JordanMatters

We're #1

2008-10-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

According to the LA Daily News, Jordan High School has the highest paid principal in LAUSD. At $168,549.64 that makes our principal top dog, well, ok, top Bulldog.

Top 10 LAUSD Paid High School Principals:

STRACHAN, STEPHEN $168,549.64
VELASCO, SALVADOR $143,931.57
MC EWEN, KIMBERLY $142,753.94
GEE, MYRON $142,350.42
TARIN, ALFREDO $141,414.34
DOWNING, JAMES $140,557.84
PRIZANT, RICHARD $140,157.15
CALVO, LINDA $140,118.51
HIGGINS, LARRY $134,317.20
BISHOP, FONNA $132,477..84

http://lang.dailynews.com/socal/lausdpayroll/

According to the same source, LA Daily News, our LAUSD administrators are top earners in the nation, yes, nation (How does the LAUSD compare in salaries?, 9/28/08). Taking into account that Jordan High School has the top paid principal in the top paying district in the nation for administrators, it could very well make him the top paying high school principal in the U.S.

Others making the JHS list:

Gary Martinez $116,491.92
Cori Waters $115,669.64
Marvin Avila $112,308.01
Robert Whitman $105,100.68
Candice Waters $101,879..88
Rosa Trujillo $96,222.60

The figures speak for themselves, and they are deafening when you consider that, according to the same source, the picture for LAUSD teachers is the contrary. LAUSD teachers are at the bottom of the barrel when compared to other large districts in the nation.
Los Angeles Unified teachers on average earn $63,000.

Gathering the payroll data was no easy task for LA Daily News. LAUSD hired an outside attorney who confirmed that the information was public (apparently LAUSD attorneys didn’t know). I could have shared with the LA Daily News what I have known for years: getting information from LAUSD is like requesting information from Home Land Security.

For instance, try getting a breakdown of everything that is spent at JHS and who gets what? Good luck getting it. What you will get is some list with budget codes and figures and told to go figure it. Really, should it be that difficult to request such level of fiscal accountability? Should it not be easy in our high tech present to make all funds spent at JHS and other schools easily available for the public to access if they wish? Apparently not.

But going back to the salaries. What should we conclude from the information? I am not sure, but I am certain that making it public is good. Valid questions can arise from the information. Are the public and students getting what they deserve from such salaries? Are teachers getting the support we should be getting from such high paying salaries? Or do such high paying salaries simply result in positions whose primary function is to find ways of justifying their existence and make themselves unexpendable?

What such high paying salaries should be buying for parents, students and teachers is the guarantee that the educational container at Jordan High School promotes and supports teachers and what they do in the classroom. A good start would be to put an end to the hundreds of daily late student arrivals (I personally counted over 600 students that arrived late to school on Friday, September 26). Our high paying administrators are not even keeping records of these late arrivals. Isn’t this data important enough to track? I need not inform you that the educational container is the very first thing Charters get under control. They know how critical a role it plays in education. Why are we not supported similarly?

Lack of Trust

2008-09-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

Left to ourselves, we do well among our colleagues. On rare occasion, there is disharmony, but this is, for the most part, the exception. Left to ourselves, we do quite well, accept constructive criticism and depend on the support of fellow teachers. This support is critical for educators and when it is undermined, students are affected. It is fair—I would say, necessary—to ask ourselves if we are content professionally as teachers here at Jordan.

Are we having fun teaching because our students are receiving the life-long benefits of our efforts? Learning is, by its very nature enjoyable, fulfilling and satisfying. Likewise, so is teaching and when it ceases to be, it should raise a red flag of warning. And, please, discard the thought (if it dare arise) of “Well, if you are not happy here at Jordan Mr./Ms. Doe, why don’t you find another school where you can teach?” We should enjoy teaching, and when this joy is not present, it is a symptom on an educational illness. What is the source(s) of our illness?

As teachers, we are not trusted to, for one, mess it up, and, two, fix it when we do. It’s a simple “We trust you to mess it up and we trust you to find your way back to make it right. In the meantime, we will support you in this process for we understand the long-term benefits it will bring to Jordan.” Sadly, after all these years of SLC’s, PLC’s and their benefits, all the talk about distributive decision making and how there can be no real accountability without autonomy, talk about fiscal transparency and accountability, how critical is collaboration, it is amounting to a hell of a lot of hot air. Left to ourselves, we do well with one another, if we have real support. Instead, the support we have is pre-determined. We are told what our needs are and no one is really listening to what we have to say. We are getting the bad end of an understanding that was full of promise and genuine reform is increasingly heading in the wrong direction. At present, we are more dependent than ever on our administrators and coaches. This is a bad sign.

