A Tale of Two Administrators

It was the best of schools, it was the worst of schools, but it was summer school and Mr. Sandoval was the only ESL teacher. The summer principal, Mr. Prince, stopped him in the hall, introduced himself, and said, "Listen, it's very important that you give homework every day, and to make sure the kids know about it, I want you to post it at the beginning of each class, and leave it there for the entire period."

Mr. Sandoval said OK, and did as requested. But his summer AP, Miss AP, entered his classroom, and said, "Mr. Sandoval, you cannot put the homework up until the very end of the class. If you put it up this early, the kids will spend class time doing homework. That's absolutely unacceptable." She walked up to the board and erased the homework assignment.

Mr. Sandoval was disappointed she chose to lecture him in front of his students, and even more disappointed when she entered his class the following day, giving him sour looks and furiously scribbling for an hour. The day after that, she came into his classroom at the end of the day, dropped an envelope on his desk, and walked out. Mr. Sandoval considered she was his boss for only six weeks, decided he didn't want to read her observation report, and tossed it into the trash.

Unfortunately, his AP had been peeking. She retrieved the document, and said, "I'm going to read it to you."

Mr. Sandoval expressed regret that his working day was over, and explained he had other obligations. The following day he was dragged into the principal's office, where Miss AP told the entire saga, from the homework to the observation report.

"I'm sorry, Miss AP," replied the principal, "but I have 5 APs, and only one ESL teacher. At this point, I need him more than I need you. Please leave him alone for the rest of the semester. If he needs observation, I'll do it myself."

And Mr. Sandoval had a far, far better summer school experience than he had ever done before.

8 Random Things About Me

I've been tagged to write this by 2 bloggers, Frumteacher and Educator on the Edge. So here it is:

1. I adopted a little girl from Colombia about 9 years ago. It's the single best thing I've ever done, if you ask me (and at least two people have now done so).

2. I will go anywhere, do anything, accept any amount of pay to play bluegrass fiddle with a good band. I just got back from Benton, Pennsylvania, where you could have also seen Mike Cleveland, 24-year old jaw-dropping fiddle genius pictured above. His unorthodox technique would give a violin teacher a massive coronary, but dimes to dollars the teacher can't do what he can.

3. I've written editorial and opinion pieces for the official UFT paper, NY Teacher. I have received two letters of commendation from UFT presidents for letters of mine that have appeared in NY newspapers.

4. I'm married to a cosmetologist.

5. A certain cosmetologist (who happens to live in my home) is urging me to color my rapidly graying hair. I've resisted up to this point, as I understand the process must be repeated, and the idea of it induces massive laziness on my part.

6. My favorite book, ever, is Catch 22.

7. I just put Sirius Radio in my car, and I don't understand how I ever got by without it. Sirius has two NPR stations that don't play classical music at night, a bluegrass station, a blues station, several jazz stations, left and right wing talk stations, and an all-Elvis station, for devotees. It also has a 24/7 NYC traffic station, perfect for those of us debating between the GWB and the Outerbridge.

8. The car I put the Sirius Radio in is a Prius, and it's great. I used to like Penn and Teller a lot when they were magicians, but a few weeks ago, Penn sent a newly-acquainted lesbian couple to test the Prius. When they only got 44-45 mpg, Penn said they should have bought a Corolla, which gets 41 mpg.

But Penn was comparing the actual Prius mileage with the max sticker Corolla mileage. Max sticker Prius mileage is 60, but actual Corolla mileage is 29, according to Consumer Reports, which gives Prius 44.

So now I know Penn spews just as much BS as the people he ridicules.

Let's Innovate

Here's an article suggesting that the United States is facing a national teacher shortage. It's odd that so many people seem to think the answer is longer school days and years, but that's what they're saying. And the move to worsen working conditions seems to have legs. Will it help?

