New State Superintendent

Well I guess we should have all seen this coming.  Back in December at the Alliance Leadership Summit, Gov. Rauner was scheduled to speak.  Why not, this was a chance to speak to 600 school administrators on the eve of his budget address.  This group of people are community leaders and he would have the wonderful opportunity of reaching people who need answers in this time of financial uncertainty.  What happens instead is that he sent a staffer that had been on the job for two hours to speak to us.  I really just chalked that up to being new in town and the demand for his time being rather large but his next move confirmed my fear that he is not serious about the quality of education in Illinois.

 

On April 15th, the state board went through the difficult process of choosing Dr. Tony Smith to replace Dr. Chris Koch as the state superintendent of schools.  Difficult because the word on the street is that he was the only candidate.  Dr. Smith has never taught in a classroom.  In fact, the Oakland School District in which he last had a leadership position waived the required administrative certificate requirement for him to be hired there.  However, he did serve on the governor’s Chicago Public Education Fund's board and his transition team.  He has also been described as a stanch charter school supporter, union opponent and a poor fiscal manager.  Links below will also provide more negative aspects of his tenure in California.  One ISBE member was quoted as saying this is a poor move for the state board.

I support Vision 20/20 and public schools.  This was a purely political move that does not serve the best interests of the school districts of Illinois or their students.  If Gov. Rauner makes this move as his first big move for education, I think it is safe to say we are in for a huge storm.  To weather this storm we will need advocacy and support from school district leaders, parents, teachers and anybody that believes in common sense.  To borrow a line from my favorite fake president Andrew Shepard, “We have serious problems and need serious people to fix them.”  We need no other good reason now to grow the Vision 20/20 movement and make a stand for public schools.

 

http://www.isbe.net/news/2015/apr15.htm

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-state-board-of-education-superintendent-met-20150415-story.html#page=1

 

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_22963622/oakland-unified-chief-tony-smith-resigns-be-family

Lead with your Values

If you live in an underground bunker, you probably have not yet heard about the religious liberty law passed by the Indiana legislature and signed by Gov. Mike Pence.  Essentially, a business could refuse service to any person that practices a lifestyle that is contrary to the business owner’s religious beliefs.  Gov. Pence stood by the enacting of this law despite its controversy and did all the press appearances affirming that this is what the people of Indiana wanted.  A short time later he asked law makers to revise the bill for “clarification” purposes.  The fact is that Indiana did not want this.  The law began to urge business leaders to take action but more importantly it did not match the values of the people in the state or across the nation.

This is a problem with elected leaders.  In their pursuit to secure voting blocks, they drive an agenda to that group of people while they ignore the common good and the values of the whole.  This story line is more common in politics than anywhere else.  It’s a shame that a person that is fortunate enough to get elected by the public does not use that gift to represent the whole.  People in my profession don’t always have much choice in the matter.  School administrators work with what they have and rarely have the ability, or gift, to directly reshape the community that they serve.  Many times radical changes to a school building are met with sharp opposition.

I learned very early on from very wise people that you have to lead with your values.  I work in a school district that is nearly 70% free and reduced lunch population.  This has been a positive for my leadership style.  I work well with the disadvantaged youth because I was a disadvantaged youth.  Leading with my values is easy because I’m just like many of them.  A vast majority of educators come from middle class backgrounds and they find it difficult to have a clear vision of how these kids are raised and how they can best reach them.  Some dismiss the effort all together.

As a former poor kid working with poor kids I have gathered my leadership values into a short list of my everyday practices.  Maybe it will help some lead the kids they serve.

1       Relationships matter!  The teachers I responded for as a kid were those that treated me like I was just like them.  No better, no worse.  We were there for the same purpose, not a power struggle.

2       Give second chances.  You will get burned on this one occasionally but it reinforces your relationships with kids.  You have to show that you are willing to invest in them.

3       Punish with logic and kindness.  When assigning a consequence for a negative action they have to know how much responsibility is theirs given the situation and how they could have prevented the predicament they were in.  Always be sure to tell them what they did right and praise them for it.  Poor kids often only live for moments and never see down the road.  This is a teachable moment.

4       Smile.  Everyone likes to see this.

5       If you know something about a kid, share it with your teachers.  This will help them make better connections with at-risk kids.

