The New Recipients Of My 2013 Golden Turkey Award.

Yes, its Thanksgiving and the time for me to issue my annual "Golden Turkey Award".  Who are the most deserving recipients of the award this year?  There was quite a bit of competition this year.  Christine Quinn, Chancellor Dennis Walcott (past winner), President Obama, Meryl Tisch, the idiots at Tweed, and of course Mayor Bloomberg's failed education legacy (past winner).  However, I have identified the three most deserving individuals that are my recipients this year because of their failure to understand the New York City Public Schools.

First, and foremost is the Commissioner of the State Education Department, John T. King who has proven to be inept at his position and alienated everybody he encounters, except the Governor.
Mr King has imposed an unworkable "teacher evaluation system" complete with "junk science" and was bitterly disappointed when only 1% of the teachers statewide were rated "ineffective".  To ensure that doesn't happen in New York City, he imposed a more stringent "teacher evaluation system" and to make sure that more teachers are rated "ineffective", the "junk science" scores alone can be used to determine a teacher's rating.

Now he has tried to impose high stakes testing throughout the State from Kindergarten to high school and demands the use of "common core" even when the materials and teacher training are lacking.  He tried to impose restrictions at public meetings that backfired in his face.  Moreover, his "I'm always right" attitude has even turned off many of his allies.  Finally, his insistence in keeping inBloom inc. has made him a "laughingstock" of the country as all the other States have either dropped or are dropping the company.

Second, is the Federal Education Secretary, Arnie Duncan, the basketball playing buddy of the President, who has shown to speak out of both sides of his mouth and in his latest gaffe has complained that "white suburban soccer moms are discovering that their children are not as brilliant as they think".  Only to apologize the next day. 

Arnie Duncan's education legacy as head of the Chicago School System was of failure and his tenure as the Education Secretary is no better.

Finally, I bring you the clueless Campbell Brown who falsely claims that teacher's found guilty of "sexual misconduct" are being allowed to teach in the classroom.  Of course what Campbell Brown either fails or doesn't want to understand that accusations of "sexual misconduct" is not evidence.  Therefore, in the warped world of Campbell Brown any accusation that an investigator substantiates must be true and no damn evidence is needed.  In other words "due process rights" and the assumption that a teacher is "innocent until proven guilty" that is part of our country's history is foreign to Campbell Brown's assumption that any suspicion of "sexual misconduct" is good enough for her to have the teacher terminated.

I guess Ms. Brown would be happier if our justice system was more like Nazi Germany's or the Soviet Union under Stalin.

Why It's A Good Thing That The DOE and The UFT Failed To Agree To A Flawed And Destructive Teacher Evaluation System.

Back in 2009 the Obama Administration bribed the States into education reform by allocating up to $700 million under their Race To The Top (RTTT) program. The RTTT program really does not lead to any classroom improvement and the money cannot be used to hire teachers, reduce class sizes, and to purchase supplies or textbooks to the classroom. Instead, the money is to be used for consultants, testing, innovative & achievement coaches, and other office specialists. In other words a new layer of unaccountable Bureaucracy that are not even school based. In addition, the RTTT funds are also used for useless professional development. However, the most controversial aspect of the RTTT program was the "teacher evaluation system". Yes, this is the same system that the State of Tennessee implemented only to realize that it does not work. And yes, this is the same program that 1,130 principals and counting have already signed a petition asking for the "teacher evaluation system" to be delayed and start a pilot program instead to identify the strengths or weaknesses of it. Even the "2010 outstanding educator" as voted on by the School Administrators Association of New York State, Carol Corbett Burns, has written an article against it's use. However, the State has so far turned a blind eye to the principals petition and are threatening the nine school districts who have been given federal funds to transform or restart schools.

The DOE desperately wants the "teacher evaluation system", not only because they receive money but it is a way to eliminate highly-paid veteran teachers without an independent hearing process. Furthermore, it allows principals to terminate veteran teachers who they do not like or want after two years. The DOE wants to terminate teachers who get two "ineffective ratings" and any appeal will stay within the DOE's kangaroo court. In other words there would be no teacher "due process". While the union wants the "due process" to continue, where an independent Arbitrator would decide if the teacher's "ineffective ratings" were based upon his or her teaching ability or a Principal's dislike of the teacher.

The DOE already has an appeal process in place, it is called the "U" rating appeal and Leo Casey of the UFT did an analysis of the "U" rating appeals process and found these troubling statistics. Yes of 1,300 cases Leo Casey looked at, only 3 "U" rating appeals were successful! The same would happen if the DOE got its way on the "teacher evaluation system". Furthermore, to rely on principals to evaluate teachers without questioning their motives is unacceptable. Remember these cases? Here, here, and here and there are may more cases that go unreported in the media. By the way, why is it that State exempted Charter schools from having to follow the "teacher evaluation system"?

Better to lose $60 million dollars on unnecessary and wasteful RTTT programs that don't help the classroom then to watch veteran teachers lose their "due process" rights and being terminated by vindictive principals who don't like them.

New York State Has Proposed To Reform The Teacher Discipline Procedure In Their Race To The Top Proposal. The Question Is How They Intend To Do It?

New York State has written a proposal to reform the teacher discipline system in their flawed and failed Race To The Top (RTTT) proposal. However, the New York State proposal is vague, short on information, and is really wishful thinking at best. The State RTTT proposes to streamline the 3020-a process and of course, appears to lack input from the very members subject to the 3020-a process. School-based teachers and administrators that would be affected were not consulted and it appears NYSUT had no meaningful input into the proposed changes as well. Only non educators, primarily lawyers for the State school districts seem to have developed the proposals.

It is well understood that the 3020-a process is slow moving and in some cases glacial with teachers spending over three years in the process. In fact a study in the New York State Public Personnel Law document published the following information from a Micheile Handzel who is General Consul of the Council of School Superintendents in New York State.

"Mr. Handzel’s presentation cites a recent New York State School Board Association survey covering 2004 through 2008 in which it received responses from 400 school districts. NYSSBA's report indicated that it took an average of 502 days to conclude a full §3020-a disciplinary hearing. The hearing itself took an average of 176 days and there was an average of 136 days between the last hearing day and the date of a decision".

It is quite obvious that 502 days to complete a 3020-a disciplinary process is quite long. However, what Mr. Handzel fails to mention is that New York State Law requires "due process" for tenured teachers and administrators. Therefore, these educators are entitled to a full and fair hearing. What are the major items that Mr. Handzel's legal analysis includes in the New York State's RTTT proposal? They are:

• expedite the 3020-a process.
  
• financial incentives to resolve 3020-a charges.
• reduce State financial requirements to arbitrators and transcribers.
• eliminate a full 3020-a hearing for teachers who are not properly certified.

I really have a problem with the State proposals since they did not explain how they intend to expedite the 3020-a process, or who pays for the arbitrators and transcribers? Furthermore, what financial incentives? Are we talking about the exhortation the DOE uses against teachers with large fines and useless courses or is he talking about real negotiations between the accused educator and the school district? Finally, how does the State define "properly certified"? This must be fleshed out to ensure that certified teachers who might have given a waiver is still considered "properly certified".

Here again, the very groups who are affected by the 3020-a process are not consulted and only non educator lawyers are allowed any input into New York State's flawed RTTT proposal. I am glad that New York State's RTTT proposal is dead on arrival and let's hope it stays that way.