| 1 | <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> |
|---|
| 2 | <html> |
|---|
| 3 | <head> |
|---|
| 4 | <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-15"> |
|---|
| 5 | <link rel="stylesheet" href="publicnotes.css" type="text/css"> |
|---|
| 6 | <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="publicnotes.js"></script> |
|---|
| 7 | <link rel="icon" href="icon.png" type="image/png" > |
|---|
| 8 | <link rel="shortcut icon" href="icon.png" type="image/png" > |
|---|
| 9 | <title>Example page for commentary view</title> |
|---|
| 10 | </head> |
|---|
| 11 | |
|---|
| 12 | <body onload="PN.onLoad();"> |
|---|
| 13 | <a href="http://schools.nyc.gov/Administration/mediarelations/SpeechesTestimonials/20070126_jk_council.htm">original text</a> |
|---|
| 14 | <div class="maintext"> |
|---|
| 15 | |
|---|
| 16 | <p> Good afternoon Chairman Jackson and members of the Education |
|---|
| 17 | Committee. Thank you for inviting me today to talk about our efforts |
|---|
| 18 | to create the kind of public schools that New York City’s students |
|---|
| 19 | need and deserve. |
|---|
| 20 | |
|---|
| 21 | <p>Deputy Mayor Walcott just described the journey we’ve taken over |
|---|
| 22 | the past four-plus years since Mayor Bloomberg took control of, and |
|---|
| 23 | responsibility for, New York City’s schools. Last week, as you know, |
|---|
| 24 | the Mayor announced our next steps—what we will do to build on the |
|---|
| 25 | progress we have made. These reforms, which I will discuss today, will |
|---|
| 26 | take our schools and our system to a new, higher level. These steps |
|---|
| 27 | are critically important because although we’ve made a great deal of |
|---|
| 28 | progress in recent years, although our students are performing at a |
|---|
| 29 | substantially higher level now than they were in 2002, we still have a |
|---|
| 30 | long way to go before our schools are able to provide all of New York |
|---|
| 31 | City’s children with the education they need |
|---|
| 32 | and deserve. And while our students and our system have improved a |
|---|
| 33 | great deal, we must not accept the current reality, the status quo, as |
|---|
| 34 | our maximum potential. |
|---|
| 35 | |
|---|
| 36 | <p>Today, I will share with you the details of the next wave of our |
|---|
| 37 | Children First school reforms. But before I do that, I would like to |
|---|
| 38 | put the reforms in context: everything we do, every reform we |
|---|
| 39 | undertake, every initiative we pursue is a means to an end, and that |
|---|
| 40 | end is giving every one of our students, regardless of personal |
|---|
| 41 | circumstances, a fair chance at a successful, fulfilling, productive |
|---|
| 42 | life in a world that increasingly demands unprecedented levels of |
|---|
| 43 | knowledge and competence. When we called our reforms “Children First,” |
|---|
| 44 | we meant it. |
|---|
| 45 | |
|---|
| 46 | <p>Our efforts—the efforts that the Deputy Mayor just described and |
|---|
| 47 | the efforts that I will describe in my testimony today—are built |
|---|
| 48 | around <i>four</i> simple beliefs. |
|---|
| 49 | |
|---|
| 50 | <p><u>First</u>, I fundamentally reject “incrementalism” as a |
|---|
| 51 | strategy. |
|---|
| 52 | |
|---|
| 53 | <p>Across America and in New York City, education “reformers” have |
|---|
| 54 | been claiming for years that <i>this</i> new initiative or <i>that</i> |
|---|
| 55 | new program would fix what’s wrong in our schools. We must be bold. We |
|---|
| 56 | cannot afford to be anything but bold when 140,000 of our 16- to |
|---|
| 57 | 21-year-olds have dropped out of school or are about to, when more |
|---|
| 58 | than 60% of our eighth graders are still not reading or doing math at |
|---|
| 59 | grade level, and when our average African American and Latino students |
|---|
| 60 | perform several grade levels below their peers. |
|---|
| 61 | |
|---|
| 62 | <p><u>Second</u>, I fundamentally reject the notion that the |
|---|
| 63 | challenges of urban education are insurmountable in light of failures |
|---|
| 64 | endemic to our society or the difficult circumstances surrounding the |
|---|
| 65 | lives of many students. |
|---|
| 66 | |
|---|
