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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujK9OrCd21E&feature=c4-overview&list=UUhOyHPx3_l84v0k9zj-HTog

View the entire press conference here.

At the November 5, 2013 Caddo Parish School Board meeting, the Recovery School District revealed its Partnership Agreement with the Caddo Parish School Board. This “agreement,” among other things, essentially forces the Caddo Parish School board to close down Newton Smith 6th Grade Center and Linear Leadership Academy, and gives the Caddo Parish School Board the option to choose between contracting a management or charter corporation to have complete control of curriculum, hiring, and daily operations of Atkins, Midway, Fair Park, and Woodlawn, or having a service provider provide these services under the control of a CPSB appointed principal. If the Caddo Parish School Board chooses to do neither, the Recovery School District can take over, and do with these schools as they please.

The plan also encourages Caddo Parish to partner with “alternative certification teacher pipeline programs” (their words, not ours), and school board members explicitly mentioned Teach for America. Teach for America recruits recent college graduates to teach in classrooms for 2-3 year periods. Over 50% of all Teach for America teachers nationwide leave teaching after 2 years, and more than 80% leave teaching after 3 years. These teachers enter the classroom with only five weeks of teacher training, and absolutely no live classroom experience. School districts also pick up some of the costs of training these teachers, who replace qualified, certified, and experienced teachers in the nation’s toughest classrooms. That this plan wants to bring TFA into Caddo Parish is a slap in the face of Caddo Parish teachers. Instead of supporting Caddo’s excellent teachers, this new plan wants to PAY to train college graduates with no education experience to take the place of a certified, experienced teacher.

Red River United believes that students are best served by community controlled schools, and that the Caddo Parish School System is best equipped to raise academic standards. Red River United does not believe turning our students over to the RSD, a management corporation, a service provider, or a charter school corporation meets the promise of providing a quality public education to our students. This is a question of civil rights. All children deserve a stable, quality education. The RSD does not have a proven track record of turning around AU schools. Parents and students are demonstrating a lack of confidence in the RSD through participation in community actions and petitions.

Sign our community petition asking the RSDs to leave our public schools alone. Like our Reclaim Caddo Parish Facebook cause page, and check out links to articles about the RSD on the page. Remember, the threat of an RSD takeover is still lurking on the sidelines.

This is how Red River United proposes to improve Caddo Schools:

• Caddo should focus on creating K-8 models. They are stabilizing for students and have provided academic success in our district.

• Caddo should focus on choice. One area proven successful has been our programmatic magnet schools. These schools should be standalone, and not part of any existing school.

• Caddo should concentrate the focus on where we can be the most effective in overall student achievement – we should provide Pre-k for every student in our district, with wraparound services for at-risk youngsters.

• Caddo should focus on strong professional development for all of our teachers. TAP, for example, has proven successful in other districts and in Caddo Parish where it has been implemented in several schools.

• Caddo should focus on academic standards and disciplinary codes of conduct in all of our schools. Teachers cannot teach, and students cannot learn in an atmosphere full of disruption and discord.

• Caddo should be willing to reach out to the community, the public for their help and input. After all, it is the Public’s Education.

Red River United believes in the promise of a public education, which needs to be safeguarded against moves to undermine by outside corporations seeking to make a profit. What is the promise of public education? Public schools provide transportation to and from school, provide healthy breakfasts and lunches for our children, a clean and safe environment to learn, a certified classroom teacher, and a promise to provide services to ALL children, even those with special needs. These are all promises of public education. Will we be able to keep these promises once we have torn apart our Caddo Parish Schools, relinquished community control of our schools, and parsed control of our schools to private- monied and political interests?

The Saturday, November 9 New Teacher Academy has been CANCELLED. 

We will be broadcasting the class as a live webinar soon, so keep posted for updates.

 Red River United also offers after-hours tutoring on Tuesday, Wednesdays, and Thursdays by appointment only. Call 318-424-4579 to schedule an appointment!

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Jackie Lansdale – 318-424-4579

WHERE: Caddo Parish School Board Office – 1961 Midway Ave., Shreveport, LA 71130

WHEN: 4:00 PM Tuesday, November 5, 2013

WHO: Jackie Lansdale, President, Red River United

WHAT: RECLAIMING THE PROMISE OF CADDO PARISH – DOING WHAT WORKS – REJECTING WHAT DOESN’T – RED RIVER UNITED’S PLAN FOR CADDO PARISH.

On November 5, 2013 at 4:00 PM at the Caddo Parish School Board office on Midway Avenue, Red River United will be holding a press conference encouraging the Caddo Parish School Board to look beyond the Recovery School District (RSD) as a solution. Red River United believes that students are best served by community controlled schools, and that the Caddo Parish School System is best equipped to raise academic standards. Here is how we can improve our Caddo Schools:

• Caddo should focus on creating K-8 models. They are stabilizing for students and have provided academic success in our district.
• Caddo should focus on choice. One area proven successful has been our programmatic magnet schools. These schools should be standalone, and not part of any existing school.
• Caddo should concentrate the focus on where we can be the most effective in overall student achievement – we should provide Pre-k for every student in our district, with wraparound services for at-risk youngsters.
• Caddo should focus on strong professional development for all of our teachers. TAP, for example, has proven successful in other districts and in Caddo Parish where it has been implemented in several schools.
• Caddo should focus on academic standards and disciplinary codes of conduct in all of our schools. Teachers cannot teach, and students cannot learn in an atmosphere full of disruption and discord.
• Caddo should be willing to reach out to the community, the public for their help and input.  After all, it is the Public’s Education.

