Education "reformers" controlled rhetoric. Made it sound like teachers don't care about students.

[madfloridian]

That is how propaganda works. The bill brought by the ACLU against the teachers' union in Los Angeles has really shown this starkly.

It has been presented as a lawsuit filed for the students who are at low-performing schools. It sounded as though teachers were using seniority to keep their jobs because they did not care about the students. So the Mayor and the ACLU came to their rescue on white horses.

It worked beautifully. And Mayor Villaraigosa is empowered and emboldened now to pursue the unions even more. He says he is only now beginning.

Los Angeles is planning to layoff about 4,500 teachers next year, and we can be sure that teachers with experience and higher salaries may be the first to go. Some call that a victory.

From the NYT last week:

“It’s simply crazy to say that we have to do this based on when people were hired,” Mr. Villaraigosa said in an interview. He has spent considerable effort attacking the union’s policies in recent months and said that the lawsuit was just one of many steps he hopes will overhaul the way hiring and firing is done in the city’s schools.

“This is really just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “But we have to start somewhere. We haven’t had any other kind of real change, and this clearly opens the door to more.”

Teacher Layoff Plans in Los Angeles Pose Broad Implications

Last year Mayor Villaraigosa bragged about his role joining the ACLU in bringing the lawsuit against the teachers' union.

Change the LAUSD Layoff System Now
Antonio Villaraigosa.Mayor of the City of Los Angeles
Posted: May 11, 2010 10:30 PM

Today I stood on the steps of the Los Angeles County Superior Court to call on the courts, state legislature and the Los Angeles school community to change the way teachers are laid-off and to start putting students first.

At my urging and the urging of the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, the ACLU and Public Counsel filed a lawsuit (Reed v. Smith) on behalf of Markham, Gompers, John Liechty Middle Schools. The lawsuit argues that children's constitutional right to a quality education is being violated because their schools are disproportionately impacted by teachers layoffs.

He managed with the help of the ACLU and his fellow education reformers to make teachers sound selfish. The whole story was not told at all. Some like Hannah Bell are working on presenting the case more fairly, but for right now the reformers have won.

The billionaire reformers who are out to dismantle teachers' unions have the money and the power to make their voices heard.

They sure as heck did a good job of it.

[Starry Messenger]

1. k&r

[madfloridian]

5. Thanks.

We know there won't be many of those much more. There is so much hostility now toward teachers and unions.

[plumbob]

2. Yep, the only "free" speech is for those who can afford it!

Because we KNOW that all those schools had the sharpest administrators, best physical plants, highest level of technology, fantastic libraries and computers with access, software and other enrichment materials, and those MEAN OLD TEACHERS wouldn't let them use ANY of it!

That's why the schools are shit, so quit saying that there are game-playing administrators just vying for their next promotion, lousy buildings with bad plumbing, no or limited technology, no or limited libraries, no or limited computers and no enrichment materials at all. That can't be true!

It's JUST the damn teachers!

[madfloridian]

3. Wait till they see whose ox gets gored.

From the NYT link:

"The plan would most likely mean teacher layoffs in middle-class areas that are accustomed to having the same teachers come back year after year. So while Sonia Miller, the principal at Gompers, will have less turmoil this year, the churn will be passed on elsewhere."

Other unions throughout the country are now expecting to fight for the right to tenure, and that is just the start.

As Mayor Villaraigosa said, they are just getting started.

[SidDithers]

4. It wasn't "presented as a lawsuit filed for the students"...

it was a lawsuit filed for the students.

Sid

[Starry Messenger]

6. Markham was a "turnaround school"

They fired all of their teachers first in 2008 and had only 3 months to replace their staff. That's why most of the new hires were low in seniority--many of them even scarcely credentialed.

"Last week a superior court judge in Los Angeles ruled to stop seniority based layoffs at three schools in LA Unified that were decimated by last year’s layoffs. We highlighted one of the schools, Markham Middle School, in a recent report on restructuring the federal school improvement process (See past post for detail on Markham). This school recently underwent a “School Turnaround” – one of the four models the federal government is supporting with its $3 billion investment in School Improvement Grants. Under this model, the school hires a new principal, and then lets all of the teachers at the school go, and then the teachers reapply for their jobs. Some are rehired, and some are not. As a result of this process, the Markham Middle school staff consisted of largely young energetic teachers. Unfortunately, this was a group of young energetic teachers without much seniority in the district. So, when LA Unified started to give out layoff notices last spring most of the Markham staff were given notice, and in the end around 2/3rds of their staff were laid off. Needless to say the school has not done very well since then and still has not been able to fill those positions.

