I was exceedingly dismayed today to find out about the donors-only conference taking place in my hometown today and tomorrow. I was also surprised to find out the location of the conference: the Union League of Philadelphia. As a location that was built to support policies of Abraham Lincoln and the Union in 1862, I very much doubt the founders would have wanted a set of rich, exclusive people making decisions over the populace of Philadelphia. The closed-door nature of the affair adds insult to injury, providing yet another place where the stakeholders of the city's education system are barred from sharing their thoughts.

One look at the agenda of this conference plainly shows the direction the creators are aiming for: a non-public school system driven by rich people who make policy and pedagogical decisions for poor residents of Philadelphia. The schools they visited today are only charter and parochial - no traditional public schools involved. Perhaps it is because of the fact that class sizes have ballooned and there are no counselors to assist students in applying to college. Or perhaps it is because there has been systematic disinvestment over the past five years. Whatever the reason, they are not seeing how their donations and policy influence is ruining one of the oldest school systems in the country.

I am particularly upset with the Director of Philadelphia Schools Partnership, Mark Gleason and the Director of PennCAN, Jon Cetel because we have had many conversations in which we all agreed teachers should be involved in these conversations and yet no teachers are in the agenda. There are plenty of policy directors and foundation representatives, but no one is there to speak on behalf of the teachers. 

Ever since the Pew survey came out on who is truly at fault, I have been trying to focus people's attention to the chart on the right. Only 11% of respondents view the teachers and their union as at fault. If that is the case - and teachers are telling all that their rights are not the issue - why do groups like PSP and PennCAN call for the end to seniority rights? While I agree certain things can be worked on, there is a place for seniority in order to keep administrators from using a grudge to solve a budgetary problem.

I truly hope something good can come from this conference but I sincerely doubt that it will unless more teacher voice in included. 

This year eight new teachers joined the faculty at the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies and despite the fact that I am the only one with prior urban teaching experience, I still feel like a first year teacher in these classrooms. Shifting to a new city, a new school, and a new curriculum is - to put it mildly - tough.

The main issue I am currently dealing with is the new curriculum: College Prep Math is a powerful tool to use in the education of our youth, yet it is a new way of teaching for me and takes time to get used to. The way I respond to questions has not really changed - I usually ask them to be specific and ask a peer - but the way in which I navigate groups and the content has.

Case in point: today I was teaching a lesson on the cube root function (featured here) but the class was having a lot of difficulty understanding how to use it. What do you use an an input? How does the output change depending on the input? CPM's general philosophy is to put the onus on the student to ask a question and someone else can help answer it with minimal prodding by me. 

The students were asking me to "just teach" (meaning direct instruction) instead of questioning them on their knowledge - something I shied away from even before using the curriculum. When prodded by students in this way I get frustrated and have lost some control over the students in the classroom and felt very much like I did in my first classroom five years ago.

Teaching is tough - even with a curriculum that has all the resources ready for you to use. I have faith I can surmount this obstacle I just do not know when it will happen. I can't wait for that day.

In Philadelphia there are a few basic types of schools that students go to and I got quite used to understanding the terminology in being a part of the School District over the past five years. In summary, they are:

a) Neighborhood - Essentially, the school you can walk to. It is always open to you and you are guaranteed a spot there. It might have specialized programs (i.e. Kensington Health Sciences) or it might not (i.e. West Philadelphia High School).

b) Magnet - A school with criteria for entry. You must pass a test, audition, have high test scores, or other admissions requirements. There are a variety of specialized programs (i.e. the Creative and Performing Arts High School) or some that have just been generally "good" for years (i.e. Central High School).

c) City-wide lottery - Similar to a magnet school that you have to apply, but there are few - if any - criteria for entry. Names of applicants are pulled out of a lottery (I think the High School of the Future still works this way).

In contract, New York Department of Education schools work differently. From my understanding, every high school is essentially a "neighborhood" and "magnet" school simultaneously. Students are guaranteed a spot at their local, so-called "zoned" school (that is, unless Mayor Bloomberg gets his way)., but can apply to any high school in the city. This confuses me quite a bit as I am not used to it at all. But it is a fascinating different policy decision that they made years ago. 

Here is to more comparisons in the future!

Many of you in school districts across the country experienced a strange beginning of your year due to the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year) two weekends ago. But what was more under the radar was the more-important holiday of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) that took place yesterday (beginning at sundown on Friday). I spent a lot of the day reflecting on things I have accomplished or not accomplished in the past year; on sins I have committed and attempts to ask forgiveness. 

On this day (and no other) we recite a prayer known as the Al Chet (translation: for the sin...). In it, we chant a list of 51 things that we have done against God and ask for forgiveness. During closing services last night I was struck by a line I have said probably hundreds of times in my life thus far but have never really emphasized until now:

One of the things I truly appreciate about my religion is the emphasis on education and respect for learning. Libraries have existed in Judaism for centuries and Rabbis have been mandated to teach children everything they need to know in order to become a truly good Jewish citizen. And how better to emphasize that in the psyche of the people than to mention the disrespect of parents and teachers as a sin against God? 