Dependencies, especially in education, should only exist temporarily. The best teachers have a workable balance between a stubborn individualism and independence that inspires students, and an ability to collaborate with their colleagues on shared objectives. They are advocates for their students’ needs and do whatever is necessary to fulfill them. This balance at Jordan is continually undermined. The very kind of teacher that Jordan students need most all too often leaves out of lack of support and compounding frustration. The supports we have are not the ones we ask for, but no one is listening.

When teachers are not allowed to fail and, subsequently, figure how to fix it, collegiality is cut at the root. Yet we will be informed that we were granted control over millions of QEIA spent, curriculum taught, student discipline, the bell schedule, professional development, participated in the hiring of new teachers and administrators, so on and so forth...and, we blew it!

“Let me tell you what you really need…” followed by a resounding “No Se Puede (No, We Cannot),” is what we get when we express our needs and concerns as teachers. No one is listening. If it walks like duck, acts like a duck, talks like duck, it is not an SLC. It is also not autonomy...or distributive decision making, or a PLC. Do you see a Green Dot in your future?

There is a solution for us.
Want to know what it is?

MLK

2008-01-22T14:50:00.001-08:00

I am going to exercise my imagination, a bit. I imagine MLK would tell us to throw the race thing out the window immediately. He would say that JHS is not a black school, never was, and that if ever was perceived as such, it should not have been. He would also say that JHS would not be a Mexican /Latino school even if it were 100% so—or for that matter white or Chinese. MLK would say this because his understanding of what it means to be human.

For MLK, to be human is to be able to transcend all categories. Most important of these is about how we view ourselves. The Dream he spoke of is possible because humans, as individuals, are extremely difficult to categorize. People are neither this nor that—neither Black, Mexican, White or whatever—yet they might very well be, superficially. I believe this is the Freedom MLK talked about: There is no concrete self or ego apart from other. This is why the greatest gift we can give our students is to, first, help them find confidence in who they are, only to help them rid of who they think they are and go beyond. Our students are not Mexican, Black or what have you, they are beings waiting for someone or some thing to awaken their true nature. For me, each is a Buddha but does not know it yet. I truly believe this. All you have to do is look directly at your students, you will find it there. It motivates me daily.

I believe MLK was a bodhisattva. A being that chooses to incarnate in order to liberate others from suffering and ignorance. They are ordinary beings by most measures but their activity transforms the world. I believe people like MLK want for us to do likewise. We too can be bodhisattvas in our own way.

MLK would encourage us, as teachers, to help our students grasp that what limits them is not their circumstances, but the choices they make and attitude surrounding their circumstances. Martin, like all great men and women, understood that humans are equipped with all the tools needed to elevate above circumstances.

He would require of us personal accountability. Having this, he would demand it necessary that our kids knew the importance of self discipline and its connection to right-speech, right-action, and their connection to right-living. He would be big on discipline indeed, compassionate, but without the idiot part. He would be a good teacher, tough but kind.
I choose to celebrate Martin Luther King this time of year for personal reasons. For me it speaks of things having to do with going beyond small mind; limitations and obstacles can be overcome; internal demons can be tamed; enemies can be won over; it speaks of transcendence while remaining grounded; helping yourself but finding oneself in others; avoiding idiot compassion yet not giving up on people; conducting oneself with confidence yet doubting our own certainty; predispositions and biases are human, yet can be liberated; truth frees us from ignorance and that justice and compassion and two sides of the same coin.

Martin Luther’s Dream belongs to the world. We still have a ways to go, but we are heading up that staircase he mentioned.
And yes, he was a strong union supporter.

Chapter Unity = Better Teachers

2007-11-14T13:54:00.000-08:00

I was just thinking and came to a small but not insignificant realization. If we unionize, there is not much beyond that we need do. After all, we are not here to generate union activists running around doing union things, beyond organizing, that is. Well organized union chapters in education make better teachers. Our union activity is to organize, but we do this because it allows us to be better teachers.

Teachers teach best, in large part, due to the security that contractual rights provide. Trust me, if I knew I could be fired tomorrow for being an outspoken union chair, I would be a ’yes sir, anything you say papi chulo’ kind of guy in no time. I would be bringing our principal and his administrators tamales and hot champurrado all the time. Well, not really, but you get the point.

Teachers are better at what they do knowing their union chapter is well organized and ready to advocate for them. A disorganized chapter contributes to bad education. Well organized union chapters make happy, less stressful, more productive teachers by creating a protected work environment that is responsive to their needs.

Unorganized union chapters contribute toward an aura of instability, uncertainty, a sense of not being able to depend on those procedural rights the union safeguards. Rights and justice are not enough without that reserved energy ready to snap into action in their protection. In the world of our political system this ability belongs to our executive branch which oversees police powers—and these are checked by the legislature and judiciary. Unions are that potential to act when individual or group rights are infringed. Unions , of course, do not have police powers, but they do have the ability to act when well organized.

