Washington, DC Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee have drafted a plan to dramatically expand their effort to remove ineffective teachers from DC schools by seeking federal legislation declaring the school system in a state of emergency–a move that would eliminate the need to bargain with the Washington Teachers’ Union, reports the Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the plan under the Freedom of Information Act
If adopted, the measures would essentially allow the District to begin building a new school system. Such an effort would be similar to one underway in New Orleans, where a state takeover after Hurricane Katrina placed most of the city’s 78 public schools in a special Recovery School District. About half of the district’s schools are charters, and it has no union contract.
The Post’s report notes the plan was drawn up in a statement for a news conference in September where “Rhee and Fenty were scheduled to present a series of steps they could take under existing regulations to rid the system of teachers deemed ineffective.” The news conference was cancelled and the statement never made public. But that doesn’t appear to mean Rhee and Fenty are having second thoughts. “The Mayor and the Chancellor will continue to keep these and all ideas on the table,” a spokesperson tells the paper.
“The moves could force a major confrontation with the union and its parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers, which has denounced the changes in New Orleans,” the Post notes.
My hunch is that Rhee and Fenty are using the threat of a state of emergency to force the teacher’s union to let its members vote on their plan to give teachers hefty salary hikes in exchange for waiving tenure.
Update: Eduflack is also on this and takes the long view. “At the end of the day, once Rhee has gotten all of the change and reform she’s seeking, she actually has to work with those left standing to deliver on her promise to boost student achievement and close the achievement gap,” he writes. “That means parents and families. It means teachers and principals. And it certainly means the Washington Teachers Union. Rhee’s ultimate success will be determined by the effectiveness of the teachers and the union that supports them. And there is no working around that, no matter how hard you try.”
Student achievement depends upon many things, only a few of which have to do with teachers or the schools. It is good to focus on the things a school system can change to boost student achievement, of course. But in the end one may be tripped up by the factors that cannot be changed by school systems or government agencies. There are limits to achievement that are set before the child sets foot in the classroom for the first time, and limits that continue to be set outside the classroom every single day by the child’s environment.
Some students can perform well in abysmal school settings and some students could not perform well under absolutely perfect school policies, curricula, and teachers.
On the first reading, I thought you were joking. Who will be named the Commandante, Lynn Cheney?
We have a President Elect who is law professor and who was known for collegiality. And they want a virtual coup? How about a state of emergency to fight tobacco? to fight obesity? to get guns off the street?
Obama will appreciate this news like he would a state of emergency to displace the 2nd Amendment (or to implement his promise to work for a College Football National Championship.
We just don’t do it this way in this country.
Can you imagine what the Obama campaign would have thought if the September press conference was held? With friends like Fenty and Rhee, Obama doesn’t need enemies.
With friends like Fenty and Rhee, education doesn’t need enemies.
Remember a great piece of cultural literacy, the 80s song by John McCutheon?
We’ve got government on horseback again,
Like in the day’s when congressmen were men,
We will make it on our own,
Running on testosterone,
We’ve got government on horseback again.
Golly, I almost wish this trainwreck could happen just for the belly laughs. No, not really.
I just realized the worst things about Obama. If this was a Republican administration I’d want this to play out to its hilarious conclusion if for no other reason than the Daily Show and Colbert. But now we have to put that sort of wierdness behind us and govern.
What were they thinking? What a West Wing scene this would make, with the real Raum Emmanuel going ballistic.