The School On The Hill; Yes, It's Mine

This is scary for me, but here we go:

Some of you may have already figured it out; The School On The Hill is the big project I have been working on.

I have resisted exposing my true identity for years and years. It started because I was writing about the district I had worked in and was worried about getting in trouble for being critical.

Well, I don't work there anymore and haven't for a few years, so who cares?

Anyway, in my travails as a teacher and then edu-blogger and edu-activist I became so frustrated with the state of affairs regarding low SES students that I decided to do something about it.

It started with staff meeting frustration and then on to blogging here. It then moved to Facebook where I put pressure on Students First and Education Nation. I then started the TFT Radio show which still happens fairly regularly. And, of course, I tweet.

I have come to realize that social media can't do it all. Maybe it can't even do much, though I will still try.

But I chose to something more direct, more impactfullish, more meaningful, more important, more satisfying and more real; I chose to open a non-profit preschool. And plant some seeds, literally and figuratively.

I had no idea it would require so much work. First, in order to get 501(c)3 status I had to get a fiscal sponsor. This required sending the prospectus around to a few and seeing if anyone would bite (First I had to write the thing, which is not what I was trained to do.). Well, a couple bit and one chose to sponsor The School On The Hill. Thanks, ISI. The sponsor gets 5% of all donations received. Boo. So I am in the process of incorporating as my own 501(c)3 so ALL the donations can be used by the school, not just 95% of them. This will take a few months.

TSOTH's non-profit status has opened the door to tax-deductible donations, especially from foundations that require they donate to non-profits. The School On The Hill is non-profit, making donations of any size tax-deductible (hint, hint).

Another reason I chose to open the school is because a certain foundation liked the idea and pledged a significant donation if we could get it together, which we did, so the donation is on its way. We need a bit more though.

I have worked with children my entire adult life--I am nearly 50 years old. I have degrees and certifications and all the useless nonsense that comes with decades of successful work in a particular field. None of it means much--the kids are the meaningful part. I care about the kids, not the accolades. Besides, nobody else cares about the accolades either!

The School On The Hill is sort of a dream I have had forever. Running a small school --on my property!-- means I can dedicate all I have to the kids. And that makes me happy and enriches them. Perfect.

Now all I need to make the school run the way I want it to run --as a subsidized school for low SES families-- are more donations; actual cash as well as in-kind.

Please, consider making a tax-deductible donation to this awesome school that will focus on broadening the background knowledge of Richmond's children, preparing them for school and life success by providing an awesome farm-based preschool in the heart of the concrete jungle known as Richmond, California.

The School On The Hill is one great way to help ameliorate the stifling effects poverty has on small children. That is the goal of The School On The Hill; to engage with children and help make connections. To guide them. To teach them. To love them.

It takes a village. I need you, villagers! The kids need you!

Thanks,

Rich Sugerman, aka The Frustrated Teacher, aka TFT, aka Teacher Rich

Welcome, Townhall Folks!

Nice to see you here! Let's get going with Kyle Olson's tweets that he thinks you don't need to see over at your right wing rag (read from bottom to top--start at the bottom):

Kyle thinks he gets to choose how his tax dollars are used. And in a way he can, by voting. But he doesn't get to pick and choose on a daily basis or on a whim, that's not how economies of scale work, and that is the purpose of a "tax base" to spread the cost over many payers.

What you folks on the rabid right hate is the left, who you identify as commies, latte drinkers, teachers and other folks who care for others and who, in your simple minds teach your kids to be pussies, or something. We don't. We help them learn to think, unlike their right-wing, indoctrinated, ignorant parents who think the left is a cabal organizing to turn Americans into sniveling pussies, or something. Not really true. Pussies tend not to kill people, and we on the left, who are in control of government right now, seem to kill really well, so relax; we kill too, just like you Nugent folks.

