We need more black men like Roy Jones of Call Me MISTER to work with young black men and keep them on the path to graduation and college completion. Let's make it happen.

What’s on the minds of the dropout nation today:

1. Diane Ravitch’s new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System is certainly getting heavy play. Honestly, the book is just a step above bargain bin material from my perspective. Others feel the same way:  Cato Institute education czar Andrew Coulson notes that Ravitch offers little in the way of cogent policy analysis. She can’t comment on charter schools or vouchers because she’s education historian, not a policy analyst or a researcher of any kind. Declares he: “They should never have been given credence in the first place.” Although I will state that Coulson’s argument is a bit faulty (based on his theory, most school reformers also wouldn’t qualify), he is right to state clearly what should be known by now: Ravitch is the Evan Bayh of education policy.
2. Orestes Brownson is even more dismissive of Ravitch than Coulson or I would be. He also gives school reformers some grief: “One wishes, in vain, that education reformers would take their noses out of the test score tables and draft curriculae and talk about whether parents have a right to educate their children as they see fit… or not.” Understandable point, although I would argue that it isn’t exactly an either or. Parents should have the right to send their children to any high-quality educational options. At the same time, letting parents send children to failing schools is as much neglectful (and, dare I say, abusive) as physical abuse. There is a reasonable balance between anything goes and absolute restriction. Common core standards, from my perspective, seems unnecessary. Why? Because the National Assessment of Educational Progress already does a fine job of setting the bar for where states should be in terms of standards.
3. For a masterful historian on education, one need not go to Ravitch. There is Jeffrey Mirel, whose treatise on the failings of the comprehensive high school system should be widely read by those interested in why high schools need reform (and why ability tracking should be abandoned altogether). His book on the history of Detroit’s public schools system should also be read. One need not agree with all of his conclusions in order to appreciate his scholarship.
4. As Dropout Nation readers know, long-term pension and retiree health benefits and the evidence that seniority doesn’t equal quality are the two main forces that may lead to the end of traditional teachers compensation. Another reason why: The civil rights movement, which is now beginning to fully understand the consequences of seniority-based job protections (and the damage of “last hired-first fired” policies) to low-income students. As reported last month by the Los Angeles Times, the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the L.A. Unified School District for laying off its young teachers (and by proxy, being contractually unable to replace them with experienced teachers who don’t want to teach in schools serving poor children). At Samuel Gompers Middle School, the principal there recruited a highly-talented team of young teachers just to see them laid off; the school now depends on a rotating team of lower-quality substitutes. If the ACLU succeeds, this will result in a shock to every urban school system in the nation. And the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers will find themselves even more on the defensive.
5. In Tupelo, Miss., a group called 150 Men is teaming up with the local school district to mentor 150 young black male dropouts and get them back into school, according to WTVA. It is part of a larger effort by the district to get more black churches and fraternities to take the achievement gap and the dropout crisis as seriously as they took the fight against segregation five decades ago.
6. John Fensterwald notes that a few parent groups are asking state officials about the use of the Parent Trigger and open enrollment rules that can now be used by parents to either restructure failing schools their children attend or move them to better-performing schools in the area  (whether in their home district or outside of it). The two promising moves can help improve the quality of education for the poorest children. But as Fensterwald points out, the state hasn’t given thorough guidance on the use of either one. By the way, check out the Dropout Nation Podcast on Parent Trigger for more perspective.
7. The Common Core Standards initiative being headed up by the National Governors Association and the Council for Chief State School Officers has unveiled its math and English standards for comment. Feel free to leave your comments. Checker Finn has already offered his.

Check out this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast on next steps for Race to the Top. And read this week’s report on the possible impact of the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights efforts.

Photo courtesy of the New York Times

What’s happening today in the dropout nation:

1. President Barack Obama’s further declaration of the administration’s efforts to turnaround failing schools — including a program called Grad Nation — is gaining the usual amount of coverage. Andy Rotherham and one of the other Ed Reform Andys (Smarick) each have their own thoughts. Let’s just say no one thinks school turnaounds are the sole silver bullet (if at all). Meanwhile, you can watch Obama’s speech on video and visit America’s Promise’s Web site for more information on Grad Nation
2. In the HuffPo, Trish Williams discusses how to develop indicators that show how turnaround academic performance in America’s middle schools, which help foster the nation’s dropout crisis. Tom Vander Ark already has his own answer: Get rid of them.
3. Speaking of graduation rates, Alabama is finally revising its calculation in order to better-reflect reality, according to NBC’s Birmingham television affiliate. And the reality? Just 65 percent of the state’s freshmen graduate in four years (instead of the 85 percent rate it currently reports).
4. And speaking of Obama, the Washington Post reports that the president annoyed the American Federation of Teachers with his remarks in support of the firing of 93 teachers in Central Falls, R.I., after they failed to get in line with a much-needed school turnaround program. AFT President Weingarten, whose Rhode Island affiliate is defending the teachers, argues that Obama’s views “don’t reflect the reality on the ground.” She’s right. It’s even worse: Most laggard teachers keep their jobs. They shouldn’t. Same for central office administrators, who, in most cases, negotiate teachers union contracts that don’t allow principals to remove poor performers (or keep tenured laggards out) of classrooms.
5. Doctoral candidate (and former administrator) Eric L. Waters — whose Twitter feed is a must-follow in my book — looks at the underlying causes of low graduation rates among young black women. As with black males, this is an important issue to address as part of solving the dropout crisis

Check out the Dropout Nation Twitter feed for constant news on the reform of American public education. Also listen to this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast on fostering “impromptu leaders” for school reform.

