Arne says teacher layoffs loom this year.

[madfloridian]

Then he offers to add 3 billion more to the Race to the Top funds which mean more charter schools and more testing.



Layoffs loom for teachers: education secretary

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many teachers and educators across the United States are at risk of losing their jobs in the next few months, the nation's education secretary told a meeting of the National Governors Association on Sunday.

..."I am very, very concerned about layoffs going into the next school year starting in September. Good superintendents are going to start sending out pink slips in March and April, like a month from now, as they start to plan for their budgets," said Arne Duncan, referring to the slips of paper included in some paychecks to notify a person of being fired.

Yet the only thing he offers is to add 3 billion more to the 1.3 billion which is being given out soon to states that follow his plan.....lift the cap on charter schools, create testing databases to tie student scores to teachers.

Late on Sunday, the White House announced that it will put $350 million into new competitive grants states can use to develop educational standards designed to prepare students for college.

Meanwhile, Duncan said the $1.5 billion "Race to the Top" grants included in the stimulus plan are on track to be distributed soon, with the finalists for the grants announced next week.

Obama has proposed extending the program, as well as expanding it by $3 billion, to fund new education innovations, especially at semi-autonomous charter schools.

He expresses concern about teacher layoffs. Then he promises 3 billion more to the schools are privately run and not regulated, which take per student money from public schools.

Of course there will be layoffs. The government is now funding charter schools, and only expressing worry about public schools laying off teachers.

Sometimes my head spins trying to take it all in.

There is no main media coverage, but many bloggers understand.

"Democracy Privatized!"...education blog talks about turning over public functions to “the market”.

Oakland teachers have had to face the hard lessons of Privatization earlier than most. The state took over the public schools in 2003 and then turned the school system into a virtual laboratory for the corporate concept of schools: opening charters left and right, closing schools, laying off librarians and custodians, trashing the quality of public education, and testing, testing, testing.

Our experience is that privatization proceeds in pieces, the first step includes turning over public functions to “the market” through corporatizing every policy and procedure. The United States – the first country to establish free, universal public education – is on now track to being the first country to eliminate it. After seven years, far more cities than Oakland are living out what this means.

This blogger understands the process also.

Make big bucks by closing public schools, firing teachers, opening charters.

Close Public Schools, Fire Teachers, Open Charters and Make Big Bucks!

Well, when they told Jed Clampett Cali-for-nee-ah's the place you oughta be, they weren't kidding. Movie star/ politician Arnold Schwarzenegger's got a deal for parents in La-La Land, giving them all sorts of options to "improve" their schools:

Some of the options parents would have to choose from include: replacing the existing administration with a charter school, closing schools and replacing some or all of the existing staff.

..."What the other options may be I have no idea, as the article didn't deem them worthy of mention. I can't help but notice that there's nothing there about supporting or improving the schools. Apparently they must either be closed, replaced, or the staff must be gotten rid of. I have to also assume that when the schools are closed or replaced with charters, it's bye-bye staff. There is no possibility, therefore, that the school's problems could emanate from anywhere but the schools unionized employees.

So this makes being a parent much easier. If my kid flunks out, there's clearly something wrong with the school and it must be closed or replaced by a charter. At the very least, we need to fire all the staff.

I would say to Arne Duncan, spare me your sympathy. Spare public school teachers your sympathy.

Your department with Obama's blessing is giving 3 more billion to states that allow charter school companies to take over the public schools.

Spare us the sympathy.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Great job Brownie...err, I mean Arne.

:mad: :grr: :nuke: :banghead:

[madfloridian]

2. Heck of a job....yep.

.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. That is what I meant to say. Thanks

:thumbsup: :hi:

[madfloridian]

6. One way is as good as the other.

:hi:

[olegramps]

44. This is a major step in the destruction of teacher unions:

Along with their pensions and health care. It becomes increasingly more difficult day after day to continue to support President Obama who has surrounded himself with people who are little more than Republican moles.

[noamnety]

3. Our charter school

took a stand against RTTT - our faculty association refused to sign off on it.

And that's a sign of how bad it is all around, perhaps. The traditional public school employees see it as a threat because it will benefit charters, the charters (at least mine, I can't speak for all) see it as something that hurts schools and education in general, regardless of the type of school it is.

