Monday, February 11, 2019
Remember back when getting rid of teacher tenure was a thing?
The reasoning was, if we don't give teachers tenure and put them all on one year contracts, principals can fire lousy teachers without having to jump through legal hoops. All those old folks sitting in the classroom crossing days off the calendar until retirement can be booted out, the reasoning went, and be replaced with new, excited, vibrant young teachers who can't wait to have classrooms of their own.
Of course, those were never the real reasons the privatization/"education reform" crowd, which was behind the anti-tenure movement, was pushing this so hard. It was just another way of attacking teachers unions' bargaining power and furthering the "failing teachers in failing schools" stereotype.
The anti-tenure movement had a few years of prominence starting around 2010, when some state legislatures passed laws restricting teacher tenure. But three years later, the new big education story was teacher shortages: too few teachers in the classroom, too few college students in the teacher-education pipeline. By 2015, people were calling it a crisis. In 2019, it's being called a nationwide epidemic.
When schools are desperate for teachers, it sounds ridiculous to say we should look for more ways to fire experienced teachers. Schools are begging teachers to stay. They're holding local teacher fairs and trying to lure teachers from around the country and from other countries.
In Arizona, we've lowered our standards so far, people who are willing to teach can get something called a Subject Matter Expert Standard Teaching Certificate with nothing more than a Bachelor's Degree. Actually, a high school diploma will do. Hell, a high school dropout with relevant work experience can get one of those credentials and begin teaching the next day.
Attacking tenure is a dead issue these days. The irony is, the push to end tenure is one of the reasons we don't have extra teachers hanging around we can afford to fire. It's one of many reasons teaching is looking less attractive to college students thinking about their careers, and why young teachers are leaving the profession in droves. Most of the reasons can be traced back to the privatization/"education reform" crowd which is doing whatever it can to harm public schools.
Tags: Teacher tenure , School privatization , Education reform , schools , teachers , education , K-12 , students , Image
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
SB 1394, a bill intended to bring more oversight and regulation to charter schools, hasn't gone anywhere yet. Like lots of other bills, it's waiting to be considered, amended or ignored to death.
The bill has some good stuff in it, but it also has a loophole big enough to drive an eighteen wheeler through packed tight with all the state's Charter Management Organizations. That means lots of charter schools, including the entire BASIS chain, won't be bound by the new regulations.
There are charter schools, and then there are Charter Management Organizations.
Everyone knows about charter schools. They're buildings filled with teachers and students, just like other schools. (Online charters are the exception, where students work at home sitting in front of their computers [or that's the plan anyway. Whether they're actually sitting and working is another matter]). Like school districts, charters are supported by taxpayer dollars, but with fewer regulations and restrictions.
But not everyone knows about Charter Management Organizations. CMOs work with one or more charters. In some cases, they're outside management companies hired by the schools to take care of things like administrative and accounting duties. In other cases, the CMOs run the whole shebang. They're like school districts in charge of their schools, overseeing everything from curriculum to purchasing to the hiring and firing of administrators and teachers.
Not all charters use CMOs, but lots do, including well known Arizona-based charter chains like BASIS and Great Hearts. Arizona also has charters that belong to national chains, like Imagine Schools with 12 Arizona campuses and online schools like Arizona Virtual Academy, which is part of the publicly traded corporation, K12 Inc.
Charters with CMOs get money from the state based on how many students are enrolled just like everyone else, but they send a portion of their money upstairs to the CMO, where it disappears from sight. In the case of the charter chains I mentioned above, the schools send nearly everything upstairs.
Tags: SB 1394 , Charter schools , Charter Management Organizations , education , schools , K12 , legislation , Image
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Will Arizona be among the [un]lucky five states to be part of the new Koch Network education initiative? The states have yet to be named, but I suspect Arizona is on the radar, given the Koch Network and Governor Ducey's mutual admiration society. We know KN loves Ducey's vociferous support of vouchers, and Ducey loves KN's money in equal measure.
