Education: Week In Review
In this week in review:
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2 Central Ohio teachers’ unions still without contract
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Columbus City School takeover idea revisited in Mayoral debate
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Supreme Court refuses to hear case to decide on Constitutionally protected speech by teachers
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Report: Ohio’s elementary and middle school achievement tests are among the easiest in the nation, says conservative think-tank
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New York Times Columnist blames poor teachers as the reason for lack of meaningful school reform
The union representing teachers in the second largest school district in central Ohio has been without a contract for over three months. The bargaining team for the South Western Education Association has been unable to resolve the impasse in negotiations with their Board of Education even with the help of federal mediators.
Groveport Madison Teachers are also without a contract, as are the classified staff of Westerville City Schools. Read more about it here.
The only mayoral debate before the November 6th election took place between Mayor Michael B. Coleman and his Republican challenger took place this past Wednesday at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Cafe. As expected, a mayoral takeover of Columbus City Schools was still pushed by Mayor Coleman’s challenger. The Lantern panned the proposed mayoral takeover of CCS as well as the lawsuit filed by the Republican candidate challenging per-student funding disparities in CCS in an opinion piece earlier in the week.
The Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a Indiana teacher who alleges she was fired for saying “I honk for peace” to students on the eve of the Iraq war. A federal appeals court in Chicago ruled that “The Constitution does not enable teachers to present personal views to captive audiences against the instructions of elected officials.”
Conservative Ohio think-tank Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a sponsor of 9 charter schools in Ohio recently released a report that says Ohio’s achievement tests at the elementary and middle school levels are among the easiest in the nation (PDF).
Leo Casey of Edwize does a nimble job of refuting Edwonk’s assertion that the Ohio Education Association and Ohio Federation of Teachers are out to close all charter schools.
New York Times Columnist Bob Herbert points out that the real hindrance to school transformation are the teachers:
“New forms of identifying good teachers and weeding out poor ones — by carefully assessing their on-the-job performance — have to be established before any transformation of American schools can occur.”