| 67 | <p>That is a common argument. But all it does is breed low |
|---|
| 68 | expectations. It allows educators at all levels to say “we did our |
|---|
| 69 | job” <i>even if</i> children fail—on the perverse theory that it is |
|---|
| 70 | the children who are the problem. It is also flatly incorrect. Many of |
|---|
| 71 | you have visited schools in our City that are proving this argument |
|---|
| 72 | wrong every day—schools like Bronx Aerospace Academy, the Patrick |
|---|
| 73 | F. Daly School in Brooklyn. |
|---|
| 74 | |
|---|
| 75 | <p><u>Third</u>, I fundamentally reject the idea that we should ask |
|---|
| 76 | our great educators to succeed with children but deny them the |
|---|
| 77 | authority and resources to craft the most effective path to success. |
|---|
| 78 | |
|---|
| 79 | <p>A system that spends countless millions “on behalf of” schools |
|---|
| 80 | rather than letting educators spend it as <i>they</i> think most |
|---|
| 81 | effective cannot succeed. |
|---|
| 82 | |
|---|
| 83 | <p><u>Fourth</u>, I fundamentally reject the notion that education, |
|---|
| 84 | unlike every single other domain in American life, is not compatible |
|---|
| 85 | with serious and meaningful accountability. |
|---|
| 86 | |
|---|
| 87 | <p>Accountability is fundamental in education—just like it is in every |
|---|
| 88 | other field. Compensation doesn’t need to be lock-step. Good teaching |
|---|
| 89 | <i>is</i> amenable to financial rewards. And, despite our best |
|---|
| 90 | attempts, <i>not all</i> poor performing adults are remediable. |
|---|
| 91 | |
|---|
| 92 | <p>These principles provide the connective tissue of the Children |
|---|
| 93 | First reforms as they have evolved and as they will continue to |
|---|
| 94 | evolve. |
|---|
| 95 | |
|---|
| 96 | <p>Now, I’d like to describe the next wave of our reforms. The reforms |
|---|
| 97 | involve four major changes that the mayor announced last week—plus one |
|---|
| 98 | additional critical element that I am announcing today for the first |
|---|
| 99 | time. |
|---|
| 100 | |
|---|
| 101 | <p>As the mayor announced last week, we will empower all of our |
|---|
| 102 | 1,400-plus principals to make more decisions about their school’s |
|---|
| 103 | budgets, programs, and staffs. <u>Second</u>, we will hold principals |
|---|
| 104 | and schools accountable for student results. <u>Third</u>, we will |
|---|
| 105 | level the financial playing field so that all schools’ budgets are |
|---|
| 106 | based on their student population and so that all schools can be held |
|---|
| 107 | to the same high standards. <u>Finally</u>, because we know how |
|---|
| 108 | important teachers are to student success, from now on, teacher tenure |
|---|
| 109 | will no longer be the default position—we will grant it only to those |
|---|
| 110 | educators who prove they are able to help our students make progress. |
|---|
| 111 | |
|---|
| 112 | <p>And today, I’d like to announce that we are developing a more |
|---|
| 113 | robust and effective mechanism for parents—so they can resolve their |
|---|
| 114 | concerns and play an even more hands-on role in their children’s |
|---|
| 115 | education. We will also build the capacity of the school system to |
|---|
| 116 | support meaningful parent engagement. |
|---|
| 117 | |
|---|
| 118 | <p>To do this, we are creating parent offices in each of our 32 |
|---|
| 119 | districts. These offices will give parents a neighborhood resource |
|---|
| 120 | where they can find answers to questions that cannot be resolved at |
|---|
| 121 | the school level. Our new parent offices will also help to train and |
|---|
| 122 | provide support to parent coordinators and work with community groups |
|---|
| 123 | serving parents to effectively get information out to parents in all |
|---|
| 124 | of our communities and to hear their concerns. These parent officers |
|---|
| 125 | will report dually to Community Superintendents and to someone who |
|---|
| 126 | works directly for me—a new CEO of Parent Engagement. |
|---|
| 127 | |
|---|
| 128 | <p>The new CEO will develop a strategy for helping us to effectively |
|---|
| 129 | engage and support parents in their efforts to help their children |
