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I rarely pull things straight from the AFT Web site, but, as a native of basketball-loving Indiana, I have to grab this video about New Orleans' big man Tyson Chandler's efforts to help teachers.
Bonus info on Chandler: He's been great for the fantasy basketball team of AFT video guru Matt Jones.
The school system in post-Katrina New Orleans is increasingly segregated by race, class and academic performance, according to a report to be released tomorrow by the AFT, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and United Teachers of New Orleans.
I'll leave the details until tomorrow's release, but my reading of the report is that it demonstrates two things clearly.
First, it doesn't make sense to compare achievement levels for categories of schools (state-run, charter, selective, open, etc.) when the categories don't have similar populations. With widely varying percentages of special ed students and gifted-and-talented students, any "average" achievement level or proficiency percentage for a particular category ends up being more a measure of which kids entered the schools than what kids learned while in the schools.
Second, the difference in pre- and post-Katrina populations for individual schools makes before-and-after comparisons meaningless. In some cases, for example, the 2007 enrollment is half the 2005 enrollment, and we have no idea whether the remaining students are disproportionately high-achieving or low-achieving.
We’ve long been critical of the school board in New Orleans and the legislature in Louisiana for their actions in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to take away New Orleans Public School teachers and staff’s ability to participate as partners in the rebuilding process. This included the dismissal of nearly the entire workforce; the refusal of the board to negotiate a new contract; the legislative creation of a new accountability system that would apply only to New Orleans, thus creating the Recovery School District; and the creation of a system of charter schools that could not come under the provisions of the New Orleans contract, something previously allowed by Louisiana law.
Earlier this week, the school board and the United Teachers of New Orleans announced that they had settled law suits that the union had brought against the district. Staff who were fired in the wake of the hurricane will receive a $1,000 payout as a result. And the school board will negotiate a new contract with UTNO.
Brenda Mitchell, the UTNO President, said of the agreement, “The storm has passed. The acrimony that might have been there is over." There is still so much to do. But today, for the staff who worked in the schools before Hurricane Katrina, and for those working in the schools still under control of the school board, it is a good day.
When incoming superintendent Richard Rothstein came to New Orleans he told the New York Times “[Given] almost a broken social structure, that’s pummeled by this natural disaster,” that, classroom changes can have only limited reach. His signature efforts will include medical, dental and nutrition programs. He’s going to try to keep schools open as community centers to serve kids until dinner time. Of course, various DC education reformers said that Rothstein had been hired to do education not social work, that he was just trying to let his staff off the hook and we all know the hook is really where people do their best work. Others talked about how this was a defeatist strategy that basically admitted that schools aren’t the answer.
Oops. It wasn't Rothstein, it was Paul Vallas. And there was no discussion of this at all from the usual suspects. Yes, I know Vallas has a real education plan too. And that is necessary. But I think he's right that it's not sufficient to curing what ails these kids or closing the achievement gap. If you’ve ever baited Rothstein or the Economic Policy Institute on these issues (and dear reader, you know who you are), and you didn’t have a similar first reaction to Vallas too, I’ll suggest your education policy pronouncements are too governed by the cocktail party you’re at than by the world around you. As for Vallas, these latest ideas seem pretty good to me.
UPDATE: In Act One, I write a post saying that if someone other than Paul Vallas had said X he would be challenged by the cocktail party element of the education reform movement. In Act Two, Andy Rotherham challenges me for saying what Paul Vallas says.
In the past we've derided many of the proposals for rebuilding New Orleans. (See our New Orleans category for our take on a few of the missteps.)
We're glad to have the opportunity today to highlight a proposal that's good for New Orleans and its schools -- a bill introduced today by Rep. George Miller. The bill, titled RENEWAAL, provides financial incentives to attract and retain teachers and education professionals who are committed to working in Gulf Coast public schools and colleges.
Furthermore, unlike some of other proposals, this bill also ensures that teachers will be at the table for discussions of how to rebuild New Orleans schools, reflecting the fact that making education policy without consulting teachers is ludicrous.
Official AFT statement is here.
The AFL-CIO's blog has a devastating account of the president's failure to protect and rebuild New Orleans and its schools.
Brenda Mitchell, president of United Teachers New Orleans, an AFT affiliate, describes President Bush's recent visit to a New Orleans school as a PR stunt and says President Bush was guilty of being "insincere and disingenuous" during his visit.
Paraprofessionals and School-Related Personnel
New Orleans Teachers on the Rebound
New Orleans Then and Now -- There's No Comparing
A First Step Towards Justice In New Orleans
Real Help for NoLa and Its Schools
Editor: John
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Disclaimer: The NCLB Blog was established by the AFT as a forum where public education advocates, policymakers and others can exchange information and express their opinions on NCLB and related issues. The views expressed here are not the official views of the AFT or any of its affiliates. All claims otherwise would violate the spirit and purpose of the blog. © American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. All rights reserved. Photographs and illustrations cannot be used without permission of the AFT.
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The NCLB Blog was established by the AFT as a forum where public education advocates, policymakers and others can exchange information and express their opinions on NCLB and related issues. The views expressed here are not the official views of the AFT or any of its affiliates. All claims otherwise would violate the spirit and purpose of the blog. © American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. All rights reserved. Photographs and illustrations cannot be used without permission of the AFT.