Ama Nyamekye

By Ama Nyamekye

What makes a great school? This fundamental question has been lost in a heated debate about a draft proposal spearheaded by the Broad Foundation, the most controversial part of which includes a plan to accelerate charter school growth in LAUSD.

This idea has sparked concern and curiosity among parents, community members, philanthropists and most certainly our teachers. It has inspired a proposed school board resolution opposing charters, and a series of protests led by UTLA leadership who are not only concerned about the expansion of charters, but are also skeptical of philanthropists investing millions of dollars in public education.

Every group is raising related questions: What will this mean for parents waiting on long charter school lottery lists? What will this mean for our students, particularly those still served by non-charter schools? What will this mean for the future of my job and my school; for the future of our union and district, both entities facing declining enrollment and, with it, declining dollars? Will this spark a real conversation about school equity and innovation or will this bring more polarization and turf wars in public education?

Put another way, these questions come down to one thing: Whose side are you on?

As the head of a local teacher leadership organization working with educators across the district, I stand with our most dedicated teachers who often tell me that no single solution, like charter schools, will be the silver bullet for ensuring access to a high-quality education for all students. It is equity that is at the heart of a great school, and that is the goal teachers are working towards. I know this because I have witnessed equity arguments echoed in every teacher-written policy paper, teacher-led advocacy campaign, and teacher-penned media article produced by E4E members.

These teachers tell us that a great school is defined by its great leaders and practitioners. Investing in the most well-intentioned school models won’t bring about change without understanding how those models can shift policies, practices and culture on the ground. To understand how these models can best work, we need to learn from the perspectives and solutions of teachers and school leaders. Their insights are invaluable and should inform how philanthropists and policy makers invest in education.

The challenges facing our schools are complex and nuanced, which is why our district, union, philanthropy and community organizations should be thinking about and investing in a range of solutions. Teachers, particularly those who have helped launch their own schools, believe that great schools offer innovative models and programs to tackle tough challenges facing students.

Similarly, district and philanthropic leaders should be thinking and investing more expansively in diverse and innovative school models like pilots, magnets, community schools, Linked Learning schools in addition to charters. This also means coupling that investment with real support and clear accountability to ensure that greater dollars yield greater results for our students.

Our finest teachers know that a great school prioritizes the hearts and minds of students, who cannot be forgotten in this debate. It is our students — most of whom are youth of color — who will be the collateral damage of adult-centered fights that produce more polarization instead of great schools. In California — one of the wealthiest places in the world — where our public schools rank 46th out of 50 in per-pupil funding, we need greater engagement and investment in our children’s education.

The unfinished, rough draft of the Broad Foundation’s proposal is actually entitled “The Great Public Schools Now” initiative. As an organization funded in part by the Broad Foundation as well as hundreds of individual supporters, teachers and other foundations, Educators 4 Excellence humbly calls on educators, the civil rights community and the Broad Foundation to ensure this title rings true by expanding the initiative into an opportunity to think beyond a pure charter-school approach and, instead, push for investments in great schools, great teachers, great leaders and great school policies. Teachers are eager to give input on how this evolving plan can invest more expansively in great schools for all students.

Amid this heated debate about charter expansion, we must refocus on the essential question at hand–what makes a great school? While fights and protests over a rough draft we disagree with may feel cathartic, it will not be as effective as working with diverse community, education and civil rights groups to answer this fundamental question and influence the vision for a plan to create great schools for all students.

Ama Nyamekye is a former English teacher and Executive Director of Educators 4 Excellence-Los Angeles

Gov. Brown has expressed his support for AB 484 and has has until the end of the month to sign or veto it.

The bill, suspends annual multiple-choice tests, including the California Standards and Reporting tests, taken by students in the second grade through the junior year of high school. It replaces them with a new system called the Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress (MAPP), a test developed to assess the new Common Core Standards that will take effect in 2014-15.

Until then, the bill would allow schools to take a pilot MAPP field test in either English or math, and not count the scores as an official measure of school progress.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan initially opposed the plan and threatened to withhold up to $1.5 billion in federal funds from the state but he has since backed away. Duncan now says schools that administer the new test could ask for a waiver that would relieve them of having to report the results as mandated by No Child Left Behind. However, California schools would be required to test students in English and math.

State Superintendent Tom Torlakson says California can’t afford to pay for both tests.

Signatories to the letter hoping to block AB 484, including Parent Revolution, Educators 4 Excellence and Teach Plus, argue the single-testing policy leaves the neediest kids in the lurch.

