Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/381166
The demise of public education Fa s t f o r w a r d t o 2 0 0 4 , when experienced teach- ers were told they weren't q u a l i f i e d a n y m o r e . I interviewed a Fresno teacher labeled "unquali- fied" despite being voted Teacher of the Year. E d u c a t o r s b e c a m e anguished because their s c h o o l s w e r e l a b e l e d "low-performing" even though test scores were rising. But NCLB didn't measure growth, only pro- ficiency. A student three grade levels behind might increase by two during the school year, but still be labeled as failing. A small "subgroup" of students with low scores meant the entire school was failing. All accountability fell on teachers. With no impact on students' grades, there was little incentive for students to try their best on the test. Some students would fill in the bubbles at random without even reading the questions. Yet educators were judged on this and labeled bad teach- ers if students scored low. Schools were rapidly going down the proverbial rabbit hole. I began telling friends that my job was covering the "demise of public education," and while I said it sarcas- tically, it felt true. Administrators, looking for an easy way out, decided not to place students with special needs in special educa- tion classrooms, instead dispersing them schoolwide to avoid a low-scoring subgroup. Struggling students were assigned double and triple periods of math and English, which made them hate school. Art and music went by the wayside. Districts hired "experts" who assured educators nothing "drastic" would happen, then led them to slaugh- ter by reconstituting their schools. In fairness, there were some good, decent principals who tried to do what was right for students. Their heads Feature "Mandatory credentialing was good, and many teachers agreed with the accountability," says Patrick Guggino, Charter Oak Educators Association. "But the NCLB concept of accountability was too narrow, with one multiple- choice test that occurred one day of the year." To date, 4,998 Title I schools out of 6,207 are in Program Improvement (PI), or 80 percent. Out of the state's total of 10,339 schools, approximately 4,499 are in PI, or 48 percent. The state has never taken over a school as a PI sanction, but it has taken over some schools for fiscal mismanagement. As for how many schools were reconstituted, closed or converted to charters under NCLB's so-called remedies, the state hasn't kept track. 80% 48% ? SO HOW ARE OUR SCHOOLS REALLY DOING IN THE YEAR WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PERFECT? 12 www.cta.org