It's A Great Day

Marion Barry To Open Charter Schools

2008-07-26T08:17:00.003-04:00

Forget for a short minute that having a school focused on leadership run by ex-convict Marion Barry is about as far from an example to our students that you would find and the news that he is trying to open two charters is interesting for one main reason. He is not trying to do this through DCPS.

With Barak Obama passing through Germany I'm reminded of the story libertarians tell regarding the virtues of freedom. When the Berlin Wall came down people rushed West instead of East.

Here is the Councilman on the same theme:

"I believe in choice -- choice for the parents and choice for me to decide what I am going to do."

And now that the money has been found for the converted catholic schools to open as charters it looks like the movement will continue it's dramatic growth in enrollment. Mr. Barry will add to charters soon becoming the delivery system in which most kids in the District receive their education.

Rhee Rules Through Fear Continued

2008-07-25T06:07:00.008-04:00

So the remaining question is why is the Chancellor making decisions in a way that makes people fearful? Well in my over 20 years of management leaders often try and scare people because they are insecure in their jobs. But this certainly is not the case with Miss Rhee. She clearly understands she is where she is to make tough decisions and that if she is having an easy time of it then she is not doing as expected. She has tremendous support from the Mayor who has given her a free hand to shake things up.

Another reason the Chancellor may use fear as a management technique is that she does not trust those with whom she is working. Here we have a more likely cause. The Chancellor has on many occasions openly expressed the past failures of DCPS on an administrative and instructional level. One person even told me that she goes through the central office not making eye contact with her subordinates.

This leads me to the real reason I think Miss Rhee often makes people uneasy. I attribute most of what we are seeing to lack of management experience. I remember when I was a new supervisor and an employee was not doing as expected. I often turned the issue into a personal matter. This individual changed in my opinion from being a person who was good to one who is bad. It didn't take me long to realize that everyone has positive and negative aspects of their behaviors and as a manager I could, if a matter was of a serious nature, council the employee to try and correct the problem. In the great majority of the cases talking to the staff member was sufficient. Many times the employee didn't even recognize that there was an issue.

There are many excellent DCPS staff members. Many have been caught in a system that for decades has not been focused on the children they have been serving. Miss Rhee should focus her energies on leading her employees in a new direction solely focused on student achievement. For those who can rise to the challenge then there is nothing to worry about. For others it will be time to go. But as the head of the traditional public school system Miss Rhee should frequently and honestly communicate with us as to what she is thinking and in which direction she sees the system heading. In that way it will be fun to go along for the ride.

Rhee Rules Through Fear

2008-07-24T06:05:00.004-04:00

You may be asking what do I think of all the fuss over the new DCPS teacher's contract negotiations? Well I don't believe, as the editors of the Washington Post do, that it is wrong for certain union officials to be angry that Chancellor Rhee is addressing teachers without a proposed contract in place. It's frankly weird to have a discussion about a new agreement that has yet to be drawn up. Union negotiations are a delicate process and usually involve concessions on both sides of the table. Also, in order to be most effective they demand a unified front with the separate parties speaking with one voice. You can be certain that Miss Rhee is the only one representing management's views but if she is meeting with individual teachers then it is easy to create divisiveness on the other side. No wonder people in the union are angry.

However, I do like the idea that the Chancellor and union president George Parker are trying to something truly innovative with both the contract and in the way it is negotiated. The two tier pay system, one for teachers who strive for protected tenure and another for those are willing to risk their positions in return for the chance to earn higher salaries through pay-for-performance, is the definition of thinking outside of the box. My big problem with the approach is that Miss Rhee has not provided the teachers with even a draft of what the terms of the contract will be. In fact, in today's Washington Post reporter Bill Turque says Miss Rhee has proposed that instructors who reject the protected tenure tract can earn up to a 20% per year in performance bonuses. The only problem is that the criteria for earning this bonus has not yet been developed.

The situation leads me to a new conclusion about the Chancellor. As a DC education watcher I'm constantly asked "What do you think of Michelle Rhee?" Well, if you have been reading this space you know that I believe she started out poorly but is now doing much much better. But I now see something in her management style that makes me uncomfortable.

I think she likes to lead through fear. She started with scaring those at North Capitol Street about job losses. The she moved on to secretive plans about school closures. Next, it was the difficult to obtain information about turning failing schools over to charter management organizations. Most recently the fear has revolved around principal and assistant principal job losses. Currently we have tension over the teacher contract.