And for your first week of March, enjoy a little Dave Matthews:

Just to let you know, check out my latest American Spectator column, this on battles over fixing umderfunded pensions and reforming how teachers are compensated for their work. As you have read here, battles in N.J., Pennslyvania, Vermont and even Utah are harbingers of battles (and possible teachers union reverses) to come. Also, listen to the Dropout Nation Podcast on the taxpayer motivations for revamping teachers compensation. Enjoy and keep warm.

Time to collect her dues. Van Roekel will join her with the collection plates.

What’s happening in the post-State of the Union dropout nation:

1. Politicians often double-talk their way out of trouble, but President Barack Obama has special reason to do so. Amid Democrat electoral losses — including scandal-tarred Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s defeat at the hands of Scott Brown — is stirring fears of widespread losses in November. So Obama is going to play nice with the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. But at what price? Read more in my latest analysis in The American Spectator.
2. At Flypaper, Smooth Mike offers his own thoughts on last night’s State of the Union address. Unlike Obama (or yours truly), he doesn’t think that education is the best anti-poverty program around. Kevin Carey has different thoughts (of course). Meanwhile Bob Wise of the Alliance for Excellent Education calls for a quick reauthorization of No Child.
3. Monise Seward considers the problems of dropping out among special ed and ELL students.
4. The Economist takes a look at higher education spending and California’s peculiar problems in funding it. Should there be more funding? Less? As everyone knows, I’ve written a primer about the issues related to funding.
5. Tom Vander Ark notes what excites — and displeases — him about Race to the Top and the i3 education technology efforts.
6. The National Charter School Research Project comes out with its latest annual report on the state of charters. Interesting read.
7. The latest state applications for the federal stimulus’ State Fiscal Stabilization Fund are now available.
8. In the Detroit News, the head of the NEA’s Michigan affiliate isn’t too happy with accusations that her union allegedly bullied some districts into not signing onto the Wolverine State’s Race to the Top initiatives. Iris Salters declares that the reform effort is merely “a catchy name.” Except for coming from a traditional education perspective, her argument is no different than that of a few libertarian and conservative reformers who will not be named.
9. At EducationNews, Michael Shaughnessy interviews school activist Jim Freeman, who gets it right when it comes to overuse of suspensions and expulsions, and wrong when it comes to testing. Once again, perpetuating the myth of high-stakes testing.
10. Martin Haberman offers some more reasons why many urban districts are failing. He notes that more than half of aspiring teachers taught by university ed school programs never enter the profession. Astounding.
11. The Dallas Morning News‘ William McKenzie notes the latest NCTQ survey of teacher preparation at the state level. Texas doesn’t come off looking good — especially after Gov. Rick Perry decided to ditch Race to the Top participation.
12. In Rochester City Paper, the upstate New York city’s mayor’s effort to take control of the district is dissected by Tim Louis Macaluso. Let’s just say Mr. Macaluso isn’t impressed with the mayor’s talking points.

Don’t forget to check out this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, which focuses on the high cost of teacher compensation and tenure for America’s taxpayers — and how it will drive the efforts to revamp how teachers are paid and evaluated. Also read last week’s Dropout Nation articles, including yesterday’s This is Dropout Nation report on Cleveland’s special ed problem.

Being Randi Weingarten’s successor as head of the American Federation of Teachers’ New York City local isn’t easy. But Michael Mulgrew has definitely earned the ire of charter school supporters, school reformers and others for his strident opposition to lifting New York State’s restrictions on charter school growth. The role he and his counterpart at the state AFT affliate played in torpedoing the Empire State’s Race to the Top plans, in particular, came up during yesterday’s Alliance for Excellent Education pow-wow on New York City’s school reform efforts courtesy of a New York Post reporter; predictably, Mulgrew denied he had anything to do with it. Mulgrew also spent time dodging questions and comments about D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s efforts, which he politely pointed out, had nothing to do with him or New York City.

Certainly, much of what Mulgrew is doing is mere posturing. The reality is that New York City taxpayers, long-tired of woeful public schools, are satisfied that schools chieftain Joel Klein and his boss, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, are on the right track. The growing pension burdens, along with the federal push for increasing charters and reforming the teaching profession, means that Mulgrew will eventually give in. If Klein can throw in another 43 percent increase in teachers salaries over time (as he did in the past decade), Mulgrew will cave in even more quickly.

At least one can say Mulgrew is thoughtful about the role of technology in education. In this clip, he says that testing and technology is as important in improving how teachers instruct their students as it is for holding schools (and teachers — though he won’t say this) accountable. He also briefly notes that middle schools must be as much a focus of the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act as high school reform.

On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I discuss what will likely be the most-important driver for reforming how teachers are evaluated, compensated and given tenure: The high costs of traditional teacher compensation being borne by America’s taxpayers — including more than $367 billion in unfunded retirement healthcare liabilities for teachers and million-dollar lifetime retirement payouts — as seen in battles in Vermont, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod or MP3 player. Also, subscribe to get the podcasts every week. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, Podcast Alley and the Education Podcast Network.

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