you take for granted--like your government." </div>
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Likewise, government-run schools must not be taken for granted. Public schools should not be deemed a burden. Public schools are the soul of society. All of Wisconsin benefits from investments in future generations. In a time when public school demands are on the rise with rapidly growing student poverty, we should not be cutting back on public school services and funding. We must rebuild the pride communities, like Evansville, once had in its public schools. This begins by reinvesting in Wisconsin's public schools.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0148752 -99.115016300000008 49.5540042 -78.460719300000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-10038812949788970852013-04-15T20:37:00.001-05:002013-04-21T18:16:50.122-05:00Curiously, George Will Joins Demolition Crew<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Curiously, George Will, the renowned political columnist, joined the demolition crew hastily trying to tear down Wisconsin’s public school system. </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the past two years, Wisconsinites have become accustomed to outsiders trying to raze our public school system proudly built by generations of Wisconsin taxpayers, parents, students, and educators--</span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">conservatives and liberals alike</span></b><b style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will joins the ranks of corporate associations (like <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-bottari/alec-in-wisconsin-the-hij_b_1531190.html" target="_blank">ALEC</a>), plutocrats (like the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/us/22koch.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&" target="_blank">Koch Brothers</a>), right wing think tanks (like <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/leaked-documents-detail-operation-angry-badger-u447pp9-139483133.html" target="_blank">Heartland Institute</a>), and clandestine groups (like </span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/04/from-mlks-playbook-stand-against-anti.html" target="_blank">pamphleteers in my hometown</a></span></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) defacing Wisconsin’s public schools.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This wrecking ball approach to public school reform is typical of those working in concert to tear down public education. Their pseudo-reforming of public schools involves destroying everything (with no regard for existing value) in public education. The demo crews claim to be reforming public education, but actually seek to raze it and rebuild with publicly-subsidized, privately-run schools.</span></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-04-03/opinions/38246523_1_white-privilege-non-teachers-wristbands" target="_blank">Will’s recent op-ed</a> attempts to bring a sledgehammer to Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) for allegedly indoctrinating students in “consciousness-raising” about racism, recycling, and reproduction. Instead, <a href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2013/apr/15/george-will/wisconsin-dpi-urged-white-students-wear-white-priv/" target="_blank">Will practices sloppy journalism</a> and relies on the <a href="http://eagtruth.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">unprofessional research of Education Action Group (EAG)</a>--yet another right wing anti-public education group--in formulating his critique.</span>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EAG guises itself as a real news agency, but in actuality is an anti-public education organization funded by right wing operatives (like <a href="http://www.bradleyfdn.org/board_of_directors.asp" target="_blank">Will’s Bradley Foundation</a>) and works often with other Tea Party-type organizations (such as Breitbart and MacIver Institute). EAG's head demolition man and Will’s lead source in his op-ed is <a href="http://eagtruth.wordpress.com/history/" target="_blank">Kyle Olson</a>--a free market apologist who makes his living trying to obliterate public education. Olson and his demo crew believe they are simply doing Christ's work in tearing down public education. </span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EAG's mission is best summed up by this <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/kyleolson/2011/03/18/jesus_isnt_in_michigan" target="_blank">Olson quote:</a> </span></b></b></b></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I would like to think that, yes, Jesus would destroy the public education temple and save the children from despair and a hopeless future. And he would smash a temple that has been perverted to meet the needs of the administrators, teachers, school board members, unions, bureaucrats and contractors.</span></b></b></blockquote>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When not recasting the usually loving and social justice-minded Jesus as the ultimate, public school-kicking demolition man, Olson moonlights as <a href="http://www.newshounds.us/20120217_fox_friends_provides_partisan_guest_kyle_olson_with_platform_for_school_choice" target="_blank">education man on Fox & Friends</a>, despite having no professional training or experience as a <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/02/tis-shame-mastication-of-education.html" target="_blank">teacher man</a>. Olson's charade as a professional journalist was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/the-rights-attack-on-fran_b_510410.html" target="_blank">long ago exposed as a hoax.