Cooking the Books: The "New Normal" in Education

Even though the "Texas Miracle" was outed as a myth, teachers have still been pressured to slice and dice the curriculum into dishomogenized fragments, then to measure growth with such tools as "nonsense words" like some nightmare of jabberwocky...

Even though we know that children's environments have a lot more to do with their achievement than curriculum or who their teachers are...

Even though we can read about suspicious erasure patterns occurring in DC schools, causing test scores to "rise", well, suspiciously...

Where are the superintendents who defend their dedicated teaching staffs from all the bullying that is going on?  So far, I have found exactly one in the whole United States with the testicular fortitude to stand up for his teachers.

Why?  Didn't most superintendents begin their careers in the classroom?   Don't they feel uncomfortable about seeing their teachers burnt at the stake, day after day, state after state? 

Or are the quiet ones in cahoots with the attackers?  I wonder.

Hypocrisy in Education Reform

From the Washingtron Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/school-reformers-hypocritical-blame-game/2011/04/07/AFDRZFyC_blog.html

But here’s the hypocritical part of this blame game: While reformers like to blame outside forces for their own problems, they still want to hold teachers responsible for outside forces that contribute to a student’s lousy performance on a standardized test.

Today’s school reform is all about using standardized tests to grade schools, students and teachers. It started with former president George Bush’s No Child Left Behind, and has continued with President Obama’s Race to the Top. States are changing laws to make sure that a good part of a teacher’s evaluation and pay is linked directly to how well their students do on the tests, even if the kids come in hungry, or sick, or exhausted, or mentally ill.

What are the chances that reformers might see the hypocrisy in their positions?

As my kids like to say when I ask about the chances that they will clean their rooms: Slim and none.

We need to get used to the "New Normal"  and we need to change the way we do business. 

A quote from a superintendent. 

I feel like I'm tottering on the precipice of a volcano. Oh, and here comes a guy with a bone through his lip.  Is he going to push me over or save me? 

Money talks.  The other stuff walks.  Unless it's supported by scientifically based research paid for by...money.  Anyone else connecting the dots here?

How Big is a Billion?

The state of Ohio has a budget shortfall of 8 billion dollars.  (Gasp.)  To close this gap, our esteemed elected representatives have signed Senate Bill 5.  Busting the unions in the chops will bring prosperity to the masses, they assume.

Remember driver's ed?  Never assume.

Just what is a billion, anyway?  A public school teacher in the middle of his or her career probably makes about $50,000.  Every 2 years, that's $100,000.  In 20 years, a teacher can make a cool million. 

A minimum wage worker can earn about $20,000 a year, if he or she never gets sick or goes on vacation.  The kids qualify for free or reduced lunch.  To make a million, this person would have to work for 50 years.  Till death do us part.

To make a billion, the teacher would have to work for 20,000 years.  The minimum wage person would have to work for 50,000 years.

Let's say a wealthy relative departs the physical realm and leaves you a billion dollars.  You want to be cautious with your money, so you decide to put it in a bank savings account.  Your first problem is that each bank only guarantees your deposits up to $500,000.  So you will have to distribute your money among 2,000 different banks. 

Each year, your deposits yield a paltry 2% interest.  You have to report this on your tax return as income, even if you use Turbo Tax.  Well, 2% of a billion is 20 million dollars.  Uh-oh.  How can you stop the greedy IRS from getting your hard-earned interest income?  After all, you had to visit many states to find 2,000 different banks.  Different branches of the same bank don't count.

What might the government do if it took 43% of your 20 million?  Why, it might approach solvency, especially if it made a habit of doing this to you and those like you who possess vast wealth.  The government might even come up with a scheme to repair decrepit schools and pave crumbling highways, or provide affordable health care to all.  But those aren't your responsibilities.  Certainly, if people are unhappy with their neighborhood schools and streets, they should just move to a neighborhood with nicer schools and smoother streets.  Why should the wealthy be expected to bear more than their share of social burdens?

