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Eminentoes
Charlie’s Teachable Moment
Vetoing school reform out of fear of his state’s teachers’ unions won’t exactly improve Charlie Christ’s standing with Florida conservatives.
Charlie Crist should know all too well about the price politicians pay for bad appearances. After all, it was the Florida governor’s hug of President Barack Obama last year during an event in the baseball spring season town of Ft. Myers — along with his support for the federal stimulus plan — that confirmed conservatives in their perception of him as a Republican in Name Only, and he now badly trails Marco Rubio in the GOP senatorial race.
So one would think Crist would take the opportunity this week to further his efforts to shatter those perceptions and bolster his attempted remake of himself as a sensible conservative by signing a school reform plan that would improve the quality of teaching in public schools (and improve student achievement) by ending the near-lifetime employment deals and degree- and seniority-based pay scales that have insulated teaching from any form of performance management. Not a chance. Cowed by affiliates of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers — who have staged protests and sick-outs in protest against the plan — Crist has gone from backing the measure to backtracking in order to conduct a “listening” campaign on whether to sign it into law. As of today, it appears he will veto it.
This time around, it isn’t just Florida’s conservatives who are upset with Crist’s waffling. The cadre of conservative and centrist Democrats who make up the nation’s school reform movement is equally annoyed with his indecision. So is Crist’s predecessor, Jeb Bush, whose foundation has been the primary force for reforming Florida’s public education system. The cadre, at least symbolically, includes Obama himself, who instigated this and similar reforms elsewhere through the $4.3 billion Race to the Top initiative. Declared the Wall Street Journal in an editorial last week: “Floridians will have to decide whether they want a Senator who’s tempted to side with the adults who run public schools instead of with the children who attend them.”
Whether Crist signs the bill or vetoes it by Friday, his indecision has proven once again the harsh lesson learned by Republican and Democrat alike: it’s often better to be principled to a fault than milquetoast by a mile. Reforming public schools often proves to be especially troublesome for someone of Crist’s apparent lack of fortitude. After all, the NEA and AFT have the advantage of vast campaign war chests, rank-and-file members who can work statehouse corridors and school buildings, and ties to suburban school districts (whose images as being academically superior often take a hit with nearly every reform measure). Save for the backing of chambers of commerce, school choice-oriented organizations and reform-minded foundations, school reformers often start out at a political disadvantage.
Reforming teacher benefits — especially tenure, the protected job status that guarantees teachers near-lifetime employment — is difficult because its strikes at the very heart of the bargain that teachers’ unions have struck with their rank-and-file. Baby boomer teachers, who make up 36 percent of all teachers, are especially loath to subject themselves to the kind of evaluations to which their private sector peers are subjected. Earlier efforts to reform tenure have either been defeated (as in the case of Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s effort in 2005) or were passed only to be reversed soon after. But the high cost of teacher compensation, along with President Obama’s focus on teacher quality, has now given governors leverage to attempt stronger reforms. For a politician, the ability to withstand teachers’ union opposition translates into the perception that he will also be able to tackle important debates on the Hill with equal fortitude.
At the heart of Crist’s moment of political truth is Senate Bill 6, a package of reforms passed last week by the state legislature as part of the effort to gain as much as $700 million in Race to the Top funding. Under the recently passed bill, Sunshine State teachers would no longer have tenure, would be evaluated largely on how well their students performed on tests, could be fired if they failed to improve student learning for two out of three years, and would only keep their teaching licenses if they improved student performance for four out of five years. Teachers would earn raises only if they had measurably improved student achievement (currently, raises are automatic cost-of-living). To improve the worst-performing schools — and to end the practice of teachers moving from those schools to nicer, easier-to-teach classrooms — talented instructors would get extra pay if they agreed to stay in those classes (or move over to them).
Naturally, SB 6 doesn’t sit well with the Florida Education Association, the NEA and AFT affiliate that, along with its sister unions, has spent the past five decades making teaching among best-compensated profession in the public sector and the position most-insulated from even desultory performance management practices. In Florida, where newly hired teachers gain tenure in a mere three years, the job can be particularly comfy: Just four-tenths of one percent of tenured Sunshine State teachers are ever dismissed, according to the otherwise union-friendly Center for American Progress, a rate lower than the already-abysmal 1.4 percent national average. Proclaims FEA President Andy Ford: “This bill is anti-student, anti-teacher, anti-parent, and anti-public schools.”
