In a trip reminiscent of Harry Truman's whistle-stop tour, CTA's statewide officers recently traveled the state by bus to campaign for real school reform - putting money into extra resources for low-performing schools rather than bonuses for teachers or an extended year for middle schools.
Christina Rothberg teaches in a former janitorial closet in Bakersfield.
News conferences and media tours at the school sites visited by the No Child Succeeds Alone bus tour spotlighted the critical needs facing public education in the state's poorest areas. The message delivered by President Wayne Johnson, Vice President Barbara E. Kerr and Secretary-Treasurer David A. Sanchez in Give 'em hell, Harrywhistle-stop fashion was: All children deserve the same opportunity to learn. Where children live, how much their parents earn or what school they attend should not determine educational opportunity.
At the "low-performing" schools they visited, they showed the media that poor and minority students are eager for a first-class education - even when they attend second-class facilities that lack the basic resources of higher-performing schools.
CTA officers Wayne Johnson (center), Barbara E. Kerr and David A. Sanchez hold a news conference in San Bernardino.
The media went away with a more complete picture of how hard it is to teach and learn in overcrowded conditions and dilapidated facilities, how hard it is to recruit and retain teachers without support structures, how hard it is for students to learn English as a second language in large classes, and how hard it is for working parents to play a role in their children's education during the normal school day.
The purpose of the tour was to change the dialogue around the state budget and focus it on the schools of greatest need. Through the wide-based media coverage the tour generated, CTA was able to send a strong message to the Legislature and to Governor Gray Davis that the $3.2 billion in extra funding proposed this year for education - especially the money set aside for performance awards and extending the middle school year - should be redirected to the schools of greatest need.
It's time stop playing games look real solutions, Johnson told media. Instead giving schools with problems extra money resources, governor's solution have standardized tests and hold accountable for test scores. All that accomplished has been to drive teachers out of the profession.
The officers and CTA Executive Director Carolyn Doggett decided they should take to the road - and take CTA's platform to the media and the public - because they feel the situation is nothing short of urgent. "We only have a short amount of time to fix our low-performing schools," said Johnson.
"We can't wait. The future of our state depends upon it."
"Once again, CTA has taken the lead to improve public education for all students, and has brought the issue of public education to the forefront," said Secretary-Treasurer Sanchez. "The governor doesn't understand how serious the situation is in many of our schools. He thinks he does, but he doesn't. If he is really the education governor, he will help those schools in the bottom 25 percent."
"For me, the tour emphasized the problems that English language learners face on a day-to-day basis," added Sanchez. "It's especially unfair that they are compelled to participate in an assessment program, taking standardized tests in a language they don't understand."
"It's a crime that our children have to go to school in such crowded places," said Vice President Kerr. "Most of these schools are run-down and need a lot of work. Our children deserve clean, safe and modern facilities. I hate to say it, but most of these schools are older than I am."
Even though she was appalled by school conditions, "the tour really lifted my spirits," she said. "I had been very down about the poor handling of the energy crisis, and what that could mean to education. I admit that, at first, I was skeptical about this tour. But it has lifted my spirits and given me hope again. Seeing so many people show up to support what we are doing to help schools was wonderful. Months of planning and lots of work went into this tour, but it was absolutely worth it."
Monday, April 16
The first stop was Hoover High School, which offered proof that it pays off to invest in low-performing schools. While Hoover may be located in the inner city of San Diego, it is anything but a typical inner-city school.
In the past three years, the site has been recognized as a California Department of Education State and National Achieving Compensatory Education School. Last year the school surpassed its API growth target of 444 by 18 points.
The Price Foundation's Ian Pompiam tells the news media and assembled dignitaries in San Diego about the extra support schools need. Hoover High receives $1 million a year from his foundation.
It wasn't always such a rosy picture, acknowledged San Diego Education Association (SDEA) President Marc Knapp. "Hoover had the lowest test scores in the district two years ago," he said. "We now have resources at Hoover that schools throughout the entire state should have. And now we have amazing community spirit."
Many of the positive changes can be attributed to the City Heights Pilot Project. The arrangement partners Hoover and two other area schools with San Diego State University, which offers professional development, and with the Price Foundation, which gives Hoover an extra $1 million a year. This is the second year of the four-year partnership.
Foundation funding has helped spruce up facilities and enables the school to offer extra help and resources for those who need it most. Before school even opened, for example, nearly a dozen students were waiting outside the health clinic. Many had nowhere else to go for medical care. In all, the clinic sees about 100 kids a day.
