Will State Copy City's School Reform?

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Will State Copy City’s School Reform?

by Melissa Bailey | Jan 30, 2012 8:46 am

(26) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Schools, School Reform

Melissa Bailey Photo ConnCAN’s new leader wants the state to replicate New Haven’s way of grading teachers—and take it to the next level.

That’s one goal Patrick Riccards announced as he takes over New Haven-based education watchdog group as CEO. He outlined the organization’s legislative goals in a recent conversation at his Willow Street office.

His remarks come as momentum builds around a statewide effort to create a new way of grading teachers based on student performance.

“We need to look at what New Haven has done,” as the state moves forward with that effort, Riccards said. “That becomes the model of what can happen at the state.”

The announcement comes at a key moment for education policy: With New Haven’s own Stefan Pryor at the helm of the state education department, Gov. Dannel Malloy has dubbed 2012 “the year for education reform,” promising to overhaul the way schools are funded and incentivize reforms.

Malloy recently unveiled a set of principles around which education reform will take shape and plans to overhaul the education department. Riccards commended Malloy for “bold ideas” and offered more specific proposals for what ConnCAN would like to see.

Melissa Bailey Photo Riccards (pictured) outlined two main foci for the legislative session that runs Feb. 8 to May 9: educator quality and “fair funding.” (Click here to read ConnCAN’s priorities for 2012.)

T-Vals

On the first point, he called for the state to establish a new way of grading teachers and other educators based on student performance. The state, he said, should look to New Haven as a model in this regard.

He was referring to New Haven’s new evaluation systems, which debuted in the 2010-11 school year. Teachers and principals are graded on a scale of 1 (“needs improvement”) to 5 (“exemplary”). Teachers’ scores come from classroom observations and goals they set for their kids, based largely on growth on student test scores. The program, made possible by a landmark 2009 teachers contract that welcomed reforms, makes it easier for the district to fire low-performing teachers if they don’t improve throughout the year, given extra supports.

After Washington D.C., New Haven was one of the first districts nationwide to design a teacher evaluation system based on student performance. Since then President Obama has spurred states to follow suit through his Race To The Top initiative. So far, New Haven is the only district state-wide with a rigorous evaluation system based on student performance, Riccards said.

Connecticut vowed to adopt a new system if it won a competitive Race to the Top grant; however it lost the contest and never followed through with the reforms.

Connecticut now has no option but to follow New Haven’s footsteps, Riccards said, because of more pressure from the federal government. According to the No Child Left Behind Act, all states are required to administer state standardized tests and achieve math and reading proficiency on those tests by 2014—or face penalties. Connecticut, like many other states, is far from reaching that goal, Riccards noted. To qualify for a waiver of that requirement, states have to establish an educator evaluation system based on student performance.

New Haven has a “promising” teacher evaluation system that is “starting to demonstrate the signs of success,” Riccards observed. At the end of the first year of the program, 34 low-performing teachers left the district.

Riccards called for the state to establish an annual evaluation system that—like New Haven’s—would allow teachers to be fired based on poor evaluations regardless of whether they have tenure, and would reward high-performing teachers with more responsibility.

He commended the work of the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council, a group representing teachers, school administrators and school boards, which came forward Wednesday with a “breakthrough” agreement on how to grade teachers. PEAC recommends grading teachers based partly on test scores, as well as other measures of student performance.

Riccards called the agreement “an important first step.” Now it needs to be approved by the state Board of Education. Legislators may choose to take some leadership in creating the system. If that happens, Riccards said, the challenge will be to put that new system into action. He said New Haven may offer some leadership in that regard.

“New Haven has really charted the course in not just how to develop the policy, but how to successfully implement it,” Riccards said. “We still see the possibility and the opportunity for New Haven to show the way in terms of how a school district and the teachers union can come together to implement a meaningful teacher evaluation system.”

PEAC did not address creating principal evaluations to follow suit with new teacher evaluations, Riccards added—another area New Haven has led the state.

Beyond following New Haven, Riccards also called for the state to take the evaluations to the next level. They should be part of “all staffing decisions,” including layoffs, he argued. That would avoid the situation in Hartford last year, where less-senior teachers who were doing well at specialized schools were bumped out of their jobs by teachers with more seniority, he said. He also called for a teacher’s tenure status to be reviewed every five years, and for teachers to remained tenured only if they have satisfactory evaluations. All districts would be required to report how many teachers were scored in each performance category.