While I do not advocate for the introduction of religion in public schools, I think there is something to be learned here that has been forgotten in many places of education across the country: the profession of teacher is one that should be deeply respected. Unfortunately, I do not think that is taking place right now and it saddens me.

Over the past day I have reflected on much - my personal and professional lives, my family, my friends, my goals - but I hope this tidbit is something that I hold onto while I am arguing and pushing for more teacher voice in the realm of education. Teachers deserve more and hopefully soon we will get it.

The other shoe has dropped: the Mayor of Philadelphia is now begging for money for the city's schools.

Yesterday Mayor Nutter of Philadelphia announced the creation of the Philadelphia Education Supplies Fund, a source of money ostensibly to go directly to paying for pencils, paper, books, and other necessities of the classroom. He hopes to garner donations to the tune of $500,000 each year by pledging money from the city's general fund as well as from outside foundations like the Maguire Foundation and the Haas Family. 

While hundreds of millions of dollars are still required to complete this school year in Philadelphia, the Mayor is essentially creating a PR campaign to show how hard he is trying to save the School District instead of actually doing anything of substance. 

Do I think donations are a good idea in general? Of course! In fact, I was the recipient of thousands of dollars worth of donations a few years ago in order to buy a set of laptops. This was an amazing feat. And, since then, I have drawn funds from friends and family through programs like DonorsChoose.

But, to be honest, what the Mayor is espousing is a severely unfair second tax upon the public of the city. Not only is the "temporary" sales tax increase going to stick around for a while, but now the mayor is hitting up a very poor tax-base for funds they don't have. It's a double-whammy.

The Pennsylvania Constitution states, at Article III, Sec. 14, that: "The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth."

If the city is serious about getting more funding for its education system, it needs to push this from every angle. Even people who have fundamental disagreements are lining up behind the call for a fair funding formula. When is the state legislature going to take this seriously? 

Since moving to New York I have - of course - noticed some differences in my life. But, for the purposes of this blog I will likely focus posts like these on professional differences. So far I've officially been working for four days and have already noticed some pretty big changes in how I will have to do things. Item 1: Attendance.

Philadelphia schoolteachers use a system known as ScholarChip to officially track attendance every day. Students are required to swipe ID cards in front of digital readers so that teachers know if and when students enter the building. This is useful because a) there is a more objective assessment of tardiness and b) it means everything is digital and easily searched.

On the classroom level, that means teachers spend about 1 minute of their time seeing who is in the room, who is late, and inputting absences if need be. Counselors and/or secretaries analyze this data to determine necessary interventions.

In contrast, thus far I have not seen any student of my school swipe any ID in front of any reader; additionally, I have had to bubble in attendance on sheets that are to be returned to the office at a specific time where they are - I assume - digitally transferred to a database of some kind. The only reason I assume this is that on the attendance sheet I received today there was data from yesterday already bubbled in.

Also, when our academic classes begin in earnest (right now we are doing a week of orientation in our "crews" or homerooms/advisories for others to understand) we will be given bubble sheets to fill in daily and return weekly. This seems odd to me because then the data is analyzed more slowly. How does a centralized person know if a student has been absent four days in a row? It puts more burden on the teacher (especially with class sizes ballooning).

I cannot speak for all New York public schools but I am confused why there is not centralized system in use at all schools across the city. I would love to learn more about this.

Tomorrow, I begin my fifth year of teaching. 

So, of course, I am frantically preparing for everything that is yet to come in my new school: new names, new policies, new personalities. Yet, for some reason, I am calm. Perhaps it is the fact that I've been in the situation of having a new school four times in the past five years; or perhaps it is because as I begin Richard Ingersoll's statistically significant Year 5 I can finally realize that I do have some skill at this and I am prepared for whatever comes my way.

Whatever the feeling is, I can tell you that this year will be a fascinating one for my newfound desires to understand the education system in a broader context and somehow try to influence it for the better.

The school I will be teaching in, the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies (BCS), truly embodies its name in its character. The entire first week of school is devoted to the formation and understanding of what BCS is and how students and staff interact in order to make the school a place to create and assist life-long learners. Instead of attending academic classes, each grade team has crafted a week's worth of activities for students to participate and transition back to school.

For students who have been around for a while - it is a chance to think about their vision for the year and what they want to accomplish. For the ninth grade team (of which I am a part) we are ensuring the newcomers learn policies, procedures, schedules, and more. 

I am sure that this year of blog posts will come with a lot of comparisons to Philadelphia so I will spread them out over time. The first I will make is this: while I am preparing for class sizes of 34 or 36 (still larger than the theoretical limit in NYC), former colleagues of mine are facing 40+ (click to see larger image).

I don't know if NYC has anything called "leveling" like in Philadelphia - but the basic idea is that teachers/roster chairs don't know who is really going to attend their school until the kids show up. So, until the numbers get more concrete (which happens in October), teachers have to "teach" these enormous classes. In years past the difference in September to October has not been enormous (perhaps starting with 33 kids, and lowering to 31) so it is particularly worrisome that he beginning number here is 48.

I wish all my fellow teachers in NYC and Philadelphia good luck on the starting day tomorrow. We can do this!