Five Myths (Lies) About Teaching in America - Edited by yours truly.

Originally Published  2/29/2012
Myth #1:  Teachers make more than the average American. Their salary is not less than it should be.

Let’s take a look at those claims… the average teacher salary in the United States is $52,900 and the average salary for all workers in the United States is $52,544 so yes, teachers make slightly more than average. However, the average income for American workers with a bachelor’s degree or better is $77,293 (1) well above the average teacher.

Looking at total compensation (includes insurance, paid holidays, retirement etc.) the private sector average is $71,000 and the public sector average is $69,000.(2)

It should be clear that teacher’s pay lags well behind that of our similarly educated peers. It should also be clear why we have the paid retirement and insurance we do – it helps bring our compensation in line with our private sector peers. And we still lag behind our private sector peers.

Myth #2: Teachers should not have a “Job for Life.” The teacher’s unions protect bad teachers and make it impossible to fire bad teachers.

Nothing could be further form the truth. First, it is important to be clear on what teacher tenure is and what it is not. “Unlike tenure for university professors, tenure for K-12 teachers does not shield them from dismissal. Instead, it's simply a guarantee of due process — that if a teacher is fired, it will be for cause.”(3)

Teachers and their unions are not the least bit interested in hiring or protecting poor teachers. Nor are teachers hired for life. Teachers and their union are interested only in protecting good teachers from abuse and arbitrary firings and this requires due process. The fact that poor teachers can hide behind these protections is really a reflection of administrators who are unable or unwilling to clearly articulate a case against a poor teacher and that we DON'T have any valid standardized way of evaluating performance. Currently, many administrators who were poor teachers themselves that moved on  to get out of the classroom, subjectively write the final evaluation of teachers through a process where personalities and non-teaching agendas come into play.

Myth #3: We have to do something; we are lagging far behind other countries in education.

I do not know a teacher who does not believe that education in America has critical flaws. Teachers also believe that we are lagging behind other industrialized countries and there are grave concerns about our failure to keep up. However, how we come to that conclusion and how we measure ourselves against the world is flawed. (See the preceding article.)

The “Us versus Them” comparisons are flawed and causing grave harm to education in this country due to the reliance on standardized testing to measure student and teacher performance.

There are major issues with this comparison.

For starters, China, India et. al. Do not test every student, nor do they attempt to educate every student.(4) Schools in the United States (excepting private schools and in many cases charter schools) are required to accept and teach any student who appears at their door. This includes well qualified students, motivated students, unmotivated students, students with special emotional or mental needs ( read - not enough school counselors,) unprepared students, students with little support outside of schools, students who don’t speak a common language, the list goes on. Most of these students would not be accepted to, or be allowed to remain in most foreign schools. Up untell the Bush administration, most Americans were proud of this fact. Further, the fact that we have chosen to educate all children is the only socially progressive achievement we can lay claim to ahead of any other country.

This is in no way a complaint about providing instruction to these students or an excuse or even a claim that these students can’t or shouldn’t be taught, but simply a clear reason why the comparison of test scores is problematic at best, and faulty and harmful in the extreme.

Not only is the comparison flawed, it has led us to the point where we are basing our educational decisions on standardized tests and even trying to evaluate teachers on how well their students do on these tests. (5)

The problem is, a test does not provide information on how well a teacher has taught a subject, at best a test tells us how well a student has learned the subject. In the absence of other data, a test does not even do that reliably.

While there is plenty of research on the subject – enough to write a book – the simple explanation is this: a teacher cannot control all of the variables that go into how well a student learns. The support a student receives at home is far more important than what goes on in their school. How motivated a student is to learn will effect how well they learn.

Interestingly, China is attempting to rely less on standardized test and create a more American system. (6) Chinese policy makers are beginning to realize that teaching to the test has created generations of very good test takers who are unable to critically analyze and solve complex problems or creatively think of new ideas.

"We have just seen 43 states and DC adopt a Common Core curriculum that will have a Common Core national test (common “yardstick”) in 2014-15, and another name for that national test is “gao kao.” It will drive U.S. education for decades and we may never be able to get off of it. The American teacher was always unique in deciding what to teach, when to teach, and how to teach it…and the variability in creative questioning has gained us 270+ Nobel Prizes. (Score for China-educated doing research in China is zero…but that will soon change due to many who return after receiving a graduate education in U.S.) But now, partly from test envy and international ignorance, we have headed down a path to standardization in testing that we will not be able to get out of in our lifetime." (7)

Is this really where we want to head?