The Koch Network announced its decision to put money into education — until recently, it has deferred to other right wing, privatization/"education reform" groups — during its latest summit at Indian Wells, California (about 5 hours down the road from here), where all it takes to get in the door is a commitment to pledge at least $100,000 to the cause.
The announcement came a day after one of the Koch folks' rare kumbaya moments, a celebration of the bipartisan support for the First Step Act, signed into law by President Trump in December to reform the criminal justice system. Friend-of-Obama Van Jones was on board, and he praised the Koch Network's support of the legislation. So was First Son-in-law Jared Kushner (whose interest in the subject was probably spurred by his father's stay in prison [put there by Chris Christie, but that's a whole 'nuther story]).
Don't make the mistake of thinking this is a signal KN is planning to make nice with progressives in the future. Lower incarceration rates, along with fewer laws restricting drug use, have long been part of the libertarian platform. On a number of social issues, libertarians' "less regulation, more freedom" agenda coincides with the progressive viewpoint.
However, the Koch Network is trying to sell its new education initiative as another attempt to join hands with people on the other side of the aisle. Some of its spokespeople went out of their way to praise teachers, who they usually lump together with evil unions and failing schools. The elevator pitch for their new initiative sounds kinda not bad, until you get into the details.
Tags: Koch network. Education initiative. Arizona. Doug Ducey , Image
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Award-winning and local author Alice Hatcher is here to help.
Pima County Public Library is continuing its Writer-In-Residence program, a favorite among the local community.
Hatcher's residency at the library starts in February and runs through April and she will be available to consult with writers of any age, experience or genre.
She will hold office hours at Himmel Park Library every Tuesday from 3 to 5 p.m. and every Wednesday from 3 to 6 p.m.
Call to guarantee a spot at 520 594 5305. Walk-ins will only be available if space allows.
Hatcher is also hosting three workshops that are free and open to the public:
- Finding Your Narrator in the Crowd - UA Festival of Books, 4 to 5 p.m. March 2
- Your Novel’s Opening Pages: Establishing Tension, the Story Question, and the Reader-Writer Contract - Dusenberry-River Library, 1 to 2:30 p.m. March 21
- The Basics of Writing Grant Proposals for Individual Creative and Research Projects - Joel D. Valdez Main Library in the Idea+Space, 10:30 a.m. to noon, April 13
Tags: writing , workshops , Alice Hatcher , Image
Monday, January 28, 2019
Tucson's only blacksmithing school is celebrating its grand opening on Saturday, Feb. 2, and the public is invited to see the sparks fly.
Desert Metal Craft, a new school started by three Tucsonans, is dedicated to "teaching the ancient art of blacksmithing together with the modern science behind the craft of metalworking." Classes range from absolute beginner to expert, and include blacksmithing, bladesmithing, art fabrication, and traditional Japanese steel-making or "tatara.”
“As far as we know, it’s the only blacksmithing school in all of the southwest,” said co-founder Pete Brown. “Some local blacksmiths do classes, but this is first to constitute a full, dedicated school.”
The other Desert Metal Craft founders are Liz Cameron, who teaches applied metallurgy at Pima Community College, and Rich Greenwood, who formerly competed on the History Channel’s “Forged in Fire” blacksmithing series. The three met in blacksmithing classes at PCC.
“I just got talking with those two, and when I found out Rich wanted to start his own school, I called him up and said ‘count me in!’,” Brown said.
The three then rented a warehouse and filled it with equipment. For the all-day grand opening, they plan on blacksmithing demonstrations, music, fire dancers and more.
“The railroad runs right by, so we don’t have to worry about making too much noise,” Brown said. “Which we’re pretty excited about.”
Classes range from single-day lessons up to more in-depth eight week sessions.
“We’re not doing commissions, it’s very much an educational place,” Brown said. “We want it to be a kind of community school.”
While still in the school’s infancy, Desert Metal Craft’s founders are speaking with local schools to host community programs, such as summer classes for kids.
“It’s extremely rewarding,” Brown said. “You can take a piece of junk metal and forge it into whatever you want.”
The Desert Metal Craft Grand Opening Launch Party lasts from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2 at 544 E. 24th St. #3, Tucson, AZ 85713.