I don't think so. I live in Nassau, and not in one of the "best" towns by far. Yet my daughter has had consistently excellent teachers, and has never had a classroom with fewer than two computers. On the other hand, I've never taught in one with more than zero (unless you count the time I taught word processing in a room with 15 non-functional antique computers). Her school buildings, though often old, are always clean. Yet reformers say we need to get rid of tenure, we need to introduce more work for less pay, and that will make teachers better.

A study co-written by Murnane and published this year reports that minorities and poor children are most likely to be taught by teachers with weak academic backgrounds or little preparation. Overall, the proportion of women who pursue teaching after college, as well as the caliber of recruits, has declined significantly since the 1960s.

The number of college-educated women in the United States tripled from 1964 to 2000, according to a 2004 study by University of Maryland economists, but the share of those graduates who became teachers dropped from 50 percent to 15 percent in the same time. And although in 1964 1 in 5 young female teachers graduated in the top 10 percent of her high school class, the ratio was closer to 1 in 10 by 2000.

The study neglects to mention that poorer districts also have the lowest salaries and the worst working conditions. NYC has the highest class sizes in the state, and rather than address that, the mayor wants to dangle cash prizes and make kids (and parents) jump like trained seals.

It's great that women have more options, but very sad for our children that teaching has become so less desirable as a career. The likelihood that ten-hour days, six day weeks, less job security, and continued low pay will be a draw is small indeed. Will teachers stay on?

In the first months, she would work until late at night, then lie awake "thinking, thinking, thinking" about school, she said. For most of the year, she woke up at 5 a.m. to plan lessons and prepare handouts and then stayed at school until at least 5 p.m., grading papers or helping the pep rally dance team or the ESL homework club.

In such a demanding job, the turnover rate is high.

That's the life of a beginning teacher. Time makes things easier, of course, but by that time a good number of these teachers are already gone. The McTeacher movement actually encourages that trend. I don't think it's helpful either to teachers or students. I want my kid to have a calm, thoughtful teacher, not an overworked wage-slave who'd bound to burn out before learning the ropes.

Ms. Weingarten Brings Green Dot to NY

The NY Times reports that UFT President Randi Weingarten is helping Steve Barr and Green Dot come to NY City.

Green Dot boasts its schools have no tenure or seniority preferences. UFT leadership suggests their process is better than tenure, since there is no probationary period. This, of course, completely ignores the lack of seniority. Ms. Weingarten and her minions hope you will ignore it too.

The UFT suggested I should have read the Green Dot contract before reporting the LA Times statement that teachers "toss tenure out the classroom window" to work for Green Dot. Of course, they didn't provide a link to it. However, Eduwonk has, and here it is.

It states there are183 teaching days a year--Up to 193 days a year for teachers. OK, that's only a few more than Ms. Weingarten negotiated for us when she sold our collective soul in 05. But there's no mention of how long the day is. The Times writes:

Rather than dictating the number of hours and minutes teachers must spend at the schools, it would just call for a “professional workday,” they said.

Hmmm. Perhaps Ms. Weingarten is comfortable with that. As someone who has to take my kid to karate lessons and report to other jobs at predetermined times, I'm afraid I'm not.

Here are some other points from the contract:

• Teachers are encouraged to do jury duty during vacation time. Jury duty is compensated up to five days. If you’re stuck beyond that, too bad for you.
• If your kid’s school calls, or anything happens requiring you to leave more than half a day, you’re docked a full day’s pay. If you miss less than half, you’re docked a half day’s pay.
• Layoffs are based on “legal requirements and qualifications,” “satisfactory evaluation,” and “expertise and relevant experience.” Seniority is considered only if they’re not able to make a determination based on these factors.
• Strikes are not permitted, and violations will go to binding arbitration. Well, maybe it beats the Taylor Law.
• If teachers choose a PPO health plan (like GHI), Green Dot will pay a maximum of $525 a month.
• Maximum teacher salary is $74,182. Hopefully they'd adjust that for NY, though I don't see how it works for LA either.
  