[madfloridian]

8. Public schools see it as a threat to a public education...

It is giving taxpayer money to schools run by private companies.

It is going to profit charter school management companies.

It is turning public education over to companies that face no regulation.

What happened in our financial sector when it were deregulated was tragic.

This will be tragic as well.

[noamnety]

12. I'm in that inbetween area

where we are a nonprofit noncorporate non-corporate-operated completely public charter operated by state employees. From our perspective, the NCLB standards and RTTT standards are just as unrealistic for us as they are for any traditional school. Whether you are a traditional or charter school, you still can't ignore the effects of generational poverty and environmental issues on student performance when you set standards, and the government refuses to acknowledge that.

We don't agree with the standards being set, we don't have the freedom to teach in the best way we could for our students because - just like any school - we have to spend a certain amount of time trying to teach to the test, or to the standards they are testing, I'll put it that way. It's not doing our kids a service. I can't see that it's doing anyone's kids a service. Furthermore, none of us are on board with the merit pay system for the same reason as any other teacher.

[MichiganVote]

4. Thanks Arne...we got it covered. And yes...you and your dept. sucks.

[roody]

7. We need those uneducated kids to fight the wars.

He is doing his job.

[madfloridian]

9. Heh, I see a blogger had the same reaction I did.

http://snunes.blogspot.com/2010/02/education-wars-no-shit-arne.html

"The Education Wars: No Shit, Arne

Gee, the suckretary of education has just noticed there will be teacher layoffs, which makes him pleased as punch. He says he's "concerned," but we know better, or at least I do.

That way, teachers don't have to be fired for being too old and too expensive."

[Egnever]

10. Sorry but Teacher layoffs are not the feds fault

Look to your own communities who time after time refuse to increase school funding or taxes to fun schools. The feds do not provide anywhere close to the majority of the funding for our school systems. Until the american people as a whole get their priorities straight and start funding their own local schools instead of always crying for more tax cuts this will continue to happen. The feds cant nor should they fix this by themselves.

[madfloridian]

11. They are falling for the temptation to take Arne's money.

The states and districts are caving in on upping the limit on charters....because they need the money.

If the feds are tempting the schools, bribing them actually....to close public schools and form more charters of course they are at fault.

Of course they are.

[Egnever]

13. Garbage

if the communities themselves funded their own schools properly instead of leaving the door open for the fed to twist their arm because of their own lack of will to fund their schools properly there would be no chance for any arm twisting from the fed no matter if you agreed with that arm twisting or not.

This falls solely on the shoulders of the american peoples greed and selfishness when it comes to their willingness to pay for their children's education.

[madfloridian]

15. There is so much wrong with your reply, that I can't respond.

You don't even seem aware of the funding issues and problems. Believe what you must.

[Egnever]

17. I am well aware that time after time people refuse to fund their own school system

in community after community. you can play poor me victim on this all you like the fact of the matter remains people refuse to pay for their children's and their neighbors children's education.

When you hold someone underwater its not the fault of the person that saves them that you don't like the way they did it. What you are implying here is exactly that, that it is the feds fault the school systems rely on their funding instead of the communities who allow that reliance in the first place. You even go so far in your headline as to blame teacher firings on the fed which is beyond ludicrous.

Look to your own community if you don't like the strings attached with fed money FUND YOUR DAMN SCHOOLS!

I am sick and tired of people bitching about the school system and refusing to fund it.

[madfloridian]

18. That post....

and its insult to me is not worth it. Bye for now.

[Hannah Bell]

42. my poor town just approved a levy in the middle of a recession.

median income here = $28K.

too bad, thanks to obama's no-jobs policy for the poor, we have 15% unemployment, failing buisinesses, & a declining tax base.

arne *welcomes* teacher layoffs. he *applauds* them & *facilitates* them.

[olegramps]

45. Get for real.

If you don't understand that there is a great disparity between wealthy district that can afford to provide a first class educational experience and those in marginal rural areas or poverty belts, the concept would be lost on you. What we need is a national school system with every school being properly funded and staffed to provide every student the opportunity to excel.

[tonysam]

22. RTTT helps to undermine teacher protections

Arne and Obama are enemies of public education. I for one am tired of the excuses being made for them just because Obama has a "D" after his name.