I know this is not some big fancy research driven set of guidelines but it has worked for me.  These are values I have either grown up with or learned working with kids.  As it turns out, it’s relevant for all of my students not just the at-risk ones.  Imagine that, something that works for everyone and not just a few.  Maybe our elected leaders should look at their own values and discover how they can serve all of their constituents.  

Take Back the Schoolhouse

We have come a long way since the one room schoolhouses of the old days.  Society has changed, kids have changed, and learning has changed.  It is a given that these types of schools could not be effective public schools these days.  There are, however, some old charms that we could use in the present.  The old schoolhouse was a centerpiece of the community.  It had the sole purpose of producing members of that community in order to help it thrive.  Students were not grouped by age so older students could bring along younger students adding more to the community concept of the school.  People were accountable and responsible for the others in the school.  Let’s not forget that the teacher was respected and looked up to.  Not constantly questioned and belittled.  That’s a whole different kind of conversation though.

The schoolhouse is becoming more of a business than a place of community and learning.  Many of the “reforms” coming our way seek to reduce our kids and teachers to numbers.  They also would like to call school failures in hopes of creating an environment of school choice and a push for more charter schools.  Folks don’t be fooled, this is a business venture.  The schoolhouse is becoming an easy market for the “reformers” and our kids could become the next privatized cash cow.

Our biggest loss in the new “development” of schools is our sense of community when it comes to our schools.  In each locale schools face different challenges and use creative problem solving to serve their communities.  The trouble is we are now so focused on test scores, mandates and changes in teaching/curriculum that we forget how to be a school and we run the risk of being called a failure.  This will hurt our kids and communities.

A few months ago I was turned on to a new initiative called Illinois Vision 20/20.  This is a legislative initiative that seeks to, in my words, take back the schoolhouse.  It is purely a vehicle to influence change in the Illinois legislature to fulfill the promise of public schools once again.  Over time we have let changes happen to us rather than sit at the table and help design what changes can help make our schools and communities better.  One word of note: Vision 20/20 is about kids and their schools.  Nothing in their platform seeks to benefit the adults that work in schools except for the prospect of a better place for them to find their student’s fullest potential.

This week I was proud to participate in the Alliance Leadership Summit in Springfield.  Over 600 administrators, board members and parents converged on the capital to begin the process of change.  We learned about potential policy, changes in learning, and how state budgets have been constructed.  At the conclusion of Governor Rauner’s budget address we moved towards the capital and visited our legislator’s offices and promoted the four pillars of Vision 20/20.  This was truly an empowering experience to know that instead of sending a couple of lobbyists to speak, we sent 600.

This is how we will get the old school house back, in the General Assembly.  In a lot of ways this is how we were put in the situation we are in.  New laws that restrict schools to serve kids have pushed us in a direction we can no longer go.  If you would like to learn more about Vision 20/20, follow the link below and even sign the petition.  Over 300 school districts in Illinois have signed on and the Illinois PTA and their 100,000 members have endorsed the plan as well.  Let’s take the schoolhouse back.

http://illinoisvision2020.org/

Why isn't God in Schools?

I get to see images like this on Facebook all the time.  What’s worse are the ill-informed people that like or comment about how schools are terrible because we don’t allow prayer or God in our public schools.  Another one of my favorites is that we don’t say the pledge because the word ”God” is in it.  The reality is that these folks just don’t know what goes on in schools.  I have on occasion commented back on these images and posts to inform them that it is required by law to allow a moment of silence each day and the pledge must be recited each day.  In my building we do this every day.

I rarely will let readers into my personal religious beliefs because I am a very secular Christian.  That doesn't mean I am a Christian of convenience, it means that I try to live the gospel by example in the world we live in and do nothing to throw my faith into other’s faces.  Just this once I am going to break from my comfort zone to challenge those who think God is not in schools.

Let’s look only at my school because that’s all I know.  Every day I have several tables of students who pray before lunch.  Hand in hand, macho boys praying.  During the month of December our students raised over $1000 for charitable causes in our community.  Several students give up their lunch time to help our intellectually disabled students eat and do PE.  Every Tuesday dozens of kids meet with a youth minister for First Priority, a faith based club that meets at recess time for worship.  All of these activities are Godly and many students take part.  They are not forced to, they willingly participate because they are strong in their faith.

