I posted on August 27th that I was upset, disappointed, and offended by Gov. Perry's appointment of Michael Williams as our new educational commissioner. Today I heard him speak for the first time. I was too kind on August 27th. Picture a tent revivalist, the rhythm, the speech pattern, that sense that one should say "Amen" every so often and you have a great idea of brother Williams's speaking style. That's ok, but the sermon had no content.
I found him arrogant, patronizing and condescending, and that was when he said things I agree with. His confidence grounded in ignorance is similar to the 16 year-old who knows everything and there is no chance of reason or logic. Perhaps most amazing, in a room full of superintendents and other administrators he received no applause except from the TEA claque at the front of the auditorium.
To be fair, he is able to quote statistical outcomes with poise and accuracy. He cannot interpret them worth a damn, but he can quote them. He suggested adding more money in the Ed budget, suggested promoting alternative diploma paths, and more CTE courses. Fine and thanks.
He also said technology will get us better results faster though he did not use any technology in his presentation and relied on his assumed charismatic style to transmit the speech. Reminded me of the college prof who lectures each week on the importance of varying presentation styles. He also said closing the achievement gap is our main mission. OK.
Then he said he wants the authority to require public hearings if a school district suspends too many kids of a given ethnicity. Really? Public hearings? He does not have a clue. (Our public is mad we do not suspend more!)
Bottom line for him is that improving schools will come from him, not us, and he has the answers: accountability, accountability, accountability. And I want to scream that if you set the accountability standards you should be responsible for achieving them, not us. Local schools must be able to do that. He resents federal intrusion in our schools, but has totally sipped the Koolaide of state mandates failing to recognize that from our point of view, a mandate is a mandate whether it comes from Austin or DC.
He concluded by telling us of his courageous stand as a federal prosecutor against the KKK. It took courage he said. Bull. He is a lawyer, he was qualified to prosecute, he had federal law enforcement protecting him, he was doing his job. Courage would be for me to prosecute the KKK and not be a lawyer and not have support. Courage would be to do what Robert Scott did a year ago and announce that what we are doing at the state level is wrong. Courage would be for me to post this critique of a man who appears to believe he can walk on water and part the Red Sea.
This man has no business being our commissioner of education. He does not know what he does not know and cannot imagine that there is such a thing. He successfully alienated and depressed a room full of the best public education leaders in Texas. If demoralizing the troops from a position of ignorance while cutting resources is his strategy to improve performance then he is a fool.
He is a Perry puppet. Pray for us all.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Raising the Bar
The Board has asked me to “raise the bar.” We need to talk about that.
First, are we talking higher standards, higher expectations, or both? Are we talking higher outcomes? If so, which ones? Are we talking attitudinal and cultural change? What bar? How high? Where is it low?
I think they mean raise expectations, improve outcomes, and develop a culture of pride and scholarship in Edna ISD. I think they look at our test results, and though there is long term improvement, they want the results to look better. I totally agree with all the above, though honestly I put less stock in the test results.
We spent a lot of time last year defining the Actively Engaged Employee, a.k.a., “Ride for the Brand.” We are spending a lot of time this year developing a vision for our system. All these processes are great, and the outcomes can inspire and guide us, but these documents are not enough.
The bottom line is teaching and learning are hard work. Teaching for learning is hard work. Learning is hard work. We may want it to be pleasant, fun, exciting and engaging, but the simple truth is teachers and parents cannot learn the material for students. We may want the kids to like us, but that is not our job. Students must learn. To learn requires study, discipline, mental effort, reflection, practice. These attributes are hard for many of our kids. To learn also requires administrative, parental, community and board support. In many cases all these are present. In some, few are. We have kids in chaos, not knowing where they will sleep or eat. But we must teach them. And we must teach them better.
We all get it that each kid is special and unique. We all get it that parents know their kids in ways we do not. We all get it that we know the kids in ways the parents do not. We all get it that from the student’s point of view school attendance is compulsory; learning is optional, behaving appropriately is optional. We all get it that kids have us dramatically outnumbered and just to keep the lid on we must have compliance with the rules. We all get it that no one likes compliance; no one likes being told what to do.
This I believe: Any student who attends our schools hungry for a top notch education that is preparatory for college, who is willing to work hard and has parental support, will gain such an education. We have the courses, we have the rigor, we have the staff to provide that education.
This I believe: Any student, who sees school as a waste of time, odious, tedious, and boring, who is not interested in the long term benefits of learning, and who lacks an appropriate adult support group to change that attitude will not get an appropriate education. We are unable to make kids learn or learn it for them. There are a host of strategies that may increase the odds of such a kid being successful and we should practice those. Especially the one that says we should expect them to learn.