And Riccards argued that evaluations should play a role in state-governed certification process for teachers and administrators.

Certification should be “based on demonstrated effectiveness on the job, not on seat time or course credits,” he argued.

The premise underpinning these reforms, Riccard said, is that strong educators are the “most important building block” of every classroom and school.

Gov. Malloy has made overhauling educator evaluations one of six top priorities for the year ahead. He called for “a fair system that values skill and effectiveness over seniority and tenure.” A spokesman for the education department declined comment on ConnCAN’s specific proposals.

Malloy spokesman Andrew Doba said only this in response: “The ideas being put forward by many different stakeholders have contributed to the dialogue around education reform. The governor has been clear that we should not and will not accept half-measures and repackaged versions of the status quo, and looks forward to working with all stakeholders on a reform agenda that will get our kids ready to compete in the 21st Century economy.”

“Fair Funding”

The second major push ConnCAN plans to make is in the area of funding.

“The way we fund public schools in Connecticut is broken,” declared Riccards.

He called for a “weighted student funding system” based not on the number of people living in a town, but on the number of students in the district. Funding should be based on the number of students, with extra money allotted for poverty and “students with greater learning needs.”

One aspect of “fairness” concerns how charter schools are funded. Charter schools like Amistad Academy in New Haven get paid through a line-item that allots them $9,400 per student. That’s about $3,000 less than New Haven Public Schools gets per student, Riccards said.

ConnCAN has long fought to end this disparity through a proposal called “money follow the child”—click here to read about a battle at the state last year between charter proponents like ConnCAN and labor advocates. That quest, so far, has been unsuccessful.

A state task force is looking at ways to change the Education Cost Sharing grant that funds school districts. Riccards said instead of tackling fundamental inequities of ECS, the group “continues to put off the toughest decisions” around school funding. The group “missed an opportunity” in the interim recommendations it issued this week, Riccards said. “The clock is ticking on the core issues that need to be addressed.”

Riccards said the funding models he’s calling for would not—as many fear—cut away at the money sent to New Haven Public Schools.

“New Haven would be one district that needs more resources,” not less, he said.

However, he cautioned that there’s no evidence that just throwing more money at a district will fix the problems of urban education. He supports the state’s quest to create new funding streams designed to incentivize reforms. For example, he supports the state creating an “innovation fund” that districts could apply to to fund specific reforms in their schools.

As the state reorganizes its education department, special focus will fall on so-called “turnaround” or low-performing schools. Education Chief Pryor has said he’ll create a position just for someone to think about new solutions to help turnarounds.

New Haven has a growing number of these “turnarounds,” some sanctioned by the federal government and some by the city’s local reform effort. Some are funded through President Obama’s $3.5 billion School Improvement Grant program aimed at revamping the country’s lowest performing schools.

New Haven got $7.38 million in 2010 for this purpose: $2.1 million each for Wilbur Cross and James Hillhouse High and $1.59 million each for Hill Central Music Academy and Brennan/Rogers, which are both K-8 schools. More money followed the subsequent year for Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy to pay for an outside company to take over the school.

Nationally, turnaround work has been “mixed at best,” Riccards remarked. “Hundreds of millions of dollars has gone through SIG with little to show for it.” He called on the state’s turnaround schools to form a stronger network together to tackle the problems facing their schools.

He also called on schools to create a “common chart of accounts,” so that their budgets can be compared from district to district. For example, he said, a reading coach might be considered a “teacher” in one budget but “central office staff” in another, which makes it impossible to compare how districts are spending their money.

New Face At The Capitol

Riccards, who’s new to Connecticut, plans to pitch these ideas at the Capitol for the next four months and beyond. A New Jersey native, he spent most of his career in Washington D.C. He said he got his start as a press secretary on Capitol Hill, working for former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey and U.S. Rep. Robert Byrd of West Virginia. He went on to work in communications and political campaigns before moving into consulting.

He entered the education field in 1999, as chief of staff to the National Reading Panel, the research foundation for No Child Left Behind. He went on to consult with the American Federation of Teachers, the Broad Foundation and New Leaders for New Schools. In 2008, he started his own communications firm, which consulted to groups like the National Governor’s Association.

Riccards, who’s 38, took over on Oct. 17 from former CEO Alex Johnston, who remains active on the city school board. He took over on Oct. 17. He said his wife and two small children plan to move up to Connecticut next month to join him. They plan to live in Branford and send their kids to public school there.

