Paying Our Educators-- more controversial than you might think.

In today’s economy, every government agency is looking for innovative ways to shave a few bucks off of annual expenditures. Education is facing a particularly sharp razor is Mississippi were we can’t even adequately fund “adequate education” through MAEP. Many fear that budgetary shortfalls could translate into even more teacher layoffs in the K-12 community and inevitable tuition hikes for already struggling college students at public IHLs.

One new strategy for cutting costs that I’ve heard recently is practically infuriating. Economists are suggesting that we cut teacher pay incentives for procuring graduate degrees. Their argument is that higher degrees do not significantly contribute to overall teacher performance in the classroom, and pay increases for said degrees are therefore a superfluous expense. I can see how this would make sense to an economist sitting in a cubicle somewhere, far removed from the classroom and the reality that our schools are failing enough as it is without his two cents. But if he would just take a minute to listen to what he is suggesting, he would notice the hypocrisy of the idea. Cutting teacher pay raises for advanced degrees does not incentivize but actually discourages our educators from pursuing higher education.

The Department of Education and the White House do, however, seem to think that we should pay teachers based on their performance which they feel is most accurately gauged by student achievement on standardized tests. The DOE is handing out grants (even in Mississippi) to implement such programs. The program called New Direction, will implement merit-based pay structures in 8 Mississippi school districts. This all came about at exactly the same time that the Center for Performance Incentives out of Vanderbilt University released a report claiming that merit-based teacher pay systems made no significant difference in a controlled study and that there is “no evidence that being eligible for a bonus had a differential impact on teacher quality.”

While decision makers are on the right track with the idea of paying higher salaries for teachers, they aren’t quite there yet. Pay for performance would be like turning all the teachers into car dealers-- instead of scrambling for commissions, they would be scrambling for higher grades. If they really want to pay teachers more, they should pay every teacher more. My reasoning being that it just doesn’t make sense from a financial standpoint to become a teacher, especially in Mississippi. Sure, the retirement is good, but why would anyone in Mississippi want to settle for a $30,000 annual salary when the private business sector offers a plethora of other more lucrative career options. According to the NEA, the starting teacher salary in Mississippi is $30,090, with the average salary being $44,498. Teacher salaries are higher in Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Florida. We are literally losing our teachers across state lines.

Also, the educational system makes it difficult for students seeking a BA in a specific degree such as science or math or English to become a teacher. When I chose to become an English major, I was encouraged to do so by the department because they assured me that it would better for me to be specialized in the field in which I wanted to teach at the secondary level, which makes perfect sense. They also assured me that it would be easy for me to obtain my teaching certification. Well, easy is not exactly the way I would describe it, but it is doable. I just don’t understand why the state of Mississippi thinks an education major with a minor is English is more qualified than I am to teach 10^th grade literature. Give me a break. Part of the argument that economists and the DOE make in favor of cutting higher education pay raises is that most of the teachers who receive raises have a master's degree in education, rather than a specialized degree, but that is no excuse to cut the raises. If anything, we should require our high school teachers to seek master’s degrees in their specialized field and not just generalized education degrees. I was lucky enough to attend the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (a residential public high school), where a majority of my professors had Ph.Ds. You cannot convince me that their expertise did not make a difference in the classroom, and I remember lamenting the fact that every Mississippi high school graduate was not as fortunate as me.

During a conference hosted by the business school here at Mississippi state last year, the CEO of The NorthFace company was giving a presentation on leadership (or something like that). But he made a passing comment that has stuck with me to this day. He argued that we should include a federal tax exemption clause for all school teachers. As extreme as this may seem, it sounded like a pretty good idea to me because it would impress upon the world just how highly we regard the educators who got us where we are today. Sadly enough, we just don’t seem to value education, or our educators, and this is starting to surface in international test score comparisons. For me, all these economists’ theories are just the last straw. Cutting salary bonuses for highly educated teachers is like saying “Yes, we will settle for mediocrity.”

Recent ACT scores should be a call to ACTion.

I was struck with the realization the other day that I am getting old when my little baby brother called to ask for my assistance registering for the ACT. I suppose now that he towers above me at 6’2” and is old enough to start applying for college, I need to stop hugging the delusion that he is just going to be my baby brother forever.

The ACT is a big rite of passage. For any student wishing to go to college and get a decent job in today’s competitive economy, the ACT is the first major monster. For students, it seems the entire world regulated and determined by a long string of standardized tests. I myself have taken all of my MCTs, my SATPs, the SAT, the ACT (twice), now I find myself taking 4 different rounds of the PRAXIS and my handy little reminder to go register for the GRE stays in the top left hand corner of my planner. Just when you think you are done, you aren’t.

