Saturday, May 16, 2015
The worst idea possible
Governor Deal signed legislation making the "Opportunity School District" a reality. Quietly enough that I missed the media coverage. So did the district superintendent, apparently, since she paid us a visit the following week and discussed it as if it were still a proposal instead of a done deal.
In a nutshell, the new law will allow the state to take over schools (potentially districts) that are "failing" to produce results. The results they are looking for are TEST SCORES. Schools under state control would possibly be handed over to Education Management Organizations. Translation: they would be converted to charters. Here's a rundown on that "great" idea: http://getschooled.blog.ajc.com/2015/04/25/opinion-why-competitive-model-fails-schools-no-one-should-lose-in-education/
The Atlantic ran an article on the topic in 2013. Petrilli from the Fordham Institute was quoted in that article as saying the track record on state takeover is "shaky". Now THERE'S an understatement. To understand why this is a disaster in the making, read up on the state takeover of schools in Newark, NJ, Detroit, MI, New Orleans, LA, Jersey City, NJ, Patterson, NJ, Camden, NJ.
So, Georgia, we are about to start down a path following the example of several other states, going back decades. It has not been successful ANYWHERE else. But of course, it will be successful here. Won't it?
In a nutshell, the new law will allow the state to take over schools (potentially districts) that are "failing" to produce results. The results they are looking for are TEST SCORES. Schools under state control would possibly be handed over to Education Management Organizations. Translation: they would be converted to charters. Here's a rundown on that "great" idea: http://getschooled.blog.ajc.com/2015/04/25/opinion-why-competitive-model-fails-schools-no-one-should-lose-in-education/
The Atlantic ran an article on the topic in 2013. Petrilli from the Fordham Institute was quoted in that article as saying the track record on state takeover is "shaky". Now THERE'S an understatement. To understand why this is a disaster in the making, read up on the state takeover of schools in Newark, NJ, Detroit, MI, New Orleans, LA, Jersey City, NJ, Patterson, NJ, Camden, NJ.
So, Georgia, we are about to start down a path following the example of several other states, going back decades. It has not been successful ANYWHERE else. But of course, it will be successful here. Won't it?
Right school at the right time
Carol Ann Tomlinson wrote a piece called Notes from an Accidental Teacher back in 2010 for Educational Leadership. In it, she recounts some teaching experiences, both successful and unsuccessful. Her point is that not every job or school is the right fit for you at a particular point in your career and development. Here's how she explains it: "The places in which we teach shape who and what we become. If they don't feed us as human beings and as teachers, we atrophy. In teaching and in life, if we are not growing, we are losing ground. So a school, school district, and community need to be the right fit at the right time to fuel our professional and personal evolution."
It occurs to me, my school was the right fit for me when I first came here. It isn't any longer. It has become a stifling environment where the nail that sticks up gets hammered down, where individuality is feared instead of respected, and professional judgement takes a back seat to rubrics and metrics.
It's time to find a new right fit for me.
It occurs to me, my school was the right fit for me when I first came here. It isn't any longer. It has become a stifling environment where the nail that sticks up gets hammered down, where individuality is feared instead of respected, and professional judgement takes a back seat to rubrics and metrics.
It's time to find a new right fit for me.
Wow, a new record
Over the years, there have been several instances of being undermined by school administrators. Today, it happened twice, in less than an hour. In front of the students. And a parent. That's got to be some kind of record. Sort of like the student whose behavior put him in front of a disciplinary tribunal twice in the space of a month.
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