Dear Mr. Corbett,
A parable that's going viral for you, tonight:
A unionized public employee, a member of the Tea Party, and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, looks at the tea partier and says, "Watch out for that union guy, he wants a piece of your cookie!"
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
No, Mr. Corbett, Charter Schools are not the answer.
Dear Mr. Corbett,
Here's just one more example why charter schools are not the answer. Hopefully you (and the PA Senate) can figure this out before you waste our money:
"The RAND Corp. found that charter students in Philadelphia did not do any better than a comparable group of traditional students. A 2008 study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University found that charter schools had a positive effect on mathematics scores in 17 percent of cases, no impact in 46 percent of cases and a negative impact in 37 percent of cases."
http://www.app.com/article/20110130/NJOPINION03/101300323/Charter-schools-not-answer?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s
Yes, it comes from New Jersey. But since that's from whence your playbook is coming, I figure it fits.
Here's just one more example why charter schools are not the answer. Hopefully you (and the PA Senate) can figure this out before you waste our money:
"The RAND Corp. found that charter students in Philadelphia did not do any better than a comparable group of traditional students. A 2008 study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University found that charter schools had a positive effect on mathematics scores in 17 percent of cases, no impact in 46 percent of cases and a negative impact in 37 percent of cases."
http://www.app.com/article/20110130/NJOPINION03/101300323/Charter-schools-not-answer?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s
Yes, it comes from New Jersey. But since that's from whence your playbook is coming, I figure it fits.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
And this is why I am disillusioned with the party I've been registered to since I turned 18...
PA Republican logic:
1) Teachers should always produce results. (OK, that makes sense).
2) Let's push for vouchers, which have never produced results.
3) Our state has a huge deficit, we should cut education funding (and divest in the future?).
4) Let's push for vouchers, which will cost more in education funding.
5) The fact that PA has a phenomenal public education ranking is irrelevant because it is real data.
2) Let's push for vouchers, which have never produced results.
3) Our state has a huge deficit, we should cut education funding (and divest in the future?).
4) Let's push for vouchers, which will cost more in education funding.
5) The fact that PA has a phenomenal public education ranking is irrelevant because it is real data.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Where did all the logic go?
Dear Mr. Corbett,
It certainly has been a while since we've chatted. I apologize. Between family, the holidays, being sick, and, of course, Dave Barry's Gift Guide and Year in Review, it's been a busy month. As promised, I've hit well over my 40 hours per month of unpaid time, but enough about me for now. How have you been? Counting down the days till the big inauguration yet? I am glad to see that the state can add an extra $2 million to its deficit just for your inauguration. You realize that you could renovate a failing elementary school with that money, right?
I saw today's AP report in which your spokesman reminded us that you will be looking to make cuts everywhere. Sadly, only the education department got a special shout-out. I wonder what that says.
So let me get this straight, we are the biggest natural gas-producing state without any kind of tax (I'm not talking a huge tax, just enough to help ease our deficit a tiny bit), we have a $4 billion deficit, we aren't sure what will happen to our pristine mountain streams with constant fracking (Did BP get a fracking lease yet?), and we will cut our education spending by adding the burden of funding a voucher program? I'm scratching my head here, Mr. Corbett, and I'm only getting dry skin. Something doesn't seem logical. It isn't much different than our dear Democrats getting fiscally concerned all of a sudden when they realize that the Republican tax cuts will cost money, as well. Probably the most illogical thing here is why I'm still puzzled at people who don't bother voting. Why should they?
Anyways, it's clear that I need to keep trying to show you the teacher's perspective because, let's face it: your platform bragging about your one-year "job" as a teacher several million years ago (by middle school student standards) and your choice to surround yourself with anti-public education advisers illustrates far too clearly that you have little to link yourself to the teacher's perspective. An old colleague of mine who works in the House Republican Caucus also demonstrated just how clearly your Republican colleagues lack backing. I quote: "Most of the members of the House and Senate Education Committees were once teachers or held school board positions." Really? School board positions? You mean the ones that require no educational background or training? I must say, her conviction truly showed the lack of perspective that exists. Now, she's been busy tweeting about how she wants to "slash" education spending. So that's where your priorities lie, eh? Of course, my colleague in the House also went on to complain about having to work late for two nights during the course of the entire legislative session. Phew. Teachers do that on a regular basis every week. In fact, I was going to add a light-hearted illustration as to what teachers do for amusement, but that will have to wait until I find more time later this week. So, I must say goodnight for now and get back to grading papers. Look for a new update in the next few days.
