Education Reform
In an article on my education reform bill, the president of the teachers' union said that the bill is deja-vu to SB 154 (Sen. Tom Hatch), which I sponsored in the House in 2003. I hope so; she opposed that bill (saying it would do horrible things for education), it passed, and it has done great things for our schools. We could stand to see that sequence repeated.
I handed out the following information to House Education Committee members:
This bill addresses 3 items in the following ways:
1. UBSCT REMEDIATION
Students reaching their senior year without passing the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test (“UBSCT”) will receive a stipend toward a remedial course. The stipend amount is either $500 or $1,000 or $1,500, depending on how badly the student failed each subpart of the test (more money for those further from passing). The stipend can be redeemed by public or private providers, but only after the student passes the test.
2. ORDERLY TERMINATION
Currently, termination of the worst teachers is too slow and difficult. The bill will clarify the procedures that must be followed (lines 218-230).
3. MATH IMPROVEMENT
Significant disagreement existed regarding the best approach toward improving math performance in grades 4-6 (which is important to do, as students move from arithmetic to algebraic skills). Some wanted to fund inputs, such as math endorsements. Others wanted to fund results, through rewards for teachers who do a superlative job. It would be difficult for either side to produce empirical evidence to prove that its approach is best. This substitute provides for pilot projects in Title I schools – one project to fund inputs, the other to fund rewards. (Since then, we've also decided to fund a hybrid of the two).
I will meet with the State School Board on Friday, to get their input.
UPDATE (2/18/06): The State School Board voted to oppose the bill on an 8-6 vote, due to concerns over privitization and merit pay. The bill might or might not lead to some form of merit pay, depending on the results of the pilot programs it would create. Unless the privitization concerns are solely over turf, I don't really see their relevance. The remediation credits work on a gravity-like basis, affecting all the same. Only those programs that help failing students succeed would get the money. Nevertheless, I appreciate the State School Board members giving me the honor of presenting the bill to them (as I had the opportunity to do with the equally-gracious superintendents association the week before). I am very pleased with the direction we are headed in education in Utah, and I give high praise and credit to the good teachers and education leaders who offer so much to the system. Stay tuned; I'm predicting Utah vaults forward in the next decade in educating its children.
I handed out the following information to House Education Committee members:
This bill addresses 3 items in the following ways:
1. UBSCT REMEDIATION
Students reaching their senior year without passing the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test (“UBSCT”) will receive a stipend toward a remedial course. The stipend amount is either $500 or $1,000 or $1,500, depending on how badly the student failed each subpart of the test (more money for those further from passing). The stipend can be redeemed by public or private providers, but only after the student passes the test.
2. ORDERLY TERMINATION
Currently, termination of the worst teachers is too slow and difficult. The bill will clarify the procedures that must be followed (lines 218-230).
3. MATH IMPROVEMENT
Significant disagreement existed regarding the best approach toward improving math performance in grades 4-6 (which is important to do, as students move from arithmetic to algebraic skills). Some wanted to fund inputs, such as math endorsements. Others wanted to fund results, through rewards for teachers who do a superlative job. It would be difficult for either side to produce empirical evidence to prove that its approach is best. This substitute provides for pilot projects in Title I schools – one project to fund inputs, the other to fund rewards. (Since then, we've also decided to fund a hybrid of the two).
I will meet with the State School Board on Friday, to get their input.
UPDATE (2/18/06): The State School Board voted to oppose the bill on an 8-6 vote, due to concerns over privitization and merit pay. The bill might or might not lead to some form of merit pay, depending on the results of the pilot programs it would create. Unless the privitization concerns are solely over turf, I don't really see their relevance. The remediation credits work on a gravity-like basis, affecting all the same. Only those programs that help failing students succeed would get the money. Nevertheless, I appreciate the State School Board members giving me the honor of presenting the bill to them (as I had the opportunity to do with the equally-gracious superintendents association the week before). I am very pleased with the direction we are headed in education in Utah, and I give high praise and credit to the good teachers and education leaders who offer so much to the system. Stay tuned; I'm predicting Utah vaults forward in the next decade in educating its children.
posted by steve u. at 2/16/2006
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9 Comments:
As a PTA volunteer, my wife received an email from Pat Rusk of the UTEA that grossly maligns this bill. The email is full of misrepresentations, faulty numbers, straw men, and wild fantasies about the horror that would ensue should this bill pass.
My wife was not amused. We need to make sure that this bill receives a fair evaluation rather than the scare-mongering of those wishing to protect the careers of the worst teachers.
