Jail time for missing conferences?

I read an interesting story on Yahoo this morning about how parents in Detroit could face jail time if they don’t show up for their child’s parent teacher conferences.

Here’s a portion of the story:

DETROIT – The night Demarco Harris shot and killed a woman during a robbery on a Detroit street, his parents told police knocking on their door at 2 a.m. they didn’t know where their 12-year-old was.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said that’s indicative of a larger issue in Detroit, where the lack of making parents accountable for their children partly is blamed on elevated truancy and dropout rates, as well as a recent rash of violent crimes involving teens.

Worthy has a new idea she hopes will fix the problem: Jail parents for up to three days for repeatedly missing scheduled parent-teacher conferences.

“I have seen that younger and younger children are committing more violent acts and we need to look at different approaches,” Worthy told reporters. “I know we need to try something different. We should not have to legislate this, but what we have been doing is not working.”

She’s still working on the details, but once her proposal is finished, she hopes to present it to county commissioners in August and persuade them to approve an ordinance. After that, she may take it to state legislators in Lansing.

This is a unique approach to getting parents to attend conferences. What do you think?

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Teacher tenure

I just finished reading a story from the Associated Press about how teacher tenure rules are going to change in Colorado.
Here’s the story:

In bold move, Colorado alters teacher tenure rules

By COLLEEN SLEVIN, Associated Press Writer

DENVER – Colorado is changing the rules for how teachers earn and keep the sweeping job protections known as tenure, linking student performance to job security despite outcry from teacher unions that have steadfastly defended the system for decades.

Many education reform advocates consider tenure to be one of the biggest obstacles to improving America’s schools because it makes removing mediocre or even incompetent teachers difficult.

Colorado’s legislature changed tenure rules despite opposition from the state’s largest teacher’s union, a longtime ally of majority Democrats. Gov. Bill Ritter, also a Democrat, signed the bill into law last month.

It requires teachers to be evaluated annually, with at least half of their rating based on whether their students progressed during the school year. Beginning teachers will have to show they’ve boosted student achievement for three straight years to earn tenure.

Teachers could lose tenure if their students don’t show progress for two consecutive years. Under the old system, teachers simply had to work for three years to gain tenure, the typical wait around the country.

After the bill survived a filibuster attempt and passed a key House vote, Democratic Rep. Nancy Todd, a 25-year teacher who opposed the measure, broke into tears.

“I don’t question your motives,” an emotional Todd said to the bill’s proponents. “But I do want you to hear my heart because my heart is speaking for over 40,000 teachers in the state of Colorado who have been given the message that it is all up to them.”

While other states have tried to modify tenure, Colorado’s law was the boldest education reform in recent memory, according to Kate Walsh, the president of the Washington-based National Council on Teacher Quality, which promotes changing the way teachers are recruited and retained, including holding tenured teachers accountable with annual reviews.

Walsh thinks Colorado is now at the head of the pack in the second round of the Obama administration’s Race to the Top competition, a $4.35 billion pot of stimulus money designed to prod just such changes.

“If I was a betting woman, I would absolutely put Colorado in first place,” she said.

Teachers won’t be at risk of losing tenure until 2015 because lawmakers slowed down the process under political pressure from the teachers’ union. Teachers can appeal dismissal all the way to the state Supreme Court, and school districts have the burden of proving why they should be terminated.

Every state but Wisconsin has some form of tenure. The protections were intended to protect teachers from being fired because of their politics, religion or other arbitrary reasons. But Patrick McGuinn, a political science professor at Drew University who has studied tenure, said they have evolved into virtual employment guarantees.

On average, school districts across the country dismiss 2.1 percent of teachers annually, generally for bad conduct rather than performance.

Colorado’s measure is a tribute to the tenacity of freshman Democratic state Sen. Michael Johnston, a former Teach for America teacher, principal and Obama education adviser.

The 35-year-old Harvard- and Yale-trained lawyer was appointed to represent a largely minority Denver district that has seen an influx of more white residents because of redevelopment of the city’s former airport. He successfully fought changes to the bill that would have eased expectations for teachers with traditionally low performing students.

“What we’re saying is that it matters that every one of those kids will get across the finish line,” Johnston said.

Although various states have responded to the lure of federal money by moving to tie teacher evaluations to student performance, no other state specifically changed its tenure laws as Colorado did.

In Louisiana, GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal signed a bill partially grading teachers on student test scores in up to 27 school districts. Tenured teachers would face a revocation of tenure hearing if they repeatedly fail under the law, which was opposed by teachers unions.

A push to eliminate tenure for all new teachers and make it easier to fire teachers in Florida passed the Legislature this year but was vetoed by Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who is now running for the U.S. Senate as an independent.

Past efforts to change tenure have caused problems for both parties.

In Georgia, Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes lost the support of the teachers‘ union — and later his office — after pushing to get rid of tenure for new hires in 2000.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tangled with teachers and lost after calling a special election to change tenure rules in 2005. The teachers’ union raised dues and amassed $50 million to fight the proposal.

Many teachers and some education experts argue that tenure reform is unnecessary.

Margaret Bobb, an earth science teacher at Denver’s East High School, said bad teachers are often quietly coached out of their jobs by administrators, avoiding the protracted tenure dismissal process. She contends tenure is still needed to prevent good teachers from being dismissed for running afoul of administrators and to prevent experienced — and more expensive — teachers from being let go by cash-strapped districts.

