Will Obama's Pillars of Reform Work in Baltimore City?

I was so eager to hear President Obama's first real speech on education since being sworn into office. And I am happy to say that I was not let down. His speech on education reform (given on March 10th) was right on target with his campagin promises and also appeared to be right on target with many other American education reform iniatives. President Obama spoke eliquently as usual and even though he brought many serious issues to light, I still feel hopeful.

His speech focused on five pillars of education reform: early childhood iniatives, better assessments, rewards for outstanding teachers, innovation, and providing education to all. Although all made sense, the one that stood out for me was innovation. He showed particular interest in supporting charter schools and reforming the school year calendar. Are American Schools ready for this? Is Baltimore City School System ready for this?

I agree that the reasons for having summers off no longer apply to most American children. I don't think any of my students spend their summers farming and tending to their families' land. However, this cultural shift would be huge for my students, their families and teachers. Many of my students and their families would have a difficult time with this simply because of the drastic change. Vacations, childcare, and custody issues would certainly come into play. I would predict that the first few years' attendance would be poor. And what about the teachers? Yes, the students would forget less and yes, the shift to the next grade would be smoother. But what about us? Summers off are not only a time for us to recharge our batteries for the next year, but they are also a time for professional development. I would be interested in what a survey of BCPSS teachers would say. I suppose I'm on the fence with this issue...I also worry about the economic cost to BCPSS. Many of the school buildings are not air conditioned properly and the cost to repair these buildings and air condition them would be quite expensive. Not to mention the cost of staffing and transportation.

My second concern is with the charter schools in BCPSS. Many of our charter schools are wonderful institutions and promote exactly what President Obama hopes to see in them: innovation, choice, and support. However, Maryland's charter school law is not strong and it would be unfortunate if our charter schools movement grew too fast. The paperwork involved in shifting students around Baltimore City is staggering. Many students move through three or four schools a year and this includes charter schools. I've been involved in too many situations involving special education students not getting the proper services because the paperwork was lost or had not arrived to a charter school (or other BCPSS public school). The paperwork doesn't ever catch up with the child. Important information is never learned about these students and in the meantime a year of education is lost. My hope is that Baltimore City Schools can make this shift towards innovation slowly and with a lot of thought. We must evolve with the movement instead of jumping right in and learning from some very big mistakes afterwards.

The Question of Safety in Public Schools

             Today was the first day of spring and one of the topics that preoccupied my day was fighting in schools.  For a blog about urban reform, this might seem like a minor issue when compared with unequal funding, crumbling facilities, and poor achievement.  This said, when I look back at what school was like for me, fighting, especially the vicious fighting that I saw today, was not part of the situation.

            I teach at a northwestern Baltimore public middle school that has experienced more than it’s fair share of tragedy from school violence.  With the opening of spring and the conclusion of the first part of the MSA tests, I personally witnessed three terrible fights.  Also today, eight female students were arrested at Northwestern High School after a fight that involved around 30 girls, and a middle school student at Booker T. Washington was arrested after a fight with a teacher (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-northwestern0320,0,1818176.story).  In conversations with my colleagues, a number of teachers mentioned that today, being the start of spring, was just the beginning for this kind of misbehavior.  The sad part about what they were saying was not just that there is the potential for a great amount of physical violence in the school, but that it is part of an end-of-year status quo.

            Some might attribute the violence faced by urban schools to the environment in which students are raised.  Guerra, Huesmann, and Spindler (2003) conclude that witnessing violence in the community can create greater levels of aggression in students.  While this may be true, accepting violent physical manifestations of higher aggression levels as part of urban public school status quo is both unacceptable and blatantly unjust.  Not only might community environment influence the levels of violence of students, but so too does school environment and school climate (Welsch 2000).  Personally, I experience a large amount of frustration with unfair or unexplained rewards and consequences.  I constantly feel that the administration at my school is unclear and uncommunicative, that there is not a clear definition of unacceptable behavior, and that there is no consistency in response to misbehavior.  Not only is the poor school climate fostered by this kind of behavior frustrating for students, teachers, and parents, but it also stands to be the culprit in school violence.

            When thinking about urban reform in Baltimore City Public Schools, a strong judgment needs to be made about administrative policies and messaging of critical information to students.  In order to have a chance to affect achievement gains and support the whole student, there needs to be a commitment to the examination of the issue of school violence.  Clearly, either the policies in place now or the way in which they are being implemented in some public schools is ineffective.  Without providing a safe environment for all students, how can schools hope to be havens for learning and growth?

Texting Our Way to Safety

In a recent article on wbaltv.com (http://www.wbaltv.com/news/18912265/detail.html), it was reported that Baltimore City police are considering opening an anonymous bullying/violence texting line for Baltimore City students. This idea comes with the news that 1/3 of our students do not feel safe at their school and on the heels of a recent killing at William H. Lemmel, according to the article. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the city council president, says the anonymous aspect will allow any concerned party (students, teachers, parents) to not be labeled as a snitch. With an estimated 456 gang members in BCPSS, there seems to be some real danger posed to our students.

