Telling the Truth without Being Racist...

Interesting for me to juxtapose the issues being raised by Bill Cosby and James Watson. Cosby has been largely accepted-- his message? The Black community is killing itself by not fathering successive generations.

Now, enter the comments of James Watson: (see CNN-- http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10/19/uk.race/index.html) Now I cannot agree with his arguments, but I wonder if they were stated differently, and by Bill Cosby, whether they would be accepted more (or credible).

If we admit that Africa and Africans were systematically exploited for 100s of years, is it any wonder there is a gap? Many very smart scientists have documented (not necessarily in a genetic, biological defensible way) cycles of extinction and adaptation. The distinctive thing about humans is that we've been enjoying a hugely successful positive feedback loop of technology and information ("collective learning") for thousands of years, leading to larger brain sizes and utter dominance of the planet-- exploiting ever greater levels of energy to feed our brains and culture. Unfortunately for us post-moderns, we're living with the impact of choices made by Europeans (and others) who exploited other ethnic-racial people groups (not just Africans), but the net impact is that in many cases (Africa, decolonized America, etc.), these people groups have not been as fully assimilated into access to the growth cycle. Differentiation by skin color, we've perpetuated a new, negative feedback cycle. Now this does not seem to be racist, because for one, some of the smartest people I know now are Blacks, and some of the most ignorant are White. But in general, the smart ones have things in common (not necessarily race) and the ignorant ones (or, lets call them not interested, or not good students, or whatever else) also have things in common.

Smart kids have lucked out and had good school experiences. Good teachers, good, clean, well funded schools. Rich media, books, computers. And not only that, but their health has generally been better-- more access to health care because of better insurance arrangements, so less sick time, less absenteeism. They generally have at least one very involved parent who has replicated a learning environment at home and has high expectations. By the time they get to high school, they have already developed certain habits: respect for adults, cooperation with others, promptness, and ownership of their own choices, including their choice of friends. Kids who are not as successful (or not as "smart") haven't had the above opportunities as much, or are from families that are caught in a negative feedback cycle of poverty and low expectations. They are not organized, are not curious, cannot commit to learning as a lifestyle because they may not see any direct benefit, trapped as it were in a culture of low expectations and the expectation of failure. They may have already been labeled, and may have already lost the opportunity for good.

Now, I don't think this has much to do with race. But given that this culture of Poverty, in Baltimore, or any other urban center in America, is not getting any better, it is ridiculous to blame it all on teachers. Cosby, I think is right, in shifting-- not blame-- but accountability to families. This makes more sense. But as Alonso has indicated, it is important for schools to have partnerships with families. Every time we have back to school night (or conferences), it is always the parents I don't need to see who show up. The rest are too busy working or partying, or in many cases are pretty intimidated by school and their own past failure.

So-- why can't we come together for 45 minutes a week and discuss and work on solutions? If we can do it, maybe the rest of our society will do the same? It says something that a school board would feel so compelled to protect pre-teens from pregnancy by substituting themselves into the role of parent to hand out birth control.

Alonso @ QuEST Conference - Remarks

When he speaks, he does win me over. Of course most of us that are supporting him probably also feel that the real proof will come in the long run. I do feel that he respects and values teachers, but his biggest concern, as all of ours should be, is the progress of the children. Alarming stats he said were giving him urgency:

• Of the class of 2009-- 6,300 began as ninth graders. Now that they are 16 and are Juniors, 1,800 have dropped out.
• Using (latest, I guess) stats on Class of 2001 and college, of those who made it through the 4 years of HS and graduated, only 14% have finished college with a 2 year or 4 year degree. I wonder what this looks like after you take Poly, Western and City out of the mix?

To use his own words, this is clearly "a civil rights issue." And today he quoted the often spoken axiomatic definition of insanity-- as doing the same thing expecting better results.

I wonder what results we'd get if we voted no confidence in the union? The comments he made today were crisp, and void of political rhetoric. Meanwhile, the comments by English (veiled insults) and Johnson (rah rah rah, look at all of my supporters here) were definitely insane.

