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We had appearances by Willie Nelson, Danny Glover, Joan Baez and even a former mermaid up in a tree as dozens of demonstrators protested the attempt by 120 sheriff’s deputies to evict them from 14 acres of inner-city land where about 350 people grow produce and flowers in Los Angeles. This they protest.

Yet, half a mile north of the protest, at Nevin Elementary School, only 7 percent of African-American and 14 percent of Hispanic fourth-grade students are reading at the proficient level or above. At Carver Middle School (only 1.25 miles away), 0 percent of African-American and 1 percent of Hispanic eighth-grade students are proficient or above in Algebra 1. A mere .71 miles west of the South Central Farm, at Jefferson High School, 0 percent of African-American and 1 percent of Hispanic ninth-grade students have shown proficiency or above in Algebra 1, and 7 percent of African-American and 9 percent of Hispanic ninth-graders are reading at the proficient level or above. 

Yet unlike the farm, they go unnoticed.

I do not mean to pick on these three schools; there are many others in the same boat. These are just closest to the farm.

There should be massive demonstrations around 41st Street and Alameda, not about urban farms but about urban children; not about planting flower seeds but about planting seeds for success in life. Every Nevin, Carver or Jefferson parent should protest the lack of materials, supplies and equipment, the lack of safety, and most importantly, the deficit of teacher quality at these schools.

Research shows that teacher quality is the single-most-important school- related factor affecting student achievement, second only to family overall.

In the poorest schools across the country, we find more teachers without majors or even minors in the discipline they teach, more teachers without credentials, and more very new teachers. It’s like the farm system in baseball. New teachers often find the only jobs available to them are in the poorest schools and so they go to teach there. Then, they spend three to five years at these schools figuring out what to do, and build up enough seniority and bumping rights so they can and do move to a school in a wealthier and safer part of town. However, since “better” positions are limited, it is usually the most effective teachers that are able to leave.

So how can we get more effective teachers into our most challenged schools?

Offer incentives, in the form of large annual performance bonuses, to teachers who move to hard-to-staff schools if they show they can help their students learn more. Accompany these with assessments of teachers’ skills, opportunities to move along a career path, and ongoing, on-site professional development to help teachers enhance their skills.

You will hear that there are problems with such plans, but they can all be solved if comprehensive reforms are undertaken. But this is not happening in Los Angeles or anywhere in California.

The federal government believes that incentives, along with teacher evaluation and professional development can attract effective teachers to poor schools. And so it has just established the $100 million Teacher Incentive Fund. Ask if any programs like these are being tried in your school, and if not, why not. Then take to the streets.

Lewis C. Solmon is president of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching. This article first appeared in the Los Angeles Daily News.