The most high profile issue of 2019 is likely to be the preliminary recommendations of the Kirwan Report.
The Kirwan Commission was created primarily, to review, revise and update the education funding formula established many years ago. Along the way, the Commission was to look for "I nnovation and Excellence in Education."
The work has proven far more difficult and challenging that the original one-year deadline contemplated. Deadlines for completing the work have been extended twice. Currently, the Commission expects to finish its work this June. It will nonetheless propose a small package of bills this session to:
Extend the life of the commission through 2019;
Set up a career and technical education work group;
Improve existing teacher scholarship program and get it funded;
Increase pre-kindergarten expansion grants;
Fund after-school and summer programs for schools with high concentrations of poverty;
Establish a teacher recruitment strategy
Report from the first Kirwan Hearing
"Maryland will have to find an innovative approach to education governance and accountability in order to get the same kind of coherence and power from the education system being proposed by the Commission."
House finance committees hold heaing on Kirwan Commission Report
This past Wednesday, the House Appropriations and Ways & Means committees were given an overview of the work of the Kirwan Commission, by its Chair, Dr. William E. Kirwan.
Without a doubt, the commission's work is impressive, and its website provides access to virtually everything that was said or read during its two years of meetings. Moreover, it is clear that Dr. Kirwan is passionate about education and is a strong advocate for the results and recommendations of the Commission.
Although the final report is not yet available, the commission has issued a 125-page Preliminary Report that discusses the framework for the work and sets forth 59 specific, integrated recommendations for driving Maryland schools into a "world class system."
Despite our long-held belief that Maryland schools were at least among the top 10 school systems in the country," the Commission's first finding was an unwelcome surprise to legislators and public alike:
"[Maryland] students still perform in the middle of the pack within the U.S. which is in the middle of the pack against the rest of the modern world."
When it comes to actual learning outcomes "Maryland's public education system is a long way from performing at the level of the best in the world or even the best in the United States."
After studying education systems in countries The Report describes Maryland's current education system, as "highly decentralized," and "highly fractionalized," based on the State's preference for local control." Thus, to "build a world class system in Maryland" would require the State to embrace a system in which control is exercised from the top down.
After the presentation, Dr. Kirwan addressed a number of questions from legislators. The questions indicated serious concerns in two areas: (1) what happens to local control, and (2) how much will it cost the counties? The funding "split" between the State and the local jurisdictions could not be determined until the Commission finished its work (expected to be around June 2019). There was no clean answer with respect to how the new programs will affect local control. However, according to the recommendations inherent in the five "policy areas" (listed below), a number of areas currently handled by the localities will now be exercised by the State Board of Education and new committees empowered to act.
The Five "Policy Areas"
1. Early Childhood Education and Care:
High quality pre-K will be expanded to all four-year-olds and all low-income three-year olds.
All children will be assessed before they come to kindergarten to identify those who need supports to be ready to learn.
Questions:
1. Data shows that early childhood education (such as Head Start) "wears off" when a child gets to 3rd or 4th grade. Shouldn't we "fix" the existing schools before adding more . . .
2. Recruiting, Training, and Retaining High Quality and Diverse Educators and Leaders:
Higher paid, better education, more rigorously trained teachers will work as professionals in schools that offer real careers in teaching, and change the way schools are organized and managed to phase in a substantial reduction in the amount of time teachers are required to teach to ensure that teachers have the time they need to work together in teams to continuously improve their practice.
Questions: Is reducing the time that teachers actually teach a good idea?
3. World Class Instructional System:
"The new system will include fully aligned curriculum frameworks, course syllabi and assessments designed to prepare students to reach a career and college ready (CCR) standard set to global standards.
Most students will be expected to meet the standard by the end of grade 10 and all students are expected to meet it by the end of high school. Once that standard is met, students can choose one of several programs to prepare for postsecondary education and/or industry credential."
