The Literal, Not Metaphorical Death of an Adjunct

I work at a major university. For the time being, as a temp, because substitute teaching is a tough gig after three years.

I work at not this major university in this story. But close to it. Close to the heart and tragedy of this story.

I am rather used to the absurdities of higher education. I am used to doing reimbursements that include a dinner for six that cost greater than what I make in two weeks.  I am used to looking at numbers at sighing. I am used to sniffling and working with head colds, counting my debts that I owe and figuring out if I can sacrifice that day of pay in order to have a day off to recuperate.

Margaret Mary shares a bond with me. The bond of ever-temporary work. The bond of constant stress and anxiety that work may end tomorrow.  That bills will still be due. That somehow you have to keep putting on the show and proving yourself year after year, in a vain attempt to be a permanent worker, with benefits, with security, without the worry that if I get sick, I will still be able to keep on the electricity. I have work tomorrow, but Margaret Mary didn’t.

Today, September 18th, Daniel Kovalik wrote a poignant piece for the Post Gazette about what happens when the metaphors become painful, mortal realities.  The article was simple, sad, moving, and laid out the story of Margaret Mary, a dedicated French adjunct professor at Duquesne University– a university with French name, never the less. I am sure she could probably spend  her life teaching those outside of this area how to pronounce it correctly.

Adjuncts are making up an increasingly scary portion of the academics at institutions. But as an adjunct, like a temp, you will not be granted the same permanent and benefits status as a “real” employee or faculty member; however, you will certainly be expected to act and produce like one.  Margaret Mary was no different than many adjuncts in this country.  Simply because you are a professor guarantees you nothing and for a number of adjuncts they rely on food stamps and other welfare measures to get by. After being let go, troubles escalated in Margaret Mary’s life:

“she had just been let go from her job as a professor at Duquesne, that she was given no severance or retirement benefits, and that the reason she was having trouble taking care of herself was because she was living in extreme poverty. The caseworker paused and asked with incredulity, “She was a professor?” I said yes. The caseworker was shocked; this was not the usual type of person for whom she was called in to help.

Was there truly nothing she could have done?   Adjuncts have been organizing with the United Steelworkers union for over a year. There was widespread support for the union, so why is there no union?  Daniel points out,  “Duquesne has fought unionization, claiming that it should have a religious exemption.”  I am not sure what the religious exemption to a union is. I would think a religion would desire to foster a community, create a more just world, especially one that is Catholic/Christian-based organization. Is it because tuition is so cheap at Duquesne that they cannot get by on their meager funds?

Source: http://www.duq.edu/admissions-and-aid/tuition

Hardly. As you clearly see, tuition is close to 30k and even greater for other disciplines like Health Sciences and Music and graduate school (not listed above.) Margaret Mary certainly wasn’t raking it in, not even one student’s tuition worth of raking it in:

“she was not even clearing $25,000 a year, and she received absolutely no health care benefits. Compare this with the salary of Duquesne’s president, who makes more than $700,000 with full benefits.

About 24 students would be needed to cover Duquesne’s president. That is just his salary, not even including the benefits package. Or what the other vice-presidents and other executives of the school make. Considering how many hours she likely put into her work, it is probable she even made minimum wage.

This problem isn’t limited to just French. You can see on their Modern Languages and Literature department page that  only a single professor exists for French, German, and Italian, yet adjuncts are exponential, Spanish being the outlier.  Some languages are not even granted a full professor (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese.)  Furthermore, adjuncts all over the country in both brick and mortar institutions and online, are facing similar problems.

The most stunning aspect of this story to me (I know, I read a lot of terrible tragic things and their horrible comment threads) is that she did the pro-capitalist, “pro-America” right thing. This elderly woman got a job at Eat’n Park (the place for smiles!) just to scrap money. Eat’n Park is a local diner chain. I can’t imagine she became a millionaire that way either. She tried to pull herself up by her bootstraps, only to have hours cut, kicked out of her job that she held almost as long as I have been alive, and left in greater poverty, cancer stricken, and suffering alone.

Some of the commentary has questioned what about her Medicare and Social Security big bucks she should be living on?? Most have no idea how these systems work. They are welfare programs and like all our welfare programs, fairly sub-par. If she wasn’t earning much money, she won’t have that much coming in on her Social Security check. Medicare doesn’t cover a number of procedures and tests, usually requires the patient pay 20%, and does not cover “outpatient” procedures (before you ask, yes, staying overnight in the hospital can be considered outpatient.) With how tenuous it is on the brink of making it paycheck to paycheck, a small puff of wind, like just one hospital bill, could bring you to your knees.