The contract could also eliminate tenure, but would set guidelines for when a teacher can be dismissed.

Hmmm....it could "eliminate tenure." That's what the Times says, isn't it? Or am I "making up facts?"

Now in the Green Dot model, you can be dismissed for "just cause." Can you be dismissed just cause your students didn't get scores high enough for Green Dot?

Article XVIII—Discipline

18.1 No unit member shall be disciplined, non-renewed, dismissed, reduced in rank or compensation without just cause.

There you have it. Just cause. Well, Green Dot is from California, and here's part of an email I got from a lawyer I sent the contract to:

Just cause is a term of art with a lot of precedent in labor law. Even still it is a shaky concept subject to a wide spread interpretation.

In California good cause and just cause are synonymous. The California Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that “ it was not the jury's function to decide whether the acts that led to the decision to terminate actually occurred. Rather, the court held, it is the jury's role to assess the objective reasonableness of the employer's factual determination of misconduct. The jury must determine whether the factual basis on which the employer concluded a dischargeable act had been committed was reached honestly, after an appropriate investigation and for reasons that that were not arbitrary or pretextual. The termination decision must be a reasoned conclusion supported by substantial evidence gathered through an adequate investigation that includes notice of the claimed misconduct and a chance for the employee to respond. All of the elements of this standard are triable to the jury.”

This means if you're about to lose your job because you're accused of stealing, say, $500.00, you can question the investigation. You can question the way it was conducted and whether or not it was fair. You cannot, however, present evidence that you didn't actually steal the 500 bucks.

If you have tenure, you can say you didn't steal the money, introduce evidence to that effect, and demonstrate that. Beats the hell out of "just cause," doesn't it? Now it may work differently in New York, and perhaps they can work out contractual language to ensure it does. Who knows? But without seniority rights, it won't much matter. Why?

If you have seniority rights, your job is protected as you get older. This may be a concern for teachers who've raised families based on the assumption they'd have jobs to support them. Of course, Ms. Weingarten's machine has been whittling away seniority privileges for a few years now, which is one reason she's so admired by professional teacher-bashers like Rod Paige.

So here's a question prospective Green Dot employees ought to consider--since you'll have no seniority rights, why can't they just lay you off and sidestep entirely the whole "tenure-just cause" issue? Without seniority rights, tenure, just cause (or whatever you wish to call it) can mean very little indeed.

Related: See Ednotes Online

Take a Trip...

...with Mike in Texas to a lively and cleverly written Carnival of Education.

Next week's carnival appears right here, so please submit something by 6 PM EST on July 3rd. Use the email address at right, or you can use this handy form.

Mr. Klein Investigates

It's clear as day. The AP changed the grades. The principal covered it up. The report says so.

Wait a minute. It's the teacher's fault. He made them write that report. The new report says so. Let's tell that AP she's no longer banned from working in the city. Dump the teacher into the rubber room.

But wait a minute--what if the new report is wrong and the old report is good? Maybe we should do yet another investigation to investigate the investigators.

No worries. Rest assured the city team will do as many investigations as necessary to find out who's accountable.

How to Fix a New York City Door

Every single day, Mr. Williams got the interruption. He was trying to teach his class the fine points of Global Studies, when some tall, fast kid would open his door, shout "Puta madre!" and run away. Worse, several of his students had told him what it meant, and he didn't think it was nice at all.

He repeatedly, formally, informally, directly and indirectly asked the custodians to fix his door, but six weeks later, they had not gotten around to it. He had informed the administration, and watched the principal's mustache move up and down as he responded gravely to Mr. Williams' concerns. Still, every day, it was "Puta madre," and try to continue. It was becoming unbearable.

Now Mr. Flowers, the math teacher, was very handy. Not only that, but he was familiar with the ancient locks in the 100-year-old school doors. But Mr. Flowers had also heard that teachers could be fired for doing the work of custodians.