Questions:
It seems like the school system is providing as many social welfare programs as the State's Departments of Disabilities, Health, Human Services and Housing & Community Development. How do the departments coordinate, and is this the best way to spend education dollars?
4. "System that Ensures At-Risk Students are Successful:
"This system will provide at-risk students ongoing academic supports and enrichment as well as extensive case management to address social, physical mental and family needs that will enable success at school."
"Change school organization and staffing to allow for teacher collaboration to support struggling students.
Expand Family Support Centers to provide and coordinate access to support services for at-risk young children (0-5)and their families"
Questions:
1. Will the "fully aligned curriculum, course syllabi and assessments be the responsibility of the State or the Local Boards of Education ?
2. What happens to the students who do not meet the career and college ready standard by time to graduate?
5. Governance & Accountability
"A system will be put in place to oversee this new system, monitor its implementation and hold government accountable for implementation of the Commissions recommendations .
"[An] independent oversight body to oversee and coordinate implementation of the plan. . . . Funding will depend on a determination that the approved plans are in fact being implemented."
Questions:
1. What tools will the independent oversite committee have to ensure the implementation of the plan, other than the power to withhold funds from non-complying schools ?
The greatest concern expressed by the legislators was about "accountability." Looking back at the Thornton Commission, the last major effort to improve schools, it was hard not to see parallels in accountability.
In addition to the $3.2 billion dollar increase over the eight years from 2000-2008, Thornton required the State Department of Education to withhold funds from districts that were not implementing Thornton recommendations.
from News from Annapolis: Week 3, 2019
Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities
Every year I meet with the representatives of MANSEF in Annapolis and am always struck by how Maryland wastes this precious asset.
MANSEF is a nonprofit organization of special education schools which are approved by the Maryland State Department of Education to serve students referred and funded by local public school systems. It provides a significant piece of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which mandates that a continuum of placements be available for students with disabilities and currently serves more than 3,800 students in almost 100 schools across the state -- each school focusing on one or more specific disabilities.
What is the "Least Restrictive Environment" (LRE") ?
For some reason, we seem to take it on faith that inclusion in a public school is either the only or the best fit for every child, regardless of disability or individual need.
Public schools try very hard to accommodate the needs of every child, but are occasionally unwilling to admit that a non-public school dedicated to teaching children with a specific disability might be able to better serve a child.
It's time we begin to really consider alternatives.
Unique benefits of nonpublic special education. Students feel much more included and valued when they are truly part of their school community. In nonpublic special education schools, students have a real opportunity to fully participate in all aspects of school life -- from sports, clubs, plays and school government to talent shows and the prom. They participate, not by being "assigned to a peer" or as someone's "buddy," but as a person, and individual -- and often, as the leader.
The outcomes tells the story. For example, recent data show that 63% of high school graduates have successfully enrolled in post-secondary education or technical school and apprenticeship setting -- nearly 20% higher than the national rate . (for more results, see MANSEF post-secondary outcomes study, click here.)
Placement must be individually determined . A local public school system cannot unilaterally decide to bring all students placed at a nonpublic special education school back to an in-district program, nor can it decide that all students with a particular disability must be educated within its schools. Federal law requires the placement decision for each student to be made individually by the IEP team. Parents are a part of the process.
How to Learn More About MANSEF Schools
If you have any interest in -- or know someone who might be interested -- I strongly recommend taking a look at the MANSEF "Membership Directory," pictured to the left.
It is not only a comprehensive Directory, providing extensive information about each of its schools in Maryland, it also provides information that any parent of a child with a disability will want to know. For example, there is an excellent 4-page summary of " Understanding Special Education and Advocating for Your Child: a Brief Summary of the Special Education Process."
The following issue of News from Annapolis is devoted entirely to education
"Government schools in America today are failing to perform their essential duty of passing along to the next generation the core of knowledge that makes civilization possible. Nearly 35 years ago, the National Commission on Excellence in Education warned, 'the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people.' The tide continues to rise.
