Independent Evaluation of DC Public Schools Too Little Too Late to Impact Plight of Teachers

Written By Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President

Somebody dropped the ball. Who’s to blame for the eight years we waited for an independent evaluation of mayoral control of DC Public Schools ? Well accountability is reserved only for us peons (teachers, school personnel, principals, vice principals and; central office staff). Right? Not for mayors and other elected officials.

Under a 2007 law, known as PERAA (Public Education Reform Amendment Act) gave control of DC Public Schools to the Mayor (Former Mayor Adrian Fenty) as well as other changes in school governance. The purpose of the law was to give leaders more flexibility in making changes in light of the school systems history of failed fix it plans and floundering student achievement.

The reform law required the mayor to submit an independent evaluation of our public schools annually on academic achievement,personnel policies and business practices. The law also included an option to skip annual assessments and deliver a five year independent assessment by September 15, 2012. Obviously that deadline was not met.

There was much ado on the road to selecting independent evaluators. In 2009, Fenty eliminated funding for an independent evaluation. Then there were two evaluator names that initially surfaced including Frederick Hess, of American Enterprise Institute and Kenneth Wong, of Brown University who were proponents of mayoral control and made many uncomfortable about their objectivity including former Chairman Vincent Gray, who raised concerns, to his credit.

Eventually funding was restored for the independent evaluation in 2009. A total of $325,000 was included in the DC government budget to hire the National Research Council (NRC) to conduct the evaluation. NRC is one of four non-profit organizations that operate under the National Academies. It was estimated that DC government would provide 20 percent of the funding, with NRC raising the remaining cost from private donations.

The road to this independent assessment has been a rocky one. Let's count the three mayors who presided while we waited for a glimpse of this assessment. Let's see first there was Adrian Fenty, then Vincent Gray and now Muriel Bowser.

At long last, members of the evaluation committee reported their findings and recommendations on June 3, 2015 at a public round table at the Committee on Education held at the Council of the District of Columbia. Tweets were rampant on June 3rd from inside DC City Council chambers as the committee unveiled its report.

The report findings are in excess of 300 pages and for purposes here, I will try to dissect this information in smaller chunks.

Significant amongst the findings, the report indicated "while there have been some improvements in the public schools of the District of Columbia since a 2007 reform law, significant disparities remain in learning opportunities and academic progress across student groups and the city's wards."

On a positive note, both DCPS and the Public Charter School Board were noted to be operating more effectively than before PERAA and pursued improvements that show promise.

A top priority for the mayor and chancellor after PERAA was to improve teacher effectiveness and introduce an evaluation system to assess teacher performance. The report revealed what we already know that the Impact teacher evaluation was introduced in 2009 under former Chancellor Michelle Rhee and rated teacher's on classroom observations,

on their commitment to school community (CSC), core professionalism (CP), and linked students' test scores to teacher effectiveness.

It was recommended that procedures be developed by the district to ensure that scoring on commitment to school community and core professionalism is consistently applied. The committee expressed concerns that even though the district had articulated goals for IMPACT, a plan for evaluating their own progress has not been developed, to date.

The report clearly captured the district's premise that a more effective teacher workforce would result in improved learning conditions and achievement for all students. The key phrase here is ALL. However, it was noted that teachers with the highest performance are not equitably distributed across the city and students' in the poorest wards have the least access to these high performing teachers.

More than 80% of teachers who were rated as effective or higher in 2013-14 chose to remain in the school system the following school year. Teachers with minimally effective ratings were more likely to leave the school system or be dismissed. There was no mention of the developing category of teachers which was added as rating category in 2012, despite the DC Municipal Regulations which states that you can only have four( 4) categories of performance ratings.

The committee found that indicators for proficiency in student achievement still remains low. Gains are larger in reading than math. Not surprising, that black and Hispanic students, students with disabilities, English language learners and those eligible for free and reduced lunch are more likely to be the lowest performing students. Although it was noted that there was some improvement since 2009, more than half of students in these above groups still score below proficient.

After all the mumbo jumbo, excuse me if I get to the bottom line here. According to this report, DC Public Schools student gains still remain unacceptably low and students of color and English language learners and students with disabilities still half of them remain less than proficient. And students in the poorest wards still have the least access to a high performing educator. Wow!

 No wonder it took eight years for our government to release this report. Wouldn't it have made sense to conduct an independent evaluation annually rather than wait every five or eight years in this case ?

This time we can't blame it on the teachers or principals, assistant principals or school personnel because many of them have been fired over the years. Remember Rhee's plan to dismantle the education workforce?

So you tell me whose to blame for little gains in student achievement when 80% of our teachers are effective or higher and the other half were fired? Hmmm- Thank God for independent evaluations! Too bad, it's too little too late.

© Candi Peterson 2015

A Young Teacher's Voice on the Devastating Effects of Education Reform

Written by Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President

Recently, I received an email from a New York teacher blogger friend. He thought I'd be interested in a blog post from NY blogger, Carol Burris who writes Round the Inkwell. Burris, a high school principal and former Spanish teacher also guest blogs for Valerie Strauss' who writes The Answer sheet which is featured in The Washington Post. On Burris' blog, she shares a letter from one of her former students who became a teacher.

