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Score one for “idealocrats.” John at Teachable Moments just used that contest entry (originally scribed by a New York City principal who asked to be anonymous) in a sentence.

This gives me an opportunity to explain once again why I think this contest is important — not just a ring of fire that you should be terrified to wade into, as The New Republic’s Seyward Darby sort of suggested, but a good launchpad for serious debate.

For those not paying attention, the point of the contest is to find an adjective to put before “reformer” that could quickly and fairly and without bias describe a certain type of education activist. The group includes Wendy Kopp of Teach For America, Joel Klein of New York, and Michelle Rhee of D.C. It does not include another set of people who consider themselves education reformers, but object to Kopp, Klein, and Rhee’s methods.

And that’s why it matters, because as much as the Kopps and Rhees would like to own the reformer title, and as much as the mainstream media lets them get away with that, describing only one side of the debate as reformers is neither accurate nor fair nor conducive to robust debate. (more…)

From the comments section, a response to Democrats for Education Reform’s boosting of Wendy Kopp for Secretary of Education:

I am an alumna of TFA and a current staff person. 60% of our Corps members stay in education after their 2 year committment. The idea is to cultivate more Michelle Rhees, Mike Feinbergs, and David Levins as well as more people like Cami Anderson (Superindendent of District 79 in NYC). While I don’t think Wendy Kopp is a strong candidate for Secretary of Education due to her lack of actual teaching experience I do not feel that TFA is part of the problem.

Quick explainer: Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin are the founders of the KIPP charter school network, Michelle Rhee is the chancellor of the D.C. public schools, and Cami Anderson runs alternative schools in New York City. All are TFA alums.

Wendy Kopp, the hard-driving founder of Teach For America, and Arne Duncan, the superintendent of schools in Chicago, are being touted as top candidates for U.S. Education Secretary by an influential  lobbying group that pushes for aggressive changes in American schools. Their names are included in a 34-page transition memo to President-elect Barack Obama prepared by the group, Democrats for Education Reform, and obtained by GothamSchools.

New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has received support from DFER, which is based in Manhattan, but the group’s memo specifically rules him out as a possible Education Secretary. The memo says Klein’s aggressive efforts to improve public schools are admirable, but that they make him and the like-minded D.C. school chancellor, Michelle Rhee, a poor choice for Barack Obama’s White House. “The need for them to occasionally ‘break some china’ in order to affect much-needed change puts them and other hard-charging reforms like them in an unlikely spot to be selected for a role like Secretary of Education (a role for which either would be well suited),” the memo says. (more…)

I’ve been getting a lot of ideas for what to call the nameless movement personified by Jon Schnur. The good news is that I think the descriptions are getting a lot more precise. The consensus points I see emerging: This set of reformers puts a primacy on data; is obsessive about getting rid of bad teachers, and views the democratic political process as a barrier. They are also young and bratty.

We are getting closer, but I do not think we are there yet. I define “there” as the moment at which you the readers have delivered me a single adjective that I can slap before “reformer” without feeling a twinge of remorse.

So, please send more entries! As you brainstorm adjectives, the best of the suggestions so far, which I’ve compiled below and which include superstar entrants including Joel Klein and Diane Ravitch, may help. (more…)

While I’m on the Jon Schnur-Obama education wars subject, let me raise a problem that I have when writing about said wars: How should I describe each side?

In an earlier post, I referred to the Schnur/Eduwonk/Joel Klein nexus (axis?) as the “reform-minded” camp. In doing so I used a label the group calls itself, but also violated a principle I was taught at the New York Sun about the importance of precise language. I was rightly chastised by Leonie Haimson, who pointed out in the comments section that almost everyone involved in the education debate would like to see “reform”; the question is what kind.

A similar problem was raised by Richard Whitmire of USA Today in August, who was following up on Jay Mathews of the Washington Post. Their concern was what to call a group of “elite” inner-city schools whose students score better on tests than students nearby neighborhood schools. Ultimately the contest ended unsatisfactorily, and Whitmire posted my e-mail to him explaining why the contest was so hard:

“I think the difficulty of the contest is a symptom of a bigger problem. Aren’t these schools a part of a movement without a name? My editor banned me from ever letting the word “reform” follow the word “education” and I am glad for the lesson in precision, but I have never found a good substitute. The Wendy Kopp movement. The Teach For America alumni club. The people-likely-to-say-”relentless”-twice-in-one-sentence movement. HBS Grads for Change. Education warriors. Joel Klein, Paul Vallas et al.

The best description I’ve read was David Brooks’, “the thoroughly modern do-gooders”.

Anyway, my submission is the cop-out that maybe we first must solve that naming dilemma, and then get to the schools.

So, let’s solve this dilemma! Send ideas to me at egreen@gothamschools.org, and I’ll update on our progress as time goes by.

GOOD Magazine brought together three “mavericks” of the education world for a panel discussion last night.

Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach For America (TFA), and Nínive Calegari, CEO of literacy nonprofit 826 National and producer of a documentary film about teacher salary reform, took on the teacher-pay system:

Nínive Calegari: I’ve actually taught in a wealthy district … and so I’ve seen what a school with a good rhythm, with resources, actually looks and feels like, which is a very positive thing to have happened, but a thing that I thought was very devastating that happened was that after three years there, I got tenure, and I would have been able to play cards with the kids and it would have been very, very difficult to fire me. And I think that we have to look at the tenure issue and figure out how to make that work and how to move forward.  You know, the way that we pay teachers and the way that we design the system is antiquated and it’s time to really look at accountability.

Wendy Kopp: The key to success in any sector… number one, it’s about people. …I think it is about teachers but it’s hugely about school leaders. I mean, it’s very hard to find a high-quality school that isn’t run by a stellar principal. And it’s about superintendents and a whole bunch of other folks at the district. It’s about talent at every level.  So, first of all, developing a talent mindset, where school systems are obsessed with recruiting talented folks and developing them over time and sustaining them over time, I mean, that’s one thing. And then those people need to figure out how do we build strong cultures and good systems for accountability and continuous improvement.

Calegari thinks the key to recruiting and retaining talent in the schools is to pay much higher salaries to teachers and principals but remove union protections:

In Washington, DC — you guys have to keep an eye on what’s happening in  Washington, DC, it’s incredibly exciting — the new schools chancellor is asking for the community to pay salaries of up to $131,000, which I think is perfect, in exchange for some real accountability.

The full house at Housing Works Bookstore & Cafe burst into applause.

The third panelist, John Woods, founder of international library-building organization Room to Read, focused on the importance of educating girls in developing countries.