|---|
| 130 | succeed and to provide accessible and timely information parents need |
|---|
| 131 | about the school system. This plan will integrate all DOE |
|---|
| 132 | parent-service resources. We envision that it will include a greater |
|---|
| 133 | level of collaboration with parents and community groups that serve |
|---|
| 134 | them. I believe parents are entitled to a meaningful opportunity for |
|---|
| 135 | input into this new parent engagement plan. That’s why I've asked |
|---|
| 136 | Advocates for Children, with over 35 years of assisting public school |
|---|
| 137 | parents in this City and the parent organization of the |
|---|
| 138 | Insideschools.org website, to help us shape our new initiative over |
|---|
| 139 | the next few months and to advise on how to bring other groups and |
|---|
| 140 | parents into that process. This collaboration demonstrates the serious |
|---|
| 141 | nature of my commitment to increase our efforts to engage and assist |
|---|
| 142 | our parents. |
|---|
| 143 | |
|---|
| 144 | <p>Now, I’d like to elaborate on the changes the Mayor described last |
|---|
| 145 | week. |
|---|
| 146 | |
|---|
| 147 | <p>First, I will discuss empowerment. |
|---|
| 148 | |
|---|
| 149 | <p>Last year, 332 principals stepped up to a very simple challenge: In |
|---|
| 150 | exchange for agreeing to become accountable for significant gains in |
|---|
| 151 | student achievement, they would be given substantially greater |
|---|
| 152 | authority over their schools. In essence, we stripped dollars from the |
|---|
| 153 | bureaucracy, gave them directly to the schools, and gave principals |
|---|
| 154 | the power to make the core decisions about programming, staffing, and |
|---|
| 155 | resources that affect their students and their schools. |
|---|
| 156 | |
|---|
| 157 | <p>We called these schools “Empowerment Schools,” and I am pleased to |
|---|
| 158 | report that they are off to a strong start. |
|---|
| 159 | |
|---|
| 160 | <p>Starting in the next school year, ALL of our principals, not just |
|---|
| 161 | those leading Empowerment Schools, will be given the power of |
|---|
| 162 | choice—the power to select the <i>support system</i> that they believe |
|---|
| 163 | will best enable them to succeed for their students. Principals, |
|---|
| 164 | working with their teams and consulting with their School Leadership |
|---|
| 165 | Teams, will be able to decide among three types of School Support |
|---|
| 166 | Organizations. These new support structures will replace the 10 |
|---|
| 167 | Regions that we created a few years ago to stabilize the school |
|---|
| 168 | system. |
|---|
| 169 | |
|---|
| 170 | <p>First, schools can become Empowerment Schools, joining the 332 |
|---|
| 171 | schools that have already chosen this more streamlined system of |
|---|
| 172 | support. |
|---|
| 173 | |
|---|
| 174 | <p>Second, they can choose to partner with a Learning Support |
|---|
| 175 | Organization (LSO). Four of our most accomplished Regional |
|---|
| 176 | Superintendents—Kathleen Cashin, Judy Chin, Marcia Lyles, and Laura |
|---|
| 177 | Rodriguez—will have the funds and the discretion to build these LSOs, |
|---|
| 178 | creating options that will be attractive and available to all schools. |
|---|
| 179 | |
|---|
| 180 | <p>Lastly, principals can choose to partner with an <i>external |
|---|
| 181 | </i>Partnership Support Organization (PSO). We know from our |
|---|
| 182 | experience that these groups have much to offer. They are unafraid to |
|---|
| 183 | innovate and willing to challenge orthodoxies. So, if principals |
|---|
| 184 | believe that bringing in support and expertise from outside the DOE is |
|---|
| 185 | the key to their students’ success, they should have that |
|---|
| 186 | option. These partner organizations might include any of the |
|---|
| 187 | non-profit intermediary organizations that are already working with |
|---|
| 188 | many of our schools. They might also include other non-profits or |
|---|
| 189 | colleges and universities. |
|---|
| 190 | |
|---|
| 191 | <p>Through a Request for Proposal Process, we will screen prospective |
|---|
| 192 | partners and develop a menu of DOE authorized Partnership Support |