Presently, this young teacher works in a DC Public High School. In her poignant letter to her former principal, she describes the effects of what education reform has done to teachers and students with the advent of the teacher evaluation system known as IMPACT.

To give some context to how we arrived here post education reform, the DCPS IMPACT teacher evaluation got it's roots in our district in 2009 and linked teacher performance to student achievement on standardized test scores.  A single standardized test score is used as a means to determine teacher effectiveness and there are no controls for differences among students, such as socio-economic level, attendance, learning disabilities, or other factors that are beyond a teacher's control.  Student scores are used to either reward or punish teachers for gains their students have or have not made.

Post Michelle Rhee, the fear factor is alive and well in DC Public Schools. Teachers report that there are strong messages by school/district administrators that they shouldn't speak up, complain, or offer constructive criticism. They fear reprisal, and most are in survival mode. For this reason, Burris wanted to protect her former student's identify. She states, "I have protected her identify, because sadly, that is what must be done in times like these." - © Candi Peterson 2015

Read her story below (Cross-posted from Round the Inkwell blog) and share if you like.

Good Morning Dr. Burris,

"I am not sure if you remember me, but I was a student at SSHS.  I went on to become a teacher and started my career right out of college at a high school in Washington DC.  In the four years since, I have seen what education reform has done to teaching and learning.
 
While I did not have any experience as a teacher prior to the introduction of common core, I have seen enough to know that this used to be a different game.  My first year of teaching, I felt incredible.  I worked in a school for students who struggled in mainstream classroom environments due to emotional or behavioral issues, but I had managed to figure out a way to reach them and make them excited about learning.  I found texts that not only challenged them academically, but also encouraged them to change the way they looked at the world.  I taught them the foundation skills they were missing and maintained a level of rigor throughout each lesson.

I was evaluated by my principal, assistant principal, and two “master educators” (unknown persons who show up in your classroom unannounced whenever they please).  I received a score of highly effective, which was to come with great recognition and a cash bonus. I was beyond elated.  My students were learning.  My students were excited.  I was learning and excited.  This seemed like great success, right?  Wrong.

After my students, who arrived reading at 2nd and 3rd grade levels, took the 9th grade DC CAS exams, my evaluation score dropped significantly.  No longer was I considered highly effective.  Their success in my classroom, while great, did not directly translate to the formulaic nature of the test; therefore, we were both unsuccessful. This didn’t just happen to me; it happened to all teachers in “testing grades.” For some teachers, this drop in scores meant that they were placed on probation, their pay was frozen at its current step value, or that they were simply pushed out of the system altogether.

My principal, though she worked SO hard to help us to improve the school culture and learning environment in our building, was soon under fire.  She was let go and replaced.  Under her replacement, the school culture/safety suffered, but teachers continued working.  Miraculously, we managed to improve our test scores.  Imagine my surprise when that still somehow negatively affected my overall evaluation score.

The teacher evaluation system in DC is a direct product of the damage that education reform is doing to real education.   Master educators and principals are encouraged not to give out too many “highly effective ratings.” Our value is based largely on test scores and our overall scores are calculated using a combination of a rubric and an “Individual Value Added” formula that we do not have access to.   It’s a process that I think fosters a culture of “teaching to the test” rather than really teaching young people to think and be curious, innovative forces in the world.

So many teachers are so frustrated, but so many administrators are following along because this is the mandate that has been given.  I have since moved schools, but common core hasn’t gotten any better.  The PARCC exam left many of my students frazzled and discouraged.  As teachers, we are struggling to keep up with what is required of us, both according to that test and our high stakes evaluation systems.  It is clear to both us and the students that this just isn’t working, but it’s not a truth that many want to hear and/or face.

I first heard about your work on this front when a coworker asked me if I had ever heard of you.  I was confused at first because I wasn’t sure if the Carol Burris everyone was buzzing about was really Dr. Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School.  Sure enough, after some quick research, I realized it really was you.  I said of course I had heard of you and that I had actually been a student of yours.  My coworker said, “your school must have been amazing.  She’s standing up for all of us.”  I told her that she was right: that it was, and that you are.

I may have been a bratty kid.  I may not have always understood you when I was a teenager.  However, when I tell you that I am so proud to have gone to high school with you as my principal, it is the truth.  You had our backs then, as students (even though we may not have always realized it), and you have our backs now, as teachers.  I am so grateful to you for taking the position you have and for standing on the front lines defending teaching and learning as it should be. From RVC to DC, your voice is heard and appreciated.  Thank you for all that you do."

Best,

Orr Parents Tell Councilmember Catania: Our Children Deserve Classrooms

By Candi Peterson

 I've covered the story about Orr elementary school  in SE Washington, DC since I visited and learned of special needs students being taught in a vault and a music classroom with 42 students, much to my horror back in January 2014. I attempted to no avail to get the mainstream media including Bruce Johnson to cover this story. I even posted photos of the Vault classroom but Chancellor Henderson told Bruce Johnson there was absolutely no validity to my claims despite photos and my actual live reporting that I stood inside the vault classroom. Certainly there's no denying that I am a newsworthy credible source dating back to the Michelle Rhee days. Afterall I my blog received note worthy mention in Michelle Rhee's book, The Bee Eater: Michelle Rhee Takes on The Nations Worst District.

