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Why speaking six languages is NOT an indicator of the quality of one's education

Now that yesterday's non-election* of school officials is in the books, let's turn to another pressing educational issue --Why American schools suck.

The author, Blue Oregon semi-regular contributor Jenson Hagen, may have "studied six languages," but in this post he speaks a language he probably hasn't studied, at least not formally --gibberish!

See if you can make any sense of what he's saying:

• American schools suck.

• We need to change our system.

• But we ignore the European and Asian formats.  "Wholeheartedly."

Hagen doesn't bother to explain just exactly what those "formats" consist of.  One can only infer that languages in Europe are taught earlier.  But what's this about shoving

"...general math and English at kids and expect[ing] them to acquire a capacity for business, engineering or journalism[?]"

As I said, gibberish!

*(The voter turnout in Multnomah County was a whopping 15%!)

UPDATE:  Here's a comment from the always reliable Darrell Plant on Hagen's post:

"Budget cuts over the past 40 years are really what cut into language instruction, not some fantasy about the demands of public school teachers unions."

Vote!

No, not Vote Dammit! which brings to mind Willamette Week and its idiotic endorsements.

But anyway, if you're like me, you wait til the last minute to vote and then walk your ballot over to a local library.  And I know many of you HAVEN'T yet cast your ballots.  So this is a last minute reminder.

If you live in Beaverton, you must vote for Kris Alman for school board.  I wish Kris lived here in Portland, more specifically, I wished she lived in Trudy Sargent's Zone 6 somewhere up on Mount Tabor.  As it stands, write in the name of Moss Drake as a replacement for Trudy.

Also vote for Scott Bailey in Zone 5.  He seems to know a hell of a lot more about school district politics, and what needs to be done to improve them, than his opponent, Pam Knowles.

If you truly want change on the board, don't vote for Martin Gonzales in Zone 4.  Either of his opponents --Rita Moore or Steve Buel-- would likely argue effectively for much needed changes in district policy.  (If you don't want a split vote in the zone containing many of the district's poorest schools, then vote Rita.  She appears to be running the more vigorous and visible campaign.)

Less than seven hours til the drop-off boxes close.  So get cracking!

Blast from the past: Does PPS know what it's doing?

(Thanks to Lakeitha Elliott)

Yesterday I wrote that the last reconfiguration of Jefferson High School had "been no less than disastrous."

Portland Public Schools board member Ruth Adkins agrees, or at least she did three years ago when she co-authored this Tribune op-ed piece bemoaning that newspaper's support for school closures and the dismantling of "successful" small school programs at Jeff:

"As we ... pointed out..., the previous round of reforms and special academic programs were working well including the highest increase in test scores of any school in the city ... . There was no need to throw all this work and dedication out the window and start from scratch.

"Moreover, how do we know the new programs/academies will actually result in increased enrollment... [?]  ... more than 70 percent of Jefferson-area parents who send their children outside the neighborhood were never surveyed as to what would bring them back.

"Unfortunately, it appears that Jeff is headed toward privatization... .Privatization is threatening our district: increased numbers of charter schools, private foundation/grant money influencing major policy decisions, and a top-down 'business' model for our schools."

The piece proved prescient.  Jefferson's enrollment has flatlined.  One of its single sex academies has closed.  Test scores (for whatever they're worth) and graduation rates haven't improved.  Academic offerings are scant.

So much for the reform of Jefferson.

The community at Saturday's gathering realize what's happened.  And that's why they demand a return to a comprehensive* high school like those found in wealthier areas of the city.

The question remains:  Is the district listening?

*(Small schools within schools are not at all incompatible with comprehensive academic and elective offerings.  The key is to allow students in small communities of learning, which typically focus on core academics, access to course offerings within the larger school.) 

School board candidate Rita Moore speaks up for equity

(Thanks to Lynn Schore)

In response to Kim Melton's coverage of yesterday's "community conversation" at Jefferson regarding the district's plan for redesigning its high schools, Rita Moore, Zone 4 school board candidate, stepped up with a timely response in a letter to Melton.

