Entries by Jim Stergios

Closing time for some libraries

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There is a reasonable accommodation that has to be made as regards the libraries in Boston. Here are a few facts that no one debates: More and more information, and more and more books, are being viewed online; There are specific areas and groups who have less access to online resources; The libraries are currently understaffed, and that will be more so if no changes are made; The library hours will need to be cut down if no changes are made. The mayor deserves praise for raising this issue and noting that we have to change with the times. Does that mean shuttering all the libraries. Heck no. We need libraries as physical spaces where children and moms, people who […]

A big question on Lawrence

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The Senate is hard at work on its version of a rescue package for the city of Lawrence. Most people expect something quite a bit more directive – more power for an overseer – than what the House did, which was, to be blunt, irresponsible to the City and to the residents of the state. I have to wonder how we got here. Sure, there are the charter issues, and the Senate would do a great service to all by insisting that the city council and the mayor, as a condition of the line of credit, revoke the entirety of Section 3.7 of the city’s charter, which ties the executive’s hands on department heads. Essentially the city council has to […]

Let me rise

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Listen to Juan Williams on the DC Scholarship program. Folks, we have to do something about this. From Virginia Walden at DC Parents for School Choice: Sens. Lieberman (I-CT), Collins (R-ME), Feinstein (D-CA), Voinovich (R-OH), Byrd (D-WV), and Ensign (R-NV) have sponsored a bipartisan amendment that would save the successful D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) – a program that has been an educational lifeline for more than 3,330 children from very low-income District of Columbia families. Despite assuring Senate supporters of OSP more than a year ago that they would have floor time to offer their reauthorization legislation, the Senators have not been allowed a vote on this program. Yesterday, after the Lieberman amendment was filed, all Senators received threatening […]

Shocking: AFL-CIO comes out aganist Central Falls superintendent

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Yeah, I know. That’s. Not. News. The only thing worth pointing out is the title of their press release related to the position taken by the AFL-CIO’s Executive Committee: Supporting the Students, Teachers, Staff and Community of Central Falls High School in Rhode Island So, they’re against the superintendent, but supporting everyone else. Yup. I am not close enough to the situation to know if firing is the end-result that is necessary. But I am plenty close enough through friends, relatives and having grown up next door to know that the only way to get the unions to sit down and think seriously about the city’s 50 percent dropout rate was to do something radical. The super and the unions […]

WSJ: MA not at top of RttT applicant pool

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Neil King of The Wall Street Journal puts Massachusetts out of the top echelon of appllicants: Experts said Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, Delaware, Colorado and Rhode Island put forward particularly strong applications, with Georgia, Illinois and Indiana also mentioned. Some state legislators have also officially started to worry. Fingers still crossed, but, as a Rhode Island native I have to say that if Rhodey’s new commissioner Deb Gist beats out MA some real soul-searching has to go on as to how we regain our leadership role in education. Again, let’s all cross our fingers.

Big dates with the feds

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Here they are! – March 4th United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will be announcing the roster of Race to the Top awardees. From a friend: Duncan will announce the RTTT Phase I finalists this Thursday. States will know around 11:30 a.m., with a press release coming at about 12. Sharpen your pens, reporters! – March 8th the draft of the “K-12” Common Core Standards will be released by the Common Core Standards Initiative on March 8 . They are being put out for public comment and posted at www.corestandards.org. You’ve got three weeks to make your comments. Fingers crossed on the first item. On the second, well, CCSSI has had its work cut out, because the previous drafts […]

Why soft skills are pernicious

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Way back in February 2009, we criticized a report issued by the 21st century skills task force report produced by an ad hoc committee established by the chair of the board of education. The report pushed for a move away from the state’s focus on rigorous content-based academic standards and objective tests toward soft skills and portfolio assessments. We criticized the report on many fronts, including its focus on skills rather than content, lack of familiarity with existing state standards, lack of facility with empirical evidence, and on and on. One of the key criticisms we had was that the report wanted to focus this effort on underperforming districts. Hold that thought. The Board of Education has never voted to […]

Time for nailbiting

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Massachusetts has submitted its Race to the Top application and the feds have their scales out, weighing all of the documents, included MA’s 900+ pager. So you’d think that a visit from the US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to the Hub of the Universe would be newsworthy, right? Hmm. The USED website noted that Secretary Duncan to speak at the Harvard Graduate School of Education Askwith Forum. 2:30-4:00 p.m. at the Askwith Lecture Hall, Longfellow Hall, Harvard Graduate School of Education. 13 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138. Limited space for press. Calls into USED provided no information and rather asked things like – who are you? why do you want to know? Not an auspicious start. Everybody tightlipped. You […]