“But [the] intention is to use the Special Curriculum as a laboratory to experiment with a curriculum that will help all Chinese students, not just those who study abroad. Special Curriculum students may be encouraged to exercise and play, watch movies and read novels, engage in chit-chat and extracurricular activities. But in tests they do just as well as – or even better than – students who are given no choice but to study all day. This fact has profound implications for curriculum design and implementation in China. (8)

Scientific research and the experience of Finland’s highly praised education system show that a varied and flexible schedule that incorporates play and pleasure with study and work produces the best learners. Fitness and nutrition, music and arts, sports and games are not unnecessary distractions to learning but healthy supplements.” (9)

Myth #4: In this economy teachers are lucky to have a job.

No, teachers are not lucky to have a job.

This should not minimize the severity of our current economic situation, but unemployment is near 9% (10) meaning that if you selected 100 people at random 91 of those people would be employed. Having a job isn’t lucky, not having employment is unlucky.

In addition, many teachers worked very hard to earn degrees and employment that is relatively stable. Having a job now is the result of making good choices when selecting a career. Many teachers chose to forgo maximum profit for security and it is paying off now.

Myth #5: Why shouldn’t teachers be held accountable when everyone else is accountable for their performance?

Teachers are and should be held accountable. For good teaching. Not politically driven misconceptions by people without Credentials to even understand the complexity of issues. Bill Gates stole the idea behind Windows from Apple Inc, who had stolen the actual code for their PC interface from the scientists at Bell Laboratories with no repercussions. In spite Gates' many books,  Gates' is intellectually, experientially and functionally unqualified to comment on Education change. He hasn't taught one day in a public school. He could not qualify to teach. He dropped out of college. Leaving him approximately five years of college to even qualify.

Most teachers want to be the very best teacher they can be and that is impossible without being regularly and properly evaluated. It is difficult to make specific comments because how teachers are evaluated varies from district to district but it is fair to say that most teachers don’t have an issue with being evaluated.

However, teachers want to be evaluated on their teaching. Tying their evaluations and pay to student performance is unfair. There are far too many variables that are outside a teacher’s control. And unlike a manager in the private sector a teacher cannot interview potential students and pick the best nor can a teacher fire those who choose to ignore their responsibilities in school.

A teacher’s role is to teach the best they are able. To implement best practice and the best teaching strategies. To continually adapt to the needs of their students and to learn new ways to reach them and teach them. Additionally, an ability to form positive relations with most if not all of their students. As we all know certain personality traits and false expectations lend to negative impact on the learning process In those developmental years.


That is what a teacher should be evaluated upon.

A student’s role is to be in class and to complete the tasks a teacher asks – whatever those task may be – to the best of their ability. If a student does not do this, for whatever reason, they are not doing their job and they will not learn as well as they are able. A teacher does not control this, and no matter how well the teacher teaches a student who fails to perform their job will fall short of expectations and their potential.

1. “ 2011 Statistical Abstract,” U.S. Census Bureau, accessed February 23, 2011, http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
2. “For public-sector workers, a wage penalty,” Economic Policy Institute, accessed February 23, 2011, http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/for_public_sector_worke...
3. Greenblatt, Alan, “Is Teacher Tenure Still Necessary?” NPR.Com, accessed February 23, 2011, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126349435
4. Compton, Robert, “2 Million Minutes: A Global Examination”, The Finland Phenomon, accessed February 23, 2011, http://www.2mminutes.com/
5. “K-12 testing,” Fair Test, the national Center for Fair and Open Testing, accessed February 23, 2011, http://www.fairtest.org/k-12
6. Schrock, John Richard, “Why Doesn’t China Get Off the Teach-to-the-Test System?” Yong Zhao, accessed February 23, 2001, http://zhaolearning.com/2010/12/29/john-richard-schrock-why-doesnt-...
7. Ibid.
8. “Education Reform in China: What the educators think,” OECD 50, Better policies for Better Lives, accessed February 23, 2011, http://oecdinsights.org/2010/03/19/education-reform-in-china-what-t...
9. Ibid.
10. “Table A-14. Unemployed persons by industry,” United States Department of Labor, accessed February 23, 2011, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t14.htm

Sources:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126349435
http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/for_public_sector_worke...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_time
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/02/20/ravitch.teachers.blamed/index...
http://www.dianeravitch.com/
http://www.worldsalaries.org/usa.shtml
http://www.educationworld.net/salaries_us.html
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Country=United_States/Salary
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
http://www.aeaweb.org/students/Careers.php
http://zhaolearning.com/2010/12/10/a-true-wake-up-call-for-arne-dun...
http://slatest.slate.com/id/2284732/entry/4/#add-comment
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/chinas-education-prepares-students-t...
http://zhaolearning.com/2010/12/29/john-richard-schrock-why-doesnt-...
http://oecdinsights.org/2010/03/19/education-reform-in-china-what-t...
http://www.aare.edu.au/05pap/zho05780.pdf
http://www.asainstitute.org/2mm/index.html
Compton, Robert 2 Million Minutes: A Global Examination (2008), http://www.2mminutes.com/

Tyack, David B. The One Best System: A History of American Urban Education (1974)

Tyack, David B., and Elizabeth Hansot. Managers of virtue: Public school leadership in America, 1820–1980. (1982)

Archbald, Doug A.; Newmann, Fred M. Beyond Standardized Testing: Assessing Authentic Academic Achievement in the Secondary School (1988)

Alfie Kohn The case against standardized testing: raising the scores, ruining the schools (2000)

FOR EACH TIME A MAN OR WOMAN STANDS UP...