Now I know what you are going to say. Change brings fear. And haven't I been the one calling for the biggest changes to DCPS? All true. But there are techniques to mitigate the reactions people have to extremely tough decisions. The biggest way is to treat them as adults. This means keeping them informed about the actions you are going to take and being straight with them about your plans. This is difficult in a political environment, but it is the way you develop stakeholders that you will need to support all you are trying to do.

Heller Registers Gun

2008-07-19T10:07:00.002-04:00

"It's a great day," according to Dick Heller, the defendant in the Supreme Court case that overturned D.C.'s ban on handguns, as he registered his gun yesterday at police headquarters.

The Gun Fight Is Not Over

2008-07-16T05:40:00.004-04:00

Last night the D.C. Council passed "emergency" legislation which the politicians says complies with the recent Supreme Court's Heller decision. But as Jacob Sullum of Reason points out the new rules make it so difficult to a handgun that it looks like the issue is going right back to court, which is exactly what should happen.

Just Sue The Mayor

2008-07-14T06:30:00.005-04:00

An email from FOCUS last week indicated D.C. Councilman Marion Barry has introduced a bill that would force the Mayor to give charters the first option to rent closed DCPS schools, which is already the law but which Mr. Fenty is ignoring. I guess we can give the legislative thing another try but if the recently closed facilities are not turned over to the charter school movement quickly then I think the only choice is to take the matter to the courts.

Rhee Gets Credit From Her Employees

2008-07-11T06:24:00.003-04:00

It's a great day because, surprise surprise, some school principals who work for the chancellor credit her with increased student standardized test scores. With her reputation for firing people what exactly did we expect them to say.

District Traditional Schools Show Significant Gains in Standardized Test

2008-07-09T23:15:00.005-04:00

It's a great day because DCPS students demonstrated significant gains on the DC-CAS. As Dion Haynes of the Washington Post reports, math proficiency scores for elementary students went up by 11 percent while those ranked proficient in reading increased on average by eight percent. For secondary school students the increase in math and reading was nine percent. Last year 31 school made AYP under NCLB. This year the number is 47.

While school chancellor Michele Rhee has already taken credit for the improvement, and some people point to the work of past superintendent Clifford Janey, it is clear that the root cause of students doing better on this test is the popularity of charter schools. If the pressure did not exist from over 30% of students leaving the traditional schools for charters the District never would have seen Mayor Fenty take over DCPS and provide so much autonomy to the chancellor. Most important is that there would never had been the renewed emphasis on student achievement exhibited by both Mr. Janey and Ms. Rhee. Congratulations to the school choice movement for creating the level of competition that is now rising all boats. It took much longer then expected but this has always been the goal that those of us involved in this effort have always been after.

Education Secretary Comes Out For Vouchers

2008-07-08T06:14:00.002-04:00

Its a great day because Margaret Spellings wrote a Washington Post editorial in support of D.C.'s voucher program, emphasizing the three sector approach.

The Changing Demographics Of University Professors

2008-07-07T06:15:00.002-04:00

It's a great day because, as Patricia Cohen of the New York Times reports, the most liberal college instructors are retiring.

Hear Me On C-Span

2008-07-03T06:47:00.003-04:00

It's a great day because I had the opportunity last Friday to call in to C-Span's Washington Journal and comment on the Supreme Court decision overturning D.C.'s handgun ban. Here's the link and then go to 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 37 seconds.

The 4th

2008-06-30T07:01:00.005-04:00

It's a great day because Bill Kristol, writing in the New York Times, talks about going over friends house the last few years and together with them reading the Declaration of Independence. On the holiday our family always read the first two paragraphs of the Declaration when my kids were growing up and the fourth of July is my youngest daughter's birthday.

WE WON

2008-06-26T10:21:00.001-04:00

D.C. Gun Ban Ruled Unconstitutional

It is a great day!

New School Choice Hero

2008-06-25T08:06:00.003-04:00

She is Jo-Ann Armao, the Washington Post editorial board writer who has been penning the strong pieces supporting D.C.'s school voucher program. Because public officials read the Post and because the Post is seen as representing the views of a significant number of local residents then the importance of what she has been writing cannot be overstated.