On Finn and Linn

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Checker Finn has a great blog at the Flypaper, which notes the “heavier and heavier burdens” of the common standards project of the National Governors Association (NGA) and Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). I disagree with Checker when he notes that we haven’t seen drafts (we have seen several early drafts) and that we can’t see where this is going. The process is really opaque, and given the criticism CCSSI has received on this point without any action to fix it, any reasonable person would conclude that (1) the team is not up to the job or (2) it’s on purpose. Neither answer is satisfactory. In addition, we don’t have a real sense as to how the common […]

Connecting with small businesses?

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State House News Service (subscription required) reports that the Commonwealth Connector, the state authority that oversees the health care exchange envisioned in the 2006 reform, is “launch[ing] a new health insurance product designed for businesses with 50 or fewer employees.” That’s fast. Pioneer’s report, Drawing Lessons, which compared the Utah and Massachusetts “exchanges” found that, in author Amy Lischko’s words, “Some decisions made while implementing the exchange model in Massachusetts, for example, have meant that the Connector has not met the needs of small employers in Massachusetts well.” Small businesses wanting to know more, can go to www.MAhealthconnector.org, or call Connector customer service at 877-623-6765. And, good on you, Dr. Kingsdale. We’re pleased to see it and will look over […]

Arne Duncan goes DC

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There was/is the big push to centralize health care. Now centralize academic standards? Yesterday, speaking to the National Governors Association President Obama made it clear that he now is ready to open up a second front in centralizing authority within the federal government. When he originally proposed improving academic standards, the President promised a “state-generated” set of common standards that states would adopt voluntarily. Yesterday, the façade of voluntary adoption fell, and instead President Obama and US Education Secretary Duncan made clear that they would now tie Title I funds for K-12 schools to coerce states to adopt the standards proposed by the Common Core State Standard Initiative. So, essentially, the federal government has decided that it needs a takeover […]

Randi blah-blah-blah?

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Central Falls (RI) School Superintendent Frances Gallo is moving to fire all that city’s high school teachers as part of corrective action mandated by RI education commissioner Deborah Gist. The CF high school and five schools in Providence would be affected. “We need to be able to move this school,” Gallo said Tuesday afternoon. “We are persistently in the low-performing category and therefore we have options we must look to.” Gallo said that the 74 teachers can re-apply, but their job descriptions would be different. Under the termination-of-teachers reform model, no more than 50 percent can be re-hired. I know CF really well having spent my youth next door, having relatives there, knowing folks who were police officers and teachers […]

Charters and disadvantaged students

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We’ve had some long discussions with legislators and the media over the past few years about “disadvantaged students” and how they fare at charters. As we often note, the number of poor and minority students in charters are higher on statewide comparisons; and they are well within the range on “sending” district to charter comparisons. And their students by and large do far better those in district schools. But the question raised during the recent legislative debate was, well, how about Limited English Proficient (LEP) and Special Needs (SPED) kids. A new study out by Angrist, Dynarski, Kane, Pathak and Walters takes a micro-look at this question by focusing on the KIPP Academy in Lynn, a school that is mostly […]

Calling Glenn Koocher

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I am pretty sure you have seen the number of online tools Pioneer has created for citizens interested in government transparency and civic engagement on issues like government performance, regionalization, the quality of our schools, etc. Here is a breath of fresh air blowing north from Rhode Island. I was going to say Rhode Island of all places, but then remembered that I am a former Rhodey guy… MassOpenBooks MassReportCards MassCityStats MassHousingRegulations The Regionalization Clearinghouse The GIC Cost Estimator (general, Revere, and there are other community estimators – just ask) So, we were very interested to see that the RI Association of School Committees now puts all their collective bargaining agreements on-line for members — something that could help communities […]

The missing link – student data and teacher performance

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Dan Willingham’s good piece in the Boston Globe on what makes for effective accountability in our schools chided the lack of detail behind the Obama administration’s Race to the Top criteria seeking to “hold teachers accountable for student scores.” There are ways of making accountability work. The two key elements are evaluations that take place over long periods of time, to increase stability, and evaluations that are conducted by people who are knowledgeable and are known by teachers to be knowledgeable. Unfortunately, neither element is part of the Obama administration’s plans. Data is super-important, but how we use it matters. So where does MA stand on the use of data, you might ask. The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) is a […]