In an email to the LA School Report, Parent Revolution said:

“[We oppose] any law or policy that weakens or does away with the requirement to gauge and share student and school progress.  We are pleased that student funding appears to no longer be threatened based on the political infighting of adults, but continue to stand firm in our call for Governor Brown to veto this bad law, as it strips away critical and federally required protections for students (and their parents) which provide annual information on student academic achievement.”

Previous Posts: CA Has a Plan for Using Test Scores — Even With No Tests (Updated); Torlakson Rebuts Duncan, Defends State Testing Bill; Superintendent Deasy Not Happy With Latest Testing Bill

“

The new report, STEP: Supporting Teachers as Empowered Professionals, aims to reverse L.A. Unified’s high turnover rate, close to 50 percent according to a few studies. They’re leaving over low wages, poor working conditions and new teachers being assigned to the neediest schools without help or necessary resources.

Even teachers need teachers, says the report, which goes to say new teachers need social and emotional support while navigating through their first year in the system. They need to be observed, mentored and given feedback by veteran colleagues.

And when veteran teachers take on these mentorships and new leadership roles, they should have a lighter course or student load to ensure they can give ample time to newer teachers.

With most new teachers dropping out after their fifth year, these new resources and programs could slow attrition for the district, which costs the state about $450 million each year, according to the report.

“Our important work is to discover our students’ interests, spark their passion and help them grow. But teachers need our education leaders to do the same for us,” Educators 4 Excellence said in its message to Mayor Garcetti.

The 13 educators who devised the plan also recommend creating an Educator Entrepreneurship Grant to fund teacher-created projects, a more effective teacher induction program for new teachers and greater opportunities for seasoned, effective teachers to take on “hybrid roles” that include teaching and responsibilities outside of the classroom.

The plan is winning early support from Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy, along with LAUSD School Board members Monica Ratliff and Monica Garcia.

Teacher turnover rate and dissatisfaction is widespread. Less than half of teachers are satisfied with their jobs, reports Forbes, because current systems in many school districts prevent teachers from moving upward and taking on additional leadership roles in and outside the classroom.

This lack of opportunities for diverse engagement and advancement negatively affects teacher satisfaction, which is currently at a near-record low of 44 percent, with 46 percent of teachers leaving the profession within five years, says Forbes.

“As a relatively new teacher, entering my fourth year in the classroom, I did not receive some of the support at the beginning of my career that might have enabled me to be a more effective teacher for my students,” Christopher Records, one of the authors of the report, said in a commentary for PolicyMic.

The report says new teachers are often thrown into the system and are left to “sink or swim” without support or feedback, writes the group.

“I’ve seen too many of my colleagues leave the profession shortly after entering it, unsatisfied with the avenues to advancement available to them, Records said in his commentary. “The result of this is instability for students and schools, who yearly face the loss of good, strong educators.”

Previous posts: Board Candidates Differ on Teacher Retention, School Turnaround, Commentary: Teachers’ Letter to Mayor Garcetti

Ratliff, Garcia, and Deasy (left to right)

Earlier this month, Educators 4 Excellence-Los Angeles (E4E) held an event at which the teacher advocacy group unveiled a set of recommendations its members had developed, which included ideas for retaining and rewarding effective teachers in LAUSD.

Below, you can check out some snapshots provided by E4E from the event, which was attended by Board President Monica Garcia, Superintendent John Deasy, and Board member-elect Monica Ratliff. Feel free to identify yourself or others who appear in the pictures in comments or on Twitter.

Previous posts: “Motley Crew” Attend Ratliff Campaign Debt Fundraiser; Ratliff Clarifies Position on Performance Pay; Ratliff Supports Proposal Linking Teacher Pay to Test Scores; Ratliff: “The Most Powerful Woman in LA”?;

See LA School Report (Ratliff Supports Proposal Linking Teacher Pay to Test Scores) and LA Times (Deasy and new board member Ratliff laud teacher report, Group urges teachers’ raises based on student achievement).

However, in an email published by school reform advocate Diane Ravitch, Ratliff clarified that her appearance at the event with Superintendent John Deasy did not mean that she is in favor of linking test scores to salary increases:

“Across LA, there are public schools where scores have been rising over the years sans any monetary gain for teachers or administrators. If we link test scores to monetary gain, I have no doubt that we will see some increases in test scores but at what cost and by what means?”

Teachers union UTLA has thus far not taken a position on the E4E recommendations, but some teacher activists such as Alex Caputo-Pearl have decried the group’s recommendations.

Previous posts: Ratliff Supports Proposal Linking Teacher Pay to Test Scores

Hear the candidates talk about the use of test scores to evaluate teachers, principals, and schools:

Click below for the press release.