[madfloridian]

30. It does undermine teacher protections, and there is little oversight.

[Mithreal]

35. Agreed to an extent. I want to know why the "feds" don't accept their responsibility

for protecting American labor. How much of a child's success is due to socioeconomic status of the family? 30+ years of conservative economic policies including those Obama continues and in some cases even worsens are destroying the middle and lower classes. Think Obama will admit those policies impact on student achievement? Instead we get stale recycled rhetoric while he holds hands with his other Third-wayer Newt Gingrich.

[REP]

14. "Loom"? They're almost guaranteed in the Cupertino CA district

Bigger classes; fewer teachers - and that is a so-called good district. The super will keep his salary and perks though, thank goodness!

[madfloridian]

19. CA seems to be on forefront....

I posted once that 250 LA schools were up for outside bidders.

It is amazing how quickly and ruthlessly it is being done.

[KamaAina]

25. I actually discussed school funding with an area board member the other day

we were sharing a table at a civic luncheon. I offered as a solution cutting back on paper-pushing adnministrators rather than teachers.

The board member replied that the said paper-pushers were necessary to unravel all of the strings that are attached to federal and (in CA) state funding (which, thanks to Prop 13, actually comes from local property taxes!)

Streamline those strings and you can get rid of a lot of highly paid suits who haven't taught in a classroom in twenty years, if ever.

[tonysam]

27. The trouble is, if they are certified teachers, they will bump

the teachers in the classroom.

There is virtually NO way to get rid of administrators, starting at the principal level, with very rare exceptions.

It's NOT true with teachers at all.

[yurbud]

16. that amount of money is chump change, and its not worth it to gut public education

[Cetacea]

20. Stop the Florida Fox Pens

[madfloridian]

21. I have no idea what that means.

[4_TN_TITANS]

23. Where has the NEA been hiding?

The most powerful union in the country and they aren't standing up to Duncan and his for-profit education policies?

[madfloridian]

24. The leadership of unions has mostly gone along....

without the agreement of the membership. Remember how AARP betrayed us to get the Medicare D part through to benefit big pharma. It happened before we knew it.

[heli]

36. Great analogy

[Jakes Progress]

26. You gotta wonder

what seventh grade teacher caught Arne copying on a test or smoking in the bathroom that would make him the way he is. Whatever it was, he sure holds a grudge and is looking for revenge.

[madfloridian]

28. He feels it is his right to close down public schools...

rather than help fix them.

[Jakes Progress]

29. Sure. There's not corporate money

for fixing schools. Only better learning and a better country. Where's the profit in that?

[madfloridian]

31. DLC won their battle for charter schools. Articles from their site:

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=139&subid=273&contentid=251957

The article reeks of privatization.

From 1996

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=110&subid=192&contentid=2429

Can you believe the cover statement?

"The Empire Strikes Back
By Chester E. Finn Jr., Bruno V. Manno, and Louann A. Bierlein
Sensing a threat, public education's monopolists are sandbagging charter schools."

Public schools are threatening charter schools? Really?

DLC pushing to have mayors like Bloomberg run schools to set up charters.

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=139&subid=273&contentid=252608

There are pages there.

They planned this attack on public education. A Democratic think tank.

[madfloridian]

33. More on charter planning from the DLC

Financing Buildings for Charter Schools

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251956&kaid=139&subid=273

New Orleans charter school movement

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=254204&kaid=450013&subid=900115

[Starry Messenger]

32. Why don't they just tattoo us with barcodes?

That way they can just run us under the scanners to "evaluate" us. Do the same to the students. Worked for Walmart. "Testing databases" feh.

[madfloridian]

34. CS Monitor on Arne's plans for closing public schools. Students not held accountable.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/new-economy/2010/0224/To-improve-school-performance-fire-all-the-teachers

"When managers want to improve performance of their companies, they sometimes close factories and lay off workers. But they never fire the entire workforce.

Everyone knows that's counterproductive.

So when the school board in Central Falls, R.I., fired all 88 teachers and staff at its high school, the move had little to do with productivity and everything to do with sending a message to teachers' unions: The status quo of poor-performing schools is unacceptable.