</a></span></b></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7175213620066643" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will’s latest work simply regurgitates Olson’s apparently unverified accusation that Wisconsin’s DPI (through a VISTA-run program) encouraged public schools to distribute white privilege wristbands. I am just a hack blogger, but simply following one of Olson’s own links, I found <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZHBpLndpLmdvdnxkcGktdmlzdGEtcHJvamVjdHxneDo3MTMxMTU5NTljYzI2ZWFl" target="_blank">this statement</a> exonerating DPI of EAG’s indoctrination allegations. A basic Google search also brought me to a publicly and <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/dpi.wi.gov/dpi-vista-project/resources-1/power-and-privilege-resources" target="_blank">clearly-stated DPI explanation:</a></span></b></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">...no DPI official has asked, requested, or encouraged any school district, educator, or student to wear any wristband, and none of our VISTA volunteers have had any children put on any wristbands. To be clear, no Wisconsin students were given white wristbands.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One has to wonder, did Olson, EAG staff, Curious George Will, or his newspaper follow standard journalism practice and contact DPI before reporting on this? My inquiry to the Washington Post (Ticket #15067-89185) a week ago to see if Will or the Washington Post verified Olson’s allegations has gone unanswered. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meanwhile, I am sure the loving and Christian-minded EAG staffers are already fast at work finding a way to wreck me. This is what they do. Regrettably, I know EAG’s demolition tactics on public education all too well. During the recent efforts to recall Wisconsin Gov. Walker, my own kids’ school district and others around Wisconsin were targets of some of EAG’s anti-public education antics. Apparently having <a href="http://www.mea.org/privatization/pdf/EAG_Tool_Kit.pdf" target="_blank">razed enough public schools in their home base of Michigan</a>, the EAG demo crew migrated to Wisconsin to raze school districts, like my kids' school district, <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/editorial/walker-acknowledges-his-reforms-have-hurt-schools/article_8e7f5e61-8bc8-5df7-9f39-ead889bc140d.html" target="_blank">already weakened by Gov. Walker's education cuts.</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of EAG’s Wisconsin wrecking tools was a propaganda <a href="http://eagnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Wisconsin-Act-10-Report.pdf" target="_blank">“report”</a> on Gov. Walker’s Act 10 (which severely limits the rights of teachers’ unions to collectively bargain) that included an attack on Janesville teachers. Of course, real reporting involving a radical and divisive initiative, like Act 10, would normally include interviews from all parties impacted and a counter balancing of GOP praise for Gov. Walker’s agenda with an accounting of <a href="http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20130403/SHE0601/304030213/Letter-Walker-s-cuts-hurting-education" target="_blank">schools struggling with Walker’s cuts and divisive policies.</a> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instead, the GOP-partisan EAG produced a one-sided bash on Wisconsin public school teachers, their unions, and collective bargaining. Quotes from Walker cheerleaders abound in the anti-public school publication taunting educators and praising Walker’s saving grace and new command over Wisconsin public teachers' pay, working conditions, and benefits. Expectedly, not a mention is found in the "report" of the real problems plaguing Wisconsin's public school finances--like <a href="http://www.alternet.org/education/teachers-make-handy-scapegoats-spiraling-inequality-really-what-ails-our-education-system" target="_blank">rising inequity</a>, mounting student poverty, runaway costs in the healthcare industry, and loss of revenues from the 2008 housing crash.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not surprisingly, the EAG work of fiction was right in line with the free market-obsessed Heartland Institute’s <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/leaked-documents-detail-operation-angry-badger-u447pp9-139483133.html" target="_blank">“Operation Angry Badger</a>" covertly designed to "document the shortcomings of public schools in Wisconsin." Demolition duty is dirty work.