What was interesting about the case that the ACLU brought is that all of the defendants were is support of the complaint. The ACLU sued the state which basically means the Governor and the State Board of Education, and the school district which also includes a partnership organization run by the mayor which actually runs Markham. All four of these groups came out agreeing with the claims of the case. The Governor has a proposal to change the seniority provisions in state law. And the school district superintendent has been advocating for such a change in state law as well. So, now these 3 schools will be protected in the current round of layoffs taking place in LA Unified. But, what about the 4,997 other low performing schools in this country that the president is targeting for school turnaround?"

That's from Rob Manwaring, who has been instrumental in pointing fingers at the union. Why did not one person call the firing of all the (no doubt veteran) teachers a civil rights crisis? They have been referred to as dead wood and were brushed aside without a second thought in the media as "failures". But after replacing all of these failures, the scores barely budged under the "rock star" teachers (as Markham principle Tim Sullivan called his staff). What was the basis of their so-called "rock-star" status? Lots of questions about this whole thing and the way it has been framed.

[madfloridian]

7. Thanks for another piece of the story.

We have only a few bloggers to piece it together. The reformers have the media, the billionaires, and the power.

[Starry Messenger]

8. Also they depend on the loss of the institutional memory to spin the story their way.

Another crappy side effect of eliminating the older and more experienced workforce. I wish I could find and talk to teachers who were at Markham pre-turnaround. Why didn't they get a voice?

[Starry Messenger]

10. Comments from teachers & others on LA now

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/appellate-court-los-angeles-teachers-layoffs.html


How can this happen? Isn't this just taking bargaining rights away from the teachers? Isn't this exactly what the Governor in Wisconsin is doing to the teachers in his state? How can California do this when they have union contracts and no one changed the law? Why aren't the people sitting in the state capitol building and city hall throwing a fit?

Posted by: James Andrews | March 07, 2011 at 06:22 PM

No kids don't "win," because green teachers will be saved while experienced veteran teachers will be laid off. The kids won't get an equal education because those 45 schools don't have many veteran teachers and some were reconstituted meaning their best veterans left, leaving them with subs and TFA. Disgusting.

Posted by: LA Teacher | March 07, 2011 at 06:39 PM

Just wait until popular veteran teachers teaching Advanced Placement classes are laid off in favor of newbies - 50% of whom leave the field in five years on their own. Can't wait to see the reaction of the parents when a top notch AP teacher is laid off in favor of a "social justice" teacher who gives every kid an A.

Posted by: LAUSD teacher | March 07, 2011 at 06:42 PM

And a fun time was had by all.......

Thank God I am leaving the profession soon through retirement-- and no, it is not a "cushy" amount. I have taught for 21 years after a previous career with private industry. Now, even though I qualify for Social Security, the amount I am eligible will be reduced by 66%. Because I will only have taught for 22 years, my monthly check will be less than $2000.

Thank God the house is paid off so I will have a roof over my head.

Posted by: NorthernCA Teacher | March 07, 2011 at 06:55 PM

How do the kids win when the most experienced teachers are being laid off??

Posted by: For the Students | March 07, 2011 at 07:03 PM

Kids don't win any more than before. For those truly seeking to overturn tenure and seniority, this protects teacher jobs by virtue of the schools they're teaching in, not how good a teacher the person is. If you chose or were placed in a school that most teachers probably wouldn't choose, your job is safe.

Meanwhile, teachers in their 7th and 8th year of teaching, who have survived those crucial first 5 years (when somewhere around 1/3 of teachers quit), are likely to lose their jobs. Where is the sense in that?

Posted by: Carol | March 07, 2011 at 07:07 PM

How can our kids win? What we should be concentrating on is stopping the layoffs and the cuts, and invest more in education. This is how our children would really win.

