EIA Commuique: Report on Charter Schools and Unions Misses the Point; Hillary, vouchers, etc.

From the 10/31 EIA Communique (www.eiaonline.com;  EducationIntel@aol.com).  Some very valid points here: "But as long as there is a growing network of schools – particularly public schools – where union membership is not required, and is, in fact, rare, the teachers' unions will oppose them, regardless of the quality of the school's program, the desires of its staff, or the satisfaction of students and parents...The battle over charter schools has little to do with education, and everything to do with labor and economics. Unless we address it that way, there is no resolution possible." 

Report on Charter Schools and Unions Misses the Point. EIA highly recommends the new report by the National Charter School Research Project titled The Future of Charter Schools and Teachers Unions. Authored by Paul T. Hill, Lydia Rainey, and Andrew J. Rotherham, the report summarizes the conclusions of a symposium held last May that included various luminaries from both the charter school and union worlds. Judging solely by the report, there were some fireworks.

 

The symposium provided an excellent examination of the divide between the two camps, how each judges the other by their most extreme opponents, and how each believes the other is misguided.

 

And, as is the norm for this type of symposium, the two sides cited the need to find some common ground, and in some cases even found some.

 

But so what? We shouldn't be surprised that the discussion focused on charter schools – how they operate, how they're funded, whether they're conducive to quality teaching, and whether there is a place for collective bargaining. These are all superb questions, but they have little to do with the chasm between unions and charters.

 

What is the union position on charter schools? Let's hit the ping pong ball back and forth across the table. AFT credits Al Shanker with dreaming up the idea. Teachers' unions fought against every single state law to establish charter schools. NEA started a Charter School Initiative in 1995. AFT called charter schools "a diversion from reformers' and policymakers' efforts to improve education in America." NEA ended its Charter School Initiative in 2000, which, by all accounts, was a failure. In 2001, NEA decided to rank charters "on a continuum ranging from outright support to reluctant acquiescence to categorical opposition." The United Federation of Teachers opened two charter schools of its own. Last week, the Wisconsin Education Association Council posted a press release that began, "The state's current charter school program is working 'reasonably well' and should not be expanded."

 

So unions are for charter schools, except when they're against them. Or both.

 

To me, this suggests quite strongly that charter schools are not the cause of this great divide. Gee, what else could it be? I don't know, maybe union membership? The symposium and the report looked at a lot of different bones of contention from the viewpoints of both the charters and the unions, but failed to note that unions need members. And if they have members, they need more members. If charter schools were unionized, they would be no more of a threat to NEA and AFT than are magnet schools, alternative schools, open enrollment schools, or any of the other public "schools of choice" that currently exist. The union's relative position on charters would be limited to how well its locals fare in the enforcement of the contract, and the level of salaries, benefits and working conditions.

 

But as long as there is a growing network of schools – particularly public schools – where union membership is not required, and is, in fact, rare, the teachers' unions will oppose them, regardless of the quality of the school's program, the desires of its staff, or the satisfaction of students and parents.

 

When you try to lift the cap on the creation of new charter schools, you're asking the union to acquiesce to an increase in the number of non-union public schools. When funds follow the children from public schools to charters, they are used to pay non-union teachers and may result in layoffs of union teachers.

 

Business professionals who involve themselves in charter schools need to recognize that teachers' unions are in the membership business. They "sell" services to education employees. Your operation model takes away their customers.

 

The battle over charter schools has little to do with education, and everything to do with labor and economics. Unless we address it that way, there is no resolution possible.

And gotta love this! (from the 10/31 EIA Communique)  Does anyone know which charter school she visited in DC?

  The sounds of silence. "First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton addressed the National Education Association Representative Assembly today and called for greater support and resources for public education and teachers. Mrs. Clinton received wild applause for virtually every point she made and received several standing ovations. But it was the non-reaction of the assembly when she delivered fulsome praise for the nation's charter schools that was the only unplanned-for incident during the entire speech.

 

"'I also hope you will continue to stand behind the charter school public school movement,' Mrs. Clinton began, 'because I believe that parents do deserve greater choice within the public school system to meet the needs of their children.'

 

"She described how positively impressed she was by the high standards she saw at a Washington, DC charter school that required children to master Latin. She told the audience that despite the rigorous requirements, the school had a large waiting list. She wondered why we couldn't have more schools like it.'

 

"'Well, slowly but surely we're beginning to create schooling opportunities through the public school charter system that are providing those kinds of options for parents and students,' Mrs. Clinton continued, 'raising academic standards and empowering educators, and I invite educators to be at the forefront of this. Because I know that the NEA has already helped to create a number of charter schools. And I'm very pleased that you have done this, because I think when we look back on the 1990s, we will see that the charter school movement, led by committed, experienced, expert educators, will be one of the ways we will have turned around the entire public school system.'