For more information, visit desertmetalcraft.org
Tags: Desert Metal Craft , metalwork , blacksmith , metal , craft , school , classes , education , PCC , celebration , grand opening , event , Image
Sunday, January 27, 2019
TUSD is losing 6,000 students a year? Not even close. But that's what a front page article in the Star on Sunday, Jan. 20 suggested, putting it in the running for the worst misuse of numbers in a story about TUSD I've read in the paper, ever. And let me tell you, there's been some stiff competition over the years.
The 6,000 figure is in an article about the district's declining enrollment. Where does the number come from? That's not clear in the beginning of the article, and its origins become murkier as the story continues. Whatever the source, it's six times the actual decline.
Appearing to inflate TUSD's enrollment losses six fold is a big deal, especially when the story is splashed across the front page of the Sunday Star where it's the first thing the reader sees.
The opening paragraphs of the article contain three numbers related to TUSD's declining enrollment:
"This school year alone, around 2,200 students have left the Tucson Unified School District."Those are the only enrollment numbers in the article. They appear to be saying that the district is losing an average of 6,000 students a year. That's how I first read the article over my Sunday morning coffee, and I'm sure most readers took away a similar impression. That number, a 6,000 student decline, is jaw dropping. TUSD's numbers aren't just decreasing, the story implies. The district is hemorrhaging students.
"This accounts for less than half of the 5,100 students TUSD lost to in-state transfers last school year."
"The district lost around 6,100 students on average every year during the four years prior."
But if you know anything about TUSD's enrollment figures, you know the 6,000-a-year figure is impossible, ridiculous. If the district lost 6,000 students for each of the past four years as the story states, that would mean a 24,000 student loss. Four years ago, the district had just under 50,000 students. Take 24,000 from 50,000, and you would have 26,000 students left. In fact, this year the district has in the neighborhood of 47,500 students.
I have tracked TUSD's attendance numbers starting with the 2000-2001 school year. The largest year-to-year drop was 2,200 students in 2011. The district lost an average of 900 students a year since 2000, less than a sixth of the size of the loss the article appears to report.
Tags: Tucson Unified School District. Enrollment. The Arizona Daily Star.Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo , Image
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Saturday, a group of high school students appeared to be taunting and harassing a Native American near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. It looks pretty bad, but in this case, it may not be as bad as it looks at first glance.
In a video taken after the Indigenous People’s March in D.C., a Native American man is seen chanting and drumming. Male high school students, some wearing MAGA hats, most of whom are Kentucky students attending the anti-abortion event March for Life, are gathered around him. Some students are making tomahawk chops in the air, and others are clapping in rhythm to the drum beat and jumping up and down. One student is standing directly in front of the Native American man with a smile that looks both derisive and intimidating.
However, as more video surfaced, the nature of the incident itself and the intentions of the students became less clear. It could have been an act of vile racist bullying on the part of the students, but it also could have more to do with boisterous adolescents acting up while acting out Native American stereotypes. That would make their actions on a par with the adults at Atlanta Braves games chanting and chopping in the stands, making the students' actions less about bullying and more a display of their ignorance encouraged by a society which fails to teach them respect for cultures different from their own. (Here's a thoughtful, careful analysis of the events where the writer neither condemns nor excuses the students' actions.)
But there is no gray area in another incident which took place last week. During a high school basketball game, front row fans from a predominantly white Minnesota school displayed a large Trump 2020 banner while their team was playing a predominantly black school. Their racist intent was unmistakable. For these students, the Trump banner was the new Confederate flag.
And during two other high school games, one during the 2016 campaign and another during 2017, students from predominantly white schools shouted "Build the Wall!" at their predominantly Latino opponents. Their use of Trump's racist slogan was a deliberate attempt to bully and intimidate the other schools' Latino students.
But examples are only examples. They don't necessarily indicate a trend. The question remains, has race-based bullying increased among high school students who are Trump supporters? A few studies make it look like that is the case.