"Since 1983, many reforms were instituted and hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money have been devoted every year to fixing the government schools and yet . . . [t]oday, ...evidence of inadequate public school performance continues to emerge:
Just 37% of public high school seniors nationwide scored proficient or better pm the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment, and only 25% in math.
Fewer American students perform as well as students in other economically advanced nations. From 2009-2015 American students' math and science performance rankings dropped to 40th and 25th respectively.
The national high school graduation rate for 2011-2012 was 83.2 percent, indicating that nearly one in five students will drop out.
"The problem is not a lack of spending."
The Patriot's Toolbox, The Heritage Foundation, 2017
from News from Annapolis: Week 5, 2019
Kirwan's Interim Report
A Question of Implementation and Intent
The newly released Interim Report of the Kirwan Commission gives us 232 pages of new Design Assumptions, Implementation Decisions, and cost estimates for each element of each of the five Policy Areas.
As I read through the pages, I was transported to a higher plain where every stakeholder cooperated and together we enacted "The Kirwan Report," whereupon, lo and behold, the children of Maryland finally had a "world-class education system" just as the Commission envisions.
But reality intrudes.
As the Reports acknowledge, "The recommendations of this Commission amount to a proposal to substantially redesign Maryland's education system for high performance. . . . and will require the State to make very difficult decisions and embrace a different way of 'doing business' in pre-K education, institute major new policies and practices, embrace rigorous accountability, and hold firm for a full and complete implementation of recommendations. . ."
The members of the Commission, all of whom have high praise for the Commission's work and work-product, nonetheless understand that implementation will be very difficult.
Concerns of the Commissioners
Not a single Commissioner voted against approving the final report, and only two abstained. Nonetheless, a number of them asked to include individual letters explaining certain of their concerns. Clearly, these concerns must be taken seriously.
Maryland State School Board member, Dr. Chester A. Finn, writes: "every vested interest in the state will oppose changes of this magnitude, while clinging to the bits that advance their own interests. . . . I'm not confident that [implementing the plan] can get done in a state with a long history of putting adult interests ahead of children's, parents' and taxpayers."
He also said, "Children and parents should be especially troubled - as I am -- by the Commission's refusal to endorse or recommend any form of school choice."
Commissioner David Steiner, writing for himself, also expressed disappointment that "the Commission has not chosen to support the expansion of parental school choice and commensurate academic accountability," and reiterated Dr. Finn's concern about whether we have the collective will to stick with the difficult decisions. He provided two examples where our will might break down:
1. "We rightly seek to reward properly those who choose a teaching career. Will we have the will to ensure that only those who demonstrate truly effective teaching are endorsed, or will we lower our new standards for entry into the teaching profession at the first instance of serious resistance?
2. "We also seek a 10th-grade grade assessment as the gateway to an additional two years of study . . . .
But will passing the new 10th-grade assessment truly signify that students are prepared to move forward? Or will, rather, the claims of adults and the status quo come first, with the resulting watering-down of the standard for success?"
MSEA representative, David Helfman, was fully supportive of raising teacher salaries, "Closing gaps in salary between certificated educators and other high-skill industries," but opposes requiring teachers to achieve National Board Certification -- a major component of holding teachers to a higher standard.
Association of School Business Officials of Maryland representative, Leslie Pellegrino, CFO for Frederick County Schools objected to several issues of Governance and Accountability:
(1) creating a new, independent oversite committee, and
(2) withholding no less than 25 percent of new funds." She recommends "there should be other means of enforcing the implementation goals." A good recommendation.
State School Superintendent, Karen B. Salmon, Ph.D, strongly objected to the Governance and Accountability recommendation to create "an Independent Oversight Board with the authority to make certain that the new funds are used to implement the Commission's recommendations."
The "State Board of Education has gone on record . . . that they are excited about the opportunity to have more accountability and authority over low performing schools." She continued, saying that the State Board "has recently shown its commitment to holding local systems accountable," and gave several examples.
Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) representative, Joy Schaefer, joined with the Superintendent, objecting to several issues of governance and accountability, including: (1) creating a new, independent oversight committee, (2) creating "a separate, stand-alone Career Technology Education (CTE) committee that is outside of the purview of MSDE and the State Board," and (3) using the withholding of no less than 25 percent of new funds as an accountability measure.
from News from Annapolis: Week 6, 2019
Why Can't Our Children Read?
HB 690:Students with Reading Difficulties - Screenings and Interventions
During the last term, the Legislature passed "The Atticus Act," a bill I introduced that will help identify school children who may have certain eye conditions that can adversely affect their ability to read and to learn. This year, we continue to realize that there are often unrecognized physical barriers that impede a child's ability to read which directly affects their ability to learn; "Reading is fundamental to many life activities and is perhaps the most essential skill children learn in school." HB 690 addresses that issue head-on.
The bill requires that "Beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, each local board shall ensure that a student is screened to identify in the student is at risk for reading difficulties." If the screening indicates a potential problem, the school must conduct an "informal diagnostic assessment of the student to determine the specific areas of instructional need for supplemental reading instruction; provide supplemental reading instruction, as appropriate; and provide a notification letter to the student's parent as specified."
In an unusual show of solidarity, 17 Republicans joined with 69 Democrats as co-sponsors of the bill. With a very low "fiscal note," HB 690 looks like a winner.
from News from Annapolis: Week 8, 2019
Per Pupil Spending
The United States Census Bureau
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017
Per Student Spending
Of the 100 largest school systems [in the Country] by enrollment,
Maryland had four of the 10 public school districts with the highest spending per student.
This marks the eighth year in a row Maryland has had four school districts in the top 10 in this category.
Nationally, the top five school districts per student spending were:
* New York City School District at $21,980;
* Boston City Schools at $21,552;
* Anchorage School District in Alaska at $17,046;
* Baltimore City Schools in Maryland at $15,818; and
Kirwan Commission: Initial Recommendations in HB 1413
The Kirwan legislation is a 28-page bill with a price tag of $324,600,000 in FY 2020 and $749,740,000 in Fiscal 2021, with the balance of the $4 billion price tag looming ahead. Below is a listing of the specific programs created or expanded by the legislation, and the amount of state funding allocated in the bill for each program.
Concentration of Poverty School Grant Program. $54,000,000Compensatory Aid, Low-income Proxy. Focuses on maximizing eligibility for Medicaid reimbursement.
$248,883 to each school with 80% of students eligible for free meals; for one community schools coordinator and one health care practitioner.
$126,170 for each such school; for a Director of Community Schools
Special Education. $137,500,000
Transitional Supplemental Instruction for Struggling Learners: $23,000,000
Mental Health Services Coordinator. $83,333 to each local school system
Prekindergarten Supplemental Grants. Expanded grants assuming every 4-year old will attend full day
Declining Enrollment Supplemental Grants. Extend through Fiscal 2021
Teacher Salary Incentive Grant Program. $75,000,000.
Teacher Collaborative Grant Program. At least $2,500,000
Outreach and Training. $250,000
MSDE Data System Enhancement:$500,000
Selected State Funding Increases under the Bill
For Both Fiscal 2020 and 2021*
($ in Thousands)
Where's the Accountability ?
The one thing you will not find in the bill is a system for holding school systems accountable for implementing the Kirwan recommendations or for actual outcomes in the form of measurable student improvement. There is a reference to another bill that creates an Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability within the Department of Legislative Services. This cursory mention is far from the strong independent oversight committee that was promised in the Report.
Washington Post: "Maryland can't spend its way to better schools
The warnings in an editorial in the Washington Post this past Friday should be taken seriously.
"There seems to have been a headlong rush to embrace the commission's recommendations, with most state politicians swearing fealty to them in last year's elections. That should give serious pause to Maryland taxpayers."
Education experts and others have been waving a red flag for some time -- not because they object to the Kirwan Commission recommendations, but because they want those recommendations to succeed! And without strong accountability and consequences, it won't.
