FWCS - All Stick and No Carrot?
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 12/15/09 @ 2:38 am - Filed Under Featured, Local Politics
In order to save themselves from their own failed budgetary decisions the Fort Wayne Community Schools administration is looking to hammer on teachers in order to get a piece of President Obama’s $4.3 Billion education pie.
But once again their plan is foolish and will only lead to more failing schools. The federal money they are shooting for requires districts to hold teachers accountable for improving student test scores, but instead of incentivizing teachers in failing schools the FWCS administration is looking for scapegoats. Their plan appears to be to take the money, plug their budgetary gaps and beat up on teachers who are working with some of the most challenging students in the district.
As I’ve said before the reason these schools are failing is because the parents are failing. To portray this as some sort of problem with teachers is laughable. Loser parents, in general, raise loser children - that’s just the reality of a vicious sociological cycle that takes a lot more than a teacher or two to fix. And that’s why the administration’s plan is so ridiculous because most of the people who teach in these failing schools are there because they truly want to make a difference.
If you shitcan them who the hell are you going to get to take their place? Do you really think teachers from SWAC are lining up to teach at these schools? The only people you’ll recruit to these positions are those without a solid track record to begin with - many of which will surely flock to surburban openings as soon as they can. Look, I’m not against getting rid of poor teachers but to pretend that you can do that without incentives for quality teachers is foolish…
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17 Responses to “FWCS - All Stick and No Carrot?”
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Many urban teachers are locked in by their seniority (pay scales) and union contracts which encourage other districts to hire younger (cheaper teachers). So I question your assumption for why most of them stay. But they wanted unions, so its hard to feel sorry for them.
Wendy says, “nobody gets a chance to say ‘not us’”. Wrong. Wendy alone gets a chance to say, “not me”.
small correction:
“….get a piece of President Obama’s $43 Billion education pie”
Should be $4.3 Billion.
Kevin:
The way that Obama and company are going, continuing to spend money we ain’t got, could eventually total $43 billion. So I would not make assumptions about the total to be spent. Stimulus II is on the way and the pork-barrel budget has not yet been settled.
Evert,
Your comment is correct if one assumes that teachers move from FWCS to other districts. However, teachers within FWCS can move to other schools within the district that are more “suburban”. And that’s exactly what will happen under this plan - teachers with seniority will bail.
The teachers that are at these specific schools could easily transfer to other schools within the district but most of them enjoy the challenge of working with the kids at these failing schools.
Kevin,
Thanks for catching the typo…
Finally, some clear thinking on this subject. Jeff, you get what’s going on. I think everyone does. The real question is WHY has parental responsibility in education never been on the forefront of this whole discussion?
John- Because an up front, public discussion on that score by the district and especially our FWCS superintendent will offend some parents. And the ones that will be most offended are minority parents.
John C -
Because for 40+ years parents have been taught to defer to educators as experts in teaching: “Leave your kids and trust us to do this for you.”
Last April I wrote in these pages…
“It should be no surprise that many parents push the responsibility to teachers, administrators, and “education professionals.” They’ve been instructed to do so by the system.
Parents successfully teach their children to walk, talk, eat, and other age-appropriate tasks for the first 4-5 years of their lives. Suddenly, they’re told the child’s education is better left to professionals who have gone to school for such things. Parents are no longer qualified to teach. First it was kindergarten. Then it was pre-school. Now it’s suggested we surrender our wards to the system at age 3, to give them a “head-start” on the education experience.
I found it laughable last year when FWCS held a meeting (Elmhurst, I believe). They were looking for feedback from parents about how FWCS should solve a particular problem. The administration appeared dumbfounded when few parents attended (”We even served refreshments!”). No surprise here. Administrators have done a bang-up job teaching us they know better and have the answers. Could humble parents really solve the problem? If the system wants involved parents, stop insulting them and undermining their PRIMARY role in education.