ACT just released a report on the 2010 test scores called the Condition of College and Career Readiness. It is odd, because even though national average score dipped ever so slightly from 21.1 to 21.0, the number of students who passed all four subject areas of the test rose from to 24%. Granted, the fact that it is on the rise is promising, but if you just take a minute to think about what that statistic means, it is really scary. Only 24% of test-takes met benchmarks on all four subject areas of the test. That means that 3 out of 4 students are going to need help in either English, reading, math, or science when they get to college. National English scores (typically the highest) dropped from 69% of test takers prepared for college curriculum to 66%.

So how does Mississippi match up with the rest of the country you might wonder? Only Ten percent of Mississippi ACT-takers meet benchmarks in all four subject areas. The average composite score is 18.8 and only 53% of MS test takes are prepared for college English curriculum. Asians and Pacific islanders outscore every other demographic in every single subject area on the ACT, even English.

The report also found that “under current conditions, students do not have a reasonable chance of becoming ready for college unless they take additional higher-level courses beyond the minimum core. And even when students take substantial numbers of additional courses, no more than 3/4ths of them are ready for first year college coursework. This suggests that the quality and intensity- in other words, the rigor- of the high school curriculum need to be improved.”

Basically, what we’re doing, is not enough. Labeling everything “Adequate” is not enough. Taking the minimum required coursework, is not enough. Apparently, the only way that the education system can work for kids who want to go to college is if those kids take the initiative to sign themselves up for advanced classes beyond the required “core.”

One Way to Avoid the Dreaded MCT2: HOME-SCHOOLING!

One of my relatives recently brought to my attention the fact that there are very few regulations in the state of Mississippi governing home-schooling. Basically, any parent who files a certificate of enrollment with the Department of Education by Sept 1^st can home-school their child. The parent does not have to have any sort of certification, there is no set curriculum, the student doesn’t have to meet any benchmarks, and the student is not subject to state testing. This all comes from the Mississippi Annotated Code 37-13-91. This scenario is not just true for Mississippi- 41 States do not require parents to meet any specific teacher qualifications, and only 24 states require some sort of testing or evaluation.

According to a contact in the Mississippi Department of Education, as of May 2010 there are currently 13,196 home-schoolers enrolled in the state of Mississippi. To put that into perspective for you, that is 4 times larger than the largest high school in the state. There are also 7 local homeschooling support groups in Mississippi that parents can join as well as an annual convention.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics in a 2007 report, there was a 74% relative increase in the number of home-schooled students from 1999 to 2007. Also, white students constitute 77% of the home-schooling population. The NCES found that the most common reasons given by parents for homeschooling their children included:

-a desire to provide religious/moral instruction (36%)

-dissatisfaction with social environment at school and/or safety concerns (21%)

-dissatisfaction with academic instruction (17%)

The support for home-schooling seems to have a pretty strong support and/or lobbying base. I’ve already pointed out how the majority of the states in the Union have pretty lax regulations in regard to home-schooling, and organizations like the Home School Legal Defense Association continue to fight to keep it that way. It doesn’t hurt that proponents of homeschooling have precedent on their side either. In 1972 the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Wisconsin v. Yoder that an individual’s interests in the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment outweighed the State’s interests in compelling school attendance.

Needless to say, the freedom which home-schooling grants to parents is a popular topic among libertarians. Ron Paul even proposed a the Family Education Freedom Act (not that it got anywhere) last year in the House which would offer a $5,000 tax credit to families who choose to home-school their children. From my quick research into the price of home-schooling curriculum on the web, parents with multiple children almost need a tax credit. A 2006 estimate generated by Eduventures, a consulting and research firm, puts the home-schooling market at around $650 million a year and growing. The cost of home-schooling curriculum is literally all over the board. Parents can opt for free options such as K-12 Free Homeschool or something like K¹² where they could pay $1,138 plus the cost of materials for just three kindergarten subjects, with single high school courses in excess of $450 a piece. While perusing the web of different curriculum options, I was immediately overwhelmed by the shear number of different companies that offer home curriculum. I honestly have to give props to any parent who could successfully navigate through this inundation without ripping their hair out.

As much as I personally disagree with the notion of homeschooling, there is some statistical evidence that proves it works. In a 2009 report published by The Journal of College Admission, Micheal Cogan found that homeschooled students had higher composite scores on the ACT with higher subject area scores in every tested subject area except math than private, public, and catholic school children. But you also have to take into account the fact that homeschoolers only constitute 1.0% of undergraduate admissions (according to the same study).