Small thought on TV personalities

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I have always been more interested in U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan – what he is about and how he thinks about stuff – than any other of the president’s entourage because he seems real and he seem to really care without wearing it on his sleeve. He’s not the best speaker, and he’s not “colorful” or a “celebrity.” Nor does he cultivate that. On the other hand reading in The Hill about the flak that Rahm Emanuel is getting for the “collapse of healthcare reform” seems only poetic justice. The Hill‘s Alexander Bolton notes: The emerging consensus among critics in both chambers is that Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority. Bolton is […]

Opportunity for Coakley in March

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While the Democratic party “commentariat” has had afield day with the AG’s campaign for US Senate, a funny thing happened. Ten days after the election, her office released an intriguing Investigation that showed nuance well beyond the campaign talking points on why health care is so expensive. A. Prices paid by health insurance companies to hospitals and physician groups vary significantly within the same geographic area and amongst providers offering similar levels of service. B. Price variations are not correlated to (1) quality of care, (2) the sickness or complexity of the population being served, (3) the extent to which a provider is responsible for caring for a large portion of patients on Medicare or Medicaid, or (4) whether a […]

Secretary Reville does Mel Gibson

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At the January 26 Board of Education meeting that dealt primarily with the Gloucester charter school mess, Secretary Reville does his best imitation of Gibson in Conspiracy Theory. He notes “a number of attempts to distract us from the focus that we ought to have,” people who “[cloak] themselves in talk about de-politicizing the process,” “the well-worn tools of political assassination, innuendos, and threats of various kinds.” There are those who seek to “diminish the courage” and perseverance he has to do what’s in the best interests of children and to maintain the “integrity of the board.” It’s bizarre, then, to watch a Republican Senator (Bruce Tarr), a Democratic Representative (Anne-Marie Ferrante), and the Inspector General Gregory Sullivan, who comes […]

Ugh…

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Well, the Board of Higher Ed approved the acquisition of the Southern New England Schools of Law. Budget crisis + new way to expend $50 M over five years + uncertain outcome + cuts in other core services + lots of other bad stuff = good policy idea Man, that’s new math. Video here.

Stim Engine Falters

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Dear Patrick Administration PR Dream Team: The tried-and-true Friday night information dump (alias PAFNDAS) has been tried and tried, and is now tired. Please note: it really pisses reporters off. Sunday, January 31, Exhibit A. Somehow that jobs-related press release did not work out so well. Saturday, February 2, Exhibit B. Suggestion to the Guv’s talented staff, when people are really hurting, you need to use real numbers and show seriousness of purpose. Here are just a few problems with the stim numbers you’re using: – The 14,000 number far overstates the impact by including lots of p-t work, and also by using the federal money to pay small portions of state salaries, and calling those jobs “retained.” That’s not, […]

Gavin to Gavin

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Robert Gavin of the Globe covered our new report Failure to Thrive underscoring the collapse in firm size and the failed policy focus the state has had for 20+ years on relocating firms to Massachusetts. I hope Kofi Jones (spokeswoman for the state’s economic development office) didn’t miss the point. Yes, Gov. Patrick, and all the Governors before him for the last quarter century, have “support[ed] and retain[ed] home-grown businesses and spurr[ed] innovation in Massachusetts.’’ But most of it has been summits (here insert “regional competitiveness councils”) and talk — and, again, not just this Governor. Two takeaways: (1) Governors have long spent way too much energy picking winners and losers (biotech tax credits, film tax credits, etc.) and paid […]

Close Hughes?

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Pioneer has always taken the view that the state should close failing schools (including charter schools). They should also take corrective action including perhaps closure when schools prove incapable of living up to fiduciary basics like handling money and reporting results honestly. Some charter supporters have urged us to come out and support shutting Hughes down. Some are worried about the bad PR for charters. I am of a different view. If the facts demonstrate failure (academic or fiduciary), then, yes, by all means close it. But I know enough from all the work we do in Springfield and our other cities that you don’t jump to conclusions from Boston. The Hughes case is way beyond a “misunderstanding.” But will […]

Gentle tap on the shoulders

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The governor gave everyone a less than gentle reminder of why he got elected, and why he will be a tough competitor throughout this campaign. Going after the consolidation of parole and reining in the judiciary’s probation system — these are tasks not for the meek or weak of heart. Kudos to him for putting it out there. Good messaging, hits some of the people he would enjoy hitting, as the Globe pointed out, and allows him to point the finger at Senators and Reps — i.e., good political strategy — because he will need their approval to consolidate parole (currently a $20 M exec function) and probation (a $100+M judicial function) in any executive branch office.