|---|
| 193 | Organizations from which principals may choose. |
|---|
| 194 | |
|---|
| 195 | <p>Any school in the City—whether it’s in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten |
|---|
| 196 | Island, Queens, or Manhattan—will be able to choose any of these |
|---|
| 197 | options. Support will no longer be based on where a school is. It will |
|---|
| 198 | be based on what kind of support is best for a school. |
|---|
| 199 | |
|---|
| 200 | <p>Under <u>all</u> the support options, the DOE will continue to set |
|---|
| 201 | and enforce academic standards, develop rigorous curricula, and hold |
|---|
| 202 | schools to a common and demanding set of accountabilities. The DOE |
|---|
| 203 | will also continue to make all employment decisions, including whether |
|---|
| 204 | to hire or terminate principals. And all collective bargaining |
|---|
| 205 | agreements continue to apply. In this new system, the 32 Community |
|---|
| 206 | Superintendents will retain all the rights and authority required by |
|---|
| 207 | law and will report directly to me. And, of course, all schools must |
|---|
| 208 | comply with city, state, and federal law. |
|---|
| 209 | |
|---|
| 210 | <p>I will retain the right to intervene in a school, regardless of its |
|---|
| 211 | choice of support partner, if things are headed in the wrong |
|---|
| 212 | direction. And we will continue to provide the basic systems |
|---|
| 213 | (financial, human resources, data and communications) to serve schools |
|---|
| 214 | so they don’t have to reinvent their own infrastructure or lose the |
|---|
| 215 | advantages of scale. |
|---|
| 216 | |
|---|
| 217 | <p>Let me now turn to the second major reform, accountability. |
|---|
| 218 | |
|---|
| 219 | <p>Accountability is the natural partner of empowerment. Together, |
|---|
| 220 | they have real power to drive student achievement. Just as it is |
|---|
| 221 | unfair to hold principals accountable for results without giving them |
|---|
| 222 | the authority to deliver them, it is a mistake to give schools broad |
|---|
| 223 | discretion and not hold them strictly accountable for results. |
|---|
| 224 | |
|---|
| 225 | <p>Our accountability system will enlist parents as partners to help |
|---|
| 226 | us make sure that schools succeed. To be effective advocates for their |
|---|
| 227 | children, they need good information. By providing new information to |
|---|
| 228 | parents, and by making reports to parents more thorough, |
|---|
| 229 | comprehensive, and accessible, as well as easier to understand, we |
|---|
| 230 | will help parents make better choices and be better advocates for |
|---|
| 231 | their children. |
|---|
| 232 | |
|---|
| 233 | <p>So, every school will receive a Progress Report with an overall |
|---|
| 234 | letter grade (A – F) that compares it both to similar schools and the |
|---|
| 235 | City’s best schools. The grades will be based on performance (where a |
|---|
| 236 | school stands in absolute terms), progress (whether and how fast a |
|---|
| 237 | school’s students are improving) and items related to school |
|---|
| 238 | environment (including the results of new surveys of parents, |
|---|
| 239 | teachers, and students). With these surveys, we will find out what |
|---|
| 240 | parents, teachers, and students think is working—and not working—at |
|---|
| 241 | schools and we’ll have real information to help us fix problems and |
|---|
| 242 | learn how to build on strengths. |
|---|
| 243 | |
|---|
| 244 | <p>In addition, starting this year all schools are receiving on-site |
|---|
| 245 | “Quality Reviews,” during which skilled educators observe teaching, |
|---|
| 246 | and interview the principal, teachers, parents, and students at each |
|---|
| 247 | school. These reviews are summarized in a detailed report that is |
|---|
| 248 | available to parents and all New Yorkers online and that schools |
|---|
| 249 | should be directly providing to their parents. |
|---|
| 250 | |
|---|
| 251 | <p>And, we are offering schools new tools to enable educators to |
|---|
| 252 | measure and analyze how well our students are learning and to adjust |
|---|
| 253 | instruction accordingly. We are providing all schools with <i>periodic |
