The headline says it all...

New WTU Chief: Top Job 'is to protect members'. Yup. And the sub-head?

D.C. teachers union looks to guard perks... That's a surprise.

Best quote:

The new president of the Washington Teachers' Union [Nathan Saunders] promised a "progressive" administration rather than a "reactionary" one, and said his No. 1 priority is to protect members' job security.

Here's the 'reactionary administration' Mr. Saunders refers to:

Former Chancellor Michelle Rhee and former DC Mayor Adrian Fenty ~

the reactionary administration Mr. Saunders is replacing.

Mr. Saunders is correct. Former Mayor Fenty and former DC Chancellor Rhee were proactively reactionary during the short time they had to bring change to the worst performing school district in the United States. In a school district where 12% of 8th graders are proficient in reading and 8% in math, and the money spent per student is the third highest in the country, someone had to frigging do something.   

And Fenty and Rhee were those people. They reacted with action. placing children and their education as the first priority in schools where the teachers' union (WTU) has ruled forever, always placing professional greed way before fixing a broken system. Rhee closed the 23 worst schools, reorganized another 27, fired a third of the principals and cut back on cushy, non-teaching positions. 

Most importantly, Rhee reformed the salary structure for teachers, offering the choice of earning well over $100,000 a year if a teacher was willing to be judged on merit. As Michelle Rhees puts it,

"Tenure is the holy grail of teacher unions, but it has no educational value for kids; it only benefits adults."

It's very important to point out that merit-based pay is supported by many teachers. Good teachers have nothing to lose by agreeing to be paid on the quality of their work. Teachers' unions, on the other hand, understand that switching to merit-based salaries greatly reduces the power they hold over union members. After all, the power of collective bargaining was the motivation for forming unions in the first place.

But now both Fenty and Rhee are gone. The old guard is back in power, calling itself the progressive administration. And the students?

I have a feeling they'll be kicked back to last place. As the WTU made clear, the 'new' first priority is to guard the perks of its members...and, I'm sure, actively ignoring reports like this one released by the Council of the Great City Schools showing a huge achievement gap between white and black students.

I'll take reactionary over progressive any day, especially when it involves the futures of kids.

Michelle Rhee hasn't decided where she's going to land next, but wherever she ends up, she'll be sure to bring her boldness of action and remarkable courage.

I know, a little over the top. But the dragons Rhee has fought against are powerful and vicious...and the students who depend on failing schools for their education need a knight...well, enough said.

Michelle Rhee's website.

Achievement First...has the courage to give children what they need to succeed

Last Friday I spent the morning at Amistad Academy and Elm City Elementary, both part of the Achievement First Charter School system and both located in New Haven, CT. While I waited for the opening presentation to begin I was approached by an 8th grader who proceeded, in answer to my many questions, to lay out her plans for the next eight years, which included graduating from MIT.

And that is the whole purpose of Achievement First: to put into place what each student needs in order to graduate from college. The staff is very clear on that goal ~ it's not to position the students to gain acceptance to good colleges but to instill in them that the only goal is to graduate from the college of their choice, a very important distinction.

After the presentation we were allowed to visit classrooms, first in the middle school and then in the nearby elementary school. At first, from this old Montessori teacher and John Holt-style homeschooler's perspective, the classes seemed very regimented. But it took almost no time at all to see the engagement and enthusiasm of the students. In response to questions from the teacher, hands shot up and bodies wiggled with the hope they would be called on to offer their opinion ~ and this was in the middle school, a time when children are supposed to be too cool for school, especially in inner cities schools.

I realized the structure, made up of what seems like a minutia of rules for everything from always sitting straight up in their chairs to looking directly at whichever child was speaking in class, is making up for an inner city culture that doesn't ask much of its children. Doesn't sound like much, but I understood that the students needed the most basic level of training in order to feel comfortable and be successful in the world of college and beyond. It takes rigor, joy and sweating the small stuff.

Take a look...



Achievement First is educating around 5000 students spread between New York City and Connecticut, from elementary through high school graduation. Every one of those students has the same goal: to graduate from college, and the system put into place by the Achievement First schools is showing huge success towards that goal. The results are amazing.

Unfortunately for Connecticut, Achievement First will not be opening any more schools in the state. The teachers unions, using the power of state government alliances, has made it too difficult for Achievement First to continue moving forward in the state, even though there is a high need in Connecticut for those schools. Well known for being a wealthy state, in fact, Connecticut has the widest achievement gap between low-income students and their better-off peers ~ 50th in the United State.

Connecticut, not thought of as a state with inner city problems, has plenty, including a heartbreaking need for effective schools. Other successful charter school concerns, including Kipp schools, keep clear of Connecticut for the same reasons. Changing the status quo to make for a friendlier environment for charter schools will take courage and hard work. Hooking up with Conncan or Connecticut Commission on Education Achievement is a good way to start.

We should all be putting the energy these kids have into fixing this.