In an age when most schools can't afford counselors or school nurses, Hoover's full-time counseling staff of five works closely with two nurses on campus, said SDEA member Mary Jackson. "Counseling and nurses can't be separated. They work as a team. Someone may have a stomachache because there may not be enough to eat at home."
CTA's David A. Sanchez greets parents in their own language.
In addition to helping students meet their basic needs, Hoover has a great deal more to offer. Every teacher has a credential and class size has been reduced. The computer lab is state-of-the-art, and the library has been refurbished. A parent center has increased parental involvement at the school, offering translators who can interpret for those who speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian and Sudanese. A parent leadership class teaches parents how to become involved in their child's school. Mothers and fathers patrol the school constantly, keeping it free of graffiti.
Hoover's turnaround is about more than just money. It can also be attributed to Principal Doug Williams, who was handpicked by teachers. "Our SDEA members felt they best knew the needs of the school, and didn't want the district to hire someone who wouldn't be an exact fit," said Knapp. "This was a perfect example of teaching staff choosing excellent leadership."
Teachers say that because they feel valued, high teacher turnover has come to a halt. In the last decade, the school routinely lost between 10 and 15 teachers a year. Last year only five left - and three were retirees.
Hoover also offers a free master's program for all teachers, which currently has a third of the staff enrolled. Because of the partnership, university staff members meet with new and veteran teachers to offer support and expertise. Plenty of time is made available for staff development.
Because of the changes, teachers say there is a strong team effort, which prompted teachers to raise their expectations of students. "We run a tight ship here - with love," explained SDEA member Ann Normal, who teaches beginning level ESL classes to 9th- and 10th-graders.
For example, students are now being held accountable for their actions. If they are tardy or absent, they must make up the time after school or at Saturday school in order to receive a passing grade. Students feel good about the changes, despite the fact that teachers are stricter.
"There has been a disciplinary change not only in the classroom, but in sports," said Terrell Williams, a senior. "Kids don't talk back as much now."
"There is more interaction between students and teachers," added Lariza McBean, a junior. For example, when a student committed suicide on campus last March, teachers and counselors immediately reached out to traumatized students. "They showed how much they cared and interacted with us daily," said McBean. "They wanted to make sure everyone was okay."
Students said they feel safer now than in years' past, and that fighting has decreased on campus. Bee Inthavong, a senior, noted, "Everyone is more harmonious now. Before, we only hung out with students who were like us. Now, there is a lot of interaction between ethnic groups. That's just one of the things that separates us from other schools."
Tuesday morning, April 17
Lincoln Elementary School in San Bernardino is bursting at the seams. The media tours highlighted the severe overcrowding typical throughout California, where student enrollment is expected to increase dramatically over the next decade.
With 1,530 K-5 students enrolled this year, sixth-graders had to be bused out to a different school last fall. The year-round site may have as many as 44 students in a room at one time. Meanwhile, installation of portables has caused the playground to shrink dramatically. Soon the problem will worsen: two basketball courts will give way to new portables next year.
Mikki Cichocki-Bartlett explains that some children are more expensive to teach.
The school has three recesses and several lunch shifts. Students may spend nearly all of their recess time standing in line to use the bathroom. By the time they move through the 20-minute lunch line and eat, they may have five minutes to play before the bell rings.
If the population continues to grow, Lincoln will need two sessions a day as well as multi-tracks.
No one room is large enough to hold a school assembly, so students either gather outdoors or in groups inside the cafeteria. Some teachers haven't met one another because they are on different tracks. Teachers have no place to store instructional materials, so many keep them at home or in their cars. Because of crowded conditions, the school loses about a dozen teachers a year.
"It causes a lot more stress than most people realize," said San Bernardino Teachers Association member Kristena Corbett, a program specialist and language arts teacher. "We try to do our best here, but sometimes it is difficult to remain upbeat."
The school tries hard to meet the needs of its mostly poor and minority children. Through a Healthy Start grant and a City Block grant, Lincoln offers a family center and English classes for parents to encourage parent involvement. There is a food bank, a clothing bank and a health clinic sponsored by the district. There is even a place for parents to borrow tools and appliances.
Yet a high mobility rate makes it difficult to provide continuity for many children. In some classrooms, half the seats may turn over as many as four times a year due to a high eviction rate for apartment dwellers.
Students have to line up to play at San Bernardino's Lincoln Elementary School.
The school, which is half English language learners and 99 percent free or reduced lunch, is part of the Immediate Intervention Underperforming School Program (II/USP), and could face sanctions by next year if it fails to meet its growth target. This year it fell two points short of the 15-point growth target.
SBTA members backed by the San Bernardino county superintendent, the district superintendent and six of the seven school board members told the media the year-round schedule to accommodate overcrowding makes it more difficult to boost student achievement. "It's difficult to maintain an effective classroom environment when you teach three months and leave for three months," said Alejandro Hernandez, a second-grade teacher.
