Bean counters and school compliance

Paul Karrer: Bean counters and educational compliance

About 4,000 schools in California are in "failing" status. And of those, a measly 85 have managed to "unfail" themselves. That is just a squeak over 2 percent.

What gets schools and even entire districts in failing status, called program improvement, or P.I., is a Byzantine formula. If any one group of students—Anglo, special education, Latino, one-legged hemophiliacs—scores below basic (a very low average), the entire school is placed in failing status. When that occurs, a downward spiral kicks in. Everything must now be focused on this specific group of under-achieving students. It is a Sisyphean task.

Spreckels School, which has a super high score and high performing kids, is in failing status because two kids dragged down the score.

Now, imagine the reality of teaching in a district where 40 percent or more of the students are low performers.

No Child Left Behind has destroyed public education, contaminated its noble mission, and sold out to private industry in the name of reform. Those of us left in the educational trenches are blamed for conditions we have not caused, cannot fix, yet are held accountable for.

"Reform" plays itself out like this in my failing school.

Karrer criticizes NEA for Obama Endosement

NEA Betrayal of Teachers  

 Paul Karrer 

The NEA’s (National Educators Association) warm corpse has felt a final jolt of  rigor mortis recently. Any pretense of testicular fortitude or, for that matter, a pulse has dissipated with its needless early endorsement of President Obama.  In essence, President Obama and Arne Duncan (Secretary of Education) have passed off to teachers embalming fluid (RTTT) in the guise of vitamins.  If ever there was a time to negotiate against No Child Left Behind or Race To The Top – this would have been it.  It is more than a year before the Presidential election. 

                 The NEA has left its 3.2 million members with a quick knee to the groin and a sharp pain in the back from a knife.  A knife thrust in by an enfeebled union leadership too wimpy to actually negotiate: 1) What is right for kids; and 2) What is good for public education.

Rarely has a teachers’ union endorsed a candidate so early. A candidate who in words and facial grinning seems to do so much for teachers, but in reality who has done public education so much actual on-the-ground harm.