The Lie of Charter Schools

I have been a math, science and technology teacher for 14 years, mostly in private schools, and have seen a lot of "stuff" go on, but one thing has been true throughout all of the schools I have taught at.  The teachers have all gone into teaching because of a love for education and a desire to help students learn.  Administrators at the schools I have taught at were always former teachers, so were always cut from that same cloth.  However, there WAS one exception...there was one year that I taught at a charter school.

That year, I interviewed at this school over the summer and the head of curriculum told me that he was impressed with my ability to teach a wide variety of subjects.  When I asked about the benefits, he was full of praise for the health benefits, but when I asked about the salary, he paused for a moment.

"Well," he started, grinning sheepishly, "I'm not the head of HR, but normally we start teachers based on their years of public school experience, and you have all private school experience." (I had ten years under my belt at the time.)  "However, I'm sure we can get you credit for half of that experience and start you on step 5." 

And so, I went home, certain that I would start at least at a salary I could support my family on.  Instead, when I signed my contract, I was told by the head of HR, "We have to start you on Step 1 because the union makes us base your salary on public school experience."  Then, I picked up extra classes, so was teaching 8 sections of classes (out of a 10 period school day), but wasn't even full time (I was 3/4 time), making so little money that I was eligible for food stamps and unemployment.  My kids were on reduced price school lunch, and my house went into foreclosure.

When I got involved with the union, I found out that there was NO union policy about starting me based on public school experience, and that I should have started based on my full 10 years experience.  So, when I had the union bring it up to the head of HR, they agreed, saying that my next contract would show the change.

Two weeks later, as I was searching the job postings for the following year, I found a post for my position; it was April.  Then, on the last day of school in June, I was grading the last of my finals and putting my grades in the computer.  I had already cleaned out my desk and found another job, telling my students that I was unsure if the school was planning on bringing me back and saying goodbye to them.  As I finished my grading, the principal came into my classroom.

"Oh, I'm glad I caught you.  The administration has decided not to renew your contract, but I'm sure you expected that.  You can turn in your laptop on your way out."  And with that, she turned and left my classroom.

Our charter schools and the people in charge of them don't seem to care about the teachers in their employ.  All they DO seem to care about is the number of students they can attract to their schools and the amount of money they can funnel to the corporations that convince the politicians to allow them to create them.  These politicians then get nice fat donations from these corporations and the profiteers running them so they can stay in their elected positions.

We need to bring education and educational policy back under the control of the teachers, the parents and those who really care about the kids in the system.  We need to take the money out of education and make it, once again, a public right and good, as it was originally intended to be

The Cost of Education Reform

CCCS: a set of “standards” that define what students should be able to accomplish at the completion of each grade level in Language Arts and Mathematics.  Approved by politicians (but not educators, who had no say in the matter) in 43 states and the District of Columbia, these standards have become the law of the land, and on July 1, 2012, these states began requiring their teachers to assess students proficiency on each grade-level standard.  Then, on July 1, 2013, two federally-funded testing coalitions rolled out standardized tests to assess students as to where they fell according to those standards.  (Now, being a math teacher with a math degree, this is statistically backwards, telling teachers to assess students on standards with no assessments to be able to assess their proficiency with, then rolling out standardized tests without knowing where the average student would fall on each question, thus having no ability to identify grade-appropriate questions to asses the students with…but I digress.  The point was to make people in these testing coalitions, and companies that force test prep programs on public schools, money, which it did…)

Other than the problems of rolling out untested standards that were not research-based, teachers that were given no materials or even curricula with which to teach the new standards, and tests that had no norms associated with them that were based on research and trial runs, there was a MAJOR flaw with the tests.  The CCSS included standards that required that student be taught to think at higher levels and be able to argue their points, using evidence and logical arguments to come up with reasonable solutions.  These tests, being primarily multiple choice questions, are not able to assess these higher level thinking skills or reasoning abilities.  Additionally, each test required extensive new technology for each district to purchase, often costing up to 10X more per student to administer and score each test than the previous (and just as ineffective), subjectively scored state-designed tests required under NCLB.  Now, schools are spending more money to assess their students, with no more effective tests, on testing websites that are (as I found out this fall) often down or not functioning, requiring more time to be devoted to testing, and taking up more precious teaching time.

Add to all this the push from politicians to “improve” our urban schools.  The politicians’ (flawed) theory goes this way:

1. Give charters to corporations that put forth a proposal on how they plan to educate students “better;”
2. Promote these charter schools with public tax money, convincing parents that their kids can get a better education at these schools;
3. Let these schools choose the students they accept, typically the high-fliers, pulling the good students out of the neighborhood schools;
4. Require the districts give more tax money to these schools, through voucher or “Money Follows the Child” programs, taking more money away from the district public schools,
5. Require the neighborhood public schools to STILL pay for the higher proportion of special education and behavioral problem students they now have, lowering the scores on the tests, without the benefit of those students who would score higher;
6. The charter schools then end up: renting space, paying for business services, and putting money into the for-profit corporations that set them up in the first place, all the while paying lower salaries without the added benefits of unions, professional development or other benefits that would go with the collective bargaining.

The charter school movement often benefits the corporations and “reformers” at the expense of the public schools and the students at the school, but perform no better than the public schools they wish to replace.

So, we have standards that cannot be accurately assessed by multiple choice, standardized tests.  Our public school districts are paying tax money to test students, even students who attend charter schools, for ineffective tests.  Our public school districts, especially our urban districts, are ending up with a higher proportion of special education students and low performers, which results in more money spent supporting students AND consequences ranging in funding penalties and more testing when their students “fail to have adequate yearly progress.”  Yet our politicians, bureaucrats and businesses get rich pushing new standards, new tests, new textbooks, new educational programs and new charter schools.

We as a people need to stand up for the rights of our kids.  Education has become a multimillion dollar industry when it used to be a right for every child.  The “education reformers” have preyed on our desire to do the best for our children, but we need to ask ourselves, “Do these politicians and bureaucrats REALLY have our children’s interests at heart?”  As a teacher and a parent, I have seen firsthand that they do not.  They have their OWN interests at heart, and would trample their own kids if it would make them an extra dollar.  I once listened to the headmaster at my school refer to a student as “…having a dollar sign over his head.”  (He has an MBA and is active in politics in our town.)  THIS is how these people our kids, as big dollar signs.  It is the teachers and parents who can be the real education reformers, not the profiteers and bureaucrats.  We who really care about our kids and their futures.  When we take politics and profit out of education, and return it to the hands of those who REALLY care, we can change education for the better.  Until then, the politicians will continue to create laws guided by the profiteers who wish to line their pockets through public education tax dollars, and we will see worse results with our increased taxes and expenditures.  This is our future, unless we step up and force the change that needs to be!