It certainly has been a while since we've chatted. I apologize. Between family, the holidays, being sick, and, of course, Dave Barry's Gift Guide and Year in Review, it's been a busy month. As promised, I've hit well over my 40 hours per month of unpaid time, but enough about me for now. How have you been? Counting down the days till the big inauguration yet? I am glad to see that the state can add an extra $2 million to its deficit just for your inauguration. You realize that you could renovate a failing elementary school with that money, right?
I saw today's AP report in which your spokesman reminded us that you will be looking to make cuts everywhere. Sadly, only the education department got a special shout-out. I wonder what that says.
So let me get this straight, we are the biggest natural gas-producing state without any kind of tax (I'm not talking a huge tax, just enough to help ease our deficit a tiny bit), we have a $4 billion deficit, we aren't sure what will happen to our pristine mountain streams with constant fracking (Did BP get a fracking lease yet?), and we will cut our education spending by adding the burden of funding a voucher program? I'm scratching my head here, Mr. Corbett, and I'm only getting dry skin. Something doesn't seem logical. It isn't much different than our dear Democrats getting fiscally concerned all of a sudden when they realize that the Republican tax cuts will cost money, as well. Probably the most illogical thing here is why I'm still puzzled at people who don't bother voting. Why should they?
Anyways, it's clear that I need to keep trying to show you the teacher's perspective because, let's face it: your platform bragging about your one-year "job" as a teacher several million years ago (by middle school student standards) and your choice to surround yourself with anti-public education advisers illustrates far too clearly that you have little to link yourself to the teacher's perspective. An old colleague of mine who works in the House Republican Caucus also demonstrated just how clearly your Republican colleagues lack backing. I quote: "Most of the members of the House and Senate Education Committees were once teachers or held school board positions." Really? School board positions? You mean the ones that require no educational background or training? I must say, her conviction truly showed the lack of perspective that exists. Now, she's been busy tweeting about how she wants to "slash" education spending. So that's where your priorities lie, eh? Of course, my colleague in the House also went on to complain about having to work late for two nights during the course of the entire legislative session. Phew. Teachers do that on a regular basis every week. In fact, I was going to add a light-hearted illustration as to what teachers do for amusement, but that will have to wait until I find more time later this week. So, I must say goodnight for now and get back to grading papers. Look for a new update in the next few days.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
A shoutout to Ryan, who provides today's multidisciplinary lesson
Dear Mr. Corbett,
How are you doing? I see that you've named your Private Education transitional team. Will you be naming a public education one, as well? Vahan Gureghian is an interesting choice. His charter school is bragging about hitting proficiency levels over 50% after scraping the bottom of the barrel for at least half a decade. Wait, Mr. Corbett, don't the public schools have to hit 70%? Here's another question, Mr. Corbett: if I had donated a quarter of a million dollars to your campaign like Gureghian did, would you put me on your transitional team, too, or doesn't public education get a say? After all, we don't focus on monetary gain at public schools.
Anyways, today's blog is dedicated to a commenter named Ryan. He brings up quite a few teaching opportunities, and, as a teacher, I always take advantage of a teachable moment. Of course, Mr. Corbett, as someone whose platform reminded us that he taught for 9 months 280 dog years ago (forgive me, I'm running out of ways to have fun with the numbers), you'd know that, too.
Ryan posted this comment on my last post:
How are you doing? I see that you've named your Private Education transitional team. Will you be naming a public education one, as well? Vahan Gureghian is an interesting choice. His charter school is bragging about hitting proficiency levels over 50% after scraping the bottom of the barrel for at least half a decade. Wait, Mr. Corbett, don't the public schools have to hit 70%? Here's another question, Mr. Corbett: if I had donated a quarter of a million dollars to your campaign like Gureghian did, would you put me on your transitional team, too, or doesn't public education get a say? After all, we don't focus on monetary gain at public schools.