"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and during those ripples builds a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and injustice." 
 given

Robert F. Kennedy"
narative of a speech given in South Africa

From - Narrative of the Life and Times of Frederick Douglass

I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty—to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom. ... Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read." Frederick Douglass, aged about 10, after hearing his master say teaching him to read "would forever unfit him to be a slave."

What was the administrator's power to enslave the teacher? We think it was using terror to figuratively lobotomize our teachers so they would stop thinking. We propose that the solution that worked for the slaves, will work for teachers - READ. It will unfit you to be an abused slave and bring you back to your calling that made you want to be a teacher in the first place. We suggest you start with BREAKING THE SILENCE, the revolutionary book by Joseph and Jo Blase. It will not only help you see how this system insidiously controls your mind, but it will help you see what we are doing to children by not being the adults and taking a stand against abuse. Together we can sweep down this wall of oppression and injustice.

READ. READ. READ... Read our web site(s). Read the teacher stories. Learn the politics by going through the POLITICS section. Come back as many times as it takes to get through it and read new information each time. Our REFERENCES page will have a continually growing list of books and links that will help give you insight and support to stay in your power and not let fear drive your decision making. A critical mind is the only protection againt propaganda, a speciality of this system. Learn about your situation and about yourself and draw strength from this knowledge. Books and our web site will empower you. Visits other sites that offer support and knowledge to stay strong.

Learn who your enemies are. Yes they are real. As you read about the union and think beyond the hype, you will see that they empower our administrators to abuse us. There is a lot of information on this site explaining their priorities that do not add up to caring about teacher abuse, and instead prove that they have a vested interest in its existence. This information includes teacher testimonial about how they have let them down or even sabotaged their cases. Become wise and you will regain the reins for your own life.

Contact teacher friends who have stories to tell, and encourage them to send them in to us. The more we have, the more we have to be believed. Once believed, the system will be forced to change. This is all too outrageous and it only can exist in the darkness. Shine a light on it any way you can.

The courage you need is in you, buried under the scars of abuse that our school systems have so successfully created in you to keep you under their tyrannical control. If your district objects to the t-shirt, ask them why. If they have rules about all t-shirts, then wear them only to events where t-shirts are acceptable. If they object due to the message, ask them why? If they do not abuse teachers, why would they object to you being part of a group that wants to eradicate teacher abuse? Their objection to your wearing it speaks for itself. Let us know the name of the district that prohibits them. Don't be afraid to speak up about it.

Get your friends to wear t-shirts with the message. Get the message out as well as start breaking the silence. You will find many people who support ending teacher abuse once the topic is public. You can help make it public, and help yourself at the same time.

 Emotional support is very important and we find that family members can only hear so much about this topic before they stop listening. But other abused teachers welcome conversation about teacher abuse as it helps them heal too. Contact us and we will provide you with support buddies as well as give you support from our staff.

Tell everyone about our web site(s), and encourge people interested in donating to a worthy cause, to donate money to us. This might include businesses you frequent as well as family members. Everyone has an interest in the future of our country. This is important to everyone.

Contact your former university or college and make sure at least their teacher education department knows about teacher abuse, NAPTA, and our web site. Spread the word.

Students and Parents will benefit from all of the above. In addition, contact us for consultation regarding specific problems with your children dealing with our schools. From us you will get advice that is based on our professional knowledge, as well as our willingness to speak truthfully about what you need to help your child, or reality. You will not get appropriate advice from anyone oppressed by the terror, or lining their pockets with the failure of our schools. We are the authentic teachers that care about and know how to help children. If you have any doubt about the political climate of your school, contact us and we will help your through the intentional obstacles in place with our candid, practical advice. We will also match you up with a teacher informed in the particular area and grade level of concern for a phone consultation.

Turn to your religion and/or to spirituality to stay in the eye of the hurricane throughout this abuse. Some things that happen in this life cannot be explained. Teacher abuse seems impossible. Why would the people who care so much about others be treated so badly? The main reason it is happening is because it can. People have choices between good and evil and there is more opportunity in education for all the reasons we explain on the site. Wherever there is opportunity, there will be greed. There are just some things that can only be understood through spiritual avenues and if you haven't developed it before, you need to now. We will have many book suggestions for spirituality. Your religious leader can suggest books also.

