Articles tagged with new york city

Should teachers names be posted alongside students performance?

12284172421897139812CoD_fsfe_Checklist_icon_svg_medDoes the public have a right to study the academic progress of an individual teacher’s students?

That question could prove the next “hot topic” in policy circles. This fall, the Los Angeles Times published a controversial analysis of test scores in an effort to determine the effectiveness of more than 6,000 elementary school teachers. One teacher allegedly committed suicide after being rated poorly.

Now the New York City newspaper, the Daily News, and the United Federation of Teachers are in Manhattan Supreme Court fighting over the release of teacher evaluations conducted by the city school system.

The city’s lawyers, who are defending the right to release the documents, argue “teachers have no rights when it comes to job performance,” the Daily News reports. The union argues “the reports are deeply inaccurate.”
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Naomi Dillon|December 9th, 2010|Categories: American School Board Journal, Assessment, Governance, Student Achievement, Teachers|Tags: , , , , |

Scandals in charters bound to bind them in red tape, diminishing their autonomy

A_Man_Stuck_In_Red_Tape_Royalty_Free_Clipart_Picture_091110-053150-778042Incidents of nepotism and conflict of interest recently have been uncovered in some New York City charter schools. Meanwhile, a Philadelphia investigation has found questionable financial practices among some of that city’s charters.

Doesn’t worry me.

Why not? One reason is that such nonsense just happens. There are more than 4,600 charter schools in the nation, so it’s inevitable that some charter organizers are going to be inexperienced, incompetent, or even dishonest in their handling of school finances.

The more cynical reason for my indifference is that charters are doomed.

Oh, I’m not predicting that charter schools are going away. Not a chance. A few financial horror stories are not going to diminish the momentum of the charter school movement or undermine the bipartisan political support that charters enjoy today.

No, I’m saying that charter schools are doomed to lose their independence and flexibility. Their promise of innovation is doomed to slow strangulation in bureaucratic red tape.

As I see it, this is inevitable. A few more years, a few more headlines about financial irregularities, and you’ll see state and federal lawmakers begin to push forward legislation to ensure that tax dollars aren’t misspent.

You’ll see state and federal regulators announce a host of rules on how they handle their money and what they can spend it on.
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Naomi Dillon|April 22nd, 2010|Categories: American School Board Journal, Governance, School Reform|Tags: , , |
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