Proving What Else Doesn't Work?

I hate being so negative, but it is May. The time of the year when we look around and see that things are still dismal. Graduation rates are low, truancy rates are high.

Our Chancellor and central admin have to do something, something bold. That’s what her predecessor and partner did. Came in, busted things up, grabbed a broom but really just left things a mess.

Now we’ve got a catchy new plan called the “Proving What’s Possible” grants. But first we’re going to “excess” over 300 effective teachers in the District. Immediately making these effective teachers feel like castaways and reminding all others that next time, it could be you. Nothing builds a teaching force like that. Perhaps the reduction of positions is helping to fund this new grant program? It’s hard to tell, even for Bill Turque, the WaPo reporter who has tried to find out where the money is coming from.

Read about that here: How is DCPS paying for ‘What’s Possible’?

But back to the grants. “So, struggling school, you may have lost a few teacher positions but here’s some money to…do…something…with. Let’s hear your ideas. And you’ve got about 4 weeks to finalize your ideas.” Sorry, but that’s not much time when you are already up to your elbows just trying to keep your school together. This kind of scenario is sure to breed some flimsy grant ideas. And you throw it to principals who, well, how can I say this, in many cases haven’t developed many good ideas in the first place.

So principals will cobble together some ideas that sound nice and the District will waste money. Kaya will be able to blame the schools and principals since she gave them the power and money to implement….something. This begs the question: does this mean our central administration is devoid of real ideas to support and change poor performing schools?

I hope we, the taxpayers, get to know:

a) where the money came from
b) what are the specifics of the plans being funded
c) whether they were successful, as judged by an objective evaluator

These grants are supposed to “leverage time, talent, and technology.” (I can just see them coming up with these catchy phrases, I’m having visions of “The Office.”) As a colleague said, “We’re banking our reform on a literary device.” [Alliteration – time, talent, technology.]

God, I hate being so negative. To make up for it my next entry will contain some constructive ideas!

The Running of the Bulls

In Pamplona, Spain each July you can see the running of the bulls. In May in Washington, D.C. if you are paying attention, you can see the running of the F's into D's. This involves what we call “make-up work” and “packets.” Obviously “packets” implies many assignments because these students have allowed themselves to get so far behind through one main method: absenteeism. There are also those who show up on a semi-regular basis but just don't finish work.

This is true for all grade levels but the game reaches a new level of intensity if the student is a senior. Let's call our senior Billy. The question is, after Billy has made it so far, do we really want to stop him from graduating?

You don't hear these exact words but the message is clear: “Lighten up and give him a packet! We really need to get our graduation numbers up and aren't we all tired of seeing Billy in this building?”

This pressure comes from the student and from the administration. Billy will come to you and say: “Mrs. (administrator) said I should ask you if there's anything I can do to get my grade up to passing.”

Another ploy used is to have Billy retake the Final Exam he failed. And I mean the *same exact Final Exam*.

If you don't play you are seen as uncooperative. If you do play you contribute to the rot of the system.

A similar scenario is often played out at the beginning of each athletic season but the serious running of the F's takes place in May.

In Spain they run in front of the bulls but here we walk behind, and you know what you get walking behind a bull.

Neighborhood Schools: an Endangered Species?

Dispatch from a neighborhood school...

(And a reminder that my comments are based on experience at the high school level only.)

It's been another grueling year in the trenches of DCPS. Of course, saying “DCPS” doesn't mean much because the range of schools is so vast. You've got your A List that includes School Without Walls, Banneker, Wilson, etc. Then you've got the whole world of charter schools, and then somewhere blowing in the wind are the dying breed—the neighborhood public schools. I teach in one of those.

We should have Lady Liberty in front of the school because we truly do take those unwelcome everywhere else. We have a large concentration of students in group homes and cycling through the city's juvenile detention center.

If I read one more quote from the Washington Post editorial board or any other “expert” about how to fix our failing schools that says we should look to what successful charters are doing I will lose it. Do you know what our students say when we ask them how to improve our school? “Kick the bad kids out.” You know what? They're right. Removing the 5% that destroy the academic culture of the school would have a huge positive impact. No, it would not solve all the problems but it's a start.

But where would they go? Alternative placements. DCPS is sorely lacking in its ability to provide alternatives for teens who can't or won't function in a normal school setting. From what I hear from our dean of students, DCPS is making it more and more difficult to suspend students or to send them to Choice (where students get sent when they have no more choice and they've repeatedly caused trouble at their original school).

So we let the troubled troublemakers come to school and ignore the adult authority figures who are supposed to run the school. Then at the end of the day, or earlier if they don't want to be there all day, we release them. Is it any wonder that they cause problems in the community? They haven't had to respect an adult all day.

[I'll save the other main reason for failure-truancy-for another day.]

So, kick us while were down. Put us on the list of low performing schools. Threaten to close us down. Blame the teachers. And keep sending us the students that have nowhere else to go