Red River United does not believe turning our students over to the RSD meets the promise of providing a quality public education to our students. This is a question of civil rights. All children deserve a stable, quality education. The RSD does not have a proven track record of turning around AU schools. Parents and students are demonstrating a lack of confidence in the RSD through participation in community actions and petitions.

What is the promise of public education? Public schools provide transportation to and from school, provide healthy breakfasts and lunches for our children, a clean and safe environment to learn, a certified classroom teacher, and a promise to provide services to ALL children, even those with special needs. These are all promises of public education. Will we be able to keep these promises once we have torn apart our Caddo Parish Schools, relinquished community control of our schools, and parsed control of our schools to private- monied and political interests?

Long meeting, disappointing results

At a marathon BESE meeting, members punted the Common Core controversy to local school boards and teachers, ignored educators’ requests for help with curricula and resources, and promised little relief from a flawed and unaccountable Value Added evaluation model.

October BESE meeting an endurance trial

The October meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education was an endurance trial. Ever since BESE reduced its monthly meetings from two days of committee hearings to one, the agenda has been very crowded. The board’s current practice is to hold committee meetings on a Tuesday, during which all testimony is heard on agenda items. A full board meeting is then held on a Wednesday, when the full board votes on recommendations made by committees. The full board meetings generally conclude within a couple of hours, while committee meetings have been stretching late into the night. The October committee meetings strained everyone’s patience. A meeting on the controversial Common Core State Standards that was supposed to begin at 2:30 P.M. was three hours late getting started. Citizens who came expecting to speak were not allowed to begin their testimony until about 6: 30 P.M., and were limited to two minutes apiece. Even so, the meeting did not end until nearly 11 P.M. Parents who had traveled from as far away as Shreveport and spent the night in Baton Rouge waiting to speak were disappointed to learn that they would only be allowed to make brief comments. BESE President Chas Roemer said that board members travel the state and hold public meetings on issues, and voiced no support for a meeting schedule that is more convenient for the public.

Heated debate, little change on Value Added evaluation model

Several hours of sometimes heated discussion, the board decided to seek a new opinion on the validity of the Value Added Model formula and to increase training offered to educators about the model, but took no action on a request to investigate changes apparently made to some teachers’ value added scores. On the agenda was a request from BESE Member Lottie Beebe to create a panel of statisticians and mathematicians to determine if Louisiana’s Value Added formula is reliable and credible. LFT President Steve Monaghan asked, “Is the Value Added Model a valid instrument for measuring teacher effectiveness? Some respected mathematicians believe that Value Added formulae have margins of error better than 30 percent. If that is true, then it is simply wrong to judge our teachers, our schools and our students by such a shaky instrument.” The formula has been frequently criticized, and there have apparently been several behind the scenes adjustments made to the formula and to individual teacher’s scores. While Dr. Beebe recommended three qualified individuals to look into the formula, the board approved Roemer‘s substitute motion to instead seek a “third party” review of the formula. Dr. Beebe’s motion would have incurred no additional expense by BESE; it is unclear whether Roemer’s substitute will require a contract, or how much the review will cost. The board declined to act on Dr. Beebe’s request for a look into waivers of VAM scores that may have been granted to some teachers. Monaghan said that no written policies have been developed by the Department of Education to guide the issuance of waivers by anyone on either the state or local level. “Teachers evaluated under VAM have no way to legally challenge the scores imposed on them, and yet an unknown number of scores have apparently been either waived or otherwise adjusted,” Monaghan said. Even after LFT Legislative Director Mary-Patricia Wray pointed out that alterations to Teacher Effectiveness Ratings made by the state superintendent of education may violate the law, the board took no further action on the matter. On the agenda’s final Value Added item, Superintendent of Education John White conceded that more stakeholder training is needed. The board unanimously approved a motion to conduct more training in the future.

