Friday, August 23, 2013

Vic’s Statehouse Notes #151 – August 23, 2013

Dear Friends,

Controversy erupted into public view at the August 7th State Board meeting over vouchers for special education students. Rep. Behning, the Superintendent of the Catholic Archdiocese, the executive director of the Catholic Conference and the executive director of the Non-Public School Association all asked the State Board in public comments to reject the emergency rules that were on the action agenda. The State Board complied, tabling the matter until September and leaving the rules for special education vouchers in limbo.

House Enrolled Act 1003

Faithful readers of Vic’s Statehouse Notes will certainly remember HEA 1003, the voucher expansion law that I strongly opposed. Before the bill was passed, I described the conflict to come as part of my opposition with these words from “Notes #133” written on April 10, 2013:
“The Senate version requires new state rules from the State Board of Education regulating special education programs in private schools. State regulation of any program in a private school would be a controversial step, and state regulation of a complex program like special education will raise even more questions about the scope, the method and the accountability of the regulations needed to monitor special education services in private schools.

HB 1003 says: “The state board shall adopt rules under IC4-22-2, … for the provision of special education or related services to an eligible choice scholarship student who receives an amount under section4(2) of this chapter. The rules adopted under this section shall include annual reporting requirements, monitoring and consequences for noncompliance by an eligible school.

This seemingly is in direct conflict with the current voucher law which says (IC 20-51-4):

A nonpublic eligible school is not an agent of the state or federal government, and therefore:

(1) the department or any other state agency may not in any way regulate the educational program of a nonpublic eligible school that accepts a choice scholarship under this chapter, including the regulation of curriculum content, religious instruction or activities, classroom teaching, teacher and staff hiring requirements, and other activities carried out by the eligible school;

(2) the creation of the choice scholarship program does not expand the regulatory authority of the state, the state's officers, or a school corporation to impose additional regulation of nonpublic schools beyond those necessary to enforce the requirements of the choice scholarship program in place on July 1, 2011; and

(3) a nonpublic eligible school shall be given the freedom to provide for the educational needs of students without governmental control.

The conflict looming over special education regulation is clear.”
The General Assembly ignored the potential conflict and passed the bill. The conflict is now here.

Emergency Rules

HEA 1003 provided that emergency rules could be used to set regulations for special education vouchers. Emergency rules are good for one year while permanent rules requiring public hearings are promulgated. IDOE Director of Special Education Becky Bowman initiated stakeholder meetings this summer involving private school leaders and public school special education leaders to write the emergency rules for special education vouchers.

The public discussion of the draft rules in the State Board meeting on August 7th revealed two major controversies.

Controversy #1: Whether Special Education Money Goes to All Special Education Voucher Students or Whether Private Schools Can Keep Basic Tuition for Special Education Students but Opt Out of Providing Special Education Services

Rep. Behning and his allies want the State Board to interpret the written law to do things that he apparently left out of the law that he sponsored. In defining the voucher amount for special education students, the law says: “Section 4: The amount an eligible choice scholarship student is entitled to receive under this chapter for a school year is equal to the following: (1) … [basic tuition]… (2) In addition, if applicable, any amount that a school corporation would receive under IC 20-43-7 for the student if the student attended the school corporation.” IC 20-43-7 is the special education funding law.

The next section of the law says: “Section 4.5. (a) Notwithstanding 511 IAC 7-34-1(d)(4), a public school is not required to make available special education and related services to an eligible choice scholarship student who receives funds under section 4(2) of this chapter.” When the law was being debated, it seemed clear that special education students would become eligible for vouchers and the special education money would also follow them to the coffers of the private school by giving them a bigger voucher amount.

The dispute hangs on the phrase “if applicable” in Section 4(2).

IDOE is saying that special education students will all get the special education funding provided by IC 20-43-7, and therefore, the public school will no longer be involved with that student. They are interpreting “if applicable” to mean that state special education money would be added to the voucher “if the student qualifies for special education”, which is the common meaning that I and others took it to mean during the intense debate on voucher expansion last spring.

Rep. Behning, on the other hand, wants to retain the special education services of the public school if that is the request of the parent asking for a voucher. The private school would get the tuition support, but the special education services would be provided by the public school. The special education money would be administered by the public school. Voucher advocates are interpreting “if applicable” to mean that state special education money would be added to the voucher “if the student qualifies for special education and if the parent rejects special education services from the public school and selects to have all services from a private voucher school.”