Kyle would like to think he is an adult. As you can see from these lame tweets, he is not; he's sort of juvenile and simple, and frightened of a real discussion on public airwaves. He also thinks Click, Clack, Moo is a subversive union tesxt meant to indoctirnate young children. Yeah, right. Ever been in a classroom with little kids and read to them? They don't think of it that way. They think it's funny cows can type. It's you and Glenn Beck who find subversive nonsense in a cute little children's book.

So silly.

Come on Kyle, do my radio show, or FOX business news with me or Pete. Don't be afraid. We won't make you gay or Jewish. And, given the attention you're giving me, it seems you want to engage with me. Let's go! I am ready! Are you?

Feel free to comment here, folks, since you can't at Kyle's (who's the pussy?).

This Is Post 3002

Is that a milestone? I've posted three thousand times. Plus 2. Minus a few from Dave.

Never mind. Sorry.

Some Blog Weirdness, Updated

Do you see 2 rectangular outlines that are completely out of place here near the top and left side of the blog? If so, how do I make them go away? I did nothing. I haven't dealt with the template in a long time.

Why the weirdness?

Update: I'll tell you why the weirdness; it was all the Facebook Like Boxes. Blogger knows this is an issue but can't fix it. The only way to fix it is REMOVAL. So they've been removed. They still exist on their dedicated page which can be found under the Title banner of the blog --Facebook/BTR Links.

It's Passover, So I'm Being Lazy

That's not the only reason for the lack of posts.

I have been incredibly busy with a new project that is sucking all my time and energy, and I love it all.

I can't really give you any details other than to tell you it has to do with children, early childhood education, background knowledge, and bunnies. There's much more, but that's really the best stuff right there, don't ya think?

The project is prospective right now, but I have a feeling it will be made real. If it becomes real I will be able to realize a dream.

Some of the details, once revealed, will surprise you, impress you, and make you jealous, but in a good way. Regular readers know me and my 'bent' and I can tell you, this thing fits me perfectly. I just need to make it happen. I can, I have support, and I WILL make it happen. And it will be awesome, for not only me. I have the shivers.

So, I am very happy, busy, excited, but still broke. I don't really care though. All will become good.  Soon.

Tonight At 7pm(PST) TFT Interviews Michael Butz

Tonight at 7pm (pst) is the big show. This has been in the works a loooong time.

Getting Mike to do the show took nearly a year. Why? He didn't like me, at first. I was mean.

But after sharing some killer music with him after finding out we had similar tastes, he softened and acquiesced.

There a number of us who seem to dominate Students First's Facebook page, and this show is really an opportunity for all of us to hear each others voices. My hope is that a few of them will call in and participate. Folks like Eileen, Jane, Diane, Sahila, Jon, Neil, Stu, Bronx, Michelle, Mafara, Hari and a few I am forgetting.

The Hiatus Is Over

I took an unexpected hiatus from blogging the last few days.  Why you ask? Because my computer died. Well, the hard drive died. But, because I back everything up and because I am a PC guy, all I had to do was drop a new hard drive in the machine and reload everything.

Done.

The hardest part is the time it takes, especially getting stuff back down to earth from the cloud. But well worth it.

Make back ups often. Be your own genius.

Also, don't forget that today at 5pm (PST) I am playing some cool music on the radio show!

TFT Plays Some Killer Music Again 03/20 by The Frustrated Teacher TFT | Blog Talk Radio

TFT's #SOSChat Radio Is Fully Funded!

We did it! You all donated and now I have a Premium account at Blog Talk Radio. Thank you so very much. I can now host whenever I want and for up to 2 hours! Awesome!

Many thanks to all who donated. In a year, I will have to ask for donations again, but don't let that stop you from donating today, or again! Do it frequently!

For the inaugural show I have invited Michael Butz (a fellow Deadhead and the reason for the picture above) to talk with me about education reform, especially as touted by Michelle Rhee and Students First. We will have an hour to talk and many guests have been invited to call in. We have a little community over at the SF FB page, and this show is an opportunity to actually speak with each other.

It was tough getting Mike to come on. I had to prove to him it would be okay. He now knows it will be fun. Good for him! He's right!