My major contention with home-schooling continues to be that children are not given the opportunity, on a day-to-day basis, to develop the social skills necessary to function in a society which demands communication and interpersonal skills 24/7. I recognize that this is fairly universal contention among opponents of homeschooling. However, I have to admit that when I learned that homeschooling parents are not subject to any kind of accountability is very surprising, if not somewhat frightening given the number of students in Mississippi who are home-schooled.

Breathing a slight sigh of relief...

Today, the state of Mississippi released scores for the latest round of MCT2 tests. Scores across the state took a dip when the state changed the format from the MCT to the MCT2. But apparently things are looking up, according to the preliminary reports for 2010. There are more High Performing and Successful schools than the previous year and the number of Failing and At Risk of Failing Schools has dropped. This is great news but we are still not out of the water yet. Check out the press release and report from the MDE. While I was a little disappointed that the final accountability rankings will not be released officially until Sept 10, (for example, I cannot tell whether my home high school has moved up from At Risk of Failing) however, I am still glad to see that the state as a whole is looking better.

Education Jobs and Medical Assistance Act

I tuned in to CSPAN yesterday to watch the debate on the House floor regarding the Education, Jobs, and Medicaid Assistance Act. Much to the dismay of several House Republicans, Speaker Pelosi summoned everyone back from their summer recess to vote on the measure which passed the Senate last week. The Education, Jobs, and Medicaid Assistance Act provides $26 billion in funds to states who are struggling to keep their teachers employed. Also written into the bill was the closure of a tax loophole for American companies that ship jobs oversees. By closing this loophole, the majority hopes to be able to pay for this bill. But, as Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) pointed out, this bill pays for 6 months of Medicaid over the course of 10 years of tax increases. Now, as an English major and not an Economist, I cannot tell you if this is true or not. However, I can tell you that this debate on the floor started as every other debate on the House floor. The democrats stand up and blame the republicans for everything that is wrong with the world, and more specifically that they refuse to invest in education. Then the republicans fire back by calling this a “teacher bailout”, as if by attaching the word “bailout” to anything, they can automatically make it sound like a bad idea and just another of those terrible “entitlement” programs that we can’t afford right now because our military is underfunded. I was actually shocked at the amount of time the congressmen and women from both parties didn't spend talking about teachers, or even strategies states can adopt to prevent teacher lay-offs other than just throwing money at them.

However, by the end of the day the bill was signed into law by President Obama, and according to the White House’s website, there are 2,000 teacher jobs in Mississippi that are going to be saved.

Senate HELP Committee Takes on Fraudulent Recruiting Practices

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (or HELP) held a full committee hearing on questionable recruiting practices within for-profit colleges and universities. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) sent undercover “prospective students” into 15 different institutions across the country. These 15 institutions were not picked because there were rumors of fraudulent activity, however, they did receive a lot of federal dollars through the Pell Grant program. The GAO armed their “prospective students” in with hidden cameras and sent them in to talk to recruiters, admission officers, and financial aid officers about the possibility of enrollment. Their results were shocking, and slightly reminiscent of the ACORN scandal. While there were some of what the GAO would call “good practices” taped by the students, every single one of the universities engaged in some sort of fraudulent or questionable activity in regard to recruiting. There was everything from misrepresentations of the cost of the program, to the misrepresentation of the time it takes to graduate, to the misrepresentation of job availability after graduation and even recruiters prompting the complete falsification of FAFSA forms for federal grants. One recruiter suggested the student claim three non-existent dependents or at least lie about the $250,000 the student had in the bank and another recruiter hinted that a federal grant is not like a car payment where there are consequences for not paying it back. In a couple of cases, recruiters tried to make students sign admission papers before they were even allowed to talk to a financial aid officer. One admission counselor even ripped up a student’s application, charging that he “was not yet ready for this type of commitment” because she didn't want him to go back to talk to the financial aid officer.

The GAO concluded that these cases of fraud could be more widespread within the IHL community because all 15 of the randomly selected institutions, even though this was not a statistical sample, proved to be engaging in some form of questionable activity. This all seemed very shocking and odd to me, having never run across anything like this at Mississippi State University, a public institution. Senators from both sides of the aisle were equally upset that federal dollars are being sent to these for-profit universities that would deceive students into a multi-thousand-dollar commitment within a billion-dollar, for-profit industry. I highly suggest you check out the podcast on the HELP committee website, and at least sit through the first witness from the GAO. It is very important that every college student is aware of the accreditation level of the college/university in which he/she is going to enroll and how much their education is going to cost them and even what type of job market they can look forward to once they graduate.