BESE shifts Common Core responsibility to local school boards

Turning a deaf ear to complaints that controversial Common Core State Standards are not being properly implemented in Louisiana, the state education board tried to deflect criticism by shifting responsibility for the standards to local school systems. The BESE action was contained in a hastily contrived agenda item that was not properly advertised, and will probably have to be reconsidered in order to be legally adopted. The board’s tweaks to Common Core rules were aimed at angry parents who fear that a national curriculum is being imposed. BESE members reaffirmed their commitment to Common Core, but did nothing to satisfy educators who said the state has been derelict in its duty to prepare teachers and students for more demanding curricula. “We believe that the ideas behind Common Core have merit,” LFT President Steve Monaghan said, “but like so many other education reforms that have been imposed recently, there has been a failure to prepare and provision our teachers, our children, and communities for the changes.” At a committee meeting Tuesday, BESE members listened to hours of testimony. Much of it came from parents who fear federal intrusion into schools. Comments favoring Common Core were given by corporate sponsors and some teachers who were asked leading questions by pro-CCSS board members. At Wednesday’s meeting of the full board, a new agenda item was introduced in response to the parental concerns. Part of that resolution says no curriculum can be forced on a local school system, “including any that may be recommended, endorsed or supported by any federal or state program or agency.” Instead, BESE intends to give local districts and teachers more autonomy in choosing textbooks and learning materials. That did not sit well with educators like Monaghan, who said from the start that BESE and the department of education have shirked their duty to prepare for more demanding course work. The LFT president pointed out that the state had promised to provide curriculum information as part of an agreement to waive some sections of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. BESE, he said, is “passing the burden on to teachers and schools.” The motion also guaranteed the public the right to review textbooks and other materials, and promised that student social security numbers won’t be used as test identification numbers. When audience members objected to a new agenda item being adopted without proper notification or a committee hearing, BESE President Chas Roemer said he believed the item was “germane” to the issues under discussion.

Charters approved over parental objections

Two charter school organizations that currently operate in Louisiana were given permission to open schools in Lafayette, East Jefferson and East Baton Rouge Parishes, despite parental and school board opposition. Lafayette parents and concerned citizens voiced opposition to decision, after the parish school board voted 8-2 to reject the charter applications at the local level. Lafayette Superintendent of Schools Pat Cooper spoke against his board’s decision. Cooper said the need for new facilities in Lafayette convinced him to support the charter expansion. Some Lafayette parents, however, said that voters are ready to pass a tax to cover the cost of new construction. The charter schools, they argued, will exclude the most needy children because of their geographic location and their “first come, first serve” enrollment style.

New rule favors private voucher schools

A new rule approved by BESE will allow non-public tuition organizations to advertise in ways that promote particular private schools. If the change goes into effect, it will overturn a current regulation prohibiting the promotion of a particular school over other qualified schools. The tuition organizations allow Louisiana taxpayers to get a 95% rebate on donations, which are sent to non-public schools on behalf of parents and students. The rebate has been controversial because of its cost to the state, and because the governor vetoed a similar measure that would have allowed rebates for donations to public schools. The new rule must still be published in the Louisiana Register and opened for public comment before it can go into effect.

This is the tale of two visions.

Join us in Reclaiming the Promise.
Proponents of one vision, disguised as reform, hold closed-door meetings to design a plan to shut the public out of public schools by fixating on testing, cutting investments in education, promoting austerity, and using the remaining funds to turn a profit—not to help kids.

Believers in the other vision want parents, educators, school staff, students and community partners to unite to ensure great neighborhood public schools that help each and every child succeed, no matter his or her ZIP code.

Support our vision to Reclaim the Promise of public education for all children.

Reclaiming the promise of public education is about:

*   Fighting for neighborhood public schools that are safe, welcoming places for teaching and learning;
*   Ensuring teachers and school staff are well-prepared, are supported, have manageable class sizes and have time to collaborate so they can meet the individual needs of every child;
*   Making sure our children have an engaging curriculum that focuses on teaching, not testing, and includes art, music and the sciences; and
*   Ensuring children, their families and the community have access to wraparound services to meet their social, emotional and health needs.

Help us Reclaim the Promise.

This is a vision that works. It’s a vision of what parents want for their kids and what communities want for their future. It’s a movement that can stop the privatizers, profiteers and austerity hawks in their tracks. It will help our public schools become centers of communities, give voice to those closest to the classroom, and fulfill public education’s purpose as an anchor of democracy; a gateway to racial, social and economic justice; and a propeller of our economy.

Reclaiming the Promise is not a top-down edict; it’s solution-driven unionism and community-driven reform. And speaking of that, today, we proudly announced the winners of the 2013 AFT Prize for Solution-Driven Unionism. This prize recognizes groups that collaborated to develop programs with concrete results. One winner developed a successful student-learning alternative to high-stakes testing assessments, while another reduced its state’s healthcare costs by $1.6 billion. They are proof that when the community joins forces with those who serve our children and the public every day, we can reclaim the promise.

This is why we are asking you to stand with us and push back on privatization, austerity, mass schools closures, and test fixation, which have not moved the needle in the right direction. It is time we reclaim the promise of public education—not as it is today or as it was in the past, but as it can be—to fulfill our collective obligation to help all children succeed. This will be central to our work in the coming years, and the AFT executive council passed a resolution this week formalizing this as AFT policy.
Stand with us to Reclaim the Promise of public education.

We are at a pivotal moment—a moment we must seize without further detours, distractions and delays.

In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President

P.S. Find out more about Reclaiming the Promise by visiting aft.org/promise.  To read more about the AFT Prize for Solution-Driven Unionism, go to aft.org/about/sdu/