Teachers and Alliance AFT
Submitted by History on Fri, 07/06/2007 - 01:23.
As a teacher in DISD for 32 years and a member of Alliance/AFT since 1979, some of the comments about our President, Aimee Bolender, need clarification.
I also serve on the Alliance/AFT compensation committee.
In 1997, Alliance was overwhelming elected by teachers to be the union to gather input on wages, hours and working conditions from the other two organizations.
One problem developed in this new process. Despite the direct orders of at least two superintendents, both CTD and ATPE have refused to participate fully in the process.
In 2000, encouraged and supported by Alliance/AFT, DISD offered its teachers a stunning new 10-step salary schedule--one of the best in the country.
The idea was to attract and hold quality teachers by showing that during a career in DISD, in 10 years; you would be at the maximum step (the top).
In contrast it takes teachers in RISD 40 or more years to get to top pay.
DISD used this remarkable tool to recruit worldwide.
As they informed prospective teachers of the 10-step schedule, and as the years passed, a major problem developed: new and veteran teachers were not moving up a step a year.
DISD policy calls for a step a year, but a full step only happened once (05-06). In other years the Board simply waives it's own policy.
In other years, percentage raises were granted instead of steps.
This year, DISD said that the reason that steps were not given every year was because the amount of money from one step to the next was too great. They could not afford to give such large raises.
Some teachers said they were confused by this "percentage-no-step" method and wanted a step a year.
Administration, at first, offered no raises this year.
If it were not for the leadership team of Alliance/AFT, teachers and support employees would have been the big losers, and the DISD administration would have pulled a fast one.
In conclusion, the new 20-step schedule is a step backwards for teachers.
However, it was negotiated by our CTO (Alliance/AFT) and all teachers and support employees got raises and a higher DISD contributions to health insurance.
As far as the other organizations are concerned, it is like a "second-string quarterback" that everybody cheers for while sitting on the bench.
When the "second-stringer" actually participate in the game, well, it is a whole new ball game.
Steve Goodall
[Ed Note: Teacher's salaries are always balancing acts. There is plenty of money in the District to do virtually anything we want to do (and then some). However, poor judgment and unaccountability always seem to rule. Hopefully, we'll eventually find a senior administration set that will be able to get a handle on it.]
CTO rhetoric
The CTO is a joke, and everybody who actually works to get real change in the district knows it. “Direct orders” from two superintendents! Ha! We have freedom of speech, fella. We don't need their permission to address a governmental body!
I tell you what, why don’t we rotate who gets to lead the CTO? Let’s have ATPE do it for the next 3 years, then NEA Dallas, then back to your group. Scared? Come on, CTO is only a group formed to speak for ALL teachers, right? What is AFT afraid of? Can you swear that endorsed candidates don't have to promise to not disband the CTO? And what exactly is wrong with three unions representing their people? Why should theirs be only one voice?
"CTD" is an out of date term, catch up on those guys. NEA Dallas and ATPE withdrew from the meetings of the CTO because anything AFT wanted to do, that was it. Anything the other two unions said was conveniently left out. That way, AFT claims all the credit. I have personally worked issues on teacher matters, gotten results and watched AFT try to take credit in their emails. AFT loves to file grievances instead of working with people, because then they look like they are accomplishing something.
But that is okay. Try to become the only union in town. That is what Big Labor (your beloved AFL-CIO) is all about. Monopoly. It is healthier to have more than one union, since AFT here receives money from the district to teach staff development classes. That is independence? That is standing up for teachers? Quit taking DISD money. Offer the classes for free.
Oh, and I warned Dallas.Org that AFT cannot handle any commentary on their tactics. Thank you for proving my point.
[Ed Note: I'm not sure this is totally constructive, but there are obviously some folks who are dissatisfied with representation from *any* union. The one thing I'll hand Aimee is she's always there at every board meeting making their presence known. I am aware of several times she's handled some fairly challenging incidents--while maintaining professionalism and decorum.
Those who read this website know that I've been a critic of AFT/Alliance and Aimee Bolender in the past. I haven't agreed with her on everything she's done. However, I know some current and former DISD board members who are critics of mine. Heck, I bet Aimee has disagreed with me in the past!
We all have disagreements, but at the end of the day, it's how we handle them. I hope Aimee will take some time to respond to this thread.]
Teacher Raises
Are these raises at all tied to their TAKS scores? Also, do you know if the teachers that were a part of the reorganizations have all found new employment within or outside of the district? Do they have AFT support in any way?
[Ed Note: No, unfortunately, we don't tie pay to performance in DISD (deliberately trying to open up a can of worms here)!]
Pay for Performance
As a Dallas ISD teacher, I don't mind being held accountable for my students growth. However, it would only be fair in the following situation:
1. Provide my students a pretest within the first few days of school. You can even have a monitor or outside agency test them ---- keep the results to yourself if you want!
2. Allow me to teach these students for at least 160-165 days of the 180+ days of school....without taking away instructional time for benchmark testing, in-house school-wide assessments, writing lock-ins, non-educational field trips, etc.
3. Test my students (the same group I started with the first month of school) during the last couple of days of school, of course under the same circumstances that they were given the pretest.