Unorganized chapters and their members have rights via the contract, but limit their ability to enforce those rights due to lack of unity. Teachers in such chapters feel isolated, vulnerable to being individual targets, they hold back, dare not dissent, unmentionables are not openly engaged, and by so doing valuable contributions that can act as catalysts of change needed at a school like Jordan are muted.

One would think that administrators would use this to their advantage. One would think that because of their keen sense of how well organized chapters contribute to teacher well being, and how this impacts the quality of education, they would encourage union activity and participation on their site. One would expect them to see that a divided faculty may be on the short easily manipulated, but on the long, pushed unto the future contributions that unified faculties provide. High performing schools have well organized chapters in common, among other factors.

Unions are natural allies to administrators in a school site. Eventually—yes, even here at Jordan—this fact will be embraced. On one of my recent issues, “Hug your Administrator,” (read it on mylausd.com) I wrote on the importance of wishing our administrators success at what they do. Let them know this is still our wish.

Blog Before Transforming!

2007-10-28T23:40:00.001-07:00

Given that information is the currency of democracy, and citizens use information to guide how they vote, we at Jordan High School must make sure we are adequately informed before we are asked to vote on the Partnership model presented to us. I have invited Walter Rich and Dana Escalante to help me manage the blog. The idea is to post questions, invite Marshall Tuck to respond and then allow the community to engage. Marshall obviously does not have to respond to all comments. It is just a means for all stakeholders at Jordan to get the information needed before the vote. As with all else, participation by all is key.

Support + Discipline = Instructional Time

2007-10-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

In the classroom, time is that elixir that makes instruction possible and of which there is never enough. Anything that takes time away from classroom instruction must be seen as anathema; mortal sin of the instructional kind. So why are disruptive students being allowed to time-jack instructional time from us? Answer: No real support to teachers from administrators resulting in no real consequences for students when they interrupt instruction.

I’m sure it’s just me, but every time I hear excuses for why teachers should not exercise their right (Ca. Ed. Code 48910-11; UTLA/LAUSD Article XXIV, Sect. 2.0) to suspend disruptive students here at JHS I can’t help but translate it as: ’These are poor minority kids from the barrio/ghetto and we should not expect of them the same level of self-control as the white or Asian kids from high performing schools.’

Right, we shouldn’t, we should expect more self control from them! Those white and Asian kids from high performing schools can afford being lax on self-control. The chances are they’ll still graduate from high school, go to a university and go on to care for their families with a middle class income. This luxury is not available to our students. We owe it to their hard working parents, and especially to those students at Jordan ready and eager to learn, to have high expectations concerning self discipline and real consequences when not exercised.

What is the end result when teachers suspend students for continual disruption of instruction and these students are sent right back? Answer: The ability of the teacher to manage his/her classroom is severely undermined. Result: Less time for instruction. Category: No Brainer. Reaction: Bewilderment! Song: “We aren’t going to take it...anymore.”

So, what should we do as teachers? First, recognize that we have options given to us by the California Ed. Code. It’s much the way federal and state laws work. Simply, no state law can undermine federal law. Similarly, no school discipline policy can prevent teachers from referencing and using Ca. Ed. Code (§ 48910-11) to suspend students that disrupt the performance of their duties or willfully defy their authority in the classroom. Please read the Ca. Ed. Code to be better informed.

Given the connection of self-discipline and learning, why is this taken so lightly as given by the lack of support offered to teachers at Jordan? Never mind the model that says that unobstructed freedom leads to that creative learning that is most high and desirable. This type of learning is the fruition of discipline to begin with. Why are students brought back into the classroom in clear violation of Ed. Code? The number of disruptive students that we are talking about represents a relatively small percentage of Jordan students, yet they take away the majority of instructional time.

It’s good we have school uniforms, finally. Why did it take so long? Uniforms are part of the structure and form our kids need. Now follow it up with real support for teachers in the classroom. So far it’s been wimpy, wimpy...very wimpy.

Lack of Accountability

2007-08-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

I was going through the usual morning routine reading the Saturday paper at Coffee Bean when the words jumped out of the LA Times Saturday (April 21, 2007) front page. “The most apparent and inhibiting deficit standing in the way of instructional coherence in LAUSD today is a lack of accountability.” I almost spilled coffee on myself. The report by Evergreen ordered by Supt. David L. Brewer was making evident a critical point about LAUSD that UTLA has cried out for a long time. There is no accounting for when the ball is dropped. The buck stops in a virtual world of smoke and mirrors in which key players make believe all is well. It’s a culture that refuses to die and makes it impossible for proven education models to surface. Brewer recognizes that this culture needs to change. “The culture is going to change.”

