The REAL Education Reform CT Needs!

We’ve been hearing for a few weeks now about Governor Malloy’s education reform bill, also known as SB-24. There has been significant debate on the bill from all sides (Gov. Malloy, the Education Committee of the State Legislature, the two teacher’s unions in the state – CEA and AFT, teachers, parents, education reform groups – Students First from Washington, DC, ConnCAN, etc.). 

I have generally been against the governor’s bill from my first read of it. It has seemed to be an election year play to be able to say he is pro-education but not spend much money. He might have good intentions and really BE for fixing our schools, but he is trying to fix it within the constraints of No Child Left Behind (also called ESEA). NCLB/ESEA provides funding for states’ school systems provided they set up systems of standardized testing to show that their schools are making Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) toward a goal of 100% proficiency in Math, Reading and Writing by 2014. 

THIS is the problem – our educational system was designed in the 1950s to provide workers for the corporations at the time. A majority of the graduates (75%) would go straight into the workforce, either working in factories or industrial jobs. Fifteen percent would go into white-collar jobs and the remaining five percent would go into administrative or professional jobs. If we are going to fix education, the first thing that needs to be done is to realize the problem. 

Trying to work with a sixty year old system to function in our modern day economy is like trying to go on the Autobahn with a moped – the system is out of date.  We need to rebuild education from the ground up.  The same skills that were effective in the economy of 60 years ago are no longer effective today – we need a new way of educating our children for today’s world.  Reading, Writing and Math are no longer the ONLY skills that are necessary for surviving in the world today, much less moving forward.  We need graduates that can think creatively, members of society that can work with peers in different cultures and with different ideas than we in the US have.  We need problem solvers (for the world of tomorrow), as well as direction followers (from the world of yesteryear), and we need graduates who can determine when it is appropriate to do which.  THIS is what all the members of the education reform debate FAIL to recognize, and until they do, the argument will be futile.

For an example on why this education reform bill will fail, take a look at the sides in the debate:

• Governor Malloy – He promised that his second year in office would be about education reform.  He made a good start by putting together the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) to develop a new evaluation method for CT certified teachers which could replace the varied methods that different districts use across the state.  This committee was a group of “professionals” from different groups – the 2 CT teacher union heads, administrators from the State Dept. of Ed, superintendents, directors from CT administrator and school board groups and one college education professor.  They came up with a way of evaluating teachers and presented it to the governor in February.  The method included: indicators of student learning (i.e. standardized testing) – whole school (5%) and the teacher’s own students (45%), performance reviews (based on ONE observation by a single supervisor – 40%), and parent & student survey (10%).  Governor Malloy used this in his proposal to base teacher certification, tenure, salary and ability to stay on the job, without even TESTING it to see how effective it was.  Add to that the fact that it was based on NCLB testing (which is ALREADY a failure), here is the status quo to the extreme, and he did nothing to promote getting Science, Technology or Math teachers into the classroom or allow students to learn in new and unique ways outside of those measured by the standardized tests.
•  The Unions – The CEA and rival AFT-CT – if ANYONE wants to keep the status quo, its these two.  A recent e-mail from the CEA administration showed how little they care for ANY kind of education reform.  AFT-CT was more open to negotiating with the Governor and other parties to get a fairer bill, one that was more agreeable to all those concerned.  However, that was not necessary – in closed door negotiations, the Education Committee invited union representatives to discuss the bill and edited the wording.  To find out how, check out this link from ConnCAN.  Please note, I disagree with ConnCAN on some of their points – I feel they are manipulating some of the data to get people on their side, but they do a good job reporting on this issue.  Plus, they feel that education reform needs to start somewhere, but we disagree on WHERE…
• The state legislators – These people have been in the pockets of the unions for so long that they cannot BREATHE without the CEA’s permission.  When I went into education as a private school teacher in NJ, I saw stories about the NJEA closing down entire districts every school year and realized that the unions were bad for students.  Living in CT, I have not seen this yet, but now that I am in the trenches, I see more and more of the CEA being in bed with the state legislators.  THIS is the status quo to an extreme.  Many of the adults in this debate that have power to make it go forward towards REAL REFORM aren’t really concerned with the education of our children.  The legislators are only concerned with their political position, the unions want their power, and the Governor wants his popularity.
• The teachers – Many people in this group have either allowed themselves to be led by the unions or are in it to help the kids.  But one thing is sure – most teachers that I know got into teaching to help kids.  Their opinion in this debate is not being considered by ANY of the major parties involved.  They are either being positioned as scapegoats for the failures of the education system or are being manipulated by the unions to fight the changes.  Teachers need to think back to why they got into teaching in the first place and stand up for REAL REFORM!  Only THIS can help the kids move forward.
• The kids and their families – These are the real losers of this battle.  They trust all of the above groups to fix education for them and provide a useful education for kids in CT.  But, no matter WHAT happens or WHO ends up prevailing, the families of CT will end up with an antiquated education system that does little to prepare our kids for the global and technological economy of today.

As a teacher and a parent, I am saddened by the state of education in CT and the US.  Real education reform is necessary for the US to remain a world leader and for our children to be given a world that they can function in.  Debates such as these do little to help us achieve this goal for our children, and until we can fix the SYSTEM, we will continue to languish as a nation and fall behind the rest of the world.