How's this for cozy?
The Shanker Challenge
Paradigm Shift, or Paradise Lost?
In other news from the Charter
Front
Speaking of Paradigm Shifts ...
From the Trenches
What About Bob?
News from CER
And Finally, This is a Test!
A Few Parting Comments
Dear Friends:
We reach you in these last few days of winter with news from the front, and as the country has been busily coping with natural disasters, there are several we’ve created all on our own. It’s been-a-busier than usual few weeks that continue to assure us that good things can happen. Our hearts go out to those afflicted by recent storms, but we can take a page from their book and continue to weather them.
The federally-funded education "laboratories" get more money from both state and federal officials than meets the eye. Long the bain of existence of many a state superintendent or education department official who finds himself lacking for good reasons why he should be drawing federal money, the 10 labs are specified by law to provide certain areas of expertise to schools and districts, and summarily allocated the funds to do so. They put out reports, do seminars, and do research, yet more often-than not, you won’t find really awe-inspiring conclusions from them. On top of that, they usually charge extra for whatever is not "on the shelf."
Diane Ravitch, a former assistant secretary who had oversight over the labs and is now a scholar at New York University has described the political clout the labs have secured on Capitol Hill, although their presence is little felt in local school districts where it is intended. "The labs maintained a lobbying organization in Washington [and] had powerful friends in the Senate...Each year at appropriations time, the labs’ funding was guaranteed. Like other federal programs, the labs were always on the lookout for new pots of money, and it was easy to spot their thumbprints on new education proposals. If the appropriations bill said the funds were to be awarded to ten regional competitors, everyone knew that the money was intended for the labs."
Here’s a perfect contemporary case-in-point. The Mid-Continent Regional Education Laboratory is getting paid federal Goals 2000 money from two Wisconsin school districts to help them write standards. And SERVE, the Southeast Regional Lab, was hired by the NC state board for $24,000 to evaluate charter school applications. On top of that, the labs received the largest increase of all federal programs in the 1997 budget; giving them an overall appropriation this year of $54 million, thanks to both parties in Congress. If you are a teacher, next time you reach into your pocket to supplement your school supplies or buy paper, remember that not far away, there’s a regional lab that may have some of your money.
Life’s too short, and we wouldn’t miss the opportunity to regret the sad passing of AFT President Al Shanker. A worthy opponent to most of what you read on these pages, Shanker nevertheless had an integrity that made him stand alone among his ranks. While Shanker has been known for his contributions to building the AFT and his stalwart defense of standards, some more recently credit him --rightly so -- with spurring people in NYC into action on behalf of 1,000 low income children, when he challenged the Catholic schools years back to take the city’s lowest performing children. The program now lives privately. Shanker spurred many into action, and many dared to follow and to challenge his work. He was a true catalyst for reform, whatever one’s personal convictions are, and we pray that he rests in peace.
Paradigm Shift, or Paradise Lost?
The President’s new education plan calls for a dramatic expansion of charter schools, and additional federal money for start-ups. While it’s always good to have one’s president on your side, we can’t help wondering, "Where’s the beef?" When he went to Annapolis, MD to sell his plan this February, he devoted only 20 seconds to charters, saying (in error) that Maryland’s already doing that with its charters in Baltimore City. Wrong! There are a few schools being turned over to non-profit organizations in Baltimore under a special deal arranged by the Abell Foundation with the city, but many of the same contractual obligations apply. Meanwhile, State Board of Education Chairman Chris Cross has brought the concept of charters to the board, yet a Maryland State Department of Education Task Force could only muster tepid support for the concept, and recommends leaving any potential discretion to charter to local boards with any freedom from regulation to be considered on a case by case basis. So the perfect opportunity to "stand by your issue" was squandered.
In other news from the Charter Front:
Mississippi is about to pass a very dead bill, that, surprisingly, has the support of Governor Kirk Fordice, a man some have considered to be pro-reform. The bill would limit charters to existing public schools only, not change the flow of dollars, and require local board oversight. Three thumbs down.
North Carolina has given preliminary approval to 48 charters, but many are upset with the process. According to one potential operator, because the State Department of Education hired SERVE (see Pg. 1) and a group called Self-Help to monitor charters, they were able to skirt the open-meetings laws and held their charter review hearings in secret. "Then, while still deciding whether to recommend approval or disapproval of charter applicants, Self-Help solicited me and other applicants to help them create a grant application for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. Dare I say no?...These groups have also joined forces to establish the NC Charter Resource Center...applicants were then encouraged to make use of their advice - while still under review!...I figure I’d better cooperate. After all, in 5 years, they will all be back together considering the renewal of my charter contract."
