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Worst Week inWashington
The Fix’s By Chris Cillizza
where not to. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is tasked with
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keeping the party in the House majority after Nov. 2, began to make those un- kindest of cuts last week, walking away, financially and figuratively, from more than half a dozen Democratic candidates. Call them “the Expendables,” the first but certainly not last group to receive
s the end of each election season nears, the national parties have to make hard choices about where to spend their precious remaining campaign dollars and — more painful from a political perspective —
political pink slips from their party leaders. Among their ranks: Reps. Suzanne Kosmas (Fla.), Kathy Dahlkemper (Pa.) and Steve Driehaus (Ohio), as well as open-seat candidates in Tennessee, Indiana and Kansas. The spurned candidates reacted predictably — like when your longtime boy- friend or girlfriend abruptly announces that it’s over. Driehaus, a freshman congressman from the Cincinnati area, took to You-
Tube to deride his status as an Expendable. He also asked for money to “send a message to the DCCC and all Americans that when we voted for change in 2008, we meant it.” And Tennessee state Sen. Roy Herron, running for a Demo- cratic open seat in the 8th District, explained away the national party’s decision to cut bait as the result of his promised refusal to vote for Nancy Pelosi as House speaker, should he get the chance. Anger, of course, is just one stage of grief. Acceptance will come later. “The Expendables,” for being, well, expendable, you had the Worst Week in Washington. Congrats, or something.
Have a candidate for the Worst Week in Washington? E-mail
chris.cillizza@
wpost.com with your nominees.
Kathy Dahlkemper Suzanne Kosmas
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KLMNO
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2010
Steve Driehaus
Superintendents: Don’t scapegoat your teachers
by Randi Weingarten L
ast week in these pages, a group of school superintendents — two of whom, Chicago Public Schools chief executive Ron Huberman and D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, have just announced their resignations — laid out a “manifesto” for fixing America’s schools. Although lofty in its stated aim
to set a course for improving public education, the manifesto offered few concrete solutions, with one notable exception: shifting the sole re- sponsibility to teachers. Sadly, such a view ignores both the full extent of the superintendents’ own responsibilities and the reality that many factors affect children’s success. We at the American Federation of Teachers would suggest a different approach. Let’s come together — teachers, superintendents, principals, parents and community members — and develop a joint manifesto about how to best educate all of our kids. After all, superintendents have a responsibility not only to demand excellence and accountability from others, but also to ensure that teachers have the resources to help their students succeed. Educating children is complex work. No one approach will provide all children with the first-rate education they deserve. So we must simulta- neously build on what works and fix what’s broken, much as high- performing school districts and nations with high student-achievement rankings already do. In that spirit, here is our vision for how to create great schools for all children.
Collaboration matters. Earlier this month, the AFT brought superintendents, elected officials and teachers union leaders from 35 districts across the country to Washington to compare notes on successful reform ef- forts. Although such teamwork and shared responsibility rarely make head- lines, they are the essential ingredients for lasting change. In Lowell, Mass., for example, collabo-
ration between teachers and manage- ment has significantly raised student achievement. In Hillsborough County, Fla., district and union leaders worked together to overhaul teacher develop- ment, mentoring and evaluation prac- tices, also leading to significant achieve- ment gains. While the tactics vary from district to district, these success stories share a common approach rooted in col- laboration, or what one union president and her district superintendent call “solving problems, not winning argu- ments.”
Great teachers can be developed.
Not everyone is cut out for the class- room, as the superintendents’ manifesto rightly noted. But the manifesto missed key points: It can take new teachers time to reach their full potential, and it can take other teachers time to adjust to changing demands. The AFT has worked with experts and educators to create a framework for teacher devel- opment and evaluation that is being im- plemented in more than 50 school dis- tricts. Its purpose is to enable new and struggling teachers to improve, to help good teachers become great ones and to identify those who should not be in the profession. Effective evaluation systems can provide the feedback necessary to spur improvement, as well as an objec- tive standard for high-stakes decisions about which teachers just shouldn’t teach, rendering moot the issue of whether tenure protects bad teachers (as some people claim). In focusing so intently on what we ourselves have decried as the “glacial” process for teacher disciplinary pro- ceedings, the superintendents ignored another serious problem that has a dra- matic effect on educational quality: turnover. Nearly half of new teachers leave in their first five years, a churning
that costs American school systems $7 billion annually. Turnover has a steep educational price tag, as well. Research shows that teachers are most effective after they have three to five years’ ex- perience. While more must be done to prepare teachers before they step into a classroom, supporting and retaining good teachers is both an educational and an economic imperative.
Teachers need tools and support.
Educators can’t do their jobs well without opportunities for meaningful professional development, an effective curriculum and adequate working con- ditions. The AFT and other unions try to do our part, but we are ultimately nego- tiating with others to secure what teach- ers need. That’s where superintendents and principals come in. They have a re- sponsibility to ensure that teachers have the tools to help students achieve excel- lence.
High standards are important, but they’re just a start.
The AFT supports the Common Core
State Standards Initiative, an effort co- ordinated by the National Governors As- sociation’s Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Offi- cers. Thirty-six states plan to adopt this initiative. If implemented properly (no sure thing, in this time of austerity), these standards can help correct the se- rious problems that are a legacy of No Child Left Behind, including a narrow- ing of the curriculum and an overem- phasis on preparation for standardized tests.
But such standards are meaningless without training and assessments align- ed to them and, crucially, without time for teachers to prepare for them and for students to achieve them.