|---|
| 254 | assessments, </i>which are diagnostic tools used over the course of |
|---|
| 255 | the year to help teachers adjust instruction to each student's |
|---|
| 256 | individual needs in time to make an immediate difference. Over time, |
|---|
| 257 | parents will receive reports on these assessments as well, so they can |
|---|
| 258 | track the progress of their children along with teachers. |
|---|
| 259 | |
|---|
| 260 | <p>To help make all of this new information available in a timely way, |
|---|
| 261 | we are launching a powerful new achievement data system called the |
|---|
| 262 | Achievement Reporting and Innovation System (ARIS). This will put |
|---|
| 263 | critical information at the fingertips of principals, teachers, and |
|---|
| 264 | parents. |
|---|
| 265 | |
|---|
| 266 | <p>As I’ve said, all schools will be graded based on their success |
|---|
| 267 | with students. Those with the top ratings will receive bonuses for |
|---|
| 268 | serving as demonstration sites for others. Top schools will be |
|---|
| 269 | eligible as well for additional funds for struggling students they |
|---|
| 270 | choose to accept from poor performing schools. And those schools |
|---|
| 271 | identified as the poorest performers face leadership changes and |
|---|
| 272 | ultimately restructuring or closure. |
|---|
| 273 | |
|---|
| 274 | <p>Now, I would like to discuss the third major reform: building a |
|---|
| 275 | funding system that is fairer, clearer, and better at helping kids |
|---|
| 276 | achieve. |
|---|
| 277 | |
|---|
| 278 | <p>Despite real improvements over the last four years, today we still |
|---|
| 279 | have a funding system that falls short of those goals. Today, we send |
|---|
| 280 | money to schools according to 90 separate funding formulas. What’s |
|---|
| 281 | worse, the biggest pots of money follow the weakest logic. They are |
|---|
| 282 | distributed largely based on historical patterns. They carry forward |
|---|
| 283 | decisions made long ago, based on political deals, not the current |
|---|
| 284 | needs of our kids. |
|---|
| 285 | |
|---|
| 286 | <p>This means two schools with similar enrollments can receive |
|---|
| 287 | completely different amounts of money. For example, one school in our |
|---|
| 288 | city with about 550 kids and a poverty rate of more than 80% receives |
|---|
| 289 | $5,500 per student in general education tax dollars. Another school |
|---|
| 290 | with the same number and mix of students receives $3,500 per |
|---|
| 291 | student. That means one school gets $1 million more in general tax |
|---|
| 292 | dollars than the other. |
|---|
| 293 | |
|---|
| 294 | <p>This is not about rich versus poor, one borough versus |
|---|
| 295 | another. This is about senseless disadvantages that strike every |
|---|
| 296 | community and every corner of our City. |
|---|
| 297 | |
|---|
| 298 | <p>Instead of proliferating an unjust and unfair status quo, we |
|---|
| 299 | propose a simple reform called Fair Student Funding. From here on out, |
|---|
| 300 | we’re going to fund the people who matter most—the kids. |
|---|
| 301 | |
|---|
| 302 | <p>At every school, every student will carry a base level of tax levy |
|---|
| 303 | funding based on grade level. Then, on top of that, we’ll offer |
|---|
| 304 | additional funds to kids who cost more to educate based on their |
|---|
| 305 | unique characteristics: because they are poor, learning English, |
|---|
| 306 | performing poorly, or in certain specialized schools, like our testing |
|---|
| 307 | high schools. |
|---|
| 308 | |
|---|
| 309 | <p>Under this plan, two schools with the same mixes of kids will get |
|---|
| 310 | the same amounts of City tax dollars. (In addition, they’ll also |
|---|
| 311 | continue to get federal and state categorical dollars, like Title I, |
|---|
| 312 | as they had before.) It is so simple that we’ll eventually be able to |
|---|
| 313 | explain to principals most of their budgets on one clean page. |
|---|
| 314 | |
|---|
| 315 | <p>And we are going to move forward with the benefit of the views of |
|---|
| 316 | parents, teachers, and other stakeholders. We are engaging in an |
|---|
