If you pay even the slightest bit of attention to the mainstream media then you know the heat is on teachers unions.  More to the point, it seems they’re actually feeling the heat.  Many of today’s leading reformers see implosion as the desired outcome; myself, I’d be pretty satisfied with a dramatic physical or chemical change—both of which require a significant reordering of matter.

There are signs that this change is occurring: NYS’s biggest unions supporting a plan whereby 25% of teacher evaluation would be based on student test performance, and the tentative deal between Michelle Rhee and the D.C. teachers’ union to allow performance-based pay are just two.  Whether you view Race to the Top as powerful incentive or Machiavellian bribe, it is has been a catalyst in fundamentally changing the conversations about how we provide effective teachers to all kids.  The signs are pretty clear that teachers’ unions are easing their virtual stranglehold on teacher quality policy.  Seismic shift?  Not yet, but we need them at the table, so this is a big deal.

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Checker Finn, in this week’s Education Gadfly, mustered the courage to ask if all students should be prepared to attend college. This is a kind of “third rail” in education circles because it raises the taboo subject of differential ability. The notion of “different intelligences” tried to chip away at the idea that the ability to solve differential equations or write sonnets is on a higher moral plane. Yes, people are good at different things. Moreover, while it is hard to enjoy something you don’t do well, many people are perfectly capable of the kind of work required in college but simply don’t enjoy it. There are many satisfied carpenters and auto mechanics who could have been competent, but bored, software engineers or lawyers.

We’ve backed ourselves into a bit of a corner in the United States. We require a college degree for all kinds of tasks that don’t require it.

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Picking up where last week’s posts on teacher quality left off—because it’s a critical issue, and to respond to some of the feedback we received.  Some of you felt that we over-simplified the issue, suggesting that a teacher’s effectiveness is the only factor in student achievement.  Implicit here is that we deny the impact of a host of other factors—curriculum, school leadership, socio-economic status, facilities, and district policies and practices.

Not so.  Of course all of these factors figure into student achievement.  Even the most zealous teacher-quality reformer wouldn’t disagree.  Teacher quality is ONE part of the multi-pronged and complex approach we must take to improve schools.  And saying so doesn’t mean you’re looking to make teachers scapegoats for all that ails the system.

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In case you missed it, the NYS legislature actually passed some legislation last week, just beating the deadline to apply for round 2 of Race to the Top.  Notably the statewide charter school cap was raised from 200 to 460, while banning for-profit operators and expanding the state’s fiscal oversight of charters.  There are also provisions which will encourage charter schools to enroll more students with disabilities and English Language Learners.  In a separate bill, the state tied teacher evaluations to student performance data—a big deal considering that NYS previously had a “firewall” which made it illegal to link student performance to teachers.  Check out the NYTimes and Wall Street Journal for details.  These moves significantly increase NYS’s odds of snagging the $700 million that’s on offer from the feds.

Much of the positive buzz in the last week has been about the fact that these developments required a good bit of collaboration amongst typical adversaries.  Seventy percent of the unions in the participating districts signed MOUs, including the largest local, the UFT in NYC.  Still, three of the Big 5 teachers’ unions (Buffalo, Rochester and Yonkers) opted not to sign.

According to the state’s application, $477 million would go directly to participating school districts and charter schools (91% of which signed MOUs) while the remaining $219 million supports statewide teacher and principal capacity building, curricula and assessment work, and the statewide data system.