Rep. Behning certainly didn’t make that clear in the wording of his law. Besides being unwise public policy, now we know that HEA 1003 was poorly written.

Such is the stuff of lawsuits.

Controversy #2: Giving the Special Education Money to Private Schools without Giving the Procedural Safeguards to Special Education Students and Parents in the Private School Program

Public school special education leaders are incensed that students and parents who enroll in special education programs in private schools will not be guaranteed the same procedural safeguards and rights to participate in individualized planning that Article 7 and IDEA now provide. They believe that the state special education money was provided in order to fulfill student and parent protections under the federal IDEA law established forty years ago.

HEA 1003 says: “The rules adopted under this section shall include annual reporting requirements, monitoring, and consequences for noncompliance by an eligible school.” After the first meeting with stakeholders, the IDOE watered down their first draft of procedural rules that would need to be followed by private schools, to the disappointment of public school special education advocates. This conciliatory gesture, however, was rejected by the private school forces, who claimed before the State Board that the procedural safeguards for parents were still too burdensome. For example, they reject specific deadlines for responses in favor of the phrase “within a reasonable time.”

You get the idea. Public school special educators who have spent their whole careers with specific deadlines and procedural rules that protect students and parents are incredulous that state special education money would flow to private schools without procedural safeguards.

Next Steps

Becky Bowman told the State Board that an Attorney General’s opinion would be needed regarding the meaning of the law in order to resolve the first controversy. Such a request would take additional time. In the meantime, additional stakeholder discussions would be held and the State Board would deal with the issue at the September meeting.

It is time to write members of the State Board on this issue. Urge them to protect parental and student procedural safeguards for all who get state special education money, whether they are in public schools or private schools. If state money is flowing to private schools for special education services, the parents involved should be guaranteed procedural rights as they are now in public schools.

Best wishes,

Vic Smith

ICPE is working to promote public education and oppose privatization of schools in the Statehouse. We need all previous members of ICPE to renew their memberships for the 2013-14 membership year which began July 1st. Please join us! To all who have recently renewed, we say thank you! We have reduced but not yet eliminated our debt from the General Assembly session. We need additional support to carry on our advocacy for public education. We need additional members and additional donations. We need your help!

WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW! We oppose new laws that---
  • allow your tax dollars to be diverted from public school students to fund tuition for religious and private schools.
  • allow for-profit companies to take over public schools.
  • allow tax breaks for home school textbooks but not for public school texts.
Join the INDIANA COALITION FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

THE ICPE IS A BIPARTISAN NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION OPPOSING SCHOOL VOUCHERS AND PRIVATIZATION.

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information.

Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998.

Monday, August 19, 2013

How to Write Letters to Congress

Time to write your congressperson or senator? Here are some tips on how to make sure your letter or email is read. This information comes from How to Write Letters to Congress.
How to Write Letters to Congress

People who think members of Congress pay little or no attention to constituent mail, are plain wrong. Concise, well thought out personal letters are one of the most effective ways Americans have of influencing law-makers. But, members of Congress get hundreds of letters and emails every day. Whether you choose to use the Postal Service or email, here are some tips that will help your letter to Congress have impact.

Think Locally
It's usually best to send letters to the representative from your local Congressional District or the senators from your state. Your vote helps elect them -- or not -- and that fact alone carries a lot of weight. It also helps personalize your letter. Sending the same "cookie-cutter" message to every member of Congress may grab attention but rarely much consideration.

Keep it Simple
Your letter should address a single topic or issue. Typed, one-page letters are best. Many PACs (Political Action Committees) recommend a three-paragraph letter structured like this:
  1. Say why you are writing and who you are. List your "credentials." (If you want a response, you must include your name and address, even when using email.)
  2. Provide more detail. Be factual not emotional. Provide specific rather than general information about how the topic affects you and others. If a certain bill is involved, cite the correct title or number whenever possible.
  3. Close by requesting the action you want taken: a vote for or against a bill, or change in general policy.
The best letters are courteous, to the point, and include specific supporting examples.
We've included a link to this information in the right hand menu under Information and Fact Sheets.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The A-F Grading System

From NEIFPE member, Phyllis Bush:

Lately I have grown so weary of all of the labeling and grading of children that when I drive down the road and see a car proudly sporting a bumper sticker which proclaims,"My child is an HONOR student at “X” school or when I see a school sign board boldly proclaiming, "We are an A school," I wonder if the purpose is to honor that child and that school, or is it to let others know that they are not good enough?