The idea of violence in our schools is scary, and I believe we should do all that we can to help our students feel safe in their learning environments. If it means purchasing metal detectors, hiring more school police officers, or putting more than one teacher in the most dangerous classrooms, then I say that we need to find the money. I realize that Mayor Dixon just announced major budget cuts citywide, but in an ideal world we’d have sufficient funds to create the best possible learning environments for all of our students. Students should never have to be afraid to come to school, regardless of where they come from. I think the text line is a good idea, in theory. However, in practice, it doesn’t have a good chance of working. Students are told that they may not have cell phones in school, and while many children don’t listen, countless teachers try to enforce that rule. Opening a text line is a direct contradiction of that rule and would give the students an excuse to whip out a cell phone whenever they felt like it. A student could just say that they felt threatened or unsafe and in reality be sending a text to their friend in the classroom next door. Further, I would be wary of prank texters. I think many teachers in our system are quite aware of the capacity of our students to elaborate on falsehoods just for entertainment value.

On the positive side, gearing a hotline towards students’ interests (we all know how popular texting has become!) could prove successful. If used in an appropriate way and outside of school hours, the proposed texting hotline may become a helpful avenue to increasing school safety.

Corporal Punishment... can I use that?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/08/20/corporal.punishment/

If you've ever taught 9th graders two weeks before spring break in Baltimore City, admit it... you've thought about harming them.  

According to the above article from CNN, over 200,000 US children were subjected to corporal punishment as a disciplinary practice at their schools in the 2006-2007 school year.   13 states "frequently" use corporal punishment as a behavior consequence- Missouri, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida.  

To quote Liz Lemon on "30 Rock"- "I want to go to there."

All joking aside, I have seriously wondered what punishments might be more effective for my students.  The minor consequences don't work- detention, conferences in the hall way, a parent phone call, the omnipotent seat move...  We're two weeks before spring break.  The kids aren't amateurs.  They're pulling out the big guns.  And all we can do is suspend them.

Suspensions are a joke.  The kids long for them, they want them.  They'll have a relaxing few days at home, then pop up and demand a work packet (printed out on my personal printer with my personal ink with my personal paper, of course).  For a truly troubled child, no consequence whatsoever can change their behavior.  Only relationship building and mutual respect between teacher and student can overcome the barriers- and it's difficult to build relationships with young people who refuse to shut their mouths.

So I'm left to my fantasies... and a great many of them involve corporal punishment.  Anyone up for petitioning the state of Maryland to repeal the ban on corporal punishment?  Anyone?  Get back to me next Monday morning.  

Budget Cuts...at the expense of what?

Sheila Dixon today announced budget cuts today; I am assuming this is in response to the tightening economy. Affected departments include the fire department and public works, but I was especially taken aback by her cuts in parks and recreation and public libraries. All except two libraries will now be closed on either Monday or Friday, several pools have been closed and the Easterwood Recreation Center will also be closing. Easterwood, closed from dropping enrollment and needed repairs, is across the street from my school and I know our school has benefitted from having a recreation center.
I respect that our mayor has to cut back on expenses. However, I can’t help but be a little angry. Dixon, indicted for perjury, theft and fraud, seems to be leaving less and less options for the children of this city...in the name of saving the budget. I think back to my own adolescence and how much I benefitted from having structured, safe, public places to go, such as libraries and recreation centers. Our city seems to be giving the message that it is not a civic duty to provide enriching leisure for our children. Where do they go as more and more public places close? What options will we leave them?

Some thoughts...

As a teacher at a “struggling” Baltimore City middle school, I am apprehensive of Alonso’s move toward the restructuring of failing schools. Right now, Alonso’s theory consists of the idea that failing schools need to be merged with successful schools in order to avoid downsizing and stimulate joint achievement. Is this really possible? I don’t know, but I do think that there are two things in particular that Alonso has overlooked in the past two years: the junior high school model of structuring and poor administrators.
One issue that I have with the restructuring of the city’s schools is the philosophy behind 6-12 buildings. I personally believe that using a junior high school model to bridge elementary school with high school can be much more effective. In my opinion, 6th graders do not need to be in a school with 12th graders. It’s much too large of an age difference between these grades. From my personal experience working in a middle school, merging my school with a high school is NOT going to fix the greater problems that exist within the walls of my building.
Another question that I have behind the whole restructuring debate has to do with the quality of administrators that are leading our schools. Alonso has made it a point to actively cut the extra jobs that have cost our system…but what about cutting the poor administrators that are failing our schools? And just exactly how is he holding them accountable? Over the last two years I have been appalled at the lack of professionalism by some administrators that have had the pleasure of working under. I cannot fathom how some of these people get appointed as leaders of our schools. And this fact is acknowledged by a number of my fellow colleagues at different schools across the system.
In the end, I am no expert on the philosophy behind school structure; all I’m saying is that I think a junior high school model would be more beneficial to our system because it groups students within appropriate grade levels together. In addition, I am not an administrator; I’m merely saying that we have some leaders who should not be leaders trying to run our schools. But I am a BCPSS teacher, actually in the classroom every single day, teaching, trying to avoid the constant instability of this school system.