Oklahoma: Several bills are pending, but one, by Reps. Odilia Dank and John Bryant, stands a solid chance of passage. It’s modest, and there are others, such as the Trail Blazer Schools Act, that would provide for real autonomy, but watching this stuff is like trying to hit a moving target, so suffice it to say the land of plenty may join the charter ranks soon.
The BLOB: The American Association of School Administrators took time to host a charter panel at their recent conference, which some friendly attendees tell us was less than friendly toward charters. An NEA researcher said there was no evidence they work, a federal D.O.E. rep said they are only a "small part of reform," and later, and official with AASA said that "politicians love charter schools because they are a cheap innovation." And to think they are offended by their nickname!
Illinois charter proponent Rosalinda Mariles is appealing the decision of the East St. Louis board which rejected her application to aid Hispanic youngsters in Fairmont. Mariles should be commended: she’s using the board’s own tactics to fight them, pointing out that they failed to comply with 16 out of the 17 elements of the state’s law. God speed!
Indiana’s Senate passed out a relatively strong bill in February, thanks to Senator Teresa Lubbers. Her bill does require school board only approval, but if a third of the board is supportive after one is denied, the charter application may be appealed to the state Superintendent. The bill also permits new starts, and a cap does not appear to be set. CER is grateful to Los Angeles Accelerated Charter School Director Jonathan Williams, who testified as to the many benefits of charters and the necessity of having a good law.
Missouri is currently considering a law that affords little autonomy to most charters, yet provides more opportunities for charters inside of troubled St. Louis and Kansas City districts. The good news is that many reform-minded lawmakers there are determined that a weak law is worse than no law at all, and are holding fast in their determination to improve the bill before they vote.
Florida still finds itself torn between those with a proclivity for charters and those with a penchant against. This one speaks for itself: "Palm Beach County School Board members unanimously approved a charter school policy [last month] that makes sure no charter school will open this year and renders future openings difficult." (Sun Sentinel 2/20/97) The Board makes "steep financing demands" including a requirement for bonding and costly insurance, that all but kills potential for smaller operators. Commissioner of Education Frank Brogan commented that these sorts of tactics are done by those who "don’t like charter schools and don’t have the courage to stand up and say that." Bravo.
Arizona provides yet another indication of this sort of focus on institutions, rather than children. Douglas Unified School Superintendent Jesus B. Greer said that his district should work hard to "minimize students’ moving on to other alternatives of education...because when students leave our school to go to another school [charters], we don’t get the funding and other schools get to claim the money." Greer has lost about 150 students this year, a signal that perhaps should cause him more alarm about his schools’ quality than it should about maintaining the status quo and ensuring the money doesn’t leave.
Maine provides a great idea to promote charter awareness. Borders Books in Bangor did something extraordinary last month. It hosted Maine School Choice Coalition director Frank Heller for a presentation on charter schools. Borders has had other education discussions, and we think it’s such a neat idea that we challenge all the Borders’ (and Crown, and Barnes and Noble perhaps?) to introduce its loyal clientele to such a practical and worthwhile issue. Go see your local bookstore and make a pitch. You just might find some friends you never knew you had.
Speaking of Paradigm Shifts...
The American School Board Journal March issue was chock full of stories and "analyses" on privatization, school choice efforts, and an interesting survey that found that a majority of those responding, mainly school board members, think they have something to learn from Catholic schools. But the tonality of the articles are always interesting, in light of their allegedly journalistic perspective. Consider this opening in their piece entitled "The Voucher Debate:" "In November, Donald Boggs, president of the Organization of School Administrators and Supervisors for Detroit public schools, went to examine Milwaukee’s voucher program...What he saw was certainly appealing: a new building, children who seemed amiable, happy and well supervised...He acknowledged...that he spent most of his time observing physical plant and decorum rather than extensively examining the Milwaukee program’s controversial data on academic achievement... ‘Nothing we saw there changed my mind,’ [Boggs] said. Like other opponents, he remains convinced that vouchers are a ‘cheap way out’ for those unwilling to foot the bill to give the nation’s big city schools the drastic overhaul most of them desperately need."