Since buildings are not people, I wonder how a building can receive a grade, unless of course, it comes from a building inspector. I also wonder how it must feel to students and teachers who go to a C school in a nearby neighborhood? I also wonder how it must feel to be a valedictorian at a school which receives a C, D, or F rating? Does that mean that all of the work that that student has done to excel academically is for naught? I also wonder if my neighborhood school receives a lower grade, what does that rating mean to my property value? What does it mean to my community?

Politicians keep saying that parents need to be able to choose which school their children should attend, but I would contend that they already have those choices. While our legislators assume that the reason a family would choose a school is because of a dubious letter grade, I would counter that people choose schools for a variety of reasons, the least of which is an arbitrary grade. Perhaps, many people choose their schools because they want their children to attend neighborhood schools within walking distance from home. Some choose schools because of programs like Montessori or New Tech or IB. Some choose schools because of music or arts programs. Some choose schools because they have talked to friends and neighbors and church members and found that a particular school seems like a good fit for their child. I have never heard anyone say that their kids are going to this or that school because of the State letter grade any more than I remember any kid ever coming back years later to walk down memory lane to remember some awesome test I gave.

Accountability has become the catch phrase of the reformers; however, for many reformers/policy makers/politicians/know-it-alls, data seems to be the only means of assessment that they understand. However, this flies in the face of what most educators know. If a test is to be meaningful, it should only be used for diagnostic or for evaluative purposes. Tests should give us information about what skills and concepts have been mastered and which skills and concepts still need more work. Most teachers can assess what is happening in their classrooms by walking up and down the aisles, by looking at student work, by looking and listening to what the students are saying and doing, and by reading the clues of the classroom environment. Can those things be measured on a data sheet? Probably not. However, most of us know a good school, a good class, a good teacher when we see it.

I have no issue with holding teachers to the highest standards; however, why do we not hold that same level of accountability to students, to parents, to administrators, and to policy makers? When we single out teachers and schools as the only ones who are to be held accountable, that does make me wonder what the real agenda is. Why in the world should we siphon even more tax dollars out of all already cash strapped schools to pay a dubious testing company with some mysterious grading system to come in to evaluate students, teachers, and whole school communities based on a test score which may or may not have any bearing on what the teachers are teaching or what the students are learning.

Perhaps, one solution might be to untie the hands of teachers, administrators, and school boards and to allow them to create programs and assessments which are instructionally sound. Instead of hampering the classrooms with the latest, greatest experts’ ideas, why not trust them by giving them the resources, the class sizes, and the support needed to improve what has been judged so harshly?

Perhaps we should include parents and teachers in this very important discussion.

[Reblogged by Diane Ravitch at Phyllis Bush: Choice, Letter Grades, and Accountability—For Whom?]

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

FWCS Says No to A-F

from NEIFPE's Anne Duff:
Congratulations to the Fort Wayne Community Schools Board of School Trustees on their resolution to dispense with the Bennett A-F grading system. However, as a parent with three children in Fort Wayne Community Schools, I would like to have seen the word “Bennett” removed.

Having said that, I don’t agree with any grading system that rates our schools. I believe these systems have been put into place to gradually weed out schools – whether they are good or “bad”- so that privatizers and corporate entities can come in and take over our public schools, making a profit on the backs of our children.

Who can judge a school? Do we need an A-F grading system that stigmatizes our schools? Do we need an outside accrediting agency to tell us how our school is doing? Absolutely not. The answer to who knows whether a school is successful is very obvious: parents. They know what they want for their children’s education. Parents want a curriculum that has high academic standards, is rich in the arts and social sciences, offers an adequate amount of time to eat lunch and have recess, has after school programs, updates technology regularly, uses a variety of methods to instruct children, and has teachers who love their students and love their jobs.

Steve Corona was spot on with his analogy of buying a gas stove. How did he ultimately decide which stove to buy? He valued the opinion of someone he trusted. We make choices by listening to someone we trust. If I were to choose a new school for my children, I would do my research online, but ultimately, I would ask those I trusted.