So one day, Mr. Williams gave his kids a writing assignment, and told the kids they were free to help one another. Mr. Flowers brought a screwdriver and fixed the door while Mr. Williams kept vigil. They stopped several times when administrators came down the hall, and pretended to be team-teaching. Several administrators praised them for their initiative.

By the end of the period, Mr. Williams' door locked, and distractions to his class were once again limited to those of his own students.

All This, and More

Pressures of the job getting you down? You're not alone. It's getting to be the American Way, to borrow an old expression.

There's a movement afoot to make Americans work their butts off to support not only themselves, but big business as well. If you listen to US Senator Bernie Sanders, he'll tell you we already work longer hours than anywhere else in the free world.

How did it happen today that a two-income family has less disposal income than a one-income family did thirty years ago? How does it happen that thirty years ago, one person working forty hours a week could earn enough money to take care of the family; now, you need two, and they're still not doing it?

Closer to home, reality-based educator commented on this topic:

Notice all the rich corporate types behind the KIPP/longer school day/longer school year movement (e.e., Bloomberg, Gates.) I think they're trying to socialize Americans of all stripes to expect longer work days and longer work years as part of the wonders of globalization. If kids spend 9.5 hours in school, they won't blink later on when they have to work 10 hour days. And if kids get 4 weeks off all year, they won't blink when corporations lower vacation time to 1 week plus a few sick days.

Regular poster Xkaydet65 seems to think I'm missing this point, but perhaps I've just neglected it. I started this blog with my eye firmly on Klein and Bloomberg, and I saw where they were headed. Governor Spitzer, in calling for a longer school day and year (in lieu of smaller class size, no less), has made me acutely aware that electing democrats is by no means sufficient to protect working people.


Here in Fun City, we already have a longer school day and year, endorsed and enabled by Bloomberg and the UFT (Isn't it incredible to find union leaders on the wrong side of this issue?). Despite that, we still have the largest class sizes in the area. KIPP is a symptom, and a sign of things to come if we don't wake up.

A lot of people are all fired up about teachers and why they aren't working more hours. It's remarkable that so few think to ask why everyone else can't work less, like they do in Europe.

In Moderation

Truth be told, I'm not much of an Abba fan. The other night I was at a party, and the self-appointed DJ declared, "I like all kinds of music." He then proceeded to play CDs by Neil Sedaka, Tom Jones, and Abba to illustrate his diverse tastes. But I saw this at Andrew Sullivan's blog and couldn't resist.

Who's singing Waterloo today?

Mr. Bloomberg and the Leased Schools

As everyone knows, Mayor Mike is an intrepid problem-solver. It's tough to build new schools, what with all those expensive, inconvenient environmental regulations. The solution, obviously, is to lease schools and avoid the regulations entirely. Now sure, that may not work, like when the city converted a dry-cleaning plant into a school. The kids were exposed to toxic fumes, and the public found out about it.

But now, those pencil-pushers in Albany want leased schools to be subject to the same regulations as new constructions. This may mean Mayor Mike will have to go through the time and expense of inspecting, and decontaminating (or at least pretending to decontaminate) new leased school sites. And the fact is, only 31% of new school sites are going to be leased. Jeez, can't these guys look the other way?

Naturally, Mayor Mike is working to have this legislation changed. After all, 69% of kids in new schools are already going to have sites inspected. What do these people want, everything?

Mayor Bloomberg has firmly adopted the policy of children first. First, dump the children anywhere you can. Worry about the consequences later.

Thanks to Norm

McTeachers

Find' 'em, use 'em, discard 'em, and then find new ones. And make the kids work the same hours. Forget about dance lessons, music lessons, karate, sports, and everything else that doesn't directly involve test scores. Playtime? Give me a break.

Honestly, they sound worse than the military schools parents used to threaten kids with, and if you consider the majority of their students don't even complete the program, their results are extremely unimpressive. When things look really bad, they simply take their name off the school.

