By Kevin Hart

The heroism of union educators in Pennsylvania’s Chester Upland School District was beamed into millions of homes yesterday, as Columbus Elementary School teacher Sara Ferguson appeared on the nationally broadcast The Ellen Show to discuss the district’s plight.

“Every child deserves the right to attend a great public school, and they need to have a good teacher in front of them,” Ferguson told host Ellen DeGeneres, whose show is watched by nearly 3 million people a day.

Chester Upland, located outside of Philadelphia, was brought to the brink of financial disaster earlier this year, when draconian state budget cuts left it unable to make payroll for its teachers, support professionals and administrators. The announcement generated widespread fear that district schools, which serve predominantly low-income students, would be closed.

“Chester Upland is an extreme example of the devastating consequences budget cuts are having on students across America,” said NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. “We cannot allow students to be the victims of misguided priorities.”

At an early January meeting, members of the Chester Upland Education Association and the Chester Upland Education Support Personnel Association, affiliates of the Pennsylvania State Education Association and the National Education Association, passed a resolution promising to stay on the job – even without pay – as long as they were individually able. The teachers and support professionals vowed to band together to keep the schools running for as long as they could.

While an advance on state funding has since given the district a temporary lifeline, educators like Ferguson continue to wage an uphill battle to ensure Chester Upland’s students have the resources they need. JCPenney has stepped up to help, presenting Ferguson with a check for $100,000 for the district during her appearance on The Ellen Show.

Van Roekel expressed his gratitude toward The Ellen Show and JCPenney for the gift – and said now was the time for more elected officials to do what’s right for students and ensure all schools are adequately funded.

“We can’t forget about all of the other children, teachers and schools in Chester Upland and throughout the country who struggle to learn and achieve,” he said. “We must hold our elected leaders accountable for making sure that all our students and teachers have the resources they need to succeed.”

Ferguson, who was also a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama during January’s State of the Union address, said she and her fellow educators would continue to fight for justice for Chester Upland students. DeGeneres also had a special message for the district’s 4,000 students.

“We believe in you, kids,” she said. “Don’t ever give up.”

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Ignoring the voices of tens of thousands of workers and their families, the will of the majority of Hoosier voters, newspaper editorial boards, and even the union representing professional football players, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a “right to work” law Wednesday, February 1, that will take $1,500 out of the pocket of the average Hoosier worker. Source: Education Votes

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To help you integrate Black History Month into your classroom, NEA offers a selection of lesson plans that cover a variety subjects and that can be adapted to fit multiple grade levels.

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Pennsylvania teacher Sara Ferguson will be featured on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show” today. Ferguson, a third generation educator, teaches literacy and math at Columbus Elementary in the Chester Upland school district. In early January, teachers and staff were told that there wouldn’t be enough money to pay them because the district was running out of state funding. Members of the Chester Upland Education Association voted to work as long as they could for delayed compensation.

Check out the show’s website to find out what time and channel the show airs in your area.

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By John Rosales

West Seattle Elementary School in Washington is changing. While the irksome perception persists that this school in a high-poverty neighborhood is too ill-equipped, mismanaged, or even incapable of high student achievement, the school’s students, staff, and parents work quietly and effectively to change its course.

“We have a vision of becoming a blue ribbon school where teachers teach and students are in their proper grades,” says Assistant Principal Pam Conyers. “We are now on that path.”

After a year of participating in a federal program aimed at boosting student success, West Seattle’s 420 students are measurably improving faster than anyone expected.

For example, in grades 3 through 5, students’ scores on a reading test were highest in the district in 2010-11. In math, West Seattle students showed the greatest growth in the district, according to the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP). Last year, the school reached Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals for the first time in seven years.

“We made AYP 100 percent in each student subgroup,” says Conyers, referring to Black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, and Pacific Islander groups. “That, for me, is closing the achievement gap.”

According to an accountability index used by the Washington State Board of Education, in the last two years the school moved from Level 1 (underperforming) to Level 3 (maintaining growth). The index provides schools with a snapshot of their achievement taking into account improvement from the previous year and a school’s relative performance compared to demographically similar schools. The highest level (7) applies to schools or districts where at least 90 percent of students meet prescribed academic standards.

