This is Why We Do It

Some common criticisms of virtual education are that there is no real relationship with the teachers and that students aren’t really learning anything.  Many people think students are reading material and completing assessments like the old correspondence courses that I took in high school.  However, that is simply not true. I received an email from a student recently and was so encouraged and excited that I wanted to share:

“I just wanted to let you know that today all of your biology lessons were VERY useful. I competed in the SC state 4H hippology contest in Clemson. For part of the competiton, we had to take a written test to test our horse knowledge. I never expected to see familiar words like diploid and haploid chromosomes on there but sure enough, several of the questions asked about how many diploid or how many haploid chromosomes horses, donkeys,and zebras have. Also, there were questions about organelles and ATP and the energy released in its bonds. I was SO relieved haha. Who would have thought? I ended up getting second place overall in the competition and am going on to represent SC in the southern regional 4H hippology contest in Missouri this July. So I just wanted to say THANKS So MUCH!! “

This correspondence is a key example of the many great challenges and opportunities we are providing for our students through virtual education in South Carolina.  My student not only learned the material, but was able to apply it in a new situation and evaluate it in terms of it’s own impact in her life.  Doesn’t that hint of higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy as well as the Six Facets of Understanding???  In addition, my student clearly has a personal relationship with me.  She wants to share her good news and she knows that I will be rejoicing right along with her.

I’m proud of this student and thankful that she’ll be representing our school, our district, and our state in the national competition in Missouri in July.

Spread the Word…

South Carolina Minds at Work is an effort to get positive information about our state’s public schools known to the general public.  In a national survey, 46% of respondents had a negative opinion of the job opportunities in South Carolina and 41% had a negative opinion of higher education opportunities.  If people do not see value in our job market, we cannot thrive and compete on a national scale. 

 

Fortunately, SC is doing some really great things and we need to spread the word.  This data was pulled from, and can be accessed at www.scmindsatwork.com:

#1 – National Rank of SC for teacher quality 2 years running (Education Week 2011 Quality Counts)

#2 - National Rank of SC for virtual education (2009 Center for Digital Education)

#3 - National Rank of SC in total number of National Board Certified Teachers

#15 – National Rank of SC for academic policy and performance (Education Week 2011 Quality Counts)

#17 - National Rank of SC for preparation for educational challenges ahead (2009 US Chamber of Commerce)

#17 - National Rank of SC in preparing students for the workforce

$917 million – Scholarships earned by SC graduating seniors in 2010

$3.85 billion – Scholarships earned by SC graduating seniors in the past 5 years

In addition to these statistics, SC is also well known for many of it’s programs in action.  Please access the SC Minds @ Work site to read more.  Become informed, then help to inform others.  If we don’t share our great news with others, no one will ever hear!

Common Misconceptions about Charter Schools

 

The greatest issue with charter school legislation currently in South Carolina  is the miscommunication.  However all of us can help combat it through a grassroots effort if we are appropriately informed.  Even listening to the house debate this week, it is clear that some representatives don’t understand or are choosing to purposefully confuse people.  Here are the key misconceptions I am finding people continue to have:

•  We are private.  Many folks continue to write editorials, etc about us being private, charging fees, having no accountability, etc.  Remind them that our kids take all state tests, meet all state standards, and our schools must meet AYP.

 

• Why call them charter schools?  I’ve heard many folks say that, if they are truly equally public, why do charter schools have a distinctive name.  This is a misunderstanding of what a charter school is by definition.  Charter schools are schools of innovation – they provide something different for teachers and students that is not being done in the traditional schools.  Therefore, they have a distinction.

 

• We are state-funded.  I have a phone conversation set up for today with the man who first stated this in the state newspaper.  I’m eager to determine whether he knows something I don’t or whether her purposefully began calling charters state-supported in order to confuse.  Many educators think we are funded at a greater proportion by the state, like the Governor’s School, and therefore should not get any local funds.  This is simply not true.

