Parent Revolution

Unionized Reform

Two days ago, I wrote about the case for paying better teachers more money to help keep them in the classroom and improve education. I also maintained it was crucial for teacher’s unions to come on board with these reforms. And  lo and behold, it turns out that is all starting to happen! Reuters carried a great piece yesterday about a historic bargaining agreement between a charter school and the teacher’s union in Boston.

Notable provisions support evidence-based practices in length of school day and child development initiatives, and professionalism of the faculty through a merit pay compensation structure and active role in the design and execution of professional development and curriculum design.

The agreement`s merit pay compensation structure is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.

The Head of School, Diana Lam, said "This contract preserves the charter school ethos by reflecting a commitment to students, flexibility and innovation, as well as to the professionalism of teachers. We see the contract as a win for students and teachers alike."

This is another example of what the Parent Revolution has been saying all along- reform of public education can (and should, when possible) occur in a 100% unionized environment. We see it everyday at Locke High School, and now we’re seeing other innovative bargaining agreements pop up around the country. It is completely possible to design a contract that is about children and offers teachers the protections they deserve.

Working together on “merit pay”

I would like to once again steal from progressive blogger Matthew Yglesias to make the case for finding ways to pay better teachers more money. Critics often charge that things like merit pay are “conservative” ideas - a common tactic of those opposed to education reform - and appear to get particularly upset when unabashed progressives are advocating for them.

As Yglesias points out, there is apparently nothing controversial about paying some teachers more than others- we already do! The only difference is that we currently pay teachers more for certain things – such as obtaining masters in education – which appear to have no affect on teacher quality or student performance. The advantage of course is that this is a completely “objective” form of differential pay, whereas coming up with fair ways to correctly evaluate the “quality” of every teacher is much more difficult. But as he says, the fact that it’s hard doesn’t mean we should stop trying! But that seems to be the exact position of people who spend their time scare-mongering and working to defeat such ideas. Rather than constructively working towards a system that could be benefit our students while remaining fair to teachers, we hear derision. This is a shame, and does not at all advance the cause of improving public education.

Let’s review what the research fairly unambiguously says. There are few – if any – things more important than getting every child in front of a great teacher. And we know that some teachers are better than others (our own common sense and schooling experience should suffice to convince anyone of that). Finding ways to a) identify those superior teachers, b) incentivize them to teach in difficult classrooms, and c) keep them in the profession of teaching, are crucial to fixing public education and closing our shameful achievement gap. I understand that teacher’s unions have legitimate concerns about opportunities for unfair evaluations and favoritism. But that’s just all the more reason that it’s crucial to have them engaged in the process, to help craft a system that works for both teachers and children.  We must be able to come around to acknowledge that our current compensation system - like so much of public education - just isn't working in children's best interest anymore.

Paying better teachers more money could be an important piece of solving this puzzle; I think that earns it a little more serious thought, and a little less derision from my fellow progressives.

Now We Take Power

Last week's victory was big.  Parents all across Los Angeles stood up, stood together and spoke with one voice demanding change.  And we got it.  In the form of a board resolution that strips away the LAUSD's monopoly to operate all failing schools and all newly constructed schools throughout Los Angeles.  But that's just a first step.  The LAUSD has a long history of passing "historic" resolutions that get bogged down, slowed down, and watered down in the black hole of the Beaudry bureaucracy, never to be seen again.  Together, we are going to break with that past and chart our own history with two simple strategies.

First, we are demanding that Superintendent Cortines' implementing regulations give parents direct power to transform their own schools.  Parents trapped in failing schools shouldn't have to wait for a downtown bureaucrat to decide when and if their school qualifies for a transformation.  We only get one chance to give our children the education they need and the future they deserve.  If it's not good enough for my child, your child, our children now -- then we cannot afford to wait.  Parent Revolution is calling upon the Superintendent -- whom we believe stands with parents in this historic struggle -- to give parents direct power to transform their own schools with a simple grassroots petition campaign.

Second, regardless of whether we win that battle or not, we must rise up and take power.  Last week was historic, but just a first step.  It won't ultimately mean anything until we transform one school and send one student to college who wouldn't otherwise have gone.  The only way we're going to do that is by organizing and taking back school after school after school until the other side buckles.  The Revolution cannot happen from the top down.  It must come from all of us.  We, the parents of Los Angeles, in every neighborhood, in every community, in every school attendance boundary across our District must take back our schools for our kids, our communities and our collective future.  sign up today to take back and transform your school.

This is our moment.  This is our time.  Let's seize it together.

Now Is Our Time.

