The Educational Animal Kingdom

Why Educators Must Become Political Animals

      This is an extremely interesting opinion article written by Mary Esther Van Shura on the role of educators in the political realm. The article starts off by explaining why people in positions of power are typically described as "animals" and what that metaphor typically means. The author's main point was to address the need of our educational leaders, principals and superintendents specifically, to become political animals. The article states that those with influence are frequently portrayed as creatures of immense appetite operating with reckless disregard for the needs of others, which could be seen as a little rough. But the thought is that it is necessary for our educational leaders to take on the political persona to fight for what is right in their field with the right knowledge and language to combat those with "higher power". The author really wanted to portray the importance in determining the level of congruence between the school-community profile and the greater community’s electoral makeup and just how our leaders can do that. The author offers up the animal kingdom as thus:

The tigers (the voters)
The zebras (the unions)
The hippopotamus (the bureaucracy)
The monkeys (intergovernmental forces and/or lobbying groups)
The bats (social forces)
The hummingbirds (social media)
The owls (legal forces)
The bunnies (special interests)
The hunter (the media)
          
     The author went on to talk about the need for our educational leaders to understand the beasts of the kingdom but to also become one themselves, "It’s time for the educational establishment to recognize that the sustainability of efforts to promote accountability and academic excellence will be compromised if we do not have administrators who are proficient in the art and science of being a political animal." I really think that this is an awesome article with a great message that really puts the direction of our educational management into perspective.

4 day school week? Ah screw it, lets just drop the whole "education" thing

Don't Bet on Savings from a Four-Day School Week, ECS Says 

         This article really kind of made me wonder what kind of fools are running some of these school districts. I had heard a buzz about a thought of some school districts moving to a 4-day school week to save money but never did I ever think it was actually going to happen. Apparently as many as 120 school districts in 17 different states already have, and it didn't work. Really?!?? No way! Did these educational leaders really beleive that by cutting one fifth of the school week that they would actually save on 20% of their budget? I am honestly sickened by this. Our educational system is currently failing. NOT just on the financial end, our students test in the middle of the road internationally at best...and its getting worse. So we decide that its a good idea to shorten their instruction period AND give them a longer gap between lessons? I seriously want to puke. Michael Griffith of the Education Commission of the States put out a report that "On the whole, promises of savings from moving to a four-day week are vastly overstated..." and goes on to report that at most a district saved about 5% with the average falling between .4 and 2.5% savings by moving to a four day school week. I say fire the Superintendents of those districts, and everyone on the board of education that supervise them, fire every single one of them. I know my opinion sounds harsh, and it is, but there seriously has got to be a better way. Yes, times are hard these days especially for education but try to cut your losses, dont screw the budget and the instruction at the same time.

Yes, yes Invest!!!

Tennis Star Agassi, Bankers Team Up to Invest in Charters

             This article outlines a basic model to turn charter schools into a business interest for private investors. The concept is really quite interesting, literally have people invest money in schools that they put together as college preparatory courses? Hmmm. My first thought when reading the title and first part of the article was 'Really? These rich jerks are gonna try and find ANOTHER way to make profit off of us and our children? Get outa here with this crap. How are you gonna try and promote education with "Tennis star" Andre Agassi? Agassi used to be a meth addict! What kind of example does that set for education?' As I read on it became apparent that this was a serious endeavor with some real high level investing companies like Intel and Citi Bank, who have a really good history of community and educational involvement. My biggest reservation with the Charter school idea being funded completely by outside sources is what governing body will be setting their standards? Will the accreditation mean a good education for the students that they enroll? Also, with this being a charter school likely having tuition will this become an addition to the 'rich get richer'  by paying for better secondary education? I would also like to hear more about their plan for the actual educational direction. The article only talked about the business side of things, which again makes me skeptical. The thought is definitely interesting and something I would like to see culminate into a positive thing for our society, but for now I am not so sure.

Teach to the test. Teach to the test. Teach to the test. Taceh to the tset. Tcaeh to the tset.

Teaching Beyond the Test, to Make Room Again for Current Events

        This N.Y. Times article written by Michael Winerip is a piece that really makes us think about the standards set for AP testing and what kind of things are actually being covered. Chris Doyle, who is an AP history teacher, is doing his best to help students do well on the AP tests while still having in depth conversations and time dedicated to events that are current to the students. Doyle spends at least 5 weeks discussing the wars that the students he teaches have been a part of; Afghanistan, Iraq, and other significant events like 9-11. There was a great parallel that was made in the article between an advanced biology lesson and the lack of conversations and attention to the wars of late, “We studied how animals stop reacting to a stimulus after a certain length of time,” said a student of Doyle’s, “That’s what the war has become to us.” It really is sad that even our brightest students in high school are not challenged, at least by the tests, to formulate opinions and study the basis of the wars that we have all seen and been a part of in the last 15 years. I think that it is great when teachers like Doyle make sure to get kids to think critically about what is going on currently in the world around them, even when it isn’t a part of the test that he as a teacher will be evaluated on by the student’s test scores.