How did I find the schools my children currently attend? By talking with teachers and parents. Our teachers and parents are proud of their schools and want to share with others the great things that are happening. They both are in the “trenches” every day. Who would know more about what is going on and how schools are meeting the needs of our children? I don’t need some constantly changing, unexplainable A-F system to tell me where my kids should go to school; I want caring, passionate individuals to tell me what they see and what they feel and what they know.

Again, congratulations and thank you to the FWCS Board for taking huge steps in denouncing the reform movement with your resolutions against vouchers, charter schools, and now the A-F grading system. Your stand on what you believe is harmful to our children and to public schools was courageous.

Anne Duff, Fort Wayne

Friday, August 9, 2013

Action for the Week - August 9, 2013

Here is our action of the week. Let's write letters to the Indiana Inspector General, David Thomas and to the Indiana Attorney General, Greg Zoeller to ask them to investigate whether fraud has been committed by former Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Bennett and members of his staff.

Office of the Inspector General
315 West Ohio Street, Room 104
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
Telephone: 317-232-3850
Fax: 317-232-0707
Email: info@ig.in.gov

Indiana Attorney General's Office
Indiana Government Center South
302 W. Washington St., 5th Floor
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: 317.232.6201
Fax: 317.232.7979
E-mail: Constituent@atg.in.gov

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Vic’s Statehouse Notes #150 – August 8, 2013

Dear Friends,

The fiasco of Tony Bennett’s A-F system continues on. Last fall his flawed system was a prime factor in his electoral defeat and now emails revealing his request for a higher grade for Christel House Academy have led to his resignation from his position in Florida.

Yesterday at the State Board of Education meeting, Glenda Ritz said that the A-F probe requested by Governor Pence has “verified manipulation”. She gave no details pending completion of the full review being done in concert with external reviewers appointed by Speaker Bosma and Senate President Pro Temp Long. Legislative leaders asked their reviewers to report by September 2nd.

The flawed system continues to hurt schools that were not singled out for an upwardly revised grade like Dr. Bennett’s favored school.

Few commenting on this story week have clearly stated that the General Assembly voided this A-F system and mandated a new system by November 15, 2013. Calls for public confidence in the current system are futile now that we have learned that system was not only fatally flawed but was administered in a totally inappropriate manner. The schools of Indiana have had to endure a full year of invalid and now thoroughly discredited letter grades bringing untold damage to school reputations as they engage in high stakes local competition with voucher schools. The current A-F system should never be used again.

A Flawed System and HEA 1427

Last spring, long before the recent revelations of Tom LoBianca’s Associated Press story about Dr. Bennett’s emails, a consensus had emerged in the General Assembly that the A-F system was flawed and had to be replaced.

In Senate Bill 416 initiated by Senator Charbonneau and later sponsored by Senator Yoder, language was introduced in the Senate Education Committee on February 20th saying that the current A-F rule “is void. The publisher of the Indiana Administrative Code and Indiana Register shall remove this rule from the Indiana Administrative Code.” Sen. Banks began the discussion of the bill by saying he has personally become convinced that Indiana’s A-F system is flawed. The Senate Education Committee unanimously passed the bill that day 11-0.

Senate Bill 416 was later withdrawn, but its language landed in House Enrolled Act 1427 which passed the House 53-45 and the Senate 34-15 and was signed by Gov. Pence:
“Sec. 5. (a) Not later than November 15, 2013, the state board shall establish new categories or designations of school performance under the requirements of this chapter to replace 511 IAC 6.2-6. “
Since 511 IAC 6.2-6 is the A-F system, the law seems totally clear. We are to have a new A-F system by November 15th. The law reads on:
“The new standards of assessing school performance:

(1) must be based on a measurement of individual student academic performance and growth to proficiency; and

(2) may not be based on a measurement of student performance or growth compared with peers.”
These points correct the main flaw of the current system in using statistics in the Indiana Growth Model which compared the performance of students to other students, metrics known in the statistics world as “norm-referenced” measures. The preferred metrics measure students against fixed standards, known as “criterion-referenced” measures. The new law continues:
511 IAC 6.2-6 is void on the effective date of the emergency or final rules adopted under this section.
Thus, the new A-F rules could be adopted even before November 15, 2013 if the State Board passes an emergency rule.