What is this culture that needs to change? The kind that plays lip-service but does not really implement programs that are successful. The study mentions the inability of the district to ’replicate programs that are successful.’ Why is this so? The answer is embarrassingly simple: “Successful programs empower teachers and discourage micro-managing by administrators.” Successful programs also recognize the importance of teacher retention and use the experience of veteran teachers, especially as mentors to new teachers. I admit, when a school such as JHS has lost over half of its seasoned teachers over the last 3 years, the list is short. How many total teacher will we lose this year? Yet enough of us are here, and will continue to be here, to make a difference.

Critical concerns mentioned:

Adopted policies are not implemented; no linkage between planning and budgeting; lack of accountability is pervasive throughout all levels; no responding to priorities and deadlines; no sense of urgency among managers; directives are given but no consequences for noncompliance; multiple/duplicate/conflicting programs.

No elaboration is necessary. The most troublesome ramifications of the Times report is that the ripple effects reach all the way down to the classroom level. It affects us as teachers and, most important, impacts our students. As teachers we can raise above and take accountability for what we can influence. If district hot-shots refuse to be accountable, let us contribute positively to our realm of influence. To start, we can pay attention to our body, speech and mind. We can dress appropriately. We can watch what comes out of our mouths and reflect on how it will impact our colleagues and students. Yes, it means not participating in spreading gossip and hearsay without foundation. We can be our worst enemy when we participate in the type of speech that degrades our colleagues. Bite your tongue, reflect before speech. This alone would go a long way in uniting us. But this should not be mistaken for not questioning or succumbing to apathy.

Glitch in the Matrix

2007-08-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I have to inform you that there is a glitch in the JHS Matrix. Humbly submitting myself to the authority of the contract in order to discover the why’s of its prerogatives, I have arrived at the conclusion that they’re there for good/sound educational reasons (well, for the most part).

Having a matrix in a timely manner is the first step towards setting the right tone for the new academic year, and in doing go, for each mester.

A complete Matrix four weeks prior to the end of the school year allows teachers in their departments/SLC’s to meet and determine, in a fair and equitable manner, who will teach what next academic year. In determining, seniority and educational program needs should be taken into consideration. This is consistent with SLC models that hold critical relinquishing decision making affecting education, as much as possible, to teachers in their respective SLC’s.

The advanced posting of the Matrix allows teachers to plan ahead for courses they’ll be teaching next year. This provides time to address errors, recommend changes and tie loose ends before the start of the new mester. These are not small matters for they impact teachers and students alike and give the school the image of being less then efficient when not adhered to.

Further, not posting the Matrix as prescribed is tantamount to promoting mediocre teaching. Consider, if teachers are not given ample notice of the master schedule and not allowed to determine among themselves course distribution, preparation/planning is, simply, undermined. The consequence of this is the start of a new mester lacking the king of preparation that produces good teaching. This, colleagues, is indeed tantamount to mediocre teaching. Now, one might assume a veteran teacher not be affected much by this

(I disagree), but how about the way it impacts a new teacher? No teacher, much less new teachers, should be placed in this predicament.

I can almost anticipate the response from our administrators on the matter. “Señor Nava, but we do post the Matrix in advance!” It may be so, but it’s the changes later made that are problematic. What happens when you let a good teacher know August 28 that instead of teaching US History he/she will now teach Government? You risk that this good US History teacher will now be a mediocre Government teacher. I’ll select not to inform on what happens to a less-than-qualified teacher when this occurs.

Changes to a timely posted Matrix should rarely occur! It should be difficult for changes to happen. I know, all sort of reasons/rationales will be provided making the need for changes necessary. Some of them, admittedly, are understandable. One can say that there are challenges here at JHS that are not shared by most high schools. These challenges (high class failure rate, etc.) require a certain flexibility with the matrix. This is true about JHS. It is also true about the 22 program improvement schools. These schools have much in common and precisely what they have in common is what needs to change with them. If, as we see, a timely and well planned matrix is so impacting, and if our present way of preparing it is not working, then our approach needs to be reevaluated. No matter what is the rationale, a badly planned matrix, unfortunately, regretfully, sends the message that ‘mediocre teaching and on-the-fly-as-you-go preparation is acceptable.’

No, it’s not.

