by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

In an unmistakable rejection of corporate and foundation-sponsored school reform, DC voters turned one-term mayor Adrian Fenty out of office September 12.

"It's not the first time we've sent that message," DC native Marian Douglas-Ungaro told Black Agenda Report. "The last time they let us vote on a voucher plan was back in the eighties. DC voters rejected it by a nine to one margin. We have a real anticolonial mentality here because we've been treated like a colony for so long."

That's no exaggeration. Deprived of their own tax base, control over local budget or a voice in Congress, DC's schools were among the few institutions where local residents had even theoretical control. In the District, which wasn't allowed to elect its own mayor till the seventies, and where license plates read "Taxation Without Representation," the anti-democratic prerogatives of colonial masters are keenly felt and deeply resented.

In 2003 a Republican Congress finally forced vouchers on the unwilling parents, teachers and communities of DC. Republicans engineered a meeting in the dead of night to pass the voucher bill by a single vote when the entire Congressional Black Caucus was away at a presidential debate in Baltimore. In the Senate the following week Democratic senators Robert Byrd and Diane Feinstein crossed the aisle to give Republicans the needed majority, though Feinstein continued to oppose vouchers in her home state of California.

 

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Want to make six figures? Want to be a teacher? Those two seemingly opposing desires are poised to come together in Baltimore, Maryland - if the city's educators decide to vote in a new contract that ties raises to student achievement instead of seniority. If the new contract passes, Baltimore will become one of the few school districts nationwide to jump on the merit pay bandwagon.

 

Under the terms of the contract, first year teachers in Baltimore will take home the highest starting salary in Maryland, $46,744, and the top base pay for veteran teachers will jump from $80,596 to $100,806. Bucking the trend of district vs. union battles, the Baltimore City Public Schools and the Baltimore Teachers Union jointly developed the contract over a span of eight months.

In a letter to teachers union members, President Marietta English praised the contract saying teachers will now, "be paid for professional development based on research, practice, and common sense. And you will be paid for successful evaluations that are fair and accurate. All the things we used to volunteer for, we will now be paid for!"

 

The Obama Adminstration advocates linking pay and performance, and heavily promoted the merit-pay idea through its education reform competiton, Race to the Top. In addition, Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick said in a statement that the contract is "the type of reform we are encouraging." Grasmick went on to clarify that, "Baltimore City teachers will be paid more but only if their performance in the classroom is worthy of the extra compensation."

 

Clouding the pending vote is just-released data from a study run by the National Center on Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University. The POINT study followed 300 Tennessee middle school math teachers for three years and found that even with bonuses of up to $15,000, merit-pay has little impact on teacher performance.

Despite the research, Baltimore still hopes the salary bump will help attract and retain the highest performing teachers, and lead to a boost in student performance. Contract ratification takes place on October 14th.

 

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http://www.educationjustice.org

If you've heard about or seen the movie
"Waiting for Superman," you know that it portrays public schools as failures and charters as a panacea. The movie oversimplifies and makes an emotional appeal for a false solution to a problem it misrepresents.

 

The major challenges that many schools face, such as student poverty and lots of missing basic resources, are not examined. And, if you think the movie is on the wrong track, try reading the book being issued to accompany it. Both movie and book trot out the same old "money doesn't matter" argument, among others.

Public education is the foundation of our democracy, and the fact is we know how to do it well. However, for many of our low-income children and children of color, we do not provide a fair opportunity to learn. But many of those problems can be solved by directing our efforts and resources towards expanding the excellence found in many suburban public schools to urban and rural schools.

 

We Can't Wait for Superman

To offer another perspective on the movie, consider that:

Big Problems Need Big Solutions

We don't need Superman. We need "Super Systems" capable of rescuing tens of thousands of young people each year.

 

Charters are an Inadequate Solution---that Leave Kids Behind

Charters educate only 4% of U.S. children. The fastest growing system of charters is in New York, with 22% growth and only educates 2% (21,000) of New York City's over 1 million students.

According to a recent and highly regarded study only 17% of charter schools do better than regular public schools and 36% do significantly worse. To learn more about research on charters, see Charter School Achievement, Hype vs. Evidence.

Systemic Opportunity Gaps and Achievement Gaps Can Be Closed in a Reasonable Time

In New Jersey, after the Abbott court decisions---which provided resources for the state's high-need school districts---graduation and achievement scores for all students rose---based on national standards.

 

Systemic Solutions Must Include High Quality Early Childhood Education

We've known for years that early education works, so why not guarantee it to all our children? A child who starts school ready to learn and is literate by 3rd grade has lasting positive outcomes.

 

Education is a Civil Right

Education can't depend on a lottery, as depicted in the movie. We must guarantee all children access to high quality early education, highly effective teachers, college and work-preparatory curricula and instructional resources like good school libraries and small classes in the early grades.

 

Bigger and Bolder Approaches

The potential return on the investment needed to give every child an equal opportunity to learn is 250%.

Our country's future is at the crossroads of opportunity for all or progress for a few. The path we take is critical. The answer is not in a lottery or Superman but in solutions that give all our children an opportunity to learn and creates one America.

Send Superman back to his home planet, and let's get down to earth about providing educational opportunity to all children.

 ... You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell. (Isaiah. 58:12)

Kinetics mission is to disseminate information and develop new ideas that work to strengthen social movements within the African-American community; providing them with the tools and skills to pursue justice and better address the needs of those whom they serve.