In a cruel irony, one of the quote  unquote best health systems lurks in the background, casting a shadow on her literal, not metaphorical cardboard coffin.

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At the time of this writing, Duquesne University has not responded to any of the criticism. Well. Officially. On their Facebook page, they disallow direct posting by members, but regardless, many have taken to commenting on their statuses having nothing to do with it. It is a small, simple defiance, the least we could do. There was an odd response posted WITHIN the status block itself, instead of its own status:

An interesting way to respond to what has been an outcry throughout the entire day. This statement could not be made in an official capacity? Not on their website? Not even as its own status, but on one advertising the upcoming job fair that the public has been commenting on? It doesn’t make sense. Or it is amateur hour in the public relations/common sense division. How do we move from here? A discussion has started, I hope we can pull together action. You and I can start by supporting labor movements and worker’s rights across this country.

-AntoinetteMarie

A Terribly Accurate Guide to Understanding the PSSA Report

Via Yinzercation:

(Click for full screen; courtesy of Yinzercation)

Another day, another high stakes test. Another day to fight against the standardized oppression against education profiteers.

AntoinetteMarie

Stunning Charter School Test Scores Drop in NYC

The Common Core test scores and analysis were released and some surprising results indeed for NYC public and charter schools alike. With any new test, there will be a drop in schools. The Common Core is an initiative meant to make the generally considered low standards more rigorous. Not in itself a bad mission statement necessarily, but there are better alternatives and flaws within Common Core. One of the big flaws? It basically stuffs the coffers of Pearson and Big Testing. NYC alone paid MILLIONS for this Common Core test. Not to mention all the monitors and bureaucracy from the State of New York to simply administer the test.

The average drop for charter schools was 51%, while it was 34% for public schools. Here are some truly awe-inducing drops, from schools that were touted, heralded as penultimate success stories and offered as proof against public education:

• Harlem Village Academy:  2012, 100% pass rate; 2013, 21% pass rate
• Democracy Prep Harlem Charter (a Teach For America stuffed school): 2012, 84% pass rate; 2013, 13% pass rate
• KIPP AMP: 2012, 79% pass rate; 2013, 9% pass rate
• The Equity Project: 2012, 76% pass rate; 2013; 20% pass rate
• Bronx Charter School of Excellence (what a name): 2012, 96% pass rate; 2013, 33% pass rate

Why the drop?

The tests overall did have a higher bar, but going from full passage rate to an abysmal one-fifth passage rate is obscene.  Charter schools have this mythical connotation to them, built up by the likes of John Stossel’s apostles (and his mustache) along with disingenuous films like Waiting for Superman. Charter schools can solve poverty because of how distinctly amazing their teachers are, compared to those union thugs slumming it in the public schools.

There was one charter school- Success Academies- which still maintained high pass rates. I have personal doubts about the score maintenance, as we have seen the cheating scandals at charters becoming rampant, along with cherry picking of students. If their schools are terribly selective, then one could expect those types of results. It is also important to note the stories many share of special/high needs students getting into these schools through the lottery system and charter schools getting them reassigned or kicked out midway through the year because of inadequate progress or behavior- powers that public schools don’t have.

Charter school proponents and school reforms advocates often inundate the public with numbers, saying their data proves their points. But what about this data? The cold, hard data you can’t fix or fudge to your talking points? Well, Mayor El Bloombito called it good news, in true double-plus good, double-speak fashion. Joel Klein also wrote that these scores were good news. Then again, you see at the bottom that Klein oversees “Amplify, which creates digital products and services for teachers, students and parents.” Another education profiteer, hedgucator, benefiting from siphoning funds, desperate measures, and abuse on the education system. He even assures us that Common Core somehow will lead students to success in the global economy.  Does Common Core tuck kids in at night and feed them fresh fruit and veggies too?

The schools above have received millions, while public schools are suffering from loss of funds at every level. You don’t see outside organizations awarding public schools with the millions that you do for charters.

This still avoids the question about the flaws with standardized testing in general, but for now, the charter school spin is running at full force, while the children are ostensibly the ones still losing and being branded as failures before they reach an age of self-determination.

So what story do reformers tell us now?