Given the animosity toward and the general disrespect for the current A-F system on the part of the public, I thought that rules would be hammered out this fall in time to hand out letter grades for 2012-13 using the new system. Who would want to see another year of school letter grades using the old discredited system? It is not even clear that the growth statistics of the Indiana Growth Model, based on the bell shaped curve and processed by an out-of-state contractor, would be available for use this fall to comply with Dr. Bennett’s A-F system.

The Response of Governor Pence

Thus, Dr. Bennett’s A-F system was completely discredited and scheduled for demolition by the Republican-led General Assembly last spring. All this occurred by a vote on April 26th, long before any charges of letter grade manipulation were raised by Tom LoBianco’s story on July 28th. Given this history, the response by Gov. Pence reported in the Star on August 2nd is hard to understand:

“The Governor supports our A-to-F grading system and believes that the people of Indiana should have confidence in the integrity of that system, said Pence’s spokeswoman, Kara Brooks.” (Indianapolis Star, August 2, 2013, page A4)

Does that sound like the statement of the person who signed HEA 1427 into law, calling for a totally new A-F system by November 15th? Does he support our A-to-F grading system when the Republican majority in the General Assembly didn’t and passed a law to change it?

Now we know through email revelations that the flawed A-F system was also administered in a flawed and unjust way.

Anomalies Ad Infinitum

Dr. Bennett’s defense last week was that Christel House Academy’s “C” represented an anomaly in the system that needed to be repaired with last minute changes. The Star (August 2, page A4) quoted Dr. Bennett as saying, “We were watching all the anomalies. We were trying to get it right.”

His flawed system, however, had many anomalies, but he only responded to the one involving his biggest donor’s school. Consider a few other anomalies that he ignored:
1) National Blue Ribbon Schools

Crown Point’s MacArthur Elementary, after years of tremendous success in an attendance area with over 50% free lunch, was nominated by Dr. Bennett’s Indiana Department of Education and approved by the US Department of Education for the coveted National Blue Ribbon School award in August, 2012, the culmination of relentless effort by a dedicated staff. Spring test scores in 2012 once again showed well above 90% passing on ISTEP, confirming the school’s national award. The principal and staff were shocked to learn in September, 2012, that Dr. Bennett’s A-F system gave this nationally recognized school a B rather than an A, tarnishing its national award winning status. Direct verbal appeals to Dr. Bennett and a formal written appeal made no difference.

2) Early Childhood Schools

Liberty Early elementary in MSD Decatur got a D. It serves only pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students. These students have not been tested on ISTEP+. So how did they get a D? In Dr. Bennett’s flawed system, early childhood centers are given grades based on the average of the elementary schools that they feed students to. The elementary students are tested in grades 3 through 6, so Liberty Early elementary was graded on the performance of students that the school had not enrolled for three years.

3) Reconstituted Schools

William Bell School #60 in the Indianapolis Public Schools got an F. It serves only K through 2 students who have not taken ISTEP+. It reopened in the fall of 2012 as a Reggio magnet school under the direct guidance of Butler University. Nearly all of the students were new under the new magnet program philosophy, yet under the feeder school rules based on students from past years, Dr. Bennett celebrated its rebirth offering a new philosophical option by giving it an F.

4) Injustice to High Scoring Students

One frustrated principal in northern Indiana had a bright 5th grader who has scored Pass+ since the 3rd grade who in 2012 scored 39 scale score points above the Pass+ cut off score for English/Language Arts. Yet, based on the bell curve statistics the student was marked as “Low Growth.” The principal asked “How is that possible?” with an added comment “It is so maddening.”

5) Perfect Scores

A central Indiana superintendent and principal verified that an elementary student with a perfect score for two years in a row was labeled as “Low Growth.” An appeal to IDOE on made no difference.

Yes, that said “perfect score.”
If you ask any school leader in Indiana, they will share their own anomaly about a particular unjust letter grade, many related to counting English tests given to recent immigrant students who don’t speak English or to counting test scores for cognitively disabled students as if they were not disabled.

