Schools for Tomorrow Blog

How drearily predictable. “Latino leaders” are squawking because Denver Public Schools went behind closed doors and decided to hire another white guy as superintendent.

It’s worth noting that the squawkers quoted in the Denver Post story are not exactly daily fixtures inside DPS schools. (Some members of the group may be educators, but they were not named in the Post article). Meanwhile, Padres Unidos, a community organizing group that works in schools and with DPS parents, lauded the selection of Tom Boasberg:

In addition to his impressive background, we are confident that his commitment to the vision of reform articulated in the Denver Plan and manifested in the new graduation requirements of 2007 and the new discipline policy approved this fall, is resolute.

Therefore, we encourage the Board to nominate and approve Tom Boasberg as the new superintendent of Denver Public Schools.

Some day, and fairly soon, I hope, DPS will have a Latino superintendent (the brief,…

Coloradans are a competitive bunch - and we have a chance to win an impressive extreme ranking. Yes, being 50^th in the nation for higher education support per capita or per student is well within our grasp, and something we can probably achieve with the coming round of state budget cuts in 2009 —  and beyond.

After settling into the 48^th spot for several years, after the state cuts of 2002/3, it seemed like we might never get there. (And, by the way, why settle for 50th anyway? - there are 54 or 55 mountains of 14,000 feet and higher in Colorado - let’s try to match that 54/55 number - we might need to include DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and a few others, but that’s OK).

According to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (located in Boulder, as it turns out) Colorado is 48^th for state and local higher education…

There is a piece published in yesterday’s Washington Post that suggests criticisms of Michelle Rhee’s approach to reform.  It’s an interesting article that deserves attention, even though I think it’s a too-facile way to critique Rhee.  What it does do for me is raise some questions, which I offer at the end of this post.

Very briefly (because you really should read the piece itself) the reporter describes a high-minority, high-poverty school in nearby Silver Spring, Maryland (Montgomery County School District):  “At Broad Acres eight years ago, test scores were so low that the state threatened to take the place over. [The Superintendent and Principal] decided to remake the school. They negotiated with the teachers union to add extra hours to the workweek for extra pay. …  Rhee’s faceoff with the Washington Teachers’ Union creates a dynamic different from the cooperation” in Montgomery County.

The article also describes the way that the school…

Denver Public Schools has just called a news conference for 6 to announce “its finalist” for the superintendent’s position recently vacated by Senator-to-be Michael Bennet.

The choice undoubtedly is Tom Boasberg, the district’s chief operating officer. The press release says “The board will announce the finalist and timeline for formal appointment during the press conference.”

Visit the Education News Colorado web site for a story as soon as this is official — by 7 p.m., if I type fast.

Later: It is, in fact, Boasberg. Huzzah to the school board for doing the right thing, and expeditiously. It takes courage to make a decision of this magnitude quickly, especially with some interest groups putting on pressure for a national search. It seems that a board member or perhaps two had to be berought along kicking and screaming. Let’s hope the dissidents see the light and make the Jan. 22 vote a unanimous one.

…

After last year’s excitement, the 2009 version of the legislation session promises to lower the heart rate and blood pressure for the education lobbyists and other education policy junkies.

You probably heard Gov. Ritter’s speech to the assembled lawmakers. It’s the closest to a funeral oration for any State of the State address I’ve ever seen. The state of the economy and the budget essentially guaranteed it wasn’t going to be an applause fest.

But what a difference a year makes. Last time around, at least the pretense of education reform was front and center. In this year’s speech, it almost felt like the issues of education and health care were tacked on at the end. About K-12:

Certainly, it’s hard to talk about funding new reforms in a bad economy. But we can’t shortchange hope. So this session we will bring you a statewide concurrent-enrollment plan that will give high school students an opportunity…

The Teacher Leaders Network web site is a great way for you to gain some insight as to what teacher leaders are saying about education.  It may surprise some of you who might believe that teachers speak with one voice through their unions.  A particular blog by Nancy Flanagan defends the National Board Certification Process as opposed to the Teach for America program. Browse the site and see some “reform” minded teachers express their thoughts.

Media reports discuss the current “choice” for DPS superintendent, but that is a misnomer.  There is no existing choice between qualified candidates. The alternative here is between a person and a process.  There are two different paths.  One of them is fraught with difficulty and potentially catastrophic. The other is not.  

The person is Tom Boasberg, the current COO.  For the board, he is a known quantity, and they have had the chance to work with him closely.  There should be little about him they do not already know.  

When the BOE hired Michael Bennet, they did so with a five-year commitment.  This commitment should be to the ideas and the reforms Bennet espoused, not just to the person.  Appointing Boasberg fulfills this commitment to a five-year effort, and to continuing the nascent and fragile work of reforming Denver’s schools. As has been reported early and often, Boasberg has virtually universal acclaim for his…

It’s worth watching the following excerpts from Terrance Carroll’s speech upon being voted in as the first African American Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives. He eloquently addresses the value of education as an equalizer, even when the odds are long, as they were in his case:

The Denver Classroom Teachers Association is urging the Denver school board to launch a national search for a new DPS superintendent. Wrote Kim Ursetta to the board:

We believe a transparent process is critical to engaging the community and other district stakeholders. The Denver community has played a significant role in the school district over the last year, and their continued involvement is imperative to the success of our students. They will be a valuable asset in the search for a new superintendent.

Kim also writes that the board should seek a candidate who has “a strong education background.” You can read the entire letter here.

I disagree. What experience has DPS had with national searches in recent years? Highly paid consultants cast a net, and what they bring ashore is, all too often, detritus from the ocean bottom: superintendents who have failed or been only marginally successful in other settings. The past two…

This is a must read for people interested in perception versus reality, the media, politics and urban school reform. Not everyone will like what it says. But it is vintage Peter Huidekoper.

A couple weeks ago Ed News reported on the rise in Colorado teachers receiving National Board certification, fueled in part by new legislatively-approved salary incentives:

HB 08-1384, which established the stipends, specifies that Colorado’s board-certified teachers will receive $1600 a year. From 2008-2009 through 2010-2011, teachers who work in schools rated low or unsatisfactory will receive an additional $3200 a year. The stipends can be added to the local incentives currently offered by 16 Colorado school districts. [link added]

Teachers in Denver, for example, are doubly blessed for undergoing this certification process. ProComp awards them a permanent 9 percent salary increase (this year worth $3,300) in addition to the $1,600 or $3,200 offered from the state.

At the same time, Washington DC’s reform superintendent Michelle Rhee has announced a revamping of her school district’s professional program (H/T Flypaper). Included in the overhaul:

…Rhee has dropped the school system’s direct support for instructors seeking certification from the…

Three articles over the break caught my eye.  They highlight what can be done at the state and district level to challenge some status quo thinking.

New Hampshire is looking at allowing students to get their high school degrees within two years and then test into 2 and 4 year colleges.  Adams 50 is going to move away from seat time and focus on what kids know to move them forward.

Both of these innovative ideas are challenging some old-school thinking about education.  The move from rank and sort to standards based education provides us with opportunities to fundamentally change the way we “house” students.

The other article concerns a basic change in the way we “grade” students.  Grand Rapids high school students will be given multiple chances to pass classes, even if this means turning in work that is weeks late.  Students will also be given opportunities to retake assessments.  Interestingly enough, the teacher’s…