This I also believe: There are among us truly gifted teachers who are able to convert the students who see school as tedious to a place where students learn. It is to those teachers we must turn to learn how to do that. Then we will raise the bar.
The state has set the standards. That bar is rising every year. Interesting to look at our longitudinal data showing an upward trend in our outcomes when we know there is an upward trend in the passing standards. In other words, as it gets harder and harder to pass a test which also gets harder and harder, our kids are doing better and better. I like that. But not all our kids are doing better. I do not like that.
Let’s be thinking about what we need to do to create a culture of pride, a culture of scholarship, a culture of ever higher outcomes. I know some of the things we need to do. You know some too. Be thinking.
After thinking, be prepared to act.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Star Trek and Moral Reasoning
I took my first psychology course in 1968, two years after the premier of the Star Trek TV series and one year before the series ended. (I know. I’m a fossil.) The TV series was fascinating. The course was a wonderful survey of psychological theories that outlined issues we have yet to fully resolve. Among the many fascinating concepts we studied was Lawrence Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development. Star Trek wrestled with the same concepts. If you are not familiar with the philosophical issues in Star Trek I am sorry. There are a host of books on the subject. If you are not familiar with Kohlberg’s work I strongly encourage you to at least take a brief look at the following links for a quick overview:
The short and sweet version which in no way does justice to the depth of Kohlberg’s work is that the ways in which we make moral decisions, the ways in which we solve problems and handle issues, progresses in stages from the very young to the mature. The six stages are sequential. One cannot skip a stage. One cannot fathom the reasoning of someone at a stage well above them, while those operating at higher stages understand the moral reasoning of those at a lower stage, but reject the reasoning as non-compelling. What is fascinating to me is the nature of the debate around the educational issues today in the context of moral reasoning. We need Kohlberg.
If you did not look at the links above then this is a brief outline of the stages and I ask that you forgive me for being tedious. If you checked out the links above you can skip the following outline:
A. Premoral or Preconventional Stages: (Focus on self, punishment and reward)
1. Punishment and Obedience. (Might makes right. “I do not say bad words because mommy will get mad at me”.)
2. Instrumental Exchange: (You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. “For a cookie I will pick up my toys.”)
B. Conventional Morality Stages: (Focus on significant others, adhere to “they”.)
3. Interpersonal Conformity: (Right is conformity to peer expectations. “I do not eat in class because my teacher does not like it.”)
4. Law and Order: (Societal conformity, good citizen, emphasis on obeying rules. “I do not talk during fire drills because that is one of the rules.”)
C. Post Conventional or Principled Morality Stages:
5. Prior Rights and Social Contract: (Moral action not based on set of rules but on principles. “I will obey the law because that is good for everyone, but I will challenge the law if it infringes on the rights of others.”)
6. Universal Ethical Principles: (Every person is of equal importance, the Golden Rule. “Each person has dignity and to the extent we protect that determines how moral we are.”)
Young kids and convicts are operating at the Preconventional stages. If it’s good for me it is good. Most folks arrive at the Conventional Stages, but will not progress unless they discover their schema for decision making does not answer important questions, and they are willing to look at the questions. We saw this in World War II and Viet Nam when soldiers were tried for atrocities and their response was “I was following orders.” Not many folks make it to the Post Conventional Stage, and those that do stand out. Jesus, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi. They also tend to be martyred.
OK, that introduction was long enough, don’t you think?
For me the issue is what is the basis of our decision making regarding public schools? What is our stage of moral development when we discuss public schools?
I believe educating the children of this country is a high moral calling. All our children, each child. I believe that anything we do to promote the learning, thinking and problem solving of the next generation is of utmost importance. I believe that the current reform movement is operating on stages 2 to 4. I believe we should be operating on at least stage 5.
The argument that schools will improve if they experience competition and/or private sector-like operation is an instrumental stage argument, “For a cookie, I will clean up my room.” It assumes that educators operate on a competitive reward system. Not true. It assumes that competition will inspire greater productivity that should lead to better scores and more pay, etc., etc. Not true. It assumes that educators will not perform unless they are monitored, threatened, and motivated by the fear of punishment and the pursuit of reward. Not true. It is a lower level argument. Worse, once these thoughts are put into law then it appears that we must do it to conform to the law. Stage 3 and 4. Yes, we should conform to the law, unless the law is harmful to what we hold most dear: our children. All our children. Each child. Then we should stand up and say, “Enough”. A standardized test does not measure the quality of learning of the child, much less serve as a measure for the quality of instruction by the teacher and the school and the district. It is a compliance measure. It makes Pearson rich. It is a lower level argument. Sadly, we get that, but those operating at this level do not understand.
