Why Not Blame DC's Teachers ?

Are the winds changing under Chancellor Michelle Rhee ? Given the recent announcement of low standardized test scores on the elementary level in DCPS, Efavorite poses some interesting questions for us to consider.

Written by Efavorite, guest writer

Have you noticed that Chancellor Rhee has not pointed the finger of blame at DC teachers for the 2010 DC CAS score decline in the elementary grades? How weird for someone who, up to now, has given teachers complete responsibility for student achievement, and has pushed for additional and easier ways to rid the system of teachers who she feels are not up to the task.

Rhee’s been complaining about the low quality of DCPS teachers since her arrival here, so these new declining scores could have been positioned as proof that her major reform of firing more teachers needs to be stepped up immediately! At the press conference announcing the scores, instead of the vague “we have to take responsibility” and “dig into the data,” Rhee could have simply blamed teachers and promised to fire more of them, using the new options at her disposal in her historic, ground-breaking union contract.

So what’s up? Maybe her $100,000 media consultant is worried that mentioning teacher quality right now would reflect poorly on the 900 new teachers Rhee hired last summer, breaking the budget and instigating an October RIF. These recent hires make up almost a quarter of the teaching corps now, so in theory they could be having quite an effect on student achievement.

It could be that Rhee is hesitant to bash teachers in the middle of a rough recruiting season, especially knowing that a bunch of current teachers, including some of her own hires, are now up for dismissal based on their students’ declining DC-CAS scores. Perhaps it’s more personal. Rhee may have decided not to attract too much attention to herself during the press conference, thus allowing more time to weigh her own options. With the DC mayoral election right around the corner, anything could happen. Future DC teacher-bashing and teacher-firing opportunities could abound! Then again, she could opt to go national, much as Sarah Palin did, extending her star power over the whole country.

Meanwhile, keep you ears open. The Chancellor has to mention teachers sometime soon. “Effective teachers” have been the cornerstone of her reform efforts. Remember, she thinks “Teachers are everything” and “the only solution we have.” Surely she won’t abandon them now.

Rhee must be waiting for the right moment and the right spin.

What Do DC Teachers And Billion-Dollar Foundations Have In Common ?

Answer: Both are Rhee’s Playthings.

As most of you probably already have heard by now , Dr. Natwar Gandhi, Chief Financial Officer officially confirmed on April 30 at a DC City Council hearing that he would not certify a WTU T.A. (tentative agreement) due to the conditions imposed by private foundations. Another reason that the T.A. cannot be certified at this time is due to the fact DC Government does not have the fiscal resources to fund the entire teacher compensation package. Reportedly DC government faces a total 528 million dollar budget deficit overall.

An interesting point that Efavorite highlights in the timely piece below is that DC school officials have proposed to lay off DC teachers in 2011 as a means to narrow the funding gap and win certification of teachers' retro pay and future raises. The million dollar question is: Should the WTU Tentative Agreement ever get ratified by our union members, will you still be around to collect your pay raise or will you be among those on the unemployment line? Candi Peterson, Blogger in residence

Featuring Efavorite- Guest Writer

"Bored with pushing lowly teachers around, Rhee has taken on billion-dollar foundations, setting them up to be the saviors of school reform, then watching as District CFO Gandhi predictably rejects them for having unacceptable strings attached to their generous gifts. Even better, this happened on the same day that a letter to the editor defending the foundations, written by their spokesperson Cate Swinburn, appeared in the Washington Post.

For Chancellor Rhee, the thrill of RIFing 266 teachers based on a bogus budget deficit was probably nothing compared to publicly humiliating billion-dollar foundations that had just pledged millions to her reform effort.

Now she’s saying, “the District is attempting to persuade the private funders -- the Broad, Arnold, Walton and Robertson foundations -- to modify their requirements.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if they do it. Once she has people dancing to her tune, it seems hard to stop.

In the same article, Gandhi said one of the ways that school officials had proposed “to narrow the contract funding gap” was “…expediting a planned reduction in the number of teachers to save $7.6 million in 2011….”

Got that, teachers? If the contract ever comes to a vote and passes, it could take a RIF to fund your back pay and pay raises, if you ever see them, before getting RIFd. It’s all laid out in front of you now. It’s a matter of deciding if you’re going to dance to that tune.

You’ll be in the company of billionaires, if you do."

Posted by The Washington Teacher courtesy of Efavorite

Honor Brian Betts-Stay Honest On Student Success

This submision by guest blogger, Efavorite is timely in light of the recent death last week of Principal Brian Betts of Shaw Middle School at Garnett Patterson in Washington, D.C.