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. (Psalms 145:18)  These kids understand this.  Even at school, beyond church walls they call on him.  They are not afraid of the stigma, not afraid of being made fun of.  They take God with them when they leave home. 

My friends the question should not be why isn’t there God in schools, it should be why God doesn't go to school with our kids?  “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14).  I have a number of kids that cuss and disobey at school but then come and tell me on Monday how great church was.  This is prime example of how kids are not taking God with them everywhere they go.  As a school administrator I can’t tell them how to worship or who to worship and so on.  That must be done in the home.  If people want God in schools, they must teach their children how to take him with them when they walk out of the house.  They will not be alone and they will not be told that they cannot do so.  The United States Supreme Court has protected a student's right to worship but as a matter of separation of church and state, the school cannot lead them in worship.  It is is simple as that.  Parents: encourage your kids to take God to school.  Don't blame the school for this task not being done.

Who Teaches Kids How to Behave?

Like any other red-blooded American, when I feel personally challenged I take it to Facebook.  Actually I don’t but I was particularly challenged this week by one of my parents and I did ask the philosophical question that was burning in my mind.  Should schools be teaching students to have a sense of social justice and fairness or should be just let them handle problems how they handle it?  This is not really a huge dilemma.  This question is always being asked when it comes to content.  Should we teach skills or should we provide opportunities for student to learn through experience?  With behavior this is a little touchier as the result can lead to consequences and broken hearts. 

I appreciated the comments my Facebook friends left in regards to the question.  One could not take a side on the issue, “whose idea of social justice are we talking about?” he asked.  That’s a fair question considering that parenting values and cultural norms can be different from place to place.  A couple favored the old days of paddling.  While I love telling my old paddling stories to my students, it is to no avail.  We can reminisce all we want but in Illinois, corporal punishment is against the school code.  The other distinction to be made is that my small sample of commenters are your typical middle class, well adjusted, good parenting adults.  There is no representation from the other family structures that I work with and they are the majority believe it or not.  There are more blended families and single parent families than ever before.  That’s not a bad thing but the ideology will generally be different than my commenters.

I guess the question evolves into who is the catalyst for change in how we teach children to behave?  Is it the institution of school or home?  I mentioned paddling but that is going by the wayside.  There are only 19 states that still allow paddling and Mississippi leads the way with the number of students “hit”.  Did eliminating paddling cause the poor behavior that we complain about?  The current debate is whether or not it is actual discipline or child abuse.  With more than half the states not allowing child abuse, I mean corporal punishment, it seem as if the people of that persuasion are winning that battle with their legislators.

What about out of school suspensions?  There is an attack on those too.  Research is showing that using out of school suspensions 1) target minority students, 2) increase poor student behaviors, 3) lead to low academic achievement and 4) make them feel unwelcome at school.  No link to follow below.  Google it and you will find the evidence.  You might find information on the new Illinois law that requires schools to track the minority students suspended to ensure they are not disproportionately suspending minority students.  So it seems that there is a disconnect between what families and schools believe is effective behavior modification for kids.

I have decided to put my money on teaching the behaviors we need to see out of our kids.  Not my favorite ones but those that will translate into successful adult lives.  While society is disagreeing, there are still kids to teach and a huge responsibility for schools to make them successful. Haven’t you seen the nation’s test scores compared to other nations?  We suck at doing school(Insert sarcasm).  A sound approach to school and peers will make them good students and people.  Schools now have to balance social skills and content while everyone else dukes it out over what is right and wrong with schools.  So the next time I’m told that I’m creating a school of tattle tails and sissies, I will say yes I am.  I believe in conflict resolution before fighting and not the other way around.  If you punch out your boss every time you are mad, you will be unemployed.  If you can’t read, write or do any math you might still be unemployed.  They are related skills and must be taught in schools.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0934191.html

Common Core Frustration

Now the that the school year has started and the homework routine is taking shape, tempers are flaring over the Common Core.  I completely understand people's frustrations and can sympathize.  I have been helping my daughter with her math just about every night and the days of doing drill and kill are over.  She is not being assigned 30 problems with the goal in mind to simply get an answer right.  Now, students are asked to rethink how they find answers and to be critical of their own work.  As a building administrator I am in no real position to take a side as to whether or not the standards are "good" or "bad".  I have the task of making sure my teachers have the tools to teach them to my students.  In this post I would like to offer some Common Core thought to fellow parents from a person in a unique position to see it a different way.