At the Capitol, he’ll be joined by a ConnCAN staff lobbyist and another lobbyist hired on contract. They’ll comprise one of the strongest statewide voices for school reform outside of organized labor.

On many issues, ConnCAN finds itself on the same page as the governor this year: For example, Malloy’s pledge to “unleash innovation by removing red tape and other barriers to success, especially in high-performing schools and districts.”

As he looks forward at 2012, Riccards said he’s “particularly heartened” by the governor’s stated commitment to education reform.

“The sense of urgency has never been as it is now,” Riccards said.

The governor’s “rallying cry” will only be successful, he said, if everyone “comes together to take advantage of this once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

Comments

posted by: SaveOurCity on January 30, 2012 8:58am

I’d suggest the documentary ‘Waiting for Superman’ for anyone who cares about this subject. It does a great job of showing how the system has been failing our children (which of course becomes us) for the past two generations. The grip of national teachers unions, who care more about adults than children, must be broken.

posted by: Only in CT on January 30, 2012 10:18am

On paper that looks wonderful. Tell me how you get a kid to sit and be attentive for at least half the class. You have to discipline 80% of the class for the entire period. These kids do not want to be there. It’s who has there cell phone out, whose the class clown, the disrespect….I can go on and on. Unfortunately, I feel sorry for the other 20% because they get slighted because the teacher has to discipline the majority of the kids. Good Luck New Haven Teachers!!!!
P.S. I hope New Horizons isn’t held to these standards.

posted by: Truth be told . . . on January 30, 2012 10:35am

Who’s really failing your children is in the mirror. Teachers fight the twin evils of ignorance and commodification everyday. It’s easy to point fingers and paint teachers as the bad guy, isn’t it? Makes it so you don’t have to admit your own shortcomings as parents. Go ahead, base teacher performance on a corporate model obsessed with data. Watch those test scores go up, and real critical thinking suffer. Any teacher worth his salt is going to leave the profession because no one got into this job to be given a number. The reform movement is going to be an abject failure until parental involvement is required, student input on teacher evaluation is valued, and administrators are subject to evaluation by the teachers. As it is, the game is rigged so that teachers can be fired arbitrarily. Dave Ciccarelli and his cronies are in bed with the admin, laughing all the way to the bank. Teval was supposed to be a pilot program last year; it wasn’t supposed to be punitive. Pray tell, what “extra supports” were those teacher deemed “in need of improvement” given? As far as I can tell, none. They were left to spin in the breeze by their union, their admin, and downtown. Anyone who thinks this reform movement is working is in on the take, and, I’d wager, not spending any time in the classroom. Good luck finding anyone naive enough to teach in this city next year.

posted by: anon on January 30, 2012 10:53am

Equitable funding of housing and infrastructure would completely transform the quality of Connecticut’s schools overnight.

In contrast, none of the proposals mentioned here will make much of a difference.

The proposals here are also politically infeasible. Maybe the urban districts will get a few pennies more, but nowhere near what they would need to create significant and sustainable changes in their performance.

Malloy should stop using hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to fund completely unsustainable and economically backward suburban sprawl (e.g., Jackson Labs, CIGNA) and instead use it to foster development that treats low-income people as equitably as it currently treats the ultra-rich in West Hartford and Farmington.

posted by: Threefifths on January 30, 2012 11:14am

posted by: SaveOurCity on January 30, 2012 7:58am
I’d suggest the documentary ‘Waiting for Superman’ for anyone who cares about this subject. It does a great job of showing how the system has been failing our children (which of course becomes us) for the past two generations. The grip of national teachers unions, who care more about adults than children, must be broken.

You need to see the docimentary The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting For Superman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjR3DWYxgJc

posted by: Threefifths on January 30, 2012 11:26am

How come ConnCan will not talk about this.

Why Is Congress Redlining Our Schools?

Linda Darling-Hammond

http://www.thenation.com/article/165575/why-congress-redlining-our-schools

posted by: Truth be told . . . on January 30, 2012 9:35am
Who’s really failing your children is in the mirror. Teachers fight the twin evils of ignorance and commodification everyday. It’s easy to point fingers and paint teachers as the bad guy, isn’t it? Makes it so you don’t have to admit your own shortcomings as parents.

Well said in fact read this.

http://m.examiner.com/k-12-in-topeka/in-what-other-profession

And this.

Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System
by Chris Hedges

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/04/11#.TxP6dn5yb-I.facebook

posted by: Threefifths on January 30, 2012 11:40am

Any truth to this.

