Teachers, Unions And Nostrums

Good post today by the economist Jared Bernstein. I think it hits several nails on the head, so I take the liberty of quoting it in toto. Hope Professor Bernstein doesn't object:

"Students, Their Neighborhoods, Their Schools, and the Unions

Sep 18, 2012

"I’ve done just one post on the Chicago teachers’ strike, pointing out that ratcheting up the weight on teachers’ evaluations based on value-added modeling (VAM)—one of Mayor Emmanuel’s conditions—is a really bad idea.  Now, according to Reuters, the framework agreement they’ve reached out there scales back on that weighting.  Here’s a useful piece by Richard Rothstein with more background on how and why these tests fail to accurately and reliably identify effective teachers.
But this morning, I’d like to take a bit broader look at the issues in play here.  I open my WaPo this AM to read this:

"Two days after a student was gunned down while walking to Anninna Sigmon’s high school in Prince George’s County, she still wasn’t sure when she would feel safe enough to return to class.
“I just feel like I could be next,” said Sigmon, 17, a senior at Central High School in Capitol Heights. “People shouldn’t be afraid to go to school.”

"I am then reminded by this Rebecca Mead post that 80% of Chicago public school students qualify for free and reduced lunch, a proxy for poverty status.

"And it just reminds me how ridiculous it is for us to expect teachers to solve these problems for us while we’re busy beating up on their unions, cutting school budgets, laying off education personnel, and sharply reducing that part of the federal budget that could help make a difference in urban poverty.

"Of course we should insist on teacher accountability, but imagine for a moment being the teacher whose students legitimately fear for their lives upon walking to school.  Just how talented does she have to be to offset the impact that must have on the ability of students to absorb her teachings?

"Now that there’s a framework for an agreement in place, I think the Chicago teachers should be back in the classroom.  The fact that they’re not is a potent measure of the level of distrust that’s built up between the mayor and the unions.  But if you think teachers unions are the reason too many kids aren’t learning enough, you’re wrong.

"As Mead puts it:

"No doubt there are some lousy teachers in Chicago, as there are everywhere. But blaming teachers for the failure of schools is like blaming doctors for the diseases they are seeking to treat."