Antoinette Marie, Modern Pencil

Breaking: Philly Schools May Not Be Able To Open in Time for School Year

Full statement following:

STATEMENT FROM SUPERINTENDENT WILLIAM HITE ON THE 2013-14 OPENING OF SCHOOLS

On June 7, The School District of Philadelphia announced that we would begin issuing layoff notices to about 3,800 employees in light of a drastic financial shortfall. These layoffs affected significant numbers of our school-based staff, including assistant principals, teachers, counselors, recess and lunch aides, secretaries, supportive services assistants and teacher assistants.

I was joined on that day by four outstanding principals, all of whom expressed grave concerns over their ability to run a school without these staff.

Since the budget process began in the spring, I have spoken repeatedly about our urgent need for additional funds. As of today – almost exactly four weeks until the scheduled first day of school for the 136,000 students in our District – we have not received the funds.

In recent weeks, we have been awaiting the outcome of $50 million in funding from the city. We can no longer wait.

I am in the unfortunate position today of having to announce that if we do not receive at least $50 million by Friday, August 16, the School District of Philadelphia will be forced to consider alternatives to starting the 2013-14 school year on Monday, September 9. This means that we may not be able to open any schools on September 9, that we may only be able to open a few, or that we might be open for a half-day. We will not be able to open all 218 schools for a full-day program. Without the funds to restore crucial staff members, we cannot open functional schools, run them responsibly or provide a quality education to students.

I am deeply dismayed that we are here today, facing these circumstances. Our students are the most important part of this equation and it is both saddening and frustrating to be in the position of telling them and their families that I do not know when their education will resume. They did not create these circumstances, yet they will be most impacted by any delay.

We started our budget process with a $304 million shortfall. We have only been promised $112 million. I want to be clear about why the $50 million matters now: $50 million allows us to tell parents that when their child is walking through the hallways, eating lunch or at recess, an adult will be supervising them. It allows us to tell parents that counselors will be available to serve children in our largest and neediest schools, and that an assistant principal will be on hand to resolve any disciplinary issues that keep children from learning. It will allow the principal to leave the office to support staff and address issues in other parts of the school. No principal can run a 3,000-student high school – much less a 400-student elementary school – on their own. They need support, and we have an obligation to provide them with the staff and resources they need. Parents also need reassurance that a school has what it needs to serve their child.

In a broader sense, $50 million really only allows us to open the doors of the school. It does not do enough for what goes on behind those doors. That is why you have heard us speak of the need for shared sacrifices through additional savings from contract negotiations with our labor partners.

Our parents and students have sacrificed. Our blue-collar union has sacrificed. And now, we need all labor partners to sacrifice.

Those savings will allow us to avoid combining grades, continue instructional supports for struggling students, implement supplemental languages that prepare our students for the global economy, provide extracurricular activities that enrich students’ educational experiences, offer Advanced Placement courses that enhance their knowledge and skills, and provide adequate counseling services to help prepare them for college.

This funding problem is real. District leadership is committed to solving it using the tools that we have at our disposal. We have a responsibility to students and families across Philadelphia, and we will not put them at risk, even if it means the first day of school may not be until after September 9.

There is a letter from me on the District website to parents and guardians that will also be distributed at tomorrow’s Family and Educational Reunion, the District’s annual back to school fair. I have also spoken to Mayor Michael A. Nutter and other stakeholders about our predicament.

I hope that we can find a swift resolution to this funding matter for the sake of our students and families.

 

You cannot keep cutting money and never giving anything to schools and then expect them to open safely and securely. Had this been millions to secure gun permits in the classroom, I’m sure there would have been all sorts of political and corporate backing.

The School District of Philadelphia, the nation’s eighth-largest public school system which is controlled by a state reform commission, laid off nearly 4,000 employees in June. The layoffs included all assistant principals, secretaries and guidance counselors. Hundreds of teachers and teacher’s aides also lost their jobs.

The $304 million funding hole also causes schools to shelve extra-curricular activities and non-core programs like art.

An infusion of $50 million will allow the district to reinstate about 1,000 of those laid off employees. He says they would include assistant principals and secretaries.

From NBC 10 Philadelphia. Amazing, no? I don’t think people understand how much things cost in a school district. You know how your heating bill is $300 in the winter for your tiny home? Imagine schools ten, twenty times bigger. Then imagine there isn’t just one of them, but literally dozens, hundreds of school buildings. And that is just heating- consider water and electricity. The overhead on schools is quite massive.