KIPP's largely been presented as the magic pill that will cure all our ills, and it is simply no such thing. But KIPP, and its wannabees, help to explain the very troubling words that came from KIPP-enthusiast Jay Matthews the other day:

Some (innovators) even suggest that school systems should focus on recruiting waves of energetic young teachers, who would spend five or six years in the classroom before moving on, rather than career teachers, who might tire as they grow older.

That sounds like the whole McTeacher thing again, and I'm sorry, but thoughtful people need time to think. How much time do KIPP teachers get?

Students and teachers are in school from 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, for four hours on Saturdays, and for three to four weeks during the summer.

I'm gonna go out on a limb, consider being on call for parents evenings, and say "Not much."

In spite of the long hours, average daily attendance at KIPP Schools is 96%.

If you ignore the fact that most kids stop attending altogether.

Frankly, if you're going to work yourself and your students to death, you ought not to be a role model for my child. I think, though, if you do choose this lifestyle, you ought to be lavishly compensated for it. According to KIPP:

KIPP schools offer a benefits package, which includes an annual salary, medical and dental benefits, and life insurance. Teaching salaries at KIPP schools are comparable to those of traditional public school salaries and include a stipend for the longer school days.

A stipend? How about a number? I mentioned the other day I'm told KIPP has one 100K teacher. For what they ask, 100K ought to be starting salary, and 2 and 300K should be standard for the "senior" 6-year teachers.

But whatever you pay them, don't ask me to send my kid there.

Saint Rudy's Pals

First it's Bernard Kerik.

Then it's the crack dealer.

And now this guy. Well, I guess you're not automatically a pedophile just because the diocese suspends you.

I'm Not from Jersey

Of course I'm not, and would I even admit it if I were? Probably not.

But our local conflicts pale next to those of our Eastern counterparts.

When distributing the student surveys for our esteemed chancellor, I had four flavors--Chinese, English, Korean, and Spanish. I distributed them according to primary language, and walked around the room announcing which language each kid was getting.

"Chinese," I said to one kid, and he got very upset.

"I'm not Chinese!" he objected.

"Do you want Spanish?" I asked (I had extras in Spanish).

"No."

"How about Korean?"

"No."

"Do you want to do the survey in English?" I asked. Fine with me. It sounded like good practice, even though this wasn't technically a teaching activity.

"No."

"Well, it's Chinese, then."

"I'm not Chinese!"

You see, the boy was from Taiwan. In Taiwan, they're taught they aren't Chinese, and it's a big deal to kids like this one. But still, whatever they call themselves, and whatever language they speak, they actually read and write in Chinese.

"Well, you don't have to be Chinese. But this is written in Chinese. Can you read it?"

"Of course."

"Then please fill it out for me," I told him.

The kids seem to get along pretty well, whether they come from the mainland or Taiwan. But don't tell the Taiwanese kids they're from China. Hard to understand, isn't it?

I have a lot of friends from Jersey, and I'll probably have to go there on Saturday. But don't ever accuse me of coming from Jersey. Now that makes perfect sense.

The Cure

I often read Schools Matter, and often encounter very uncomplimentary remarks about KIPP schools. But the last week has brought a few reinforcing voices, including this one from Teaching in the 408:, which suggests that Education Week neglected to comment on some aspects of its own story:

...Ed Week correctly reports that fewer than half of the kids that begin the Bay Area KIPP schools as 5th graders in 2003 make it to 8th grade in 2006. In the Oakland incarnation, the attrition rate climbs to 75 percent. The article ignores the fact that these lost students are overwhelmingly African-American males. The three Bay Area KIPPs lost 77, 67, and 71 percent of its Young Black Males (YBMs) during this time period.

