Wolf Growls

I know I’m sporadic at best…but the reason I’ve been away this time is that the only thing I wanted to write was a rant and I’ve sworn off rants for Lent.  (OK – so I’m early or late for Lent… you get the idea!)
 
BUT today pushed me over the edge of reason into the abyss of rant.  WARNING! Only read if you have a child in school, ever had a child in school, know anyone who has a child in school… that ought to about cover it.
 
I work in the 7th or 8th largest school district in the nation. Like everywhere else we are suffering from critical money shortfalls. I need to give credit where credit is due – our district has worked hand in hand with our union and the teachers so that we had no layoffs, no reductions in pay, and no unpaid furloughs as so many other school districts have had.  For this I am truly grateful.
 
But back in Rantsville our district has just accepted 100 million dollars from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Now you are all asking yourselves what my problem is – how can I be upset about an influx of 100 million dollars into my over-stressed, under-funded district?  Let me ‘splain.
 
The Gates foundation is “striving to improve student achievement and better prepare them for college by making sure they have effective teachers.”
 

1. What about the students that do not desire a college education or are not suited for one?  Guess what – college is NOT for everyone. I believe that everyone who WANTS a college education should have access to one, BUT NOT EVERYONE WANTS ONE.  And guess what – there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be an auto-mechanic, a plumber or a house framer.  Our society needs these people as much as we need engineers, attorneys and physicians.  
2. I’m all about effective teachers.  I cannot even tally how much of my personal time I spend in classes and trainings to make sure I am as effective as I can be.  But how about some effective parents? My school doesn’t have a PTA because we cannot get even 10 parents to sign up. And some effective administrators would be nice as well. Heck, while I’m dreaming, how about an effective legislature who will actually fund education?

 
“Hillsborough plans to use the grant money to develop an incentive program that ties teacher pay increases to achievement beyond relying solely on test scores.”
 

1. Hmmmm… we have that now.  We have a Performance Pay provision where you can earn extra money if you can meet the standards of an effective teacher.  We also have another ridiculous program which ties pay directly to student performance.  It’s ludicrous. Please tell me how in the world it is possible for students in a low income school like mine which has 80% of the students with English as their second language to possibly score the same level on standardized tests as the students in the wealthy “privileged” areas of the district?
2. And how are we going to get those effective teachers?  By removing 200 to 300 successful teachers from the classrooms and setting them up as mentors to new teachers.  Great idea. Take the teachers that are actually motivating their students and getting them to learn OUT of the classroom.  That ought to do wonders for our student test scores.

 
 
“Hillsborough also must match the Gates money for the grant’s duration and expects to pay about $32 million annually after the grant ends to sustain the plan. The district hopes to use money budgeted for staff development for part of its contribution.”
 

1. Great idea. Give us 100 million if we can come up with 100 million. Now I’m no rocket scientist, but if our district can come up with 100 million, what the hell do we need money from the Gates Foundation for? On the radio this morning I heard a school board member explain where the money was going to come from – it would be taken from other areas.  What?!! Which other areas would that be? Text books? We already only have 1 class set per teacher. Yes – Kids no longer have text books to take home. They stay in the classroom.  That really enhances their ability to go home and study and to get Mom and Dad involved by showing them what they’re study

ing.  (read that last with a heavy dose of sarcasm, please). How about school lunches? They don’t need to eat. If they want food, let them bring some in.  Never mind that in schools like mine this may be the only meal they get all day.  I know – Let’s stop paying deputies and school nurses. Frivolous perks that students don’t really need. Maybe it’s the after school tutoring programs? I mean, if we have 100% truly effective teachers we won’t need tutors after school, will we?  Or elective classes. Since everyone is going to be college bound we don’t need art, band, chorus, culinary, auto mechanics, child care, fashion design or performing arts.  They all gotta go! What are we going to lose to gain the 100 million?  What’s the REAL cost?

 
Our teachers are stretched and stressed to the max.  The district has mandated participation in instructional courses of study to be taught in Language Arts, Math, and Reading.  The district has mandated participation in another Gates program: AVID to encourage higher level thinking by the students.  The district has mandated school-wide participation in their Continuous Improvement Model, Response to Intervention, and Professional Learning Communities.  All of these things take trainings, meetings, and enormous amounts of personal time to implement.  BUT we are not allowed to have trainings during the school day or after school on any day but Tuesday which is reserved for any and all meetings.  As part of all these programs we must continuously “assess” our students’ progress.  That means these kids get tested, tested, tested. And subjected to uneven delivery of the latest fad learning “package” that their teachers are inadequately trained on AND probably don’t believe is effective.
 
ALL of this in a state which ranks 48th in the amount of money spent on its students’ education and has INSANELY high standards. By law, 100% of our students will be on grade level in just a few years.  Yep. Legislated performance. OR ELSE. 
 
Or else the state takes over the school.  My school is in danger of being state regulated.  That’s right. My school where 88% of the students get free lunch because they can’t afford the $2 every day and 80% of the students are not proficient in English doesn’t make “adequate yearly progress” as judged by the standard of the wealthy born-in-America crowd.  So instead of equalizing the playing field and coming up with an equitable measure of student progress, the state wants to blow in, take over the school and show us how the rich folks do it. Halleluia – we are saved!
 
DEEP BREATH.
 
 

Hey – did you hear the great news?  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is going to pour 100 million dollars into my school district!