Previous posts: Sanchez Supports Classroom Breakfast & Teacher Dismissal Initiatives; School Board Candidate Praises Deasy’s Efforts to Limit Tenure

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

5/13/13

Contact:         Dylan Rubin, 562-307-7135, drubin@skdknick.com

EDUCATORS 4 EXCELLENCE AND EDVOICE PRESENT EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH BOTH LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT SIX CANDIDATES 

~

Monica Ratliff and Antonio Sanchez Throw Support Behind Current Superintendent and Creating Quality School Options, Split on Approach to Teacher Retention and School Improvement Strategies

May 13, 2013 (Los Angeles)— School board candidates Monica Ratliff and Antonio Sanchez both expressed their support for Superintendent Deasy but split on how they would approach transforming low performing schools and retaining talented teachers and leaders at hard-to-staff schools, in an exclusive interview made available today by Educators 4 Excellence Los Angeles and EdVoice. With just one week remaining until Election Day, the run-off candidates participated in a podcast interview to lay out their visions for Los Angeles’ public schools.

“This is a critical moment for public education in Los Angeles and the winner of this run-off election will be a deciding vote when it comes to the future direction of our schools. Residents in the Valley have exciting choices—Monica, a teacher in LAUSD, and Antonio, a graduate of LAUSD, who bring very different perspectives and approaches on leadership,” said Ama Nyamekye, Executive Director of Educators 4 Excellence – Los Angeles. “We broadcasted this interview so that our members and the public could all access the candidates to better understand their choices for School Board.”

Both Ratliff and Sanchez were interviewed last week, with E4E and EdVoice ensuring both candidates weighed in on the city’s most pressing educational issues, including district leadership, evaluation, teacher recruitment and retention and public charter schools, among others. The candidates were pushed to go deeper into their specific policy positions so that the public can have a broader understanding of the approach each candidate would take on the school board.

ON SUPERINTENDENT JOHN DEASY

Antonio Sanchez was unequivocal in his support, stating, “I support the Superintendent. I believe in the work that’s he’s doing. I admire his leadership…Let me give a specific example why: I’m very excited to work with the Local Initiative Schools agreement that UTLA and Superintendent Deasy crafted that transfers the ability to turn around our schools to the local teachers, principals and parents.”

Monica Ratliff also supported the Superintendent’s work, and would keep him on the job because, “he’s done a lot of good things for this district. One of the good things he’s done is he’s definitely changed the way we hand out tenure.” She did acknowledge there are disagreements between her and Dr. Deasy, but believes “we can work together to change this district.”

ON TEACHER RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

Sanchez believes a key strategy for attracting and retaining teachers is empowering them to transform their schools and protecting them from seniority-based layoff policies that disproportionately affect disadvantaged schools. “We have to turn around our lowest performing schools, our hard to staff schools, so I would want to invite teachers through the local initiative process and craft a good strong aggressive plan to turn around our lowest performing schools,” Sanchez said. He added that to keep teachers, “We need to thank them. It’s hard work! We need to thank them, recognize them and we need to protect them so we can keep that stability and let that teacher know that we appreciate their work.”

Ratliff believes that school leadership and professional development are the most essential strategies for attracting and keeping effective teachers. She notes that we must “make sure that our professional development meets the needs of our teachers.” In terms of how we do that, she would like to see the district and schools, “do more in terms of mentorship. I think that we also need to ultimately look at just bringing in highly effective teachers. Instead of always having some of the newest teachers go to some of these hardest to staff schools, we bring in some of our most effective teachers.”

ON SCHOOL CHOICE

Both Sanchez and Ratliff were strongly supportive of giving parents more choice through pilot and charter schools, with Ratliff stating “I absolutely, positively believe the district should push to establish more high performing schools, period…I think we already know what works at many schools and we need to apply that everywhere. What we’ve seen works is a fair amount of flexibility and autonomy.” 

Sanchez agreed in his interview, adding, “One of my priorities is to make sure we have quality options. I don’t care what you call it—pilot, charter, or magnet. As I speak to parents, they don’t care either. They want to make sure they have a quality school.”

ON SCHOOL TRANSFORMATION

Sanchez calls for more school autonomy—beginning with a strong and inclusive turnaround plan generated by teachers, principals and parents—with clear accountability for results. “At the end of the day, when we have tried all options, I can’t let a child continue to attend a low performing schools,” explained Sanchez. “If we can’t do anything to turn around that failing school, we have to pursue federal restructuring efforts.”

Ratliff calls for more professional development for leaders and teachers at chronically low performing schools, less emphasis on testing and more support for early childhood education and parent education.  “At a low performing school, we would want to take teachers to visit other masters performing their craft…I also think we need to take a look at some of the testing [periodic assessments] being mandated by the district.” Ratliff also notes that parent education and involvement as well as early childhood education are key. “If you give children the knowledge and tools they need before they start school officially, I think it makes a huge difference.”