Posted by: jb | March 07, 2011 at 07:09 PM

So David, you are exempted from being RIF'd because you are over the 10 year mark but crow about others getting RIF'd. Seniority is the fairest way to RIF teachers and protects those teachers who actually stay in the field versus the 50% who leave. I taught in an inner city school that was restructured. The teachers who replaced the good veterans are not up to par and there is now a revolving door of sub standard teachers- yet they will be protected.

Posted by: LAUSD teacher | March 08, 2011 at 08:37 PM

[madfloridian]

11. Thanks for the link to the comments. Those teachers must be in shock.

I am waiting for Florida to really get started...we ain't seen nothing yet.

And the mayor of L.A. is a Democrat. Just imagine what the Republicans have in store for teachers.

[Starry Messenger]

12. The Democrats will probably get away with more though.

The teachers and labor are so beholden to the Democratic party that no one wants to be the stinker and go against them. It's easier to rise up against Republicans because everyone knows that they hate education and labor. I don't know. We'll see how it goes here.

[Reader Rabbit]

9. This could be a sit-com: *Everybody* hates teachers!

Sadly, it's not very funny.

[madfloridian]

13. We are almost to that point right now.

And you are right, it is not very funny.

[chervilant]

14. Again,

let's cut to the chase here, shall we?

First and foremost, the deliberately informed among us are well aware of the economics of this assault on teachers and unions. However, this particular aspect is a 'verboten' topic. To whit: advocates for teachers--and for TRUE reform of public education--are quickly redirected away from this topic with the adjuration, "don't come across as a nutty conspiracy theorist!" Thus, we're having a difficult time helping others understand exactly who profits from privatization.

Second, most of the REAL problems in public education stem from federal legislation (NCLB, now RTTT), and from the severe and worsening decrease in funding for our schools, libraries, head start programs, free meals, field trips, and ALL the measurable, tangible resources required to provide a quality education for our children. Of course, the corporatists (and their political lackeys--headed up by our current POTUS) don't want the hoi polloi to get a clue about this, so the well-paid media propagandists have identified and vilified the 'common enemy': those mean, selfish, lazy, narcissistic, BAD TEACHERS and EVIL UNIONS!

Third, almost half (42%) of all children in the United States live in low-income households, where their parent(s) earn just enough to cover basic expenses (current data from NCCP). Personally, I think this is an under-representation of the number of children who live in households defined as 'low-income,' given that less than 400 people in the US own and control better than 95% of our nation's wealth. Nevertheless, 'low-income household' is synonymous with precarious employment, frequent moves, poor nutrition, and a multitude of other threats to our childrens' well-being.

In short, children of low-income households must contend with a host of social, behavioral and psychological issues, all of which impede a child's ability to learn. And, for children in poverty level households (about 21%), mere survival trumps education every time. These seldom mentioned facts are clearly antithetical to the corporatists' current assault on teachers and unions, so we activists are shouted down or diminished whenever we bring up poverty and its measurable impact on our children AND on public education.

How do we convey these CRITICAL facts so that parents will rise up in support of teachers, knowing that their support of teachers IS support for their children?!?

Frankly, I don't know if anyone other than madfloridian reads my posts. So, if anyone out there in the Peanut Gallery has any suggestions, I'd sure like to hear them.

[madfloridian]

15. I always read your posts, you know. And you have a very good question...

"How do we convey these CRITICAL facts so that parents will rise up in support of teachers, knowing that their support of teachers IS support for their children?!?"

We have to do without the media, the Democratic party, and it goes without saying without the Republican party.

Kind of hard.

In other words it's up to us.

And you are right about this:

"so we activists are shouted down or diminished whenever we bring up poverty and its measurable impact on our children AND on public education."

Indeed we are.

[Starry Messenger]

16. Maybe turn it around.

Point out that painting the teachers unions as evil and complicit in some mysterious process of bad outcomes, is in itself actually a stupid conspiracy theory. I just read some braindead libertarian at the Atlantic raving about how those selfish teachers wanted things like smaller classrooms and universal Pre-K as a benefit to the union. LOLWHUT? All teachers want those things to help kids. The only way to get them is through organization. We don't *run* the schools, we just want them to run well and be great places for kids to learn. HOW EVIL!!!