President's Speech to the National Urban League

Last week President Obama gave a speech about education at the 100^th Anniversary of the National Urban League. This was a strategic move on his part because the black community has been up in arms about his education policy, specifically Race to the Top, which many civil rights groups (7 to be exact) do not support. The NAACP and their legal defense fund, the National Urban League, the National Council for Educating Black Children, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Schott Foundation, and the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights have banded together to offer an alternative policy agenda called the "National Opportunity to Learn". The campaign was created because these civil rights leaders feel that Race to the Top (RTTT) is going about reform all wrong. They argue that an emphasis on charter schools, closures for failing schools, and competitive funding will do nothing but hurt impoverished areas and minority children.

I watched the President's speech on YouTube the other day. It was 45 minutes well spent. I tend to agree with these civil rights groups when they say that President Obama and Secretary Duncan are going about this the wrong way. My biggest contention is their argument that Race to the Top will not encourage states to lower their standards in the same way that No Child Left Behind did. With the incentive of higher salaries or even staying open, why wouldn't a state or a district want to water down their tests in the hope of higher scores? President Obama argues that by forcing states to compete for funds, they will revise their policies and become more progressive. That way, even the states that do not get funding through RTTT will have benefited from the process. I think this is a carefully worded acknowledgment of the fact that the education system is once again ripping off those already at the bottom.

President Obama wants to encourage states to be progressive, but he is not encouraging them enough. In its RTTT application, the state of Mississippi tried to make the case that they were already being progressive and proactive in their policies, citing numerous examples of existing policies. They did not really change anything. And now that Mississippi has been kicked out of the pool for RTTT funds, nothing else is going to change. Mississippi is going to remain at the bottom of the list when it comes to teacher salaries and test scores.

Another issue the administration is approaching from entirely the wrong direction is the issue of teacher salaries. Good teachers (smart teachers) will shy away from bad districts if they know that the students are going to under-perform and that they, the teachers, will be penalized financially because of this. I know that I would much rather teach in Booneville or Pass Christian (districts with the highest test scores in the state) than one of the eight already failing districts in the state- not to mention the other 45 at risk of failing. Teacher salaries shouldn’t be a reward for high test scores. Higher test scores should be the payoff from the investment in higher teacher salaries, despite the fact that Arne Duncan seems to think that high test scores should come first. If Obama wants to talk about how education is the economic crisis of our time, let’s talk about some investment. I think if you raise teacher salaries, the profession itself will become more desirable. You will have more competition, and instead of begging for teachers districts can take their pick of those that they think are the most qualified. THEN and only then will you see test scores start to increase.

For example, when I walked into chemistry class in the 10^th grade, my teacher instructed everyone to transfer out of her class if they really cared about chemistry because she didn’t care about it one bit. I sincerely wish I could make that story up- almost as much as I wish that I had followed her advice. If my high school had a bigger pool of applicants for the open position in the Chemistry department, I don’t think this travesty would have occured. The teaching profession should not be a “safe job” or an “easy job”. It should be a job that pays enough to attract the applicants it deserves.

Now back to the issue of impoverished areas and under-performing children, I think Obama is failing to utilize his biggest asset and that is his ability to inspire people to action. It is not by forcing our districts to compete with other states- we are already failing as it is. I see people every day wearing t-shirts with Obama’s profile on them. I just wish that everybody would perhaps take 45 minutes out of their lives to watch the President talk about education before the National Urban League. It is a powerful thing when our President says “Yes you can overcome. Yes you can persevere. Yes you can make what you will of your lives.” Only through nurturing, inspiring, and enabling our teachers and students to take their jobs and education seriously will we really see a turn around in the Mississippi education system.

State falls short in Race to the Top

Well, in a not-s0-surprising announcement by Education Secretary Arne Duncan yesterday, it was revealed that Mississippi didn't make the cut for Race to the Top Funds. Some would say that Mississippi is not progressive enough to institute the reforms that Race to the Top funding would require, as suggested by the Clarion Ledger. It seems odd to me that states are being denied Race to the Top money because they aren't "progressive enough". It doesn't make sense that some of the states that need the most help when it comes to education are being cut. Kentucky is a finalist, but as one critic points out in the WSJ , some people are upset about this inclusion because Kentucky isn't progressive enough to embrace charter schools. It makes me wonder the way that the money is being siphoned down to only certain states.

Regardless of how progressive we are in Mississippi, one thing is for certain and that is that we are wary of reforms that would link salaries to test scores. While the MS DOE may be moaning about not becoming a finalist for Race to the Top, many are heaving a sigh of relief.