But the proposal is a darling among school reformers, especially among conservatives. Rick Hess, the avuncular education czar at the American Enterprise Institute, declares SB 6 to be “the most ambitious teacher quality legislation any state has yet contemplated.” For good reason: The emergence of value-added assessment, which allows for the measurement of student test-score growth (and, in turn, teacher performance) over time, along with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, offers states and districts the tools to assess the quality of teaching staffs. The resulting research shows that the quality of teaching is more likely to affect student achievement than socioeconomic background.
The research also shows that tenure and degree- and seniority-based pay scales have little effect on student learning; a teacher is no more successful in improving student achievement after 25 years of teaching than an instructor working for four years, according to a report by Dan Goldhaber and Michael Hansen of the Center for Reinventing Public Education. The current system doesn’t reward talented younger teachers for their efforts — nearly half of all newly graduated teachers never enter the classroom — while it keeps veteran instructors secure in their positions whether or not they deserve their jobs.
Given the support from conservatives, school reformers on both sides of the political aisle, along with the Obama administration’s own efforts to reform teacher quality, there’s no reason Crist shouldn’t sign the bill. He shouldn’t even fear teachers’ union opposition; the FEA, for example, has given all but a pittance of its $551,700 in campaign donations in the past decade to Democrats. Or so you would think. But within the past month — and despite his low standing among even moderate Republicans — Crist has flip-flopped like Shamu during a SeaWorld performance.
Last month, Crist declared that he would sign SB 6. But by last week, Crist had changed his mind. Complaining that fellow Republicans who control the state legislature were behaving like congressional Democrats who rammed through the healthcare reform plan, Crist demanded that they weaken the bill. When the Republicans passed the bill unchanged, Crist declared that he was at a personal impasse; it didn’t help that the FEA and its affiliates have taken to the streets against the plan. When confronted with his flip-flopping, Crist insists that “I’m not reconsidering, I’m just thinking.”
Now as Crist seems likely to veto the bill, he will likely go from merely unpopular within his own party to political pariah. Former Gov. Bush — still a popular figure in the Sunshine State — had stayed out of the primary even though Rubio is one of his protégés (and in spite of Bush’s own acrimony with Crist). His successor’s flip-flopping has already led Bush to write an op-ed in support of the bill; giving Rubio his explicit endorsement may be his next step. Statehouse Republicans such as Majority Whip Carlos Lopez-Cantera now complain, “The strain of Charlie Crist’s political campaign is starting to show and interfere with his job as governor.”
Given that fellow Republican governors such as California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger and Indiana’s Mitch Daniels (along with Democrats such as Deval Patrick in Massachusetts and even Obama himself) have successfully stood up to the NEA and AFT, Crist simply appears unworthy of any higher office.
At this rate, Crist’s own tenure in politics will be much shorter than that of the average teacher.
About the Author
RiShawn Biddle the editor of Dropout Nation , is co-author of A Byte at the Apple: Rethinking Education Data for the Post-NCLB Era. He can be followed at Twitter.com/dropoutnation.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (32) | Leave a comment
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Pingback| 4.15.10 @ 7:10AM
Watch: Arne Duncan on Education and Civil Rights links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Melvin| 4.15.10 @ 7:40AM
Message to Charlie, "Sir, you have just proven that you are an contemptible Ass, who isn't even worthy to hold the title of County Dog Catcher."
Son Of Sam| 4.15.10 @ 12:38PM
Melvin, I couldn't agree more. As a public school teacher, I want everyone here to know that a lot of us want nothing to do with the likes of Obama, Crist, or the rest of the damned thieving politicians out there who claim to be standing up for us while they're just grabbing off a hunk for themselves.
Btw, why do education union presidents not actually teach? Because they need both hands free to stab backs and take bribes
stand strong until freedom dawns
Son Of Sam
IMKessel| 4.15.10 @ 3:30PM
SOS,
Also a fellow PS teacher and most Dems and Liberals do not in any way represent my interests or the interests of my students.
Hasukawa| 4.16.10 @ 10:07AM
I, too, am a PS teacher who thinks the Dems and Libs are WAY off base, especially when it comes to education. Thank God I teach in Texas, where contracts come up for renewal every year and a teacher's contract can simply be refused renewal for the up-coming year.
1FreeMan| 4.15.10 @ 8:37AM
Gov. Crist came in with such promise. He failed. Once in office he exposed himself as a RINO and cowered to leftist pressure. My home state of Florida is weaker for his presence and lack of leadership. This tool of liberals has no business in the senate. Vote this bum out! He needs to be a one term Gov.