What ConnCan has been successful at in five years of existence is running political campaigns aimed getting more charter schools, more charter school students, more state money for charter schools, and loosened standards for teacher certification. It led a successful political campaign in 2010 for just those purposes.Yet despite getting its way with public funds, by its own admission it has not lowered the achievement gap in Connecticut.

Feel free to read the rest.

http://thecuckingstool.blogspot.com/2010/09/conncan-con-minncon-next.html

posted by: Noteworthy on January 30, 2012 12:32pm

Hope and vision are wonderful. They are not the same thing. Hope is what you want. Vision is how you are going to get there. Most pols today are long on hope and haven’t a clue on vision. They paint vivid pictures of what they want you to see but can’t tell you how to build it or how to get there. So they rely on consultants, on non-profits, on others to help guide them. Far too often, we get lost and the original hope is never realized becuae the vision was faulty all along.

As of today, it is not clear that the state should adopt New Haven’s model of school reform. First, it is largely unproven. Second, for the most part, it targets teachers not administrators or our abysmal school board.

Before anybody listens much to ConnCAN or Riccards, they should read this article by Jon Pelto. It raises serious questions about the transparency of ConnCAN, Achievement First and a little known organization called CT Coalition for Achievement Advocacy. They were all started, boarded and run by the same people and they’re all inter-related:

http://jonpelto.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/can-conncan-con-conn-2/

According to Pelto, if Achievement First has its way, it will dramatically increase its charter schools and resulting management fees into the tens of millions of dollars.

Furthermore, Malloy’s education secretary Stefan Pryor, came from the same group. While he has been technically cleared of a conflict of interest since he resigned from AF’s board, and doesn’t have a financial interest in it, there is still a bad stench. When ConnCAN is pushing for more money on a per kid basis, and AF is pushing for more money and more schools on its end, one begins to see a pattern that is concerning especially when cloaked in a track record of being less than completely transparent.

At the time of Pelto’s blog post, ConnCAN/Riccards published a short and inadequate response that addressed none of the issues raised by Pelto. It hid behind its annual report, its 990 and its non-profit status and dismissed Pelto’s column as an ad hominem attack.

I disagree. None of the defences offered by ConnCAN are unimpeachable.

The public policy record in Connecticut and at the federal level is replete with many examples of where a potentially good policy went off the rails because of the well connected and the well off customizing that policy for their own benefit. From the tax code to healthcare to education to regulation, there are many fingers in the policy pies that have corrupted and controlled the outcomes which have not always been in the public’s best interest.

While long a supporter of real education reform by real reformers and not retreads, it is very concerning when the web of inter-connectivity is revealed and knowing the amount of money that is at stake.

My hope is that an equal measure of reform will be applied to bloated administrative overhead and nearly useless boards of education like the rubber-stamping crowd in New Haven as there is on the front line teaching staff. And further, that before there is a wholesale rush to give AF, or any charter group tens of millions of dollars, that their proposals, contracts and public policy positions be completely vetted, aired out and disclosed so that when this is done, taxpayers and families can have some measure of confidence that rises above “hopeful” and borders on “guaranteed.”

Hope and vision are wonderful concepts. We get hope. We have hope or we wouldn’t put up with the extraordinary cost of public education and such pitiful outcomes (New Haven: 50% drop out rate and 80% drop out or fail at college). But the vision for reform has to be tried and tested and vetted. We can’t afford to go down the wrong road because public policy has been hijacked. Be deliberative. Don’t be dumb.

posted by: DavidK on January 30, 2012 1:14pm

I can only contribute to the discussion as a student (a long time ago) and parent. I remember the fear I had when a teacher threatened to expel members of the class and report to the principal or my parents. Options like reform school or military school, not being able to hang out with my classmates were fearful. Now, no child left behind has eliminated this threat and leaves teachers defenceless. Schools should not have the burden of educating a undisciplined student. That is the parents job and they should be sent home until that job is done.

posted by: Threefifths on January 30, 2012 2:01pm

posted by: Noteworthy on January 30, 2012 11:32am

You have hit it out of the park.What you say is true.In fact they are doing the same thing in New York under a women name Eva Moskowitz. She is one of the biggest Charter School owners in New York State.

Eva Moskowitz eyeing high performing district Success Academies expands in middle class nabes
Six new schools are slated for 2013, with two in District 2

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/eva-moskowitz-seeks-expand-success-academies-chelsea-upper-e-side-article-1.1011459#commentpostform

posted by: brutus2011 on January 30, 2012 6:28pm

Why would the state emulate NHPS reform?