There is one easy way to avoid paying tax on your interest income.  Form a "foundation".  Be a philanthropist.  But only give to those who share your particular worldview. 

It works for these guys.



TAXPAYER ROBBERY

Attention, Ohio Taxpayers

You may not have noticed, but your elected officials in Columbus have stolen your money today.

Just like corporations paying a minimal amount of income tax on earnings of billions, this crime is perfectly legal. 

(You might be thinking, is this crybaby underworked overpaid whole-summer-off with pay teacher trying to trick me with her political propaganda?) 

Wait for it.  See, in Ohio, there used to be local control of schools.  That means the taxpayers decided what kind of schools they wanted, how many teachers those schools should hold, when to purchase new textbooks, whether to close buildings or build new buildings or fix up the old buildings, and many more decisions.  Ditto police, fire, and many community services.  The taxpayers made these decisions by voting for, or not voting for, levies. 

Today, our elected representatives in Columbus have taken it upon themselves to wipe their butts with the votes of all the people who vote and care about their local communities' levy issues. 

See, they think you won't notice.  They have their money lined up to smear public employees with a glitzy campaign and tv ads. 

You, the taxpayers, chose to support your local schools, libraries, and safety services in your communities at the level that you were willing to support.  YOU VOTED.  Maybe you think a classroom with 25 students is a good ratio for your children to be able to learn.  You expect the taxes YOU pay to maintain this ratio.  Now our elected representatives have decided that there should be no limit on class size.  They think they'll save money by hiring fewer teachers to teach bigger classes.  So why aren't YOU getting a rebate on your property tax bill?  

But not only will your children NOT be getting the education you voted for.  As soon as the budget cut hits the school districts, they will end up in Fiscal Watch.  On that fateful day, your school boards will need to ask you to pass additional levies just to avoid state takeover!  So your taxes will either increase, or your school will be run by the Ohio Department of Education. 

Not to worry you, but the governor is hoping to replace many of your education degree-holding career professional educators with Teach for America recruits, who have a grand total of 5 weeks' training before being entrusted with teaching the students whose education is financed by your tax dollars!  They'll probably stick around loyally for their two-year commitment before heading off to a better paying job in the business world.  This is an example of Senate Bill 5 "creating jobs". 

As an added slap in the face, our elected representatives in Columbus want to expand virtual academies and charter schools.  Way to spend levy funds without honoring the wishes of those who voted for the levies IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Why is our state so broke, anyway?  Where DID our tax dollars go?  Who has paid 8 billion dollars less into the treasury? Certainly not the working class!   Maybe you should ask your elected representatives.

Here I Go

Hi!  If you're reading this, thank yourself--you must be a teacher!


If you're like me, you're probably becoming weary from holding all that vomit in your mouth every time you listen to the news or read anything related to education.  


Did you ever stop to think about the truth here?  I mean, if teachers are just a bunch of selfish commies with big paychecks all summer long and lavish retirement funds and guaranteed jobs for life,  if schools are doing such a lousy job that nobody can read anymore and our society is on the verge of crumbling right before our eyes, why hasn't it already happened?  


Today's teachers aren't that different from the teachers of a generation ago.  We went to the same colleges.  We took the same courses. Think of us as a software update.  You know, teacher 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, etc.  We're just slightly different iterations of the same program.  Some things changed for the better:  I think inclusion in special ed is a change for the better.  Some things got worse.  I think high stakes testing has so narrowed the curriculum that I am less of an artiste tweaking my lessons to engage the interests of students that I see first as people with varied interests, more of a human Pez dispenser upchucking discrete chunks of knowledge upon an unsuspecting and bored captive audience...


But if teachers are so evil and inept that Newsweek's cover implores readers thus: "We MUST Fire Bad Teachers", then the LEARNED leaders of our country had something similar to what we are today.  So they must be calling themselves stupid.  But they're too dumb to realize it.  Honest.