It is time we hold republicans feet to the fire. Betray the values you run on, betray the people, betray conservatives who you claim to represent and you get fired! No second chance for RINO's, EVER!
elgordo| 4.15.10 @ 9:58AM
As a Floridian I will be glad to see Crist disappear from public office.
As governor he endangers the financial health of FL by having the state act as insurer against hurricane damage.
Matt Morehouse| 4.15.10 @ 10:20AM
Crist and his fellow travelers will perish in the fires of November.
Pingback| 4.15.10 @ 11:22AM
Poll: Crist ahead in general election, trails in GOP primary (Morning Update) | Inter links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
WB| 4.15.10 @ 11:24AM
He knows he's done -- he's just going through the motions at this point. Even if he tries the laughable tack of running as an "Independent" he's not going to have any measurable impact on the elections in November.
elgordo| 4.15.10 @ 10:52PM
Bad News. Saw a poll this evening on FOX that indicates he might win a 3 way race as an Independent.
MDS| 4.15.10 @ 11:49AM
I'm a conservative and a Florida teacher. Unfortunately, your article exhibits an overly simplistic, "us against them" mentality. Senate Bill 6 is not a conservative bill. To the contrary, it takes power away from local districts and puts it in the hands of Tallahassee bereaucrats. Furthermore, it assumes that student performance is a "product" whose quality can be measured much as widgets coming off an assembly line. Anyone who has been in a classroom will tell you differently. Could it be that you are in favor of the SB6 because the union opposes it? One last point: NCLB brought about the greatest expansion of federal power over education ever. This is conservative?! If so, then perhaps you need to rethink what your definition of "conservative" is.
Thomas| 4.15.10 @ 11:54AM
Charlie Christ is who he is, another Republican right out of the McCain, Specter mold.
But, I want to address SB 6, for a moment. SB 6 is simply bad legislation. It is written to govern performance in a specialized field by people who have little knowledge of that field and, in most cases, no experience in it. It penalizes teachers who have little control over their curriculums, their teaching materials or the student composition of their classes. It does not affect the current roster of teachers as they operate under existing contracts and pay scales and it provides no standards or penalties for those who actually run the schools. It does not address classroom security and the ability of the teacher to maintain discipline. It does not address teacher input and control of the class curriculum and teaching materials and practices. All that it does is penalize the teacher for things over which he or she has no control. The only thing it will accomplish is to drive good teachers into administrative positions, into the private school sector or out of the teaching profession altogether. And, there will still be little or no improvement in student performance. Simply because the students, themselves, have no interest in performing well.
Education has always required that the individual student meet certain academic requirements to graduate. Teachers do not set these standards; school boards, school administrators and even legislatures do. And after meeting these standards, many public school graduates still can not read above a 5th grade level, are confounded by simple arithmetic and have virtually no knowledge of history, geography, civics, or literature. And, they do not care. The fault for that does not rest with the teacher. It rests with the public education system and society as a whole. And as long as parents continue to send children to the first grade unable to read, spell or do simple addition and subtraction, and without a desire to accomplish something, we will continue to graduate illiterates, or produce illiterate dropouts.
IN 1998, The FCAT was introduced in the State of Florida. It was designed to set standards for promotion and graduation so that graduates would have a basic skill set that would allow them to function reliably in society. In the eleven years that it has been used, it has proven to be a dismal failure. There was no meaningful overall increase in the abilities of graduating students. It, like SB 6, was linked to monetary rewards for student performance. Yet, it made no allowance for demographic phenomenon, such as education level of the community, that directly impacted upon ability of the student to absorb and utilize the material presented. Because of this, it encouraged schools to "teach the test" and to encourage lower achieving students to either dropout or transfer to technical schools to maintain a high rating for the school. Lower class sizes were next blamed for the lack of student performance. Class size was limited by constitutional amendment. This produced no measurable performance enhancement, but it did increase the schools' budgets significantly. SB 6 will produce the same results as all of the other legislative fixes to the problems of public education, no significant change.
Society has tried scapegoating the school systems and individual schools, the number of students in a classroom and now it is the teachers. When the true culprit is the parents and society. Children are simply not taught the need to master certain skills to survive in society before they arrive at school. SB 6 is simply based upon a flawed concept and the implementation of that concept is horribly flawed.