Tags: Bullying , Students , Trump , Racism , children , Trump effect , schools , education , Image
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Yeah, it was Ducey's State of the State address, I know that. But I'm calling it the State of the Schools address because I'll be looking exclusively at the portion where the governor deals with education, with one quick exception in the next paragraph.
Ducey said Arizona needs to deal with our current and future water shortage problems, but he didn't mention climate change. Because if you're a Republican, you dassn't say "climate change."
Ducey said our public schools need more transparency, accountability and oversight, but he didn't mention charter schools. Because if you're a Republican, you speak no ill of charter schools.
Those moments of cowardice and deflection aside, let's look at what Ducey's education proposals bode for the state.
The two biggest educational issues the legislature should be dealing with are increasing public school funding and adding charter school accountability and oversight. Let's see how Ducey did on those issues.
I hope Ducey has his chiropractor on retainer. His habit of patting himself on the back whenever he talks must wreak havoc with his body alignment. The education portion of Monday's speech was no exception. He claimed to have solved the school funding problem by pushing for the passage of Prop 123, which brings in $300 million-plus a year, and endorsing a bill extending the life of Prop 301, which brings in about $670 million a year. OK, but . . .
Prop 123 filled in a bit of the decrease in education funding over the past few years, but only a bit, and most of the money is being stolen from our children's trust account — the state land trust fund. Boosting the amount of the students' inheritance spent today at the expense of what they'll get tomorrow isn't exactly an act of generosity. (Yeah, it's true, I held my nose and voted for the damn thing, and I'd do it again, but that doesn't mean I like it.)
Extending Prop 301 was necessary, but all it did was keep a six-tenths of a cent sales tax in place which was about to expire. It didn't generate any new revenue for schools.
Tags: Doug Ducey , State of the State address , School funding , Teacher salaries , RedforEd , Charter school accountability , Image
Friday, January 11, 2019
Here's what happened at the TUSD board meeting Tuesday. Mark Stegeman was voted board president. Here's how the vote went: Leila Counts voted yes along with Stegeman and Rachel Sedgwick. Kristel Foster and Adelita Grijalva voted no.
It was a complex discussion coupled with a series of complicated votes, but never mind. When the smoke and dust cleared, Stegeman was board president, and Counts' vote was an essential part of that decision.
Do I think Stegeman should be board president? Was Counts wrong to vote for him? I'm going to table that discussion until the end of the post. That's not why I'm writing this.
I'm writing this because some people went nuts over Counts' vote. Nuts. "Counts is a traitor!" "Counts is the new Michael Hicks!" "Counts is a Stegeman stooge!"
Those people drive me nuts. Not because they disagree with Counts' vote. That's fine. They drive me nuts because, for them, Counts failed the "One strike and you're out" purity test, and that's the end of that. "You voted for Stegeman? You voted with Stegeman? You're dead to me."
I'm about to go off on a rant about political purity tests and demonization here, so if you're only interested in my opinion on the board vote, skip down to the heading "TUSD Board Vote." This is going to take a while.
Tags: TUSD Board. Leila Counts. Mark Stegeman. Rachel Sedgwick. Kristel Foster. Adelita Grijalva , Image
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Representative Pamela Powers Hannley (D, LD-9) was named "The Most Valuable State Legislator" on The Nation's 2018 Progressive Honor Roll. She's not one of the most valuable. She's the only state legislator on the 2018 list.
[Full disclosure: I've known Pam for years. We both wrote on Blog for Arizona until I moved to The Range. She's also one of my state representatives.]
About a dozen people were selected for this year's honor roll, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar. It's quite an honor for Powers Hannley to be in the company of such a high profile collection ranging from newcomers to old timers. It's also an indication that Arizona is on the radar as a state with a significant number of progressive office holders.
According to the blurb on the Honor Roll, Powers Hannley has spent "years as a blogger and activist." She ran for office because "she wanted to help fight for women’s rights, criminal-justice reform, strong unions, public banking, and her vision for democratic renewal."
The Nation is a highly respected weekly progressive magazine. It was founded in 1865, making it the oldest continuously running weekly in the country.
Tags: Representative Pamela Powers Hannley , The Nation , 2018 Honor Roll , Image