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now we get to formally add the nationally syndicated George Will to the dirty gang of Wisconsin public school traducers. Will crabs about the rising costs of public education, perpetuates the myth of “rotten” public education, and follows Olson's false lead in claiming indoctrination of students. Just like EAG, Will’s claims of an overpriced public education system ignore larger socioeconomic ills dragging down public school finances--like the mounting expenses in servicing increasing numbers of needy students. Will’s accusations of indoctrination are only a hop and a skip away from EAG-similar propaganda like <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XXuHShRFUBNfSYtPOOkOYuhxS0pA2wDuzTXYwZioloY/pub" target="_blank">this flyer</a>, which was recently and anonymously distributed by clandestine groups in my community.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My critique of Will’s attack on DPI is not to state that Wisconsin’s DPI is above reproach. I have publicly challenged DPI on a couple matters (like <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/02/time-for-school-administrators-to-see.html" target="_blank">working with Walker</a> and producing <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/10/another-distractor-school-report-cards.html" target="_blank">flawed school report cards</a>). My criticisms, however, are designed to improve DPI policies and public education in Wisconsin. In contrast, EAG staff are commissioned crusaders out to <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/kyleolson/2011/03/18/jesus_isnt_in_michigan" target="_blank">"destroy the public education temple."</a></span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will’s scapegoating of Wisconsin's DPI is so far from <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/08/public-educations-eight-ball-student.html" target="_blank">the eight ball</a> and not helpful to public educators, like myself, working hard everyday to service our nation's neediest kids. If Will sincerely wants to reduce the number of support staff in public education, then he should support socioeconomic programs that reduce the inequity in this country. If Will sincerely wants to improve the almighty science, math, and reading test scores, then he should support <a href="http://www.boldapproach.org/" target="_blank">broader and bolder solutions</a> that reduce the crippling effects of student poverty. If Will sincerely wants to advise on public education policies he should <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/08/can_schools_defeat.html" target="_blank">study how reducing student poverty reforms public schools</a> more than any in-school or out-of-school factor. </span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And, above all, if Will sincerely wants to build better public schools, he should ditch destruction crews, like EAG, and join those of us trying to construct better schools for our kids and students.</span></b></div>
</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0154717 -99.115016300000008 49.5534077 -78.460719300000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-59767279129706166332013-03-16T12:20:00.001-05:002013-04-15T20:40:10.657-05:00A Biased Letter From a Public School Product<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://morefineprint.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/jenni-dye-2.jpg?w=294&h=196" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="http://morefineprint.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/jenni-dye-2.jpg?w=294&h=196" width="200" /></a></div>
<i>Jenni Dye, an attorney and a Dane County Board Supervisor, let me republish below <a href="http://morefineprint.com/2013/03/15/a-biased-letter/" target="_blank">her open letter</a> to the Janesville Board of Education. She blogs regularly at <a href="http://morefineprint.com/" target="_blank">More Fine Print*</a>. </i><br />
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<a href="http://morefineprint.com/2013/03/15/a-biased-letter/" target="_blank">A Biased Letter</a></h3>
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<i>I submitted this letter today, with tears in my eyes and hope in my heart. I am sharing it with you because I am truly saddened by what things have come to in Wisconsin and because I think as we deal with contracts, and are often caught up in their financial components, we shouldn’t lose sight of how public education is about students and successful communities.</i><br />
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Dear members of the Janesville Board of Education:<br />
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I am writing you today to encourage you to negotiate new contracts with your employees. Alternatively, as a minimum, I am writing to ask that you provide clear and binding guidance to teachers at or approaching retirement age so that they can make a decision as to whether to submit their retirement by your April 15 deadline.<br />
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Some might say this letter is biased, as once you read my last name, it will be fairly obvious that I have a parent in the district who is at or approaching retirement eligibility. And I will openly admit that this letter is biased, but not for the reasons one might conclude from my last name.<br />
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It is biased because I am a product of the Janesville public schools and, more specifically, Janesville teachers. My success is in large part their success. In kindergarten, as I struggled to learn to read, my teacher told my parents I would be an average student. As years went on, I loved school. I loved my teachers and the excitement of discovering new adventures with every new piece of knowledge. I became an A student. In 1999, I was valedictorian of my class, because of the hard work and encouragement of my parents, but also because of my teachers.<br />