Consider that there are 150,000 students in the Philly school system. If you get pencils at a discount, even getting ONE singular pencil for each student is $7,500 (the discounted bulk rate is about .05 per pencil.)  Now, say they get just simply 4 per year, that is $30,000 per year..just on having the bare minimum of 4 pencils per student.  I would venture the actual student, between breaking, losing, over sharpening, actually uses 10 a year. So you are talking three quarters of a million dollars. Again, on just pencils. Consider cost of paper, textbooks, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, composition books, chalk, dry erase markers/boards for each student.  And you don’t have 5,000 students like some smaller districts- you have THIRTY times that and with a large number of parents who do not have additional income to provide donations or sometimes even school supplies to their schools.

More on this coming, I’m sure, as the PA Dept of Ed has not issued a response yet.

Antoinette Marie, Modern Pencil

#noalec Chicago Protest

A compendium of photos, videos, and other things, as gathered from Twitter. If this belongs to you and you would like credit/link/etc. please leave a comment or email me@ modernpencil@gmail.com and I will gladly do so- as so many of these were retweets and shares.

Amazing, inspiring video of chant: Up With Black Youth, Down With ALEC

Another chant: Hey hey, ho ho corporate greed has got to go!

Common Dreams: ALEC’s 40th Anniversary Agenda

ALEC Exposed

ALEC’s own website, (I like to provide primary source material) but eh, just read the Wiki page instead.

CBS Chicago local news report on protests. Will it make national? Don’t hold your breathe.

Banner drop on Wabash.

And remember:

Antoinette Marie, Modern Pencil

Breaking News: #noalec

Police brutality is rearing its ugly head in Chicago right now at the unwelcoming ceremony for ALEC.  I’m currently composing a post about ALEC, but I highly encourage you to watch the unfolding events through the hashtags #noalec #alec. A number of protestors have reported shoving and pushing by the cops and there is an unsubstantiated report that an officer lost his phone, presumed it stolen, thus snatch and grab arrests are occurring. All at a peaceful protest.

Here is one of photos shared by Best of the Left’s Katie. You can see the cops on the side of barricade, holding it, reportedly pushing it against the protest. If you’ve ever been out there, you know this is common to occur, but doesn’t make it any less okay.

More coming.

Stay safe,

Antoinette Marie

Recommended Listening: Best of the Left 8/6/13

The latest episode of “Best of the Left” focuses on education. Discussed are a wide variety of topics from the cheating scandal in Atlanta, ALEC’s infiltration into education and education legislation, students loan, Chicago strike, and more.

For all of us who exist in the realm of classroom or wade in education news daily, I’m sure most of us are very familiar with the stories or clips played. I still learned something and I was reminded of the battles we have fought and are fighting.

I strongly urge support to this podcast and the valuable outreach it does collecting clips and combining them into strong, progressive focal points.

Thanks!

Antoinette Marie, Modern Pencil

The Summit of Education Profiteers

Yesterday happened with the much touted “Governor’s K-12 Education Reform Summit” in Virginia. (A nice distraction to the corruption scandal currently plaguing the governor, eh? If you  have missed this, don’t fear, Rachel Maddow has done a significant amount of coverage on the scandal.)

The focus is all on the idea of reform. On the docket, of course, are charter schools. Virginia doesn’t have a whole lot of charter schools and the Governor would like to change. Currently, the advocates for charter schools call Virginia “hostile”. This summit seems more like a chance for charter schools, standardized testing, and other failed reforms to have profound influence on education legislation. Even if they do not directly make legislation, they steer the discussion- an influence that can not and should not be underestimated.

It is clear from the agenda of this summit that education will be spoken about as a business. The focus is on momentum, building capacity, culture of leadership,  strategies for school improvement, and my personal favorite, entrepreneurship. It isn’t that I dislike the idea of innovation in education, but charter schools, standardized testing, making education a profit endeavor is ill-advised and simply does not work.

I have yet to see any article discuss the sponsors of this particular summit. I find the sponsors to be illuminating as to the purpose, discussion, and dialogue regarding education. Considering the Virginia Governor’s current issue with crossing the ethical and legal lines with campaign sponsors and friends, do we really need to stretch our imaginations in order to consider that there might be similar ethical quandaries going on in order to put on this summit? The following was posted on their Eventbrite page:

Innovation Sponsors:

Edison Learning
Dominion Resources

Outcome Sponsors:
Amazon Web Services
Calvert Education
McGuireWoods Consulting
Micron Foundation
National Governors Association
Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association
Wal-Mart

Event Sponsors:
Carnegie Learning, Inc.
The Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia
Department of Education
George Mason University
Longwood University
Norfolk State University
PublicSchoolOptions.org
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
University of Mary Washington
University of Virginia
Virginia Community College System
Virginia Lottery
Virginia Tech

For starters, I do not find the colleges and universities  or government arms listed as “sponsors” to be problematic (except maybe the Virginia Lottery- that seems odd and depressing.) However, companies like Walmart, Amazon, PublicSchoolOptions.org (charter school advocates), Carnegie Learning Inc. (a publisher of math curricula focusing on standardized testing), McGuireWoods Consulting (a pro-corporate consulting and lobbying firm), Calvert Education (a proponent of homeschooling, virtual school), and Edison Learning (for profit education management company.)