If the students don't make sufficient progress - look at my teaching ability AND do something about the identified weaknesses. If they do show a reasonable amount of growth - then consider giving me some type of incentive.
My point is this...there are many factors that effect the end result ("the percentage passing"). The students that come to our classes at the start of a new year do not necessarily come with accurate test data from the previous year. Thus comparing results from another school, another teacher, even another district is hardly fair. The students that are tested at the end of the year could have been in your room for as little as a few days, a few weeks, or a few weeks. I can't work miracles with a child in such a short amount of time.
I work hard because I want to see my students learn. This is my true motivation.
I wish someone could explain to me the rationale for providing the incentive to the building principal (whose primary function seems to be to nag the weeks before testing and to ask who needs to be absent the day of testing).
Wow! After saying all of that I guess I feel better.
[Ed Note: OK, now whose going to come up with that "pre-test"?]
Teacher Raises
No. The raises teachers received this year in the Dallas ISD are not tied to student test scores. However, it is the plan of the Administration and the Dallas Achieves Commission to move us to an evaluation and compensation plan that IS TIED DIRECTLY to test scores.
Principals' evaluations and incentives are already tied to test scores. They can receive a $10,000 or $7,500 bonus based on test scores and principals going to one of the fourteen Superintendent's Learning Community schools this year will receive another $10,000 bonus. However, after they receive that bonus, future bonuses are based upon the test scores of their schools.
Likewise, teachers can also receive a $6,000 bonus for going to one of those Learning Community schools. Then, their future bonuses would be tied to their students' scores.
Dr. Moses tried tying teacher evaluations to test scores a few years ago. That idea failed because NEA-Dallas went to the Trustee members and convinced them that there is NO FAIR WAY to tie teacher evaluations, and thus salaries, to their students' test scores. There are too many variables that a teacher does not have control over to make this fair. Alliance-AFT sat idly by because they were going to be part of Moses' retraining for teachers whose scores weren't high enough. ATPE said nothing, which is their usual.
However, Dr. Hinojosa has something Moses never had: A sound 5 vote majority on the Board. So, unless their is some change on the Board of Trustees, Dr. Hinojosa will likely get his plan of tying evaluation and compensation directly to test scores passed.
It will be up to organizations like NEA-Dallas, ATPE and Alliance-AFT to make sure this doesn't happen. Alliance-AFT especially, since they have given campaign contributions to most, if not all, of the Trustees currently on the Board. It will be interesting to see if they're money actually "talks" since they are the supposed "voice" of Dallas ISD employees.
NEA-Dallas will put up a fight and not back down for political expediency and I will be surprised if ATPE even raises and eyebrow.
[Ed Note: It will be interesting if Hinojosa can actually get pay tied to performance.]
Teacher Raises
I am glad that there is more than one union but we have to be honest here. In your post, you said the following:
"Dr. Moses tried tying teacher evaluations to test scores a few years ago. That idea failed because NEA-Dallas went to the Trustee members and convinced them that there is NO FAIR WAY to tie teacher evaluations, and thus salaries, to their students' test scores. There are too many variables that a teacher does not have control over to make this fair. Alliance-AFT sat idly by..."
I was at the board meetings during that time and there was a very large presence of Alliance-AFT members during the meetings. I remember because they all showed up wearing red shirts. They couldn't fit all of them in the meeting room. Someone from Alliance-AFT spoke each week and they had research based information to back up their claims. NEA-Dallas had people there and they also spoke. They presented a resolution as I recall. I believe it was also research based. I think the comments from members of both unions helped to sway the board toward the decision that was ultimately made.
Scores are not a fair way to evaluate or to even motivate teachers and have not been proven effective in improving student success in any district where they have been used. DISD is now looking at the research and is finding more effective ways to improve student achievement. The Safe and Civil Schools initiative and Dallas Achieves are examples.
Putting other unions down and saying things about them that are not true will not do anything to help the children in DISD. It would be much more useful for all of them to find ways they can work together. As you said, it is the only way teachers can prevent salaries from being tied to test scores. We are all working on educating and graduating students ready for college and the workforce. Lets do it together. We can't afford to lose good teachers over this salary issue.
[Ed Note: So what is the way you weed out the bad teachers and reward the good ones?]
Teachers' Union Wars
As the other "Anonymous" wrote--I did not know there so many of us!---the TRUTH is that one union, NEA, fought it all the way.
Yes, wearing red shirts sends one message, and that is great. What the average teacher does NOT see or even know, are the meetings the union presidents have with the top brass of DISD. At those meetings, AFT definitely did NOT stand up for teachers. In fact, they do not do their job as CTO to represent all three unions, four if you count TCTA. They only say what they want, which is why the other unions want to dispose of the CTO. It is a sham. But since the AFT leaders have the school board council members sign pledges to NOT do away with the CTO when they accept endorsements, well....
I agree, one union cutting another is not good, but the TRUTH sometimes hurts, especially when some people stake their career jobs as reps doing just that, telling one story and doing another behind closed doors.
Do not forget which union SUPPORTED privitization (Edison Schools) in DISD, and that was AFT. NEA (then known as CTD) opposed it so much, they sued.
