Third Way or the Highway

The future of education reform in Massachusetts requires mis-remembering its past…

Since 1635, Massachusetts has been known for its district public schools—the *first way.* Since 1993, Massachusetts’ charter schools have led the nation in pioneering a *second way.* It is time to recognize a Third Way – an emerging set of strategies that combine school-level autonomies and energetic innovation with a commitment to universal service and local voice…

Quick: what’s absent from this rather, um, selective account of the past 381 years of Bay State history? If you answered *that bit about 1993 seems to be a bit fact challenged,* you would be correct. As providence would have it, I happened to be acquainting myself with the history of Massachusetts’ bold experiment with school reform, circa 1993, at the very moment that the Third Way, brought to you by these guys, blazed into the Hub to blaze an optimistic path ahead in K-12 education. Which is how I happen to be in possession of such facts as that charter schools were a virtual after thought in Massachusetts’ actual second way success story. And that the Third Way, which is already well underway, appears to veer off markedly from the course set by its bold predecessor all those 23 years ago. Strap yourself in, reader: it’s time machine time.

Source: Third Way or the Highway

Florida Teacher on the Pressure to Force Third Graders to Take the Test

“Clearly, the great puzzle is why the Florida legislature is all for parent choice when it comes to “choosing” a school, but opposed to parent choice when it comes to complying with an order to take tests.” – Dr. Diane Ravitch

Diane Ravitch's blog

I received this comment from a teacher in Manatee County:

Diane – I wanted to give you an update on yesterday’s story and some context about what teachers have been doing. The Florida Department of Education’s attorney has clarified that the portfolio option is available and must be allowed based on state statute. I suspect that the districts involved were encouraged to take the hardline position, particularly based on parts of an email from a DOE official (that the Manatee Superintendent released) which did imply that a test was required or the student would have to go to summer reading camp to build a portfolio. Now the DOE has “clarified” their position, stating that a district may not exclude any of the good cause exemptions (specified in statute) in their local policy.

The FEA Delegate Assembly recently passed a New Business Item advocating for a parent’s right to Opt Out…

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After an impassioned speech to 30,000 people in Oakland, it was time for “The Bernie and Bob Show”

From the VAMboozled! blog: Massachusetts Also Moving To Remove Growth Measures from State’s Teacher Evaluation Systems

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Audrey Amrein-Beardsley

Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) last January, in which the federal government handed back to states the authority to decide whether to evaluate teachers with or without students’ test scores, states have been dropping the value-added measure (VAM) or growth components (e.g., the Student Growth Percentiles (SGP) package) of their teacher evaluation systems, as formerly required by President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative.

See my most recent post here, for example, about how legislators in Oklahoma recently removed VAMs from their state-level teacher evaluation system, while simultaneously increasing the state’s focus on the professional development of all teachers. Hawaii recently did the same.

Now, it seems that Massachusetts is the next at least moving in this same direction.

As per a recent article in The Boston Globe (here), similar test-based teacher accountability efforts are facing increased opposition, primarily from school district superintendents and teachers throughout the state.

At issue is whether all of this is simply “becoming a distraction,” whether the data can be impacted or “biased” by other statistically uncontrollable factors, and whether all teachers can be evaluated in similar ways, which is an issue with “fairness.” Also at issue is…

Go here to read the full blog post: Massachusetts Also Moving To Remove Growth Measures from State’s Teacher Evaluation Systems | VAMboozled!

From the CURMUDGUCATION blog: Moskowitz Schadenfreude

Moskowitz Schadenfreude

Posted by Peter Greene: 03 Jun 2016 05:11 AM PDT

Eva Moskowitz, the super-well-paid queen (almost a cool half million) of Success Academy, finally had more than just a lousy day . She flat out lost one. I know it’s not nice, but let’s share a little schadenfreude over the defeat of a woman whose defiant hubris has been a bamboo shoot under the fingernails of educators all across New York.

The plan has been to expand the SA empire by adding Pre-K. But in an unexpected twist, the city of New York, rather than simply handing Moskowitz a pile of money and saying “Have a nice day,” actually insisted that she sign a contract and agree to use the money in particular ways.

Read more here…CURMUDGUCATION: Moskowitz Schadenfreude

Concerned about the pension tax? Plan to attend June 7 hearing in Lansing

ACTION ALERT

Attend Court of Appeals Hearing on Taxing our Pensions

Hello MEA Retirees and Future Retirees –

Okrie v State of Michigan Oral Argument, Tuesday June 7, 10 a.m. Hall of Justice, Second Floor, Lansing

Please help us fill the courtroom next Tuesday, June 7 when the Michigan Court of Appeals will be hearing oral argument in the Thomas Okrie v State of Michigan case.  Details about the case and the oral argument, parking, and other details are in the attached flyer.  To view the flyer click here

Here’s some background:

Recall that in 2011 newly elected Governor Rick Snyder proposed and the Legislature adopted a major overhaul of Michigan’s income tax structure. The Small Business Tax was abolished for 95 percent of businesses in Michigan – 86,000 businesses – and a 6 percent flat Corporate Income Tax was established only for corporations, not LLCs, partnerships, C-corporations, and other entities that were taxed under the former SBT. There were no strings attached to these tax changes and it is impossible to know if even one new job was created because of the abolishment of the SBT.

Since the new CIT did not generate enough revenue to replace the SBT, other sources of revenue were sought. The biggest tax expenditure on the books at the time was the exemption of pensions and some retirement income from Michigan’s income tax. Under the new law, effective January 1, 2012, retirement income of those born after 1945 would be subject to the income tax. Other tax credits were abolished also. The total tax shift from business to individuals amounted to $1.8 billion, about $540 million of it straight from the pockets of seniors and younger retirees. Please make every effort to attend the hearing in the Michigan Court of Claims on Tuesday, June 7in Lansing.. Click here for details and directions.

Thomas R. Okrie was a retired public school teacher who was personally outraged at the Governor and the Legislature for imposing the pension tax. He hired attorney Gary Supanich to bring a legal challenge. A class-action lawsuit was filed in July 2013 on behalf of Okrie and similarly situated retired state and public school employees (over 100,000 people), challenging the State of Michigan’s action of taking away their deferred compensation in the form of tax exemptions without providing comparable financial benefits to them. The lawsuit principally alleged a breach of contract under state law, or an impairment of contract and “Takings” in violation of the state and federal constitutions.

After the filing of the Okrie lawsuit, the Legislature and Governor also changed the court system to take the authority away from the liberal Ingham County Circuit Court judges to hear cases against the state and reassigned them to a newly established panel of Court of Appeals judges. The Okrie case was cited by court watchers as one of the reasons for this re-organization. Okrie challenged the constitutionality of the court re-organization and lost. He also lost his case-in-chief in front of the new panel and appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals. Now, nearly three years later on June 7, the Michigan Court of Appeals will be hearing oral argument on the Okrie pension tax challenge.

We need to fill the courtroom with retirees – the grayer the hair and more wrinkled your skin the better – to show we have not forgotten our anger over the pension tax. Whether you were born before or after 1945, you are invited to show up at the Hall of Justice at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 7 to show your support for this class action lawsuit.

Thank you so much for your past support and interest!

Mary Pollock

Legislative Representative

Michigan State Employee Retirees Association

www.mi-sera.org