One of the most frustrating things about the education debate in the US is the role the media plays. There seem to be two approaches: boiling down complexities into easily opposable, simplistic sets of statistics that steamroll all nuance, or the opposite: taking an often heart-wrenching anecdote or example and investing it with a truth far greater than it actually represents.
Davis Guggenheim's "Waiting for Superman" does the latter, and Green Dot Charter Schools founder Steve Barr is right to be unnerved by the debate that has emerged. Once again, the conversation about what works and does not work for kids for gets trampled under the divisive, emotional half-truth of "charter vs. union."
Brent Staples tries to undo some of the disservice done the debate with this opinion piece - and kudos to him, for he comes much closer to factual reporting that does Mr. Guggenheim's documentary or, say, the "poll of Mainers" that the Portland Press Herald published yesterday. He makes the point that, while unions (some more than others, in some places more than others) can be obstacles to change, they are by no means solely to blame for years of failure of many of the nation's public schools. "For years, urban politicians ransacked districts with patronage and fraud. Teachers chose to unionize in part to protect themselves from politicians." Having lived and worked in some of the most rural parts of the US, let me just point out that such ransacking is plenty prevalent in many of those communities as well.
But "charter vs. union" is not only the wrong debate, it forces the advocates and defenders of each to act in ways that confirm each side's fear about the other. Yes, unions, including those in Maine, protect teachers who should not be teaching. Yes, politicians who are run on their PAC money do not stand up to them, and should. But the best teachers in Maine are union teachers and the best charter schools are public schools. Those who make blanket condemnations of unions, teachers, or public schools almost always know next to nothing of value about how to make things better.
Someone who does is Steve Barr of Green Dot. I challenge every policy maker in Maine to read the excerpt of Mr. Staples editorial below...and then I'll issue another one.
"Charter schools run on public money but are allowed to function independently of the districts in which they reside. Nationally, most charter schools do no better in terms of student achievement, and far too many do worse. Green Dot is one of the stars of this movement.
Despite the fact that many of its 17 schools serve desperately poor, minority neighborhoods, its students significantly outperform their traditional school counterparts, on just about every academic measure, including the percentage of children who go on to four-year colleges.
Public schools generally do a horrendous job of screening and evaluating teachers, which means that they typically end up hiring and granting tenure to any warm body that comes along. Like other high-performing charter operations, Green Dot screens teachers closely — which means they get higher-quality teachers to start — and evaluates them frequently, with the aim of making them better at what they do.
The hard work pays off, including in staff stability. Despite rules that make it easier to fire staff members, last year Green Dot administrators terminated only 7 of more than 420 employees.
The film’s director, Davis Guggenheim, gives Green Dot a cameo shout-out in “Waiting for Superman.” But he did the story a serious disservice by not pointing out that these high-performing charter schools are fully unionized.
The 16 schools in California are affiliated with the National Education Association. The one recently started in the Bronx was put together by Green Dot and the New York affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. By rushing by this wrinkle, he sustained the sexy-but-mistaken impression that the country’s schools can’t move forward unless the unions are broken.
The real story is far more hopeful and more nuanced."
My challenge - to the union leadership, the candidates for governor and legislature, and the media - is to stop repeating what is less than true and defending what is less than our best. Union teachers in public charter schools with the authority and talent to ensure results for kids and families. Exactly what part of that are you arguing with?
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