The public can listen to the full podcast interviews with Monica Ratliff and Antonio Sanchez here.

To find your polling place for the Mayoral and School Board runoff election, please visit: http://www.lavote.net/LOCATOR/.

###

For far too long, education policy has been created without a critical voice at the table – the voice of classroom teachers.

Educators 4 Excellence (E4E), a teacher-led organization, is changing this dynamic by placing the voices of teachers at the forefront of the conversations that shape our classrooms and careers. Our quickly growing movement of over 2,000 California educators is united by the E4E Declaration of Teachers’ Principles and Beliefs. Through E4E, teachers can learn about education policy and research, network at our events with like-minded colleagues and policy makers, and take action by advocating for teacher-created policy recommendations that lift student achievement and the teaching profession.

For more information, please visit www.educators4excellence.org.

Educators 4 Excellence, an organization that advocates for teachers to take a more active role in shaping education policies, plans to host a podcast interview with District 6 (East San Fernando Valley) runoff candidates Monica Ratliff and Antonio Sanchez.

E4E will interview Sanchez and Ratliff, who have both agreed to participate, on May 8. The podcast will available on E4E’s website to stream or download on May 13.

Previous posts: School Board Candidate Praises Deasy’s Efforts to Limit Tenure;  Sanchez Unavailable for Candidate Forum; Daily News Addresses Ratliff Union Role.

Part of UTLA’s “whoopsee Deasy” campaign, published online in the weeks leading up to the referendum

If UTLA’s referendum on John Deasy meant little to the Superintendent himself, and wasn’t persuasive to UTLA-endorsed mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti, it was, perhaps, a sign of just how little clout teacher groups like Teach Plus, Educators 4 Excellence and Teachers for a New Unionism have exhibited thus far within the union.

Those groups, which represent teachers amenable to school reform efforts like merit-based pay and evaluations based partly on test scores, pointed to general frustration with LAUSD and UTLA’s social media campaign against Deasy in the week leading up to the vote.

Lisa Alva Wood, a teacher at Roosevelt High School and a member of Teachers for a New Unionism, was among the 9 percent of teachers who voted in favor of Superintendent Deasy.

“I don’t always agree with his methods but I admire his goals,” said Wood.

She said her colleagues’ feelings on Deasy were really more about their frustrations with the district over all.

“We’re under so much pressure in the classroom, because our resources have been taken away from us little by little,” she said. “There’s so many things coming onto the teacher and we’re not getting any say in the matter. People are stressed out and tired.”

Ama Nyamekye, Executive Director of Educators for Excellence, agreed.

“It’s an extremely difficult time — weathering write-offs and budget cuts,” she said.

But John Lee, Executive Director of Teach Plus Los Angeles, called the referendum meaningless, saying that UTLA’s “whoopsie Deasy” social media campaign lampooning the Superintendent rendered the vote nothing more than a push poll.

“If they really wanted an honest poll, they wouldn’t have done that,” said Lee, who said he talked to teachers who didn’t participate in the poll for that very reason, calling it “a waste of time.”

Lee added: “There are a number of teachers out there who want to have a more productive approach.”

Previous posts: Garcetti Praises Partnership School, Differs with UTLA Poll; Teachers Vote Against Deasy, For More Teachers; Commentary: “A More Transparent Union”, Teachers Vote on Deasy Tomorrow, Too, Commentary: “Backwards Mindset” in Union Initiative

“The mayor had a large bully pulpit when it came to education,” said Ryan Smith of United Way. “Obviously, elected officials come and go, but the community is left holding the bag if we don’t make progress with student success.”

“The reason we’re doing the survey is to plan our priorities,” said Smith. “We’re still doing our agenda.” But CLASS’s main focus will be to “advocate for progressive education policy reforms.”

“These organizations, for decades, have been working very hard to increase equitable access to education,” said Smith. “We all value the same thing. It makes sense to come together to have an even larger presence.”

According to Smith, United Way will host the meetings and “create the agenda, help facilitate and guide the group,” which won’t have its own staff or funding stream — yet.

Previous posts: Mayor Wants More Education from Greuel & Garcetti, Mixed Reactions to New Teacher Dismissal Bill, Teachers Vote on Deasy Tomorrow, Too

“Our school board needs to get to work tackling a tall order of business,” she writes, ticking off key decisions and activities the Board should make: evaluating teachers and giving them more tools to teach more effectively, listening to teachers, doing more than simply evaluating educators, building partnerships with communities and families, and embracing diversity. Read the full op-ed here.