The article then takes the reader through a series of indications of where choice has failed, how polls show (if you look at only a few) that choice is opposed, and then provides a view of who supports and opposes vouchers. Most of the quotes are from opponents. On the support side we hear that libertarians and Christian evangelicals support it, and of course Catholics. Buried in only a few sentences is that one poll done showed increasing minority support. No where does it say that the drive in the main two programs cited, Milwaukee and Cleveland, came from parents — most of them minorities. Nor is there discussion of the over 30,000 children of little means whose families have approached private scholarship programs to get them into a better school. (Over 15,000 are in these programs, the rest are on waiting lists.) More of the same was buried in the rest of the Journal. While independent from the National School Boards Association, little wonder that an increasing number of school board members nationwide express dissatisfaction with the organization, and are pursuing other organizations or affiliations more open and tolerant of ideas that transcend the status quo.
On Academic Rigor, from a CER Web-visitor: "I am doing a report on school reform. I think our high school definitely needs reform. Many of the students (including myself) are bored. We continue to learn the same things over and over again in class. My friends and I never really pay attention in class anymore. Instead, we write a story during our classes. It is up to 156 pages now. You would think with doing that we would be failing but we all continue to get straight A’s. We have asked the teachers for more challenging work but they keep telling us that some kids are behind and need to learn this again. Our school needs help, in my opinion. My friends and I aren’t getting the education we deserve."
It’s interesting that we received this just a few days after the Public Agenda Foundation released yet another comprehensive look at attitudes among those involved in education, this time from students: Getting By: What American Teenagers Really Think About Their Schools. As described by Public Agenda’s Deborah Wadsworth, "While uncovering some distressing responses public school teens have to their schools, their teachers and each other, we have also learned they are ultimately not interested in just ‘getting by.’ Students make clear they want to be held more accountable; they want higher standards; they yearn for order, structure and moral authority in their schools." The key is teachers, she says. Some of the findings:
• 85% of students say they can’t wait for the school day to end.
• Parents/adults think kids doing well in school are nerds, yet only 19% of teens say their friends "look down on" someone who gets good grades.
• Kids seem to think academic background is more important for success than do teachers.
There’s so much more throughout this report that enlightens. See for yourself. Cost is $10.00. Contact Public Agenda at (212) 686-6610.
And speaking of standards, Milwaukee school officials are demonstrating the power of choice. In reaction to the school choice program there, first the board opted to allow public school choice, then it began to review its dismal record on dismissing inadequate teachers, and just a year ago, the city administered a new graduation test, which was the result of former Superintendent Howard Fuller’s efforts to instill higher expectations on all students. Upon administering the test, officials were "shocked to discover that 79% failed." Just as they began to question whether or not they should retreat from enforcing real consequences, teachers and officials began to focus on ways to improve performance, and it worked. The next time the test was given, 55% passed. Fuller acknowledges that he was able to get the testing program adopted because of the pressure of the school choice program. With the new testing program in place, and plans to raise the bar higher, Milwaukee students may finally get the expectations they deserve. The moral: Choice can be a catalyst for higher achievement.
DC Bungles Charter: The High Road Charter School has pulled the plug on DC, after being exposed to a constant litany of "bad faith arrangements," and lack of action on the charter, approved last August. High Road was to be a school run by the national company KIDS I, which well serves special education students in several communities. Their frustration and the $30,000 cost of doing business in DC each month while the charter opening is delayed is cause for the pull-out, for which DC officials should be scolded, given the large number of children who could have benefited from this arrangement. While DC has the nation’s second strongest law, its bureaucratic snafus may well make that point moot.
What’s wrong with Teacher Ed? We reported last October that the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, while reaching some conclusions of which we were skeptical, did nevertheless hit the nail on the head in saying that teacher preparation schools were not cutting it. A perfect example of why this is so is embodied in the attitude of San Jose State University president Robert L. Caret. "Much that is good occurs within the K-12 arena, but problems do exist. The problems are rooted in many contributing factors, some outside of the schools: inappropriate credentials, deteriorating families, lack of community support, inadequately prepared teachers, inadequate facilities and equipment, lack of timely pedagogical materials, ineffective leadership, poor teaching, etc. The path to solving these problems is complex and will require an entire societal effort....we must give [teachers] the opportunity to work as professionals in a constructive teaching environment; compensate them appropriately; and make it possible for them to work in cooperation with parents and families." Of course, we have no quarrel with the later part, but basically, Mr. Caret is saying that the problems of schools are in large part a result of external factors, which of course begs the question: what does that have to do with our young friends in the schools who’ve told many of us and Public Agenda that they’re not being challenged?
