President Obama and his education secretary, Arne Duncan, today unveiled their "Race to the Top" competition, an effort to reward states making serious progress towards meaningful education reform. States leading the way on school reform will be eligible to apply for a pool of $4.35 billion to help drive their innovative efforts.
What does this mean for us in California? Unfortunately, it appears that we are not even going to eligible to win this money. According to the LA Times:
California has among the worst records of any state in collecting and using data to evaluate teachers and schools.
Moreover, a 2006 law that created a teacher database explicitly prohibited the use of student test scores to hold teachers accountable on a statewide basis.
Yes, you heard correctly. Not only does California lack effective systems to track the performance of it's teachers and students, but it expressly prohibits holding teachers accountable to student performance.
Rather than sit down and try to find a thoughtful and fair system of accountability for teachers, California decided it would be easier to just insert special interest language banning accountability altogether.
Just one more sad example of an agenda that has nothing to do with kids. The Parent Revolution is about a simple philosophy- that every decision made about our schools should be about what is best for their students. Period.
We're proud that President Obama is demanding the same. And we sincerely hope that LAUSD and the rest of California heeds his call.
Steve Lopez, columnist for the LA Times, wrote up a great piece in today's paper about the Parent Revolution. He quotes Barbara Einstein and Laura Alice, two of the leaders of the Venice Parent Revolution movement, as well as other LAUSD parents.
"Shame on you," one parent wrote to a district administrator. "Please stop running this district like a 3-ring circus."
He also compared the madness of LAUSD policies to the absurd decisions being made up in Sacramento:
And now a slew of talented young teachers are looking for work after being fired for lack of seniority, even as dozens of other teachers keep getting paid despite their removal from classrooms for misconduct allegations.
And he concludes with a call to action for the parents of LAUSD:
Storm the gates, say I, and take no prisoners.
We couldn't agree more. You can read the entire thing here- it's a great piece.
Over the weekend, the Daily News weighed in with a blistering editorial, strongly supporting the Public School Choice Resolution, and blasting those who want to use delay tactics to kill it. "The last thing LAUSD can afford to do right now," they wrote, "is nothing."
Flores Aguilar should spend the next several weeks, before the board reconsiders her resolution, adding solid detail and objectivity. At that point, the board should stop equivocating and show that it's serious about being an agent of educational change. It has squandered such opportunities before. It must not do so again.
It is clear to almost any objective observer that this resolution is a huge step forward for the children of Los Angeles and their parents. Who wouldn't want different entities competing to provide their child the best possible education? The time has come for us to put petty politics aside, and do the right thing.
Yesterday's school board meeting was a powerful example of how desperately parents and community leaders across Los Angeles want change in our schools. It received some great coverage from both the LA Times and the Daily News.
Parents, elected officials, and leaders from communities as diverse as East LA, Inglewood, Bell, South LA, and West LA stood up together and demanded the Board pass this resolution. Yolie Flores-Aguilar, author of the resolution, reminded her colleagues that of the 10 new schools that have opened in her District since 2004, five of them are already designated as failing.
We cannot continue to spend $25 billion on new schools that are academically failing almost from the day they open. Our children and our parents deserve better.
Wanted to share this video with you all... its Fernando Espuelas (host of Cafe Espuelas on Univision radio) speaking at the July 1st Parent Revolution rally at LAUSD Headquarters.
Speaking about our broken system of education, Fernando spoke the truth: "This is immoral... We need to break through the way of thinking that has step-by-step destroyed the public education system." But, he reminded the crowd, "There is a mechanism by which we can change the system." The Parent Revolution.