To help support and promote West Seattle, the National Education Association’s Priority Schools Campaign (PSC) selected the school as one of its intensive support sites. Nationally, the PSC program focuses on making substantial, educator-led improvements in high-needs schools. Many of the teachers and education support professionals (ESPs) at the school are members of the Seattle Education Association (SEA), which has 4,900 members.

“There are no short cuts to improving student achievement,” says Jonathan Knapp, SEA vice president. “It takes time, but SEA is proud to work out innovative ways to address the achievement gap in our district.”

Since last school year, West Seattle has narrowed the achievement gap due in part to receiving a School Improvement Grant (SIG). West Seattle and two other local schools are sharing the $3 million grant, which expires in 2013. By accepting the federal grant – adding an estimated $350,000 to $400,00 to school coffers – West Seattle agreed to install a new principal, new teachers, 15 extra minutes of school each day, and  more after-school activities. So far, the changes have yielded positive results.

Read the full story at NEA Priority Schools

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By John Rosales

After a particularly snowy night in January, paraeducator Lynn Witts found herself zigzagging around water buckets the next morning as she walked the hallways at Polson High School in Montana.

“The snow melted and we had buckets everywhere,” she says. While winter brings it share of snow and ice to challenge the school’s 35-year-old flat, leaky roof, it is the almost-daily showers of spring that Witts fears most.

“When the roof leaks, wiring can get wet so breakers need to be shut off,” Witts says. “It just isn’t a real conducive learning environment.”

Holes in the ceiling and exposed wires are common in many classrooms across the country.

When a pipe burst last October at Welch Elementary School in Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, hot water flooded an entire section of the second floor running down walls like a slow-moving brook. Power had to be shut off.

“We dismissed everyone from the parking lot,” says Jossette Threatts, a paraeducator. “The teachers and paras remained calm so as not to upset students, but the level of frustration varied among us after all the children were gone.”

The school, built in the mid-1960s, was also the scene of a recent gas leak that caused an evacuation while many students were sitting at computers taking state required tests.

“Those are the kinds of things that happen at an old school,” says Threatts. “That’s why  Congress should pass the FAST Act (Fix America’s Schools Today), to make schools cleaner and safer.”

According to the U.S. Department of Education and National Center for Education Statistics, the average age of public school buildings is 42 years, with almost half (45 percent) being built between 1950 and 1969.

Antiquated school buildings like those at Welch and Polson are why the National Education Association (NEA) is urging Congress to pass the FAST Act, which would provide $30 billion in assistance for the modernization and repair of elementary and secondary school buildings and community colleges. However, the legislation remains stalled in Congress.

Paraeducator Lynn Witts talks about the urgent need for school modernization

Last year, when the U.S. Senate failed to move forward on President Obama’s American Jobs Act, Obama agreed to work with Congress on breaking up the measure and passing proposals on a piece-by-piece basis. Last September, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced the FAST Act  on the Senate floor, which would put up to 400,000 educators back to work and modernize 35,000 aging public schools and community colleges.  Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut) introduced the bill in the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, in Camden, Arkansas, water leaks are a continuing issue at Camden Fairview Intermediate School. Stephone Avery, head custodian, says in addition to a leaky roof, the 37-year-old school has an outdated telephone system, time-worn ventilation units, and the usual old carpets and doors found at many schools.

“Old doors lead to air loss, higher energy bills, and security problems,” Avery says. “Old carpet causes allergies, is a trip hazard, and a nesting place for bugs. Something has to be done.”

Last August, when Hurricane Irene hit Hopatcong, New Jersey, the school district’s five schools suffered more damage from heavy winds and rain than expected due to disintegrating plaster that should have been replaced years before.

“Existing masonry issues at two of our schools were exacerbated due to the heavy rains,” says Stacy Yanko, a library assistant at Durban Avenue and Tulsa Trail Elementary Schools. “This resulted in additional water intrusion in the high school gymnasium and auditorium.”

At Durban Avenue, Yanko says ceiling leaks were quickly addressed, though excess moisture at the Tulsa Trail library may be causing a musty smell and contributing to poor air quality.

“Congress must pass the FAST Act,” she says. “Everyone should have the right and opportunity to teach, work and learn in a clean, healthy and up-to-date environment.”