"The front page Washington Post article on the tragic death of Shaw Middle School Principal Brian Betts accurately states, “Rhee held Betts up as her model principal, but it created expectations that he had trouble fulfilling. Math and reading proficiency rates on the school's 2009 DC-CAS assessments, already low, declined again.” But then it goes on to quote Rhee saying just yesterday that back in ’09 when the Shaw scores came in, Rhee, impressed with cultural changes in the school, told Betts, "We'll take care of the academics later."

She may have said that to him then, but this is the first time it’s gone on public record. In the summer of ‘09, Rhee publicly lied about the scores at Shaw, saying that they stayed “about the same.” She even mentioned non-traceable statistics showing an increase, when in fact the public records show that Shaw’s scores decreased. I’m gratified that the Post is now reporting that accurately. However, at the time, it published Rhee’s lie, and it was only after I protested and showed the proof that Jay Mathews of the Post corrected the information. Rhee had already lied about the Shaw scores to PBS, who also published a correction on its website after I directed them to the official records.

Only in the wake of Mr. Betts’ death does Chancellor Rhee admit that academics can be taken care of “later” – that it’s possible to be an admirable, beloved and acclaimed educator, worthy of working in an improved DCPS, even in the absence of increasing academic achievement. Unfortunately, she does not apply such a sane approach to the rest of the educators in DCPS. Instead, teachers can be rated down on the minutest of details of their classroom instruction, and if the new contract is passed, teachers can be rated down or dismissed if their kids’ scores don’t rise in a year’s time.

Perhaps in honor of Brian Betts, Chancellor Rhee and union officials will change course to officially accept the Chancellor’s newly stated and perfectly logical, research-based position that “academics can come later” after cultural changes. And let’s remember that cultural changes – not only in the school, but also in the home – don’t happen overnight and do require much more than effective teaching."

Posted by The Washington Teacher, Candi Peterson - blogger in residence with guest post courtesy of Efavorite, picture courtesy of WaPo.com

Channeling Chancellor Rhee

Guest post featuring Efavorite with Celeste Jones, graphic artist

Earlier tonight, I was writing a comment on Bill Turque’s latest article about Rhee’s spurious budget surplus, when something came over me. Suddenly I was shaking uncontrollably. I was possessed by Michelle Rhee! This is what she said, through me: HELP!!! Please help me before I screw up another budget. I have no choice. I have no idea how to balance a budget; I can only lie and cheat and screw it up. H-E-E-L-L-P-P! PLEASE!! Someone stop me before I fire more innocent teachers and upset kids in the middle of a school year. I can’t do it by myself. I need help. H-E-E-L-L-P-P! Can’t you hear me screaming out?? Please, oh Please, Washington Post Editorial Board – don’t defend me again against the indefensible. I can’t stand to see you do it another time. I cry and scream whenever I see an editorial supporting my latest horrid exploit. Can’t you see through me?? What is it with you people? Don’t you read your own newspaper? When I come to tell you all my latest stupid, crazy, lies, I’m sure you’ll throw me out on my petite behind. But NO! You twist yourselves into a pretzel covering for me, forcing me to go out and screw up again. Please, I want it to end --- end --- end.

Then, suddenly, my body convulsed again, and I found myself sitting quietly at my computer, breathing normally and looking out the window at the comforting “Vince Gray for Mayor” sign. My ordeal was finally over.

Posted by The Washington Teacher

Rhee's Extreme Makeover: Only A Dream !

In an article written this weekend in the Washington Post, Bill Turque reports that Chancellor Michelle Rhee turns to Anita Dunn, a media consultant and former White House Communication Director to help re-build her despicable image. Anita Dunn is the wife of Bob Bauer, White House legal counsel and also is the owner of media firm- Squier, Knapp and Dunn. Rhee's contract with Dunn's firm is still being negotiated and will be paid for with private funds, which have yet to be disclosed. Among the objectives for Dunn's firm will be how to effectively handle the local and national media. Turque also reports that Dunn's firm is expected to assist with the upcoming announcement of the Washington Teachers Union tentative agreement which has been three years in the making.

An email from E-favorite suggests that the first meeting between Rhee and Dunn may go something like this:

"I had the strangest dream last night. I was in a media training session with Michelle Rhee and her new hotshot, privately-funded media consultant, Anita Dunn.

I looked around nervously and thought, “No. This is all wrong. I don’t belong here!” But then I realized that no one seemed to notice I was there, so I decided to sit back and observe the session.

First Dunn said, “OK, Michelle, repeat after me: “I apologize for calling teachers child molesters.”