Sara's post on comparison of school districts was interesting. I don't think that some of the other counties are necessarily working more. It is just that their hourly rate looks better. I know the extra hours I put in to plan during the early morning hours (I typically start working at about 5am) or on the weekends is typical of many city teachers. But there are a lot of other city teachers who:

1. have given up...retired in the job ("old dog, new tricks")...
2. were grandfathered into teaching positions-- many probably could not pass the current praxis exam requirements for general knowledge let alone for their content area...
3. are just lazy, or cynical, or not competant

There is a lot of griping about North Avenue, or Wortham ("Dr Worthless"), or the building administration ("CYA", so much fear)...or complaining that the kids are not what they used to be. As I've said before, a change agent like Alonso will so enrage this culture, as an outsider, that it was only a matter of time before it would try to spit him up like Jonah the Whale. I for one am glad we have anyone other than Copeland or Cooper Boston, who for whatever their strengths, could not seem to turn the ship around.

A note on the kids. They have changed. The world is accelerating in change, and is moving rapidly to a loss of American hegemony and productivity. Why? I don't have it all firm in my mind yet, but I think it has a lot to do with the growth of entertainment as a value. Too much TV. Kids are bored with school, because it is not sexy or fun. Uggh. Frustrating.

I tell my kids that this is a full time job, and the harder they work now, and the more they put into it as an investment of time and energy, the more it will pay in dividends of choice. Educated people are articulate, and can think more complex thoughts. Those who take short cuts now will have their choices narrowed in a complicated, competitive world. This, the rich will get richer, and the poor will get poorer, and this really is a civil rights argument. Someone has to start telling the truth about this.

Voice of Some Teachers...

The voice of the teachers as represented by quotes you get from Loretta Johnson or Marietta English may not adequately represent what teachers think about the situation, so I thought I'd pass on some background (at least from one teacher). Excuse me for numbering it, but it will help me keep track of these thoughts:

1. The BTU is fairly inept, in many of our views. We really have no choice in aligning with them, and most veterans have heard a lot of rhetoric but seen little results. They take over $600 annually from us, and we get very little in turn from them. And there is no choice, for if we don't join, they will still take the equivalent from us in agency fees.
   
2. There is, apparently, a lot of discrepancy in the planning period issue. I cannot speak for the Elementary or Middle School educators-- I hear they don't get very much planning time at all. But at least in my corner of the high school world, we get 2 periods per day or 45 minutes, plus a lunch period. The 2 periods amounts then to 450 minutes per week. This probably is on par with the surrounding areas for secondary, but I'm not an expert. How is this time spent? Well it could vary, but it also is dependent on whether the planning time is contiguous. Usually the first 10-15 minutes is devoted to "mopping up" from the previous teaching cycle. Recording attendance, notes about student performance, classroom differences in the lesson, changing a light bulb, picking up trash or re-shelving books, or straightening the room. These are management issues that when you teach a 45 minute period are often difficult to negotiate without breaking the flow of the lesson. And there is virtually no support at the classroom level. Very few teachers get aides anymore in an age when most of the student's time is taken up in academics (as it should be)-- but there was a time when this happened, and much of the structure or thinking may still reflect this time. Interns? no... Custodians barely touch my room. They basically empty the trash, and maybe once per week sweep the classroom. Recently I asked the custodial staff if they could wash the tops of my desks, because after over a month they're getting dirty and are becoming breeding grounds for germs. This is probably not going to happen, so as usual, I will spend at least 45 minutes finding hot water and filling my own bucket and using my own detergent and disinfectant and my own cleaning cloth to scrub desks. This I do usually two or three times a year, because I think it is healthier for the children. I could keep going, but the main office administrators do none of this of course, because the custodians do pay attention to them, and when they complain, they get results.
   
3. I spend a lot of time gathering materials for my lessons-- images for powerpoint, text materials for reading, because the school system does not fully fund the materials (the books I use are 8 years old and are dated, and are falling apart, and do not contain the mix of primary and secondary source materials. The ancillary materials that came with the textbooks are long gone, but that's okay with me, because I don't see a lot of value in some of these canned materials. But I know that teachers who are less creative (or not as eager, energetic) may be handicapped. But I usually spend more time planning lessons outside of the classroom, as online resources are severely handicapped by federally mandated filtering that keeps us from having any access to many online materials (including Google Images). In order to show political videos from You-Tube, I had to go through a cumbersome process of saving them onto my jump drive, because the site is blocked on line.
   
