Many, many of you have had the good or mis-fortune to listen to my ranting on the whole privatization of schools issue. I have contended for a long time that private organizations “taking over” public schools really don’t produce any better results than the public schools themselves. Now I have some proof.

The Washington Post ran a story about Philadelphia’s experience with the Edison School Organization. The Rand Corporation did a multi-year study that did not bode well for Edison. Of course, Edison spins the results with a curious comment about competition, but the Philadelphia School Chief, Paul Vallas, I believe, hit the nail on the head. He said:

Philadelphia's 62 charter schools had more of an effect on competition than the private managers because the charters are newly created schools.

I believe that research will support the notion that charter schools are gaining in popularity not because they offer better educational opportunities for kids, but that they have adapted a keen understanding of parent and family needs. Many parents insist that their charter school “cares” more about their child than their previous public school. Many charters have embraced family engagement and some even make it requirement for student attendance.

When public schools embrace family engagement, I believe we will simply run Edison, Charters, and others like them right out of business. I have great faith in my public school friends. If we universally embraced building the efficacy of families with regard to their children’s education, there would be no stopping us.

Some days I just worry about where our society is headed. I find myself reading things and shaking my head in disbelief that people, well parents actually, act sometimes the way they do. Consider the following story:

Farmington Middle School East in Minnesota wanted to have a “No Name Calling Week” to support the anti-bullying effort. Over forty national and community organizations sponsor this week.

So far, so good. Read on.

One of the groups that sponsor the week is the Gay-Lesbian and Straight Education Network. That’s when the fireworks started. Some parents (12 actually) at the school stormed the school board and demanded that the “No Name Calling Week” be changed to exclude the GLSEN organization claiming that it was a front for pushing a “gay K-12 agenda.” Oh, give me a break. But, my friends, it gets worse: One parent in his tirade against the organization attempted to name a teacher in which some say was a move to “out” the teacher. Luckily, this idiot was thrown out.

The three leading reasons students reported other students were harassed, bullied or called names were physical appearance, actual or perceived sexual orientation and how feminine or masculine students are. I guess certain parents in Farmington, Minnesota want the bullying to stop, except for some name calling which is I guess, okay.

Hats off to the Farmington School Board who allowed the “No Name Calling Week” to continue.

Well, 2007 is here. It arrived with little fanfare in my world. My wife and I were watching my new DVD set of the second season of Boston Legal when she looked at her watch and saw that it was 10 minutes after midnight.
“Happy New Year,” she said.
“Happy New Year, “I replied. That was pretty much it. We seem to be past the age where we can join the all-night revelers. Actually, the fact that we were still awake at midnight was something of a feat in itself.

So what do I resolve to do this year? I thought about using Jimmy Buffett’s line that my resolution was to make no more resolutions. That seemed somewhat appropriate given the number of resolutions that have evaporated over the years. I also don’t think that I should make a resolution of something that I already resolved to do previously. It seemed to fall somewhere between cheating and hopelessness. So, here it is almost halfway through January and I have no resolution, except to say that at some point in 2007 I will make a resolution to resolve my resolution problem. I guess that means I can now go forward with great resolve.

Now, I have a headache. If you have any ideas, let me know. See you next week.

As the new year approaches, I plan to take a break from my weekly blog. Please look for my new posts after the holidays. In the meantime, I would like to wish you and your families a wonderful holiday season.

Finally. Some people with guts.

A whole bunch of people in education and business want to make some dramatic changes and overhauls to our system of public education. Read them for yourself. I for one, think that the ideas are great! Let’s start tomorrow.

I love bold, brash ideas that fly in the face of conventional wisdom. I like this commission report. I think it’s long overdue that we take a hard look at the American education system and bring it into the 21st Century. Heck, bringing it into the 20th century would be acceptable as well. It’s time to blow the darn thing up and start again. Oh, but wait, we haven’t heard from….the unions.

As could be predicted, the AFT has already stated that teachers should not lose benefits in order to make more money. This pearl of wisdom comes from the Executive Vice President of AFT, Antonia Cortese. The commission is suggesting moving to retirement plans that are more common in the private sector (i.e. 401 k) and getting rid of present teacher-pension plans.

Here is another quote from Cortese: "Blowing up the governance system is very drastic, and we don't know what will happen in its place," she said.

What?? Did she actually read the report? I thought they did a pretty darn good job of laying out exactly what would happen in its place. It could be that she just doesn’t like it.

The AFT should be scared at the thought of blowing up the present system of governance in education as it might, just might mind you, take out the ridiculous tenure system as well. Just think, teachers would keep their jobs based on their…skills and ability to learn and adapt and the accountability for progress. If that is the result, I will get the dynamite.

Here’s what I know: If we keep going in the direction we are going now…retirement won’t be the main issue: having a job will be the issue. I would love to hear what the AFT has to say about that.

Every once in a while I have a conversation with an educator from a suburban school or district. I always take the opportunity to talk about family engagement and the work that we do at Family Friendly Schools. It is inevitable that during the course of the conversation, as I talk about the disenfranchisement of socio-economically disadvantaged parents, my suburban friend will indicate that poverty, and economically disadvantaged issues are really not a cause for concern for “our” district. Hmmmmm…well, to those who live in the cocoon that is suburbia, you might want to take a look at this:

The Brookings Institution, an independent research organization based in Washington D.C. released Two Steps Back: City and Suburban Poverty Trends 1999-2005. This is a very eye opening report and one that suburban school leaders need to take a long, hard look at.

In 1999 large cities and their suburbs had nearly equal numbers of poor individuals, but by 2005 the suburban poor outnumbered their city counterparts by at least 1 million. We know from research that socio-economically disadvantaged families are among the largest groups of families who are disengaged and disconnected from their children’s education and school.

Poverty has made its way into just about every community in our country. Engaging all families will mean a different approach and a shift in thinking and school culture if we want to be successful in educating children.