Michigan’s lowest performing school districts have been put on notice. With only about 19% of Detroit students passing basic reading proficiency tests, and only 5% passing the science exam, Michigan Governor John Engler took to the streets recently to build support for his proposal to allow Michigan to become one of about 20 states to allow takeover of school districts. In this case, schools that fall below 20% passing and that have a dropout rate in excess of 25% would qualify. That would immediately make 10 Michigan districts ripe for takeover. Local officials are screaming, but we’re puzzled by the Detroit School Board VP who told the Detroit News that "any problems we are facing here, we are capable of solving without Engler or any outside force coming in to run the school district for us." Really? And perhaps borrowing a page from President Herbert Hoover’s playbook as disaster loomed in 1929, or maybe emperor Nero, board president Irma Clark called for Detroiters to stay the course and "stand united...as a board...as a district...and as a community, in our quest for educational excellence." These remarks, were made at a public meeting, where, local media reported, little of her speech was heard as "jeering parents drowned out the rest of the talk...they repeatedly expressed their displeasure with the school district’s performance with loud catcalls."
That apparently escaped CNN. In a report that night, CNN said that "parents and educators attending a school board meeting...were uniformly against a state takeover." That was followed by comments from two attendees who interestingly held the appropriately "uniform" opinions about the takeover proposal.
True, state takeovers cannot ensure that good things will happen, but with money not making it to the right places in most troubled systems, and with the attitude of the board member mentioned above, one wonders if we can’t do a little better with some state intervention, particularly in a state where the Governor has gone out of his way to create school financing equity, to allow creative charter schools to develop and to release schools from many silly regulations. The trick for the state will be to put in place a system that requires real accountability, and does not allow school districts to be taken over simply to set in motion processes that make it look like there’s a whole lot of shakin’ going on. That’s something that California has not appeared to master. The impoverished area of Compton, after three years of "state control," is still in a state of decay, with crumbling walls, leaky roofs, few supplies and textbooks, and no learning improvement.
Lessons in Accountability: So, too does it appear in the Lawrence, Massachusetts Public Schools that some local officials there are still not ready to accept responsibility for a district in disarray. Lawrence High School was recently stripped of its accreditation, a move hailed by state officials. According to press and personal accounts, the school was filthy, classrooms overcrowded, supplies scarce, test scores low, dropout rates high. The district’s budget had increased under the ‘92 reform act from $28 million to $72 million this year, with no improvements noted. Superintendent Jim Scully, however, appears too busy trying to blame the kinds of children he has rather than directing state officials as to where the money may have gone - computers to janitors, for one. (For those who like to suggest that charter schools are without accountability, direct their attention to tragic stories like these, which demonstrate that holding a "publicly accountable" position doesn’t guarantee that the public will get a proper accounting of things.)
Heart Warming: A gentleman recently wrote us the following: "In five years, I’d like to open a charter school in a poorer area of Chicago, staffed with well-paid, energetic, dedicated teachers willing to put in 50-hour weeks and create the support structure so tragically missing in so many children’s lives. I’d like to get in the business of providing opportunity to society’s forgotten, and I think a charter school is the way to do it. I’m going to law school at the University of Chicago next year, and my friend is working in a private social service agency that gives high school dropouts their GEDs (if they earn them). I’d like to learn more about the different policies used in the new schools sprouting up around the country, so we can pick the best of them in our school..." Makes you smile, doesn’t it?
You may recall the Bill Murray movie in which "Bob" wreaks havoc on just about everyone he encounters, but all the while thinks there is nothing wrong. For us, there is a real life analogy: Bob Chase of the NEA.
Since taking over, Chase has announced to the world that the NEA is undergoing a major reinvention. His call to arms to change from within "or be dismantled from without," echoes the words of his predecessor. Some in the NEA ranks have called him courageous. But is courage in the eye of the beholder? Chase says "watch what we do, not just what we say." So we have: you decide.
What They Say: "School unions best serve their members by pursuing an aggressive agenda of excellence and reform in public education."