Hug Your Administrator

2007-06-12T13:23:00.001-07:00

I’d say we show administrators our support by giving them a hug once in a while. Now, you might think I’m being cynical or saying this in jest. This interpretation would be far removed from the truth. It’s in our best interest for our administrators to be happy and successful. Consider the contrary.
An unhappy, unsuccessful administrator, is trouble. Professional frustration ensues and this leads to the kind of desperation that seeks objects of blame. As teachers, we become the primary recipients. Reasoning becomes skewed and they succumb to the lesser human emotions. Convinced that we are not paying sufficient homage to their authority, conspirators against them are imagined and they divide teachers into friends or enemies. Teachers perceived as friends get rewarded and those as enemies get what they apparently deserve. I need not tell you that working under such conditions would/is unpleasant. We’d wake up in the morning hating the day ahead of us before it began.
Unhappy/unsuccessful administrators poison the morale of teachers, and by extension, students and their learning experience. This, of course, is unacceptable.
On the other hand, happy/successful administrators are effective and just. They zero in on issues that most directly affect the educational quality of our students and maintain a healthy/supportive working relationship with teachers reflecting in high morale and retention.
A good administrator admits being wrong and enacts change when new data supports yet do not conveniently select it to promote their agenda. They are warm, inviting, approachable, magnetizing, not intimidating. They keep their word, are intolerant of gossip/hearsay by cutting it on the spot and somehow avoid the trap of bureaucratic ’principleship’. They are educational leaders more than paper pushers. They inspire teachers to love their craft and students to excel in academics. They meet obstacles with grace and dignity, are benevolent to friends and merciful to perceived enemies. They welcome dissent and take to heart fables such as The Emperor’s New Clothes. They are always light, perky and willing to laugh at themselves. Furthermore, they would never sacrifice substance over smoke and mirror pyros to look good. Such an administrator rides to school on a white horse instead of a …
Alright, so this sets too high a standard?
So how do we limit the damage caused by the abuse of an unhappy administrator? What can we do to minimize the impact on teacher morale and student learning? Our teacher union, as any union, at best, can counter the power of unwise administrators. At worse, unions become collaborators with poor administrators and by doing so contribute to the seeds of bad education. How does this happen? By abdicating their role and responsibilities as a union. Our message can be direct: we are with you when you promote good educational leadership and a positive school culture, but will not hesitate to ask for accountability when you don’t.
So, now that we agree that it is in our best self-serving interest to wish success and happiness to our administrators, what can we do when they are not? We work with them once, twice and before it’s hopeless, we smack them in the head with the contract and wish they’d be promoted downtown behind a desk to a position of zero influence.
So, by all means, let’s hug our administrators and be supportive always...but let’s keep our big stick in our pocket.

Ba Humbug!

2007-03-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the new black-n-white look. It’s not a change of style for the newsletter. Due to, I was told, budget contingencies, the color HP Laser Printer I had in my room was removed. Fortunately, the power of the pen—well, type—is just as persuasive in black-n-white, if not more so. Long live the power of the pen! Viva!

It’s the fourth week and I’m still receiving requests to enroll students. Some probing and I usually get that they have been waiting weeks to be assigned classes required to graduate. A lot of students have been withdrawn from my classes due to having met the class requirement already. In the end, the story will be ‘teachers are not raising student test scores.’ Give me a break! When the enchiladas hit the fan, test scores go down, the finger will point at our direction.

The story line will be that we are not good teachers and we are not doing what we should and that if we were, test scores would reflect otherwise.

Ba Humbug!

I suspect counselors are not at fault, but the switch to the 4x4 with not enough preparation time.

In the meantime, I need help. I’d like to know what kind of good teaching techniques I should use to get students caught up that have missed four weeks of the ten week mester? I’m sure they’ll come up with something that will have all the bells and whistles of good theoretical teaching. Ay Caramba!

I know, let’s all will it into existence. Not unlike the Little Engine That Can. Yes I can; Yes I can; Yes I can...Si Se Puede!

Ba Humbug!

It’s late at night and I’m getting too creative so I’ll just shoot out a blast of whys:

Why is it so hard to print from computers?; Why are 18/57 computers in room 6 broken?; Why is no teacher in charge of room 6?; Why don’t all students have network accounts to access their work from any station?; Why are two computer carts (40 laptops) in room 1 (book room) instead of being used by students?; Why are two other carts (IBM Laptops) hardly used?; Why have so many laptops been stolen already?; Why haven’t teachers been trained to use Canopy?; Why do we only have 10 or so LCD Projectors for teachers?; Why haven’t more been ordered yet?; What software licenses do we have, when do they expire, which ones will we upgrade, where will the licenses be maintained?; Why hasn’t the Abobe MX Suite been upgraded? Why is it so difficult to get tech assistance?’; Why are we going to pay someone to maintain our school’s web page?; Why wasn’t a teacher(s) asked to maintain it with students?’; Why weren’t any resources made available to the teacher that used to maintain it but now are to the company that will?; Who were the teachers that were consulted about this?; Why don’t teachers decide the topics of staff development?; Why are there so many meetings?; Why aren’t all school budgets totally transparent?—what do we have, the categories, and yes, who gets what?; How about who gets paid additional hours beyond their normal 120hr/month pay and why?; What about Block Grant AB1802?—how about having a clear, simple, equitable way of making these funds available for teacher and their classrooms?; How about shutting up Mr. Nava and go to sleep?; How about all of us going to sleep on these and other issues? This would not contribute to making our administrators more effective. It really is in our best interest for our administrators to be successful. Have no doubt about this.