It reads in part:

"Just read your article on today's meeting and I wanted to say thank you.  After 4 hours of remarkably shallow discussions of the models and an additional hour talking with District leaders about the principal situation at Roosevelt, I appreciate your highlighting the level of frustration that was present in the room. ...

"Most disappointing, both Carole (Smith, Superintendent) ... refused to take the opportunity handed to [her] by several members of the community to apologize for subjecting poor and minority students to experimental structures and sub-standard curricula.  Carole came close, but the "mistakes were made" formulation just won't cut it and she needs to understand that.  Until District leaders are willing to take responsibility and then take steps to fix the problems they have created, we will never be able to establish trust.  And many of us will remain forever skeptical of both the intentions and the competence of the District to provide the kind of education that all our children deserve."

Here's the problem as I see it.  Community meetings --or "conversations"-- are basically useless.  They're devices used by the district to give the illusion that district stakeholders have a say in policy.  In reality, district administrators know what they want to do, know what they're going to do, and despite outcry from the "community", they'll go ahead and do it, the consequences or bruised feelings be damned 

The "real" Jefferson community had no say in the re-reconfiguration of its secondary programs.  And how did that work out?  What the district did to Jefferson High School, the very place this latest "community conversation" took place, has been no less than disastrous.  Is it any wonder then, at Saturday morning's meeting, that

"...the underlying pain and frustration ... emerged over the way Portland has redesigned high schools and moved staff at schools such as Jefferson and Roosevelt[?]"

Until district administrators and school board members address school inequities directly --a good start would be to  discontinue the neighborhood-to-neighborhood school transfer policy-- all the community conversations in the world will be of no help whatsoever.

And speaking of the school board, remember to vote.  You have my recommendations here and here. 

Stand confesses its sins

(Post UPDATED below)

As I was listening to a really cool music video promoting school funding carried on the Stand for Children website, I noticed an option listing all of Stand's "successes" since it started operations here in Portland several years ago.   Sooo, I just had to peruse it.  And here's what I found:

"22 May, 2003  Portland, OR
Endorsed and helped elect a slate of School Board candidates based on School Improvement Platform."

The "slate" of favored school board candidates, three of whom are still serving, "improved schools" by closing a bunch of them and consolidating others in a rushed and ill-conceived K-8 plan, courtesy of the superintendent --Vicki Phillips-- the "slate" enthusiastically hired.   Phillips also hired some not so good principals --Jefferson's Leon Dudley comes to mind-- and forced a top-down reconfiguration of Jefferson and other of the district's poorest high schools.

Some "School Improvement Platform."

Anyway, here's the song composed and sung by Reynolds School District teachers Suzanne Chimenti and Brenda Fletcher.  Now THAT's a success.

UPDATE: Back in 2006, Shannon Campion of Stand's Portland chapter said, 

"There's a significant victory to be gained by having parents and the broader community recognize that schools need to be closed."

Others disagreed, including Portland School Foundation's Cynthia Guyer, who eventually resigned as head of the Foundation.  At about the same time , Willamette Week published leaded documents indicating that Vicki Phillips planned on closing eleven more neighborhood schools.  (Here was my take on that.)

However you look at the spate of school closures and consolidations --some still defend them, others remain bitterly angry-- it's a real stretch to call the election of the "slate" of school board members responsible for hiring Vicki Phillips a "success." 

More endorsements: Not Trudy, not Martin for school board

I note that Ruth Adkins has endorsed both Trudy Sargent and Martin Gonzales, both school board incumbents, for reelection. 

I say so what.  What's Ruth going to do?  Go on record as opposing her board colleagues, one of whom --Trudy-- is assured of winning since she has no challenger?  Martin, too, is quite likely to retain his seat.

It would be political suicide for Ruth to badmouth either.  (She did endorse Scott Bailey.)