Anyways, today's blog is dedicated to a commenter named Ryan. He brings up quite a few teaching opportunities, and, as a teacher, I always take advantage of a teachable moment. Of course, Mr. Corbett, as someone whose platform reminded us that he taught for 9 months 280 dog years ago (forgive me, I'm running out of ways to have fun with the numbers), you'd know that, too.
Ryan posted this comment on my last post:
Ryan said...
Maybe if you used your 4sight data correctly, you would not feel it was a waste of time! I wish we gave the 4sight more often because of the data it provides. Maybe if we spent less time writing blogs complaining about education and actually did something we wouldn't be worried about 27 hours. The average teacher in my district is putting in on average 40 hours a month and we still do not have time to sit there and write blogs. So, while you keep blaming Mr. Corbett, think of all the time you are wasting! Something to think about isn't it?What's so exciting about this? I can cover Commonwealth standards in all three R's using Ryan's post. I can also bring up the valid points that Ryan provides. Does that mean that I get one of your likely-to-be-proposed-yet-entirely-ridiculously-arbitrary proficiency merit bonus, Mr. Corbett? Let's see, where do we start?
Reading standards:
Figurative language: irony. Notice how Ryan accuses me of wasting time for the occasional late-night blog. However, if you look at his time stamp, you'll notice that he posted his comment at 11:04 a.m. on a school day. If he's actually a real teacher, that means that he is posting to blogs while on the clock, something many private sector workers do, but also something that could get you fired as a teacher, Ryan. Hence, irony. Or hypocrisy. It's too late tonight for me to care about nuances.
Understanding the author's purpose. Ryan mentioned that I am blaming you, Mr. Corbett. For what could I blame you? Sure, I worry that you think the worst anti-education governor to ever hit the state of New Jersey is a great role model, but you haven't done anything (yet). I thought I made my purpose clear: I want to provide you with the perspective of a simple teacher (particularly one who wasn't even alive yet when you did your nine month stint as a teacher four tenths of a century ago).
Shall we continue onto math and writing?
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Just a simple update for now.
Dear Mr. Corbett,
When I first introduced myself to you on the night in which you became Pennsylvania's Governor Elect, I promised to remind you of the additional work I put in as a teacher. Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed in myself. See, I haven't needed to use as much unpaid time as normal because of having off on Veterans Day, having an inservice the following day, and then administering a 4Sight test.
That's right: for two days, I, a certified teacher, was paid to proctor a "practice" standardized test. Good use of taxpayer money? Don't worry, I have four of them each year, which basically results in nearly two school weeks of teaching lost each year. On the up side, it has helped me get ahead on grading and such.
That being said, let's look at how I'm doing on the unpaid side of things:
Since November 3rd, I have logged a total of 27 hours spent at school before my contractual start time, spent after my end time, spent helping students or working over my lunch, spent using my prep period helping students, or spent working at home. Plus, there is an additional 3 hours in there for an extracurricular activity. This translates into about 15 hours extra each standard school week. Of course, the data set is small, so I'll keep tabs to give you a better estimate, Mr. Corbett.
So what have I done with my "free" time? Well, I've written a few letters to a one Mr. Tom Corbett (that's you). I've also snuck in a few short pheasant hunts after school on days I don't stick around. See, we rescued a phenomenal Wire Fox Terrier who passed away a little over a year ago. We loved the breed so much that we got another Wire Fox Terrier. I wrote to some breeders about the possibility of turning him into an upland bird dog; I was told in rather certain language that it was all but impossible to train a Wire Fox Terrier to act as a flushing and retrieving dog. When I get told that I can't do something, I have a tendency to prove it can be done. My pup made quick work of the 2 bird limit on opening day, and has provided several pheasants since.
I have a question for you, Mr. Corbett. If I can create one of the only (perhaps the only?) Wire Fox Terriers in the country trained to flush upland game birds, why is it that I can't do something as "simple" as getting 100% of my students to gain proficiency on a standardized test? Do you think that maybe the one-size-fits-all education isn't realistic?
When I first introduced myself to you on the night in which you became Pennsylvania's Governor Elect, I promised to remind you of the additional work I put in as a teacher. Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed in myself. See, I haven't needed to use as much unpaid time as normal because of having off on Veterans Day, having an inservice the following day, and then administering a 4Sight test.