 

• We are separate from K12 education.  I heard a representative comment about this in the general assembly debate.  He said he supported public charter schools as long as the funding does not come from K12 education funds.  To me, that is a grievous misunderstanding of who we are as we, too, are K12 education!  In order for charter schools to ever gain any footing, we must get everyone to understand that we are exactly the same in education, but look different.

 

• Our teachers are not certified.  As a result of the rule that allows 25% of charter school teachers to be uncertified, I am now hearing educators say that none of our teachers are certified.  They are envisioning zoos with crazy people rounding up children.  In fact, there are specific rules about what teachers can be non-certified and it leaves very little room for any non-certified educators in the classroom.  Remind people that all core courses and special ed educators must be certified instructors.  The only teachers that can be non-certified are electives that are not a part of the core curriculum and the Carnegie Units required for graduation.

 

• This opens a window to vouchers.  Many feel that supporting the funding of public charter schools would open a window to provide vouchers for private schools.  There are a lot of differences between private schools and public charter schools.  I can clearly see a difference in the training of the teachers and the rigor and accuracy of the curriculum at private schools.  Especially at the high school level, many of the math, history, and science curriculums are weak, watered down, and at times inaccurate.  Private schools are not free and equal access schools to all children because there is no transportation provided, fees will most likely still be charged (a voucher at per pupil rate would cover only half tuition for my child in his private school), the teachers are not required to be certified in core areas, the schools don’t teach state standards or participate in state accountability, and they are not certified and prepared to teach students with special needs.  If the private schools adjusted all of that, I would be in great support of vouchers – however, a move like that would make them cease to be private.  That’s a long way of saying, make sure folks realize there is a difference between sending money with the child to a public charter school that does meet all of those requirements and a private school that does not.

 

I hope this helps many of you as you seek to combat the misconceptions about our public charter schools here in South Carolina.  Good luck in your part of the battle to help validate the work our kids and teachers are doing in our public charter schools!

Charter Schools in the News: SCPCSD Gala

In January, the SC Public Charter School District held its annual gala.  State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais spoke, as well as a representative for Harlem Success Academy in New York.  Attendees viewed “The Lottery”.

The State Superintendent’s Plan for Education

I had the honor and privilege to attend the SC Teacher Forum Winter Workshop sponsored by CERRA this week.  I met with the district teachers of the year from every district in the state and was incredibly inspired by the passion and commitment everyone had to educating our kids and improving South Carolina.

One of the most intense moments of the conference was when Dr. Zais spoke to us about his goals and visions for our state’s educational system.  According to his speech, Dr. Zais believes and supports the following:

- The goal of education is that all students develop the skills and attitudes to be successful in their careers or colleges and become productive members of society.

- This should occur by putting students and parents first, allowing them choices to choose the best educational option for them, and that all schools should be led by excellent principals and teachers.

- The debate and research should be between high performing and low performing schools, not affluent and impoverished schools.  He continuously repeated that “Poor Kids Can Learn”.

- In the last 10 years, per pupil spending has doubled, but for the first time we are looking at a generation of kids who will be more illiterate than their parents.

- Education is a service industry, much like law or medicine.  In those industries, the 3 keys to success are accountability, incentive, and competition.

- Funding should follow the child because it is always best to fund the consumer (student) than the producer (school).

- Our current system is based on seat time over mastery and teacher in the front of the room over student mastery.  This works for most kids, but some need a personalized instructional system that focuses on their needs and learning styles.

- 33% of American 4th graders are illiterate and this needs to change.

- Options to consider to change education are year-round school (10 weeks in, 3 weeks off, 10 weeks in, 3 weeks off, etc.), Montessori, same gender, virtual, public magnet, alternative, career/tech, and private school options.

- Students should have improved curriculum options.  He suggested 3 including our current college prep track, a career tech track, and a basic track (folks feeding into military or apprenticeships).  He noted that not all kids need Algebra II. College Prep kids need Algebra II, but those on the Career Tech or Basic track could take statistics or personal finance, which they would use more often.