I have no such qualms.  Neither Trudy nor Martin are likely to support any change of substance in the next four years to ensure that all students in the district, regardless of circumstance, have the same  educational opportunities.  Poor schools will continue to lose enrollment and programs.  Wealthy schools will continue to grow in popularity --and enrollment.

In short, unless some decisive changes are made in the district's transfer policy, nothing will change.  Therefore, I oppose the reelection of either incumbent.

Since Trudy has no opponent, the only option is a protest write-in vote.  One name that has emerged is a fellow named Moss Drake.  People tell me he's smart.  When he speaks he's worth listening to.

As for Zone 4, both Steve Buel and Rita Moore are challenging Martin Gonzales.  Since both are active in the PPS Equity community, I won't recommend one over the other.  Buel would likely spoil the school board tea party with his outspokenness, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing at all.

Rita would undoubtedly prove more collegial.  But no one can question her commitment to equity.  And she's got a Ph.D from Columbia, for godssakes!

Vote for either Buel or Moore for Zone 4.  If neither actually wins, their combined total vote might well surpass Martin's total.

That would send a message, wouldn't it?

Kafoury v. Kafoury

The Portland school board race in Zone 5 not only pits Scott Bailey (whom I endorsed yesterday) against Pam Knowles, it also further splits,  along political lines, the ex-husband and wife team of two locally prominent Kafoury's.

Gretchen Kafoury, you see, supports Bailey.  Her ex, world's worst person Stephen Kafoury, has endorsed Bailey's opponent, the business candidate Knowles.  I don't want to read too much into what these competing endorsements mean except to say this: 

Given Steve Kafoury's endorsement and the fact that he represents in Oregon a chain of virtual charter schools, one might speculate that Knowles may be more amenable to school charterization --even partial privatization-- than one would like to see in a public school board director. 

That makes me feel more confident in my support of Scott Bailey. 

There's another Kafoury involved in this intra-familial political dust-up --Steve and Gretchen's daughter, Deborah.  The newly-elected Multnomah County Commissioner sides with her father --and Knowles.  (What do you suppose her mother must think?)

Oh yeah.  Bailey also has the enthusiastic support of Steve Novick, the little man with the wicked left hook and possible Oregon gubernatorial candidate. 

Gretchen and Steve --Novick, that is-- are quite the powerful political team.  And that's good for Scott Bailey.

Scott Bailey for school board

Although I once called Community and Parents for Public Schools (CPPS), the organization Scott Bailey formerly headed,  "lapdogs for school choice*," Bailey is clearly the better of the two candidates running for the Zone 5 school board position. And never mind the useless endorsements given his opponent by the Oregonian and Willamette Week.

Here's why.

I still don't know exactly where Bailey stands on choice and the district transfer policy.  Nevertheless he has certainly abandoned the Vicki Phillips-can-do-no-wrong stance he seemed to espouse when I first encountered him at one of Phillips' infamous "community conversations" at Sellwood Middle School a few years back. 

A case in point is Bailey's criticism of Phillips' much-ballyhooed K-8 reconfigurations.  He calls the K-8 reconfiguration "poorly planned, done too quickly, and ... poorly executed."  He's right.  He's also correct in pointing out the enrollment imbalances K-8's create, as well as the obvious inequities they promote in poorer sections of the district. 

Bailey is also upfront about the underfunding of schools in Oregon and what we can do about it.  He writes,

"Part of the problem is we’re a low tax state, particularly for businesses."

He then calls for "...raising the corporate minimum tax, or ... increasing the corporate tax rate."  He also proposes an increase in the "general level of personal taxes" and  getting rid of the "kicker".  

Bailey's opponent is Portland Business Alliance chief operating officer, Pam Knowles.  The contrast between the two on school funding is glaring.

Knowles says she is for "adequate and stable school funding"  but proposes little of substance to achieve that goal.  Her one concrete proposal is to adjust "the corporate minimum tax, while protecting and promoting the success of our small businesses."

"Adjust," not raise.  Spoken like a true business lobbyist.

More troubling though is Knowles' inclination to define a successful education as the ability to get a job:

"We all have the common goal of wanting a high quality education for our children so they can be productive workers and citizens. ...