Here's an update on a recent meeting parents held with Councilmember David Catania, and also chairman of the Education Committee and mayoral hopeful. Allyson Criner Brown, Associate Director of Teaching for Change who works with the parents of Orr in a partnership and advocates for modernization of the school wrote me the following email about the meeting with Mr. Catania: " Hi Candi, We had a very good meeting with David Catania. Parents took him on a tour of the building and I asked the teacher of the vault classroom to leave the Masterlock key so we could take him into the vault. He and his staff were stunned. We had about 30 parents that evening, plus kids and staff. Maybe 80 people or so in all. His staff said they'd never seen turnout like that in Ward 8. The principal welcomed Catania before leaving. We alerted his staff about our concerns with the principal but we didn't address them that night. Parents noticed Principal Wilson didn't make arrangements so she could stay for the meeting. Have a great weekend, I'll be in touch.-Allyson"

Too Bad Principal Niyeka Wilson couldn't stay for the meeting. Shame on her.

Cross posted from Teaching for Change:

 Orr (DCPS) parents invited David Catania, Councilmember and chair of the Education Committee, to hear their stories and tour the building which badly needs modernization. Nearly 30 parents attended with their children, along with teachers and members of the local community. Parents expressed their concerns about the safety of the playground; stagnant air and poor natural lighting; places where the building is crumbling; and, most significantly, the open floor plan (in which there are no walls separating classrooms or hallways). The modernization was slated to begin eight years ago but has been delayed every year since.

Teaching for Change, a partner with the Orr Parent Center, helped plan and facilitate the event which featured parent leaders. A father talked about how his three-year old daughter wandered off from her classroom in her first week of school and could not be found for nearly an hour. “Where could she have gone if her classroom had walls and a door?” he asked the Councilmember. A teacher discussed how the open-space classrooms presents enormous challenges for himself and others, particularly where classrooms are separated only by a rolling chalkboard or less. A mother shared that her daughter’s asthma flares up so badly that she and the school have a plan for her daughter to be moved from the third floor to the first floor when she has episodes. Another mother shared how the school had not only wrapped itself around her son in Kindergarten, but also supported her; she recently earned her GED after getting information and support from Orr’s well-known Parent Center.

The consistent theme among parents and teachers was their love for the school and the staff, but yet the urgent need for the school to be modernized. Councilmember Catania thanked the parents for sharing their stories and pledged to be a champion for Orr’s modernization.

Read more about this story here “No Place to Hide: Orr Elementary Needs Modernization Now!”
More photos.

---

Teaching for Change has been a community partner of Orr Elementary since 2010. Our work with parents at Orr is funded through generous grants from The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation, and an anonymous foundation.

Orr Elementary School: DCPS Dirty Little Secret East of the River

Orr Vault classroom 2/7/14

Overcrowded music classroom at Orr 1/29/14



Orr Vault classroom 2/7/14

Orr vault class 2/7/14

Orr Elementary Vault classroom 2/7/14

By 
Candi Peterson

In a February 6 post on The Washington Teacher education blog, I wrote about the Inhumane Teaching and Learning Conditions at DC's Orr elementary school. Benjamin Orr elementary school is located at 2200 Minnesota Avenue SE Washington, DC 20020, 202/671-6240. Niyeka Wilson is the schools principal. Principal Wilson is no stranger to controversy as parents from the Parent Action Consort (known as PAC) recently wrote DC City Council members alleging that Wilson had written malicious comments on her Face book page disparaging an Orr parent and student with physical health challenges. Members of PAC called for the disciplinary action of Wilson. Reportedly, Wilson is now under investigation by DCPS. The results have yet to be reported.

My January 2014 visit to Orr revealed some horrific learning conditions for students at this once esteemed school. I witnessed conditions with my own eyes. While in the vault classroom, I observed evidence of a classroom with teacher's objectives, behavior chart, touch math chart, foundations sound chart and call and response posted in the room. It is reported by staff that special needs students receive pull out instruction in a vault, not intended for human habitation. In another space in the school, 42 students (which is well above the student-teacher ratio) cram into a fabricated music room like sardines with little room for both students and instrumental music equipment. One has to walk sideways around  furniture in the music room just to move about. It has been reported that students complain of soaring heat which reaches temperatures  as high as 93 degrees even on the coldest of days in this makeshift room without windows. Heat overcame me even for the short duration I stood inside.

News of my story found its way to DCPS Office of the Chancellor Press Secretary, Melissa Salmanowitz. On Feb 7, 2014,  Ms Salmanowitz wrote : "Ms. Peterson – I read your recent blog post about Orr Elementary School. I found several inaccuracies and I hope you can take a few minutes to correct them. The space you mention is not a classroom and no students are in that space. There are some other inaccuracies we would like you to correct. Specifically, There are no special education classrooms at Orr and certainly no classrooms in the way you inaccurately described them. Orr uses a push-in model where the special education teacher works collaboratively with the general education teacher in the classrooms. The space referenced in the blog is used as an office space and at no time are any special education classes being held in the space. The music classroom has 30 students, never more. While we agree Orr is in need of a modernization, we work closely to address any needs that come up in advance of their modernization. There is no way to lock the door from the inside as it has to be locked from the outside. We do need to replace the doors and the order has been approved and the school is awaiting the delivery and installation of the doors, which we expect very soon.  Students at Orr are safe. They are never in any harm, as your blog would suggest. What is actually happening at Orr is great teaching and strong leadership. Your post ignores all the wonderful things happening in the classrooms every day at Orr. Instead, this post is rife with falsehoods and we would appreciate corrections. Thank you, Melissa."