I hope I get the opportunity to meet her one day. She is now one of my personal heros.

A Choice For DC

2008-06-24T14:56:00.002-04:00

So sorry for the absence of blogging but I'm away on a family vacation. I did, however, just get a glimpse of the Washington Post editorial page and I see that a third editorial has been published in support of D.C.'s voucher program. It seems that everyone in the city has become a school choice supporter.

From the Chatham beach I'm keeping my eye on the U.S. Supreme Court. The decision outlawing the D.C. gun ban should be announced any second.

The Charter Movement Click

2008-06-19T05:50:00.003-04:00

Mike DeBonis of the City Paper has been doing a great job following the recent controversial activities of the D.C. Public Charter School Board. In this article he provides a tutorial on the ties between the individuals who are leading D.C.'s charter movement.

One fear I have of pieces such as this is that there will be public pressure to split the duties of the board into two. One body would be created to charter schools and another to provide oversight. But in public policy I think this is a tremendous error. It is the dual purposes (proponent and policing) that leads to the greatest number of schools being approved together with the development of common sense regulations that ensure that those schools in operation reflect positively on the movement as a whole.

Tim Russert's Wake

2008-06-18T06:07:00.005-04:00

Late yesterday afternoon Michele and I attended Tim Russert's wake at the St. Albans Church. After we walked by the television cameras we stood in line with a steady stream of visitors. In only a few minutes we were allowed into the room where his coffin was sitting and at the end of the line we saw Mr. Russert's son talking to each and every person in attendance. He looked so young and so composed. He also looks a lot like his father. Michele and I had no idea how he was able to do this so calmly.

Just as we approached to shake his hand we were asked to let journalist Tom Brokaw step in in front of us. Smiling, he hugged Luke and talked to him for about a minute. I couldn't make out what he was saying except for Mr. Brokaw commenting that something "had been worked out and it was all going to be O.K." Mr. Brokaw moved on and I noticed him trying very hard not to cry.

I then shook Luke's hand and told him how glad I was to meet him. He thanked me for coming and as Michele and I were leaving the room I noticed that Mr. Brokaw was standing right in front of me. I told him that the Meet the Press show he did on Sunday was perfect and he said that he appreciated my remark and that a bunch of the people involved in the broadcast had joked when it was over about what aspects of it Tim would have said could have been done better.

On the way out visitors could write a message in a guest book. Michele wrote a really nice note about how much Mr. Russert had taught us and about what a great example his close family was to others.

Lots Of Local School Choice News

2008-06-17T06:29:00.003-04:00

So how did the DC Public Charter School Board get around the money problem of approving seven new charter school that were catholic schools? By only giving the green light to one other application. This is truly unfortunate in that three of the other nine involved charter schools for learning disabled students. Politics was the winner here.

And it just keeps on flowing. Eleanor Holmes Norton (Aka Marc Fisher) writes a dishonest editorial in the Washington Post about how she is really really not trying to kill D.C.'s voucher program. But in this pack of lies that is painful to read she drops a bombshell: She not only want to take scholarships away from poor kids but she is also out to dismantle the charter school movement by introducing a bill to turn authority over the DCPCSB from Congress to the D.C. Council. We have already seen the Council forcing its way into the charter school world with some very harmful legislation.

In order to combat all this the editors of the Washington Post take the unprecedented step of writing their second pro-voucher piece in as many weeks. All they actually had to write was "it looks like D.C.'s leaders don't care about the city's students."

Maybe Marc Fisher Is Really Eleanor Holmes Norton?

2008-06-15T07:53:00.004-04:00

In one of the silliest pieces I have seen on the subject Washington Post Columnist Marc Fisher again shows his hatred of school vouchers. In logic that can only seem sane to an insane person he seems to be saying that charter schools are alright for our city although he is worried about the strength of the catholic schools now that they will not be able to teach religion.

But the real emphasis of the garbage he has written is his point that the conversion of catholic schools to charters shows that there is no need for D.C.'s voucher program, which Mr. Fisher believes is simply the state supporting religious institutions. Well who does he think is getting the money once the catholic schools convert? The City Consortium, which is the non-profit that will run the new charter schools, will pay rent to the church for the use of the buildings. That's 2,000 kids times a facility allotment of $3,100 per student which comes to over $6.2 million dollars.

