For those of you counting at home – and by my count, from some of the comments, at least a few of you are following along – this legislative session is officially one week old. Not to beat a dead drum, but there’s a lot at stake here, so each week counts and counts big. One big take away this week is the Governor’s intention to introduce an education reform legislation that addresses the state’s shortcomings in the federal “Race to the Top” competition. In previous episodes of my waxing on, some of you have raised questions and downright consternation about whether this is right-headed. Some of you have said that the money isn’t enough to make a difference. Others have had specific policy issues. Why, when we have school districts in financial disarray, would we get “sidetracked” by Race 2TT?
Here’s why; It’s the right thing to do.
I feel you, dissenters, I feel you. But if we are going to get ourselves on the right track with higher student achievement, closing the achievement gap and creating the next generation of leaders we need to put some focus on what works and what doesn’t. Sorry, but with the exception of a few successful districts (and unfortunately, even there, a handful of schools linger behind), we don’t do that. We focus on what we’ve always done; what makes us feel comfortable; what we’re willing to accept. Sorry, kids, but that is no longer acceptable. Going after the Race to the Top solely for the money would be nearly as misguided as standing pat on the status quo.
Specifically, because I know specifics always help, we do almost NOTHING to address chronically underperforming (I get points for not saying “failing” here, don’t I?) schools. The State Board has a plan to address this and the kids who attend these schools need us to implement that plan NOW. Item number two, with the exception of a few districts, we give teachers meaningless feedback about their performance (and we give principals even less feedback). Seriously, when was the last time you were graded “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory?” Freshman art courses in middle school? In the world where I work, unsatisfactory is French for “go find another job.” Which is not very constructive feedback, I can tell you. We need to stop pretending like everything our schools do needs to be created here. District by district, school by school or even classroom to classroom. Standards, curriculum, testing, even lesson plans are transferable. Good ones allow for some state or local additions, providing a floor from which to work. In the realm of Race to the Top, this would mean adopting the national standards and assessments. There’s plenty more where this came from – I figure this is a good start for the conversation – and I for one, am looking forward to what the Governor puts forward.
Chasing federal money for the money’s sake usually winds up with the state budget going over a cliff. Making the changes we should be making anyway in order to give at least a few districts the chance to do things differently is the right thing. And the time is always right for that.
Chris Korsmo
Executive Director
Hmm, Chris, I don’t think we can give you points for saying “chronically underperforming schools” instead of “failing.” You missed my earlier point entirely: “Schools” don’t underperform or fail, students, the community, and educators do.
As to the acheivement gap (which to some is known as the opportunity gap) this will never go away until we dramatically lessen poverty, abuse, neighborhood violence, social promotion, a diminished expectation of education (solely job preparation instead of a curriculum rich in civics, art, philosophy…)
You want to create the “next generation of leaders.” What about the next generation of loggers? Of technicians? Of day care workers? Will the whole generation be striving for the few top slots, the only ones nowadays that pay the big bucks (i.e. CEOs making 100-200 times base worker salary)? Until we straighten out th economy where everyone can make an honest living, and if unemployed at least survice, then we are not providing the hope required to brings students forward.
Why do all districts have to go the way of the state? Of the feds? Aren’t districts local? Don’t they meet their own challenges in their own ways? I’m sorry, but I continue to be dismayed by LEV’s apparent federalist leanings, you keep telling us that eduators don’t change when in fact they change all the time. If the local community wanted to step up more and work with schools to get things right that’s fine, but we don’t need to follow faulty federal guidelines.
You appear to be talking out of both sides of your mouth: We shouldn’t chase the money but we should move towards compliance with RTT mandates. Which is following money….
Our schools are not half as bad as you claim (“failin” schools? Ridiculous. “Chronically underperforming” schools? Equally ridiculous. Schools don’t fail. Furthmore, given the incredibly onerous global situation, the poverty, the low voting rates, the lack of attention to deep and meaningful issues while Bradgelina covort…A solid case can be made that schools do incredibly well, given the circumstances their students come from.
Tell us what metrics you use to determine a school is “failing.”