I'm not a bit surprised at the DCPS response, albeit dating back to the Rhee era; the DCPS strategy is to cover up the ugly truth and manipulate coverage of what's really happening in our schools. When backed into a corner- they (DCPS) hate to admit wrongdoing, falsify information to promote their own agenda and gloss over the problems and only cite the wonderful things they claim are happening.

An Orr insider emailed me to share that on Friday, February 7- central office staff visited Orr to take a look see at the vault. Seems some student tables were moved out of the classroom vault before their arrival. Sounds like a cover up to me. Allegedly Principal Wilson didn't open the door claiming she didn't have a key to the padlock. Hmmmmm.

A DCPS teacher at Orr who requested anonymity stated; " Not only is Principal Wilson failing to provide positive leadership but she is proving to be completely dishonest. How can we trust her to be the role model our school needs when she fails to admit wrong doing and tries to cover up her mistake? I truly hope DCPS is smart enough to realize what she's doing and doesn't become complicit in this cover up. This would be shameful."

Luckily for Orr, I've got pictures to prove what I reported. The picture of Orr's classroom vault shows students working on a laptop, posing in front of a number line and students enjoying a bite to eat. Featured in the picture is the vaults' rear back door as well as yellow covering of storage shelves and a yellow and green table (prior to removal ?)

 My camera lens wasn't wide enough to capture all 42 music seats but you get the picture because you can count in excess of 30 student chairs inside the music room, not 30 as Salmanowitz reports. Liar Liar, pants on fire!

Pink Slipping DC's Teachers Does Not Improve Achievement

By Candi Peterson

Vote Davis Slate for WTU
 Liz Davis /Candi Peterson
WTU Can Be Better!

One by one, Cardozo Senior High School teachers and school staff were called down to the Principal's office today to receive pink slips. Just a week ago, DC's Cardozo High School staff were notified that 100% of our staff would be reconstituted and required to reapply for our jobs, with the exception of the school's principal. Later on in the same week, 90 staff members had to submit to abbreviated 5-7 minute interviews and answering three questions by the school's principal.

Today was a solemn day for all at Cardozo High as teachers and staff waited with baited breath to learn of their job status. Many speculated who possibly would get the axe. Even some of the DC contractors described having to observe the process of pink slipping staff bordered on cruel and unusual punishment. It was hard to go own with the business as usual of teaching and learning, despite your best efforts.

Having written about former Chancellor Michelle Rhee dating back to three years ago, I knew all too well that the education plan of Rhee and now the current Chancellor Kaya Henderson administration had been to get rid of a significant share of our education workforce. I have frequently written about how Rhee prided herself on creating a revolving door workforce and was adamant that teaching was not a career. I have known for some time that Chancellor Michelle Rhee was out to get me due to my political activism, representation of DC's teachers/staff, whistle blowing and writing this popular education blog which helped to expose her.

Today at 2:40 pm, The Washington Teacher blogger (AKA Candi Peterson) was given the axe. If you play the lottery, I recommend that you play that number 240, it just might pay off great dividends. I'd figured I'd be excessed and had been anticipating my demise. As a long time whistle blower, I'm well aware that I've had a bulls eye on my chest for some time. I'd do it all over again, if it helped to rid our schools of the likes of Michelle Rhee.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out when the powers to be are out to get you. After I had a disagreement in 2011 with Washington Teachers' Union (WTU)  President Nathan Saunders, Chancellor Kaya Henderson willingly revoked my leave of absence as the elected WTU General Vice President. When Saunders  approached Chancellor Henderson and Human Capital Chief Jason Kamras, stating he (Saunders) no longer needed my services full time, Henderson agreed to illegally revoke my previously approved leave from the school system. Anybody who knows anything about elected union officers knows that the only way an elected official can be removed is through a successful recall. Had I not returned to an assigned position within DC Public Schools, as then DCPS Human Resources Director Regina Youngblood indicated I would be separated from DCPS. In layman's terms that means terminated.

So in the words of Cardozo's former principal, "Don't Cry for Me." I am exactly where this road trip led me to be. My favorite aunt always says: "if someone is aiming a machine gun at everyone, you're bound to eventually get shot."

What bears our critical attention now is not my personal story but what has been happening to our public school system and the purposeful demise of qualified teachers, school staff and principals otherwise known as 'teacher churn'. I urge all of my colleagues to open your eyes and take stock that the yearly pink slipping of DC Public Schools staff should be a wake up call to all. By definition, teacher churn is the turnover of teachers through excessing, reduction in force (known as RIF), yearly Impact terminations, and voluntary separation. The churning in and out of teachers.

Mark Simon, educational analyst and former DCPS parent wrote about this in an Op-ed in a June 15, 2012 Washington Post edition, titled: "Is Teacher Churn Undermining Real Education Reform in DC." This piece called attention to the rate of turnover of both teachers and principals as a huge education reform. Simon argued the turnover rates are so high,  we're losing a lot of our best teachers and creating a hostile culture in too many schools.