So, set the date: March 21st at 7pm PST.

Help Me Get A Premium Account At Blog Talk Radio (Updated)

I have mentioned this before; I have a free account at Blog Talk Radio which is rather limiting. I cannot do shows during prime time. I can only do half hour shows. I can't upload more than 3 audio files. I cannot offer Skype connections to callers. It's very limiting.

A premium account would allow me 2-hour shows during prime-time with Skype calling available, as well as toll-free calling.

My radio show is growing. I began a new feature I call #SOSChat Kid Radio to get student voices out there to be heard. Alex just appeared yesterday. And second-career teacher and blogging partner David Russell appeared last week for a very interesting discussion of the Common Core, mastery learning and other stuff. He's sort of awesome.

Upcoming I have some great shows: Principal Brian Killeen of Florida will be on March 6; Dr. Michael Marder and I have been trying to set a date and we are close; Mike Butz, a fellow commentator over at the Students First Facebook page has finally decided to come on as well.

With all the interest now being shown in my show I really want a premium account. It costs $400/year, an amount I just don't have.

Here's the cool part: an anonymous donor has offered to match the next $100 in donations. Please consider a donation to the cause; help get the word out about education reform and how it is damaging our public schools, and therefore our future, not to mention our children.

Donations can be made by clicking on the TFT/Paypal logo just under this blog's title, right there near the top of the blog, or the little Donate button below.

Thank you in advance.

Bonus: Donors can be anonymous or I can recognize you publicly. Let me know if you want recognition. The default is for you to be anonymous. Donors who contribute $100 or more get a free TFT mug. Of course, you can't be anonymous if you want the mug--I'll need your name and address. I could just send you a picture of the mug...

Update:  I have raised $300 $341 of the $400 I need!!! Thanks to all who donated! We're almost there!

We Need To Hear The Voices Of The Students!

Yesterday there was a twitter chat --#SOSChat-- that I spent a little time checking out and participating in. It was a chance for those of us concerned with education reform and the damage it's doing to get together to figure out how best to move forward; what will SOS look like? What should we do next? Where should we focus? It's the kind of stuff a grassroots organization needs to do, and it was extremely helpful.

For a while now I have been doing Blog Talk Radio, both my own shows and as a guest on other shows (there's a link at the top of this blog) as a way to spread the word about the dangers of the current reform proposals and the nonsense Michelle Rhee spouts about LIFO and tenure, among other things. Doing the radio shows is fun and a great way to meet new folks and have meaningful discussions and disseminate information.

A while back I had the thought that it would be a good idea to include the voices of actual kids --students-- in the mix. I never really tried to do it. I talked with my 14 year old and some of his friends and I know they have opinions about reform, but they are 14 and getting them to commit was something I didn't even really try very hard to do, so it never happened. My bad.

Well, after the #SOSChat I realized that we anti-reformers are pretty much all over the place in terms of strategy ideas to spread the word. There are a million suggestions that I won't go over here. But there are two suggestions I have that occurred to me as I was participating in the chat:

1. Numbers. Numbers matter. Stephen Krashen made the point that Lady GaGa has 2 million followers and Diane Ravitch only in the thousands. I agree that's ridiculous, considering there are two million teachers in America. Want to impress? Get Diane's follower count up into the millions. Krashen's too.

I have a feeling there are about a million teachers who aren't on twitter. Find them. Get them on twitter, even if just to Follow Diane and then never tweet again.

2. The public think teachers suck--in the aggregate. People like their own teacher, think less of other teachers in the school, even less of others in the district, even less of others in the state, and even less of teachers nationally. It's just like congress where you like your congressperson but hate congress.

Therefore, I have determined, our voices are pretty much moot. They are not really that helpful. We need the voices of others--a proxy. Parents are a good proxy.

Kids are better. Interview kids.

So I want to interview public school students on Blog Talk Radio. I want teenagers to tell the public what they see their teachers dealing with. I want to hear what the teachers do for these kids, or what they don't do. I want kids to tell me what they like about school and what they think should change. I want to hear honest assessments of what life on the ground in public school is like for teenagers.