The move is part of a national shake-up that US Education Secretary Arne Duncan hopes to engender in public schools. He is forcing states to identify the bottom 5 percent of their schools and take one of four actions with each one: closure; takeover by an independent organization; transformation; or turnaround, which calls for firing all the teachers and rehiring no more than half of them in the fall."

He is an arrogant man. He is however pushing Obama's agenda....privatize the schools. To heck with the teachers, they are all lousy anyway.

We will live to regret not standing up to the hostile takeover of public education.

[Grand Taurean]

37. This is what happens when one hires their cronies/friends to

work for them. I say this as someone who wants to see reform in our education system. Sadly, much of the urban problems are economic as well as having parents/communities who do not partake in the education process. Privatizing the school system is NOT going to solve the problem.

[Sancho]

38. I saw Arne speak and answer questions last Friday in Atlanta...

He is very disappointing. He constantly complains about teachers, but seems to conclude that putting money into more testing will fix things. When confronted by the educators in the audience, he said they were old-fashioned. When shown the better performance of schools internationally that gave teachers more time for planning and development, he didn't want to put money into such efforts - but had many millions for alternative schools (charters, etc.). Arne is one of the worst possible choices. Linda Darling-Hammond was at the same meeting - advocating teacher developed performance assessments, higher-order thinking, and stronger support for colleges to produce teachers. Amazing that both were on Obama's team. They are very different.

[Nikki Stone1]

39. It's because Arne is going to produce these layoffs:

http://www.projo.com/news/content/central_falls_trustees_vote_02-24-10_EOHI83C_v59.3c21342.html

"Duncan is requiring states, for the first time, to identify their lowest 5 percent of schools — those that have chronically poor performance and low graduation rates — and fix them using one of four methods: school closure; takeover by a charter or school-management organization; transformation which requires a longer school day, among other changes; and “turnaround” which requires the entire teaching staff be fired and no more than 50 percent rehired in the fall."

Now look at this: the choices are closing the school (teachers get fired, lose jobs); PIRATIZATION by private company; longer school day and more hours for teachers (ostensibly at same salary); Firing all teachers (teachers get fired, lose jobs)

Now, if you're a public school teacher, half of Arne's options involve you losing your job. The other half involve you working a lot more hours than other teachers in the country for LESS pay. "Transformation" holds out the only chance for a little extra cash for your time. The Piratization option means you will work more hours for NOTHING.




"Gallo and the teachers initially agreed they wanted the transformation model, which would protect the teachers’ jobs.

But talks broke down when the two sides could not agree on what transformation entailed.

Gallo wanted teachers to agree to a set of six conditions she said were crucial to improving the school. Teachers would have to spend more time with students in and out of the classroom and commit to training sessions after school with other teachers.

But Gallo said she could pay teachers for only some of the extra duties. Union leaders said they wanted teachers to be paid for more of the additional work and at a higher pay rate — $90 per hour rather than the $30 per hour offered by Gallo."

So, here is the unpaid work hours. Here is the extra training. Here is the union asking for $90, presumably as a bargaining tactic to make sure that the teachers got paid for their time.


"After negotiations broke down, Gallo said she no longer had confidence the high school could be transformed and instead recommended the turnaround model. Gist approved Gallo’s proposal Tuesday morning and gave the district 120 days to develop a detailed plan."

And so, Gallo decided to get rid of the teachers.

Now what happens? Maybe they'll hire 50% of teachers back, maybe they won't. And who will get hired in their place? A bunch of young, new, cheap, and inexperienced teachers. Gee, that'll help the school and the kids.

Mark my words, schools like these are being targeted to lower costs of labor (teaching staff): then Wall Street can swoop in and take over and make a profit on cheap teachers who work more hours for less or no pay.

[Hannah Bell]

43. Exactly. Like Bush ensured that every school will eventually become a "failing" school.

[Mithreal]

40. As state budgets continue to crash, more pressure to take Race to the Bottom funds.

You all better be telling your reps what you think of privatizing our public schools and what taking that money will cost them.

[saracat]

41. Rec but late! Arne is a psychopath is an agenda. It is frightening that some

will defend him without even knowing what he is doing or understanding his agenda. Something has got to be done before he completely dismantles public schools.Unfortunately, because of the faux HCR gobbling up all the media, this issue is getting very little attention and most don't even know what is happening.And an even larger percentage of our own don't WANT to know.It is very sad.