What They Do: The Washington Education Association is on the hot seat for allegedly violating the state’s campaign finance law by making more than $300,000 in unreported or improperly disclosed campaign spending, and for using member assessments as political funds without their permission. (See December, 96 Monthly Letter) The state’s Attorney General is suing. WEA thinks it did nothing wrong.
What They Say: "America’s public schools do not exist for teachers and other employees. They don’t exist to provide us with jobs and salaries. They exist for children, to give students the very best, beginning with a quality teacher in every classroom."
What They Do: The Iowa State Education Association’s legislative agenda for 1997 includes seeking increases of $100 million in funding for "at-risk" students (most of it earmarked for new teachers), $12.6 million for community colleges, $4 million for a technology fund, $2 million in "salary incentives," a boost in starting salaries for teachers with BA and MA degrees, early retirement incentives and $10 million for "staff development." ISEA will oppose a funding cap on special education, expansion of tuition tax credits for private school students, fingerprinting of teachers and other education employees, and tax cut proposals (From the Western Journalism Center).
What They Say: "The fact is that while the NEA does not control curriculum, does not set funding levels, does not hire or fire, we cannot go on denying responsibility for school quality."
What They Do: The House education committee identified 760 federal education programs across 39 different agencies in the federal government. Yet the NEA fights the Balanced Budget Amendment on the grounds that it would be catastrophic if spending were scaled back. A 2/21/97 communication to members: "The NEA opposes the Balanced Budget Amendment because of its potentially devastating consequences for programs that help children and education." So how is it that this monolithic lobby in Washington with its efforts to preserve and expand programs is not engaged in setting funding levels, dictating what jobs are kept and having influence over the nature and scope of many a school program?
What They Say: "Over the past decade, the NEA has spent some $70 million on reform initiatives, most recently sponsoring six charter schools across the country."
What They Do: Attempts to create Little Rock’s first charter school met with fierce opposition in mid-January by the Little Rock Classroom Teacher’s Association. The school would have served 200 children, and was initiated by a private school operator with a tremendous track record in the area. The Arkansas Education Association hails its charter law, currently slated to undergo some amending, as the model for the country. It ranks number 26 out of 26 laws across a strong-weak continuum, and has produced zero charters.
And in Michigan, the NEA state affiliate initiated a lawsuit against the state’s charter law. In Wilkinsburg, PA, who can forget the union’s frontal assault on this little hamlet whose school board chose to seek new management for one very troubled, and very dismal school?
What They Say: "Imagine a future where teachers under their union contract have responsibility for nearly three quarters of a school system’s budget, and they use that authority to cut classes [sizes] and boost academic quality....or imagine the president of a local NEA union taking the lead and founding a public charter school..."
What They Won’t Do: Permit a future where teachers without a union contract have responsibility for their budget, and work with parents to address their every need...or allow others besides NEA locals to start charters without their input.
What They Say: " If a teacher is not measuring up in the classroom - to put it boldly -if there is a bad teacher in one of our schools, then we must do something about it."
What They Do: The Detroit Federation of Teachers (while not an NEA affiliate, still attached to a union who will likely soon merge with the NEA, and already sees eye to eye on employment-related issues) called the retention of a teacher continually rated unsatisfactory by her school "another clear victory for the union." Said the DFT, "the union will relentlessly pursue any unsatisfactory evaluation which does not strictly adhere to contract requirements."
In the same vein, the Hartford Federation of Teachers told the board of education late February that they "have no interest in making changes to their union contract in the name of school reform," according to the Hartford Courant. The board president, Donald Romanik, had proposed that the state legislature amend current law to remove "work rules" from permissible bargaining items, and leave the process to salaries and benefits. At the bargaining table, unions have been able to prescribe everything from length of school day, to permissible release time, to class size, to which teachers are eligible for which jobs, and much, much more.
(Editor’s note: While some may call it unfair to make the NEA take the heat for the DFT’s mess-ups, one could argue that "courageous Bob" should publicly decry such actions as the recognized leader of teacher unions in the free world. I’m waiting.)
And
What They Say: "I don’t know of anybody in the K-12 Land who has tenure. What we have in the K-12 setting is due process."
What They Do: A tenure reform bill in Florida (evidently, there are some who believe it exists) went down in flames only a few days ago. A late night meeting between the Senate President and Florida’s teacher unions took place, and the bill was gutted. It would have allowed school board to dismiss teachers for cause without consideration of tenure.
