And So It Goes.....

Fletcher Primary and Fletcher Intermediate Science and Technology Pilot schools were recognized with a celebration earlier this week. Fletcher staff members who were part of the design teams and who worked to develop proposals that could pass muster of both the Joint Steering Committee and APS Board are to be commended. They spent countless hours creating the kind of schools they believe will work best for themselves, students, and parents of the Fletcher community.

This is the entire reason AEA chose to negotiate Pilot Schools in the first place. And that brings me to the point of this blog. I was extremely disappointed that there was hardly a mention of the Association's involvement in creating Pilot schools in APS in any of the press releases. The only reason Pilot schools exist in APS is because AEA brought the concept to the attention of district leadership and then took a leap of faith in negotiating the concept. Pilot schools are a venture that only exists because AEA and APS agreed to the concept, and AEA should be recognized for our commitment to encourage and support  innovation and reform in APS.

While unions are constantly blamed for blocking innovation, it is extremely disconcerting when unions that have been willing to go against conventional beliefs and look for ways to be innovative and collaborative get little notice for their willingness to do so. Based on the news releases about the creation of the Fletcher Pilot schools, AEA had no involvement in the creation of this option. Apparently if we don't blow our own horn about our it won't be recognized or remembered by anyone else. And so it goes.......

Olympic Fanaticism

I admit it......I have always been an Olympic Games fanatic. I probably spend as much time if not more than the average person watching athletes run, vault, swim, dance, balance on four inch wide beams four feet off the floor, swing from parallel bars, and heave metal discs across a field during this event that happens every two years. Already, I can't wait for the Winter games in 2010.  Had I been a better athlete myself , it might explain why I enjoy watching the Olympics so much, but I have no exceptional athletic prowess to boast of, although I did go out for gymnastics during high school. That's another story altogether. Glued to the TV screen every night for the last two weeks, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if the same level of attention given the Olympics and athletes from around the world was focused on helping students excel academically. I have no idea how much money has been spent during these two weeks alone in getting athletes, coaches, reporters, cameramen, and equipment to Beijing, not only to mention the thousands of participants and spectators who flew to Beijing just to watch the Olympics up close and personal. It has to rank in the millions of millions. Just think what could happen if the same attention, support and resources were made available to students to help them achieve academic goals in the same way we support athletes to achieve athletic goals. It will never happen of course, and while we should not take anything away from athletes who commit their lives to excel in sport, we should expect no less for our youth, most of whom will never excel as athletes, but must excel academically to survive in our world, nonetheless.

NEA RA Inspiring

Being a delegate at the 2008 NEA Representative (RA) is not only fun, but a privilege. After all not everyone gets the chance to hear from the NEA President, ESP of the Year, Laura Vernon and Barbara Morgan, Friend of Education or Michael Geisen 2008 Teacher of the Year. Not everyone gets the chance to speak before some 9,000 of their fellow educators introducing new business items that will make a difference for students, teachers and ESP in our schools. Each and every association member should attend the RA at least once in their professional career, because there is nothing so awe inspiring as being in a crowded convention center with 10,000 of your professional colleagues all focused on what is best for kids. Education, educators, and in particular our Associations and unions get a bad rap for being self serving and singularly focused on our own issues and not caring about kids. I wonder if our detractors spent four days attending the NEA RA and participating in the pre-conferences and floor debates if their opinions would be the same. Probably, but at least they would be better informed detractors.

Do We Have the Will?

A couple of days ago I attended a symposium sponsored by the National Commission on Teaching for America's Future (NCTAF). The symposium, hosted by PBS featured a number of notable speakers including Commissioner Jones, Lynn Rhodes from UCD, and Kristin Waters from Bruce Randolph MS in Denver. The focus of the discussion was on how do we attract, retain and ensure a quality teacher in every classroom.

Of course there was a lot of discussion about paying teachers better, balancing the challenges of rural vs urban settings in attracting and retaining quality teachers, and the use of teacher and principal identifiers as a means of data collection to provide a way to track movement and the effectiveness of training programs. Leadership needed to motivate and inspire teachers, support professionals, and students to greater performance was explored as well.

The fact that we are losing new teachers to the profession at an alarming rate because of the lack of support they receive in coming into the profession generated a discussion about instituting better induction programs, and supportive mentor programs. While little that hasn't already been explored, queried, or proposed was discussed, Commissioner Jones posed the quintessential position.....we know the answer to how to ensure a quality teacher in every classroom, the question is do we have the will to do what is needed to make it a reality?

A Visit from Reg

Last Tuesday, May 13th the AEA AR Council was treated to a surprise visit by Reg Weaver, President of the National Education Association. President Weaver was in town for a visit on Wednesday with students at Smoky Hill High School who have decided to take closing their own achievement gaps into their own hands.

Association Reps were the lucky recipients of Reg's early arrival on Tuesday evening. Reg worked the room as only he can, shaking hands, greeting AR's, sharing hugs with those leaders he recognized from other NEA functions, all the while encouraging us to continue our advocacy for our members, and to stay strong in addressing our current bargaining situation. Reg reminded us of the importance of supporting our bargaining team members, and that no one can make us feel inferior without our consent. Having Reg join us, even for a brief period of time during the AR Council was tremendously empowering! When we have successfully concluded negotiations, we'll be sure to let him know.

District Budget Cuttin' Cuts

The headline above the fold of Sunday's paper caught my eye on Saturday as I was passing through my local King Sooper grocery store. "Schools hurt by souring economy" it read, and that sounded too much like deja vu to pass up, so I bought an early edition. Most of the large metro school districts were highlighted in the article, with budget woes outlined for good measure. Only Littleton was missing. The budget cuts school districts along the front range are facing run from a low of 1.25 million in Colorado Springs, to a high of 21 million in Douglas County. Aurora sits somewhere in the middle. In one part of the article APS was reported to be down another 1,000 students next year, while an insert indicated we are currently down 3,768 since 2006. Something must be off kilter since we keep hearing the projection of 1,700 fewer students by next year, but then what's in a number anyway? Apparently any number will do to justify the budget cuts projected for next year. I know what you're wondering.......before reading the entire article, I was too, but nothing was mentioned regarding staff salaries, nor whether or not these districts will see their way clear to negotiate appropriate salary increases for their staff for next year. That's a topic of another article.

CAP4K - At What Cost?

CAP4K, the governor's achievement plan for Colorado's kids will pass into law as soon as the Governor signs the bill. Purported to be the achievement plan for the 21st century, one of the more important aspects of CAP4K that didn't come from the drafting office was a fiscal note attached to the bill. So far no realistic idea of the actual cost of overhauling the education system in Colorado has been suggested. Our state organization, CEA worked with members of the Senate Education committee to craft amendments, one of which calls for a cost analysis of the plan. Retooling the entire education system, P-16 will definitely require an infusion of new resources, and offering an education system for the 21st century will demand a stable funding source. And, if our public education sytem is to offer 21st century instruction to students, 21st century learning environments will need to be fostered. Technology and the opportunities to use it as a learning tool and a way to make connections around the world should be the norm, not the exception. We should expect to see a focus on aspects of education other than testing the enthusiasm out of students, and we should also expect to see trust for the expertise of teachers to know the instructional needs of their students, and empower them to offer engaging, cutting edge instruction. The retooling of the education system in Colorado will be a while in the making, but we should all hope to see such a system in action.