I doubt many would say we’re doing a better job now than we did 25, 50, or 100 years ago. Stop blaming the parents, teachers and kids. Look at the model itself. Don’t buy the lie.” (http://fortwaynepolitics.com/2009/04/in-defense-of-fwcs-sort-of/)
Personal responsibility and individual ownership of one’s education have given way to social engineering (tolerance, man-made global warming, etc.), relying upon others for what we must know. Many of the most successful have been those who eschewed formalized instruction (Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein) and took the road less traveled.
Dave,
I don’t know a single teacher who complains that parents are too involved. Can you cite an example of how “the system” is undermining a parents role in education?
When I talk about parents being the problem I’m referring to parents who don’t read/play/teach their children anything. They see that as the role of the school and their role is to sit on their ass and complain about why their kid is only receiving a reduced priced lunch instead of a free one.
Ask any teacher at one of those 10 schools how many parents show up to parent-teacher conferences. Think they’re all working late? Now compare that to the percentages in suburban schools. That’s correlation and causation.
The sociological problem is that, in general, poor people don’t value education themselves so their children tend to grow up with similar beliefs.
I certainly won’t profess to know how to solve that problem - hell I’m not even sure it’s one the schools should be responsible for solving.
But I will say this, any knucklehead could come up with a better plan than the one laid out by Wendy Robinson. Here’s one:
1)Increased pay for teachers to go to failing schools and merit pay for improvements they make when they get there.
2)Lower classroom sizes to 13-16 students in those failing schools.
Of course implementing either one of the above actually takes leadership…
Well said again Jeff. Why aren’t you running for the board. My kids are North Side and Northwood students. The PTA meetings could be held in the custodian’s closet due to attendance. You hit the nail on the head about uninvolved parents. When idiot parents know more about who is sitting on top of the points race in NASCAR but have never even met their kid’s teacher, my point is made. I’m getting tired of Evert Mol running his pie hole too. Somehow those union teachers got enough taught to my North Side grad that he got a hefty academic scholarship to a private school. Its all what you make it.
Jeff:
I’ve always said that ANY educational issues we have today are, in fact, SOCIETALLY-based.
Address THAT aspect of this problem, and you’ll pretty much have the educational process covered…and with higher grad numbers and scores.
That’s damn near guaranteed.
Jeff,
The “system” I’m referring to is the current approach of more schooling at an earlier age with ever increasing amounts of funding to solve the problem.
Many parents have abdicated responsibility for their children under the guise of these experts knowing what’s better for them — much the same way we’ve come to expect our tax dollars being used to care for the poor. We’ve lost the will to interconnect - pass the buck and let someone else deal with the issue. It’s a cultural problem.
While you’re suggestions for improving teacher-student ratios and increasing pay for teachers in failing schools are well intended, I fear they’re only another band-aid. FWCS could have a 1-5 teacher-student ratio; without parent involvement at home, little progress would result given the increased costs.
If ever a “reset” button were needed, it would be for education in America. Empower parents to seek the best opportunity for their child with vouchers. Offer more charter and trade schools to 14-18 year olds as well as co-ops and apprenticeships.
An eighth-grade education a century ago was equivalent to some high school diplomas today. Why has school become a placeholder for our kids rather than the educational journey it used to be? Stop dumbing-down the curriculum at all levels. One-size-fits-all doesn’t work - never has, never will.
Far too many students graduate high school with no direction. They float aimlessly adrift a sea of indecision. A four-year college degree should be available for all, but it’s not for everyone. Accept that. Find your calling and pursue it. As John C. said - It’s all what you make it. I agree.
Sorry Jeff. I didn’t address your initial question. Ways the “system” undermines a parents role in education:
1.) Not allowing children to opt-out of questionable curriculum topics such as sex education in elementary school.
2.) “Alternative lifestyles” are explored to teach tolerance, yet alternative views on evolution are treated with contempt.
3.) Zero-tolerance policies which forbid parents from sending prescription meds with responsible children.