So you tell me, which union represents what is best for the students?
Oh, and those red shirts? Almost half of them were EMPLOYEES of AFT, not current DISD teachers.
[Ed Note: Yes, we have way too many "anonymous" posters and I've wanted to write something about that. There is really no reason for anyone to fear using his or her name here. If someone retaliates against you for what you write on Dallas.Org, we'll make it front page news. It helps for others to know that others are watching.]
Anonymous Posting Crucial
In response to Mr. Gwinn's (editor's note) regarding the following quote:
"[Ed Note: Yes, we have way too many "anonymous" posters and I've wanted to write something about that. There is really no reason for anyone to fear using his or her name here. If someone retaliates against you for what you write on Dallas.Org, we'll make it front page news. It helps for others to know that others are watching.]"
Mr. Editor, I'm afraid you're way off on this comment because there is all the reason to post anonymous.
Despite the fact that most companies have policies (even if implied rather than formal) that you are not supposed to communicate to the media regarding work-related issues, there would be tremendous backlash.
That's why companies hire the communication representatives for the media because they prefer to filter the information given to the media.
And if you truly think there wouldn't be retaliation if negative information was posted about a department or person, etc... you're living in a dream world.
Anyone found out to be posting negative information would not be seen as a team player, because of course most management would like issues to be worked out "in-house" rather than publicly.
Also, your comment in regards to if someone retaliates, you guys would "make it front page news", that's all the more reason not to post one's name.
Who wants to be in the middle of a media controversy with all their co-workers stiffing up their noses at you until you feel the pressure to resign (even if you are right in your allegations). Plus, I have a feeling those who speak out would conveniently get "delayered" or some other clever way to legally oust the employee.
In my opinion, if the anonymous posting was not allowed on this website, you would either see a great reduction in post or you would see a bunch of John Doe's posting.
Either way, the system works fine the way it is and if someone is in a position to want their name branded on the internet for all (including their colleagues) to see, then let that be there choice.
Otherwise, anonymous is for me.
[Ed Note: Points well made. Still, the flip side is true. When you assert yourself in a leadership role, others will follow.
I realize that if we didn't allow anonymous posts, many folks wouldn't comment on the stories here--nor debate each other (which is the cornerstone of democracy).
So we will likely never do away with anonymous comments.
Thanks for your note.]
Transparency Is The Problem
There shouldn't be anything going on in DISD that is not the public's business; after all, the public is footing the bill. Instead, we now have the focus on the superintendent winning the Broad Award, and the facts of what is going on in DISD better not get in his way.
[Ed Note: I just returned from Austin where I spoke on public information (and the recent setbacks) to the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. You are correct. If the school was completely open, problems would disappear.]
DISD and an open window
Transparency would come if only 2% of Dallas citizens would come to DISD Board meetings... not all at once, of course.
Make it a family outing. Seriously. Suggest that your civic group, church group or book club go to a meeting. Does not matter if you have a kid in the district. In fact, you should go especially if you do not have a child in the schools, since you are paying for a service you are not using yourself!
Not only will you see who is running the show, but they will see YOU, the taxpayer. It is amazing, simply amazing, how bad policies and their authors back down when the public is watching.
Board Meeting Not "Transparency"
Board meetings used to be well-attended, and it had no effect on transparency.
Board meetings are simply a theatre for the citizens to watch the posturing and preening of a small group of people who are supposed to represent a million+ in population.
This board simply rubber stamps the superintendent's program because few of them have the gumption or backbone to really question this administration's contortions.
The DMN reported today that 3 P-card violators have been dealt legal consequences.
By even casually reading the lawyer interviews with around 90 violators, we might wonder when the rest of the Walmart gift card shoppers get read their rights. Or is the public supposed to go away until it's time to line up for the bond proposal and hand them some more money to steal? Or are the police the answer only when the violators admit to their theft?
How about we quit prosecuting those who steal cars in Dallas unless they admit they stole the vehicle? Some of the Walmart gift card receipts that went strangely missing are less in value than some car thefts that result in very hard time.
Exactly how does attending the silliness of a board meeting, which is scripted to attend to the needs of the superintendent, going to increase transparency?
Teacher Performance
There already is at least one way that teachers are paid based on performance in the State of Texas. It is called the Texas Educator Excellence Awards grants. A number of Dallas ISD schools participate, and staff members at those schools will receive money from the state above and beyond their regular pay based on making a positive impact on students TAKS scores if those students would be expected to underperform based on their socio-economic status.
Also on the positive side, it has become apparent that a school administrator's, particularly a principal's pay/job status, has become more directly related to the performance of students on that campus than in the past. Some of them are being let go or reassigned based on the performance of students on their campus's. Which should in turn, lead to principals being less tolerant of underperforming teachers on their campus's.
The other side of that coin is that a strong negative correlation exists betweens the number of students on free or reduced lunch in a district and the performance of their students. Moreover, students that are not economically disadvantaged are considered to be easier to educate and many teachers that can will take their talents to a less stressful workplace.