This is our moment. 

(Picture via LA Times)

Nearly three thousand parents showed up at the LAUSD downtown headquarters today to demand change, and they got it.  In the form of a groundbreaking school choice resolution, authored by Yolie Flores Agular.  It will help us to revolutionize hundreds of failing schools throughout the District, and turn the new school construction program into an engine of reform.  This was a watershed moment, not just because of the transformative nature of the policy itself, but also because of how we won the vote.  We won because of parents.  We stood up, stood together and screamed at the top of our lungs: we are fed up, and we aren't going to take it anymore!  And we organized ourselves into a political force more powerful than the defenders of the status quo.  We stand for one thing, and one thing only: our children.  And we are motivated by one thing, and one thing only: our love for them.  This was a great day, both because of what we did, and how we did it.

We made history today.  All of us are living together in a revolutionary moment.  Big, scary, good, revolutionary change is happening right now, and we get to be part of it.  We have parents standing together alongside the President of the United States calling for a revolution.  That's exciting.  But there are two reasons for us to temper our joy, just a little bit.

First, because we haven't done anything yet.  This resolution -- and all the great Parent Revolution organizing in East Los Angeles, Venice, and elsewhere -- won't mean a thing until we transform our first school, and begin the process of giving our children the education they need and the future they deserve.  Until we transform that first school and help that first student, we have done nothing.  The defenders of the status quo didn't expect us to move so quickly.  Maybe they underestimated us and were caught a little flat-footed.  But they aren't anymore.  They now know what we can do, so we must do more.  We have to work even harder to actually implement this resolution with parents all across Los Angeles.

Second, we need to be gracious winners.  Because our opponents aren't bad people.  They care about kids too.  I've consumed a tremendous amount of wine with A.J. Duffy and know him to be a smart, funny, nice person.  The problem isn't the people, it's the system itself.  More often than not, if we can change the system, we can work with the people.  Even though major elements of organized labor opposed us today, there isn't any reason why we shouldn't ultimately be on the same side.  Because what's good for kids is almost invariably good for good and great teachers.  It's good for kids if teachers are paid very well.  It's good for kids if teachers are respected inside and outside the classroom.  And it's good for kids if teachers are empowered to be creative and teach from the heart, because they aren't micromanaged by bureaucrats in a far-away centralized bureaucracy.  But it's also good for kids if teachers (and parents) are held accountable for the performance of their students.  That's the kids-first bargain.  I believe we can ultimately strike that bargain because it just makes sense.  But having tried getting there when they were more powerful than we were, I'd rather do it the other way around.  Ultimately, though, we must treat our opponents with respect, and we must focus on one thing and one thing only: our children.

One other random note: some opponents of reform made snide comments today, implying that Parent Revolution somehow owns the patent to a secret "parent brainwashing potion," which allows us to load thousands of parents into buses, put Parent Revolution t-shirts on them without their knowledge, and pre-program them to spout our party line.  That's obviously insulting.  The mode of transportation by which a parent arrives at a school board meeting depends almost entirely on their economic status.  Whether a parent arrives in a bus, drives a car, or walks, they are motivated by the same basic instinct: love for their child.  Period.  It was love that brought out 3,000 parents today to stand up for change, nothing more.  However, if our opponents do in fact own their own patent to a secret "parent brainwashing potion," please let us know.  That could be very useful.

Finally, I just want to thank all of you.  Thank you to the brave school board members who voted for this resolution and the District employees who will implement it.  Thank you to the members of the unprecedented coalition that partnered in this Herculean effort.  Thank you to the parents of Los Angeles, who have embrace the Revolution, without whom we could never have passed this resolution.  And thank you to the handful of parents who believed in the Parent Revolution when it was just a crazy idea and a video.

Thank you all. 

Now let's go have a Revolution! 

This Is MY Parent Revolution

Eloise Lain Austin.  Born August 19th, at 4:49pm.  She and Fiona make me happier than I could ever have imagined.  Having a child brings these issues into stark relief.  It makes me think about what Fiona and Eloise will think of the rest of us when they grow up.  Will they look back and see that our generation of parents seized this revolutionary moment to transform public education?  Will they realize that we didn't take the path of least resistance, and that we fought by any means necessary to give them the education they need and the future they deserve?  Will they know our love -- not just in our hugs, kisses and daily interactions -- but also in our laws, our policies and our schools?  I hope so.  That's what the Parent Revolution stands for.  For me, especially in the wake of Eloise's birth, those words have taken on even greater meaning.  It's an honor to stand with thousands of parents across Los Angeles who feel the same way.