Vote 'no' on OSD: More government does not mean 'better' education

Published in the Augusta Chronicle, Sept. 11, 2016

This November, voters will decide if Georgia public education needs more layers of government to operate schools.

The proposed constitutional amendment would create a new layer known as the Opportunity School District, under which Gov. Nathan Deal would appoint a highly paid bureaucrat with access to local tax dollars to “fix” unsatisfactory schools. This appointee would answer only to the governor as to what he or she does with the money. (Apparently, the governor dislikes working through the elected state superintendent – who, after all, must answer to the people.)

The OSD plan illustrates the reflex of education “reformers” in Georgia – more government must mean better schools. Georgia voters have seen this before, when they were urged to vote for the charter-school amendment and thereby create another bureaucratic layer. But the achievement gains promised in the charter-school campaign haven’t materialized. Georgia is headed for another blunder in education reform if the OSD amendment passes.

Education reformers love fads, and the greatest fad being ignored in the OSD push is the Common Core State Standards (now renamed the “Georgia Standards of Excellence”), adopted to qualify for federal Race to the Top money, which is meant to reward innovation in state and local schools. The metrics and other internal variables embedded in the implementation of the CCSS will guarantee more “failing” schools to be taken over by Deal’s OSD.

EMERGING RESEARCH indicates that teachers are losing faith in the CCSS implementation and the metrics that define its success. As implementation continues to unravel, teachers increasingly are dismayed about curriculum and professional-development materials that are inconsistent with the standards or otherwise not based on well-established and well-researched instructional practices.

Some researchers report that the CCSS authors ignored these best practices. So the standards themselves, and the deficient curricula and professional development associated with them, will increase the likelihood that more schools will “fail” and be subjected to the OSD.

Another problem is related to the well-documented phenomenon of “curriculum narrowing,” which means subjects not included on the high-stakes testing are given less emphasis in the curriculum. CCSS and its aligned tests will continue to contribute to curriculum narrowing (because CCSS addresses English and math), but even more rapidly because of ineffective implementation.

Teachers are struggling with poorly aligned instructional materials that foster ineffective teaching practices. Furthermore, these studies note that high-poverty schools have difficulty obtaining and creating aligned resources to prepare students for the high-stakes tests associated with the CCSS.

The chaotic implementation of the already problematic CCSS makes it more likely that schools – especially high-poverty schools – will fall short on the accountability measures that will subject them to the centralized OSD.

In addition, with simultaneous implementation of unreliable teacher evaluations; disparities in textbook alignment; lack of digital resources; poor or nonexistent teacher professional development; and other problems related to the CCSS; it is plausible that such “reforms” aligned to the CCSS have destabilized the teaching profession – with predictable effects on the success or “failure” of schools.

FOR EDUCATORS who have endured similar reforms for many years, the intent of the OSD is clear –consolidation of power in the governor’s office to the detriment of local control. And if the operation of the OSD schools is turned over to private companies (as in New Orleans, which Deal touts as a model for OSD), these companies will turn a net profit courtesy of Georgia taxpayers. Education reform will be shown to be a euphemism for the destruction of public education.

Georgia education reformers might merit more trust if they made it a practice to base policy on peer-reviewed studies and practical anecdotal evidence. Unfortunately, their track record shows otherwise.

Case in point: the adoption of the untested Race to the Top policies, which included the CCSS. In 2010, to qualify for a federal bribe of $400 million spread over four years, Georgia adopted the CCSS and much of the Race to the Top policies associated with President Obama’s education agenda.

By 2013, to comply with all the Race to the Top mandates, Georgia education leaders adopted more than 80 percent of Race to the Top policies – even though none were supported by persuasive evidence of effectiveness. Then, when the expensive and unrealistic expectations of the CCSS and all of its testing glory actually harm schools, Deal uses this as an excuse to entrench another bureaucracy that siphons dollars away from local control.

This “reform” misstep will ensure a public perception that teachers are continuously ineffective, thus further destabilizing the profession. Of course, this will invite more “reforms” with no empirical evidence that they improve the learning of our most deprived students. We are at a critical mass with public education in this state.

Vote no on OSD. It’s just more useless government.

(The writer is a veteran Georgia educator of 16 years with a master’s degree in teaching and an education specialist degree in educational leadership, and is a doctoral student who provides education policy consulting. He wrote this column on behalf of the American Principles Project think tank.)

