Re: Fw: Education Reform Newswire

[kber <kber@EARTHLINK.NET>]

L. Cirincione wrote:

quoting from what she forwarded   -

*A fracas in Prince George's County, MD appears to have been temporarily
resolved by the unusual intercession of the state superintendent, who
reinstated Iris Metts, the county's superintendent, after the local school
board improperly dismissed her.  The Prince George's County district's
problems are a case-in-point of how politics will tend to trump education, a
problem that gets worse the larger and more disadvantaged the district.  The
districts in need of the most help tend to be the most susceptible to the
political failures which prevent them from getting the help they need.  And
who suffers while the adults squabble?  The children.  And as reported in
this week's Washington Post, they know it:

I don't want to burden this board with all the information about this
situation.  Suffice it to say that as bad as the board is, the superintendent
is worse, and is far more responsible for recent difficulties than is the
board.  But she is very good at playing politicians who don't really udnerstand
education, and she has totally bamboozled the editorial board of the Washington
Post, which apparently does not even read the coverage its own reporters have
provided.

I will focus on the only aspect of her tenure applicable to this baord, and
that is the subject of testing.  Metts had written into her contract with PG
stnadards for which she wanted to get bonuses based on tests performance.  Shje
got a bonus afger her first year, when any icnrease in testing could not have
been the result of her efforts. She was denied a bonus after her 2nd year.  At
that point CTBS socres had gone up, largely as a result of diversion fo
resources in some lower performing schools to increase drilling on the skills.
She complained that she was being unfairly denied her bonus.  Shen the MSPAP
socres came out, and they had gone down (as they did, btw, across the state),
she claimed that she shouldn't be held to account on them because 9a) the drop
in PG was lessthan the drop elsewhere [gee, does that mena the tests weren't
valid?]; and (b) 2.5 years was not enough time to be held accountable for test
scores because change takes longer than that {gee, does that mean she will give
back her bonus for her first year?].


That's just a sample.  I taught in the district for six years, and despite the
turmoil am considering returnting to the high school (Eleanor Roosevelt) where
I spent the last 3 years of my tenure before jumping to my home county this
year.  Let me assure the readers that the snip above is very inaccuarte -  the
district is NOT among the most disadvantaged -  the median household income in
the County is over 50,000.  It is the welathiest majority black jurisdiction in
the nation.  BUT - the district is hamsturng by its voters with a tax
limitation scheme that forces class size well over the 30 level in most middle
and high schools.  Its inability to pay competitive slalires has cuased a
turnoverof teaching staff that has, over 5 years, been the equivalent of almost
the entire teaching teaching staff  (annual number of new teachers hired each
of past for years is at least 1,600, probably higher, in a total teaching staff
of about 8,400 -  it has, on at least one occasion, been over 1,800 at the
start of the year, with the district refusing to say how many additional
teaches were hired after the year started).


So let me offer a caution with which all of us are probably far too familiar -
do not accept with several pounds of salt all you read about specific
educational situations.  Even independent of particular biases, the coverage of
education in the media is still far too driven by eprsonailites and easily
expressed items like test scores.  Unfortunately, it can advserly shape the
public opinion necessary to impelemnt the fundamental change that is needed.

And now, I really I have to go to my school.

Peace to all.


Ken Bernstein

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