- After the home environment, the teacher is th most important part of a student’s life.  Research shows the top percentile of teachers teach 18 months of material an a year while the bottom percentile of teachers teach 6 months of material in a year.

- He echoed his support for president Obama’s quote that “After the parent, the biggest impact on a child’s life is the man or woman in the front of the classroom.  We need to start rewarding good teachers and stop rewarding bad teachers.”

- Teacher compensation is currently based on seniority and degrees.  Research shows that after 4 years, increased experience does not show any e on student achievement. 

- Teachers are asked to be all things to all people but aren’t given the authority they need to do it.  Principals need to support teacher authority and decisions in the classroom.  Superintendents need to allow principals to fire ineffective teachers.  School Boards need to allow superintendents to fire ineffective principals.

- Educators need to be fairly evaluated and appropriately rewarded.  This should be based on a  “Value-Added” system – how much the child learns from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.  Data will be evaluated statistically through multiple regression analysis and variance. 

- Factors to be evaluated are student test scores, peer evaluations, principal evaluations, and student evaluations.  Teachers will have input in how the evaluation plan is developed.

- Many states and districts have moved to pay for performance systems and have had great performance.

- Educational Reform is not a party issue.  This is something in which “Al Sharpton and Newt Gingrich are walking arm in arm following Arnie Duncan.”

Whether you agree or disagree is very important and they need to hear your voice.  Reach out and contact the office of Dr. Zais to let them know how you feel.  The most important voices in education are the professionals and students in the field every day!

Did Dr. Zais Lie???

 

At the State Teacher Forum Winter Workshop, Dr. Zais spoke to the district teachers of the year from all of the districts in the state.  During that speech, Dr. Zais outlined his plan to adapt the teacher salary scale so that it is a pay for p system.

After the speech, a teacher asked Dr. Zais to explain the current bill proposed to evaluate teacher pay.  Dr. Zais said there was no bill being discussed about teacher pay. When the teacher clarified, Dr. Zais again confirmed there is no bill currently being discussed about teacher pay.  He confirmed that legislators are just in the early stages of discussing and determining what should be considered in the new teacher pay scale.

After the session, that teacher gave me a copy of H.3363 sponsored by Representative Sellers and introduced to the House of Representatives on 1/19/2011.  In the bill, educators are split into 6 different categories based on what they do, and each category is evaluated differently.  Common evaluation components are student achievement, school achievement, and membership in collaborative teams.

So, did Dr. Zais lie???   My first reaction was to call Dr. Zais to ask.  I called and the phone was immediately answered by Jay Ragley, deputy superintendent for legislative and public affairs.  When asked about Bill H.3363, he said it simply is not ever going to be discussed or debated.  The bill was introduced on January 19th, and referred to the committee on Ways and Means.  It has never gone anywhere or done anything since that time.  The committee did not adopt the bill and it will never progress forward.

The reason Dr. Zais said there is no bill is because there is no active bill.  That bill was proposed by Representative Sellers, but will never go any further.  Mr. Ragley explained this was just a misunderstanding on our part of the legislative process.  Mr. Ragley encouraged me and anyone else with questions to please contact him immediately so he can provide answers and clarity at jragley@ed.sc.gov

Hope that helps any of you who were confused by the seeming contradiction or lie.

Building Bridges

This man, while visiting the grand canyon, jumped across an 8 foot gap to reach another rock column to take pictures of the sunset.  While I would never physically do something so crazy, I feel this way in my professional life right now.  I feel I’ve made a leap across districts for something beautiful – the education of SC kids that were ready to drop out or had no way to attend school – and I’m clinging to survival and using all my energy to get on solid ground.  Can you imagine how different this picture would be if there were people on each side to aid and assist?  Or better yet, if there was a bridge to easily walk across?