Given this record of flaws, the law dismantling the current A-F system and now emails indicating the rules were manipulated, it would be a travesty to use these rules one more year to grade our schools using the 2013 ISTEP+ data. Schools should not be damaged again by this flawed system that was apparently easily manipulated to help favored schools. The peer based statistics should be sent packing and never confuse Indiana parents again.

Going forward, any plan to use Dr. Bennett’s discredited metrics one more time should be abandoned. Emergency rules should be in place “no later than November 15, 2013” in accordance with HEA 1427. Last year, school letter grades were announced on October 31st. New rules need to be in place by that time this year to report grades for the 2012-13 school year if state leaders expect the public to regain any respect for A-F school letter grades in Indiana.

This ongoing fiasco must end.

Best wishes,

Vic Smith

ICPE is working to promote public education and oppose privatization of schools in the Statehouse. We need all previous members of ICPE to renew their memberships for the 2013-14 membership year which began July 1st. Please join us! To all who have recently renewed, we say thank you! We have reduced but not yet eliminated our debt from the General Assembly session. We need additional support to carry on our advocacy for public education. We need additional members and additional donations. We need your help!

WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW! We oppose new laws that---
  • allow your tax dollars to be diverted from public school students to fund tuition for religious and private schools.
  • allow for-profit companies to take over public schools.
  • allow tax breaks for home school textbooks but not for public school texts.
Join the INDIANA COALITION FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

THE ICPE IS A BIPARTISAN NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION OPPOSING SCHOOL VOUCHERS AND PRIVATIZATION.

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information.

Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

That's a lot of numbers, Grandma!


by Phyllis Bush, NEIFPE Co-Founder

(Posted on Facebook)

I remember a few years ago when my grandson Evan asked me how old I was. When I told him, he said, "Gee, Grandma. That's a lot of numbers!"

....and so it goes. I am now 70, and that really is a lot of numbers. Other than having to recalibrate my age on my treadmill, 70 doesn't feel a whole lot different from 60 or 50 or 40. Still, it sounds really old even though inside my head I am still that young girl who is bumbling along, trying to figure things out.

As I have grown older, I have become more aware of who I am. I will always be a teacher. Helping others discover their strengths and find their own voices is what I love doing. Standing up for, respecting, and defending the voiceless is the fire that has burned within me for as long as I can remember. Pushing back against injustice is what gives me a reason to get up each morning.

In recent years, I have been troubled by the education reform policies which hurt children, teachers, and schools. Of course, I realize that public schools are not perfect, but the answers to improving education should and must come from those whose lives are impacted. If we are really serious about fixing what needs to be fixed in our schools and in our society as a whole, perhaps we need look no farther than Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Perhaps we need to start with something so basic as food and shelter.

Recently, I have been interested in Moral Mondays in North Carolina and the Nuns on a Bus, both of which have caught the attention of the media and may be a way of changing the narrative. Rather than labeling those in need as the 47% who want free stuff, we should see them as fellow travelers on this planet who need a hand up rather than a hand out. The disconnect between the media narrative and who we really are is that most of us rush to help when we hear about a tragedy or a disaster because our fundamental nature is to help one another. However, when we are fed a constant diet of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, we see people as "the other." When we strive for the Common Good of all, then we might find a sense of unity.

After all of these years, I know that literature is life and that literature can be instructive. Looking back and looking forward, perhaps the words of Tennyson are timely:
Come, my friends.
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
the sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die...

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are---
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Notes From July 20 Second Four-State Regional Conference

Click here for a pdf version of these notes.

Issues in Education

Illinois

  • High Stakes Testing – impact on teaching, CCSS, connection to evaluation
  • Special Education funding, testing
  • State funding – closing of schools, laying off teachers
  • Informing others with correct information


Indiana

  • Get parents and community members involved/educated on issues
  • Stories – impact of school closures, loss of teacher/librarians/etc.
  • Diversity – acknowledge areas where public schools need to improve for students of color/students in poverty
  • Loss of civil liberties/destruction of community
  • Disconnect with legislators and what is happening in classrooms/lack of understanding
  • Financial Inequalities/inconsistent rules for accountability
  • High Stakes Testing
  • Funding/Privatization
  • Accountability/Discrepancy with private schools
  • Change the political climate/Political will
  • Have transparency with charters
  • Parental education/empowerment
  • Finding candidates to run
  • “Edubusiness” – testing, voter education, telling the masses


