Teachers Fired, Billionaires Robbed, Education Upended

First a school board in Rhode Island decided to fire the entire Central Falls High School staff, calling the bluff of unions in a bid for Federal funds to improve schools. Last we looked they were seeking some last minute compromise.

Now we have the same in Kansas City, but for reasons unique to that city, including declining enrollments.

The Kansas City Board of Education voted Wednesday night to close almost half of the city’s public schools, accepting a sweeping and contentious plan to shrink the system in the face of dwindling enrollment, budget cuts and a $50 million deficit.

In a 5-to-4 vote, the members endorsed the Right-Size plan, proposed by the schools superintendent, John Covington, to close 28 of the city’s 61 schools and cut 700 of 3,000 jobs, including those of 285 teachers. The closings are expected to save $50 million, erasing the deficit from the $300 million budget.

(N.Y. Times)

Poor performance or financial strains should cause actions like this to continue across the country, eroding a stable employment base in most cities. It still amazes that Republicans and other can be dismissive of stimulus efforts that at least stalled some layoffs in the education field.

We've had discussions with people who have said, "Yes, but it's just a band aid and what happens a year or two from now?" Frankly it's not really the Federal government's task to make long term employment opportunities; its job is to stimulate during a recession and get out of the way.

*

In related news, Federal and state officials are thinking it might be a good idea to create uniform education standards, and we agree. When money is tight and education achievement is lacking (compared to other nations), having a single standard is cost efficient and helps to pinpoint geographical structural weakness. It prevents kid's lack of achievement from being hidden within a school's, district's or state's teaching rubric (had to use that word).

Problems arose in the past under the No Child Left Behind regime when schools modified achievement downward or otherwise manipulated the intent in order to preserve standing.

In recent years, many states moved in the opposite direction, lowering standards to make it easier for students to pass tests and for schools to avoid penalties under the 2002 federal No Child Left Behind law.

After educators, business executives and others criticized the corrosive impact of a race to the bottom, the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers set the common-standards initiative in motion last year. They convened panels of English and math experts from the College Board and A.C.T., and from Achieve Inc., a group with years of experience working to upgrade graduation standards.

(N.Y. Times)

The usual voices will probably voice opposition to these plans. Teachers and unions will lament the lack of "creativity" and suggest that the often loathed "teaching to the test," will continue. Some conservatives will rage at the nationalization of standards and lack of local control (see Texas).

We don't believe that teaching to a standard (or test) is bad, so long as the testing includes what people should know, and demonstrates their ability to know it. Nor do we think alternative evaluation schemes (portfolios) and random school grading methods serve long term achievement. The easiest path toward educational mediocrity is to make comparison incomparable. Food marketers try to do that. Schools should not. You can hide a lot of garbage inside the methodology of your district, with method masking or distorting achievement. The minute you go for across the board harmonization of standards, clarity is enhanced and some people's heads will roll.

The new standards are likely to touch off a vast effort to rewrite textbooks, train teachers and produce appropriate tests, if a critical mass of states adopts them in coming months, as seems likely. But there could be opposition in some states, like Massachusetts, which already has high standards that advocates may want to keep.

(N.Y. Times)

Whether this effort actually succeeds is another story. While holding our breath, we divert you to the lovely eating habits of French school children, as profiled in Time Magazine. It's so amusing and there must be some merit to this extravagance, the least of which being that French children probably grow up able to distinguish good food from utter garbage.

I finally saw the system in action earlier this month. Caught short by a sick nanny, my son, who was accustomed to eating leftovers from the refrigerator, sat in silence with his 25 classmates at tables in the nursery-school cafeteria, while city workers served a leisurely, five-course meal. One day, when I arrived to collect him, a server whispered for me to wait until the dessert course was over. Out in the hall, one of the staff shouted for "total quiet" to a crowd of 4-year-olds awaiting the next lunch seating. "I will now read you today's menu," he told them. "First, you will begin with a salad."

(Time)

Other News:

• Here Ann Althouse passes along comments about Gabourney Sidibe, the overweight young actress who was up for an Oscar for her depressing role in Precious. She received praise from Oprah that seemed to suggest a long Hollywood career. Some feel that such flattery is misplaced, and that short of losing half herself or more in weight, she is doomed to be a one hit wonder. We are of the doom and gloom crowd, knowing how Hollywood, human nature, and our eyeballs tend to function.

• Bill Gates got robbed of his top spot on Forbe's Billionaire List. The Mexican Carlos Slim grabs the lead. Two Indian billionaires take slots 4 and 5. The mayor of New York, Michael, was at $18 billion, and not nearly enough to plug theoretical budget holes in New York.