I continue to seek to educate anyone who will listen about the work and value in our public charter schools.  Everyone agrees that increased funding in education is ideal, but it is unlikely that will happen.  My goal and desire is that, with our current funding, we are treating all of our kids equally.  As I have professional conversations with educators about this issue, the primary questions that come up are:

1.  Are charter schools public or private?  

Charter schools are fully public schools in all things.  They have a school board, administrative staff, and state certified teachers.  Teachers must teach state standards and prepare students for all state testing including PASS, HSAP, and EOCs.  Schools must meet AYP and receive state report cards.

2.  Are charter schools state supported schools?

I keep hearing people say “It’s not right for the local districts to pay money to state-supported schools.”  I know the article and the person who first called charter schools state-supported schools, and I sadly believe this was  a purposeful attempt to add confusion.  Charter schools receive exactly the same state and federal funding as every other local school district.  So, yes, you can say that charters are state-supported, but all schools are state-funded.  Charter schools are equally funded by the state as other traditional local school districts.

3.  Why should local districts pay for charter schools?

Again, I think this is a point in which people are purposefully being vague to introduce confusion.  Right now, over 9,000 students are enrolled in public charter schools.  While the public charter school is educating those students with a top-notch public education that works for them, the local districts are keeping those 9,000 students’ local tax money for their own purposes.  The charter school district is simply asking local districts to transfer the money that is supporting those 9,000 kids to come to where those kids actually are.  We are trying to be sure that every public school student in the state of SC, regardless of their district, is equally funded. 

5.  If that money transfers, our district will cut _______ teaching jobs.

If you look at the data, on average, the amount of money that will transfer is 1% of district budgets.  I am personally enraged and frustrated that the local districts automatically transfer that to cutting teaching positions.  I’m shocked that local districts honestly feel that the first 1% of trimming they would need to do in their district is in teaching positions.  Is there seriously no other spending more wasteful and expendable in a district than teaching jobs?   As a teacher, I’m shocked and saddened for my local district friends.  I feel we should be seriously questioning our district staffs as to why our positions are the least important thing to maintain.  And I do believe that is the metamessage being sent when they cut teachers first with just a 1% loss.

6.  Are charter schools “cherry-picking” or taking the best students?

This is simply not true.  In my school, SC Virtual Charter School, 61% of kids qualify for free/reduced lunch.  10% of our 3000 students qualify under IDEA and have services in place.  We have many students who were discipline problems, preparing to drop out, or just could not attend traditional brick and mortar schools for health issues, bullying issues, or religious calendars.

7.  Why should local funding go to charter schools?

My issue with this entire debate is that we need to put our public school children first.  I have 500 students on my roster who have chosen this educational option to meet their needs.  They are true public school kids learning the same standards and held to the same accountability as any local school district student.  I can tell hundreds of stories of lives that have been changed because students were able to choose to complete their education at home while meeting their other life needs.  I have a passion and commitment to educating and protecting those kids.  It is sad to me to see educators around the state not supporting these public school kids – many of whom most need that support.  Also, it is confusing to our kids to see so much public agression against them.  Would people ever think about being this harsh toward or against any other local public district?  If Florence School District 1 was the lowest funded district in the state because their local money was being directed to Darlington, the educators would be outraged and work to resolve the issue quickly.  Why are we not providing the same protection for the students in the SC Public Charter School District?  In fact, the very thing that local districts are outraged over – sending their money to support another district – is exactly what the Public Charter district has been doing for 3 years.  Every time a student comes to the Public Charter district, the money remains with the local district.  So, in essence, the Public Charter district has been assisting in the funding of every other district in the state since it’s inception.  The only difference is that the Public Charter district is actually educating the child without the money, while local districts are receiving the money without the child.

 So, I hope this answers some questions many of you have regarding the issue.  I hope you will all continue to ask questions and continue dialogue.  I appreciate critics as much as supporters, as everyone’s thoughts and perspectives must be shared to pull us closer to collaboration.  I have so much faith in the services we are providing to certain populations in our state.  I feel we are another leg to support the education of the students in our state and I desire to see all of our state educators collaborating to best support our schools.  I hope some of you will come to help me build the bridge that is needed.