Yanko says Hopatcong like many school districts across the country is coping with drastic budget cuts that often cause school officials to postpone desperately-needed repairs.

“They want to make repairs and necessary updates, but with funding to schools being cut at every level, it is almost impossible,” she says. “We cannot afford for the FAST Act to be defeated. How can we serve students with outdated, substandard facilities and equipment?”

Take Action: Tell Congress to Support the Fix America’s Schools Today (FAST) Act.

Watch More Videos on School Modernization featuring Education Support Professionals.

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Obama’s college affordability plan includes a $1 billion federal grant program that would shift federal support to states and colleges that lower costs for students and raise the rate of students earning degrees. The President also specifically called on Congress to keep interest rates low for 7.4 million students with federal student loans, and also to double the number of work-study jobs on college campuses over the next five years. Source: Education Votes

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Until e-textbooks’ benefits outweigh the downfalls for a school district, which doesn’t appear to be the case yet for the vast majority of districts, old-fashioned hardcover textbooks will remain a fixture in classrooms, lockers and backpacks. Source: Crookston Times

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By Cindy Long

Chuck Pack, an Oklahoma geometry teacher, is eager to fully implement the Common Core State Standards into the curriculum. The new standards focus on depth, rather than breadth, which Pack says will expand his students’ understanding of math concepts.

“I usually teach 12 chapters in one year of Geometry,” he says. “In the Common Core, I’ll have six units that cover concepts more comprehensively.”

But Pack realizes it will be a slow, difficult process before he’s transitioned to the Common Core. He says his school and the district are introducing them gradually, one or two standards at a time. And they’re not alone.

Halfway through the 2011-2012 year, states across the country are still grappling with the transition to the Common Core State Standards. The new standards are more rigorous and lessons are much more complex than those of previous standards, and most states do not expect to have them in place until the 2014-15 school year or later, according to a new report by the Center on Education Policy (CEP).

“You can’t just flip the switch to the new standards,” Pack says.

Full Implementation Requires Full Funding

The CEP report, based on a survey of 35 Common Core State Standards-adopting states (including the District of Columbia), examined the states’ progress in transitioning to the new standards.  The vast majority of the states in the survey believe that the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are more rigorous than previous state academic standards in math and English language arts, and most are taking steps to familiarize state and district officials with the new standards and to align curriculum and assessments.  But they also cautioned that having adequate resources is a major challenge to full implementation of the CCSS.

“Fully implementing the CCSS is a complex undertaking that will take time and affect many aspects of the education system,” said Diane Stark Rentner, director of national programs for CEP and co-author of the study. “Looming over this entire process is the major challenge of adequate resources. Policymakers should be aware that funding problems could cause states to curtail or delay some of their plans.”

Foremost is the need to fund professional development.

“Teachers need professional development on how to deliver the new standards and how to help kids achieve the new standards,” says Barbara Kapinus, National Education Association Senior Policy Analyst, who facilitated NEA teacher member input and feedback for the development of the new standards. “What we’ve done in the past with things like scripted programs won’t work with the new standards. Teachers are going to have to plan complex, challenging lessons, and respond to kids individually in complex ways – ways that will challenge teachers’ problem solving as well.”

New Standards, New Assessments

Part of the CCSS professional development is involving teachers in the determination of curriculum and lessons, but also in the creation of the new assessments. According to Kapinus, teachers must share their expertise in the development of assessments.

“Who knows best about how the standards can be measured than the teachers carrying them out in the classroom?” she asks.

The federal government is funding two state consortia to develop the assessments, which will mostly be administered on computers rather than on paper with number two pencils. They’re slated to be operational by the 2014-2015 school year, but recognizing the need for implementation help, the Department of Education awarded the consortia an additional $15.9 million to support state transitions to and implementation of common standards and assessments.

Says Kapinus: “It’s common sense. The standards can’t be assessed until they’re implemented.”

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The term “digital divide” used to refer to whether classrooms had computers connected to the Internet. Now, the bar has been raised, as newer software programs require high-speed connections and as WiFi-dependent devices such as iPads make their way into classrooms. Technology spending in schools varies widely across the country, as some districts reap the benefits of grants and parental donations, while others tap local, state and federal funding. Source: The Hechinger Report

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