Michigan

  • Statewide network
  • Appeal to regular citizens
  • Relationships with media


Ohio

  • Vouchers/Unfunded Mandates/Charter Schools
  • High Stakes Testing
  • Grading System/School Ratings/Report Cards


~~~

SOLUTIONS from groups/strategies

1) Social media and networking
Free
Website
Blogs
*Create Facebook page
Identify local news people who are like minded to get the word out.
2) Show support for educators who are demoralized

3) Remind people about Glenda Ritz’s success

4) Ask teacher who involved they are?

5) Find a place to gather and letter writing campaign – make it social and fun
engages local business people if we meet @their establishment
6) Retired teachers are a “powerhouse of energy and experience” – use them

7) Share info wherever you go – politely turn the conversation and engage strangers

8) Identify those who showed run for office and help find them money to run

9) Hold forums and meetings and invite parents and business people – to create allies w/in community

10) Share stories whenever

11) Congratulate lawmakers when they do something “right” regarding education

12) Use PBL – all about community involvement

13) Letter writing Campaign – to newspapers
-used a model to help people w/the formatting and templates
-schedule time at local library
-providing structural advice
14) Go into PTA or PTO meetings w/Ppt presentation (like NEIFPE)

15) Go to county fairs, rotary clubs, farmers’ markets, w/info – educate general public

16) Involve youth –tap into Student council – have them bring it up at their PTA/PTO if they are already involved w/it

17) Create opportunities to talk F-2-F w/local legislators and/or mall groups

18) Phrase issues in non partisan terms - common to all who are concerned

19) Publish the money trail – help make it transparent

20) Continue to advocate for State Superintendent of Education as an elected position
Unless(?) State Board of Ed being appointed

21) PURE had a play–in (w/children and parents)
- to demonstrate importance of play in elementary school – in a public place – state gov.
22) Have parents come into classrooms to observe

23) Show how, statewide, there are common groups

24) Legislative fax – use a computer program to create 1 message to send to people

25) To hook parents into the issues, ask them their Qs – harder tests, have them sign petitions (ESP. about testing)

26) Clarify what we define quality education as being, instead of what’s wrong

27) Look for an app that could be used to disseminate info

28) Run for the school board

29) Boycott Walmart

30) Create Speakers Bureau of knowledgeable people who can speak to groups to bring people together

31) Increase public awareness of what’s happening in schools by noting:
- public vs. that voucher $ goes to private schools and religious schools
- the impact of high stakes testing to students, $ being sent
- arm people w/data to educate others
- collect data – local, state, national
- listen to people’s stories
- identify passionate people (parents, teachers, students)
32) Even if passionate people are not comfortable talking in front of a formal body, perhaps an informal setting (such as neighborhood party, etc.)

33) Ohio group
- Recruit key community leader
- Use email, social media to disseminate info
- Be on offensive, rather than defensive
(Troy, MI did advertising where they flipped the story to draw
attention to the issue; book burning)
34) Keep things topical – current issues

35) Have parents come in and take tests to see how their kids feel when they take them

36) Superintendent’s blog (MI) – 3x a week, publishes personal letters from public school (teachers?) and then responds to them – look @ this model and use in your district – he addresses state legislation, etc.

37) Use simple devices (like NEIFE’s green shirts) to visual our groups/issues

38) Build alliances w/other groups w/similar issues dealing w/public services

39) Race to the Top = green laces= supporting those schools who are not succumbing to Race to Top pressures

40) Lindsay Smith - reporter on NPR – supports public education in Michigan

41) How our schools are not failing - create Ppt and share with other states
- funding
- comparing charters to public educ.
42) Have quarterly meetings w/other state groups

43) Share info – civic organization, churches, schmooze local media

44) Create brochure and handouts – “Stamp out complacency”

45) Have actual action items for people to do: contact 10 people you know

46) Concrete plan of action after you meet

47) Make stickers w/QR codes that led them to education advocacy database

48) Moral Mondays in N. Carolina might serve as a model.
- church groups
- NAACP
- others
* go to state capitol - or city - every Monday and visit a particular agency
49) Road trip – ALEC convention : Aug 7-9 in Chicago

50) Visit NEIFPE website, etc and feel free to use/copy that info to create own sites, Ppt. (Please give NEIFPE credit)

51) Hand out your organization’s business cards wherever you go

52) A public education app that anyone could go to to get educated on what’s going on
- Friends of Public
- Indiana Edu app?
- Ohio Edu app
- Michigan Edu app
~~~

Final Word on How to Proceed

At the end of our Four State Conference in Fort Wayne on July 20, it was decided that we would open a private Facebook page for the Midwest Friends of Public Education. That page is now open and available for attendees of the conference. In order to join you must have a Facebook account. Go to the Midwest Friends of Public Education page and let us know you would like to join. One of the administrators will add you to the group. We intend to have at least one administrator from each of the four states.