The easier we can make it to fire bad teachers, the more motivation teachers will have to teach well. But we've also got to compensate them better. Tenure is a "perk" offered to offset the low wages government employees recieve as compared to the private sector. It effectively trades higher wages for greater job security.
But take away the perk and all you've got a is a low paying job. The schools will turn into a revolving door of bad teachers.
The best thing we could do for our schools would be to double every teacher's salary and then remove all the obstacles to firing a teacher. Make them as easy to fire as the fry-guy at Burger King.
Disclosure: I'm a state employee with merit status. I would trade it in an instant for a salary that was competitive with the private sector. I’m not scared of being fired, cause I’m good at what I do, and I’m worth every penny the state pays me.
Are vouchers going to pass this session? We need to shake up the way we deliver education to our children. I get the feeling more and more every day that the UEA is only concerned about their system and not the individual kids.
I would like to know from Steve if school vouchers are going to pass this year. I am suprised that most citizens don't understand what this means for our children and a parent's choice.
Yes, I too wonder if we will promote welfare payments in subsidizing personal choices.
There is plenty of educational choice in Utah and we should strive for more of that. But if we have to depend on a voucher to say that we don't "have" a choice in how we raise our children, then there's something wrong.
My parents (including the present day) didn't need a voucher to know they had that choice. And we went to inner city schools.
The ones who truly have NO choice are those who have terminally ill children or those without children. And yet, we're asking them to pick up the slack because of our "lack" of choice. I can see why my neighbor who has waited years for children gets upset when she hears others complaining about their "lack" of choice.
Yes, let's change the way we deliver education in Utah--get it more out of the hands of state and federal government and more in the hands of communities. Let's work together as communities and embrace our schools and work together to make the best ones possible. I don't think it takes lots more tax money to solve the problem--what it will take will be a change of attitude and a little time.
I remember going up for a few days at the legislature last year. I eavesdropped on several conversations. Particularly interesting were the ones by the voucher special interest activist people. I listed for about 10 minutes as a bunch of them stood there ridiculing teachers and coming up with anything they could negative about them. As someone who was taught to respect teachers, I was saddened by so much disrespect shown for them.
citizen 451 does miss a few things. Every few years (3 on average) teachers are assessed in many districts. You can be fired there just as well as any time. If you violate a policy, your license can be removed immediately. There is not so much "tenure" as we teachers would like to think we have. Don't forget that the probationary period is 3 years as opposed to six months to a year for many other jobs. With some on the lookout for anything negative that a teacher does, we need to be ever vigilant to not "mess" up.
My uncle lost his teaching job when he was accused of something he didn't do.
And how do we judge a "bad" teacher? In a classroom, there are MANY factors that may make it successful, parental involvement being the NUMBER ONE factor. If a parent does not read with his/her child for example, do we just blame the teacher? There is a teacher I know who is not highly regarded by parents, BUT her students get high test scores and she has really done well with some students. Do we fire her because some parents don't "like" her? I could go on and on with this. Yes, there are bad teachers, but sometimes even good ones can get a bad rap if even one child's needs are "not met."
That's not to mention the fact that a teacher is NOT GOING TO PLEASE EVERYONE. In fact, sometimes it's very few. Even elementary teachers have some 75 or so parents and children to please. That's a LOT of different personalities. The last time I checked that was pretty hard to do, particularly in the legislature.
Let's get all of this political stuff out of education, on every side. Let's work together to create a great system.
I say we enact some legislative reform. Let's take some of the money and give it to third party candidates so that we can have more of a choice. Let's make it easier to have recall elections for bad legislators and only give them money if we support them, not if we do not. Each legislator should only get a limited amount of time available with special interest groups (say 8 minutes a week) and should spend the rest of the time attending meetings with local people in the district he/she represents. All gifts should be donated to charity.
I don't know whether vouchers will pass. There is a group of about 10 house members who must be convinced. There is a lot of pressure being put on them (election threats, etc.); not being shrinking violets, it is quite possible that they will respond to the pressure -- and vote against the bill.
Yes, I hope that they do not respond to special interests and not vote for vouchers. I hope they vote conservatively and not for another welfare program.
There is plenty of money out there for private sector vouchers if one chooses.
And there are PLENTY of eductational choices here in Utah--though everyone has a choice NO MATTER WHAT in how their child is educated and what values they learn.
It's time to invest in education, NO I DON'T meant to throw money at it. It's time to change our attitudes and our efforts to make this a state where education, children, parents, and teachers are valued and respected and one we all can be proud of. It takes a little time and effort and again, a change of attitude. There are several ways that can be accomplished. Supporting programs like vouchers is not one of them.
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