AS WORKPLACE ABUSE ESCALATES

WHY DON'T WE WORKING PEOPLE CONFRONT IT COLLECTIVELY?

by Judith L. Wyatt.

We are all in psychotic denial when due to speed up on the treadmill of daily life we don't confront the assaults on our freedoms, and we don't admit how bad work abuse is getting. Presently, as things get worse, we hang on tighter to whatever we've been doing -- we do it harder, even though it isn't working, rather than to stop, look at the situation and take action to prevent what's inevitable.

1 in 10 New Yorkers Has PTSD

Trauma of Sept. 11 Lingers in Wide NYC Area

-- More than one in 10 New York-area residents suffer lingering stress and depression in the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center, new research shows.

After correcting for background levels, the study suggests that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks resulted in an extra 532,240 cases of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the New York City metropolitan area. The study -- conducted two months after the disaster -- appears in the Aug. 7 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Many psychologists predicted that the trauma of watching the Sept. 11 events on television would cause a wave of PTSD to sweep the nation. The study shows no evidence of this, even though television watching was associated with a high degree of distress.

"That is a piece of good news for the country as a whole, but we find an important public-health problem for New York City," researcher William E. Schlenger, PhD, tells WebMD. "There is a substantial PTSD problem well beyond the downtown area. PTSD is quite high in all five boroughs of the city as well as in the suburbs of New Jersey and Connecticut."

When you are directly in it, it can effect you. Have compassion for others too.

You may be directly in a situation that causes PTSD - teacher abuse. Do not minimize its effects. Stay on top of your mental health by saying no to teacher abuse. You may think you can live in an abusive situation without consequences, but it has a way of seeping into your psyche unless you are proactive. That is why you have to learn about it, address it, and protect yourself by refusing to be a victim. Remember, even if you are not being abused, watching colleagues while doing nothing is an affront to you too. Also, the things you do to play it safe, and the compromises you make to stay on the good side of the abusers, slowly strangle your sense of power, making you a victim too. BE A SURVIVOR. 

Author Rene Dietrich describes Herself as: ART SOLDIER! Artist, Writer, Poet, Teacher, Scholar, Editor, Advocate for Students/Teachers, Education Activist, Emberrorist, Proletariate, Bad Speller with Joan of Arc Complex. Single mom with one very fine young son and usually a few strays in tow. I like books, readings, MAC (mad art APPs No Bill Gates), independent films (Baxter, Vagabond, wings of Desire, Dark City, City of God, Brazil) experimental theater, exceptional music: Cohen, Morrisons, Cave, Cale, Coletrain, Winehouse, VU, QT soundtracks, Miles, and Iggy.

Any Public School with Such a Record of Abuse, Corruption, and Anti-Social Malfeasance Would have been Shut Years Ago

Any Public School with such a record of abuse, corruption, and anti-social malfeasance would have been Shut Down Years Ago.  Why Did Authorities Look The Other Way For "Oakland Charter?"

 From the Oakland Tribune:

Published in Schools Matter, 6/17/2012

The head of an Oakland charter school organization that has made national headlines for its low-income students' outstanding test scores is now faced with mounting evidence that he used his position to enrich himself and his family. 

A state investigation into allegations of operational fraud and other unscrupulous activity by Ben Chavis -- a businessman who has also served, off and on, as director of three publicly funded but independently run charter schools named American Indian -- and his wife, who provided financial services to the school, cited numerous examples of financial conflicts of interest and fraudulent expenditures.

The American Indian Model's middle schools have the best test scores in Oakland and among the highest in the state; its high school also has near-perfect scores. In his book, "Crazy like a Fox," Director Ben Chavis touts the model's success and ridicules the public school system for wasting tax dollars, arguing that schools don't need more money.

But in recent months, Chavis' own stewardship of public funds has come under scrutiny. The state Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team, which produced the scathing report, was asked by Alameda County Superintendent Sheila Jordan to investigate allegations made by a former employee of financial abuses -- including a $100,000 salary he took during at least one year of his retirement.

Now that auditors have found significant evidence to back those claims, 

---

---

Chavis could soon find himself the subject of a criminal investigation. Jordan announced Wednesday she would forward the case to the District Attorney's office, as recommended by the audit team. Jordan said she also wrote a letter to Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith, asking the district to consider revoking the schools' charters.

"The lack of oversight by the AIMS board and the unethical practices by its founder are unacceptable and an abuse of the public trust," Jordan said.

Between mid-2007 and the end of 2011, the school paid Chavis, his wife, Marsha Amador, and their various real estate and consulting businesses about $3.8 million, the auditors found. Many of those payments were made with state and federal facilities grants in the form of construction contracts to Chavis' companies -- business deals for school construction work that never went out to bid.

Meanwhile, the school's weak governing board did little to stand in the way, auditors found. For a short period of time last year, Chavis served on the board while he was employed as the organization's director and his wife was handling the books.