The greatest challenges facing an urban district is not only educating the students it has, it is also finding a way to keep the students that are successful from leaving. It is should be a safe assumption that many of the students that can, will leave or have left, the Dallas ISD for private, or public charter education. Those still in "public" schools are a distorted representation of the greater public, slanted towards having a larger percentage of students who are entering school with fewer skills and less support outside of the school hours. Which it would seem to make those students harder to educate.
And interestingly enough, very rarely in the discussion of student performance does the topic of a student's attitude towards school surface. Is it possible, that in some rare cases, there are students that have made a choice not fully participate in the free and appropriate public education that has been provided to them by the state of Texas in an efficient manner?
What I am trying to get at is that measuring teacher performance is a difficult topic, because when discussing problems with public education and teacher or student performance, you are also having a discussion about poverty. Because, looking at the numbers in the metroplex, the trend seems to be that where kids are on free and reduced lunch, they have lower test scores. It would seem that TAKS scores better measure the quality of of a neighborhood then the effectiveness of the teachers. Where there is a problem with a district? It is when the numbers are lower than what you would expect based on the performance of demographically similar districts.
(http://www.city-data.com/forum/dallas/108635-school-districts-low-income...)
Neighborhoods and Achievement
This is the greatest myth in education today--that the low levels of achievement among children in poverty is due to their inherent characteristics or the neighborhoods where they live.
Visit some of these low performing schools, and you will see exactly what the problem is--chaos, clueless principals, and teachers who are either unprepared to teach these children or who have found a very convenient resting place because they are too lazy to go elsewhere. As long as these teachers are quietly ineffective, the American public blames their ineffectiveness on their customers--the children and their parents.
Put your own children in these schools, and you will witness English teachers who can't even spell the name of the novels their students are attempting to read, an overload of new teachers who are too unskilled to develop programs for these children, and principals who were usually old football coaches who never mastered the art or science of instruction themselves.
If the myth of poverty being the justification for the poor quality of these schools were true, then the many fine examples across the nation of high-achieving schools with the same demographics wouldn't be possible. Yet, these high achieving schools exist, but they exist with principals who are actual instructional leaders, and teachers who have used research, previous experience, and sound programs to defeat the convenient notion that these children cannot achieve.
DISD administrators and teachers have stolen enough money over the past 25 years to send every child in these quality-poor schools to an exemplary private school. Ponder the outcome of that.
[Ed Note: We'll do better than that! Gloria Orapello's sentencing is tomorrow, and we'll cover it live here on Dallas.Org.]
Tempting Good Teachers
How do you tempt really good teachers into "bad" schools?
Hire good principals who can handle discipline and have been successful in the classroom.
Your bad teachers will be only able to keep their jobs because the principal is ineffective.
I have personally watched a school go into a deadly tailspin within one year because of one really bad principal. Why?
She did not know what effective instruction was and ran off the teachers who tried to do their jobs and questioned the direction things were going.
I agree that DISD has too many principals who were never effective educators in the first place.
Until they stop placing people according to who they know, went to college with or what language they speak and actually hire according to ability, then DISD will never improve.
Teachers and Ineffective Principals
I agree with your Assessment.
There are Principals that have "No People Skills", "No
Counseling Skills" and "No Management Skills".
As a Matter-of-Fact, many Principals cannot Manage
Money and go around Misappropriating Thounsands of Dollars
without any Documentation or Guideline-Reviews.
These Ineffective Principals Move Funds from one
Federal Program to another "Line" without knowing Federal Programs Guidelines or, knowing the Consequences of Laws effecting such Programs.
I believe they Call these Principals: "Principals in the Fast-Track Program."
These are Principals without Degrees, who know friends in the Human Resource Office.
By the Way, there are Teachers, Counselors and Other Professionals without Degrees.
It is just that The Human Resource Office just looks the other way, because they know who they are and; they are friends that go to the same Church.
Note: When these "Things" are Reported...
"They" will start an Internal Investigation.
But Guess WHAT ??
They always start with the Same People:
"They" Investigate the so called Mexicans First. "They" never start with the Other Groups...
This is just an Observation from Within....
[Ed Note: There is a tremendous amount of nepotism in DISD. However, I don't agree that specific ethnic groups are investigated first. Perhaps it used to be that way, but there are folks around the District (maybe some bloggers) who won't let them get away with this.
If you have specifics, please send us feedback. However, we usually don't pursue generalities.]
Teachers Not The Only Problem
My mother has been a teacher for 30 years.
To get to the root of the problem, you must start at home.
Teachers today are far better than they used to be.
That being said, they are forced into unnecessary paperwork, countless hours documenting calls to parents, and many instructional hours wasted teaching children how to take a standardized test.
Parents need to take responsibility for raising their children and not expecting the schools to raise their children for them.
My mother has been in a low performing school and her record indicates her exceptional ability to teach middle school children.
Her only wish is that parents would step up and be a parent, be involved in the child's education, and teach their children that with an education 'you can do anything.'
Education must begin at home.
[Ed Note: Many people would likely echo this sentiment.]
Teachers Not The Only Problem
As a parent I agree with your assessment. I would also stress to all DISD parents who read this board to attend all Parent Teacher Conferences, PTA Meetings and school functions. It is imperative you show involvement in your child’s education. Parents use the resources you have available, read the Student Handbook that is sent home to all DISD students every year.