But that's not all. I want young kids too! Yes, like 2nd grade! When I taught 2nd grade I always had a few kids who could easily do their own radio show if given the chance. Surely there are some young kids who could handle a half-hour interview.

I will need parent input and permission. It can all be done over the phone and by email.

Are you interested in being interviewed? Are you a parent of a student who might be interested? Get in touch.

TFT Interviews Dr. Kevin Foster on 2-21-2012

Kevin Michael Foster is an educational anthropologist and a graduate faculty member at The University of Texas at Austin. He holds appointments in African and African Diaspora Studies, Curriculum & Instruction, and Educational Administration.

He currently directs ICUSP (The Institute for Community, University and School Partnerships) and splits his time between campus and the central Texas community.

He is the founder of COBRA (the Community of Brothers in Revolutionary Alliance) and co-founder of VOICES (Verbally Outspoken Individuals Creating Empowered Sistas). These programs serve black, brown and other students in low-income schools and have a near 100% college going rate among members.

Dr. Foster has received numerous awards for his work, but received greatest professional satisfaction from an invitation to serve as an Executive Branch Policy Fellow in Washington DC. He served at the National Science Foundation from 2009-2010 before returning to Austin to be with his family and local community.

Kevin's Twitter: @kevmfos
Kevin's blog: http://fosteringthefuture.blogspot.com

Loneliness

“Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible. As a child I felt myself to be alone, and I am still, because I know things and must hint at things which others apparently know nothing of, and for the most part do not want to know.”

Carl Jung

I felt this way as a kid, and often still feel this way.

On January 18 TFT Will Go Dark To Oppose SOPA!

The Frustrated Teacher will be going dark on the 18th to oppose SOPA. If you run a website or blog, this snippet of code may be just what you need. It will redirect your blog, and that will look like this.

Now read Boing Boing:

On January 18, Boing Boing will join Reddit and other sites around the Internet in "going dark" to oppose SOPA and PIPA, the pending US legislation that creates a punishing Internet censorship regime and exports it to the rest of the world. Boing Boing could never co-exist with a SOPA world: we could not ever link to another website unless we were sure that no links to anything that infringes copyright appeared on that site. So in order to link to a URL on LiveJournal or WordPress or Twitter or Blogspot, we'd have to first confirm that no one had ever made an infringing link, anywhere on that site. Making one link would require checking millions (even tens of millions) of pages, just to be sure that we weren't in some way impinging on the ability of five Hollywood studios, four multinational record labels, and six global publishers to maximize their profits.

If we failed to take this precaution, our finances could be frozen, our ad broker forced to pull ads from our site, and depending on which version of the bill goes to the vote, our domains confiscated, and, because our server is in Canada, our IP address would be added to a US-wide blacklist that every ISP in the country would be required to censor.

This is the part of the post where I'm supposed to say something reasonable like, "Everyone agrees that piracy is wrong, but this is the wrong way to fight it."

But you know what? Screw that.

Even though a substantial portion of my living comes from the entertainment industry, I don't think that any amount of "piracy" justifies this kind of depraved indifference to the consequences of one's actions. Big Content haven't just declared war on Boing Boing and Reddit and the rest of the "fun" Internet: they've declared war on every person who uses the net to publicize police brutality, every oppressed person in the Arab Spring who used the net to organize protests and publicize the blood spilled by their oppressors, every abused kid who used the net to reveal her father as a brutalizer of children, every gay kid who used the net to discover that life is worth living despite the torment she's experiencing, every grassroots political campaigner who uses the net to make her community a better place -- as well as the scientists who collaborate online, the rescue workers who coordinate online, the makers who trade tips online, the people with rare diseases who support each other online, and the independent creators who use the Internet to earn their livings.

The contempt for human rights on display with SOPA and PIPA is more than foolish. Foolishness can be excused. It's more than greed. Greed is only to be expected. It is evil, and it must be fought.