We must innovate — and imitate.
It is essential that we explore promis-
ing new approaches. At the same time, we must replicate and expand estab- lished, proven programs. Because there are endless ideas about how to improve teaching and learning, it is crucial that we look to the evidence. Where we see success, whether in public, private or charter schools, we should learn from it.
ANDREA BRUCE/THE WASHINGTON POST
Mayor Adrian Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee visit Benning Elementary on June 12, 2007, the day the mayor’s office took control of D.C. schools.
A new pact for better D.C. schools schools from B1
the first time. On our local exam, we’ve increased student achievement in all subject areas and grade levels. At the second- ary levels, these gains are unparalleled anywhere in the country. More stu- dents are graduating and ready to at- tend college, our schools are safer and our parents are more satisfied. A greater percentage of the system’s tax- payer dollars are going directly to the classroom, where they belong, instead of supporting a bloated and formerly inefficient central office. The opera- tional issues that long plagued our schools (undelivered books, late pay- checks and shoddy facilities) are quickly becoming complaints of the past. We absolutely believe the progress can continue. Our presumptive new mayor is a native Washingtonian who cares deeply about education. We leave behind arguably the most tal- ented and driven team that a school district administration could have. They are in the schools; they are in the central office; they are in other Dis- trict agencies partnering with DCPS to modernize schools and update and support technologies. All of these peo- ple and more are getting up every morning and doing the incredibly dif- ficult work that the cameras don’t see.
As leaders, we simply “blocked and tackled” so that they could get things done. Led by a new mayor, this team can deliver on what the school system owes your children. And whether you are a parent who sends your kids off to school each day trusting other adults’ eyes and guidance, or a citizen who passes children walking to school on your way to work, or a worker from outside the District who depends on city services, these are your children. We have laid a foundation, but the hardest steps are yet to come. Despite tremendous progress across all eight wards, there is still an incredibly long way to go before we can say that the school system is providing every child with the education that is theirs by right in this country. If the past 3½ years are any indication of how much persistence it will take to get this right, we know this work will remain the central challenge the city will face on its way to long-lasting economic stability, vibrant communities in every neighborhood and a high quality of life for all who live here.
When it came to ensuring broad
support for our work, we fell short. The lessons learned from that weak- ness, however, can become a strength. We reach out today to ask the entire community to embrace the school re- form efforts in the months and years
ahead. We know how determined the people of this city are, and if we collec- tively support Gray, his staff and the DCPS team with all the will and en- ergy we can summon, there will be no stopping our children. Gray and his team will face many
difficult choices, and no doubt some of the actions they’ll have to take — such as deciding what to do with teachers who are rated minimally effective — will stir controversy. As a community, it is our obligation to ensure that these leaders have the support they need to act courageously and aggressively. School reform will and must be driven by dedicated residents who under- stand the serious, long-term conse- quences of failing to fix the city’s foun- dering educational system. This time, however, the pact cannot merely be between two people. It must be forged among an entire community. Gray and the team at DCPS can suc- ceed if they have your support to do all that is necessary for the young people we are trusting our schools to shape. We ask you to learn from our mistakes, stand by the commitment to continue the momentum of the past 3½ years and, most important, believe that our children are capable of blowing your minds with their achievements. If you set high expectations and give them the tools they need, they will do it every time.
And we must follow the lead of top- performing countries, such as Finland, replicating their best approaches.
We accept and expect accountability, but we also demand shared responsibility.
Accountability is a tool, not an end- point. Our aim should be to help all chil- dren succeed. But when accountability, rather than shared responsibility, be- comes the goal, the focus shifts to how to do better on tests. In its recurring em- phasis on “performance,” the superin- tendents’ manifesto missed this crucial point. Everyone with responsibility for our children’s education and well-being, including teachers, administrators, elected officials, parents and students, should be held accountable.
Teachers can’t do this alone.
Public schools have an obligation to help all children learn, regardless of pa- rental engagement, native language or family income. But to succeed, educa- tors need help. Consider the District, where three out of 10 children were liv- ing in poverty last year. That’s why “wraparound services,” such as safe and enriching after-school programs, health services and tutoring, are so essential. As Jonathan P. Raymond, the superin-
Let’s come together — teachers, superintendents, principals, parents and community members — and develop a joint manifesto about how to best educate all of our kids.
tendent of the Sacramento public schools, wrote recently: “We have to stop blaming teachers for problems that have multiple causes, ranging from poor ad- ministrative oversight and accountabil- ity to a lack of parent engagement. I know how hard teachers work to edu- cate every child and challenge students at their ability level. We need to work equally hard to give our teachers the tools and supports they need to be suc- cessful. Let’s stop scapegoating and come together to find solutions that work.”
We must keep the public in public schools.
Strong schools help create vibrant communities, and engaged communi- ties in turn help our schools thrive. Our
children’s educations should not be the sole provenance of any one group, whether administrators or teachers. Parents, faith communities, business leaders and others are critical to a suc- cessful public school system. All must be partners in ensuring that every child gets a great education. No one, least of all those of us whose
life’s work is public education, will be satisfied until we have helped all stu- dents prepare for the demands of our ever-changing knowledge economy. Get- ting to that point, particularly during one of the toughest downturns of our lifetimes, will require that we all do more — and do it together.
Randi Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers.
Outlook’s editors welcome comments and suggestions. Write to us at
outlook@washpost.com.
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