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News & Commentary
Common Good's EdWatch is a collection of news and commentary illustrating how laws, rules, and regulations are affecting public education.
CG in the News is your source for news on Common Good and our efforts to reform bureaucracy in public education.
Recent articles from each section appear below.
EdWatch School Governors Told 'Get Insured' over Danger of Litigious Parents
Nicola Woolcock, July 3, 2008
England’s school governors, volunteer members of a school’s governing body, are being instructed to take out insurance to protect themselves against litigious parents and the growing demands of government. Schools that stay open late and offer out-of-hours activities, programs that are in fact required by the government, are the most vulnerable to litigation. Phil Revell, the chief executive of the National Governors’ Association believes that school officials oftentimes lack knowledge of their “full legal powers and responsibilities,” rendering them incapable of legally defending themselves. As one insurance broker comments, “Most state school governors think their backs are covered but that isn't always the case. There are gaps.” The extra insurance will cost “hundreds of pounds a year” per school, and could deter people from volunteering for school governor positions. In the past, school governors have been sued for incidents such as teacher accidents in medical intervention and problems with diagnosing learning difficulties. » article
City, Union Cut Bad Teachers' Stretch in Rubber Room
Carrie Melago, Daily News, July 1, 2008
In New York City, the Department of Education, by hiring more mediators, is attempting to "ease the backlog" of about 700 accused, yet fully salaried, teachers who have been "pulled from the classroom." Teachers accused of misconduct spend weeks, months or even years idling in reassignment centers, commonly called Rubber Rooms, because they are under investigation and cannot teach, yet cannot be fired. According to Dan Weisberg, the DOE's chief executive for labor policy, the new policy changes will enable these cases to be expedited more rapidly. Currently, New York taxpayers spend about $65 million a year on teachers accused of misconduct. » article
Firing Tenured Teachers Isn't Just Difficult, It Costs You
Frank Eltman, Associated Press, June 30, 2008
The Associated Press reports that a tenured English teacher on Long Island in New York "remains on the payroll, earning an annual salary of $113,559, even after pleading guilty earlier this month to drunken driving charges--her fifth DWI arrest in seven years." Facing a "likely prison sentence," the teacher is currently on paid leave pending a disciplinary hearing in August. District Superintendent Allan Gerstenlauer is frustrated by the convoluted process of removing tenured teachers, and this case "illustrates a nagging problem in school districts in New York and elsewhere around the country: firing bad teachers." In New York State, the legislature took a significant step in the right direction this past June, passing legislation that will automatically revoke the certification of teachers convicted of sex crimes against students, ending what is now often a year-long administrative process. Generally, the process for removing unfit but tenured teachers remains exceeedingly long and cumbersome. Gerstenlauer comments, "I'm not looking to shortchange anybody's due process. I'm looking at a system that would allow us to move through at a reasonable pace, that would allow the district to move forward and the employee to move forward." » article
CG in the news Common Good Colorado Supports Education Bill
Todd Engdahl, Education News Colorado, April 3, 2008
Common Good Colorado testified before the Colorado House Education Committee in favor of the "Innovations Schools" bill.
Ed. Schools Beef Up Classroom Management Training
Vaishali Honawar, Education Week, December 11, 2007
Common Good Director of Education Policy Dina Hasiotis comments on teachers' concerns about school discipline.
Schools Increasingly Sending Discipline Issues to Court
Yvonne Wenger, The Post and Courier (SC), November 11, 2007
The Post and Courier examines why school discipline matters -- not crimimal ones -- are increasingly reported to authorities and tried in courts. The article quotes Common Good Director of Education Policy Dina Hasiotis.
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