Cleveland parents, educators issue warning on vouchers
Union helps launch tech center
Wichita cuts Edison schools
Having what it takes to meet the NBPTS standard
California may end bonus plan

Cleveland parents, educators issue warning on vouchers

A panel of Cleveland parents and educators traveled to Washington, D.C., in late January to deliver a grim firsthand assessment of the city's private school voucher program, which is now under scrutiny in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The delegation shared their experiences with reporters at a press conference only days before the high court was scheduled to hear oral arguments in a case challenging the constitutionality of the Cleveland voucher program.

The Cleveland residents were joined by national leaders of the AFT, the NAACP and People for the American Way in issuing a stern and unanimous warning: A pro-voucher ruling in the Supreme Court could deal a sharp blow to districts nationwide, divert massive resources into a new round of state and local voucher battles, and undercut educational opportunity for millions of students.

Cleveland parent LaRuth Jackson told reporters that her son left first grade at one voucher school, the now-defunct Islamic Academy School of Arts and Sciences, barely able to read three-letter words. By midyear, "when they were losing the teachers, they had the students teaching themselves" at the voucher school, she recalled. Her son ultimately repeated first grade in a traditional public school and is now earning academic honors as a third-grader in the school, she reported.

Similar public school success stories can be found in many schools across the district, said Cleveland elementary school reading teacher

Kimberly Bates, adding that the district is making solid gains in its regular public schools thanks in part to implementation of proven academic instructional methods. At a time when Cleveland is spending $38 million on vouchers, there isn't enough money to fully implement quality summer school or research-based reading instruction throughout the district, Bates said. "We need these programs everywhere."

AFT president Sandra Feldman told reporters that the real story in education is that public schools around the country are succeeding with proven educational methods and solid reforms such as early education programs and smaller classes. "Whatever happens in the policy discussion, the fact is that most students are going to be in public schools," not voucher schools.

John Jackson, national education director for the NAACP, said a pro-voucher ruling in the Supreme Court would roll back the court's landmark Brown decision and undercut the promise that all children will have equal access to a quality education--a promise that can only be fulfilled with a strong public school system.

"Vouchers only cover a select few.... There is no clear data that these voucher programs are working, and yet we're trying to funnel resources into them. That is not educationally sound," Jackson said.

Union helps launch tech center

The Newark (N.J.) Teachers Union put its money where voucher advocates' mouths are, launching a new center to help kids with science and technology. The Marion A. Bolden Science/Technology Center, which serves third- and fourth-graders from the Roseville Avenue School in Newark, sprang from the union's desire to see the students excel in science and technology studies and to utilize NTU and community partnerships to do so. The center also provides a preschool program for children in the community and after-school care for students at Roseville.

"The idea grew out of the fact that the school had a budget for science and technology and for state tests for science and technology, but the principal, Rose Serra, didn't have space in her school," says NTU president Joe Del Grosso. "The school dates from the 1800s and even if they did have the space, it would be difficult to hardwire it."

So the NTU put Serra, whose school had the funding, together with Chester Brown, whose nearby West Ward Cultural Center had the space, and the wheels were in motion. Then, last summer, NTU contributed $25,000 to pay teachers to develop the curriculum and set up the lab for the new science center, which is located in West Ward Cultural Center--just down the block from Roseville. The NTU also contributed equipment like wiring and software and is continuing to work on private funding for the center. Now, accompanied by their teacher, third- and fourth-graders from Roseville need only walk down the street to get access to computers for upgrading their science and technology knowledge and skills. Members of the Newark Teachers Union staff the programs at the science center.

"It's our answer to vouchers," says Del Grosso. "Too often, we're hearing voucher advocates saying Ôlet teachers unions give us an alternative to what we're saying,' so we gave them one." The preschool program, which serves about 30 children from the community, is a response to a lack of such services in the community, he notes.

The NTU hopes to enlarge the center and expand its services to include a summer program.

These types of local community partnerships can be found in other parts of the district and the city, points out Del Grosso, who urges union members to take "a walk around your community" and look for these opportunities.

Wichita school board members on Jan. 28 jettisoned Edison Schools Inc. from two of the four schools it manages in the district. Low test scores, high teacher turnover and dwindling attendance were cited as reasons for pulling the plug on Edison management at the two elementaries: Ingalls-Edison and Isely-Edison.

The board's 6-0 decision ends the school district's five-year experiment with private management at the schools. The decision to remove Edison from the two schools also was spurred by recent allegations that two Ingalls administrators violated time-limit rules and other guidelines for administering the state's standardized tests.

The district has put in place a transition team for return of the schools to district management in 2002-03. Many of the more successful elements at the two schools, such as the Success for All reading program, are already in use at other district elementary schools, "which could be a model for Ingalls' and Isely's future," the Wichita Eagle observes.