4. A lot of my time is already spent interacting professionally with colleagues. The department I work in is very professional. A real mix of skills and perspectives. Many different pedagogical styles. Lots of experience. So we talk pretty frequently-- but, this time is often limited. Because we don't all have concurrent planning periods. So while 2 of us may teach the same subject, the third who also does has a different period. Now, Dr. Alonso is correct when he talks about the research indicating that great schools practice some degree of coordinated planning. But we've had such a history of the school system mandating certain issues and imperfectly executing them. Frankly I'm very leery of any top down initiative coming from North Avenue. Too often in the past it has been a thing of wasted time. As a professional with advanced degrees in both content and a masters in teaching, I gather my own info, select articles of worth to peruse and reflect and implement in my practice. I'd rather have more access to professional journals through local university subscriptions paid for and maintained by the school system, or more articles directly print distributed (or books) then silly meetings at Lake Clifton which frequently feature more of the same (interested parties like text book companies that want to sell). Unless you have actually had to sit through some of these meetings and see how freely teacher's time is wasted so often by people trying to justify a job that has no impact on children, you won't understand (but then I'm sure at the Sun you've been through meetings plenty?)...
   
5. So I don't think that one hour is too much to give to the process of building great schools. I am skeptical about giving it to some initiative from North Avenue. But there are few people in my building who have much faith that North Avenue knows what they are doing. Several departments are already suffering through regularly mandated system initiatives (which also date to the legacy of Frank and his magazine based curriculum). The groans have increased, because these meetings don't seem to be accomplishing much. And the system has done nothing (at least to my level) in communicating how new initiatives might reshape and support us. We fear having more crap thrown at us that has no funding and is poorly conceived and poorly executed. Recently we actually had a whole staff development with a distinguished and proven urban educator, a dean at Hopkins, that presented us with really great stuff. This was better than I have seen for a while, and if we had more opportunities for the universities to support us with research based strategies instead of what so frequently is very poorly planned and random ad hoc stuff from North Avenue and their internal clients.
   
6. What sometimes is not very well understood is that schools are strange hierarchies. With a union in the wings and so many "contract" issues, typically when you look at an organizational structure, you have 1 principal, and 40-60 teachers, all generally at the same level. And there are mid management positions like department heads and assistant principals that have very little real authority over the teachers. Many organizations get things done and drive change through top down management, not leadership. This is something that North Avenue tries to do (follow a corporate model) but without the necessary leadership, and so many ineffective bureaucracies in place, the change is difficult to affect. Especially so in BCPSS. Now Dr Alonso is perhaps not sending all of the right messages. He says that he wants to have principals in charge, but then there are other conflicting things that are seeming to take away the principals ability to run the building. I understand common contract /coordination issues (like the last email I sent), but the messages are ominous and heavy (Dr. Alonso may not even be aware of all of the new urban myths that are being built about him-- how he walked into a teacher's room and sent the teacher home for five days because they were not teaching, or something like this, or that a teacher was sent home for wearing jeans, or all of the secret firings at North Avenue, etc. etc.). I don't care about any of this, but it is amazing to see this culture begin to react and try to spit him out just like Russo and Copeland and all of the others before! He has his work cut out to convince the culture that he is sincere, and that he cares for kids, because there are a lot of people in the system, teachers foremost, who do care about kids. There are some of course who are hanging around for a paycheck or retirement. Hard to get rid of them, and the last thing I want for myself (a career changing person from high executive levels in another company, fairly new to teaching) and for newer teachers than me, is get stuck in long meetings with some of the veterans who through inertia will push off work to the lower levels...this is already happening.
7. To really lead academic, student centered change, we have to change the culture. To change the culture we have to have the best principals and give them the support, and for them to get the job done they have to get the hell out of their offices and find out what is really happening in their building. But inevitably when they try to do this, it makes teachers nervous, because they are always then being critical instead of offering kudos. When this happens there is not inspiration and leadership but management and fear. And I am not convinced that there are a lot of principals in this system that can do this. And somebody said to me-- why aren't you a principal? Well-- probably anywhere else than Baltimore. And besides, I'd rather spend time in the classroom facilitating learning with kids, and I don't think that today's principal has enough time or focus to do this. Too busy reading emails from North Avenue! But realistically they do have a lot of issues to worry about from buildings and budgets and fire-drills and fires set in bathrooms and clubs and parents and personnel and cafeterias and building/grounds. All of which go into the total school climate and all of which influences how children learn.