Monday, October 25, 2010

Why Chancellor Joel Klein Deserves A Grade Of “F” When We Look At His Value-Added Grade.



In the uproar of the phony value-added grades for teachers that Chancellor Klein wants to publish, despite an agreement with the union that the scores would not be released and only be used to determine their applicability in the real world. It is only fair to rate our Chancellor on his value-added grade by his accomplishments or lack thereof of the students and staff.

Student Academic Achievement:

The latest numbers show that under Chancellor Joel Klein’s failed stewardship, the 2010 grades dropped and are no better then when he first took the Chancellor’s position in 2002. If we were to use the value-added formula on Joel Klein for the 2010 results, it would show that he is truly incompetent in raising student test scores. In fact, the passing rate dropped dramatically!

The Racial/Income Academic Achievement Gap:

The Chancellor, despite his false claims, has failed to narrow the racial/income achievement gap on his watch. According to the New York Daily News, the racial/income academic achievement gap has actually widened.

Class Size:

Despite State mandated funds to reduce class size under the CFE lawsuit settlement, class sizes have actually risen over the past two years and the Chancellor has threatened that even higher class sizes may loom in the future as more teachers leave the system and not be replaced. Thew Chancellor has failed to live up to the agreement to reduce class size.

Failure To Negotiate A Past Due Contract:

The teachers are now in their second year without a contract and Chancellor Klein appears uninterested to give a contract without major and unacceptable “givebacks”. Just look at his cockamamie contract proposal he send to the news media. Bad faith negotiations has always been the hallmark of the Joel Klein Administration and nothing changed as we are into the next school year. Here again, Joel Klein has failed to provide a proper contract proposal to the teachers.

Teacher Disrespect:

Another legacy of the Joel Klein Administration is the continued disrespect for teachers in the system. In Tweed’s top down approach, teacher input is not solicited or wanted and in his constant reorganization schemes that just cause chaos, and inefficiency, very few educators occupy the top positions at Tweed. It is believed that of the top people around the Chancellor, only one is an educator. The Chancellor fails to ask the teachers in the trenches what actually works in the classroom.

Budget Allocations:

The schools have suffered disproportionate budget cuts while Tweed see’s little or no reductions (in some cases increases in certain non-education offices). Because of the lack of transparency some of the so-called budget cuts from the central bureaucracy are really from regional offices who supply direct school support and services. The Chancellor has failed to show accountability and transparency to the budgeting process. The question is how many of Tweed's pet consultant programs are being cut?

Closing Schools:

The Chancellor failed to follow directions on how to close “failing schools” and his decision was overturned by the courts. The Chancellor’s incompetence in following directions has resulted in uncertainty and ridicule to his poor decision making prowess.

Lack Of Community/Parent Input In School Policies:

The Chancellor has, time and again, failed to involve parents and the community in decisions that affect them. Part of the DOE losing the lawsuit in closing schools was lack of community outreach and parental input.

In conclusion, I find that based upon the above factors that under the value-added method, Joel Klein is found lacking in academic improvement of the students under him and deemed incompetent and gets a failing grade of “F”. It looks like it'sis “PIP+” and eventual termination for the Chancellor.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reichchancellor Joel Klein should get an A for the systematic liquidation of the NYC public school system.

His actions are the near perfect execution of the little dictaor's plans for the destuction of public schools and the wholesale funneling of public sector funds into the hands of his hedge fund buddies.

Privatization is the name of the game.

All of us who work under ever increasing repression, in a reign of terror can bear witness to this.

The union has been on board for the entire ride.

There needs to be criminal prosecution of both the DoE and UFT and it's principal actors under RICO laws.

Until someone intitiates criminal prosecution, this horror will continue unabated.

The political tides are changing and this will soon bring these craven bastards to their knees.

Cheers,

Angry Nog

Anonymous said...

Excellent Post! He does get an F in each category.

You forgot to mention his fugliness. He gets an F- for that.