What If?

2007-02-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

What If?

My father was a teacher in Chicago back in the day and I remember all the tension when their union started to really exert some influence and demand reasonable accommodation. It was clear that the hierarchy was shocked and dismayed at the suggestion that anyone but themselves could manage such an organization. Unfortunately, I see the same attitudes when I watch the school board meetings on TV (I need to get a life!) or when I have to deal with the downtown District office (you’re just a teacher, you couldn’t possibly understand). And closer to home, many teachers here believe that our administrators are convinced that they alone can properly lead Jordan. At meetings, in conversations, and in written comments, many concerns have been expressed about transparency, a lack of real input, the adversarial climate, and low morale.

Like the Chicago Board of Education, I was shocked and dismayed when I attended my first teachers’ meeting here last year. After watching and listening to some of the teachers at the meeting, I thought I had been transported back in time to junior high. And unfortunately, that meeting was not an isolated event. So it is not surprising to me that administrators believe that some of our teachers demonstrate a lack professionalism, are unwilling to participate or cooperate, and do all they can to deflect accountability.

While I am certain that many of the perceptions by everyone involved are exaggerated, there is also probably some truth to a few of them. And given the importance of what we are all trying to accomplish here, maybe some civil, yet honest, dialogue could help us all.

In the private sector, where the marketplace kills poor performers, leaders have learned that truly empowered team members are much more effective in helping the company and individuals succeed. There are numerous fantastic examples in the Fortune 100, and, while not as prevalent, there are also success stories in public organizations, including schools. Managers have also learned that pretending to empower employees is far worse than doing nothing at all. Employees are far more astute than greyhounds chasing fabricated rabbits. There are also numerous examples of these colossal failures. Where success has occurred there have been at least two key ingredients: (1) leaders who truly wanted to share power; and (2) team members who were willing to be accountable. While I am barely past being a rookie and I claim no expertise in educational administration, I think that some aspects of a participatory management model could be beneficial. I know that laws, contracts, history, politics, nepotism, and other factors provide obstacles, but it seems obvious that more sharing of power by our administrators and more accountability from teachers could do nothing but help.

What if all expenditures were clearly documented in an easy to understand format and shared with everyone? And what if there was full participation in the planning and decision making associated with those expenditures?

What if more than the same few teachers showed up to existing team (committee) meetings? And what if teachers took the extra time needed to prepare for those meetings? And what if those meetings did not have pre-planned outcomes? And what if administrators and teachers were committed to the team’s decisions even if they didn’t personally agree with them? And what if a teacher or an administrator could start and lead a new team to address the school’s changing needs?

What if staff and professional development meeting topics were responsive rather than prescriptive? And what if a team of teachers selected PD topics? And what if teachers made the effort to fill out questionnaires, or even to research valuable PD topics? And what if our own senior teachers prepared and presented development topics? And (here’s a biggie) what if our PD meetings were fun?

What if communications between teachers and administrators were open, honest and good-hearted? And what if we talked about important stuff rather than petty details? And what if we gave people the benefit of the doubt? And what if we started with the assumption that our peers will do the right thing and only get confrontational as a last resort? And what if we all remembered that 99% of the people who are at this place are here for the right reasons, even if even they sometimes forget it?

These are just a few of many issues that could probably benefit from more participation, shared authority, and accountability. There are more contentious ones, but it is probably best to leave those for another day. I am sure I have terribly oversimplified most of them, but I hope you get the point.

Finally, it makes me sad when I see our students, who have so many things in common, making each other’s lives more difficult. Given all the serious external challenges that they share, it’s hard to understand why they would want to make things harder for each other. Likewise, I find it disheartening when we, who have so many things in common and so many shared external obstacles, make each other’s lives more difficult.

Optimistically submitted,

Bill Lantz

Making Jordan What It Should Be

2007-02-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

How do we get there from here? The symptoms of what ails our school are many and so will be the prescriptions. Let’s focus on one, us and...them. By us I mean teachers and them, administrators. Of course, this dichotomy should not exist. We are a team aren’t we? Well, here lies one of Jordan’s ailments. So what’s the prescription?