SOPA Strike is compiling a list of sites that are also going dark for Jan 18. If you want an Internet where human rights, free speech and the rule of law are not subordinated to the entertainment industry's profits, I hope you'll join us on it.

Thank you.

Hey Student, Sign This Contract That Says You Will Be A Student, Or You Can't Come

My son started high school this year. He's a freshman. He loves it and is doing very well. I have mentioned in the past that he was a member of the leadership team at his middle school and is on the board at his temple's religious school (don't ask). My kid is awesome.

On the way to school this morning he told me he was getting out early today because there is an assembly or rally and there was a permission slip that needed to be turned in and he neglected to do it. He took full responsibility for not having turned it in yesterday when it was due. We parents aren't informed of things that come home, so it is entirely up to the students to get this kind of thing done.

The permission slip is not really a permission slip. The fact that my son considers it a permission slip is itself interesting; it speaks to his naivety and to the school's actual basis for requiring the "permission slip."

I have it right next to me, and it is called a Student Activities Contract. What? It talks about requirements students must meet in order to attend certain functions. It is a copy of something we all had to sign in the beginning of the year. And it is non-binding, because these children don't have any standing to sign contracts. But that's a whole other issue.

The contract talks about maintaining a 1.5 GPA or higher (really?), no suspensions, and an attendance record "deemed passable by the Dean of Attendance." So, the requirements are inherently unclear if one is decided in the vacuum of the Dean's head.

Why would a school demand that students sign a contract promising to be students? I'll tell you why.

It's to keep out the riffraff. If you make participation in activities contingent upon parent signatures --the signatures themselves contingent upon a teenager remembering to have mommy sign the silly thing-- then you are precluding many kids from participating, especially in a Title 1 district, like the one my son attends. Why? Inner city families often have more difficult work hours, or lack of interest, or who knows what that might prevent them from getting a silly form signed just so their kid can go to the school their tax dollars pay for.

It also precludes great, interested, competent, well-prepared kids from coming if they forget to get the stupid thing signed.

It's like giving someone a contract that says they will be human, and if they don't sign it, then, well, what? You're no longer human? These students are being asked to sign a contract that says they will be students. Why this stupid thing has to be turned in in order to attend the school and functions at the school is nonsense, and it's a ploy to limit attendance to the "good" kids.

The kids that need the adults the most are the ones who are precluded, as are the ones who are a good example to other kids, like my son, who don't get to go because they forgot to turn in what is a useless and manipulative form designed without him in mind (or, with only kids like him in mind--the point is to limit attendance).

This kind of policy invented by school administrators is what gives public schools a bad name.

It's calling everyone guilty before they even show up. It basically says, We know your fucked up kids who do drugs and are violent and get shitty grades, and if you bring that shit here, well, we won't let you in, fuckers!

It's like Nancy Reagan when she told everyone to just say no. It's easy when you're a coddled millionaire, isn't it? Not so easy when you are surrounded by it and it is the economy your hood runs on.

Students are not treated with the respect they deserve. As kids, they react poorly and act out. Think about that the next time you as principal decide to call everyone into question by making them sign some shit that makes them promise not to be drug-addled killers.

I'm About To Make Changes To My Blog's Design

For years this blog has been laid out the same way, in old Blogger format. A few months back Google upgraded the design possibilities for bloggers. Some of the changes are great--page menus look better for one, and I want better page menus.

The templates are cool, but they all offer less space than the template I have CSSed to death to make it look the way it does.  I have given blockquotes a blue background, I fiddled with border weights and colors, and added a label cloud--all that will go away when I switch to the new template.

The new template won't look very different, but it will look cleaner, and some of the newer social media buttons Google offers should be available to me in the new template.

So, maybe the next time you come here things will look slightly different. If you notice problems with functionality, links, or just the way it looks, please email me and let me know. I want the blog to be easy to read (those of you who have black backgrounds for your blogs, they're hard to read. White backgrounds are easier to read).

