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January 15, 2009

The telephone calls that teachers take these days

by Elizabeth Green, at 7:01 pm

I just got off the phone with one of the KIPP AMP charter school teachers who led the school’s organizing drive, Emily Fernandez. Maybe the most interesting part of our short conversation was the fact that, during it, Fernandez took two phone calls from students, both homework questions.

Thus is the world we live in now. I can only imagine what my type A peers in Montgomery County, Maryland, would have done with that kind of information, back in the day. Fernandez, for her part, said she likes it that students have her cell phone number. Answering their homework questions makes sure they learn best, she said.

Fernandez was more vague on the subject I called her to discuss: why she and other teachers decided to unionize. She said that she wants to improve the school’s “sustainability” — “making it a school that has longevity for kids and families aas opposed to not,” she said. Against some of the speculation about the school, she said that there hasn’t been an “extreme amount” of turnover at KIPP AMP since it opened. (The school is now in its fourth year.)

More from her:

We really want to see how much we can cooperate and make the school better. We’re not looking to antagonize and change everything. We all signed onto KIPP and support what they want to do.

http://curious2.typepad.com Ken

Great post! I wonder if Emily or the other lead teachers for the organizing drive would make themselves available for a more in-depth Q&A. It would be fascinating and instructive to understand how they think about the situation. I am not sure why Emily views unionization as a means to improve “sustainability” for the school, although I suppose it has something to do with teacher burn-out. I have also read and heard that KIPP was surprised by the action. If so, that fact contrasts interestingly with Emily’s goal to “see how much we can cooperate”.
http://www.classsizematters.org Leonie Haimson

“making it a school that has longevity for kids and families as opposed to not,” might also refer to student attrition, which has been shown to be very high at some KIPP schools.
http://www.classsizematters.org Leonie Haimson

Also, I’m very interested in the angle about PTA’s. The original letter from KIPP teachers, as quoted by the UFT press release, said this:

“One of the teachers’ goals is to help create a PTA, which up until now has not been permitted. In a letter to parents, the group said, “We value parent input and know a school cannot run effectively without parent involvement and voice.”

Is it a standard KIPP policy to disallow PTAs? And if so, what is the rationale?
http://sinksalive.blogspot.com KitchenSink

Whatever happens, this will be a true test of leadership for KIPP AMP. Comparison to the KIPP conversion union situation just isn’t appropriate. On the teacher side, I would expect Randy & co. to tread softliy; surely the UFT wants to make this succeed at all costs; if it flops, it’s evidence that the union does, indeed, destroy high-performing schools. So it will be interesting to see what concessions are made by each side.
Jack

Of course we must salute teachers who work beyond what is called for in their contract. However, we have to assume that Ms. Fernandez is currently childless herself. If unionization is successful, and she leads the life of 75% of women in their 20′s and 30′s, she will be the greatest recipient of free time after work when she needs to soothe her crying infant – her students will just have to ask about homework during school hours. And isn’t that the point of it all? She will be able to have her own life without fear of reprisal from Type A administrators.

On a separate note regarding attrition, I’d like to note that many charter school teachers leave willingly under their own volition. Harlem Success teachers famously (notoriously?) sign up for a brief stint and then leave for law school with the blessing of everyone involved.
http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/ norm

To read stories about KIPP, one would think they invented the idea of teachers giving kids their phone numbers. I started doing that in the 1970′s. I should have patented the idea – KIPP could pay me royalties.

On the first day of school every year, I sent home a fact sheet with my phone number.

I immediately established a sense of trust with parents. Of course in those days, not everyone had phones. Well, it depended on whether I had the top class (90% with phones) or the bottom (35-40% without). That alone sort of tells you something about poverty and school. But that’s another story for another time.
jane

Kipp should shut these schools down and send a message. Unions = the end of innovation. They might as well be public schools now.
Smith

I notice she’s almost apologetic about asserting a basic democratic right. I guess it shows how much the authoritarian workplace has become an accepted part of our culture.
http://educationbeatblog.wordpress.com/ Schooldays

Ms. Green noted that: “Maybe the most interesting part of our short conversation was the fact that, during it, Fernandez took two phone calls from students, both homework questions”, yet most responses related to unions. Maybe writing about unionization has also become “an accepted part of our culture” rather than taking a harder look at approaches to teaching.

I also think the phone calls are the most interesting part.

In the long run it may be better for Ms. Fernandez’s students to develop self reliance and ultimately struggle through their homework by themselves.

This approach has the whiff of dependency; not a good idea in parenting and even worse in teaching.

Does Ms. Fernandez have other things in her life outside the classroom? Does she have a private life?

She, and her students, may be better off if self reliance is worked on. Once accomplished, she should change her phone number.

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