The impact of IMPACT and what a Race to the Top Grant could mean for MS

Much to the dismay of local teacher’s unions, 165 teachers in the District of Columbia now face unemployment after a harsh round of firings attributed to poor student performance was announced Friday by Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Another 737 teachers could lose their jobs next year if they do not improve their rating of “minimally effective.” These new ratings are part of IMPACT, a four million dollar evaluation system that was implemented by Rhee last year to assess the effectiveness of DC area teachers. IMPACT not only looks at the student test scores, but requires teachers to undergo the scrutiny of classroom observation by hired, third-party “master educators.”

The Washington Teachers’ Union is up in arms about this new policy and the recent firings which many consider too harsh. Union members want to be rewarded for achievements but not punished for under-performance --- as evidenced by the fact that the union approved preferential salary increases for teachers whose students have high tests scores, rather than the more traditional qualification of seniority.

The recent uproar in the DC schools is just a taste of what educators can expect if policy makers continue down this slippery slope of linking teacher salaries to student achievement, which is very similar to what is suggested by the Obama administration’s Race to the Top initiative.

Race to the Top is a competitive grant program, which is essentially an assessment program. According to the Department of Education’s website, the assessments instituted by the Race to the Top Program “are intended to play a critical role in educational systems; provide administrators, educators, parents, and students with the data and information needed to continuously improve teaching and learning; and help meet the President's goal of restoring, by 2020, the nation's position as the world leader in college graduates.”

Because Race to the Top is not a comprehensive program intended to benefit all fifty states equally, states are forced to compete against each other as they apply for these grants. The State of Mississippi missed the initial deadline on their application for Race to the Top funds which was January 19. Mississippi’s application boasts that the department has garnered the support of 93% of the LEA (local educational agencies), and doing this caused the delay in our application. States who did not submit by the Round 1 deadline would are not penalized, they just forfeit suggestions by the DOE for a better shot at Round 2. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour did, however, sign and submit the application for Round 2 by the June 1^st deadline. Only four states including Alaska, Texas, North Dakota, and Vermont have opted not to apply for a Race to the Top monies. In a year where 34 states face state budget reductions in education, the Race to the Top grants are just too enticing to turn down.

But even with the overwhelming majority of states competing for these grants, there is still a lot of skepticism in the education community. In March, the NEA Convention gave the Race to the Top initiative a vote of “no confidence”. Even Congress is getting a little guarded with Rep. David Obey’s (D-WI) introduction of the Supplemental Appropriations Act (HR4899) which would redirect funds away from Race to the Top to create another fund that would protect jobs in education. I’m sure the Washington Teacher’s Union would be in favor of a little job protection right about now.

If student achievement becomes the more accepted method of reviewing teacher performance in regard to raises and even employment, this could be a major problem for Mississippi educators. A key strategy identified in the Mississippi Department of Education’s five year strategic plan is to “increase the quantity and quality of teachers and administrators”. The question then becomes, will the state resort to the same measures that Chancellor Michelle Rhee has taken in the District of Columbia? With some Mississippi districts already facing conservatorships and consolidations and many more ranked as “At Risk of Failing” or worse, what is going to happen when the first round of test scores are published that fail, once again to make the grade?

About my blog

Welcome to my new blog where I will be discussing issues related to education policy in K-12 classrooms throughout my home state of Mississippi and the nation as a whole. Coming from a long line of Mississippi educators, I believe that education is our greatest investment and that a free and sound education is one of our fundamental rights as citizens of the United States.

First of all, a little note about myself. I am going to be that little old lady who buys everybody books for birthdays, Christmas, Valentines Day, and Arbor Day simply because I think everybody should have a healthy supply of literature. As you can probably tell, I am an English major about to begin my final undergraduate year at Mississippi State University. I became interested in education policy when I began working as a student researcher at the John C. Stennis Institute of Government on campus. I like to see how the policies implemented by our legislature and local school boards are affecting all the brilliant young minds around me. Sadly though, many of our children in Mississippi are not given the attention and the opportunities they deserve, and it pains me to see an entire generation idolizing Lebron James and Hannah Montana rather than Huckleberry Finn and Nancy Drew.

I decided to give my blog the title “Marginalia” because I feel that the marginalia blotted on the tiny space between the text and the edge of the page is where education begins- those sparks of ideas in the margins of the textbook that stem from the mind of the student, not just reiterations of the opinion of the author. No, education begins when the pupil starts to think beyond what he/she has just been told and apply it. Also, I thought marginalia would reflect my research style of printing pages and pages of articles and scribbling all over them. This blog will largely consist of my thoughts and reactions to these articles and pieces of legislation which I will often link or cite. Fair Warning: as an English major, I may be tempted to throw in some quotes or poems when I feel they are appropriate and illustrative.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy reading this blog as much as I will enjoy writing it.