Texas: The Surefire Plan to Destroy Public Education

Reblogged from Diane Ravitch's blog:

You think it can't happen here?

You think your state is immune?

Read about the war on public education in Texas and think again.

Some part of this radical agenda is being promoted in almost every state.

Yours too.

This comment was written by Bonnie Lesley of "Texas Kids Can't Wait":

"I worry a lot whether public schools will continue to exist in some states.

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Wow....This plan sounds right on track. I have a 3 and 5 year old that still need an education. Just not sure it will be in the State of Texas.

Are There Lessons from the History of School Reform?

Reblogged from Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

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For some people, history lessons are clear.

For some, history lessons are ambiguous.

For some, history lessons are depressing.

These cartoons capture differences among historians and teachers over whether or not there are lessons for decision-makers seeking solutions to pressing problems.

No clear lessons, however, can be drawn from the past because then and now are different in significant ways. Take the second cartoon where the man in the center assumes that the other two are agreeing with him when they have completely opposite analogies in mind.

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The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries

WHEN we don’t get the results we want in our military endeavors, we don’t blame the soldiers. We don’t say, “It’s these lazy soldiers and their bloated benefits plans! That’s why we haven’t done better in Afghanistan!” No, if the results aren’t there, we blame the planners. We blame the generals, the secretary of defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. No one contemplates blaming the men and women fighting every day in the trenches for little pay and scant recognition. [View Article]

Texas: More Privatization on the Way

Reblogged from Diane Ravitch's blog:

With vouchers stalled in the Texas legislature, the privatizers turned to another strategy to create new opportunities for entrepreneurs.

They want a state district for schools with low test scores, where the state can hand the schools over to private organizations.

There is not a shred of evidence that this improves education for the children in those schools.

The models are Michigan, where the state authority turned over to segregated, impoverished black districts to for-profit charter corporations, and Tennessee, where the schools are being turned into charters.

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The State of Texas just needs to save time and money and just approve the complete shutting down of all public schools and begin taking bids to education 5 million students.

Stop Blaming Schools for Inequality!

Reblogged from Diane Ravitch's blog:

In a terrific opinion piece that was prominently featured in the Sunday New York Times, Sean Reardon of Stanford University wrote that the gap between the children of the rich and the children of the poor has grown by 40% in the past 30 years.

Reardon puts to rest virtually every reformer myth: schools don't cause inequality; schools don't cure inequality: the achievement gap(s) begin before the first day of school.

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This article speak more clearly to the reality of what's wrong with education than anything I have read in a long time.

Reformers Creating a Usable Past: Myths and Realities

Reblogged from Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

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Consider the following:

*Progressive school reformers praise the 19th century one-room school for multi-age grouping, students helping one another learn their lessons, and close connections between school and community; conservative school reformers see the same one-room school house as a place where order and discipline ruled the day and students learned basic skills.

*Technology-driven reformers describe 21st century U.S. public schools as products of a late-19th century industrial age when schools became assembly-line factories and continue to this day to turn out graduates unequipped to enter a post-industrial, knowledge-based economy where jobs require collaboration, problem-solving skills, and creativity.

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Not So Simple Economics…or Maybe It Is!!!

According to Teacher Retirement System (TRS) there were 1,003,655 active public school or higher education employees and 331,747 TRS Retirees that receive benefits. With a 2012 statewide population, the means that 5.06% of all the people in the “Great State of Texas” are school employees or retired school employees. They live here, eat here, purchase goods here and yes, PAY TAXES HERE!”

 If you pay school people more, then they will spend more. If they spend more, then the state will receive more tax revenue. In this particular case, I’m speaking for educators. If the state would pay educators and school personnel a greater salary, then they would then receive that money back in the form of taxes and other revenue. If they make more money, then they will buy houses instead of renting which translates to more property tax money.

 According to www.teacherportal.com Texas Ranks:

23^rd in starting teacher salary at $34,234 (TEA State Minimum $27,320, a difference of $6,914)

30^th in average teacher salary at $48,635

35^th in percentage of increase the last ten years at 26%

14^th in level of comfort (able to live comfortable comparing salary with expenses)

Highest Starting Salary: New Jersey $48,101

Lowest Starting Salary: Montana $26,734

Highest Average Salary: New York $72,708

Lowest Average Salary: South Dakota $39,850

Highest Percentage of Salary Increase: Wyoming 61% Increase

Lowest Percentage of Salary Increase: North Carolina 12% Increase

Highest Comfort: Connecticut

Lowest Comfort: Hawaii

 The bottom line is that the State of Texas does not pay its educators enough. It does not value them or the service that they provide to the citizens of this state. In the past ten years, there have been health insurance rate increases they were passed on to the districts and the employees, while the state has failed add any additional funds for insurance premiums since the program began.

 In 2010 they provided an $800 raise for all classroom teachers but only funded it for one year of the biennium which meant the districts had to pay it from their funds in year two of the biennium. In 2010-2011 the insurance premiums increased 4.5% across the board.

 New teachers entering their second year of teaching, getting paid based on the state minimum scale, would  receive a 2.16% raise and 4.5% insurance rate increase….PAY CUT!!!

 Based on the current expectations of the State of Texas and NCLB, they want a heard of “thoroughbreds” to be educators but want to pay for a heard of “mules”. You get what you pay for.

 It is time for a policy that mandates raises from the state that exceeds the yearly increase in premiums. Right now it is time for a $5000 across the board raise. If all educators receive a pay raise then that money will find its way back to the state via more spending. It’s simple economics. Consider it “Paying it Forward”.

 David R. Taylor

25 Year Teacher, Coach and Princpal