Hmm...what happened to all those kids? TMAO, the blog writer, knows a few:

Students at my school who have left KIPP have done so because of the debilitating effects of the shame and exclusion based discipline policy, because they were flat kicked out, or because they were told to change an aspect of their physical appearance (hair color; hair style) before being allowed to return. None of them left because their families moved.

Wow. Well, I suppose if I were able to dictate what my students should do, what color hair they could have, and kick out any and all who defied me, I could achieve outstanding results as well. In the real world, though, every kid kicked out of a charter would land in the classroom of a public school teacher (like me), who'd then be vilified by the Daily News for being unable to keep up with KIPP.

This brings me to another blogger, whom I'd almost forgotten about. Clever Newoldschoolteacher blogs at Oh, Snap (though not for some time now). Her last entry described how she loves working for KIPP. Her descriptions though, don't remotely move me to go out and sign up.

I taught for 3 weeks in July, went to the KIPP conference, worked in August on my room and curriculum, and started for real in September. I have not really slept or, for that matter, sat down, since then. I love the job, the school, and the kids though. It's an amazing experience.

It certainly sounds amazing. But I'm not amazed enough yet. Let's hear some more:

It has a REALLY long school day that's hard on the kids and hard on the teachers. I teach 3 90 minute classes, 2 45 minute homerooms, and 1 45 minute test prep/reading class. My schedule is such that I teach straight from 1 pm to 5 pm. It's killer. But it's totally worth it when I imagine the alternative work environment...public schools seem even crazier since I got to KIPP.

Still, they look pretty good to me right now. I teach 5 45-minute classes daily (and walk the halls a bit). She appears to teach 9, or at least do something for 9 (What on earth do they do in two 45 minute homerooms?). I'll bet dimes to dollars I get paid more than she does. Let's say I'm wrong, though. Does anyone really think it's worth 20% more pay (if indeed they get that much) to do almost twice as much work, have far less prep time, and then spend your evenings waiting by the phone for parents to call?

If you do, I have good news. KIPP is hiring.

Highway Honchos

Eduwonk and I have a running conversation on whether UFT President Randi Weingarten should be promoting teacher interests or (to me, at least) those of Joel Klein and Rod Paige. He may think I'm upset, but it's not him I'm upset with. It's his job to promote educational reform, and he does it very well:

While it's preposterous to say that the interests of the teachers' unions are always at odds with those of the kids in schools, it's equally preposterous to say that they never collide. Some policies are good for teachers, but not so good for kids.

That's probably true (though no examples spring to mind right now). As for Ms. Weingarten, it's regrettable that many of her decisions benefit neither teachers nor kids. How does it benefit anyone to place teachers on unpaid suspensions for months based on unsubstantiated charges? Immediate removal from classrooms and fines for those found guilty could achieve the same result without jeopardizing the innocent (I've now heard of two teachers ensnared by this preposterous rule and later found innocent).

Reform though it is, the whole travesty of justice thing rubs me the wrong way.

Furthermore, her support of the third NYC reorganization, the one in which principals must weigh salaries of experienced teachers against cheaper, newer teachers (or refurnishing their offices, or the rising price of donuts, or the most discreet escort services, or whatever) will certainly hurt teachers displaced through no fault of their own. There's little evidence that non-educator Joel Klein (who trains and hires principals with no teaching experience) values teaching experience.

In a job where you have to make instantaneous decisions at odd moments, there's often nothing more valuable than experience. How do you handle the needs of 34 kids, when they conflict with one another and change every moment? What do you do when a girl is sure to punch a boy's face out? What do you do when the AC drops dead in your trailer on the hottest day of the year? How do you respond when you're giving a final exam and the marching band has deemed it a good moment to walk up and down the street endlessly playing Louie Louie?

In any case, Ms. Weingarten's decision to support the reorganization reeks of collusion, and the timing (in the face of Mayor Bloomberg's rapidly declining PR) helped him to smoothly orchestrate a program that will hurt working teachers and probably schoolchildren as well. As Patrick Sullivan pointedly told the chancellor:

...under the FSF proposal, about half of failing schools would have had substantial budget cuts if fully implemented-- and instead would see no extra funding at all. He also asked why the funding changes would not undercut the professional status of teachers, encouraging principals to try to get rid of their most experienced staff.

