Libertarian Leanings

Juan Williams and the Fox Effect

Perhaps those years of association with Fox News have finally driven Juan Williams to the political dark side.  But what, you may ask, makes me think that Mr. Williams has gone irrevocably around the political bend?  In his Wall Street Journal column today, he commits the unthinkable.  He takes it to the education unions.  Mr. Williams writes,

Gov. Jindal is part of a surprising development in American politics this past year: Elected officials from both parties are so fed up with the status quo of failing schools that they're abandoning the politics of left-right polarization and challenging the entrenched power of teachers unions. Republicans like Mr. Jindal and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are fighting for school reform on parallel lines with Democrats like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

As a side note, I would just say that the most surprising thing about these developments is learning that there are actual living, breathing Democrats who are taking on the unions.  Who would ever have imagined?  But I digress.

On the other side are the teachers unions, which have proven to be formidable opponents willing to fight even modest efforts to alter the status quo. With one hand, they dangle a carrot before politicians in the form of campaign money from union dues, which are mandatory in many states. With the other, they threaten them with strikes, protests, negative ads and litigation that will make them—especially Republicans—look like enemies of public schools.

As a result, politicians from both parties are too often cowed into accepting a status quo that produces one million high-school dropouts a year and a graduation rate of less than 50% for black and Hispanic students.

Not only is Mr. Williams applauding the political leaders who are willing to go up against the teachers unions, he appeals to the business community to step up their commitment to the fight. 

Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of Washington, D.C., public schools, frequently reminds people that "charter schools are public schools." Ms. Rhee is now CEO of Students First, a nonprofit working to improve education by helping politicians across the nation increase teacher accountability and school choice. Her group gets major funding from business leaders.

This investment signals that some members of the business community are willing to wade into the political arena and support challenges to the power of teachers unions. But more needs to be done at the local and state level. It's time for the business community to shake its fear of being branded anti-union and get into this fight.

In his column Juan Williams introduces “A Tale of Two Missions” — a film that tells examines Chicago schools to tell a story of the competing cultures in American education. The film was created by Mr. Williams and Kyle Olson who is the Founder and CEO of Education Action Group Foundation.

I haven't seen the film yet, but I will.

When Principles Have a Price

Hillsdale College and Harvard University are similar in that both oppose the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the U.S. military toward gays who serve.  Both refuse to allow ROTC programs on campus.  Harvard, however, will permit military recruiters on campus because the Solomon Amendment requires it as a condition of continued government funding which makes up 15% of Harvard's operating budget.  It is here that Hillsdale differs from Harvard.  Hillsdale does not have to allow recruiters on campus because some time ago Hillsdale refused to accept government funding and the strings that come with it.

Oddly enough, Hillsdale welcomes U.S. military recruiters, while at Harvard the military is officially unwelcome.  In spite of it, Harvard will graduate seven young men and women who will receive their commissions from General David Petraeus in a ceremony on Harvard Yard.

'On a campus where the military is officially unwelcome, that ceremony offers an interesting perspective on what the modern academy teaches us about living by our principles.

[...]

The different reaction to federal funding also translates into different reactions to the uniform. Hillsdale's decision means it's free to tell the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines to go fly a kite. But that hasn't happened. To the contrary, during my visit I found two Marine recruiters happily sitting at a table in the new student union. And they were upbeat about both the number (four for 2009 alone) and quality of Marine officers they were getting.

"Hillsdale is the only college where every interaction I've had with school personnel has been positive and encouraging," says Capt. Elliott R. Peterson, one of those Marine recruiters. "Professors, deans and even the school president have gone out of their way to ensure I am being accommodated. And yet, Hillsdale is the only school in my area that does not have to allow me on campus."

Merely by attending tomorrow's commissioning ceremony, Harvard President Drew Faust will continue a tradition started a few years ago. That's progress from the days when Harvard presidents simply ignored the whole thing. Yet the ceremony highlights a disquieting contrast: between those young Harvard officers who will take an oath requiring adherence to principle even at the cost of their lives -- and leaders, such as those at their university, whose actions make clear their principles have a price.'

College-tainted oppression liberators need not apply

A must-read article from the Los Angeles Times describes the American Indian Public Charter school. 

'Not many schools in California recruit teachers with language like this: "We are looking for hard working people who believe in free market capitalism. . . . Multicultural specialists, ultra liberal zealots and college-tainted oppression liberators need not apply." '

A new plan

Accused by the union of violating teachers' rights at Locke High in the Watts, principal Frank Wells was relieved of his duties.  His offense?  He wanted them to use lesson plans. 

The true wealth of our nation is in our people. Their ingenuity, ambition, and intelligence are what drive the economy. Allowing our most valuable resources to remain hostage to a labor union is idiocy.

University indoctrination defended

David Horowitz:

In its latest response to complaints about the politicization of higher education, the American Association of University Professors has embraced a novel view: "It is not indoctrination for professors to expect students to comprehend ideas and apply knowledge that is accepted as true within a relevant discipline." Under this precept, put forth in the AAUP's recent report "Freedom in the Classroom," teachers are no longer held to standards of "scholarly" or "scientific" or "intellectually responsible" discourse, but to whatever is "accepted as true within a relevant discipline."

Merit bonuses

Normally, merit bonuses are a no-brainer.  You want good performance? Pay for it.  However, the public education industry is not normal.  Over the years we've seen the mission of providing top notch education for students take a back seat to the mission of providing top notch jobs for teachers.  It came about with the rise of the teachers unions.

Today the Washington Post reports that merit raises are gaining in favor on Capitol Hill to shore up a teaching workforce that is "leaking talent" according to Representative George Miller, Democrat from California and chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. 

National teachers unions denounce the proposal for "performance pay," saying it would undermine their ability to negotiate contracts and would be based in part on what they consider an unfair and unreliable measure: student test scores.

This month congress will decide whether to authorize federal grants through a revision of the No Child Left Behind law to provide bonuses up to $12,500 a year for outstanding teachers in schools that serve low-income areas.  Let's hope enough Democrats can be pealed away from the teachers unions to put it through. 

You get what you pay for.  If we reward mediocre results we will be sure to get mediocre results.  If we expect top notch education for our children we have to pay for it.