"The lack of due diligence and internal controls by the governing board has effectively granted the founder and his spouse unrestricted access to the assets of the organization and implied authority to enter into a variety of business arrangements for personal gain," the report stated.

Other findings included the opening and closing of bank accounts without approval and $25,700 in credit card purchases billed to the school with no authorization or apparent benefit to the school. They included airfare, restaurant, hotel and retail bills from out-of-state, including the North Carolina town where Chavis owns a farm; DirecTV; Giants tickets; and costs related to another venture, which foundered after the investigation became public -- the opening of a charter school in Arizona.

Chavis announced his retirement before the start of 2007-08 school year and returned to the school as director in 2011. He said at a recent hearing that he was a paid adviser during some of the time in between.

Chavis could not be immediately reached for comment.

Although Chavis did not found the original school, his name and reputation are most closely associated with the organization. A Lumbee Indian from North Carolina, he overhauled the academic program when he took over as director of the original school in East Oakland's Laurel District in 2000.

The new curriculum emphasized reading, writing and math and eliminated much of the school's Native American cultural teachings. Chavis instilled a strict and unorthodox discipline system that would bring notoriety to the school, sometimes using humiliation to motivate students to behave.

The most famous example of Chavis' brand of discipline is a student head-shaving that took place at a school assembly, with parent permission, after the boy was caught stealing. Today, few if any of the school's students are Native American.

Chavis announced his retirement shortly after the Oakland school district's charter schools office began raising concerns about his conduct. That spring, the East Bay Express published a story about an explosive incident involving a Mills College professor and graduate students who had come to tour the school. An African-American graduate student said Chavis cursed at him and aggressively kicked him out of the school -- claims that Chavis later acknowledged to be true, saying it was because the student came late.

The Oakland school district's charter school office, under new leadership, again expressed concerns this year when one of the three schools, American Indian Public Charter School II, applied for a renewed charter. The charter office recommended that the Oakland school board deny the charter renewal, potentially closing the school.

But at a packed hearing in which Chavis entered to rousing applause, the Oakland school board went against the charter school office's recommendation and, in a 4-3 vote, allowed the high-performing school to stay open.

Chris Dobbins, an Oakland school board member who supported the school at that meeting, said Wednesday afternoon that he couldn't "tear the school apart" because of the alleged improprieties of its leader. Even now, he said, he didn't have an easy answer.
"At the end of the day, it's hard to argue those test scores," he said. "It's a really hard question."

Read Katy Murphy's Oakland schools blog at www.IBAbuzz.com/education. Follow her at Twitter.com/katymurphy.

evidence against chavis

The Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance team published the below findings about apparent conflicts of interest and misappropriation of funds at American Indian Model schools -- mostly by its founder and current director, Ben Chavis:

Publicly funded construction contracts for school improvements with Chavis' personal businesses were "not supported by formal contracts, competitive bidding or authorization by the governing board." That is a violation of federal regulations and could result in the loss of all federal funding to AIMS schools. 

In addition to wages and construction income, Chavis collected $2.8 million from the schools through rent and storage fees he charged as the school landlord, additional construction projects and a mandatory summer program run by his private business. Some checks from a school bank account were written to Chavis' companies and signed by Chavis.

In all, the schools made $3.8 million in payments to Chavis, his wife and their businesses from 2007-08 through the end of 2011.

Chavis' wife, Marsha Amador, provided financial administrative services to the schools. Her duties included general accounting; processing accounts payable; compliance reporting to local, state and federal agencies; and assisting with an annual audit. 

Chavis' personal and unrelated business expenses were commingled with purchases for the AIMS schools.About 35 percent of the credit card purchases paid for from the schools' accounts $25,700," ...were inappropriate or lack proper authorization." Many of the purchases originated out of state.

Memphis Consolidation Plan Trojan Horse for Urban Privatization Via Charter Schools

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Memphis Consolidation Plan Trojan Horse for Urban Privatization Via Charter Schools

When Memphis City Schools announced it would accept $90 million from Gates to "improve teacher quality," Supt. Kriner Cash blubbered, “This is huge, this is huge, this puts Memphis City Schools in very elite territory, on the front page of the nation.”  Now almost three years later, Gates's fingerprints are on every aspect of school operations in Memphis, including a scheme to shut down 21 public schools in Memphis and turn the buildings over to corporate charter schools.  Now Cash and the Memphis City Schools are faced with a whole list of disturbing recommendations, including one that would totally disrupt the feeder school system in Memphis, which will lead to privatized high schools in the next phase of corporate takeover--if the Gates lemmings have their way.  From the Commercial Appeal:

 ...For MCS, among the most disturbing is the recommendation to cut 21 city schools and lease the space to charter schools. TPC estimates annual savings at $21 million, already plugged into the finance section to reduce an estimated $57 million deficit between the plan and revenue.