That's right: for two days, I, a certified teacher, was paid to proctor a "practice" standardized test. Good use of taxpayer money? Don't worry, I have four of them each year, which basically results in nearly two school weeks of teaching lost each year. On the up side, it has helped me get ahead on grading and such.
That being said, let's look at how I'm doing on the unpaid side of things:
Since November 3rd, I have logged a total of 27 hours spent at school before my contractual start time, spent after my end time, spent helping students or working over my lunch, spent using my prep period helping students, or spent working at home. Plus, there is an additional 3 hours in there for an extracurricular activity. This translates into about 15 hours extra each standard school week. Of course, the data set is small, so I'll keep tabs to give you a better estimate, Mr. Corbett.
So what have I done with my "free" time? Well, I've written a few letters to a one Mr. Tom Corbett (that's you). I've also snuck in a few short pheasant hunts after school on days I don't stick around. See, we rescued a phenomenal Wire Fox Terrier who passed away a little over a year ago. We loved the breed so much that we got another Wire Fox Terrier. I wrote to some breeders about the possibility of turning him into an upland bird dog; I was told in rather certain language that it was all but impossible to train a Wire Fox Terrier to act as a flushing and retrieving dog. When I get told that I can't do something, I have a tendency to prove it can be done. My pup made quick work of the 2 bird limit on opening day, and has provided several pheasants since.
I have a question for you, Mr. Corbett. If I can create one of the only (perhaps the only?) Wire Fox Terriers in the country trained to flush upland game birds, why is it that I can't do something as "simple" as getting 100% of my students to gain proficiency on a standardized test? Do you think that maybe the one-size-fits-all education isn't realistic?
Friday, November 12, 2010
Why comparing public education to the "private sector" is absurd.
Dear Mr. Corbett,
I grow weary of people making comparisons to public education using the term "private sector." It's like that friend of yours who you can never match up to, yet your parents insist on making comparisons. "Why can you have your room as clean as Private Sector does? Why can't you get your homework done during study hall like Private Sector does? Do you think Private Sector would act that way in front of his family?" Of course, for us public educators, it is simple: "Why can't you be treated more like Private Sector?" Apparently, Mr. Private Sector has been doing great these past few years (what recession?).
(Ironically, these arguments usually only seem to be made by people who have either have absolutely no educational experience or only managed to teach for a year... If teaching has it too good, why didn't they give up their fancy-paying jobs, their jobs that don't require them to take work home, or their jobs that don't require a bunch of qualifications and become a teacher?)
These types of conversations always remind me of a pro-gun rights article by David Kopel that showed how ridiculous it was to compare firearms laws to automobile laws. Using as my inspiration both Kopel and the NCLB football analogy (two versions found here and here), which requires all teams to win the state championship every year or face probation, I've decided to do the same thing: What if we combined educator expectations with the private sector? My oh my, would things be different! Let's take a look at how it would, for instance, affect politics, retailers, and farmers:
I grow weary of people making comparisons to public education using the term "private sector." It's like that friend of yours who you can never match up to, yet your parents insist on making comparisons. "Why can you have your room as clean as Private Sector does? Why can't you get your homework done during study hall like Private Sector does? Do you think Private Sector would act that way in front of his family?" Of course, for us public educators, it is simple: "Why can't you be treated more like Private Sector?" Apparently, Mr. Private Sector has been doing great these past few years (what recession?).
(Ironically, these arguments usually only seem to be made by people who have either have absolutely no educational experience or only managed to teach for a year... If teaching has it too good, why didn't they give up their fancy-paying jobs, their jobs that don't require them to take work home, or their jobs that don't require a bunch of qualifications and become a teacher?)
These types of conversations always remind me of a pro-gun rights article by David Kopel that showed how ridiculous it was to compare firearms laws to automobile laws. Using as my inspiration both Kopel and the NCLB football analogy (two versions found here and here), which requires all teams to win the state championship every year or face probation, I've decided to do the same thing: What if we combined educator expectations with the private sector? My oh my, would things be different! Let's take a look at how it would, for instance, affect politics, retailers, and farmers:
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