The foundation is weakening . . .

I found this article in the New York Times Magazine, The Teachers' Unions’ Last Stand interesting so I thought I would share it with you. The article is very long, nine pages, so I doubt that many will read all of it, but it does pose an interesting question about the future influence of teacher unions on the Democratic Party. Much of the article is about the failure of New York to win in round one of RttT because of issues with supporting charters and teacher tenure. Interestingly, these are two issues that I believe make our state’s proposal questionable.

The author, on pages 3-5, draws a comparison to a charter and public school in New York housed in the same building. The intent is to demonstrate how much better and cheaper it is to run charters.

To take one representative example, 51 percent of the third-grade students in the public school last year were reading at grade level, 49 percent were reading below grade level and none were reading above. In the charter, 72 percent were at grade level, 5 percent were reading below level and 23 percent were reading above level.

In reference to the influence groups like New Leaders for New Schools has had on Race to the Top we get insight into the what drives people like Schnur. He is also the person who came up with the name for RttT.

The activity set off by the contest has enabled Schnur’s network to press as never before its frontal challenge to the teachers’ unions: they argue that a country that spends more per pupil than any other but whose student performance ranks in the bottom third among developed nations isn’t failing its children for lack of resources but for lack of trained, motivated, accountable talent at the front of the class.

This theme of teacher quality is certainly evident in the grant with 138 of the possible 500 points focused on teacher quality.

“It’s all about the talent,” Secretary Duncan told me. Thus, the highest number of points — 138 of the 500-point scale that Duncan and his staff created for the Race — would be awarded based on a commitment to eliminate what teachers’ union leaders consider the most important protections enjoyed by their members: seniority-based compensation and permanent job security. To win the contest, the states had to present new laws, contracts and data systems making teachers individually responsible for what their students achieve, and demonstrating, for example, that budget-forced teacher layoffs will be based on the quality of the teacher, not simply on seniority.

The article also focuses on page 7 and 8 on the new teacher contract in Washington DC where AFT President Weingarten and Superintendent Rhee agreed to a contract being hailed as the forerunner for change. It eliminates teacher tenure-based job security.

But what happened last month in Washington could signal a new era in which the unions have to worry that Democrats, like Washington’s mayor, Adrian Fenty, not only won’t yield in contract negotiations but will also support laws and programs aimed at forcing accountability. That is the threat posed by the Race. “Deliberately or not, President Obama, whom I supported, has shifted the focus from resources and innovation and collaboration to blaming it all on dedicated teachers,” Weingarten says.

Well, what does this have to do with us? We seem far removed from changes in Washington DC and state capitals across the country. That may be true, but the conversations have started in our state and they will not end unless and until there is a change at the federal level. With a new opportunity for RttT probable for next year the pressure to continue to focus on teacher quality, tenure, and achievement data in teacher evaluation will not disappear. Even if this November’s elections bring change to the balance between Democrats and Republicans in Washington DC it is highly unlikely that Republicans will become the savior of traditional teacher union values.

We are fortunate to have a positive working relationship with our teacher association. I don’t anticipate this changing during the current round of negotiations or in the future as we consider how to align our Classroom 10 initiative with revised supervisory and evaluation models. A foundation of respect and the willingness to think systemically are critical to our success and something that those on the national level might be wise to consider.