Oh, here is the link if you want a laugh:
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/03/why-fire-teachers/72163/

"The first is that it's hard to accept the power of the teachers unions when they've put such enormous energy into blocking any reform that doesn't directly benefit teachers unions (smaller class sizes, or universal pre-K: excellent. Paying on merit instead of seniority: Never!). It took decades of conservative screaming, in the face of liberals who accused them of caring only about union busting, to get one teacher's union to the point of suggesting extremely modest reforms that might allow some of the worst teachers to be fired. This is an intolerable rate of progress. It should not have taken Steven Brill's shocking article to shut down the rubber rooms."

RW bullshit alert, put on your Wellies.

[Jakes Progress]

17. You are right about the propaganda working.

All you need to do is read the education threads on DU. There are members who spout crap that could come straight from bill bennet's mouth.

[madfloridian]

18. Yes, many talking points are used by Democrats now against teachers.

It's amazing what a great job they have done in making teachers scapegoats.

[Jakes Progress]

29. Then they will be amazed when the party turns on them.

They would not stand up for teachers or unions, but they will be amazed when there is no one left to defend them. And the neocons will come for them. If you are not one of the few hundred that control 90% of the money, you will be steam rolled. They are picking us off one by one. We are fish in a barrel for them.

[Snoutport]

19. MadFlo... you always have the most excellent posts!

If I see your name on it, I figure its a good story with lots of juicy FACTS. Thanks!

[madfloridian]

21. That is a nice thing to say...

and the way things are now about teachers it means a whole lot.

:hi:

[Snoutport]

31. are you a teacher? special ed teacher here

[madfloridian]

32. Retired after 33 years. Grades 1-6 mostly 2nd and 3rd.

Loved it, but would not go back now for anything.

[Snoutport]

33. I work for an ESD and the legislature is trying to pass a bill to gut special ed

We have two house bills that would cut my district 25% next year and then up to 50% the year after. They want to do away with the elected school board and make a panel of the local school district superintendents who will get to dismantle the special ed program and take what they want of our equipment.

I was a finalist for teacher of the year last year but if these cuts go through I am one of the first ones cut. :0(

I'm looking for jobs outside education because the market is about to get flooded here with special ed teachers.

It is a hard time to be a teacher. (home sick today...by the way...I wouldn't want someone to think I was using school computers to write this!)

[Sniper]

20. They don't want teachers

Geoffrey Canada was just on with Brian Williams claiming that Americans respect teachers and education and that young people should go into the profession. Bullshit. Seriously, if you're thinking of going into education ask yourself, "Can I deal with being a government scapegoat for my entire professional life?" Trust me, it isn't fun.

[madfloridian]

22. Canada said if a bad teacher can't be fired, send them to upper middle class schools.

He says pretty much whatever he wants because his schools are politically favored. Read this article from the Gotham Gazette.

http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2010/02/15/charter-schools-with-clout/

"With schools of all stripes scrambling for money in a tight economy, the Daily News reports today that the key to getting city funds may not be what you teach but who’s doing the teaching. The paper’s Rachel Monahan found that, according to the city’s capital plan, three politically connected charter schools are slated for millions of dollars in money for new buildings.

The schools are: Harlem Promise Academy and PAVE Academy in Brooklyn, which reportedly will share $72 million, and Peninsula Preparatory Academy in Queens, which will receive an undetermined level of funding.

Each of the schools has its own politics ties.

Harlem Promise Academy is part of Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone. As the Wonkster has noted previously, Canada and the Bloomberg administration have a long history of back scratching. Canada chaired and created Learn NY, which lobbied hard for extension of mayoral control of school last year. At Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s first one-to-one debate with Democratic mayoral candidate William Thompson last year, Canada was on hand to “spin” for Bloomberg, and he was among the city leaders who pushed for extension of term limits. Even before the latest example, of city largess, Canada had reported received $388 million in contracts from the administration and hundreds of thousands from Bloomberg himself,

Meanwhile a comprehensive report by Helen Zelon in City Limits (much of which, alas, is not available on line) raises questions about whether the statistics back up all the claims many make for the Promise academies. Zelon compared Promise to other charter middle schools in Harlem’s Community School District 5, as well as to conventional public schools and the district, city and state overall, on a number of measures. The Promise Academy ranked in the middle on eighth grade English and math scores. It had the smallest class size — 10 students in eight grade English classes — but ranked toward the bottom on percentage of students qualifying for free lunch (a poverty indicator) and at the very bottom in percent of students with limited English language proficiency. This does not mean Promise academies are failing, Zelon writes, but she said, “What’s often overlooked in the warm glow of media attention to HCZ is the fact that other traditional public schools and charter networks achieve comparably robust test scores, with lower per-pupil spending.”