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Today, as I serve on the Dane County Board of Supervisors representing my constituents, I remember how Mr. Eyster, whose passion for civics and government were at times intense but always contagious, taught me to research both sides of an issue. When writing legal briefs, advocacy letters, and research memos, I think of Mrs. Szemraj’s and Ms. Adams’ thoughtful comments on my writing assignments and all I learned from them about framing a message. I think of Mr. Kerbel, who patiently explained so many topics to me – including labor history – despite my relentless questions. I think of Ms. Wilcox, whose class was a burst of sounds juxtaposed against other classes where students more quietly put pen to paper instead of bow to strings. Whenever I see a sandhill crane, I think of Mr. Eicher, whose biology class taught me to appreciate the world around us. I think of Mr. Madden, who taught me math and critical thinking and whose lessons I use nearly every week in analyzing finances and budgets and spreadsheets – and who told me that I could be anything I want. I could name numerous other teachers to this list who shaped me into who I am.<br />
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Today, however, I think about how every teacher whose name I just listed – every single one – is a teacher who dedicated many years of their lives to Janesville’s students, and how Janesville’s history of collaboration instead of confrontation and of rewarding longevity as part of its contract is probably one reason why I was so fortunate to have experienced, energetic teachers. I want to protect that. I want to say I grew up in a great community whose values are in the right place. I want to have a community of well-educated, engaged students who have learned so much from their teachers, the way I did. I want those students to not only be prepared to go out into our community and do great things but to also believe that they can because their own version of Dan Madden told them so. I want those students to succeed, to contribute to our tax base, to contribute to our community, and to make sure that despite inevitable change, Janesville remains the vibrant community where I grew up.<br />
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So, I suppose you would be right to call this letter biased. Because I am very personally invested in making sure that the knowledge and values I acquired don’t go by the wayside just because some legislators and a governor decided to push collective bargaining to the side.<br />
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You have the opportunity to do the right thing, not just for teachers who have served the district well, but for all of the current and future students who, like me, will benefit from an amazing education from even more amazing teachers.<br />
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Sincerely,<br />
Jenni DyeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Janesville, Wisconsin42.655636042990018 -89.02956701875001541.911747042990015 -90.320460518750011 43.399525042990021 -87.738673518750019tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053306432904183385.post-54658840107440355352013-03-05T23:48:00.000-06:002013-03-19T22:06:48.575-05:00DNR School Vouchers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixniwqzRRmb8yp4ALh_mGGue0adTKFNHJGkRd8ZxHS3Khw7gL4Jna3fIzv6pkV1kDvZqvMMzkFIzLgiPBHPhSmL-ClqZe81nP9o_A5DAlwLq6Zb6Slb9HhFOS6fT0WFmyb1ceFu8YbtR7H/s1600/flatline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixniwqzRRmb8yp4ALh_mGGue0adTKFNHJGkRd8ZxHS3Khw7gL4Jna3fIzv6pkV1kDvZqvMMzkFIzLgiPBHPhSmL-ClqZe81nP9o_A5DAlwLq6Zb6Slb9HhFOS6fT0WFmyb1ceFu8YbtR7H/s1600/flatline.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5718452199362218" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the betterment of Wisconsin, Gov. Walker should adhere to the do not resuscitate (DNR) order and </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.5718452199362218" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">let the state's voucher experiment die peacefully. Instead, t</span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.5718452199362218" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">his past week, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker began administering CPR to his <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F91a7u74aUk" target="_blank">flatlining</a> school voucher plan.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In an attempt to rescue the Koch Brothers-promoted plan, Gov. Walker has <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/in-a-shift-gov-scott-walker-backs-report-cards-for-voucher-schools-cs8vh9i-193937901.html" target="_blank">reversed his position</a> and now supports voucher schools being subjected to the same accountability standards of Wisconsin’s public schools. The falsehood of Gov. Walker’s sudden compromise plan is exposed by the <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2013/02/school-choice-free-market-fantasy.html" target="_blank">laissez-faire think tanks</a> trying to pump artificial life into this dying plan. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The death bell tolls on the voucher proposal as <a href="http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/viewart/20130219/WDH0101/302190169/Voucher-plan-angers-public-schools" target="_blank">school leaders</a>, <a href="http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/school_board_seeks_community_support_to_fight_vouchers_470343936.html" target="_blank">communities</a>, and, surprisingly, some <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/two-gop-senate-leaders-back-vote-before-any-school-voucher/article_32d7d724-60c9-11e2-b90c-0019bb2963f4.html" target="_blank">Wisconsin GOPers</a> have come out against the expansion of private school vouchers. This free market fantasy has been beaten and battered by reality for the past two decades in Wisconsin. Comprehensive research shows <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/charterschoice/2013/02/milwaukee_public_schools_outperforms_schools_in_voucher_program.html" target="_blank">public schools outperform voucher schools</a> and <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/01/1181678/-Walker-s-Plan-for-Wisconsin-Public-Schools-Make-Them-Private" target="_blank">voucher funds mostly help those who do not need help.</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Extending funding for vouchers is about as logical as continuing life support for a brain-dead patient. Life support might be therapeutic in the short run for those with emotional ties, but it is wasteful and unhealthy in the long run for all. Pulling the plug on Wisconsin’s lifeless voucher system is a reasoned decision.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The death of vouchers is necessary to resurrect public concern for schools tasked to serve high-poverty, high-needs kids. As state Senator <a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/02/all-of-wisconsin-profits-from-sb-257.html" target="_blank">Tim Cullen </a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://oneteachersperspective.blogspot.com/2012/02/all-of-wisconsin-profits-from-sb-257.html" target="_blank">reminded school leaders</a> at a district meeting, the original intent of the state aid formula was to balance finances of rich and poor school districts. Vouchers do not help poor school districts. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wisconsin’s students would be better served by a social justice approach to school funding. As <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtYszdSU1Yg&feature=share&list=UUR5inpnmFScTOnWCz4d1grA" target="_blank">Linda Darling-Hammond</a>, our nation’s premier educational researcher, preaches, “Education is not a private good, it is a public good…we all profit and we all hurt depending on the quality of education other people’s kids get.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This sensible sermon is a tough sell to voucher supporters. The elephant in this voucher debate is that some parents send their kids to private schools to shield them from public school kids mired in debilitating poverty. Gov. Walker and his supporters like to market vouchers as necessary in supporting students and parents wanting to run from failing schools. In actuality, some voucher users are not fleeing failing schools, but rather fleeing from the troubled students failed by others. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know this mentality all too well. Early in my career, I taught in a Catholic high school. Quite openly, some of my private school students and their parents expressed their fear of public school kids of many kinds. I suspect most private schools are effective at insulating their students from the troubles linked to kids mired in debilitating poverty. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Navigating public schools hampered by student poverty is, admittedly, a struggle. My recent experiences as a public school parent and an educator make me keenly aware of the challenges facing my children and students being serviced in an <a href="http://media.gazettextra.com/img/photos/2012/02/29/0229LOWINCOMEDISTRICT_t700.jpg?f40c0e74b997dbb01ce524758e0d04a31382c8af" target="_blank">increasingly high-poverty district</a>. However, this struggle is imperative in generating the collective awareness and energy necessary in finding <a href="http://www.boldapproach.org/" target="_blank">shared solutions</a> for the inequity plaguing our schools and larger society.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Public schools are the soul of society. The soul is whole when kids (and parents) of all classes are served equitably. Wisconsin needs to terminate vouchers, nurture its soul, and continually be reminded that <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtYszdSU1Yg&feature=share&list=UUR5inpnmFScTOnWCz4d1grA" target="_blank">“...we all profit and we all hurt depending on the quality of education other people’s kids get.”</a> </span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12879051677954780549noreply@blogger.com0Wisconsin, USA43.7844397 -88.78786780000001538.0154717 -99.115016300000008 49.5534077 -78.460719300000022