If Mr. Fisher could think logically he would argue that these schools had to stay as religious institutions and accept the voucher of $7,500 so that they would have to continue to teach these kids at a loss.

A Much Better Morning

2008-06-12T06:06:00.005-04:00

We are reaching a turning point on two important matters on school choice in the nation's capital. First, next week discussion will begin as to whether Congress will continue D.C.'s voucher program. The editors of the Washington Post today issue their strongest defense to date and accuse Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton of trying to take scholarships away from poor people (which is exactly what she is trying to do.)

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton's campaign against school vouchers in the District has hit a new low. While proclaiming a desire to protect children, she is seeking to eliminate a program that benefits them and that is valued by their parents. Her actions make it all the more urgent for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty to convince Congress that the educational interests of children are more important than party ideology. Failure to do so would imperil not just the 1,900 children in the scholarship program but the essence of school reform in the District.

Also, the D.C. Council is trying to regulate charter schools. I have a letter to the editor on this today.

In what can only be described as an Orwellian political move, the D.C. Council wants to get involved in running charter schools ["Attack on Charters," editorial, June 9].The legislation recently introduced by council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) and council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) strikes at the heart of the reason we have these schools in the first place. Charters were created with the hope that institutions free to develop their own rules would find innovative ways to teach children whom traditional schools have never done a good job educating.

This bill is a slap in the face to the freedom that has led us to have the nation's leading charter movement.But what depresses me most about the proposed action is that the council did nothing while D.C. public schools turned out generation after generation of socially promoted students. Charters are putting an end to this, and they need to be allowed to continue their work without coercion from the council.
MARK S. LERNER
Chairman, William E. Doar Jr. PCS for the Performing Arts
Washington

Putting Children Last

2008-06-11T05:47:00.003-04:00

The editors of the Wall Street Journal explain the injustice that Eleanor Holmes Norton is doing in killing D.C.'s voucher program:

The $7,500 voucher is a bargain for taxpayers because it costs the public schools about 50% more, or $13,000 a year, to educate a child in the public schools. And we use the word "educate" advisedly because D.C. schools are among the worst in the nation.

It is so embarrassing and frustrating to have to constantly argue with people that they should support school choice in the nation's capital when the schools are so bad.

The Tide Is Turning

2008-06-09T06:27:00.002-04:00

The pressure on D.C.'s school choice movement is growing tougher by the day. Today, the Washington Post has a front page story regarding the charter movement in New Orleans and then three other pieces. Next, Valerie Strauss and Bill Turque write about the attempts by Eleanor Holmes Norton to end the voucher program. Jay Mathews also has a story about the closing of Tri-Community but somehow does not mention that WEDJ is taking the school over. The focus of his story is that even with the end of Tri-Community there are other bad charter that should be closed.

Finally, the editors of the Post come out strongly against the recently introduced D.C. Council legislation regulating charters.

The new political atmosphere in which charters operate is now clearly established. These schools meet AYP or they are to be closed.

Tom Nida Responds To DC Council

2008-06-05T19:49:00.001-04:00

He is not happy.

Where Are The School Choice Heros?

2008-06-03T06:14:00.003-04:00

Kaleem Caire long ago left BAEO and then that organization was never heard from again. Clint Bolick moved on from the Institute for Justice and the Alliance for School Choice to work on local issues in Arizona. Casey Lartigue started his own private business. Sally Sachar is gone from the Washington Scholarship Fund. In fact, I bet that of the small group of us that met at the Institute for Justice conference room on a cold February evening when the D.C. voucher bill passed four years ago I am the only one still involved in promoting school choice.

The Opportunity Scholarship Program is about to be up for re-authorization and I'm wondering who is around to take up the fight. Is there anyone out there who today views the establishment of a marketplace in education as the last remaining civil rights issue facing America? Where are those who are indignant that the promise of Brown vs. The Board of Education has never been reached? Hello?

Is There Money For The Catholic Schools To Covert?

2008-06-02T06:15:00.002-04:00

Mike DeBonis of the City Paper picks up the complaint by D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells that there is no money in the budget for the seven catholic schools to convert to charters this year. The cost is $14 million.

The Loose Lips column provides quite an inside into the operations of the D.C. Public Charter Board including the fact that a couple of its members do not live in the District. There is also more word that Councilman Gray would like to have some control over D.C.'s charter school movement. Not a good idea.