It would not be because NHPS reform is successful.

It could only be to scapegoat the teacher.

There has to be a reason why our schools fail.

And the powers that be want it to be the teacher.

Are we ignorant enough to believe them?

Malloy,Pryor,and ConnCan are betting on it.

DeStefano,Mayo,and the NHFT are as well.

Teachers really need to take their heads out of the sand and take their union back.

For our students and ourselves.

posted by: Charter revision on January 31, 2012 6:44am

Here we go again with the charter schools begging for money. Again, charter school students actually have high per student spending if you consider the money they get from the 501c3 organizations that does not show up In their budgets. Add that tom the money they receive from the likes of Bill Gates, the Walton. foundation, the Broad foundation and others, and they have all the money they could possibly need. In fact, Charter schools spend more per capita on non classroom based resources, especially administrators, than do.

Since I actually do teacher evolutions, I feel qualified to speak about this area. Those who have never done evaluations, and have never taught in public schools (like Garth Harries, New Haven"s Assistant Superintendent) don’t seem to understand that the goal of evaluations is not fire teachers, but to improve their performance. I submit that if a good number of teachers are getting fired, then someone does not know how to hire talent. Measuring an evaluation model by the number of teachers fired is indeed disingenuous, because a high number of teachers fired simply means that the hiring process is in adequate. In essence, it is like putting more emphasis upon the autopsy report than your health and wellness check up. Backwards. There is no discussion in New Haven about how to,hire and retain the best teachers. Great talent comes to get a year for two experience, then head to the suburbs because of New Haven’s hyper-political school system, and domineering Mayor.

The new guy Riccards once worked for Robert Byrd. Is that the same Robert Byrd that was a card carrying member of the Ku klux Klan, and whose father was a prominent member of the organization? He is a political operative asked to lead an educational advocacy group. Again, educational leadership by a non-educator. When will Connecticut ever learn?

Finally, now even New Haven’s teacher union president, who completely sold out by agreeing to this contract so that he could get the headlines, has asked for a breather from this process because it is moving to fast. Well, that is like the kid who goes to the amusement park, gets on a big, fast and scary ride, and starts screaming to let him off right In the middle of it. Sorry Dave, it’s just too late for that now. You cooked the dinner, now you and the teachers have to eat it.

posted by: brutus2011 on January 31, 2012 3:21pm

What most people do not seem to get is the fact that there are three basic groups in this education reform/transformation debate/discussion.

1. The families with school-age children generally have an “education attention span” directly proportional to their kid’s age, grade, and specific school. For example, if their child is in K-5, then their concerns are generally different than in middle school or high school. Usually parents will go to a school with less behavior problems, such as bullying, when their kids hit that “magical” middle school age—hat is they will if they can. Parents generally have no clue as to what really goes on their children’s schools. The students are young but they are more sophisticated than we adults realize. For example, when my child was in third grade she summarily informed me that she and her fellows “knows the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behavior!” That should tell you that kids know what they are doing and they want us to give them proper boundaries so that they will feel secure. This does not mean coddle them with these ridiculous Positive Behavior Systems (PBS) that ed managers love to use to point to how they are attending to the out-of-control student behavior throughout NHPS. This means that parents must support their children’s teachers in disciplinary and not want to sue when their kid comes home and tries to cover their rear ends with a fib. (Guess where and who they learn that from!)

2. The teachers are in a firefight. Every day they are faced with the most demanding job I have ever had. And most teachers are decent folks who really do want to make a difference in a child’s life while, understandably, wanting to be able to provide for their families. So this criticism that teachers are only in it for a paycheck is really not true. For proof, you should see the paycheck, most teachers make only enough to avoid sleeping in their cars month to month. Logic follows that if you are a classroom teacher for the money then one might wonder how you got through college. The upshot is that teachers are typically worked to the hilt and really don’t have the time to really look around and see how they are manipulated by their ed managers and their teachers unions.

3. The administrators or education managers (including most teacher’s union officials)are the group who make the money. They also do not have to go through what classroom teachers go through on a daily basis. Their main job is to make sure that nothing really embarrassing to those with a bigger desk happens so that they can keep their well paying jobs. For proof, consider that majority of NHPS administrators receive a salary of about 120K plus a great pension plan. This comes to a salary of 10K per month. Consider what one can do for one’s family with $10,000 per month. This salary level is very easy to get used to and is very difficult to be faced with losing.

