School Budgets? Charter Schools? Common Core State Standards? Turn Around Schools? Tenure? Accountability? Merit Pay? Graduation Rates? NCLB Testing?
Teachers, have you spent your hours and hours of curriculum preparation contemplating these issues? You’d have to be the appointed representative to your district union or take evening time twice a month to attend school board meetings to know which, if any, of those concerns affect your class day. Otherwise, you teach, using the models your school literacy coach, department chair, or principal discusses at monthly meetings.
Have you even heard how many students are in your school district? For a comparison, 90% of American students attend public school, right now that’s about 50 million students. The other 10% attend parochial and private schools or are homeschooled. Now established in forty states, charter schools account for about 5% of the 50 million public school students. Remember, charter schools are paid for with the state’s public school budget and may also be for-profit, charging a fee to enroll.
So, no time to read the staggering number of education reports available on these subjects? Here is a summary of thought that has appeared on this blog about each of the main concerns found in the education journals and newspaper sections on education.
School budgets: As the controversy over the fiscal cliff/hill/slope drifts on and on, most states foresee loss of federal money before tax changes start in the following year. Even in California which passed a tax increase to finally help balance the state budget, bets can be placed to guess the amount of money sent to school districts.
Turn Around Schools: If you teach at one of the lowest-performing schools in the nation, your school may have benefitted from Race To The Top grants generated by the stimulus funds four years ago. Some improvement in student abilities has been reported at those schools in spite of bitter critiques by education reform experts. Reformers want to make change fast and furious, but avoid the massive problem facing those schools in impoverished neighborhoods. The best turn around schools address as many of the community difficulties as possible while using models that institute curriculum reforms to improve learning.
Charter Schools: Reform advocates promote charter schools as competitive drivers for school change and choice for parents. The best charter schools show success for students by trying out new teaching ideas, longer days and school years, small class sizes, and other approaches to improve learning. Never mind that additional tuition money is asked for to provide the tools for success. Studies show that a well-equipped public school is just as successful.
Accountability: If you must choose, keep an eye on accountability issues. The strongest current concern is evaluation of students, teachers, and schools. Testing, tenure, common core standards, and merit pay have their role in the decisions that will be made over several years before accountability is set in place for public schools. For example, in the latest speeches by and interviews with Arne Duncan, the United States Superintendent of Schools, the present emphasis will be on principal preparation and evaluation.
Remember, accountability affects you, your students, the kind of school where you teach, and the entire school community.