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The past few years have seen an absolute change in the correlation of forces. It used to be that a few policy wonks would write essays assailing union rules that protected mediocre teachers; these pronouncements were greeted with skepticism in the media and produced no political movement. Now powerful political players, most notably President Obama, [...] In case you haven’t seen it, here’s the video of Chris Christie going after the New Jersey Teacher’s Union. Teachers respond, here and here. The issues we’re following in Maine — the state budget (especially its education component), taxation issues, and local budgets — with all their accompanying discussions of cuts and program viability, and finger pointing, have their corresponding discussions in nearly every other state. Some of these discussioins are louder and more fractious than the hubub here. [...] From Monday’s New York Post: [emphasis added] Gov. Chris Christie is making good on his promise to get tough with New Jersey’s $2.2 billion budget gap — by taking aim at one of the drivers of the state’s out-of-control taxes: school budgets. Under Christie’s budget, New Jersey’s 605 school districts will see their state aid reduced by [...] We all know unemployment is high, approximately 10% nationally. And you’ve probably heard that public-sector employment and unionization (as a percentage of all unionized workers) and compensation have grown significantly in the last decade. And in many cases, the public sector is — so far — recession proof. While private-sector workers in the capital [Albany, NY] region have, [...] The MEA seems to have vowed to “fight the cuts” in the proposed education budget*. We just say “Good luck!” Take a look around at state finances. California is bankrupt, and as a functioning governmental entity, at least as we’ve understood such of late, is imploding. New York state is cutting their budgets, especially education; in fact the [...] It’s slash and burn time, the wolf is at the door, fly away home your house is on fire. Use any image you want, but we’re up against it. You knew it was coming. Matthew Stone has the story here. Read it all. Particularly worthy of notice is this section: Aside from mergers, the education commissioner called on [...] Election time often gets to be prediction time. You certainly see a lot of predictions. You read “We project that” a certain candidate will win, that a certain question “will undoubtedly be defeated,” and so on. Most such predictions aren’t worth the electrons they’re written in. I try to refrain from such myself. But here’s [...] Here’s a piece from last Thursday’s Wall Street Journal pointing out how other papers — liberal papers — are very negative about teacher’s unions: Quick: Which newspaper in recent editorials called teachers unions “indefensible” and a barrier to reform? You’d be excused for guessing one of the conservative outlets, but it was that bastion of liberalism, [...] This one resolves the question — if ever you had it — of what’s most important to the NEA leadership. until you’ve lived with it.” So says the Chancellor of the New York City School system. The article it’s from, The Rubber Room (New Yorker, 8/31/09), is causing quite a stir. We learn that in New York City, there are seven rooms, at least one in each borough, where over 600 teachers spend their time doing nothing, [...] The whip comes down: Michelle Rhee, education chancellor of the District of Columbia — in charge of the worst performing public school system in the nation — has laid down the gauntlet before the Washington Teachers Union (WTU), declaring that she will unilaterally impose a new teacher evaluation system that will result in widespread dismissals of [...] Two stories, actually the same story presented in two different ways, caught our eye last Friday. We saw the BDN story (”Study gives Maine an F for evaluating teachers“) over our first cup of coffee. It begins: Although a national group has given Maine a failing grade in the way it retains good teachers and removes the [...] The head of a national teachers union — the other one, the AFT (American Federation of Teachers) — gave a significant speech the other day. The aspect of her speech that got the most attention (NYTimes article, HuffPo post) was a new receptiveness to merit pay for teachers and a willingness to discuss the future [...] She didn’t come up in the usual way. She’s not necessarily a very nice person. She’s the chancellor of the District of Columbia schools. She wants power, the power to fire principals, teachers, and anyone who stands — in her judgment — between public school students and success. Michelle Rhee charged in as chancellor of the Washington, D.C., [...] from BLS Spotlight, "Back to School", August 2007 In a September-only blog, Schoolhouse Rock, over at Slate, writer Paul Tough has been rummaging through various proposals for linking accountability to teacher compensation. (Start at the bottom — the earliest posts.) No easy answers here, but lots of thought. We note too that the Maine [...] Sunday’s Portland Press Herald featured an extensive investigation of the effects of a new teachers’ contract that was adopted in 2006. The contract allowed teachers to advance within the pay brackets through taking courses and through other activities, such as leading field trips, participating in extracurricular activities, and even for writing college recommendation letters for [...] So sayeth Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, and a rising star in the party. From a report by the bulldog Mickey Kaus on an event at the Democratic Convention that was attended by 500 of the faithful. Best line in the report: One panelist–I think it was Peter Groff, president of the Colorado State Senate, got the [...] |
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