The Understanding

Teams work together and everyone has a critical role to play in the achievement of the objective. Members of the team provide constructive feedback when someone is not living up to their obligations. There is this understanding, an agreement, if you want. It’s a simple concept yet provides a proven system. In education, everyone on the team is seen as essential to reaching the educational objectives.

Problems arise when the rules of the game are changed midcourse simply because we are losing the game. Instead, in light of being behind on the score, the rules of the game ought be given greater attention. It’s going back to the basics approach. But here lies the problem, the basics are deemed too simplistic. Simple systems require few oversights—less goes wrong or breaks. More complexity, more oversight. More expertise necessary, more to make people feel inadequate about. More programs, more money to spend, more excuses not to focus on basics concerns.

The Teacher

What are the rules of the education game being played at Jordan? Teachers should, at some point , be so good at what they do that the best administrators can do is stay out of their way. The less the administrator gets in the way of such a teacher, the more this type of teacher excels in their teaching. This is the mentor teacher that should be used to help new teachers learn the ropes (what happened to this proven model?)

Until then, it’s good for teachers to feel the pressure of their colleagues first and then the administrator that will STULL them. This kind of pressure that produces constructive recommendations is healthy. At best, this system should help teachers fine-tune their professional skills. At worse, it produces useless feedback and extends teachers no real support.

The Administrator

What makes administrators accountable? Who applies the right kind of pressure and feedback so they can modify their approach? One would expect their superiors to provide this for them. But is this sufficient? No. As teachers we are obligated to provide constructive feedback to our administrators. They in turn should not hesitate to use this information and make modifications to their style. This type of feedback should be viewed as positive and, in fact, invited. At Jordan, most teachers don’t feel they can safely, much less bluntly, provide this kind of feedback. The contrary is more accurate, they are shy in doing so for they sense it is genuinely not welcomed. It may not be an exaggeration to say that it is discouraged. This is not good for an educational environment. Notice the lack of dialogue during faculty meetings? Teachers vocal for years are silent. Is this a mere happenstance? I don’t think so. It is a symptom screaming for a remedy.

Information is the currency of democracy —

Thomas Jefferson

Symptoms of Greater Concerns or Petty Issues?

2007-01-25T23:38:00.000-08:00

What happens when schools disregard input from teachers? The consequences are not good at all; in fact, they amount to the questionable use of significant amount of dollars.

Case One

Did we really need the winter retreat at Dana Point, O.C.? Shouldn’t we have been asked for our opinion as teachers? I know, the reply will be that, in fact, we indeed were consulted. Not really. I personally would like to know how many thousands were spent that could’ve had a greater impact at the classroom level?

Case Two

$340,000 for 120 iMacs and a service hardly used! Who conceived of this and how was it justified? We, I can assure you, were not consulted, and if we had, a resounding NO would have been our response. How could this have happened. Let’s use our imagination a bit. It goes something like this: A certain budget has several hundred thousand dollars and it must be spent by a quickly approaching date; otherwise we stand to lose funds. We don’t have a Technology Coordinator, nor do we have a Technology Committee, so input from such can’t be had. Besides, the powers that be know better how to spend such funds than the very teachers that need them. Furthermore, seeking teacher involvement would have endless dialogue/arguing among teachers. It would be too messy and too...democratic. Oops, dead-line is approaching, let’s buy 120 iMacs for $350,000!

Case Three

Visual CASEL? Heard of it? Of course not. The good news is that the cost was $45,000. What is it? Well, this is the bad news, for 99% of you don’t use it. It’s a program that creates and manages user accounts for an Intranet such as we have at JHS. If implemented it has many benefits. What then is the problem? It was purchased with little or no teacher input and no foresight to provide teacher training and support. End result is its lack of use. Where does the buck stop at JHS? Apparently nowhere for there are forthcoming funds which will experience the same fate, decided upon by the same couple of people.

Case Four

Vantage Program? Again, heard of it? Not likely. Cost: $100,000. What did this get us? A service hardly anyone uses and some iMacs. Can someone help me with this? The service involves students submitting essays online in order to have software somewhere correct them and provide jargon-laden feedback. English teachers that approved this and use this service please step forward!

Case More

There is more I hate to tell you. This UTLA investigative reporter will do his best to bring to light the details on these and other much-left-to-be-desired use of our students’ funds. Heard of Edu Soft? It’s supposed to provide a 24 hr. turn around on periodic assessment data. Yeah, right. How about TeleParent? (arguably most used by teachers of the bunch) Use it?

For vets. old enough to remember there is Connect, FastForward , etc.

Hoping to retract most of this on the next issue.

’The more things change, the more they stay the same.’