 Here are some interesting facts from that story. Simon notes: "Three aspects of the Michelle Rhee-Kaya Henderson reforms contribute to higher rates of teacher churn: unstable school budgets from year to year; greater freedom for principals under the IMPACT evaluation system to identify teachers for dismissal or transfer; and school closings."

Notwithstanding school reconstitutions like the ones that were ordered at Cardozo High and Patterson Elementary have not proven in years past to yield any statistically significant gains in student achievement, despite staff turnover.

When we analyze the data, DCPS is has one of the highest teacher turnover rates in the country. Mark's article revealed that "In DCPS, by contrast, 55 percent of new teachers leave in their first two years, according to an analysis by DCPS budget watchdog Mary Levy. Eighty percent are gone by the end of their sixth year. That means that most of the teachers brought in during the past five years are no longer there. By comparison, in Montgomery County just 11.5 percent leave by the end of their second year, and 30 percent by the end of year five. DCPS has become a teacher turnover factory. It has a hard time keeping teachers who are committed to their school and the community it serves."

Another significant study which Mark's article referred to is one conducted by researchers Susanna Loeb of Stanford University, Matthew Ronfeldt of the University of Michigan and Jim Wyckoff of the University of Virginia  “How Teacher Turnover Hurts Student Achievement.” These researchers concluded that, separate from the relative quality of teachers who may be brought in to replace those who leave, teacher turnover itself harms a school. Turnover affects morale and the professional culture at a school. It weakens the knowledge base of the staff about students and the community. It weakens collegiality, professional support and trust that teachers depend on in their efforts to improve achievement."

So the next time a DC Public School is up for reconstitution, I say we change the formula since the research clearly supports that reconstituting staff does not equate to gains in student achievement. Who should we reconstitute? Let's begin with DC's Mayor Vince Gray and work our way down to Chancellor Kaya Henderson and her minions. Certainly they bear responsibility for some of the failure of DC Public Schools.

© Candi Peterson 2013

Cardozo Senior High Teachers Get the Axe!

By Candi Peterson - Vote Davis Slate for WTU 
Liz Davis/Candi Peterson - "WTU Can Be Better!"

Update: I was informed that teachers from Patterson in SW Washington, D.C. also were excessed on 5/20/13.

At the end of the school day on May 20, 2013 - Cardozo Senior High School staff were mandated to attend an emergency meeting in the schools auditorium. An important morning and afternoon announcement was made by the schools principal, Dr. Tanya Roane that required all staff to report to the meeting including the schools’ custodians. It felt as though we were being summoned to the guillotine by the principal’s urgent tone and requirement that all staff report.  

Back on December 20, 2012,  I wrote an article for The Washington Teacher blog titled “What’s the Impact of DCPS School Closures on Teachers and School Staff?’ At that time, I warned teachers and school staff about the DCPS School Consolidation Staffing Overview which was provided to teachers at selected schools due to the proposed school consolidations announced by Chancellor Kaya Henderson in December 2012. The three page staffing overview outlined the following: “WTU members at consolidated schools will be subject to the excessing process as outlined in the WTU contract.” When I walked into the school auditorium today at 3:30 pm and saw Mr. Dan Shea, DCPS Instructional Superintendent- I knew it was a foregone conclusion that our worst nightmare was about to be announced.

Mr. Shea announced that all staff would be reconstituted with the exception of the schools principal. Shea stated “staff will have to reapply for their jobs starting this Wednesday with Principal  Roane and interviews will be held beginning this Wednesday (May 22) through Friday (May 23).” In my estimation, that would amount to about 30 staff interviews daily at 15 minute increments if the principal is to meet her goal of interviewing approximately 90 school staff members by week’s end. Shea was clear that the principal alone would conduct all of the staff interviews.

A letter disseminated by a central office staffer in attendance at the meeting had a list of DCPS Reconstitution Frequently Asked Questions. Among the first question  was “What does Reconstitution mean?” As defined by DC Public Schools “Reconstitution is a process by which a school district may address the needs of the school that fail to make adequate gains several years in a row. When schools consistently under perform over a period of time DCPS may choose to take drastic action to improve the schools.”  Those drastic actions may include reconstituting all or some of the staff, converting the school to a charter, bringing an outside organization to be a management partner, turning the school over to be controlled by the state or pursuing another major restructuring such as getting rid of the schools administrators’.

In response to questions from teachers, Instructional Superintendent Shea reported that no other high school in DCPS is being reconstituted this year. Among some of the reasons given for reconstituting Cardozo, Shea said “We looked at 125 schools and Cardozo has gone backwards. Although there has been some growth, it is not at the pace we want.”  A fiery Washington Teachers' Union (WTU)  Building Representative, Deborah Pearman reiterated that Cardozo’s test scores are not as bad as some other DC Public High Schools like Woodson and Dunbar, etc.. Pearman said “I’ve looked at these scores and I know that other high schools are worse than ours.” Shea noted that the district  looked at other data including the number of seniors graduating on time  within four years.