Cash insists the cuts won't save $21 million. He takes further exception that the majority of schools on the close list are in an "already underpopulated" southwest corner of the city.

"This would escalate that hemorrhaging," he said, adding that no one filed a plan with the city for refurbishing what would be gutted neighborhoods.

The list of to-close includes an inordinate number of middle schools, Cash says, which would "decimate the feeder pattern" in the southwest... .

Hispanic Girls Face Special Barriers on Road to College

Hispanic women are more likely than Hispanic men to complete high school and college, but they still trail white and African-American women

Originally Published in Ed Week 6/19/2012

By Katherine Leal Unmuth

Dallas: After 15-year-old Valerie Sanchez spent a day of her spring break in Fort Worth touring the well-manicured grounds of Texas Christian University and listening to an inspirational talk from members of a Latina sorority, she felt sure of her future.

"I'm going to college," says the teenager after the visit organized by the Dallas center of Girls Inc., a national nonprofit group. "I want to be the first in my family."

But like many young Latinas, she faces a host of challenges in the coming years, as she works to graduate from high school, go on to community college, and then enroll in a four-year institution.

Sanchez moved from Mexico when she was 9 years old and enrolled in the 156,000-student Dallas Independent School District. After taking bilingual classes taught in Spanish and English, she found the transition to all-English classes in middle school difficult.

Consequently, Sanchez was held back in the 8th grade last year at Edison Middle Learning Center here in Dallas. She now attends tutoring sessions after school in addition to programs provided by Girls Inc. that focus on career planning and pregnancy prevention.

The plight of Latino young men often dominates the discussion of graduation rates. But young Latinas also face cultural, economic, and educational barriers to finishing high school and entering and completing college.

"There's the assumption that girls are doing fine," says Lara Kaufmann, a senior counsel at the National Women's Law Center, in Washington. "It's true that within ethnic groups girls are doing better than boys. But they're not doing well."

Falling Behind

While Hispanic women are more likely to graduate from high school and college when compared with Hispanic men, some statistics suggest they trail behind African-American and white women on some such measures.

Postsecondary Engagement Lags for Latinas

Latinas ages 18 to 24 have lower postsecondary-engagement rates than Asian, white, and black women of the same age bracket. Asian women are twice as likely as Latinas to be either enrolled in higher education or to have a postsecondary credential.

SOURCE: EPE Research Center, 2012. Analysis of data from the American Community Survey (2008-2010), U.S. Census Bureau.

According to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of 2011 Census survey data, about 17 percent of Hispanic females ages 25 to 29 have at least a bachelor's degree, compared with about 10 percent of Hispanic males, 43 percent of white females, and 23 percent of black females in that age span.

To delve into why such gaps persist, the National Women's Law Center collaborated with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund on a 2009 study on educational outcomes for Latinas.

While the middle and high school girls interviewed in the report said they wanted to graduate from college, they also said they didn't expect to achieve that goal. The report also cited challenges for them in reaching educational goals, including such difficulties as immigration status, poverty, discrimination, low self-esteem, higher rates of depression and attempted suicide, gender stereotypes, and limited English proficiency.

A cultural emphasis on loyalty to family also can play a role. Latinas may be expected to take on additional duties as caregivers, such as helping to watch younger children or aid elderly family members. They may be expected to live with their parents until they are married, making it difficult to leave home to go away to college.

Ties That Bind

Celina Cardenas mentors Hispanic girls in the 37,000-student Richardson Independent School District in the Dallas suburbs. Cardenas, a district community-relations coordinator, is Mexican-American and feels she can relate to their experiences.

Valerie Sanchez, 15, works on a writing assignment during reading class at the Thomas A. Edison Middle Learning Center in Dallas. The eighth grader is working to become the first in her family to attend college.

—Allison V. Smith for Education Week

"It's kind of like you're born with responsibility—especially the girls," she says. "Doing something on your own may not sit very comfortably with them because they may not want to let anyone down. I talk to them a lot about not feeling selfish that they're disappointing their family by going away, and understanding there's nothing wrong with having those goals."

Family loyalty can cause Hispanic girls to choose less-competitive colleges than they are qualified to attend so they can keep living with their parents. They may also not be well informed about financial-aid opportunities to attend more expensive schools.

University of Texas at San Antonio education professor Anne-Marie Nuñez says that when girls live at home while in college, they may have a hard time focusing on their studies because of family obligations.

"They may be juggling multiple responsibilities that pull them away from being able to focus on their studies," Nuñez says. "Other family members may not understand the energy they need to focus on their studies."

In Texas, a nonprofit online magazine written by girls, called Latinitas, aims to empower young women. The organization also provides workshops, mentoring, and college tours. On the website, Saray Argumedo, 23, shares her own experiences about the tension with her family when she studied at the University of Texas at El Paso.