So, when I publish this post, I will then head to the design area and click "Apply to blog" and there will be no turning back (well, I could revert, but don't want to). Here we go...

Update: So, it looks like everything worked. I even got to post my label cloud and put a blue background in blockquotes. I hope this makes it easier to read and link to/from.

TFT Welcomes Dr. Stephen Krashen

On Wednesday, August 24th at 3:30 I will be interviewing Dr. Stephen Krashen on Blog Talk Radio! I have lifted the Wikipedia information about the good Doctor and placed it here so you can get an idea of who he is, and what he has done, as well as why he should be heard.

He is a research machine.

I think I will ask him about his 1978 Venice Beach Open Incline Press/Nonsensical 100 meter dash win.

Hope you'll listen!

Work

Dr. Krashen has published more than 350 papers and books, contributing to the fields of second language acquisition, bilingual education, and reading. He is credited with introducing various influential concepts and terms in the study of second language acquisition, including the acquisition-learning hypothesis, the input hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the affective filter, and the natural order hypothesis. Most recently, Krashen promotes the use of  free voluntary reading during second language acquisition, which he says "is the most powerful tool we have in language education, first and second."

Awards

• 1982 : winner of the Mildenberger Award, given for his book, Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning (Prentice-Hall)
• 1985 : co-winner of the Pimsleur Award, given by the American Council of Foreign Language Teachers for the best published article
• 1986 : his paper "Lateralisation, language learning and the critical period" was selected as Citation Class by Current Contents
• 1993 : the Distinguished Presentation related to School Library Media Centers, was awarded to by editors of the School Library Media Annual
• 2005 : Krashen was inducted into the International Reading Association's Reading Hall of Fame.
• 2005 : elected at the National Association for Bilingual Education Executive Board.

Criticism

As education policy in Krashen’s home state of California became increasingly hostile to bilingualism, he responded with research critical of the new policies, public speaking engagements, and with letters written to newspaper editors. During the campaign to enact an anti-bilingual education law in California in 1998, known as Proposition 227, Krashen campaigned aggressively in public forums, media talk shows, and conducted numerous interviews with journalists writing on the subject. After other anti-bilingual education campaigns and attempts to enact regressive language education policies surfaced around the country, by 2006 it was estimated that Krashen had submitted well over 1,000 letters to editors.

In a front-page New Times Los Angeles article published just a week before the vote on Proposition 227, Jill Stewart penned an aggressive article titled 'Krashen Burn' in which she characterized Krashen as wedded to the monied interests of a "multi-million-dollar bilingual education industry." Stewart critically spoke of Krashen as the father of bilingual education. Krashen has been widely criticized in conservative and nativist political circles due to his influence on the field of language minority education, second language acquisition, and his efforts to educate the public on matters related to English language learners in schools.

Krashen has been an advocate for a more activist role by researchers in combating the public's misconceptions about bilingual education. Addressing the question of how to explain public opposition to bilingual education, Krashen queried, "Is it due to a stubborn disinformation campaign on the part of newspapers and other news media to deliberately destroy bilingual education? Or is it due to the failure of the profession to present its side of the story to reporters? There is a great deal of anecdotal evidence in support of the latter." Continuing, Krashen wrote, "Without a serious, dedicated and organized campaign to explain and defend bilingual education at the national level, in a very short time we will have nothing left to defend."

Personal

Dr. Krashen also holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and was the winner of the 1978 Venice Beach Open Incline Press/Nonsensical 100 meter dash Championship. He spent two years in Ethiopia teaching English and science with the Peace Corps.

From Wikipedia

Coming Up On TFT's Blog Talk Radio Show...

TFT Welcomes Peter Hooke

• by The Frustrated Teacher
• in Education
• on Fri, Aug 19, 2011 03:30PM

TFT Welcomes Sahila ChangeBringer

• by The Frustrated Teacher
• in Education
• on Mon, Aug 22, 2011 03:30PM

TFT Welcomes Dr. Stephen Krashen

• by The Frustrated Teacher
• in Education
• on Wed, Aug 24, 2011 03:30PM

Teachers Should Be Principals

I wrote this about a year ago as a guest post at Dangerously Irrelevant. I think it deserves a fresh look!