On the docket of speakers, you see Teach for America, The New Teacher Project, DC Prep, KIPP DC, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Bellwether Education, Foundation for Excellence in Education. You do not see progressive or public school advocates in the list. What you do see is a list of education profiteers who have scammed Washington D.C. public schools, Indiana, Florida, Pennsylvania, and other state public schools and are now looking to siphon off Virginia’s resources too under the blessing of the Governor.

Antoinette Marie, Modern Pencil

 

Charter School Grading Controversy and Rhee Fallout

Michelle Rhee is a figurehead of the school “reform” movement.  After her stunning abuses of power in the Washington D.C. system and organizational efforts to sell out public education, karma has come to say hello. For once, thank you Florida.

Florida is central to this story (like oh so many stories it seems as of late.) In case you missed the news, Education Commissioner Tony Bennett resigned amid controversy after a school grading controversy that the AP broke due to some excellent reporting.

Bennett and his staff members in Indiana changed test scores to ensure that Christel House Academy, a charter school founded by Republican-donor Christel DeHaan, received an “A” rather than have the school’s final grade lowered by the “C” earned by its 10th grade Algebra class. Those low grades from the recently added 9^th and 10^th grade classes were eventually excluded from the higher scores of the middle school, allowing the Christel House to keep its “A” ranking. “This will be a HUGE problem for us,” Bennett wrote in an email last September to Heather Neal, his then chief-of-staff and the current chief lobbyist for Indiana Governor Mike Pence. “They need to understand that anything less than an A for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work.”

Oy.

This actually occurred in Indiana, not Florida, but the problem is Bennett essentially got this job because of his sterling experience leading education in Indiana.

So what does this have to do with Rhee?

Instead of distancing herself from Bennett, Michelle Rhee embraced him instead because you know, charter schools and standardized testing above all else. She wasn’t alone, Jeb Bush also praised Bennett in a file that will become known as “things I should not have released a press release about”. We have to be wary of these pay to play scandals, cheating charter school scandals, any school cheating scandals because it undermines integrity and we have to ask ourselves, why are they cheating, what are they cheating for, and how can we stop it.

Bob Sikes has an excellent piece on his blog and even more details- a highly recommended read.

AntoinetteMarie, Modern Pencil

Preferred Shapes, Preferred Orders

Reading this article on disturbing trends in early childhood education, I am reminded of my experience. In the past school year of substituting, I saw something unveiled I had not previously experienced: rubrics for kindergarteners. More on my own experience:

Against the fading tiled wall, hung pictures of people made out of shapes. Instead of seeing twenty works of art created by children who have only been alive for 1,460-1,800 plus days, there were cold, stoic rubric sheets interrupting the imagination. Upon closer inspection, the children’s creations were all the same. They had the same task to create  a person out of shapes. The rubric explained how a circle should be  a face, a four sided shape a body and so forth. It asked the teacher to examine the student’s close integration of shapes, the following of orders, and told the teacher to circle the number that best represents the student’s adherence to these guidelines.  Instead of using this moment to ask students to draw people and share with students how people look different, are made up of different shapes, and cultures, each individual is told to make the same things, because we are all exactly the same- we only consist of a handful of preferred shapes, in a preferred order.

Instead of drawing, there is free draw – a brief moment where they explore their scribbles without the direct purpose of grading.  Students can’t exercise their imaginations any longer though. They come up to me and ask me “what do I draw?” or “what should I draw?”  I respond with “anything you want!”, but as I get up in order to walk away and check up on the next table of children, the students give me pleading looks screaming please just tell us what you want. They want so bad to please me because they are afraid of the ‘number sheets’ coming out.  We have failed to let them exercise their imaginations. You get a four on a rubric, but what does society end up with? Preferred shapes, in a preferred order.

AntoinetteMarie, Modern Pencil