So, we have one group who really does not have a clue. Another group who is so busy that they have bordering on having no clue. And finally, the foxes who are guarding the chicken coop.

Any wonder why we now have State Commissioner of Education with ties to those who wish to privatize our public schools? (remember that US public school districts spend 600 billion per year) Or that we have virtual PACs like ConnCan lobbying in Hartford for punishing teachers and increasing the money flow to charter schools? Or that the corrupt NHPS bureaucrats, such as the mayor, NHPS officials, and NHFT officials, join in on the chorus to mold public opinion to believe that teacher effectiveness is the causality of positive or negative student achievement?

If, after reading this post, you think that things can’t possibly be this messed up, then think again.

It is.

posted by: HhE on January 31, 2012 6:41pm

Absolutely spot on, Charter revision and brutus2011. I could not have said it nearly so well, which is why I’m not even going to try.

posted by: horacemanned on January 31, 2012 9:17pm

Why would teachers bother working so hard to reach the highest score on an evaluation if they aren’t paid more to do so? Teachers who do well on them end up under more scrutiny by third party consultants that visit their classrooms to ensure their rating is accurate. If I was a teacher I would be mediocre, not bad not great, good enough to avoid the bureaucratic process.

posted by: HhE on January 31, 2012 11:31pm

horacemanned, your comment is true of a number of teachers. To be sure, many teachers treat the profession as an “iron rice bowl.” For many of us, teaching is/was a calling, and great teaching is its own reward.

I cannot think of anything that would tear a teaching staff apart faster than merit pay.

One of the problems with the profession is the difference between good teaching and great teaching. Great teaching means taking risks, standing for what is right even if it is unpopular, and all that. Good teaching is clear presentations, grades in on time, and not rocking the boat. Administrators tend to prefer good teaching over great teaching. The later is a loser’s game that is hard enough to play. The former is a winner’s game one is a sucker to play.

(starting on page 3 of the link below is a good explanation of the difference between a winner’s game and a loser’s game.)

http://www.collinsward.com/Articles/CWCM_The_Loser’s_Game.pdf

posted by: Maggie on February 1, 2012 11:07am

Let’s remind everyone that the unions do not HIRE teachers, they do not EVALUATE teachers, and they do not recommend teachers to FIRE.
That is the job of the school administration. They union is there to give due process so that the teacher in question gets a fair hearing. Teachers know who the good teachers are and who the bad teachers are but it is not up to them to document their skills and behaviors. They do not want to work along side a poor teacher, etc. So to continually blame them is a lame excuse for why bad teachers continue to be teaching.

posted by: brutus2011 on February 1, 2012 12:38pm

“Maggie” is correct about the unions role in due process hearings.

What many do not realize is that the HR department of NHPS conducts due process hearings that are rigged to the outcome desired by senior management of NHPS.

Here is how it typically goes down:

1. The complaining administrator and the HR manager compile a list of “charges” against a particular teacher. Generally these allegations are similar to a prosecutor’s list—they throw the kitchen sink at someone to increase their negotiating position and in the hopes that something will stick. In NHPS, at least some of the allegations are false or are inflated. Dr. Mayo himself has been quoted in the press that “people are hard to get rid of in this business.”

2. The teacher who has been “charged” attends a due process hearing with the teacher’s union president as their “counsel.” What the teacher does not know is that the outcome has already been decided and that the union is as much there to attend its own interests as that of the its purported constituent, the individual teacher.

3. The status of the teacher is important. A tenured teacher has more negotiating power than a non-tenure. And a DSAP teacher has no negotiating power at all. The truth is that if an administrator wants to get rid of a teacher, then that teacher is gone, maybe not immediately but soon.

Teachers have little protection even with tenure. Courts do not want a million teacher-admin squabbles in the already over-worked legal system so they want things settled in the due process hearing with the admins, the union rep, and the teacher.

The teacher’s union here in New Haven, the NHFT, basically comply with the wishes of the NHPS superintendent. Period. The vast majority of teachers do not realize that their collective bargaining is really controlled by those in charge of the district system.

What am I trying to say?

Teachers, by the nature of their work being so absorbing, are unaware of just how perilous their work futures are. For example, they can do a great job and be recognized as successful by their building administrator only to find themselves on a list to be gotten rid of by a new principal who has decided to get rid of the old and bring in the new—generally by someone young, inexperienced and eager to show how they can make the “tough decisions.”

