________________________________________  THE VERMONT EDUCATION REPORT November 18, 2002 Vol. 2, No. 46 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯  Covering education news in Vermont and beyond... Informative, provocative, unique... Published by Vermonters for Better Education  VBE is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to enlist parents and the public at large in achieving quality educational opportunities for all the children of Vermont by monitoring the state of education in Vermont; promoting the value of educational freedoms for all parents; and giving parents the evaluative tools with which to identify excellence. Libby Sternberg, executive director: MAILTO:LSternberg@aol.com NEWS & ANALYSIS... K-12 EMPLOYMENT MAKES VERMONT AMONG TOP TEN Only eight other states in the country employ more government workers per population than Vermont, according to the November Vermont Economy Newsletter (VEN). And the reason for Vermont's higher-than-average government employment is education employment, specifically employment at K-12 public schools. U.S. Census Bureau figures show that Vermont's state and local governments employed 36,968 full-time equivalent employees in 2001, according to VEN, or 603 FTEs per 10,000 population. This is 12 percent above the U.S. average of 540 state and local FTEs per 10,000 population. (All FTE figures exclude federal government workers.) However, if both K-12 and higher education employees are pulled out of the totals, Vermont has fewer government employees than the national average. Forty-nine percent of all FTE government employees in Vermont are employed in K-12 education. The Vermont Economy Newsletter is a monthly publication of Northern Economic Consulting: http://www.vteconomy.com.   U.S. ED DEPT SENDS STRONG MESSAGE ON READING GRANTS From a November 13, 2002 Education Week article by Kathleen Kennedy Manzo: "The Department of Education is warning states that the agency will more closely monitor how they are spending money under a waning federal reading initiative, after reports that local grant recipients may not be following 'scientifically based' principles or other requirements. "Federal officials have asked states that received awards under the Reading Excellence Act to submit performance reports by the end of this month detailing the progress made in local districts and schools in improving reading achievement. "In a strongly worded letter obtained by Education Week, Susan B. Neuman, the assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, also warned that states suspected of shirking the programmatic and fiscal requirements of the 1998 law, or of failing to stop local recipients of the grants from doing so, could face an audit by the department. Moreover, Ms. Neuman said in an interview last week, those states where local implementation of the REA program has been deemed inadequate could also face a delay in getting some of the $900 million in new federal money slated for reading. "Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia are continuing to implement the Reading Excellence program, and 13 of those states are in the first phase of a three-year grant period. Another 18 states have phased out the program or are in the final year. From the outset, however, federal officials have been frustrated by local efforts they say are not based on practices proven effective by research, as required under the law. "Ms. Neuman has complained in public presentations about some practices she has observed in REA classrooms that she says have no scientific basis. In the interview last week, she scoffed at claims by state reading officials that many states' REA initiatives are already well aligned with the new federal initiative, Reading First. " For the entire article, go to: http://edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=11read.h22   ELSEWHERE... IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY: TWO ARTICLES From the National Council on Teacher quality: http://www.nctq.org  New Teachers Like Standards A recent article in the Phi Delta Kappan suggests that new teachers might be benefiting from the implementation of standards-based reform in schools. When interviewed about the state's Standards of Learning (SOL) tests, new teachers in Virginia told a researcher that the existence of the tests had fostered collaboration within their department, provided consistency and structure in the curriculum, and allowed them to exercise pedagogical freedom while still knowing they were teaching what students needed to learn. Because experienced teachers have sometimes complained about losses of autonomy and professionalism as a result of testing, the advantages of standards for new teachers may have gone overlooked--but properly implemented, standards-based reform need not result in a backlash from veteran teachers. More experienced teachers have an important role to play in showing younger teachers how to implement standards-based instruction. Schools need to strike a balance between ensuring that teachers cover the material in the state's academic standards (in part by providing time for teachers to collaborate by grade level or subject matter so that they can plan a strategy for implementing standards-based reform in a school) and allowing veteran teachers some freedom and flexibility with regard to daily instructional decisions. Toledo Plan Uses Mentors Known as the "Toledo Plan," a teacher mentoring and evaluation system begun in Toledo 21 years ago won an award from the Kennedy School of Government last year and was the subject of a three-day forum last week. Under the program, experienced teachers mentor new teachers and recommend whether they should continue in the system. Mentors also participate in interventions designed to help experienced teachers who are struggling in their classrooms, and if the teachers are not able to make sufficient improvements, mentors may recommend that the tenured teachers be dismissed. Since the plan's adoption, student test scores have risen, collaboration among teachers has increased, and nearly 300 teachers have been dismissed. "In Toledo, Teacher Mentors a Success" Cleveland Plain Dealer http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/1037010667271760.xml   BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS FROM SCHOOLREFORMERS.COM by David W. Kirkpatrick The United States is reportedly becoming less a nation of readers. It is no secret that millions of students, including high school graduates, do not learn to read above a minimum level. The average American learns about the news from viewing television rather reading print media. Even many teachers read little. A survey in a midwestern state some years ago found that, by their own admission, teachers were averaging less than one book in their field every five years. No wonder reforming education is so difficult. As the saying goes, their minds are made up so don't confuse them with the facts. Countering this evidence is the estimate that 70,000 books may be published this year -- an average of about 200 a day. Coffee table showpieces and romance novels make up only a minor portion of that, so it would seem that there is still a sizeable number of readers. For authors, the opportunity to be published is greater than is often imagined. Aside from regular book publishers there are think tanks and others that publish books, there