 

"Mrs. Clinton paused, but not a single cheer or clap emerged from the 15,000 people in the audience."

From the same Communique -- listen to the utter nonsense about vouchers.  Our schools -- certainly the failing ones -- are ALREADY totally homogenous along ethnic, racial and income lines.  Vouchers (and charter schools) at least offer some prospect of reversing this awful situation...  For more on this, see the attached chapter entitled The Segregation Myth, from Jay Greene's excellent book, Education Myths.

Overwrought similes are like… "Voucher programs would allow for splintering along ethnic and racial lines. Our primary concern is that voucher programs could end up resembling the ethnic cleansing now occurring in Kosovo." - David Berliner, dean of Arizona State University's College of Education, speaking before the New Mexico Legislature.

 

"Bush and the Legislature are no more interested in fairness for education than President Milosevic is interested in fairness for the Kosovar Albanians." -- Florida Teaching Profession-NEA President Maureen Dinnen.

 

"A minor melee broke out in Pennsylvania last week when 14 school superintendents in Bucks County signed a letter to state legislators signaling their opposition to school vouchers. 'The current war in Kosovo is a graphic example of what happens in a society that separates its people and fosters elitism,' the letter read. 'The democratic principles that our society must preserve if it is to flourish are weakened by voucher plans that undermine the public good, and in time, if adopted, may lead to the Balkanization of our society.'"

More from the same Communique -- the last two sentences are classic (and tragic!):

Kids learn what you teach them. "By far the most interesting speaker was William Schmidt of TIMSS. He first reintroduced the results of the TIMSS study, which showed US students placing above the international average in math and science in 4^th grade, only to fall to the bottom by 8^th and 12^th grades. He showed the audience a sample math question from the test - a simple dual perimeter problem. He explained that more that two-thirds of 12^th graders were unable to solve the problem. He emphasized and repeated the lack of subject matter and content knowledge among both teachers and students. He did not place the blame solely on teachers, but noted that US curricula tend to be 'a mile wide and an inch deep' - covering too many topics too superficially. He also displayed data showing teachers were effective in teaching - and students in learning - many of the areas wrongfully emphasized by faulty curricula. For example, US math students ranked first in the world in rounding numbers. As many education observers have noted in the past, US schools tend to place extraordinary weight on rounding and estimating. In science, American students topped the world in 'lifestyles and genetics' - in other words, as Schmidt explained, reproduction. The public school's stressing of self-esteem has also worked wonders, resulting in students who believe themselves to have great skills in math and science, even when their test results indicate otherwise."

 

More from the same EIA Communique that falls in the you-can't-make-this-stuff-up category:

Mass hysteria. "Oklahoma State Rep. Mike Mass wants to make it illegal for public employees to use school statistics 'for their own personal gain or benefit or solely for the purpose of harassing, embarrassing, denigrating or demeaning a school district or school site.' Indeed, the bill would prevent state employees from using any educational indicator information unless it was 'presented in context with the socioeconomic status and the finances of the school district.'

 

"Cut to: interior, Oklahoma state prison.

 

"Inmate #1: Whaddaya in for?

 

"Inmate #2: First-degree murder. You?

 

"Inmate #1: Talkin' 'bout Tulsa's math scores."

And this:

Halloween gets the ax. "School crime was dealt a sharp blow in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when Jordan Locke was suspended for bringing an ax to school. In an open letter to area media, Superintendent Joel Carr and school board President Thomas DeBolt wrote, 'As administrators of schools, with the safety of hundreds of children in mind, it is also our job to protect lives, too!'

 

"The incident was controversial because: 1) Jordan is five years old; 2) his ax was five inches long and made of plastic; and 3) it was part of his Halloween costume. Jordan dressed as a firefighter. He was suspended for violating a district policy that prohibits weapons - real or toy. Firefighters objected to their tool being labeled a weapon, prompting Carr and DeBolt's open letter apologizing for the incident."

And this:

Getting the Teamsters' goat. "In another odd union tale, the Teamsters filed a complaint when they discovered that Mills College in Oakland, California, was using a herd of 500 goats to clear brush. The union says it has a contract with the college to clear brush and would file a grievance if one of three things were not done: 1) get rid of the goats; 2) compensate the union for lost wages and benefits at the rate of $10 per goat/hour; or 3) enlist the goats into the Teamsters. 'If the college opts to have the goats become members,' Teamster Secretary-Treasurer Charles Mack wrote, 'we intend to represent them in the same aggressive manner we do every other member.' No word on whether the goats will be forced to contribute to political campaigns through payroll deduction."