And the union president goes along with the lynching. This is what goes on in the due process hearings. If the ed managers want a teacher gone, then it is a done deal. No matter the facts, no matter the ethics, no matter how the removal of a good teacher might negatively impact the school’s learning community.

And to “HhE”, thanks for the link to the loser’s game .pdf file, it was/is really informative.

posted by: Teacher in New Haven on February 1, 2012 1:16pm

I am happy with our new evaluation system. So are many of my colleagues.

We tend to agree that a profession polices itself, and that there has to be a point where the union stops defending poor performance. That is why most of us signed this contract in the first place. It would make an excellent model for the state.

No, we can’t control everything that happens in our classrooms. No, we can’t mitigate all of society’s ills. We can however help mitigate them. And if there is a teacher in this district that is not making a reasonable, professional effort to reach their students following best practices, then I think they shouldn’t be teaching anymore.

Teachers must be held to standards like everyone else. I for one can’t imagine a better standard to hold us accountable to than the goals we created for ourselves (as Teval does).

posted by: HhE on February 1, 2012 1:30pm

brutus2011, you are quiet welcome, Sir.

Thank you for your very good explanation of “due process.” I have never worked in the NHPS, but this is how it works in many other districts too. When I hear how “strong” the teacher’s unions are, I cringe, because the only strength I ever saw was in selling out—and I have worked under Federation and Association. I know of only one none tenured teacher that ever successfully fought dismissal. The union would not help him, but by hiring his own lawyer at his own expense, he was able to prove that his non renewal for cause was not performance based, but payback for complaining about threats made against his life.

posted by: Threefifths on February 1, 2012 3:08pm

Wake up.Next they will have the Rubber Room here in New Haven.

http://www.rubberroommovie.com/

posted by: LOL on February 1, 2012 5:59pm

@Teacher in New Haven: You conveniently gloss over the very real issues facing New Haven teachers, such as crime, a lack of supplies and parental support, limited (and dwindling) support staff, and poor leadership from the top; these issues have a tremendous impact on a child.

Which leads me to believe that you either aren’t really a teacher or work in one of the city’s top schools who have the luxury of picking and choosing students (to suggest otherwise is a lie—just look at the waiting lists for Hooker and Edgewood).

The problem in New Haven is the leadership from the top that labels as trouble makers teachers who “dare” to point out the crime, lack of supplies and support staff, and generally poor parental involvement that afflict many of this city’s schools.

Teachers who highlight the aforementioned issues are, in fact, putting kids first. The problem is, administrators and central office staff label those issues as “excuses”.

As a teacher in one of New Haven’s most troubled schools, I’ll speak for myself in saying that I employ best practices because doing so helps my students. I EXPECT TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE by my students, their parents and my superiors. The problem I have is twofold: 1. Accountability is NOT SHARED EQUALLY. 2. Many of those who observe offer conflicting, confusing or downright useless nit-picky criticism instead of constructive input to make me a better practioner.

Students repeatedly report late, parents routinely fail to show for parent conferences, and department leaders clash in terms of how the curriculum is to be implemented (TRUE: You’ve got the math dept. telling teachers to hold a 15-minute math meeting every morning—which makes perfect sense; meanwhile, the reading dept. says that no math can occur during the morning, which is when the literacy block is mandated).

YET ... I don’t see parents being held accountable and I don’t see a leader from central office directing the district’s two biggest departments to get on the same page. Where is the accountability?

You want best practices, “Teacher in New Haven”? Clean out 54 Meadow St. and install people who truly will put kids first. Because most of us teachers in the trenches certainly bend over backwards trying to help our kids—and usually with the proverbial one hand tied behind our back.

posted by: Al on February 2, 2012 1:12am

Do people really believe this is so cut & dry? All the procedures have been followed to the letter? That a principal of a school now has the opportunity to get rid of any teacher they choose? This is the role model program that will be rolled out for the entire USA. Congress is watching & our leaders in New Haven are doing whatever it takes to make things look perfect. Who determined which “needing improvement” teachers stay on & which will leave? Some schools may have followed the contract….Gave notice to teachers in need of improvement…re-evaluated at mid-year to adjust goals….Gave support and guidance as needed….Etc. Some only helped the teachers they wanted (liked) to stay. Many that were scored with a “1” stayed on….Many were let go. When a teacher is given the option of resign, retire, or be terminated ....they opted for resignation, or retirement. Fighting city hall cost more than most teachers could afford. These teachers have been put in a situation with their backs against the wall. The union is working with the city to make the program look as flawless as possible. The union president has been before congress to discuss this plan. Once a teacher hires an attorney to represent them against the city…..their career as a teacher is probably over. Most people choose the teaching profession out of a love for our children, and the ability to try to make a difference for our young. They don’t want it to end because of politics. Someone needs to contact the teachers that were let go (resigned-retired) and interview them and bring their view of the evaluation process. In a democracy, Don’t we have the opportunity to hear both party’s arguments before determining an opinion?