Pearman inquired why the school district gave notice to school staff so late in the year when other schools had been notified prior to April 1. Chief among Pearman’s concerns, the DCPS job fairs have been held and some schools have already hired their staff for the upcoming school year. Another concern Pearman addressed was the District imposed penalty that teachers who are part of the Washington Teachers Union (WTU) could face if they now choose to retire or leave the school system. The April 1^st deadline requires that members of the Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU)  must notify the school district by this deadline in a Declaration of Intent or face a $1,000 penalty.

 In response to a battery of questions and concerns, Shea said “I apologize that I didn’t come one month ago to tell the staff.” Pearman, as a member of the Cardozo personnel committee fired back “I am insulted that I have spent countless hours interviewing people for my job.” Staff were optimistic that excessing would not occur since the local school budget revealed an increase in staff positions due to the consolidation of Cardozo Senior High School and Shaw Middle School at Garnett Patterson, scheduled to take place in August 2013.

When I approached some of my colleagues about their responses, one teacher colleague said “We’ve done this before.” There were many horror stories of teachers having survived being excessed as many as five times during their careers. The difference with the 2007-2012 Washington Teachers Union Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is that excessing under this agreement is likely to eventually lead to a teachers termination, despite a Highly Effective or Effective IMPACT evaluation rating. According to the DCPS  School Consolidation Staffing Overview: “WTU members have 60 days to interview for new placements. After that period, WTU members who are unable to find placements may be eligible for an extra year of employment to find a permanent position that is if they are Highly Effective or Effective. These options are only available to WTU members who are in their third year and beyond and whose most recent IMPACT raring is Effective or Highly Effective. All other WTU members who are unable to find positions will be separated from the system.”

By the way Option 2  in the WTU Collective Bargaining agreement (CBA) which  previously allowed  permanent status teachers with a minimum of 20 or more years of creditable service to retire early is no longer an available option due to a MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) between WTU President Nathan A. Saunders and DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson, signed in December 2012. The MOA changes the early retirement option and calls for Supplemental Unemployment benefits to be paid to eligible teachers over a five year period.

In closing the meeting, Pearman in rare form requested that Shea deliver the message to Chancellor Kaya Henderson that she (Henderson) needs to meet with Cardozo staff directly and not just send her messenger to deliver the bad news. Shea assured the crowd he would take the message back to Henderson. I agree with Pearman, it’s time that Henderson face her troops.

© Candi Peterson 2013

It's Official - I'm Running in the WTU elections!

Liz & Candi

Written By Candi Peterson

"Together, We Are Better!" Liz Davis/Candi Peterson

Good afternoon to all of you. It's official on April 30, 2013- I declared my candidacy for Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) General Vice President again. This time, I am running on the Elizabeth Davis (known as Liz) slate. It's an opportunity for a new start, for new beginnings- a time to take stock of where we've been, where we stand and how much needs to be done for DC teachers and school personnel.

Nothing is more important to me than advocating for teachers/school personnel, students and our schools. I have always been in the forefront of education advocacy and public education reform. My running mate, Liz Davis has always stood for great student-centered teaching, advocating for better teaching and learning conditions, saving our public schools and representing union members' rights. We both stand firmly against the privatization of public education and support a participatory union membership that is inclusive, not a dictatorship. Our styles are similar in that we both are great leaders, good listeners and try to build consensus. We offer transparency and ethical leadership - like I have so often demonstrated in my union leadership and my writings on my education blog; The Washington Teacher, which became an online voice for DC teachers and school personnel during the Michelle Rhee regime.

It pains me to say that life as we all know and love in our public schools – is in danger – and has been for some time. In DC and throughout the US, teachers have become an endangered species. This revolving door of our teacher and principal workforce under both the Rhee and Henderson administration has harmed students, compromised their ability to achieve, sent our public schools into further decline and led to a diminishing enrollment.  

I hope you will join us by supporting the Davis slate in the upcoming WTU elections. It's an exciting and important journey- offering teachers a change in union leadership and doing what needs to be done for the future, our future. We welcome all members and hope to add to our family of followers and welcome every one's ideas. We support our younger colleagues and older veterans because we believe that together, we are better. Pitting the old vs. the young isn't in any of our best interests, particularly our students. 

Let me close by saying that when only a few do better – at the expense of everybody else – well, all of us pay the price. We want so much more and plan to tell you about our plans in the very near future. 

I have missed writing The Washington Teacher blog and I have missed you as well. I do plan to get back to writing about many of the issues that we continue to face in public education. So long for now.

In Solidarity,

Candi Peterson (AKA The Washington Teacher blogger)

© Candi Peterson 2013

Save Our Schools

COME MAKE HISTORY WITH US AS WE STOP DC SCHOOL CLOSURES! 

JOIN EMPOWER DC & THE WARD 8 EDUCATION COUNCIL & THE WARD 7 EDUCATION COUNCIL AT THE:

Save Our Schools Summit

Information Session & Rally building Support for Empower DC’s Lawsuit to STOP the planned closure of

15 DC Public Schools impacting over 2,700 students of color 

Thursday, March 14^th 2013

6:30-8:30 PM

Temple of Praise – 700 Southern Ave, SE

To Include:

Testimonies from impacted families

Introduction of legal team

Review of the legal strategy

Expressions of Support

Call to action

LAWYERS WILL BE ON HAND TO COLLECT STATEMENTS FROM IMPACTED RESIDENTS!