“Education is not just you and your class. It’s not an individual activity. If you’re doing your best, it’s a system you’re a part of,” Bobb said.

_____

Associated Press writers Randall Chase in Dover, Del., Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, La. and Erik Schelzig in Nashville, Tenn. contributed to this report.

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College accounts for kindergarten kids

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend. Mine was spent helping my family paint, playing with  my dogs, and sleeping in. Also, the cemetery in my hometown was decorated nicely and it was refreshing to see so many people visiting it.

To kick off the start of the work week, here’s a story from the San Francisco Chronicle about how the city is starting college savings account for children. It’s an interesting idea. What do you think?
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Some say everyone should go to college. Mayor Gavin Newsom is trying to ensure that’s the case in San Francisco.

Every child who enters kindergarten at one of San Francisco’s public schools will get his or her own city-funded college savings account under a groundbreaking program officials plan to begin rolling out this fall, despite the current budget woes that will force layoffs and service cuts in other areas.

The deposits would be small – $50 to start, $100 for lower-income children – but the hope is that they will pay huge dividends, teaching students about saving and budgeting while forging the conviction that a college education is within reach.

“I believe that every single child should be born not necessarily into wealth, but into opportunity,” Newsom said. “Once a mind is stretched, it can never go back.”

City officials point to a study from the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis that found children who had just some savings set aside for college were about seven times more likely to go.

“It’s all about building aspirations – knowing they have a shot at being successful,” said city Treasurer Jose Cisneros, who developed the program with Newsom after seeing the success of their plan to offer affordable banking services to low-income workers who relied on payday loans and check-cashing centers.

Gradual rollout

The college savings program will begin gradually, starting this fall with 1,250 children – roughly 25 percent of incoming kindergartners – at 18 public elementary schools across the city. Next year, the program is to expand to cover 50 percent of incoming kindergartners, with full coverage planned for the third year.

Students will get a trust account in their name with $50 from city coffers – $100 if they qualify for the federal government’s free or reduced-price lunch program, city officials said.

The plan is to have corporations, nonprofit groups and others offer matching incentives to encourage children and their families to save.

EARN, a nonprofit that specializes in micro-loans and financial options for low-income workers, will contribute $100 for every student whose family also saves $100 during the first years of the program. EARN President Ben Mangan said the group has already raised $120,000 for the effort.

More deposits, other matches and compounding interest over about 12 years will go a long way toward paying for college, officials hope.

Funding the program

Of course, there is the real issue of paying for the program as the city struggles to cope with a historic $483 million budget deficit for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

In the first year, the program will cost less than $200,000, and Newsom is expected to include $400,000 in his budget to be submitted next week to the Board of Supervisors to cover the first two years of the program.

The cost would increase the following year, though, as the program expands. The proposal would have to survive budget negotiations but might attract diverse support. For example, Supervisor David Campos, who has clashed with the mayor on issues ranging from the city’s sanctuary city policy to Newsom’s proposed ban on sitting or lying on the sidewalk, backs it. “The fact that these are tough economic times doesn’t mean that you don’t make that investment,” Campos said. Proponents say the initial investment is dwarfed by the payback: creating a workforce able to compete in an increasingly global economy, helping pull people out of poverty and lessening the pressure on social services.

Some skepticism

“Getting a college degree now is pretty much comparable to getting a high school degree in the 1950s,” Cisneros said.

Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, often a Newsom ally, said he had opposed a similar idea several years ago and remains skeptical.

“I doubt now is the right time to create a new general fund entitlement program,” Elsbernd said, arguing that the social safety net already faces a funding shortfall. Newsom maintains that it is a relatively small appropriation in a $6.6 billion budget and the morally correct thing to do.

“This one I will fight to the end to get it in the budget,” Newsom said. “I believe in it that much. … I want to be there when they graduate and see the faces of these kids.”

E-mail John Coté at jcote@sfchronicle.com.

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Block schedules vs. traditional schedules

The Wichita Eagle has a good story today about how changing from a block schedule to a traditional schedule may save school districts money in tight budget years.

Here’s the story.

And here’s a portion of the story:

Block schedules can work several ways. At some area high schools, students take four 90-minute periods each day. Students could be studying four subjects each semester or taking all eight courses throughout the year on alternating days.

In contrast, a traditional schedule consists of seven 45-minute periods each day. With block scheduling, students may have the opportunity to take eight courses a year, instead of seven with traditional scheduling.

Teachers spend 75 percent of their time teaching on a block schedule, as opposed to 86 percent on a seven-period schedule, according to Mike Rettig of School Scheduling Associates, a consulting firm that advises schools on how to use block scheduling.

Districts accommodate an increase in classes in block schedules by paying teachers to give up some of their 90-minute planning periods.

Derby spent $100,000 on these “buy-backs” this year.

The state audit estimated that Derby could save $619,000 a year by switching the block schedule that the district has used for 13 years to a traditional seven-period schedule. The move would allow it to cut 10 teaching positions.

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Recommended reads.

Good morning!

To start off the week, I thought I’d share some the links of some stories that I’ve been reading.

All are from National Public Radio:

Penny Pinchers Dodge Cuts at University of Michigan

TV’s ‘The Wire’ Gets New Life in College Classrooms

Is Teacher Tenure Still Necessary?

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