Last week in Milwaukee Governor Scott Walker briefed the Wisconsin Association of School Boards annual convention about what to expect from his administration. He started with the message that he would like to implement reforms that empower local school boards to more flexible in staffing decisions "to hire and potentially fire” and move toward “pay for performance”- Walker made a comparison to a stint he had with IBM where he earned commissions on sales.
On the budget Walker warned that reductions in state aid were coming but they “won’t affect what goes on in the classroom” because cuts would be offset by reductions in benefits to school employees. Walker indicated that he wasn’t “picking on teachers” – that similar cuts will apply to other public employees.
Walker also took time to re-iterate his campaign position that all 3rd graders should be reading at grade level before promotion to 4th grade. The problem I have with this proposal is that a significant body of research and experience that indicates such a policy is detrimental to student achievement. In many controlled studies students who were retained at 3rd grade had lower levels of achievement in subsequent years than equivalent students who were promoted. Down the road the retained students are more likely to drop out than their peers. (Read more here or here).
I think this idea is flawed in the same way as NCLB (the No Child Left Behind law): An educational system whose primary focus is getting everyone over a minimal bar can’t excel and will under serve those students who aren’t near that bar. Obviously we can’t ignore the problem of under achieving students but we have to respond with what works. In certain cases retention is appropriate, but those decisions need to be made by teachers and parents familiar with the interests of the child – not by politicians.
When an 8 year old can’t read at grade level it is not the fault of the child. What students need is early, focused and effective interventions to bring them up to grade level.
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Sad to say the teacher's unions and the public employee unions can, to some extent, look in the mirror to see how this situation developed. Unions, without discretion or commons sense, protect sub-par employees who make the workplace miserable for everyone else - including members of the same union. That doesn't garner a lot of respect from the union membership. On the other hand, unions fail to protect their most vulnerable - the younger, newer employees by bargaining for things that benefit the most senior employees. On the teacher's side, unions are a huge impediment to innovation, change and improvement in education because their positoin is always to maintain the status quo. Innovation is seen as a threat to existing contracts. Even worse, teachers who oppose their union leadership fail to seek leadership themselves or at least stand up and say what they think.
I am no Walker fan. I predict he will preside over the slow demise of education quality in Wisconsin. I am not sure who, if anyone, will be looking out for the students. It won't be Walker, the legisilature or the teacher's unions. Who with any power is left?
So the governor thinks teaching is like selling PC's?
the teachers unions...blah blah blah....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz so tired of the same unsubstantiated, silly talking points blaming all of the worlds evils on the teachers unions. Get over yourself already!
"On the budget Walker warned that reductions in state aid were coming but they “won’t affect what goes on in the classroom” because cuts would be offset by reductions in benefits to school employees."
Reading between the lines, does this mean that the state will pay less toward the retirement fund?
If that's the case, state workers (and teachers) will work a year or two longer at the higher salaries instead of retiring at the lower rate. How does that save money?
Nobody is blaming the world's evils on teacher's unions. Hyperbole much? If you don't believe that teacher's unions are an impedement to innovation and change in education, try talking to someone who has tried to innovate and bring about subtantive change.
Walker has pretty much said that he will require public employees to make a 5% contribution toward their retirement plan, plus increase their share of health insurance. This is a 5+% paycut by another name.
go walker go!
and keep going. All the way to somewhere that's not in Wisconsin.
if by innovation and change in education you mean cutting further into teachers salaries and benefits...then yes they have been an impedement. Good for them.
the right wingers like to cut pay and pretend that they didn't.
"What students need is early, focused and effective interventions to bring them up to grade level."
Kind of runs contrary to what Glenn Grothman keeps proposing.
Finally some sanity in educational funding and contract negotiation.
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