This past school year, I had to write and call the Area 5 Superintendent three times to get the teacher and Principal to respond to questions I had about my child’s grade. Eventually my child’s grade was changed for the better and the Principal admitted the teacher did not use good judgment. It was on a class project, so I hate to think how many other children were short changed. It took a month of persistence.
Bottom line, DISD is not going to get better until parents demand better!
[Ed Note: One of the things catching them off guard is that more parents are getting involved--and demanding better!]
Teachers Not The Only Problem 2
I agree with June's comments. I can give you a better example of a parent's need to be involved with the schools.
At a middle school in North Dallas, a boy repeated the 7th grade twice because someone gave him a second student ID.
The second school he went to could find ANY information on him until someone discovered he had two ID numbers. Even after the mistake was discovered, his parents nor the school did anything and subsequently the boy dropped out school.
He told a person that he felt stupid being held back and decided a GED would be best for him.
Now think of what would happen if his parents had bothered to get involve and demanded that he got put in the right grade.
If you are wondering what school-it is a feeder school for only one high school.
[Ed Note: actually, we'll let you name schools--just not people unless we can verify the facts.]
An Egotistical Parent
You are an egotistical parent that is not truly concerned about what grade your child got.
Your child is probably not even old enough to really understand the true meaning of the grade he or she got.
Your ego was wounded, most likely, because "you" actually did most of your child's work and "you" received a low grade for what you did and not your child.
Start being honest with yourself. The teacher probably knew the child didn't do the actual work, and to not give the child a grade of "F" for not doing it themselves, they just gave "you" a passing grade to avoid insulting your intelligence because you thought the teacher was stupid enough to believe the child did that work alone.
Grow up!
Stop getting insulted for not making the grade you thought you should have gotten for your time and efforts in doing your child's work.
Next time, assist your child from afar, don't touch any of the work: "just be a parent and guide your child."
You will make them grow up to be self sustaining and not helpless because they never had to do anything themselves.
I hope this makes you angry enough to change for the betterment of your child's future.
Now get a tissue and start the new school year off with a determination to assist your child and not do their work for them.
[Ed Note: I have to admit, this is what I'd call a "stretch" unless our poster, here, has something to back all of this up. Many parents naturally want to hover around their children and give them pointers and help. Some do it to excess. However, there are also some who are plainly concerned when the child ends up with, what the parent feels to be, an undeserved bad grade.
Remember: not all parents are stupid. Some of us know the subject being taught better than the teachers who teach it. Some of us wrote the books from which instruction is given. So your conclusion, here, may be a stretch--unless you know some facts you didn't share.]
Teachers Not The Only Problem 3
I don't know where that pervious post came from, but that person has top realize that it takes both sides to help a child.
It comes down to this. Parents, your school needs:
You to listen;
provide correct phone numbers/addresses;
be in the PTA;
visit the school & talk to everybody;
encourage your child to do homework and stay off myspace (a child molester would have a field day with our kids);
let them go to tutoring;
monitor their friends;
READ the Student Code of Conduct-know your rights!
And remember TV should not raise your child we don't need anymore rappers or dog killer athletes;
Schools:
don't always call about a child acting a fool-call to praise a child for doing good work;
don't abuse your power;
document everything so when parents come ready to fight you are backed up;
keep up with attendance-a lot of parents really don't care about their kids until they get hit with truancy letters
always be willing to talk to students;
ENCOURAGE those students;
Keep an eye on the smart black male student at low performing schools. You have no idea what they got through at school and home.
[Ed Note: One other thing: we need to get beyond race when we educate. There are plenty of kids of all races who have challenges my friend--all the way from the poorest, drug-infested neighborhoods to Highland Park and Plano.]
Re: Teachers Not The Only Problem
Gentle readers, this is likely to offend some, and I am not sure of the most sensitive way to put forth this idea, so please accept my apologies for the following which may offend you.
I am thinking of an article in the DMN of about a month ago, it contrasted the lives of two nineteen year old women. Both lived lives that were remarkably similar in that they were both, how do the youths these days describe it, "Kickin' it"
The middle class young women was in college, and the other was living at home with a baby. The first came from a "culture of contraception" she had decided that while practicing abstinence until marriage was not the choice for her, that she was going to go the extra mile to avoid becoming pregnant, and would, if that did happen... The second saw having a child at nineteen to be a fairly regular occurence, and even though the father was just a "Friend" and no longer in the picture, having the child did not seem to be a unexpected life changing event.
I am willing to put forward that being a single parent of multiple children and lacking a quality education will make it much more likely that those children will struggle in school.
How can a school best serve the kids that are born into less fortunate circumstances? Schools can do more to prepare them to be successful, meaning not just what is tested by the state, but how the world works. I strongly believe that children are seldom unsuccessful due to a lack of ability, but are often unsuccessful due to their own choices, or lack of a support system strong enough overcome a variety of cultural forces that hold them back.
Teaching not only what they need to know, but how they should live.
That will be a terribly sticky subject, but the level of violence, drug abuse, poverty, etc is rather telling of the poor job that is being done of it today.