You may find the group by searching for Midwest Friends of Public Education or using the URL,

https://www.facebook.com/groups/164025630451759/

For those of you who aren't on Facebook, the NPE-Grassroots email group is still available. If you are not currently a member of that group and wish to be, just request to join sending an email to NEIFPE@gmail.com and we can add you to the list.

We'd like these both of these groups to be a place where like-minded supporters of public education can share ideas, get support and advice for our work, and share successes as we organize in our communities to support public education.

~~~

Solution/Strategy Charts

Solutions
1. Social media/networking (low cost, many on it)/website
2. Showing support for teachers
3. “We did it for Glenda…” involving teachers (this impacts you, you DO have power)
4. Letter coffee parties (after school)
5. Retired teachers’ luncheons
6. Relentlessly share info wherever we are (stores, churches, clubs, etc.)
7. Empowering students (who are looking to flex new muscles)
8. Funding/identifying candidates (create forums for Q/A) “We’re looking for pro-education people.”
9. Invite business people into schools (informs, creates allies)
10. Story sharing (“Why are public forums held when I’m working?”)(Maybe we can get relatives to go)
11. Congratulate lawmakers doing the right thing.
12. Engage students in projects
13. Inform residents/businesses of costs of A-F rating to them
- Your home value could be affected
- Try opening up business in a “D” district


Outreach
- Writing Campaign (blogs)
- PTO/PTA and Schools
- Community (Farmer’s Market, County Fair, Rotary Club)
- Involving Youth (student government, journalism)
- Advocates in media or in power position


Strategies

Play-In (demonstrate lack of EC play)
Have parents observe classroom
Statewide groups to show united front in state legislature
Stories – parents in charter schools
Legislative fax – computer program
Hook parents w/testing issue
- Give tests to parents
- Forums
- Petition
- New tests will be harder
Define quality education
Create an app? To get people together
Walmart boycott
Run for school bd – where would $$ come from?
Billboard – full page ad (WalMart?) “Why would anyone who supports public schools shop at WalMart? For more info see…”
Upwardly site- post videos
Speakers bureau – TedX




Goal: Increase awareness of contemporary educational issues
What:
• Success rate of public vs. charters
• How vouchers affect public schools
• Voucher money goes to religious (even non-Christian)
• Effects of high-stakes testing – time, money, emotions
How:
• Collect data – local, state, national
• Listen to people’s stories
• Identify passionate people to convey message (parents, teachers, students)




Identify and Recruit key members for steering committee
• Identify issues w/steering committee
• Education through outreach
- Facebook – social media
- Email
- “He told 2 friends, she told 2 friends”
- [Stories: Heart and Wallet]
• Build offense – Proactive
• Flipping issue – Book Burning
• Impactful actions
• Use Topical Events
- Springboro Strike
- Legislative action – Cols Ed Commission
- Testing time – Parents take kids test
- State budget
• Show me the money
• The money is gone, how did it hurt our kids, where did it go





- Networking (in and out of the school communities)
• Utilization of social media
• Mobilize teachers – Education community
- Visibility in communities:
• Parades
• T-shirts
• Community events – provide facts
- Political Impact at Election Time
- Build alliances w/police and fire, other in public sphere





Strategies
- Lindsey Smith
- PowerPoint
- ALEC PowerPoint
Future Strategies
• Quarterly mtgs./Lansing to share information
- Mission
- Vision statement
- Goals
- Action plan
- Slogan
• PowerPoint presentations/speakers bureau – around state
- House parties
- Civic organizations
- Church
• Develop blog/FB page – 2-3 page/posts
• Google group – point person for each organization
• Create shortened PowerPoint for media
• Create brochure trifold
Stamp out complacency!!