Maryland has a perfect template of what doesn't work. From 2002 to 2008 the state increased education spending by $3.2 million -- a 113% increase -- following the recommendations of the Thornton Commission which was established to fix our schools.
It didn't.
After the Thornton investment, "Maryland still wound up exactly where it began -- in the middle of the pack.
As one expert from the National Center on Education and the Economy said, "Thornton failed to deliver the improvement in student performance that its authors envisioned because no one was held accountable."
The Post editorial reiterated the concern: " The state's previous experience [with Thornton] also demonstrated the shortcomings, if not outright failure, of increased education expenditures to produce better outcomes. . . . they say this time it will be different because there would be a new state bureaucracy that will ensure accountability.
Color us skeptical."
Exploding the Myths
We're Number One ?
For many years, Marylanders believed that our schools were exceptional, as evidenced by our yearly rankings in the top five. The Kirwan Commission is to be congratulated for looking at reality rather than hype. Here's what the report said:
" The reality the Maryland must face is that its students perform in the middle of the pack within the U.S., which is in the middle of the pack of the rest of the modern world.. . . however, when it comes to actual learning outcomes, Maryland's public education system is a long way from performing at the level of the best in the world or even the best in the United States."
Severely Underfunded?
I doubt there is anyone in the entire State who has not heard how "underfunded" our school systems are. The Maryland State Education Association has been beating the drum of underfunding for years, and their efforts have redoubled ever since the Kirwan Commission held out the promise of more money.
The Maryland State Department of Education has also invested effort in portraying our schools as underfunded; indeed, they commissioned a "study" in 2016 that found -- somehow not surprisingly - that "public schools in the state are annually underfunded by $2.9 billion."
according to a 2016 stud y
The "methodology" used by these MSDE consultants was to ask Maryland educators what they would need to help their students achieve, and then studying how much those strategies would cost."
That would be like consultants asking my daughter how much allowance she needs to take care of her needs, and then telling me that her current allowance is "underfunded" by the difference between what she gets and what she "needs"!
Maryland invests more money in education than most other states
As reported in last week's Newsletter, Maryland spends more on education than most other states. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau, of the 100 largest school systems by enrollment, Maryland has FOUR school districts in the Top Ten category.
Baltimore City Schools in Maryland were ranked fourth in per-pupil spending; Howard County was fifth.
The four top international school systems all spend less per pupil than Maryland.
On an objective basis, it would be hard to make the case that we are "underfunding" our schools.
If money's not the answer, what is?
The Maryland Court of Appeals recognized that money was not the only reason that schools might be failing. It found (1) the public school children in Baltimore City were not being provided with an adequate education. . . but (2) there was a genuine dispute regarding the CAUSE of the inadequate education."
Clearly, the alternative to more money is better spending.
During the seven year period when the City Schools were under a Consent Decree to get their financial house in order, time and again they failed, driving one member of a financial recovery plan to opine: "In a system with almost a complete lack of consequence for overspending, the surprise is that the deficit is not even larger." Other examples of poor spending include:
Overpaying administrative staff. in a City where the average household earns $44,000 a year, the City School system had 727 employees who made at least $100,000.
Bloated administration costs.
According to the most recent U.S. Census report, City Schools has the "highest administration c osts per student in the nation"
Inability to plan and budget spending. Since 200 9, City Schools have had to return roughly $66 million in state funding for much-needed repairs after approved projects ran afoul of state regulations meant to prevent waste, records show
City Schools also "failed to avail itself of over $13 million of available State and Federal Funds" between 2001-2004, according to a 2004 Ernst & Young report.