"All I can do is ask for forgiveness when my mom questions why I spend all my time outside of the house studying, working, and getting involved in my community," she writes. "I thought that they would be proud of me, but why are they so angry?"

Teenage Motherhood

Young Latinas also are more likely than most young women in the United States to have their own children as teenagers. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, in Washington, about 52 percent of Latinas become pregnant before age 20, nearly twice the national average. In Dallas, the nonprofit group Alley's House helps mothers complete their General Educational Development, or GED, studies and build their confidence.

Yesenya Consuelo, 19, dropped out of Spruce High School in Dallas her freshman year when she became pregnant with her now-4-year-old daughter. Consuelo wants to study at a community college to be a surgical technologist, but she needs to pass the math portion of the GED, which she has failed twice. She comes to Alley's House for math tutoring four days a week.

Consuelo says her daughter is her motivation to finish school. "I'm trying to be the best I can for her," she says.

Despite the challenges, says Nuñez, the education professor, "the truth is Latino families have as high aspirations as other groups. Sometimes, they just don't know how to translate those aspirations to reality."

Katherine Leal Unmuth is a Dallas-based freelance-writer.

Latino education issues at latinoedbeat.org.

Seniors Turn their Backs in Protest

Highs School Seniors Turn their Backs in Protest on Speaker, Sweetwater Trustee Jim Cartmill

UTSD

Originally Published May 30, 2012by Caroline Dipping in the San Diego Education Report

Protesting teacher layoffs, dozens of Mar Vista High School, Mar Vista, CA seniors turned their backs on the keynote speaker at their graduation ceremony Tuesday on the Imperial Beach campus.

Shortly after Sweetwater Union High School District board member Jim Cartmill began his remarks at the podium, the capped and gowned students stood and turned their backs to him. They held their stance for about 20 seconds before taking their seats at the request of Mar Vista Principal Wes Braddock.

The commencement exercise continued without interruption. Braddock said the fact the seniors resumed their seats within seconds indicated “they are respectful in their hearts,” but he was still disappointed by the demonstration...

A member of Occupy Sweetwater, a community activist group leading an effort to recall trustees  Ricasa,  McCann and Cartmill, said the group was not involved in prompting or planning the students’ actions. The group has collected more than 500 of the 18,000 signatures needed by Aug. 27 to recall the board members in light of a district attorney’s investigation into illegal construction contracting procedures.

“We’re just very proud that students took such a risk and stood up for themselves and their classmates,” said Lauren McLennan, an Occupy Sweetwater member. “Some adults are already trying to blame us, but it was the students’ decision and they organized it themselves.”

Hours after his graduation ceremony, Mar Vista High senior Josh Cade posted on Occupy Sweetwater’s Facebook page.

“We took a stand against their corruption and we recommend other graduating students mimic our actions to show the school board that they can’t continue this outrageous mishandling of their budget,” Cade wrote. “They are ruining lives of our cherished teachers, mentors, and friends; students, we need to show our disapproval. ..."

Disenfranchised-Educators

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Moreno Valley Water Company   Embezzlement Was Reported Repeatedly But The Board Refused To Act. Three Years and $280,000.00 Later ...

First Published: 17 March 2012 06:25 PM

BY LORA HINES 

The former general manager of the Box Springs Mutual Water Co. in Moreno Valley said he thinks the alleged embezzlement of $280,000 could have been prevented had authorities paid attention then. Between 2004 and 2009 he reported theft of money from the company.

Bruce Gottschalk worked at the company between 2004 and January 2009. He twice contacted the Moreno Valley Police Department in 2009 to report the theft of $31,000 by a former employee after bookkeepers auditing the company’s accounts alerted him. Nothing came of Gottschalk’s reports because of lack of information and cooperation from the water company, police said.

He said he also tried to warn the company’s board of directors, of which he was a member. In January 2009, Gottschalk quit his job and was forced off the board when he said colleagues became hostile toward him rather than investigate the theft.

“It’s been very frustrating,” he said.

William Batey, the Moreno Valley councilman who represents the area, said he’s heard allegations about water company corruption for years. He said he told people to report their suspicions to law enforcement officials, but he could do nothing more because the city doesn’t oversee the company.

The company’s troubles have led to the community’s decay and impoverishment, making it unattractive to potential developers and homeowners.

Box Springs, a private nonprofit organization, provides water to about 3,300 people in the Edgemont community on Moreno Valley’s west side. As Moreno Valley’s east side thrives with development, Edgemont looks as if time forgot it. Side streets between Alessandro and Eucalyptus avenues are filled with potholes. Many houses appear uninhabitable and have yards covered with dirt, not grass. Most residents are renters.

The area needs developers, whose fees would pay for improvements to sidewalks, hydrants and the water-system. But builders and property owners can’t get building permits because of safety issues.