4.) Forbidding all talk about religion (or no talk of Christianity, while other faiths are explored).
I could cite anecdotal evidence from hundreds of stories - we’ve all heard them. Certainly most occur elsewhere and I’ll be told “that would never happen in Fort Wayne,” or “that’s not our policy.”
The problem is perception is nine-tenths of the law. Most parents BELIEVE this to be so. They don’t feel they have control, so they do nothing. Or as I suspect, an involved parent hears from a friend that their suburban school doesn’t have these issues. They end up moving to the burbs perpetuating the problem.
Money talks. Give more control back to parents. Empower them with the financial resources to choose their best education opportunity.
THe problem is the parents doing nothing. I don’t believe that they feel they have no control. These parents are just uninvolved period. If their cable television wasn’t functioning, they would be the first ones on the phone making it perform the way they expect. Nearly every time I have persisted in voicing a concern, I have succeeded in getting what I wanted.
Education is more complicated than most realize. There are all sorts of views. Having five kids who have gone and still in public school, plus my experience is has taught me some things. First, not every kid is the same. Everyone is different. Some learn to read at age 3 while others struggle at age 13. Some can build anything at age 3 while others cannot figure out how to use a screw driver. Some can draw and create fashions from an early age while some of us engineers never will have that talent. Some are gifted in voice while others of us have no music ability at all.
Schools used to place everyone in the same class, nice rows and columns. We learned by doing over and over again. Some of us got A’s and some got F’s. We were all presented the same material. There were no calculators, no computers and if you were lucky you had an electric typewriter. We learned hot to references (now there is the internet).
I do not believe it is the teachers at fault, though I have come across a very small minority who should not be teaching. I do not thing it is totally the parents fault either, though there are parents who should not have had kids to begin with. I think it is the process of reinvention that has created the most havoc in schools. How many different experiments have been tried and failed? What long term affects have these had on learning? Why is it that every new superintendent must make a lasting change? Continious improvement is fine, but not just for the sake of change.
When you make a change in the real world, you base it of past history and measure the change. Sometimes the measurement portion can take a long time to see the affect. When measuring change in a school it could take 12 years before a change could be evaluated. With parents moving more often and children attending far more schools throughout their lives, the ability to evaluate changes becomes even more complicated. My guess is it would take a couple of decades to figure out if the change was beneficial and if it was not, then what.
The problem I think is too many choices in classes, too little time devoted to the basics, pressing students to learn next years material this school year in order to do better on ISTEP or measured against other schools. Let’s face it, some one will always be better and someone will always be lower. To me the important thing is the difference between the top school and the lowest school performance should be small.
Instead of teaching units of measure in 5th grade, wait until 7th or even 8th grade when they are taking the science classes that use this. Instead of stressing typed written reports prior to 7th grade, stress good hand writing skills, outlining minimizing erasing and start overs. Teach them to think before they act to minimize wrong directions.
Get rid of advance placement classes and present the material to all. I think educators would be surprised at how much some who would not qualify to take AP classes would learn. Learning by mistakes is often retained longer than what was done right the first time.
There are too many administrators in our schools. What do they do all day when students are in class?
Remove disruptive students from the class so others may learn.
Most important, eliminate early education. Studies show that early development of creativity and imagination are learned skills. However, when you place your child in a structured environment, the time they spend on these learned skills is reduced. They become book smart earlier, but do not become as creative or have the imagination of those who start later. It all depends on what you think is important. In general terms;
Book smarts lets you recite and figure out problems given to you.
Creativity and Imagination allows the person to develop new ideas that ask the question how can I do this that leads to research.
John C,
It is nearly impossible to be elected to the board without the support of the teacher’s union. And until now the union felt like their interests were aligned with the administration’s interest.
I’ve been arguing for years that this administration is not only destructive to the district but also the teacher’s union as well. Perhaps now they are finally starting to see the light.
If so, then I would consider running. But if they continue to blindly follow this administration down the path of ruin then I’m not going to waste my time…