Barbara Fuller, president of the United Teachers of Wichita/AFT, says the organization will press for fair treatment of the educators working at the two schools. Many of these teachers were Edison employees who may have been led to believe they were working for the public school system. Those who meet state certification and other requirements should be given a fair chance to continue their employment in the system and should not be stigmatized by this action, Fuller says.

"When you look at all the young teachers in [the two buildings], why should they suffer to the point of not having a job for the next school year because they gave Edison a chance," says Fuller, noting that staff commitment was widely considered one of the strong points of the two troubled schools.

Enrollment at Ingalls declined by more than 40 percent in recent years and slipped almost 30 percent at Isely. Turnover has been huge--more than half of the teaching staff left after each of the last three years.

Edison continues to operate two other Wichita schools, Dodge Elementary and Jardine Middle.

Sonya Adams was intrigued by the challenge. The special education teacher wanted to find out if she had "what it takes" to become a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certified teacher. "For me, it was about seeing if I could meet the high expectations and standards," says Adams, a member of the AFT-affiliated Chapel Hill-Carrboro (N.C.) Federation of Teachers.

A record number of teachers--6,500 from all 50 states and the District of Columbia--earned NBPTS certification last November, bringing the total number of board-certified teachers to just over 16,000. Adams was one of 28 Chapel Hill-Carrboro teachers who earned NBPTS certification.

"The tens of thousands who volunteer to go through the rigorous certification process speak well of the determination and drive of our teachers," says AFT president Sandra Feldman. "Public school students will benefit greatly from these fine educators."

The AFT, under the leadership of the late Albert Shanker, was instrumental in the establishment of NBPTS. As expected, the program has produced an ever-increasing cadre of accomplished teachers. Today, the AFT is working with the NEA on a plan that includes bolstering the recruitment and support of NBPTS candidates. The new federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) authorizes funding to support advanced teacher certification, which may include grants to NBPTS (see page 10 for more on the ESEA reauthorization).

The NBPTS certification process requires candidates to demonstrate teaching practice, content knowledge and pedagogical-content knowledge. NBPTS certification is currently available to teachers in 27 fields.

Adams first learned about NBPTS certification from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro federation, which holds workshops for teachers interested in knowing more about the process. "We've sent two of our members to NBPTS for training on how to help others become board certified, and they are the people who conduct the workshops," says Dianne Jackson, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro local.

Thanks in part to the union's efforts, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system, which consists of 14 schools, now has 74 teachers who have earned certification while in the district.

Jackson, who also serves as president of AFT North Carolina, praised her state for its leadership in providing supports and incentives for teachers who pursue NBPTS certification. The state pays the initial $2,300 assessment fee and provides teachers with three paid release days, which allows them time to pull together their NBPTS portfolios.

Teachers in North Carolina who achieve National Board certification receive a 12 percent salary supplement that is good for the 10-year life of the certificate.

Adams, now in her 11th year of teaching, says the state's payment of the assessment fee and the salary supplement were "big factors" in her decision to seek certification. "The fact that the state paid the assessment fee was the only way I could afford to go through the process."

The NBPTS process has helped Adams identify her strengths and weaknesses as a teacher, she notes.

California lawmakers may soon pull the plug on an incentive program aimed at boosting student achievement and teamwork in public schools. Instead, it has fostered confusion and hard feelings among educators in the schools and become a likely source of emergency cash for cash-strapped districts.

Many teachers across the state are refusing to participate in the incentives offered under the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999. The law offers three award programs for teachers, schools and staffs at schools posting large gains on standardized tests. A major bone of contention is the fact that incentives are based on results of a single standardized test, and many teachers have registered their dissatisfaction with this simplistic gauge of school improvement by either rejecting the bonuses outright or donating the awards to charity.

"It is simply not fair to evaluate teachers or schools based on a single test," stresses Day Higuchi, president of the United Teachers of Los Angeles/AFT. "It is not fair to base incentives on what a person cannot control. Merit pay rests on the false assumption that rewarding the few who get 'big numbers' will motivate the many to also start getting 'big numbers' or attract into employment those who will also get Ôbig numbers.'

"We all know it doesn't work that way in our profession--maybe it works in selling cars, but not for teaching."

That's a big reason why the California Federation of Teachers 2002 legislative agenda specifically calls for the state to shift funding from bonuses into such things as across-the-board pay raises and higher beginning salaries. Working with a coalition of education groups, CFT took that message to the Statehouse in January and found lawmakers ready to listen--particularly at a time when recession has hit state coffers hard. The Senate quickly approved legislation transferring $62 million in individual and schoolwide bonuses into discretionary accounts for school districts feeling the pinch.

American Federation of Teachers, AFL•CIO - 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW - Washington, DC 20001