According to another one of the many panels created to help City Schools improve during the pendency of the Consent Decree, criticized the Thornton legislation, saying the legislature made a number of erroneous assumptions. For example, the legislature did not focus enough attention on ensuring that MSDE was developing adequate oversight. Ultimately, this panel said the Thornton structure had the "makings of a disaster" from the beginning, and listed the specifics of the issues not addressed:
no continuity of leadership in City Schools
no system of internal communication
no discipline
no meaningful oversight
a sense in middle management that new initiatives need not be followed because senior management would change
no accountability, and
no sanctions for failure to perform
For the Kirwan recommendations to succeed, it becomes very clear that it won't happen without strong accountability and consequences for failure.
The question is: Where is the bill creating "Accountability"?
New Money for School Construction
For many years, now, Maryland has not been adequately funding school construction. Even counties like Carroll and Howard are feeling the pinch.
This year, however, the state has come up with a workable plan to build or renovate most of the backlog of school construction projects in the state within just a few years.
School construction is a capital expense. It can be funded by selling bonds. Normally, Maryland State bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the State. That is very powerful collateral. However, there is a limit to how much we can borrow, and right now, debt service is up to and beyond the limits we try to maintain. Some projects can be funded with "paygo" (pay as you go) dollars that come out of the General Fund. There are advantages to PayGo, such as paying up front does not require the creation of debt. Nevertheless, with all the demands on the General Fund, there is little appetite for paying for capital projects therefrom.
Different from both ob those funding methods is the use of revenue bonds. These bonds are sold against a guaranteed stream of revenue and not the full faith and credit of the State. The Maryland Transportation Authority, for example, sells revenue bonds that are backed by the toll revenues paid into the Authority.
The Maryland Stadium Authority can also sell revenue bonds. Its collateral is the "guaranteed" stream of revenue from its share of the Lottery proceeds.
More recently, the State mandated that the State's share of the casino revenue be put in a virtual "Lockbox" and used to fund the Education Trust Fund.
In 2015, the Governor and the legislature created a very successful program to employ the Stadium Authority's bonding capacity to secure $1.1 million of bonds to build schools in Baltimore City. The Stadium Authority is the project manager on the construction and the program has been working beautifully as you can see from the chart.
This year, the Governor (HB 153) and the legislature (Delegate Dumais, HB 727) filed bills to use the same type of arrangement to fund school construction throughout the state.
The bills are not only similar they have 18-19 pages of identical language, with just two exceptions.
A superficial difference is that when the bills created the "Special Funds," to hold and distribute the money, they chose different names for the funds.
The substantive change comes on the last page of the bills. While both bills call for $125,000,000 each year, they differ on funding source. Governor Hogan's bill opts for using the Education Trust Fund as the source of funds. The Casino monies that flow into the lockbox provide a stream of revenue well able to secure bond sales.
Delegate Dumais' bill looks to the Stadium Authority to back school construction bond bills.
There are pluses and minuses to each choice. Based on past experience, the legislature will likely ignore the Governor's bill and pass the bill brought by a member of the majority party.
from News from Annapolis: Week 11, 2019
BOOST program saved, but funds cut - again
The Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) program awards scholarships to low-income students to attend private schools. Although it has received bipartisan support for nearly a decade, as the legislature moves further and further to the left, the program is in danger of extinction.
Indeed, the House version of this year's budget included language effectively killing BOOST by prohibiting the program from giving vouchers to any new student (except for siblings of current students). Fortunately, the Senate eliminated that language -- but kept the cut in funding.
There is no issue that angers and frustrates me more than the counter-intuitive stance of the far left liberals against giving poor children the same school choice opportunities as the wealthy.
Can you imagine a Member of Congress sending their children to one of Baltimore City's 23 one-star schools?
Who are the BOOST students?
A total of 2,646 scholarships were awarded in 2018, and more than 1,650 students remained waitlisted.
Every student awarded a BOOST scholarship is eligible for Free & Reduced-price Meals
Recipients were 57% minority
Average household income of all recipients in 2018 was $30,059
English Language Learners represent 32% of all scholarship recipients -- 1,014 students in 2018
Students in Baltimore City schools received 40% of the scholarship awards, followed by students in Baltimore, Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties; scholarship recipients live in 20 or the 24 Maryland jurisdictions
822 awards were made to students transferring from a public school.