For more information, to RSVP or request transportation contact:

Daniel del Pielago

Education Organizer

(202) 234-9119 x 104 or Daniel@empowerdc.org

The Black and White of School Closures

By Candi Peterson

As 2012 comes to an end,  two unmistakable trends have emerged from studies that public schools are being sold down the river to private interests and the rush to close schools has not resulted in any measurable improvement in standardized test scores. The Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU) just issued The Black and White of Education in Chicago’s Public Schools report on the “underutilization crisis” in the Chicago Public Schools system. CTU contends that this crisis that has been manufactured largely to justify the replacement of neighborhood schools by privatized charters.

“When it comes to matters of race and education in Chicago, the attack on public schools is endemic,” said CTU President Karen GJ Lewis.  “Chicago is the most segregated city in the country, and our students of color are routinely deemed as second-class by a system that does nothing but present one failed policy after the next.”

More specifically, Chicago Teachers' Union highlights what  the policy of neighborhood closings and charter openings has led to:

- Increased racial segregation
- Depletion of stable schools in black neighborhoods
- Disrespect and poor treatment of teachers
- Expansion of unnecessary testing
- Decreased opportunities for deep conceptual learning
- Increased punitive student discipline
- Increased student mobility
- Minimal educational outcomes

Locally, DC Action for Children, a non-profit advocacy organization came to a similar conclusion that educational outcomes have been minimal in the District of Columbia.  Their newly released study, DC KIDS COUNT, Third Grade Proficiency in DC: Little Progress (2007-2011) , looked at five years of third grade reading and math test scores from the DC Comprehensive Assessment System, (DC CAS) for insights about citywide proficiency, the achievement gap and neighborhood disparities.

Their results? “We could not prove any statistically significant citywide progress from 2007-2011 in reading or math proficiency. The same held true when we broke scores down by race, by DCPS schools, DC public charter schools, students from economically advantaged or students from economically disadvantaged families."

This study neutralizes the rationale used by Chancellor Henderson and her predecessor Michelle Rhee which is embedded in the first goal of the five-year plan DC Public Schools ) which is: “To improve achievement rates.”

I personally don’t believe that Henderson's under-utilization argument makes any sense. What we know is that the policy of closing schools has not saved DC Public Schools (DCPS)  any money. The evidence shows us that closing our schools has driven more parents out of our public schools to charters and elsewhere. It's a no brainer that less students in our public schools equals less money for DCPS.  

DC Public Schools cannot demonstrate that their continued failed policy of closing 20 plus schools every 4 years, is not achieving its number one goal of improving test scores. So why then is Henderson and other heads of school districts stuck on stupid nationally, one might ask?

The answer lies in CTU's report, "A crisis has been manufactured to justify the replacement of neighborhood schools. There  is a real economic benefit to real estate investors, charter school operators, philanthropists and wealthy bankers."

An August 2012 Reuters article spells out the reason for the national push to privatize. " The U.S. spends more than $500 billion a year to educate kids from 5-18. The entire education sector represents 9 percent of the gross domestic product, more than energy or technology sectors. Traditionally, public education had been a tough market for private firms to break into- fraught with politics, tangled in bureaucracy..... Now investors are signaling optimism that a golden moment has arrived. They're pouring private equity and venture capital into scores of companies that aim to profit by taking over broad swaths of public education."

When the smoke clears in 2013 and all the policy arguments are made, DCPS will close another 20 schools give or take a few concessions and 12,000 students and an estimated 1,200 teachers and school staff members will be thrown under the bus.

© Candi Peterson 2013

Brightwood Protest and Pushback to DC Public Schools Closings

Nathan Harrington protests meeting

By Candi Peterson
The last in a series of educational town hall meetings was held last week at the Brightwood education campus to hear from stakeholders re DC Public Schools consolidation plan to close 20 public schools.


Activist Nathan Harrington, a Congress Heights DC resident blew into the meeting talking over Chancellor Kaya Henderson creating a dramatic start to the meeting and appeared to create some hard feelings among participants who were politely waiting to be heard. “My fellow Washingtonians, it is abundantly clear that the intention of this meeting is to confuse and mislead the citizens of our city into passively accepting decisions that have already been made. A hour and a half of officials promoting their plans is not community input,” Harrington said.

Although stakeholders may not have agreed with how Harrington delivered his message, Henderson told the audience she had no problems allowing Harrington to continue if that’s what the audience wanted. Despite some mild protests by audience members, Harrington continued to deliver his two page speech as he moved throughout the room. A lone female security officer tugged and pulled on Harrington’s sweater trying to facilitate his departure from the room inefficaciously. Harrington concluded by inviting residents to boycott the meeting and reminded them of past experiences of trying to stop school closure plans was unsuccessful and fell on deaf ears.

“I want to hear from you. Come to me with your suggestions and we will incorporate your feedback and will show how we are going to include your ideas. You have my commitment that it will be different this time,” Henderson vowed as she promised participants to work through the month of December incorporating participants ideas in the consolidation plan.

The meeting represented multiple wards of 1,2, 3, 4, and 6. Parents with children in tow, teachers, community residents and activists filled the cafeteria/gymnasium discussing their concerns at tables representing their respective schools. The meeting resembled the same format offered at previous meetings with DCPS staffers facilitating the discussion mainly around questions that focused on what would make the consolidation plan a smoother transition and what had DCPS failed to consider.