First off, the Common Core is not a bad thing on its face.  The way it has played out has given us a bad taste in our mouths.  You see, when No Child Left Behind was the mandate, all the states had their own standards but were held to a national expectation.  In essence, a state could have very easy standards to help their kids test into compliance or a very difficult set of standards and hurt their kids and schools.  There had to be a level playing field if a national mandate was to be fair.  It became a political issue when the transition began, people got mad about harder homework and the fight against Obamacare started to fizzle.  There always has to be a boogeyman.

I will use my daughter as my example.  The last sheet I helped her with was multiplying base ten exponents.  This was daunting to my 5th grader because it was new.  A quick Googling of the Common Core State Standards would show that this is to be taught in the 5th grade.  It is also to be covered in 3rd and 4th grade too.  It was  because the school had not yet moved completely into the CCSS and jumping into them was a shock to the system.  It's a completely new skill that will not look new to the next classes to come in.

There also seems to be a "new" way to do math with the common core.  I will say that the reason for this is two fold.  Yes, the CCSS do ask kids to think more critically about the process of math.  Yes the CCSS do seem to be a year beyond what kids were doing last year.  My question is this, is it wrong to expect more out of our kids?  The other way to look at it is that schools rushed to purchase CCSS aligned textbooks.  My personal approach was to let our teachers review the standards, examine the materials they had and be able to answer the question, "do we have what we need?"  The answer was yes because teachers are still artists and content experts.  If we rush to buy new books then everyone feels like a robot to the CCSS.  Creative teachers know how to make it work.  Besides how much has math changed?  Textbook profits are soaring right now because we were looking for a magic bullet.

Right now we are upset over the transition to the CCSS.  The idea is not a bad one.  Our kids do need to have better critical thinking skills and new careers require more math and technical skills.  It cant be the worst thing in the world.  We will survive this and another new movement in about ten years.

My sole disappointment with President Obama

A Facebook friend posted an article about the job growth in the coal industry despite the alleged war on coal that was taking place.  I re-posted it and of course it met some opposition from a coal company employee.  I respect his position because he works in the coal industry.  Even if I don't agree with the coal company owner's tactics, i do respect the man in the trenches everyday.  In my response I realized that in the same span of time that the article was referring, thousands of education jobs have been taken and the nature of schooling is being rewritten as we speak.  Now we are in my trenches.

I agree with Diane Ravitch in her book "Reign of Error" that the election of Barack Obama was a disappointment for education.  Don't get me wrong, I am an Obama supporter.  I voted for him twice.  I believe his values guide his leadership and my values closely match up to his. However, the appointment of Arne Duncan led to a flurry of education policies that encourage too much testing and expanding charter schools, both of which lead to the privatization of our schools.  

Schools cannot become big business like everything else in our lives.  Schools seem to the the last people centered organizations we have and allowing companies to take over in the name of so-called accountability, will crumble our democracy.  Dr. King on e said that a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.  We need to act to protect the last sacred piece of our democracy, schools.  How you ask, in the voting booth.

I could care less which side of the isle you lean on.  Don't be fooled by election politics.  Demand that real issues are addressed.  Here are some issues that effect education and don't be fooled by the talking heads. 

1.  The Common Core is not a political issue.  It became a political issue when the Tea Party was running out of ideas.  The standards are not all bad for Illinois. They are much better written that the old ones and we do need a universal set of standards if the Feds will continue to run with No Child Left Behind. 

2.  School funding.  Schools cannot adequately be measured unless they are funded equally.  No child in Illinois is better than the other but the current funding formula allows that type of thinking. School funding reform must take place to make sure the kids in poorer districts have the same shot as everyone else.  

3.  Poverty is a universally concerning issue but it impacts a child's education more than most people realize.  If you candidate is not working to grow the middle class and reduce poverty stricken families in this state or our county, they should not be your candidate.  

Partisan politics has ruined many aspects of our nation, but to play games with schools and kids is a whole other level of unforgivable. Demand more of our leaders.  I still support president Obama even if I completely disagree with his education policy. I believe he can guide us to a bigger middle class and that good old fashioned prosperity that our grandparents used to tell us about. If I have to try and create mindless robots that know how to test well, at least they will be well fed and provided for.