posted by: Tom Burns on February 6, 2012 3:35am

So many people who have written here have so many valid thoughts and opinions concerning this article—-should the state copy our reforms?? of course—w/o a doubt—-have we perfected the system—No—-
but so many of you SUPPOSE w/o knowing——yet I have your same fears as we go forward—-The NHFT made a decision to take a chance on a partnership—with a say(something we never had in the past)—-people actually doubt the present NHFT leadership who ousted the BAD GUYS from the past—-can we become the bad guys w/o even knowing??? Nah-not me—- I Tom Burns stand up for the rights of every single teacher in this district—those of you who dont know the law, yet think you do need to be aware that a non-tenured teacher has no right to be rehired prior to reaching tenure after 4 years yet the present NHFT leadership saved over 20 jobs of non-tenured teachers this past year(unprecedented)—-11 tenured teachers chose to leave rather than to go through the termination process—-together with the teacher and in many cases their families we went over their evaluations from the present year and those of three years prior—and gave them the last word on how they wished to proceed—whatever they chose to do was their choice——and we accepted it——
Ask those non-tenured and tenured teachers that I have advised if they believe in me or not—I already know what they think—only those who have not met me, would ever doubt my sincerity and resolve in making things right—-Brutus and others join us—-we need your energy—-860-227-6668—Tom

posted by: brutus2011 on February 6, 2012 11:26am

“Tom Burns” really is a nice guy, as is Dave Cicarella and others such as the wonderful Cindy Plude, who have served as leaders of our teacher’s union, the New Haven Federation of Teachers.

And it is true, many people post opinions without knowing the law—I became a paralegal in addition to being a certified teacher.

Anyway, the reason I am leery of the NHFT, and the AFT, the CEA, et al, is because no supposed teacher advocacy group is publicly trying to counter the propaganda that teacher effectiveness is the causality of student achievement.(teacher effectiveness is only one of at least four correlations affecting student achievement)

Teachers cannot control the over-all school building learning environment. They can only control, to a limited point, the learning environment of their individual classrooms.

This is the main problem facing our school district today. The behaviors are out of control. And the parents knee jerk reaction is to sue when they should be disciplining their children. Hence, those whose job it is to oversee our school’s learning environments are too afraid of losing their highly paid jobs due to political fall-out from a “my-way-or-the-highway” city management culture.

The job of establishing a sane school building learning environment is that of the building administrators in collaboration of the district education managers.

These highly paid managers have chosen to abdicate their responsibilities by blaming the teacher.

Here in New Haven, those who make the decisions to allocate funds do so by adding layers of management (including high priced consultants)rather than put those dollars into the classroom via more paras and a rational substitute teacher per diem rate.

It really is simple.

Those at the top continue to do things the old way that clearly does not work.

Except, the old way of scapegoating teachers.

The mayor, Dr. Mayo, and the NHPS ed managers are all intelligent people who clearly have made a choice in these matters.

Blame the teacher.

And this is where the NHFT, the AFT, and all other supposed teacher advocacy groups are lacking.

The supposed strong teacher’s unions really are not strong at all.

The irony is that the propaganda campaign against the teacher and the teacher’s unions is an utter and complete fabrication that speaks more to the absolute ignorance of the public than anything else.

Stand up, Tom, and Dave, et al, and speak the truth.

Teachers are not the problem.

Cronyism, patronage, and lop-sided financial incentives create the public school district cultures that deify a CYA (cover your a*s)mentality is the problem.

Teachers, on the other hand, are the solution for all of our children in New Haven. (we can’t cherry-pick like the charter schools)

Fight for us. And our collective future.

posted by: HhE on February 7, 2012 2:27am

Once again, well said brutus2011. Your last post nailed it.

Have you thought about writing a book? I have. I have been outlining chapters, and I have a title. My own challenge is to not let mine become a polemic or an open confession of sin, but focus on lessons learned.

Maybe we could write introductions for the other?

I hope readers are taking heed of your words.

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