Sponsored by the spirit that believes laundry cleanses best out in public. +

Information is the currency of democracy —

Thomas Jefferson

Union Matters in Education...Jordan Matters

2007-01-22T13:54:00.000-08:00

In a perfect world there would be no need for unions. In fact, there would be no need for teachers or administrators. In such a world, everyone would be a lifelong self-learner. I’m not convinced if this educational nirvana would be ideal or a fulfillment of the Chinese curse ‘may you get what you wish for.’ I suspect it would be some sort of evil curse. The realm of perfection is not a human one, hence, the need for necessary evils like unions.

Due to arrogance or a false sense of individualism, I cringe at most things that resemble submission to a herd agenda. History shows us plenty of examples of wrongs committed by passive submissiveness to a herd mentality or seductive leader. Instinctively we shy away from such involvement. Yet all we need do is look at recent history to put an end to our hesitation.

The Winter 2007 article of AFT magazine provides excellent reminders of why teachers joined unions and why they remain important today. Noted were how pay was meager (some things don’t change much); women were fired if they married—if married, fired for having children; male teachers earned more than females; hiring was often connected with who you knew (oops); oppressive supervision by administrators was common; no due process; no collective bargaining. The list is too long for this article.

Also noted is the present view among corporate-style school reformers to install an autocratic principal who rules with an iron fist. Such administrators are convinced that their actions and decision are too important to be impeded by having to consult teachers. Desperate educational situations require desperate measures they reason. Whereas this approach seems sound in a low performing school as ours, it hardly should go without question.

Administrators, no matter how well-intended, are subject and succumb to negative human qualities. They can be biased, vindictive, abusive, indifferent, forgetful, disorganized, lazy and so on.

Our contract is an understanding that limits administrative powers gone amuck . It’s a simple yet all too beautiful safeguard found only in Democracies—powers must be checked and few exceptions allowed. Such checks and balances hinder reforms in bad schools goes the argument against this type of safeguard. One is reminded of the argument for tyrannical governance: The trains ran on time.

Unions are advocates for better education. They advocate for open discussion of administrative decisions, transparent budgets, their allocation and publishing. Most critically, they are a voice against unwise policies.

Such an understanding is all the more relevant as we move towards SLC’s. The whole concept of the SLC is replete with important educational notions such as collaboration, decentralized decision making, a say on how funds are spent, selection of teacher and curriculum taught. Yet the attitude we sense is that teachers at JHS can’t be trusted with all this autonomy, no matter how experienced they may be.

Teacher buy-in is critical and we should not be just expected to concur with orders handed down from high. Exclude this and the reforms demanded of the SLC model will not work at JHS.

UTLA at JHS can be the driving instrument for the changes that must take place here if true educational transformation is to trickle down to our students.

Not Another $$$ Program! Data Works???

2006-11-14T23:08:00.000-08:00

Please don't tell me we're going to spend tens 0f thousands of $$$ on another program!? For those of you that have been at JHS for more than a few years the names of CONNECT, FastForward, Sylvan, more recently, Canopy, Vantage, TeleParent and EduSoft should strike an ayyaiyai...oy vey...ay caramba..Chiguagua, in your mind and gut.

Consider Vantage--->Cost: $340,000-->purchased: 6 carts of 20 imacs each, 6 LCD Projectors, printers and a service plan that few have used, yes, few have used.

Any way you swallow this it's hard to digest. Please someone tell me I'm totally off here.

Small Details Matter

2006-11-14T22:21:00.000-08:00

Do small details matter? In education they should. Ok, I admit, I do tend these days to rush to school in the mornings, stop at Starbucks to grab coffee, cut Pinto off on Tweedy and barely make it to sing in. Mind you, not once has an administrator had to open the door to my waiting students. I always seem to make it on time to greet them at the door. Now why would anyone want to make an issue over a few minutes + or - when we sign the attendance card in the morning? Who cares over such small trivia? Well, when it starts impacting the number of tardies mentioned on your Evaluation Stull (yes, those little red dots are counted and end up on your stull as tardies) it should start to matter big time.

Article IX, 3.1 of the contract states that site obligations on a traditional 180 calendar schedule like ours start 7 minutes before classes start and end 6 minutes after they end. According to my calculations this is 7:38 AM for us. So why are sign in ledgers pulled at 7:35...or 7:36...or 7:37...or ever later? They should be pulled at 7:38 period! And then a time-stamped ledger should be kept for all (yes, ALL) that arrive thereafter. No confusions! No inconsistencies! No problems! Let's get it right. Small details do matter.

First Blog--Because Communication Matters

2006-10-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome Bulldog Colleagues! At best, this blog will be a productive means of improving our much-to-be-desired way of communicating with one another and will help us to address real issues that affect our teaching at Jordan. At worse, it will deteriorate into a soap box for a litany of issues that have little to do with good teaching and that which promotes it. Let's Blog!