The Manhattan Project
Morning Roundup: Second Helpings Edition
Fire at 17th and L NW Forces Evacuations
Compromise Uncertain on Same-Sex Marriage Law
Sculpture Garden Ice-Skating Rink Remains Closed
Some notable finger pointing over the past week: a list showing 90 unfilled teacher vacancies surfaced, prompting complaints of a teacher shortage caused by Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s firing 270 teachers this summer; the long-awaited schools modernization plan was criticized by the D.C. council as incomplete and lacking community input; and a Washington Teachers Union information session about the quagmired teachers’ contract negotiations descended into name-calling and shouting matches. Perhaps Post columnist Jay Mathews had the most grown-up solution: just fire them!
According to DCPS spokeswoman Dena Iverson, the vacancy list obtained by the Post is out of date, and the District is only aware of 42 current vacancies. "We expect the majority of the 42 open teaching positions to be filled within the next two weeks as we move teachers from under-enrolled schools to schools that exceeded enrollment expectations,” she told the Post. Most of the teachers who were fired were let go because they failed to meet a June 30 deadline to obtain Praxis certification. Currently, there are about 4,000 DCPS teachers working in 120 schools.
For the schools with vacancies, classes may be over-crowded above the 25 student limit imposed by the union, and teachers may be asked to give up planning periods to cover classes without teachers. As a former teacher, I can attest that having to use your planning period to cover for missing teachers is exhausting and frustrating. Having 40 kids in a single class period can be a nightmare. But anyone who can’t pass the notoriously easy Praxis teaching certification exam really shouldn’t be teaching. See for yourself.
The WTU has jumped on this story, emailing a WJLA video about the vacancies to its membership and protesting that had Rhee not fired 270 teachers, there wouldn’t be a shortage. WTU president George Parker said, "There seems to be a double standard for accountability. Teachers are held accountable, but the administration is not held accountable for something as basic as getting a teacher into a classroom."
Photo by Fredo Alvarez
Council Dubious of Schools Modernization Plan: Last Thursday, Allen Lew, head of DCPS construction, presented the Mayor’s $2.5 billion schools modernization plan to the D.C. Council, who were less than pleased, calling the plan "vague and conceptual" and complaining about the lack of community involvement in its preparation. (Two public hearings seeking comment on the plan were only announced about a week in advance and were poorly attended.) The Council was also vocally annoyed that Rhee and Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso were not present at the hearing, even though Rhee had notified the Council early in the month she would be unable to attend. "I don't think it is too big an imposition to come before the people's representatives to explain how these resources are to be expended," said Council member David Catania (I-At Large).
Contract Watch: Here’s what one teacher had to say about last week’s WTU membership meeting: “The screaming, the interruptions, the loud audience conversations - I've seen more decorum at high school football games.” Bizarrely, some people disagree. Meanwhile, calls are out for the American Federation of Teachers or WTU to offer up their own plans to improve teacher accountability, since the unions have resisted bringing the current proposals to a vote. Remind anyone else of other votes that can't get passed?
Schools Notes: New DCPS special education chief named… Howard University’s The Hilltop profiles the D.C. Youth Orchestra… Rhee addresses the National Press Club… DC School Reform Now announces upcoming community meetings in every ward.
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I know in my kid's school their vacancies (~10) were all filled by the middle of September.
Poor performing teachers ought to be fired! Period!
A friend of mine teaches at the middle school in Brookland. They moved the science teachers to other schoosl and now there are no science teachers at all, none, nada, zilch...awesome.
adamsmorgan: Science teachers are historically hard to fill positions in our area. There just aren't many qualified. My son's school has had the same problem too and your friend needs to keep an eye on whether any of their kid's teachers will be teaching science as well as a core subject. If so they should find out if the teacher is qualified. I've seen unqualified teachers teach science, i think most parents don't give that a second thought - but it really irks me. Your friend should complain to the principal, the student counselor and the parent community.
So what is a school supposed to do? Conjure up science teachers in the lab a la Weird Science? It's supremely ignorant to treat schools like businesses, then expect them to be exempt from the laws of supply and demand.
And the WTU is a downright embarrassment. I'm ashamed to be involuntarily giving them money out of my paycheck.
Maybe schools can enlist their parents (the one's who care) to help fight for filling their teacher vacancies.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that there are enough qualified science teachers living in the US that can fill the DCPS science teacher vacancies.
Research has found that teacher quality has the largest impact on students’ educational achievement – more than class size, facilities and socio-economic concerns. Great teachers can overcome these unfortunate obstacles and get their students to learn. DCPS must do whatever it takes to recruit and retain the most outstanding teachers. If they don’t, parents will continue to send their kids to charter schools, were teachers are not unionized, and there will be no more WTU as we know it.
I am hopeful for Rhee's efforts and have attended two community "DC School Reform Now" meetings. It is a helpful, informative way to stay tuned to the changes and the need for community support. I highly recommend attending these meetings.
WTU claiming someone is not accountable? That's a heckuva lot of hubris, given their sordid history.
"Research has found that teacher quality has the largest impact on students’ educational achievement – more than class size, facilities and socio-economic concerns."
This is incorrect...at least the last bit of it is. Socio-economic status (SES) has been recognized in the literature since the Coleman Report in 1966 as having the largest impact, accounting for roughly 75% of the variation in student achievement as measured by standardized test scores, while teacher quality has the largest impact with respect to in-school-related factors, and accounts for roughly 8.5% of the variation in student achievement.
Teachers often don't tell DCPS that they are leaving so there are always surprises when school starts. Also, the number of students per school is unpredictable. So being 90 teachers short out of 4000 to start the year isn't bad and cutting that to 46 in the first few weeks is pretty good.
This seems like a non story. I bet every well run school system in the country deals with similar numbers.