Sleeping through the election

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Two quick hits on yesterday’s election. One’s obvious. The geographical coverage of Brown’s victory is stunning. Coakley took western Mass, the tip of the Cape and most cities, but the rest of the state (again, the rest of the state went for Brown). Bad news for the Governor (no, scratch that – incumbents generally) with the 60+% of independents going for Brown. Second thing that strikes me from the data is that the cities may have gone for Coakley, but they really sat this one out. Voter turnout as a whole was high, and averaged around 60% outside the cities. But it was only in the high 20s to mid 40s in the cities. Boston 43% Chelsea 37% Fall River […]

NEA $1M to Kennedy Institute

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From our Education Intelligence Agent: The National Education Association board of directors approved a $1 million donation from the union’s contingency fund to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. The contribution will be made in $200,000 installments over the next five years. Among other things, the institute will have a training program for incoming U.S. Senators. Hmm. If the first senator-elect to use it is Scott Brown, I think the NEA may need to do some extra training.

Nit Twit

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Twittering is not something I do, but Dearest Colleague Poftak does. Seems Republican gub candidate Charlie Baker criticized Guv Patrick for having to be kicked and dragged to support hard changes to schools that are failing. I suppose all is fair in politics and war, but I wonder if the response from Sydney Asbury, the Guv’s campaign manager (“Gov Patrick delivers where you & Weld failed and MA kids now benefit- facts beat spin every time”) shows the weakness I have seen over and over in the Guv’s staff. They don’t know history, and it hurts them. Just weigh this: Ed reform of 1993 + best academic standards in the country + kickoff of MCAS process + charter cap lift […]

Nearing victory on charters

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President Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Duncan changed the conversation on charter schools with their call for urgent action to lift arbitrary caps on charter public schools and promote good schools via the Race to the Top competition. The conference committee agreement on the education bill does a lot that builds on the proven performance of the Commonwealth charter school model. And the addition of 27,000 new charter school seats is vitally important. There are two problematic provisions. The RTTT calls for states to scale up proven charter providers, such as the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) and SABIS networks. Yet one provision in the final compromise requires non-high schools to backfill open positions in the first half of the […]

NEA: $26M to Advocacy Groups

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From our man in Havana (the Education Intelligence Agency) comes an analysis of NEA’s financial disclosure report for 2008-09 fiscal. What did our EIA agent find? The national union contributed almost $26 million to a wide variety of advocacy groups and charities. The total more than doubles the amount disbursed in the previous year… In this list, EIA has deliberately omitted spending such as media buys, or payments to pollsters or consultants that have no obvious ideological component… All of these were paid for with members’ dues money (the union’s federal PAC is a separate entity funded through voluntary means): A Smarter Colorado – $87,000 ActionAid UK – $5,000 All Stars Helping Kids – $5,000 Alliance for Justice – $7,000 […]

You think we have problems

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Italy is nice. I am in Italy. So things are good, right? Well, not for the kids here. Look, I am no flogger of things Italian. I spent the first six years of my adult life here, and the people are great, the food is good, and above all they adore children. All things that rank high in my book of the necessities of life. Well, my pals and I all have school aged kids now, and as boring parents will do, after we tease them, turn them upside down and get them to try wine and too many sweets, we sit around discussing them. Eventually, we center our talk on the schools we entrust them to. Two of my […]

It's not nice to call the President a liar

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The Lowell Sun reported a week or so back that Teachers Union President Paul Georges decried what he called “lies” from the Pioneer Institute, a conservative think tank, that linked charter-school funding to the state’s ability to qualify for Race to the Top funds. “We do not need a bill to qualify for the money,” Georges said. “Massachusetts is in the top tier of two or three states.” I am sure Mr. Georges is a nice man and is not a liar. That said, I would suggest better reading materials than MTA talking points. Fact is, with states across the country making hard reforms, Massachusetts cannot simply live in the past and expect its crown of laurels to remain in […]