• The new State-by-State Summary of Reform in these United States is here! Call, fax, or e-mail your order (cost is $4.00, or free via the Web) and catch up on where all the states stand. You’ll find the summary chock full of the latest action on standards, choice, charters, performance contracting, etc, etc, etc.
• CER’s Web site (http://edreform.com) continues to grow. Dial in to the Op-Ed Forum for a look at some of the better opinion pieces by reformers, or check out our brand new state-by-state charter ranking, authored for CER by Hoosier Mark Buechler. And of course, be sure to drop us a note as to what you like, what you may need, or what you might be doing that would interest us and others.
Some may be familiar with the Educational Excellence Networkand its flagship News and Views, a compilation of best clips on education reform issues. While the Network still lives, the News and Views’ last issue was December. It was full of terrific articles and analyses, but one piece in particular really struck a chord: a reprint from a 1992 Wall Street Journal, in which the Jersey City High School (entrance) Examination for June 1885 itself is reprinted. Keep in mind that while the Journal itself acknowledges that few attended high school in those days, this was a test given to children at about age 14 or 15 at most, and was based on what was determined to be important knowledge. We’ve given you only a few questions here....if you’d like to really torture yourself, we’re putting it up on the Web. (Click here to go to complete test.)
Algebra
• Write a homogeneous quadrinomial of the third degree. Express the cube root of 10ax in two ways.
• Find the sum and difference of 3x-4ay+7cd-4xy+16, and 10ay-3x-8xy+7cd-13.
Geography
• Name four principal ranges of mountains in Asia, three in Europe, and three in Africa.
• In what countries is coffee raised? What are the principal exports of France?
Arithmetic
• If a 60 day note of $840 is discounted at a bank at 4 1/2%, what are the proceeds?
• Divide the difference between 37 hundredths and 95 thousandths by 25 hundred thousands and express the results in words? (Editors note: Is there any new math type out there who doesn’t think this would instill some critical thinking without having to make things up?)
(Here’s a good school-to-work one):
• A merchant offered some goods for $1170.90 cash, or $1206 payable in 30 days. Which was the better offer for the customer, money being worth 10%?
Grammar
• Write a sentence containing a noun used as an attribute, a verb in the perfect tense potential mood, and a proper adjective.
• Write a declarative sentence, change to an imperative, to an interrogative, to an exclamatory and punctuate.
U.S. History
• Name four Spanish explorers and state what induced them to come to America.
• What caused the war of 1812? Who was president during that war? The result?
• What was the remote and the immediate cause of the great Civil War? Who captured Fort Donelson?
(Suffice it to say we’re going to be dusting off the old school books after this one!)
The 10 points the President announced in his State of the Union are no doubt
well-intentioned and bring comfort to Americans worried about education. But not
even days after the ink was dry, there were those raising what we believe are
good issues.
• The higher education people acknowledged that the HOPE scholarships would be
difficult to implement, given different sorts of measurements state by state.
• Others point to the paradox of training literacy volunteers to do for third graders what should have been required of first grade students, teachers and schools in general to begin with.
• The drop-in-the-bucket $5 million construction fund — who’s to say capital expenditures won’t be spent on operations, as expensive bonding issues have made clear over the years? Massachusetts even has a committee to audit districts misspending targeted funds. But the solution is not more auditors, it is spending freedom in the schools, without strings, save for one; accountability. Mess up, and you lose. Succeed? Pass go, and collect millions.
• More money for charters is great, but let’s make sure it does go to charter schools, and that state officials who don’t like their own strong laws have little chance to hold schools hostage.
• And as for national testing, we’re happy the president has acknowledged the need for accountability, and even more delighted he’s followed the lead of so many states that have already begun to implement state tests tied to rigorous standards. But let NAEP be the national vehicle. Its governing body is above politics in most cases, and has a good track record. We become worried when we see that the Department plans to run the new testing program, because oftentimes, that same Department has tried to make NAEP less independent, and less rigorous.
Regardless of your vantage point, your political affiliation or favorite color, remember that real reform does occur when the regulators move over, money follows the child, schools have high standards they are required to achieve, schools have consequences for everyone there, and parents have choices.
We’ll see you in spring, and bid your a fond farewell. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and best to all of you in your work!
Jeanne Allen
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