Schools should address openly those issues, such as how to manage your money, contraception, how to keep and hold a job, avoiding drug and alcohol abuse and also train those that desire it, vocational skills, such as, plumbing, auto repair, carpentry, nursing, bricklaying, cosmotology, electrical training, all them a way to pay the bills, but have been largely displaced from the american educational system and replaced by a fourth year of math and science.
Which, are not all that helpful in preparing students for our service based economy and may in reality, discourage many students from completing high school, thus setting up the same obstacles for the children of those students.
[Ed Note: Let's start out with: "define 'less-fortunate circumstances'." Do you mean: parents, friends, churches, communities who just don't care? Kids just don't "get that way."
I think the phrase here is: "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink." There are all sorts of vocational training programs (as well as adult education programs) available from a variety of sources. "Avoiding drug and alcohol abuse" is, sometimes, not at the top of a kid's list of priorities. The question is: how do you teach kids that getting pregnant in Jr. High is not OK?]
Ineffective Principals Reply
Leal, you speak like someone who has had a doozy of Principal once upon a time. Whoever he or she was, from what I gather from my superficial knowledge of the workings of the Dallas ISD, it would be the TAKS scores of the students that Principal was judged by, not their ability to manage money, understand the budget, or make the staff feel warm and fuzzy. If Godzilla could make a school exemplary and pass the TEXES for Principalship, he would probably be retained.
"By the Way, there are Teachers, Counselors and Other Professionals without Degrees."
That is likely true, by Texas law a principal can pass the state licensure test, aptly named the "Principalship Test" and then they have five years to finish their Master's. But, by law they are good to go. Further, now after 5 years, all Principals must recertify themselves by passing a state exam.
Bad principals can quickly break a school, or even a good principal in the wrong situation. New principals have it the worst, hopefully they can get a few years as an assistant before making the big time. Running a classroom is likely different than running a school, and maybe not enough is done to prepare principals. From what I hear, it takes about three years for a teacher to start to grasp the art of what they are doing. As a principal there really is not that learning curve, one good screw up and Becky Oliver is at your door.
This is Texas, there is a Good Old Boys system wherever you go, be it called Sororities, Fraternities, Church Friends, or Freemasonry. In more polite circles it is called networking. Regardless of how they get the job if the kids don't do it on the TAKS, that principal will have a short tenure.
Probably the biggest chance to get a new influx of underskilled administrators is when a district reassigns folks from the Central Office staff out to campuses because of a restructuring program. There is probably a reason those folks went to the central office and might have had something to do with not liking life on a campus, and even if that is not the case, it may have been a number of years since they were working directly with teachers and students and there may be a little rust...
Tell me more about the fast track program, I am curious to hear how Dallas is growing its crop of new Admins. Having a good principal is the key to having a good school, and I wonder how Dallas is working to get there.
Teachers, Ineffective Principals
TRUE- you have a lot of folks with jobs based on who they know.
This is how folks get away with stuff. They hold folks down and promote their friends to jobs they have no business having.
Also many of the jobs posted on the Dallas ISD webpage are already filled. It is policy to interview 5 people. So you have people trying to move up and can't because they don't know somebody in the district.
As result you get TA and others becoming teachers instead of the job they really want to be. So you end up with bad teachers in many cases. They don't want the job, but are forced into it.
This is what the school board needs to change. If a school has someone in mind for a job, they should hire them and not waste the time of others. We miss out on so many good people that won't apply for a job in Dallas ISD because they know the job will not be given a fair shot. And with 150 folks downtown set to get laid off, I bet those jobs listed are already filled.
Hard To Draw Good Teachers
Yes, there are many fine examples of schools overcoming demographics, some of them are right here in the good old Dallas ISD. Unfortunately, those results are hard to replicate, because as you pointed out they require "principals who are actual instructional leaders, and teachers who have used research, previous experience, and sound programs." Or in the movies, it tends to only require principals with baseball bats.
But, if I were a good teacher or principal, I would probably do my best to avoid working a school in a sub par neighborhood. Much the same way that (a football metaphor for all the ex coach principals), a star recruit will choose a school like Texas, or USC over Michigan State, or UTEP.
It is hard to draw talented people into bad situations. Maybe a properly structured incentive pay system could overcome that, but the current situation is that some schools will have trouble recruiting the number of exceptionally talented teachers it requires. The worse off the student body is, the better the teachers will have to be.
Poverty makes students more difficult to educate, not impossible to educate. '
Successful schools in more affluent areas have their fair share of marginal teachers as well, but the talent and dedication of the students and parents can overcome the shortcomings of the faculty. Your description of the faculty of a low performing school, was also a spot on portrayal of many other school experiences, but somehow those schools perform better, probably because they serve a rural middle class community rather than a more difficult population where they will probably fail miserably.
So, I agree with you that the talent of the faculty plays a role in student success and can overcome many demographic factors to an extent, but it is only one of many factors and most likely not the most important.
I will not agree that the Dallas ISD is a festering den of thieves and charlatans that has stolen 3.2 billion dollars in the last 25 years.
