Pro-kid, pro-union reform in Philadelphia
I came across an AP story from last week detailing some very encouraging collaboration between local Districts and bargaining units on school turnaround efforts in Philadelphia and elsewhere. The whole thing is worth a read, but I’ll try to give you the key excerpts:
Even in a school system known for its academic troubles, the numbers at Vaux High School are jaw-dropping: More than 90 percent of 11th-graders tested last year could not read or do math at grade level.
But next fall, at least half the teachers at Vaux and 13 more of Philadelphia's worst schools could be gone. And the school day, school week and school year could be longer.
While federal law has long allowed the overhaul of chronically failing schools, such extreme makeovers are likely to become more common because of more money from Washington, a growing consensus on education reform, and newfound willingness on the part of teacher unions to collaborate, experts say.
…
Philadelphia's turnaround effort, dubbed Renaissance Schools, is backed by a union contract approved last month that requires teachers at failing schools to reapply for their jobs; eliminates their seniority rights when it comes to rehiring them; and extends the school day by up to an hour, with the possibility of class up to two Saturdays a month and 22 days in July.
In exchange, all district teachers get raises, possible performance bonuses and the chance for a voice in the restructuring — or the choice of transferring to another school.
This is a picture perfect example of how a kids-first agenda can (and ultimately must) co-exist with a pro-labor one. So much of the research on school turnarounds has demonstrated the importance of things like school autonomy in staffing decisions and extended school days for underserved students, and the local teachers union stepped up and is helping the District to provide these crucial elements of success. And in exchange, teachers get paid more and have an opportunity to meaningfully participate in the process. Everybody wins!
Hopefully models like this can be spread to other districts, like LA Unified, that are in desperate need of successful turnarounds for dozens (if not hundreds) of our underperforming schools.
(For more research and updates on school turnarounds, I would highly recommend the Meeting the Turnaround Challenge blog, hosted by Mass Insight. It's where I originally found this article, and is a real wealth of information about all this).