It's tough for me to find fault with Mr. Sullivan's analysis, and it's tougher for me to see why Ms. Weingarten honestly needed to support and enable this program (or mayoral control). Halting a demonstration against it was a massive tactical error, if she'd intended to oppose this mayor (who now wants to be president). The need for a third reorganization, in any case, explicitly suggests the first two have failed.

Unfortunately, these reorganizations rely more on saving money for important stadiums than doing what's right for kids. The assumption that principals know best is belied by the longstanding city policy of granting tenure to virtually anyone with a pulse. There are no shortcuts to good teachers, and the notion of McTeachers, as put forth by some reformers, represents exactly what they're aiming for--poorly paid, replaceable cogs with no lives, no pensions, and no future to speak of

A friend of mine who just retired worries a lot about her daughter, who's planning to teach next year. I worry about my own daughter, who often speaks of becoming a teacher. And I believe absolutely that attacks on teachers are often thinly veiled attacks on unions.

Job one of a teachers' union is to vigorously protect the interests of its members. These interests should be more important than the political ambitions of the union leaders, the chancellor, or indeed the mayor. They should even be more important than Ms. Weingarten's ever-expanding 40-million per annum patronage mill.

And frankly, protecting the interests of working people can do nothing but help our children, who are bound to live and work in the world we leave them.

Thanks to David Bellel

Mr. Bloomberg is None of the Above

Well, Mayor Mike isn't a Republican anymore. On this site, right-leaning types have regularly maintained he wasn't a Republican. Left-leaning types (like me) have always claimed he wasn't a Democrat either.

Turns out we were both right.

Will we be seeing a President Moneybags? A Senator or Governor Moneybags?

Only time will tell.

Cars

This school year is drawing to an end, and there are some things we'll miss (like the kids), and some we won't (like getting up early).

In our school, we have an extended day, and we all fight over the disappearing early schedules. There's good reason for that. For example, I get out about 90 minutes after the first group.

One of my colleagues parks directly outside my trailer, and shouts at me daily while I'm directing the students inside.

"Hey, Mr Educator. I just want you to know that I'm going home now!"

"Good for you," I reply, pretending not to care.

"That's right. I'm going to get into my car right now, and then I'm going home."

Then she gets into the car and starts it up. She then gets out again.

"Well, I've got the car started now, so I'm gonna get in and drive home."

This, by now gets me mad. "I still get paid more than you."

This does not even phase her. "That's OK. My husband gets paid more than you."

"Well, I'm a better human being than you are."

"Maybe that's true. But anyway, I'm going home now."

Then she gets in her car and drives away. If I'm on early and she's on late next semester, I will make it my mission in life to exact vengeance every single day, even if it means driving my car into the building, up the stairs, and parking outside her classroom, wherever it may be.

Driving up the stairs may be rough on the tires, though, so maybe I'll just take the elevator.

Something Good

There's now a voice of reason on the NYC Panel on Education Policy, none other than Patrick Sullivan of Class Size Matters, who was appointed by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

Chancellor Klein was perturbed at having to respond to real questions, and Mr. Sullivan appears to be the lone dissenter, for now, on this particular rubber stamp brigade.

He pointed out that Liebman's claim of no-stakes tests had been contradicted by the recent announcement that kids would be paid for acing the tests; Liebman also admitted that schools might choose to count the results of these "no-stakes assessments" in students' grades.

To Klein he pointed out that under the FSF proposal, about half of failing schools would have had substantial budget cuts if fully implemented-- and instead would see no extra funding at all. He also asked why the funding changes would not undercut the professional status of teachers, encouraging principals to try to get rid of their most experienced staff.