| 317 | extensive schedule of community engagement through which I have no |
|---|
| 318 | doubt that this initiative will be refined and improved. |
|---|
| 319 | |
|---|
| 320 | <p>Now, I’d like to turn to the final of the four reforms the mayor |
|---|
| 321 | announced: improving the quality of our most important asset, our |
|---|
| 322 | teachers. |
|---|
| 323 | |
|---|
| 324 | <p>I know and you know how fundamental good teachers are to our |
|---|
| 325 | students’ success. Research convincingly shows that effective teaching |
|---|
| 326 | is the single most important factor separating student success and |
|---|
| 327 | failure. The vast majority of the 80,000 teachers in our schools are |
|---|
| 328 | hard-working, talented, and committed. Our challenge is to make sure |
|---|
| 329 | that <i>all</i> students are taught by successful teachers. |
|---|
| 330 | |
|---|
| 331 | <p>We’ve already taken a number of steps to attract and retain good |
|---|
| 332 | teachers and to create incentives to reward our best teachers. Since |
|---|
| 333 | the Mayor took office, we’ve increased the starting teacher salary by |
|---|
| 334 | 43%, making it easier to attract and retain high-quality educators for |
|---|
| 335 | our children. With the United Federation of Teachers, we ended the |
|---|
| 336 | practice of “bumping,” and “force-placing,” which previously required |
|---|
| 337 | principals to hire teachers even if they weren’t qualified or a good |
|---|
| 338 | fit for their school. We also created a $15,000 housing bonus to help |
|---|
| 339 | recruit teachers in shortage areas such as math, science and special |
|---|
| 340 | education. And we created a Lead Teacher program, which allows us to |
|---|
| 341 | reward teachers with an additional $10,000 a year to mentor and coach |
|---|
| 342 | other teachers while also teaching students. |
|---|
| 343 | |
|---|
| 344 | <p>But we must do even more if our schools are to be empowered to |
|---|
| 345 | build the best team possible to educate our children. We are taking a |
|---|
| 346 | major step in this direction. |
|---|
| 347 | |
|---|
| 348 | <p>We intend to make tenure a well-deserved honor, not a routine |
|---|
| 349 | right. Today tenure is nearly automatic. About 99% of teachers who |
|---|
| 350 | serve for three years in our system receive tenure as a matter of |
|---|
| 351 | course. This is the default position. We want as many teachers as |
|---|
| 352 | possible to become tenured, but we want them to earn it. This is so |
|---|
| 353 | important because once a teacher has tenure, he or she basically has |
|---|
| 354 | life-time job security. |
|---|
| 355 | |
|---|
| 356 | <p>Accordingly, principals will receive a new set of supports and |
|---|
| 357 | tools to ensure that this incredibly important decision is made in a |
|---|
| 358 | rigorous, thoughtful, and fact-based manner. We look forward to |
|---|
| 359 | working with the UFT in this effort. And because an affirmative tenure |
|---|
| 360 | decision affects not only an individual school but the entire system, |
|---|
| 361 | we will also insist that a principal’s recommendation be reviewed by |
|---|
| 362 | appropriate personnel outside the school, notably the Community |
|---|
| 363 | Superintendent. Indeed, so critical is the tenure decision that Mayor |
|---|
| 364 | Bloomberg will meet annually with each group of newly tenured teachers |
|---|
| 365 | to celebrate their accomplishment. |
|---|
| 366 | |
|---|
| 367 | <p>I’d like to conclude with an obvious point: The changes that we are |
|---|
| 368 | discussing today will not be easy. They will not be painless. And they |
|---|
| 369 | will not be without controversy. |
|---|
| 370 | |
|---|
| 371 | <p>But they are necessary for our kids, our city, and our nation. The |
|---|
| 372 | stakes are too high for timidity or tinkering. I look forward to |
|---|
| 373 | working with you as we move forward together. |
|---|
| 374 | |
|---|
| 375 | <p>Thank you. We would be pleased to answer any questions. |
|---|
| 376 | |
|---|
| 377 | </div> |
|---|
| 378 | <hr> |
|---|
| 379 | <div class="notes"> |
|---|
| 380 | <h1>Commentary</h1> |
|---|
| 381 | |
|---|
| 382 | |
|---|
| 383 | </div> |
|---|
| 384 | </body> </html> |
|---|