Corruption is one of a number of obstacles it has overcome and still struggles with, some of its own creation, some of circumstance, and some due to the whims of the voters and who they elect to run the show, the Dallas ISD is a typical, if not above average, large urban district. As a public institution, the teachers have to work for the person the public, through the board, puts in charge. There places like this website, and folks like Allen, who make it easier to keep an eye on them and push them in the right direction.
Pondering what would happen if we sent all the kids in Dallas ISD to private schools:
I would suspect that sending children from under-performing urban schools to private schools would yield the same terrific results that desegregation based bussing did. Miniscule. And many of the students sent to private schools would soon be out due to behaviorial, performance, or special education status.
Further, you would see huge influx of private school students back into the public schools which would be now emptied of its previous students, and student achievement in Dallas ISD would skyrocket...
Then I would ponder why you would do it. That seems like 3 times more per year than the 1.3 Billion the Dallas ISD is spending doing it. Do you really want to pay 200% more in property taxes each year to do it? Public education, like the CHIP program, (health insurance for poor kids), is a great idea, but how much is Texas willing to pay for it?
Public Education is like all the other entitlement programs, it is a balancing act of getting to the point of greatest benefit for the least cost. Thinking of examples of Countries that have spent more money on educating its poor and the outcomes of that policy. Germany, France, Canada, The U.K., Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway, etc.
The outcome tends to be higher taxes and unemployment, with strange disposition towards more tolerant and socialist forms of government. It is important to remember most of those countries use high stakes testing to measure the aptitude of their students to place them on educational tracks based on the students academic ability. That way they are less likely to waste resources trying to teach skills that are incompatible with the student's abilities and interests.
But that sort of reform in the U.S. is a different can of worms.
[Ed Note: Very good quote regarding poverty and education. You need, though, to remember that you can't compare one aspect of one society with the same aspect in another. You must compare entire societies. Europe has its share of serious problems as a result of it's clinginess to socialism. But, overall, very good take. Now what do you want to do about it?]
Good Teachers Hard To Find
Other factors that hurt many schools is that they may not offer classes a student wants to take or have a horrible sports program.
There's a school that doesn't have a choir or dance classes and went a year with only 1 art teacher. Oh yeah this is due to the HORRIBLE former principal of that school and not the current one.
How many good kids have Townview, Booker T. Washington and Skyline stolen from other schools? Skyline is considered a magnet and regular school so it's hard for that principal to get rid of bad apples. 6,000 kids is too many! Split it in half and it would help Kimball, SOC, Roosevelt, Carter and Maceo. That's where most of their kids are at.
For many schools, you lose students if you don't produce college athletes. Lincoln had a very good basketball team for 3 years now and not too many of those guys are in college playing basketball. In fact NONE are. Isn't it just odd that Dallas ISD doesn't have that many kids recruited to play college sports? I bet if you check the address of some of the athletes in other districts, they are really Dallas kids.
I think we lose more of our kids in middle school. Because you are mixing good and bad kids together. If the middle school is low performing the high school it feeds to is as well at times. The best example would be at Storey and SOC.
I still believe both school and parents need to work together. I know a boy that was ready to fail the school year after the first six weeks. ALL his teachers got on him and he's now that school's best student and even MORE determined to go to his dream college. This is a boy that has gangs chasing after him and even jumped him for not joining and his mother gave us excuse for why he couldn't do well in school.
Teachers: Most Important
Those of you who don't understand that the teacher is the most important variable in outcome are the same who DO understand you won't tolerate a losing coach for American's once-favorite football team. The passions aroused by a lousy coach for one single, losing year in Dallas are intense. If the situation continues for two consecutive years, football fans are livid.
Yet we allow pathetic levels of instruction in certain neighborhoods because of the demographics of the neighborhood. These children are more expendable than having a couple of losing years for the football team.
We are not "growing" the teacher teams we must have to educate all children because that is not the priority that having a winning team is to most folks. We somehow look at our image being tarnished by having a losing football team, but our vanities are not diminished by losing half our students before they graduate.
I agree that even the best schools have a layer of underperforming teachers who need to be gone. Of course it is easier to recruit for wealthy districts because many teachers wish to assume the socioeconomic status of the students they teach. Again vanity overcomes priority.
Allowing the current situation to continue does have a payoff. Even the most mediocre students in wealthy districts won't have to compete in life against the possible talents of children in poor neighborhoods. We have hobbled them for life.
Teacher Performance
I saw your chart and I understand what you are saying. However there are outside factors that also hurt a school that the schools can't control.
You have to get parents interested in helping their kids learn and graduated. I know too many kids that are at school because the law requires them to or attend school to keep those government checks coming.
I know a school that did everything to help kids: weekend tutoring, block schedule for two days for an extra TAKS class for all students during the week, staff calling parents to remind them about the test and other things. The final result-the school bombed the test and the principal got demoted to an elementary school. You can only do so much.
Highland Park: Being the top school-well how many kids are motivated to be something other than a criminal, welfare cheat or just a high school grad vs others?
There's your difference for all these cities.
Neighborhoods and Achievement Reply
SORRY.... It goes both ways.
I can visit some schools and see kids skipping class and cussing out teachers and anyone else.