An unusually high number of Council members made appearances including Muriel Bowser, Jack Evans, Tommy Wells and David Catania. City council members have not denounced school consolidation plans until Thursday night’s meeting where Council member Evans came out against the closures of Garrison elementary school and Francis-Stevens education campus.

Powerful testimony provided by parents from Garrison elementary school included David Sallie who lives one block from Garrison and has a 2 ½ year old daughter. “I applied for preschool because of the activism of the PTA (at Garrison), amazing things are going on and there is momentum, a new principal and population changes which have not been taken into account”, Sallie said.

Sallie appealed to the chancellor. "You are going to lose families if you cut Garrision. I don’t consider charter schools over public schools", he concluded.

The consolidation efforts had parents advocating for their schools and most often opposing the effort to merge their school with a lower performing school. Some of the most notable concerns of the evening were safety issues the school consolidations would create. The majority of participants opposed shuffling 6th grade students to high schools with significantly older students, students traveling into unsafe neighborhoods as well as the extinction of walkable neighborhood schools.

Virginia Spatz injected some much needed humor at the end of the night when she spoke of the un-central location of the meeting and how it took her 2 buses and a train to arrive at Brightwood from her Ward 6 residence. " The whole process is missing. We need the consolidation to be put on hold, and evaluation with research on grades 6-12. We didn't do so well before with the Pre K-8 model. We want to see some vision," Spatz said.

Speaker after speaker provided a laundry list of reasons why the school consolidations would create more problems then they would solve. Parents raised the issue that charter schools should not be off the chopping block and should be part of the consolidation plan as well.

Chancellor Henderson reassured the standing room only crowd at the end of the evening that, “We will make sure that every question will be answered and made public.” But admitted that of the final decision, “You’re darned if you do, and darned if you don't."

If Henderson's aim is to avoid the mistakes of 2008 school closures, then why was no consideration given to a 'community task force' to plan school consolidations ?  I concur with activist Nathan Harrington's assessment that promoting DC Public Schools' plans does not equate to community input. Somehow we are still putting the cart before the horse. There are better ways to consolidate schools that is if you are willing to do the research. Chancellor Kaya Henderson, like her predecessor is really no different than Michelle Rhee.

© Candi Peterson 2013

Here We Go Again: More DC Public School Closures!

Written by Candi Peterson

Let's take a trip down memory lane back to 2008 when Michelle Rhee was the Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools. Rhee rolled out a plan to abruptly close 23 public schools. Her premise was that the closing of under enrolled public schools would save the taxpayers $23 million dollars and that these cost savings could be used to hire additional teachers and create new programs. Sound similar to Kaya Henderson's Consolidation and Reorganization Proposal to consolidate 20 schools?

At the 2008 school closure meetings, parents and education stakeholders voiced strong opposition of Rhee's plan since closures were proposed before the community had a chance to have input. Stakeholders were distrustful of school closures since a disproportionately higher number of minority neighborhoods faced school closures, leaving Ward 3 schools unscathed. And it seems that the politically well connected, upscale neighborhoods west of Rock Creek will be spared again!

Parents are now asking many similar questions of Chancellor Henderson regarding her proposal to consolidate 20 more public schools that they once asked of Rhee. Stakeholders want to determine: What data was used to determine school closures? What will happen to closed school buildings? How will school closures impact DC Public Schools enrollment? Will teachers from closing schools be able to follow their students to receiving schools? What will be the actual cost savings of school closures? How will the money be used?

In 2008, Mary Levy, then Attorney for the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and long time DCPS budget analyst  predicted that closing schools would not save the money Rhee projected (23 million)."If these 23 schools are closed, it isn't going to save us a lot of money and it's not going to allow us to do exciting new enrichment programs," Levy said.

By looking closely at some of the available data (DC City audit report, Mary Levy study, etc.) from the 2008 school closures, student enrollment declined considerably. Many dissatisfied parents pulled their children out of DC Public Schools and students were more than twice as likely to enroll in charter schools. The DC City audit reported in 2009 that the loss of enrollment of DC Public Schools cost the school system five million dollars. Mary Melchoir, a DCPS parent and 2nd VP of Ward 5 Council on Education recently testified at the DC City Council hearings on proposed 2013 school closures. Melchoir cited a graphic example of what happens when schools are closed. “The consolidation of Brookland/Bunker Hill elementary school resulted in the loss of 211 students who left DCPS resulting in the loss of 2.5 million dollars”, Melchoir stated.

Given what we have learned from the DCPS 2008 school closures, it is not surprising that parents, city residents and community groups are calling for a 'moratorium' on school closures this time around. Empower DC, a well respected community grassroots organization is leading the effort to halt school closures. Daniel del Pielago, organizer for Empower DC's public education campaign in a November newsletter wrote: "The Chancellor and Mayor have made up their minds so far that more schools need to be closed. The City Council while expressing concerns about this process has not expressed any tangible opposition to continued school closures."

I wholeheartedly agree with del Pielago's position that the chancellor has it wrong and needs to develop a comprehensive plan for public education. I thought we learned what not to do after the Michelle Rhee experiment of 2008. I guess somebody needs to tell Chancellor Henderson what the definition of insanity is: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  

© Candi Peterson 2013