What Do Teachers Need From Administrators?

What do I need from administrators? It seems to be a huge question, and I am not sure why. Administration, in my experience in elementary schools in California's Bay Area, seems to be a tool of policy makers, not defenders of good, wholesome educational practices--they are the purveyors of fads. Or maybe they are simply trying to stay employed.

I have had principals who never taught in an elementary classroom. I've had principals who have been out of a classroom for 20 years, yet still think they are current. My district has gone through 3 superintendents in 10 years, each with his/her own "bee in the bonnet" about something that has more to do with money than educating kids. It's a sorry state of affairs.

Administration/principals in a school, IMHO, should be made up of current teachers. Actually, administrator should be a non-education based job--administrators should not be principals. At big hospitals there a managers who manage the business side, leaving medical personnel to do medicine. Sure there is a chief medical person, but that person is chiefly medical and only meets with the MBAs when money versus best practices is at issue, not to decide on medical procedures, ideally.

I want this for schools. Principals are too busy dealing with budgets--being the tools of the board and superintendent. School districts spend an inordinate amount of time dealing with money--cutting programs, overworking staff, eliminating positions--because America has chosen war over children, or something similar. Principals, who started as teachers, are not best used as OMB-type employees. They started out as educators, and should remain leaders of education in schools, not budget cutting consultants who come in fresh, ready to cut and slash.

I would like to see an administration separate the double role principals play into 2 distinct roles: the money role (administrator) and the educational leader role (principal). I propose to do it like this:

Let's assume a district with 12 elementary schools--a 1-high school town. In this town there would be an MBA type administrator (or 2) who would deal with the money for all schools--budgets would be prepared and analyzed by this MBA's staff and then presented to the educational leaders at each school. I call them educational leaders because they would be teachers. Let me explain, because here is where I go nuts:

The principal of an elementary school should be working with parents, teachers and children, not budgets and money management. In order to have an educator (teacher) as principal we would need to do something very different in terms of credentialing. Imagine if all teachers were not just credentialed as a teacher, but also as an administrator (principal)? The administrator classes one needs to take to get an administration credential are few, making them an easy addition to a regular credential program. By combining a regular credential with an administrator supplement, making a new, more robust single credential, there is suddenly a large number of those who could be principal.

In my scenario, teachers with the new credential would rotate from year to year as principal. Sure, it is similar to a teacher-led school, but my idea changes credentialing and traditional administration of schools. If I am a classroom teacher this year, I might be principal next year, then my buddy teacher the year after that with me returning to the classroom. This puts educators and colleagues in charge of the school--with no worries about finances because they are taken care of by the "money-man."

I like the idea because my experience with administration has been an adversarial one with money pitted against what's best for kids. What would this new principal/teacher be able to do? Freed from an Excel spreadsheet a principal would have time to help with the actual teaching of students and professional development of teachers. Staff meetings would take on an air of a team working toward more cohesion and attentiveness to the needs of students as opposed to the constant strum and drang of management-speak.

A principal should be a classroom expert, especially in elementary school.  They should be part of the school team, not part of the management adversariat.

Teachers should run schools.  Schools are not businesses.

TFT Will Interview Bradley Rees Monday, 8-15-11

Join me tomorrow at 3:30 Pacific (Blog Talk Radio) for what should be an interesting conversation with Bradley S Rees, former congressional candidate and Tea Party member.

We will talk about education reform and why the reformers seem to ignore the truth.

The show will only be a half hour long, and surely won't be enough time. And that is why I am asking you all to help me fund a Pro Account at Blog Talk Radio--a $400/year investment. I also need a new computer, and am hoping to raise $900 to fund both those things. Please consider making a donation.

Is This Blog Loading Slowly For You Too?

This blog seems to be loading slowly. I have tried to rectify it, and am simply letting you know.