This is just further evidence that anything that government is involved in rapidly turns to crap.
WT McDavid| 4.15.10 @ 10:42PM
Listen to Thomas. . . This is the most intelligent comment on this page. Having spent the last 5 years in a classroom, I can honestly say different groups or mixes of kids within a classroom change the learning dynamic. I have been trying to determine why one class outperforms another all year. I've employed new technology, interactive learning, computer research projects, inquiry learning and lab activities . . . it is not for my lack of trying. There is a lack of intrinsic value within many of these students and without this desire they simply cannot work through problems on their own. (and don't forget)
We have a limited amount of time to teach state standards . . . how many weeks can be spent on learning one out of 85 different standards?
First, I believe the students that show low performance need to stay an extra month before any credit can be applied to their transcript. This school extension should be based on the results of my next idea.
Secondly, students need to be tested on the standards more than once a year. I would suggest testing them at least once each 9 weeks. We do have small quizzes in my class but I would like something more substantial and school wide.
If we want successful students the students need at least some portion of accountability.
Publius| 4.15.10 @ 3:49PM
MDS,
"Could it be that you are in favor of the SB6 because the union opposes it"?
Well, that's a good place to start.
John| 4.15.10 @ 10:20PM
At the risk of offending some of my fellow teachers who actually work in the classroom, I would ask just what the hell is this garbage about "teaching to the test"?? FCAT is a pain but it's tyhe best way to-date to measure just how well the student/teacher has done. Yeah, we all hear the moans and cries of anguish but I see that from the teachers who really are unsure of their impact. Anybody ever hear high school teachers gripe about the college admission tests...oh that's right, it doesn't measure the teachers' impacts.
Truth be known, a good portion of the "educational" system is really rather shallow. Consider just how the teachers in the publc systems scream in anguish when the word "voucher" is mentioned, when " homeschooling" is considered, or when teacher accountability comes into view. Lest this be construed as an indictment on all teachers, it isn't. But it is for the loudest who parade among us as "educators".
bluecollarbytes| 4.15.10 @ 10:44PM
Students and their needs seem only incidental to the institution of "public education" and the prioritized needs of teachers.
david B| 4.16.10 @ 12:56AM
I have taught in Florida public schools for the past 16 years and know precisely why a bill like SB6 was conceived and passed in the legislature: Individual teachers and especially the teachers unions. Talk to the parents of any kid beyond the upper elementary grades and you're almost certain to hear a horror story or two about a teacher who was incompetent, unfair, lazy, ill-prepared, unprofessional, etc. Something you are not as likely to hear about cops, firefighters or other "public servants" whose salaries we pay through our tax dollars. These bad apples in the teaching profession spoil the whole bunch in the eyes of the public. Throw in the common perception of teachers unions as interested only in protecting the jobs of terrible teachers and negotiating salary increases while opposing standardized testing, merit pay and charter schools, and the push for greater accountability is understandable.
That being said, SB6 is a deeply flawed bill that I do not support because it goes too far to the opposite extreme. Hopefully, we'll see a compromise that genuinely puts students first by insuring that we've got incentives in place to attract and keep the most highly-qualified, highly-effective educators along with a means for weeding out the deadwood.
JmsA| 4.16.10 @ 1:58AM
Following the Fox News Sunday debate between Messrs. Crist and Rubio, I believe Mr. Crist capable of doing anything to try to get elected, and that includes running as an independent--ultimately not only to the detriment of Mr. Rubio, but more importantly, the great State of Florida.
Pingback| 4.16.10 @ 9:04AM
Rewind: The Dropout Nation Podcast: The High Cost of Teacher Pay | Dropout Nation: Co links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Richard Baker| 4.17.10 @ 7:36AM
david B:
The police and fireman don't have the responsibility of teaching our children so any comparison is apples and oranges. I was a teacher in a Florida High School and the inmates run the asylum. Whether the kids learn or not is beside the point. Rampant careerism is precisely the point. Since the teachers and administrators are directly connected to the kids then who should be held responsible for the dropout rates and low levels of knowledge, the crossing guards or the bus drivers?
Pingback| 4.19.10 @ 1:39AM
Conservative Women's Forum :: Chapel Hill, NC » Blog Archive » Charlie Crist Shows Tr links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.25.10 @ 12:49AM
The Dropout Nation Podcast: Finding Courageous Politicians for School Reform links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 5.10.10 @ 7:01AM
Four Thoughts on Teacher Quality links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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