are vanity publishers who publish almost anything if the author pays for it, and some writers have had success at self-publishing. Thus, whatever the difficulties of getting published, the greater challenge is to have a book win even a modest degree of attention. With 70,000 books a year it is statistically impossible for more than a few to succeed. It has been said that, despite the occasional million-seller, the average book sells about 5,000 copies -- which means that many, perhaps most, sell far fewer than that. So here are a few books deserving of your attention. Ranging from 57 to 187 pages they may be light in weight but they are heavy on substance. One is Charlene K. Haar's "The Politics of the PTA," a first-rate and even unprecedented look at the PTA and why its membership has plummeted as parents join independent PTOs -- parent-teacher organizations. Haar finds that the PTA is so dominated by the major teacher union, the National Education Association, that it has never disagreed with the NEA on any major education question. It even opposes school choice, the right of parents right to determine their children's education. That's a strange stance for those claiming to speak for parents. The PTA has one rule the NEA doesn't seek to establish: a national policy is binding on all state and local affiliates. While "The Politics of the PTA" is available online from Amazon or Barnes & Noble, autographed copies may be obtained from the Education Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. (http://www.educationpolicy.org), of which Haar is president. "Educating Teachers," from the reform-minded American Council of Trustees and Alumni, edited by George C. Leef, their Director for Higher Education Policy, consists of ten separate essays on shortcomings and needed reforms in teacher education. While all deal with same topic, there is sufficient variety among them that they complement and reinforce each other on the central theme. For those interested ACTA's email is info@acta.org and its website is http://www.goacta.org. Finally, there are two worthy books from The Independent Institute in California, which you can call toll-free at 1-800-927-8733 or email at: orders@independent.org. "School Choices: True and False," is by John Merrifield, the author of last year's "The School Choice Wars." He argues "that the school choice movement has become mired in false alternatives, petty distinctions, and diminished vision." A supporter of school choice, he believes competition in education has to be the desired outcome, the movement must succeed, and he suggests how to get from here to there. An indication of the book's value is that it has been praised by Clint Bolick, John E. Coons, Eric A. Hanushek, and Bruno V. Manno, all familiar names to those knowledgeable about the school choice and school reform movement. Then there's Richard K. Vedder's "Can Teachers Own Their Own Schools?" Of course, some do operate their own schools, the first charter school being started by two teachers in St. Paul, MN. Many charter school have followed that precedent but those are public schools not "owned" by teachers. Vedder believes teacher-owned private schools would prosper under competition and market discipline and be able to revolutionize school systems. And why not? That's the way it works in the professional world. He also suggests Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) such as exist in the corporate world, including, among other industries, steel mills and grocery chains. While his book title mentions teachers, his plan also includes administrators, parents and others among the potential owners of schools. While Vedder's thesis emphasizes privatization in the form of for-profit schools, which is a legitimate approach, there is no reason such privately owned schools could not utilize non-profit status as well. There is little doubt the school world would look far different, and arguably be far better, if schools were designed and run by teachers while students and their parents could decide which ones they would attend. For further information, contact Karen Horwitz at 847-256-7201; email: Teacherkh@aol.com.   From THE EDUCATION INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (EIA) COMMUNIQUÉ From the November 18, 2002 issue of Education Intelligence Agency Communique  On the web at http://www.eiaonline.com Introducing School News Monitor. Many of EIA's sources of information are unique, but they are supplemented by a daily examination of some 85 newspapers and wire services (at least one in each state) plus scanning the Dow Jones News Retrieval Service. Morsels from this horn of plenty make their way into the EIA Communiqué, but many other stories deserving of national attention do not. It is with these stories in mind that EIA introduces School News Monitor, a web page devoted to the top ten education stories of the week. Stories with an interesting or unusual angle will be selected, and each story will retain the original newspaper headline and lead paragraph, including a deep link to the story's Internet location. The inaugural issue is already posted at http://www.eiaonline.com/monitor.htm. The next update will be on Thursday, November 21 and each Thursday thereafter. I hope you enjoy it. *    *    * Nebraska, Georgia and Rhode Island PACs Sent Contributions to Florida Governor's Race. It has been well documented that the Florida Education Association committed (some say overcommitted) its resources, staff and reputation in an effort to oust Gov. Jeb Bush and replace him with Bill McBride. While the wisdom of that decision will be argued among FEA members for some time to come, it is at least obvious that having McBride rather than Bush in the governor's office was in FEA's self-interest and therefore deserving of substantial commitment. Likewise, such a large-scale union effort in a key state would naturally lead to staff and resources being sent from NEA and AFT national headquarters to Florida. But on what level did it make sense for the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, the Georgia Association of Educators and the Nebraska State Education Association to send financial contributions to a gubernatorial race in Florida? The amounts involved are small, but relative to the size of each of these affiliate's PACs, they were not merely pocket change. The Rhode Island AFT affiliate sent $250 to McBride, the Georgia NEA affiliate sent $500, and the Nebraska NEA affiliate dropped $1,000 on him. Each of these states had gubernatorial races of their own and, like Florida, each of these was won by the Republican candidate. Keep this in mind during the next PAC contribution drive in your state.   *    *    * DO YOU ENJOY THE VERMONT EDUCATION REPORT? For more than a year, Vermonters for Better Education has been publishing the Vermont Education Report and emailing it to our subscribers, providing you with information you can't get elsewhere in the Vermont media about a topic of great importance to the life of the state. Show your support of the VER by making a donation to VBE today! Mail contributions to: VBE, 170 Church Street, Rutland, Vermont 05701.  The VERMONT EDUCATION REPORT is published by Vermonters for Better Education 170 Church Street, Rutland, VT 05701, 802.773.5240 Contact LSternberg@aol.com for more information.

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