An increase in BOOST spending is supported by 65% of voters statewide, and by 82% of Baltimore City voters!
Kirwan Ignores Public Charter Schools
The long-awaited Kirwan Commission "Interim" Report came out in January, with a "Final" Report being promised in June. The Final Report will, we hope, flesh out and explain how the State is going to: (1) PAY for the $4 billion of changes/improvements, and (2) how we will hold schools accountable. The Commission reports that these are the last two pieces of the report recommendations, and I believe them. That is why am as frustrated as several of the Commission members over their complete absence of any mention of our Public Charter School System
Dr. Chester E. Finn, who serves on the State Board of Education, wrote in his "Individual Statement," the following:
"Children and parents should be especially troubled -- as I am -- by the Commission's refusal to endorse or recommend any form of school choice, whether within and between districts, to charter schools, or to private and alternative schools. It could barely agree to recommend that a portion of the many additional dollars it is recommending should "follow" students to the schools they actually attend -- and that is going to be fought bitterly by district interests. . .
"It is no coincidence that, for example, Maryland has America's worst charter law! The State's charters beseeched the Commission to give them a pat on the back and ensure that they partake in full of all its recommendations but all that appears in the Interim report is a very subtle statement that when we say "public schools" we mean all public schools. That is intended to include charters (and other non-traditional forms of public school) but few will notice."
Maryland may be the most conservative state in the union when it comes to education. It is rigid in its reverence for "public education" -- far beyond its concern for the children. Clinging to its belief that diversity and fairness will not happen unless the State holds control, the educators and the teachers' union lobby in force against any effort, no matter how small, against any and all innovations.
It is that close-mindedness that keeps so many of our children in failing schools. And the worst part is, the kids are the ones that are being hurt. Just look at what's happened right next door in Washington, D.C. Who would ever have thought we'd aspire to the success of the school system in Washington D.C.! Read below.
Washington students all have benefited from the choices offered by two parallel systems, improving side by side.
With 56 percent of public school students attending system schools and 44 percent in charter schools, cooperation on creative approaches to common problems is in everyone's interest. Possible areas of cooperation include purchasing, job recruiting, transportation routes, data sharing and dissemination of best practices in teaching.
The author of the article speaks of the nasty charter fights in Los Angeles and Boston, and continues, "And then I returned to the District, where exactly nobody is fighting over charters. How can that be? Isn't this the city where everyone fights about pretty much everything every day of the year? And yet, while the rest of the country seems to be tossing pitchforks over charters, here in the District, there's peace in the land"
"Not only is there peace, but at times charter schools and District schools intermingle, cooperating or collaborating on issues such as common enrollment and discipline. After talking with a wide range of D.C. educators, I came up with some answers."
Charters were allowed enough flexibility to succeed and enough accountability to weed out the worst schools.
Success is due in large part to the ineffectiveness of the Washington Teachers' Union, which union was significantly weakened when a former school chancellor was able to impose a teacher evaluation system based partly on student outcomes and to lay off teachers based on a lack of merit rather than a lack of seniority.
Forty-four percent of D.C. students attend charter schools with 56% attending city public schools
The District has the highest first-year teacher salary in the country. The very best can be making a six-figure salary within seven years.
Including facility spending, an estimate of per pupil spending is slightly more than $18,000 for charter students and more than $22,000 for traditional D.C. Public Schools students
D.C.'s law includes the "Public Charter School Board," regarded as among the leading authorizers in the country. It believes in accountability, and has closed 20 charter schools over the past five years, including 15 for low academic performance.
Compared with DC Public Schools, the charters serve a higher percentage of poor kids, higher percentage of African American students and nearly as many special-education students
A significant reason the D.C. education system is working is because the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) is weak union getting weaker
Stanford University's Center for Research on Education Outcomes found that charters in the District add an average of about 70 days of learning in reading compared with traditional school students and 100 days in math.
D.C. leaders put children first
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