Rhee: Arrrhhhgg

Dunn: Uh --- Good start. Don’t worry, we have lots of time, lots of money and this is very important work we’re doing.

Rhee: For the children! For the children!

Dunn: Oops, sorry. I didn’t mean to lead you down that well-worn path. No one pays any attention to that old line anymore. We’re starting fresh. We want people to see the new, reinvented, sensitive Michelle Rhee. So again, please, repeat after me: “I apologize for calling teachers child molesters.”

Rhee: I--I--I--I WILL NOT KOWTOW.

Dunn: Great progress! You’ve got the first word right. Good girl. We’re getting there. Let’s keep practicing. Here we go again: “I apologize for calling teachers child molesters.”

Rhee: I apol – I apol – ARRHGG - (gulp) I APOLOGIZE FOR CALLING TEACHERS CHILD MOLESTERS!

That’s when I knew I was dreaming."

Posted by The Washington Teacher, featuring Candi Peterson- blogger in residence, post

courtesy of Efavorite

Cracking The Mystery Of Chancellor Rhee's Spreadsheet

Here is a guest column by Efavorite in which she analyzes Michelle Rhee's spreadsheet which was sent to Chairman Vincent Gray at his request. As Efavorite notes, this spreadsheet was created by Rhee after she was called on the carpet by Gray. This is an excellent analysis and a must read for everyone. Two thumbs up to Efavorite!

"Looking at the spreadsheet Chancellor Rhee provided to Chairman Gray is making me dizzy.

I can’t figure out why she would tell “Fast Company” magazine that she used the RIF as an opportunity to get rid of teachers who hit children and had sex with children, but then only RIF eight on a list of 68 “substantiated” abusers.

When I take a closer look at the spreadsheet, I see that three of the 8 RIFd teachers on the list were not even suspended for their actions, and none of them were sex offenders. Meanwhile, many others who were not RIFd did get suspended. So again, it’s a mystery why she would leave teachers in the system who got five day suspensions, while RIFing people who only got a verbal reprimand or were asked to do mediation with the principal.

To Rhee’s credit, she did RIF the only person who got a 10 day suspension, but then she oddly allowed the person who got the only nine day suspension to continue teaching. Weird. Also, another 25 people on the list left DCPS unrelated to the RIF, via termination, voluntary resignation or retirement. Still, there are 38 left whom she could’ve RIFd before cutting into some of the competent, non-abusive teachers who supposedly had to be let go for budgetary reasons.

On the surface, it looks like she is doing a very bad job of cherry picking from this list of potential RIFees. But it’s more likely that this list didn’t exist until Chairman Gray asked for it, making any relationship between it and the Chancellor’s RIFing decisions completely serendipitous.

If the Chancellor really had used the RIF to rid the system of bad apples, she would have constructed this list in advance and then fired everyone on it. She would have held a national press conference in which she announced her latest brilliant plan to “put children first” and received accolades from the adoring media for her bold, no-nonsense approach to school reform.

Obviously, that didn't occur to her. When you operate by the seat of the pants the way she does, these things happen. It’s the kind of thing really smart, but dysfunctional people do and get away with most of the time. Not this time, though. This time she’s backpedaling and painting herself into a corner and other mixed metaphors. Whatever is happening, a good manager would never do it. It’s fun to watch, I admit, but it’s tiring, and it isn’t helping children. Let’s stop it."

Posted by The Washington Teacher, featuring Candi Peterson- blogger in residence with Efavorite as guest columnist.

Is Rhee's Education Reform Ship Sinking ?

In today's Washington Examiner article,  Leah Fabel discusses Rhee's  interference in a federal probe involving sex charges against her now fiance' Kevin Johnson, former St. Hope administrator and now mayor of Sacramento. In this article, I am quoted as saying Rhee's ship is sinking. Fabel also labels those who criticize Rhee as detractors including me. While I have been called worse names than a detractor, what gets under the skin of some on this educational reform scene are the often misquotes of student achievement by our mainstream press. 

Many of you who read local blogs are familiar with efavorite who posts rather frequently on a variety of websites. Our very own efavorite took the opportunity to set DC Examiner reporter Leah Fabel straight on her misquotes of NAEP student achievement math scores attributed to Rhee in today's Examiner article. I have taken this opportunity to post both Leah Fabel's article and efavorites comments. You tell me is Rhee's ship sinking ?

"Candi: Thanks for posting this. I sent Leah Fabel this email to set her straight on the NAEP scores."Good morning Ms. Fabel. Below is the official referenced information about the NAEP scores that you should be aware f before you misstate them again. Please check out the following websites: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/profile.asp and

http://educationnext.org/the-one-winner-in-todays-naep-release-michelle-rhee/ 

You will see that Michael Petrilli of "Education Next" and the Fordham Foundation backed off his claim of Rhee's success once presented with the facts, which of course, he should have checked before publishing his story giving Rhee all the credit. 

