Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Agreement Would Buoy Displaced Teachers
We have written at length about the problems with the Duquesne School District, which is about to have its high school students parceled out to nearby districts within a 10 mile radius. It appears that the state Department of Education would assign students under a proportional formula so that one district does not have to immediately absorb 200 students for the start of the 2007-2008 school year. According to a newspaper report, the Department would not confirm that this was indeed the plan they have signed off on.
If it is, there is a troubling aspect to the plan. It protects the employees of the Duquesne High School by stipulating that any opening at a school accepting students must first be offered to a member of a pool of furloughed Duquesne employees. “…no new employee could be hired unless the job was offered, in order of seniority, to all properly certified members of the furloughed pool” is the language of the agreement. In other words, the agreement, if ratified, will give preference to teachers who could not get the job done at Duquesne, despite massive state subsidies.
How reprehensible. One would think the failure that is the Duquesne School District would hit the teachers just as much as it has hit the families and their children. The state will allow teachers to follow their charges to new districts by giving them preferential treatment, but would not even consider allowing parents to choose the best way for educating their kids by allowing them to use vouchers or allowing a charter school to compete.
If it is, there is a troubling aspect to the plan. It protects the employees of the Duquesne High School by stipulating that any opening at a school accepting students must first be offered to a member of a pool of furloughed Duquesne employees. “…no new employee could be hired unless the job was offered, in order of seniority, to all properly certified members of the furloughed pool” is the language of the agreement. In other words, the agreement, if ratified, will give preference to teachers who could not get the job done at Duquesne, despite massive state subsidies.
How reprehensible. One would think the failure that is the Duquesne School District would hit the teachers just as much as it has hit the families and their children. The state will allow teachers to follow their charges to new districts by giving them preferential treatment, but would not even consider allowing parents to choose the best way for educating their kids by allowing them to use vouchers or allowing a charter school to compete.
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A mandated hiring pool would certainly be avoided in the business world where staffers at all levels are generally forced to produce or perish after a merger or buyout. It would be interesting to see how performance would increase if K-12 schools were forced to compete for students like colleges do, and consumers could take their education dollars to schools that best meet the needs of each individual child. We all know that won’t happen anytime soon but I do offer what I believe is a viable solution for Duquesne students and their families and a big win for taxpayers in this historic catastrophe.
Simply put, Duquesne high school students have no more school and no district wants them. Many reasons have been offered but if we cut to the bottom line, none of the districts believe they CAN educate the students successfully within their budgets and they anticipate too many problems with the transition. Can anybody really perform a task well when they don’t want to and don’t believe they can? I wouldn’t put any bets on a successful outcome. It could be compared to trying to force a square peg into a round hole.
The great success stories for urban (or any!) students normally begin with somebody believing in them before they believe in themselves. Ask a hard core coach or watch a few movies like the Ron Clark Story or Dangerous Minds. Three school years ago, with a handful of people who think along those lines, I left the security of Wilson Christian Academy in West Mifflin and founded Cornerstone Leadership Academy in Duquesne, a private alternative designed to maximize performance of the Mon Valley’s undereducated urban students. CLA has now graduated 4 seniors and all have attended colleges- CCAC, Pitt and one recently transferred to Point Park for this fall. CLA WELCOMES the opportunity to help more Duquesne students reach their full potential!
Although the Department of Education did not support any plans that would permit tuition dollars to go to charter or non-public schools, there is a better way. This option is a public relations opportunity for PA businesses to be the superheroes in this Mon Valley crisis. Businesses willing to shift their PA tax dollars to scholarships via the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC) can offer students a chance to receive a quality education in their community where they are welcome. The state has offered $9200 per student on a tuition basis to the districts that will receive them. CLA will provide a variety of academic and extracurricular offerings for $5200 per student, saving PA taxpayers HALF A MILLION DOLLARS for 90 students!
What is the downside? Time. Applications for new EITC funds begin to be reviewed July 2 and when the limit is reached, it’s gone. Last year the 36 million dollars allocated for this program was gone by the end of July. This year, who knows? The tax credit limit for businesses was set at $200,000 per year. All we need to save the state half a million dollars and educate 90 students is 2.5 businesses offering their full tax credit. Interestingly, some businesses have the capacity to offer the max on more than one related business, such as PNC Bank companies that contributed more than a million dollars last year to educational improvements. In my mind, everybody wins. The people in the districts that don’t want the students are elated, many Duquesne students are in a setting specifically tailored for their success and businesses get the credit. Who will step up in time to make it happen? I can be reached at 412-580-3393. Cindi McCall
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Simply put, Duquesne high school students have no more school and no district wants them. Many reasons have been offered but if we cut to the bottom line, none of the districts believe they CAN educate the students successfully within their budgets and they anticipate too many problems with the transition. Can anybody really perform a task well when they don’t want to and don’t believe they can? I wouldn’t put any bets on a successful outcome. It could be compared to trying to force a square peg into a round hole.
The great success stories for urban (or any!) students normally begin with somebody believing in them before they believe in themselves. Ask a hard core coach or watch a few movies like the Ron Clark Story or Dangerous Minds. Three school years ago, with a handful of people who think along those lines, I left the security of Wilson Christian Academy in West Mifflin and founded Cornerstone Leadership Academy in Duquesne, a private alternative designed to maximize performance of the Mon Valley’s undereducated urban students. CLA has now graduated 4 seniors and all have attended colleges- CCAC, Pitt and one recently transferred to Point Park for this fall. CLA WELCOMES the opportunity to help more Duquesne students reach their full potential!
Although the Department of Education did not support any plans that would permit tuition dollars to go to charter or non-public schools, there is a better way. This option is a public relations opportunity for PA businesses to be the superheroes in this Mon Valley crisis. Businesses willing to shift their PA tax dollars to scholarships via the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC) can offer students a chance to receive a quality education in their community where they are welcome. The state has offered $9200 per student on a tuition basis to the districts that will receive them. CLA will provide a variety of academic and extracurricular offerings for $5200 per student, saving PA taxpayers HALF A MILLION DOLLARS for 90 students!
What is the downside? Time. Applications for new EITC funds begin to be reviewed July 2 and when the limit is reached, it’s gone. Last year the 36 million dollars allocated for this program was gone by the end of July. This year, who knows? The tax credit limit for businesses was set at $200,000 per year. All we need to save the state half a million dollars and educate 90 students is 2.5 businesses offering their full tax credit. Interestingly, some businesses have the capacity to offer the max on more than one related business, such as PNC Bank companies that contributed more than a million dollars last year to educational improvements. In my mind, everybody wins. The people in the districts that don’t want the students are elated, many Duquesne students are in a setting specifically tailored for their success and businesses get the credit. Who will step up in time to make it happen? I can be reached at 412-580-3393. Cindi McCall
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