Box Springs’ water lines don’t provide enough water needed to fight a fire. Water company officials have said there's no money for upgrades, estimated to cost at least $15 million. So, new construction and property upgrades are out of the question. The water company can’t benefit from any new customers.

“I’ve got 3 acres behind my house that I can’t build anything on,” Gottschalk said.

He said he was on vacation in Mexico when he found out that his successor, Debra Sutton, resigned last month from the company. Investigators served search warrants at her home and office Jan. 23 seeking evidence that $280,000 in company funds were used to pay for cruises and casino gambling.

Sutton, who lives around the corner from the water company, has not been arrested or charged with any crimes. Her salary was $42,000 annually.

She declined to comment when reached at her house following the warrants.

Search warrants claim that a water company ATM card issued to Sutton was used for cruises to Alaska, the Bahamas, Mexico, the Caribbean and other places. Additionally, the ATM card was used for purchases and withdrawals at the Morongo and Edgewater casinos. Charges also were made to Alaska, Continental and United Airlines; Cheaptickets.com; Macy's; and Disneyland. The warrant also listed Carnival Cruise Lines of Florida; San Diego Cruise ship terminal; and Sam's Club in Bullhead City, Ariz.

According to court documents, Sutton told a Riverside County district attorney’s investigator that she thought she was using her personal money for the trips and casinos. Sutton also said she would make restitution if she had used the water company card, according to court documents.

The search warrant affidavits also showed her company ATM card was frequently used at Soboba Casino near Hemet. Casino records showed that Sutton gambled $5.6 million from February 2003 to December 2011.

“It’s a waiting game now,” Gottschalk said. “We’re waiting for indictments to come down.”

Sutton began working at the water company in January 2009 when Gottschalk said he hired her as a secretary. She replaced the employee who Gottschalk said he suspected of theft late in 2008. That employee was fired but was never charged.

Sutton later was promoted to general manager after Gottschalk left the company.

During Gottschalk’s tenure, Western Municipal Water District provided contract services for Box Springs, including bookkeeping. Box Springs is one of several of Western’s wholesale agencies. Western’s bookkeepers told Gottschalk about the missing $31,000 in 2008, he said.

Western spokeswoman Michele McKinney Underwood said she couldn’t comment because of the investigation. Western stopped providing Box Springs with contract services in February 2009, she said.

Moreno Valley Police Department records show that Gottschalk reported the embezzlement of $31,000 on Jan. 14, 2009, and April 6, 2009. Records indicate that Moreno Valley police tried to investigate both times.

The first time, officers didn’t have enough information to start a case, according to reports. Following the second report, officers contacted board president Joseph Heeter, who told them he didn’t want a criminal investigation, a police report states. He told police that he wanted to conduct an audit, records state.

When reached at the Box Springs office on Wednesday, Heeter, who has been board president since January 2009, declined to answer questions about the water company.

Records show an investigator met with Heeter and Sutton on Dec. 19, 2011, about the missing money. Heeter has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

For years, the Box Springs board has been mired in dysfunction stemming from longstanding feuds and mistrust among members and shareholders, said several members and shareholders who were interviewed. They accuse each other of stealing, lying, being disrespectful of one another, conspiracy and using the company for personal gain. No charges have been filed, they said.

Board member Irene Kendall, who has been active in the company for decades, said she believes the board should have kept a closer eye over company recordkeeping. She doesn’t think it was negligent.

Kendall, who turns 92 Monday, said she worries Box Springs and its board could be sued as a result of the alleged embezzlement. The board is to meet with the company attorney, Joe Aklufi, she said.

Aklufi couldn’t be reached for comment.

The water company on Wednesday is to have its regular monthly board meeting. Gottschalk wants most water company customers and property owners to attend and demand that new leadership be appointed.

Batey said he has repeatedly heard about possible mismanagement and embezzlement at Box Springs over the past 10 years. He said he always has urged people to report suspected wrongdoing to law enforcement officials.

“I’ve helped to the extent that I could,” Batey said. “We’ve got no say-so over there whatsoever.”

The City Council has no authority over Box Springs. The water company’s customers rely on the board of directors for company oversight.

Batey said Box Springs’ problems have negatively impacted the city and have reached a breaking point. Living conditions in many homes in the area have become some so poor that Batey said he thinks residents’ health and safety might be in jeopardy.

“Something has to be done,” he said. “Now it’s time to cooperate.”

Batey said he thinks the embezzlement investigation surrounding Box Springs will bring change. He wants Box Springs and Western to work with him to develop solutions to correct Box Springs’ problems and revitalize the Edgemont area.

“We can’t continue on the way it is,” Batey said.

Box Springs meeting

What: The regular monthly meeting of the Box Springs Mutual Water Co.

When: Wednesday, 12:30 p.m.

Where: At the company’s office, 21740 Dracaea Ave., Moreno Valley.