You have unprepared teachers because the good ones don't want to be in Dallas ISD. You can't attract them if you keep changing Superintendents, a money scandal, criminals working in schools, people who lack PEOPLE skills, people with friends downtown that allow them to keep their jobs no matter what they do (including beating on kids and threating staff) and a HORRIBLE image of Dallas as a city.
So yes you will have teachers RUSHED out of advance teacher programs. Many of them are looking for a CHECK because they can't get a job in their field.
And let me reveal a little secret as to one of the reason why teachers are so hard to find. Dallas ISD will not hire teachers, who are certified from schools outside of Texas. I'm not sure if it is a state thing or not. I know my church had a lot of kids go out of state to become teachers and that was the reason they were given. So think of how many kids from the hood that became teachers can't give back because of this.
[Ed Note: Promise: if you bring us examples (*with proof*) of teachers beating or abusing children, we'll make the teacher famous here on Dallas.Org. That being said, I've *never* heard of a teacher beating a child--where that teacher retained District employment. DISD takes abuse very seriously.]
Out of State Certification
Your church friends did not tell you the whole story. Their little secret is a bogus excuse for not getting hired.
No, DISD does not recognize a teaching certificate from out of state. (Not sure if that is a local or a TEA rule.)
BUT! They can become certified quite easily. Take the teacher exam, get the results. Hundreds of DISD teachers do that every year. Otherwise, how could they bring in teachers from Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico?
Also, could you please tell me what fields you know people can't get jobs in, that they would teach ---"just for a check"? If they are in a teacher program, then they must want to teach. Otherwise, why bother?
Teachers Beating Kids
Just to address one issue that The Truth brings up.
In regards to teachers "beating" kids or "threatening" staff, I have seen numerous teachers removed from the classroom setting, placed on administrative leave; an admin investigation as well as a criminal investigation by DPD's CART unit with nothing more than an allegation that a child has been "abused" mentally and/or physically.
Even if the teacher is later cleared of all wrong doing, the teacher has gone through a horrible process and has been labeled a child abuser.
We can make excuses all day. But if a child does not want to learn or listen in class there is no way to physically make them. The district needs to spend a little more time on a mentoring process in these "low income" schools and let these kids see someone from a similar situation being successful in life.
No football players, basketball players, just a regular guy out there making regular money at a regular job.
We can have the best teachers, best principals, the best superintendent but if the kids don't have a true desire to learn then there is nothing that we can do.
[Ed Note: Excellent observations--and all it takes is one accusation, true or not, to ruin an educator's career.]
Clarification on Out of State Teacher Hiring
The comment about Dallas not hiring out of state teachers could not be more untrue.
DISD hires many out of state as well as out of country teachers each year.
As a matter of fact, at the last DISD job fair, there was a line specifically for "Out of State Certified teachers."
All that DISD asks is that an Out-of-State certified teacher go through the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) to authenticate and evaluate their credentials.
Once the teacher is cleared by the State, DISD is able to hire him/her. This procedure is required for all Texas public schools including Richardson, Plano and Highland Park ISDs.
Thanks
Thanks for clearing that up. See this needs to be made known because a lot of people received the wrong information about this from other district employees.
Because there were folks that wanted to work in Dallas ISD and that was the reason they were given so they went elsewhere.
I've heard these same
I've heard these same arguments for 30 years. "We've done everything we can, but these students are so miserable, no one could educate them."
BALONEY.
Giving children more time with poor instructors doesn't accomplish anything. Changing the instructional schedule because you heard someone somewhere was successful with that schedule doesn't change anything. Giving everyone access to loads of technology will get you nowhere.
As businesses have known for hundreds of years, the only real edge you have on your competitors is your human capital. The only problem that exists in getting the job done for these children is the scarcity of human capital to make it happen.
Labeling these children the products of welfare cheats is a very cheap shot from a paltry mindset.
[Ed Note: Hey! I'm an IT guy, by day (muckraker by night)! You mean to tell me that technology doesn't solve all problems?!
Seriously, you are correct. If you tell someone that they're worthless, so long, eventually they'll believe it.
Dallas has challenges, but also has tremendous potential. We need some of our board members to mellow, others to mature, and leadership to excel. Eventually, we'll get to where we need to be.]
Support For Schools
Ever been to a small Texas town? See the high school mascot on the water tower? Notice all the local businesses have the sports schedules in the windows?
Part of what ails Dallas is a lack of identity and ownership of its schools. Most Dallas homeowners do NOT have a kid in DISD, so they have no sense of "ownership." Many parents rent, and they move often, so they have no sense of "place" for their kids.
Highland Park is successful because its demographics demand it. But notice as you drive down HP/UP streets, how many houses have signs and cars with stickers that support the schools. Notice how many parents come to events, and not just football.
Until their is a citywide campaign, a coordinated effort to make people feel like they own the DISD, nothing will change. When hourly workers are given time off to attend report card nights, when non-parents go to a game, a concert or a show put on by the school, when churches--who so loudly and so easily condemn schools, help families adopt kids from foster care or mentor young mothers, then it will change.
Oh, and there are plenty of GREAT teachers in DISD. For those who choose the suburbs, they aren't better. In fact, they are weaker, because they choose an easier classroom. Maybe THEY are the ones in it only for a paycheck? In DISD, by God, you earn your pay.