Remembering 9-11 is not enough

The multiple terrorist attacks of 9-11-2001 occurred during my second year of teaching high school....I remember the day vividly. The second bell rang, and students were dismissed to their next class. I moved into the hallway to supervise student traffic and noticed an eerie calm, but I was somewhat oblivious to its significance as a second-year teacher. Next door, I could see my colleague's television through the open doorway. I noticed many students were not in the hallway walking to their next class, and many students were standing around watching the television.  By this time, my students were trickling into my classroom and one student, Heather, told me that "we were under attack" and to turn on the television.

I was taken aback by this comment from Heather and asked her to get ready for class because we had a lot to get done today. She replied by saying that I probably would not get anything taught today because someone bombed the Pentagon. I was perplexed by her comment, and suddenly the atmosphere of the hallway and the eerie behavior of the student body began to make sense there was something wrong. I turned on the television to the news and could not believe what I was watching. I saw the Pentagon on fire. At that moment, a fellow teacher walked into my room and stated that the United States is under attack. I was stunned. I did not know what to say, and all I could do was watch the reports of the news with a room full of impressionable minds now locked on to the moment.  Then a student asked me: " Mr. Spencer, what is going to happen?" 

Being dismayed by the images of the Pentagon attack, I could not find any words to comfort the students. Shortly, after that comment, the news reported that a plane flew into one of the Twin Towers in New York City, and images began to pour over the television. Then the next plane hit the other tower and students were crying and getting very upset at what they saw. I could not believe what I was witnessing, and then more destruction continued. I honestly thought this was the day of Armageddon. I turned off the television to try comfort the students the best way a second-year teacher could at this point. This confusion turned to panic and dismay - and then to anger. The students had so many emotions to try and manage. It was chaotic, and I was overwhelmed. In a refreshingly familiar (but odd moment in public education), we all began to pray for the victims. Yes, we brought prayer back to school that day. That was the only logical thing that made sense to do was to pray. There was complete unity and comfort as our minds raced with the horrific images while trying to make peace with such horror.

As the days followed the attack, it was important for me to continue talking to the students about what it means to be an American and the great respect we should have for our troops and our way of life. This tragedy taught me a lot about being a teacher very quickly. The main thing it taught me was that we have a great country and love for American values.  Importantly, students look to adults to make sense of all that is good and bad with our world.  Being prepared to teach students about a tragedy of this magnitude is not taught at the teacher's college. Feelings of togetherness began to permeate throughout our school and small military community. The emotion of patriotism and American pride in our country began to show brightly in the face of this tragedy. It was a moment that was so impressionable on the students. A moment of pride for our country's values was palpable across so many different people and ideologies.

Even though it has been 15 years since this horrific day, this moment in our history is a good reminder that America is not immune to evil forces, and we must continue to educate our students on what it means to be an American and how we should value our freedom. Since 9-11, there have been a lot of changes to our perspective as a nation: bickering, bloated budgets, insurmountable debt, widespread felonies, a broken educational system, and divisiveness at every turn in our culture. Was this the real intent of that attack? Did this attack allow our familial capacity as Americans to unwittingly embrace such actions as being tolerant at the expense of jeopardizing the welfare of successive generations? Such problems cry out for America to unite once again. We need to be reminded of our history (good and bad) and what it has taught us about the best qualities of being an American citizen and seek out the lessons learned from 9-11. We should never forget that day. That day changed America's mindset as a people, forever. Patriotism is a double-edged sword, and sometimes it can blind us of what we are truly supposed to fight for and instill in our young people.

The deeper meaning behind 9-11 is not the sense of patriotism we need to instill in our young minds, but that the United States of America is not finished. Our nation's exceptionalism has not come and gone; however, our exceptionalism is being suppressed by internal political and ideological forces which may be causing more damage than what occurred fifteen years ago. This suppression is larger than the 9-11 terror attack, and this concern should cause Americans to be more unified than ever. We can blame our leaders for this suppression, but we the people elected them.  I believe some our society is mistaking oppression for suppression, and this misinterpretation is remedied by guaranteeing that our young people are taught the principles of liberty and freedom.  The act of 9-11 has had a deleterious effect on our morals and has misconstrued our mindset as a free people. Remembering 9-11 is not enough, but we must continue to unite around the cause that represents freedom for all with an unwavering resolve.

- Jeremy Spencer