"At the Portland Business Alliance I am working with PPS and Worksystems, Inc. to connect high school students with job exploration opportunities through a new program called BizConnect. I can leverage these and other relationships to increase opportunities for PPS students."

Innocent language, perhaps, but to me, Knowles emphasis on bringing businesses into the schools as partners for "job preparation" betrays a narrow vision of what a quality education is all about.

Scott Bailey is the clear choice in this election for the Zone 5 school board position.  

*(Here's a pertinent newsletter from CPPS regarding school choice.)

Willamette Week gets it wrong --again!

Not to put too crude an spin on Willamette Week's latest school board endorsements, but when it comes to local educational politics, Portland's 'progressive' weekly needs to pull its head out of the sand, or an even darker place "where the sun don't shine."

Take the decision to support Portland Business Alliance honcho Pam Knowles over Scott Bailey.  Why?  Because Bailey may have a conflict of interest (his wife is a teacher at Lincoln) and --get this-- Baliey is "in love with his own voice."

Therefore, in a close race, Knowles gets the nod as the more "appropriate" replacement for Sonja Henning.

Say what?  The most "appropriate" candidate is the one who most closely resembles the board member whose seat is being contested, even if that departing board member, Henning, was wrong --dead wrong!-- on serious policy issues?  Like supporting Bill Sizemore's teacher merit pay initiative? 

If cloning departing board members is the standard by which we are to judge school board candidates, how the hell will the board ever change for the better?

Of course, Willamette Week has been wrong, laughably so, on many of its past education endorsements.  In 1990, WWeek endorsed Measure 5, the property tax limitation which effectively gutted public school funding.   And in 2003, when I ran for the board, the paper endorsed an anti-tax, anti-government charter school proponent for the Zone 1 seat eventually won by Doug Morgan and now held by Ruth Adkins.

(I finished second to Morgan then, well ahead of the WW endorsee, Ron Liljegren.)

In the other contested Portland board race, Martin Gonzales was preferred to either Rita Moore or Steve Buel.  Why?  Because Gonzales has "shown an independence" and a "willingness to dissent."

Well, maybe so.  But I'm still waiting for Gonzales to "dissent" on an issue of real importance, like school choice and the transfer policy that enables it.

 

Today's worst person in the world: Stephen Kafoury

Back in 2003, Steve Kafoury was instrumental in recruiting the successful slate of Portland School Board candidates who went on to hire Vicki Phillips as district superintendent --big mistake-- and to shut down several more neighborhood schools.

Today Kafoury, a former school board member himself, is in the Oregonian flacking for a chain of "virtual" charter high schools.  In the process he bashes the trickery of the lobbying efforts of the state's big teachers union, the Oregon Education Association. 

The OEA opposes charter schools generally, and online schools particularly.  For good reason.

Insight Schools, Inc. is a subsidiary of the Apollo Group, Inc.  Apollo (which runs the Phoenix University chain) is a private for-profit organization, and aren't charter schools, virtual or otherwise, supposed to be "public" schools?  This slippery connection between the public and private sector in education both troubles and puzzles me.  As it probably does the OEA.

Apparently Kafoury, who sat on a public school board, has no problem with the partial privatization of public education. 

But wait!  The world's BEST person also showed up on the letters page of the O this morning.  Her name is Kris Alman, a parent, retired doctor, and candidate for the Beaverton School Board (she favors higher corporate taxes to increase school funding.)

Here's what she wrote regarding charters:

...

"Charter schools in Oregon have a higher closure rate than the national average (20 percent versus 11 percent). Conversely, popular charters, which resort to lotteries, can disenfranchise children who live nearby and they burden all families with transportation requirements. To remedy these inequities, school boards and administrators should foster innovation and flexible learning environments in each neighborhood school."

Sounds like something I would write.  In fact, it sounds a lot like what I have already written. 

Yay Kris!  (If you live in Beaverton, vote Kris Alman for School Board.)