[Sniper]

24. Thank you

That's an interesting (and depressing) piece. I find the media attention on education "stars" disturbing. The people who appear on the nightly news rarely speak for the teacher who does his or her job well and would like a little support from higher up. We're all just pawns and stepladders to the politicians and media figures.

[Nevernose]

27. That's because SES has far more to do with educational success

...than most teachers do. A child's performance can be guessed with a decent level of accuracy by the time they're three. By then, the groundwork for academic achievement has been established: inability to delay gratification, focus on a task, control one's impulses, behave responsibility. Age three.

American kids are NUMBER ONE in reading and science and number three in math, internationally. But that's only for the top 20% of SES. Even if you widen the net and include the next lowest 20% (so the top 40% of SES), American kids are still number one in reading and science. Other countries know this and try to copy our methods.

If we were really concerned with improving education, we'd stop blaming the teachers who are teaching our children to perform at such high levels, and start with earlier and stronger interventions.

[Riley18]

23. Despite all the negative propaganda against teachers,

Rachel said that 66% of the people fully support us. That says something for the people. Like Michael Moore said "I am betting on the people" because people are angry for good reason. I was at a rally in Florida yesterday, and it was a great experience. I cannot wait to go out again. One young guy was laughing and looking at us like we were crazy. I spoke to him and told him that we were out there for him too. What job will he get when there are no decent jobs here? He really started to listen and asked me what could he do about it. I told him about the website awakethestate.com and he said he would check it out. This attack on unions is really all about taking what is left in this country and handing it all over to the few super rich people. They will not stop at just union busting. Their next step is Social Security and other safety nets. They will not be satisfied until we are all living on next to nothing.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. I'm having a hard time with all of this, mad

I'm very discouraged for the first time. A bill in my state, if passed, would result in no tenure, a new evaluation system that does NOT favor sped teachers like me, and a loss to me of $20K a year in pay.

Since I am nearing retirement and my retirement earnings are based on the last 5 years I teach, it would be idiotic for me to accept the lower pay and continue teaching.

The good news is no one in my state is trying to take my union away or strip it of its collective bargaining rights. As if that is necessary once this bill passes.

Very sad, worn out and depressed here.

[madfloridian]

26. I have tried very hard not to let it get to me...

but I saw several hundred were out in our conservative city today, and I nearly cried. Wasn't able to be there, but I was in spirit.

They are doing the same things here to unions, and I fear there won't be enough fight to matter.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. ...

:cry:

[la la]

30. villaraigosa's ex wife was a teacher-

that was a 'f'en big deal, as they say, when he was running for mayor--he had some of my teacher friends and high reps in CTA practically licking his boots---i'm wondering how they feel about him now- and whether any of this goes back to the ex....

...just sayin.....

[libmom74]

34. I have a bumper

sticker that says "Education is National Security". I don't think enough people get that in this country, we spend more money on sport stars than on the little people who will be running our country some day. I've read that 40% of adults in the US are functionally illiterate. How are our children supposed to learn and compete on an international level when we attack and denigrate teachers and constantly cut funding for education? As a parent it is so scary, my husband and I are seriously thinking about homeschool for our son because we just don't know how kids are supposed to learn in an environment where teachers are constantly being rotated out, class sizes keep growing and "learning" is just focused narrowley on passing tests.

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. +1

[Maat]

36. I love homeschooling.

I'm just saying; and, I do it through a charter school. We get to meet with a fully-credentialed, public school teacher once per month. My daughter does avoid being in a crowded classroom. She eats a nutritious, organic lunch each day, and doesn't even get suspended for using a knife to cut her meat!

[Rex]

37. Any teacher that makes it to seniority, LOVES teaching students!

But one would have to teach, to see it first hand, to know that.