Worse, are the strategies connected to the argument that competition will inspire public school people and parents should have choices: to promote a reduction in funds for public education via charters and vouchers. Charter schools are in the business to make money. Vouchers allow public school parents to use state money for private schools. Every charter school that opens is providing a duplicate service, hardly an efficient approach to education. There are not nearly enough private schools to begin to serve the children in Texas, or anywhere for that matter, so vouchers are clearly a strategy to provide the wealthy a savings via public funds. I find that immoral.
Our moral reasoning is influenced by our peers, by our social relationships, and by our empathy, honesty, love and respect. As one progresses through the Kohlberg stages that influence moves from self, to a select group of others, to an assumption that all humans have value and importance. Tough road, but educators get it, I think. Self-sacrifice for the greater good, for others, or for the one is a higher level of morality than self-service at the expense of others.
I am reminded of Sydney from a Tale of Two Cities, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." Stage 6.
In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, the Enterprise was on the verge of destruction due to failure of the dylithium crystals to fire the warp drive. Spock entered the matter/antimatter chamber to fix the crystals knowing that the radiation would kill him. As he died, he told Kirk that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Kirk and the Enterprise risked all to save and recover a Spock clone. Once saved, Kirk said the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. Both stage 6.
The way to improve public education is competition, accountability, standardized testing, charter schools, vouchers. Stage 2, Stage 3.
The way to improve the quality of life of all people is via an educational system that is highly valued and ensures a quality education for all and for each. Stage 6.
Operate on that level and we can all live long and prosper.
Friday, January 4, 2013
No Cliffs in Texas
I am both amused and saddened by the gyrations at the federal level to find some bipartisan compromise between spending, taxing and programmatic cuts. Do you remember the supercommittee of 2010 appointed to find a way to increase our debt ceiling, reduce our spending, and balance the long term budget? Do you remember that conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats would not go along with the recommendations? Do you remember that to raise the debt ceiling in 2011 the idea of a fiscal cliff was invented to allow fiscal conservatives to vote for raising the debt ceiling and postpone the long term solutions until the end of 2012 with a host of horrible fiscal consequences if we did not? Well, we still have no long term solutions and are not likely to and we ran right up to the edge of the cliff. Solving our economic issues will take sacrifice and compromise on all sides. Something we are not likely to do any time soon. Something we are structured to avoid with a Republican House, Democratic Senate, and a Democratic President.
Meanwhile, there are no fiscal cliffs in Texas. There is no need to play Russian roulette with our budget, no need to blackmail another side into compromise. That is because there is not another side. Texas has resolved the problem that the federal government cannot, and we have done so because only one party has clout in Texas. The House, Senate and Governor’s Office are all Republican controlled. The Texas Constitution mandates a balanced budget. It mandates no state-wide property tax, no state income tax. We are a right-to-work state so we do not have public sector unions. We are classically positioned for the conservative approach to fiscal issues.
And what is that approach? If revenue declines, government spending declines. If revenue declines there is no consideration of additional sources of revenue, so government spending declines. We will always have a balanced budget. And, it will always be balanced using public education dollars.
Public education is the single largest line item in the state budget. The same constitution that forces a balanced budget and no state-wide taxes also requires the Legislature to provide a free and efficient public education system. If revenues drop, the Legislature cuts spending for education. In fact, they cut spending in all the social service areas. There is not an opposition party to block it. And, educators are not an interest group.
(It will not always be this way. As the demographics of the state continue to change the state is much more likely to become Democratic again as it was from the Civil War until the 1980’s. That will be interesting.)
Our Legislature meets once every two years for 140 days. It will convene in Austin on Tuesday with the state in much better financial shape than it was 2 years ago. Two years ago the Legislature helped balance the state budget by cutting $5.4 billion from the education budget. Will they restore the cuts? Will they increase education funding for the next two years?
I don’t think so. We are not approaching a cliff of any kind. There is really no pressure to increase funding or even return funding to previous levels. We will remain ranked around 40th in the US for expenditures on public education. And, while we are at it, we will find ever new ways to divert those precious public education dollars to private sector enterprises like charter schools. There is even a bill to allow parents to take their public education dollars and use them to enroll in a private school, aka, vouchers.
Nope, no cliffs in Texas. The educational financial landscape here is a gradual slope downhill.
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