Update from efavorite: Since posting the scores, I've been advised that the scores include charter schools as well as regular DC public schools. I rechecked the NAEP site and this is accurate. I don't know of a way to separate out the scores, but I am guessing, based on other comparisons between DCPS and the charters, that differences would not significantly change NAEP results. However, I can't be sure.

Here are the scores:

DC's NAEP math Scores, 200-2009

DC 4th grade math

2000- 192

2003- 205

2005- 211

2007- 214

2009-219

DC 8th grade math

2000- 235

2003- 243

2005- 245

2007- 248

2009- 254

 

While there had been a steady increase in DC math scores over the last nine years, as you can see from the chart above, the increase was often greater in the years before Rhee came. Also considering that her reform of firing teachers didn't begin until May 2009, after the latest NAEP testing had been completed, she can hardly take credit- that would logically go to the teachers she's been intent on firing." - efavorite

Report may jeopardize Rhee, school reform

By: LEAH FABEL 
Examiner Staff Writer
November 22, 2009

By Leah Fabel Examiner Staff Writer The future of dramatic school reform begun by D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee could be in jeopardy, not from the teachers union or the city council members with whom she has tangled, but because of past personal relations. Already embroiled in fierce local battles over a recent round of teacher firings, Rhee is now facing allegations that she helped cover up charges of sexual misconduct against her now-fianc? Kevin Johnson, mayor of Sacramento, Calif. A congressional Joint Staff Report by two ranking Republicans, which details Rhee's involvement in the matter, was first reported by The Washington Examiner Friday morning. 

And just as anger and protest over the school layoffs was beginning to subside, some of her detractors saw a new opportunity to pounce. "It'll be the elephant in the room," said Councilman Harry Thomas, D-Ward 5, one of Rhee's most vitriolic opponents in recent weeks. "It'll put questions in people's minds about her credibility and her ethics in general." Rhee, speaking through a spokeswoman, said that the report "rehashes old allegations that have long since been dismissed and deemed meritless by local and federal law enforcement officials." But Candi Peterson, who sits on the board of trustees for the Washington Teachers Union and who helped organize multiple protests against Rhee over recent teacher firings, said that Rhee's "ship is sinking." "If this had come up by itself, people might have said "what the hell," Peterson said. "But because it's coming on the tail of everything else - the layoffs, the mayor's contract issues, it's starting to paint another picture." 

The question now is what picture will become the dominant image in the mind of D.C. voters - that of an autocrat tainted by scandal, or that of an uncompromising reformer with results to stand by. That picture is clouded by the new revelations. The congressional report examined the White House's June firing of Gerald Walpin, U.S. inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service. In August 2008, Walpin called for "criminal and civil prosecution" of Johnson and his partner at their Sacramento community organization, St. HOPE Academy. Johnson, an ally of President Obama, was suspected of misusing Americorps dollars - and volunteers. Walpin was fired in the spring of 2009, prompting the congressional inquiry into whether his dismissal was politically motivated. No charges have been filed related to allegations against Johnson, his colleagues, or Rhee. St. HOPE employee Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez told IG office investigators that Rhee, who also worked with St. HOPE at the time, was informed that Johnson had made sexual advances toward an employee. Rhee said she was "making this her number one priority, and she would take care of the situation," Wong-Hernandez said. Soon afterward, Wong-Hernandez said that Johnson's lawyer had contacted the victim and that all was smoothed out. Wong-Hernandez retired over the school's handling of the incident, according to the report. The congressional report quotes the young woman as saying the attorney "basically asked me to keep quiet," and that Johnson offered her $1,000 a month for the duration of her time with St. Hope. Once investigators learned about that, the report says, they had "reasonable suspicions about potential hush money payments and witness tampering at a federally funded entity." 

In Rhee's two and a half years at the helm, standardized test scores have gone up all over the city, including on the NAEP, or Nation's Report Card, where D.C. public school students made more progress in math last year than students in any other state. Her "detractors may use [the allegations] as another part of their case for why she's unfair, but I don't see it as having relevance on her philosophy or approach or management of the school system," said Jeff Smith, executive director of community advocacy group D.C. Voice. "Reform is not always analogous with positivity," Smith said, adding that whatever happens with Rhee, city residents are the ones who own the changes, good or bad.

Posted by The Washington Teacher featuring Candi Peterson, blogger in residence