I couldn't agree more. What a shame UFT President Randi Weingarten arranged to halt the downward PR spiral of this administration by supporting the new reorganization and canceling the May 9th rally against it.

Still, it's great to see one of the good guys with a real voice in government for a change.

Reform

There's a lot of buzz about Michelle Rhee, who's become head of the D.C. school system at the ripe old age of 37. Ms. Rhee is a product of Teach for America.

Teach for America places recruits after six or seven weeks of summer courses and practice teaching. Some crash and burn when they face real classes. But their survival rate is improving, and those who succeed often resolve to spend their lives fixing all that is wrong with urban education.

Some critics note that, on average, teachers in the program do not raise achievement levels much higher than do other young teachers. They also say that despite some successes, the innovators, who seek new ways of training teachers and running schools, have not found a way to improve learning for the vast majority of low-income urban students.

Despite this, they seem to be well-regarded among prominent voices for educational reform. The founders of KIPP hail from TFA, and Ms. Rhee's colleagues can be found administrating both charters and public schools.

The innovators tend to support smaller schools, closer contact with students' parents, and longer school days and years. They also focus on character education and how much teachers raise student achievement. They want well-trained principals to have the power to hire or fire teachers with less interference.

Some even suggest that school systems should focus on recruiting waves of energetic young teachers, who would spend five or six years in the classroom before moving on, rather than career teachers, who might tire as they grow older.

There's a lot to be said for smaller schools, in my view. However, I do not agree that partitioning one big overcrowded school into five smaller ones equals five small schools. To me, that's another big school with a lot of walls and too many administrators.

And while there are those who feel comfortable depending on the kindness of strangers, I'm not among them. After reading about Nicole Byrne Lau and other charter teachers, I value tenure a lot, as should anyone who sees teaching as a career. That's particularly important when you consider the blatant "chew 'em up and spit 'em out" philosophy espoused by those who suggest the lifespan of a teacher ought to be five or six years.

There are those who equate age with wisdom, and while it's not always true, I still want thoughtful, experienced teachers for kids who need them most. I'm afraid I fail to see the wisdom of working teachers to death, or at best resignation. I don't think I'd want to be on call with a cellphone for hours after I left my job, as KIPP teachers are. Like most people, I'm available at work, and like any responsible person I return calls quickly.

Now I'm told that KIPP does have one 100K teacher, who they trot out for conferences and such. However, Nassau County, where I live, has thousands of them. They all have tenure, they aren't on call, they don't work longer days and years, and they aren't expected to flame out after five or six years. And some of them have been very helpful to my little girl.

In fact, I've seen many great teachers as old or older than Ms. Rhee. The notion of entrusting the education of our children with anyone who can put up with the job for a few years before moving onto greener pastures is offensive, counter-productive, and more worthy of a summer camp than a serious educational institution.

Unless, of course, you've got your eye planted firmly on the bottom line. If your ultimate goal is reduction of Steve Forbes' tax bill, it all makes perfect sense.

Thanks to reality-based educator

Innovation

Those goshdarn inspectors who came from Britain are having quite an effect in their home country. Perhaps that's why Chancellor Klein saw fit to bring them here.

One head teacher committed suicide just two months after quitting because of a critical inspection by Ofsted, the education watchdog.

Another teacher disappeared on the morning she was due to face Government inspectors and was found dead more than 10 months later in parkland.

That sounds like just what we need here, so NYC has spared no expense to ship the inspectors over here and have them check out working teachers. It's a well-established fact that half of new teachers quit because the pay is too high and the work is too easy, so adding extra stress to teachers' day-to-day jobs is a very positive step.

Above you can see the new beta teacher examination Tweed is looking into. On the positive side, there will be no more nasty written questions, and the exam will be entirely oral. A highly placed source in Tweed suggests that anyone who can take 5 hours of testing will have little difficulty getting through 5 years of working for Chancellor Klein.

Thanks to David Bellel