"It's also hard to offer small-group instruction and one-on-one intervention," said physical education teacher Eric Abrams. "You can't spend as much time with the kids. It's very frustrating."
The problem will only get worse in San Bernardino, predicted SBTA President Mikki Cichocki-Bartlett during the news conference. "New housing is not being built, but multiple families are moving into single-family units. Without new housing, the district cannot charge builder's fees to build new schools. There is some bond money, but it's not enough. We desperately need new facilities in San Bernardino."
"We need to put our money towards helping the students and schools of greatest need in California," said Cichocki-Bartlett. "I honestly believe all children can learn. Some of them are just more expensive to teach."
Tuesday afternoon, April 17
A group of ROTC students waited in formation in the hot sun to greet the CTA contingency at John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun City on the outskirts of Los Angeles. At a press conference held inside a portable classroom that serves as a professional development center in the overcrowded, year-round campus, veteran teachers and administrators told the officers that new teachers may go marching out of the profession if they are not supported in the classroom - especially teachers working on emergency permits or waivers.
The Los Angeles news conference on helping emergency permit teachers succeed features mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa, CTA's Wayne Johnson, UTLA's John Perez and Sergio Lopez.
"The number of emergency teachers has gone up in Los Angeles County," said United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) Vice President John Perez. "Many are working very hard to get their full credentials. But they need resources and programs to succeed."
Education studies show that teacher quality is the highest predictor of whether or not a child will succeed in the classroom. Nearly 50 percent of all emergency permit teachers in California are in Los Angeles County. The lack of credentialed teachers, and programs to help those on emergency credentials, has been blamed for low test scores in the area. Out of Polytechnic's 150 teachers, 27 are working on emergency permits and two have waivers. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest, the school scored a 1 on the statewide Academic Performance Index (API).
John Perez
"We are not here to beat up on emergency permit teachers," Johnson assured the crowd. "Thank God they are here. But we need more programs like the one here at Polytechnic to help these teachers be successful."
Polytechnic's novice teachers benefit from the DELTA Collaborative (Design for Excellence: Linking Teaching and Achievement), a comprehensive professional development and support system. A $2.4 million grant funded by the Weingart Foundation supports the collaboration between the district's professional development center and CSU-Northridge's College of Education. Mentor teachers from the university work with emergency permit teachers, observing them in the classroom and coaching them on strategies and classroom management techniques.
"When I first came here, I had a lot of trouble with curriculum and with managing my classroom," said Sergio Lopez, an emergency permit teacher at the school. "My first year was really rocky."
Sergio Lopez
DELTA provided assistance the next two years. "I had extra hands and extra support, and I think I'm doing much better," said Lopez. "I'm close to getting my credential. I wish I had known some of the things I know now, when I was starting out."
"We try to work with emergency permit teachers in a positive way," said mentor teacher Karen Danashvari, a member of the California Faculty Association. "We try to help them find their own persona in the classroom, so their procedures and discipline fit their individual style. This way, they can be strong and successful."
Former state Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, a candidate for mayor of Los Angeles, attended the gathering. [The top vote-getter, he will face a run-off election in June.]
"I am often asked how problems in education should be solved," he told the assembled reporters. "It's not rocket science. If you really want answers, just go and ask a teacher."
Wednesday morning, April 18
Welcome to Williams Elementary School in Bakersfield, where instruction happens in just about every location but the restrooms. (Teachers jokingly say that may be the next step.)
The media, accompanied by BETA President Helen Collins and Principal Steve Sandrini, took a tour of the school which showed how space is at a premium. The campus has 32 classrooms and 10 portables. In some cases, two classrooms share a divided portable.
Two literacy groups of teachers and children worked inside the school cafeteria, while workers prepared meals in the background. Small-group reading instruction was also taking place inside what used to be the teachers' lounge. And a tutoring session was in full swing inside what once served as a janitorial closet.
"We've been very resourceful in dealing with the situation and finding space to meet our needs," said Christina Rothberg, a member of Bakersfield Elementary Teachers Association (BETA) who was tutoring in the closet. "We've had to be resourceful and creative."
"We need new schools or bigger campuses to accommodate students," said teacher Wendy Hodash. "These are very challenging conditions for teaching."
"Everything is so cramped," added Rose Foley, who teaches in half a portable. "Kids are very limited - they can't move around much. They have to spend most of their time sitting. It isn't possible to have activity centers for learning. There isn't even enough room for me to hang very much of their work up on the wall."
In an effort to boost student achievement at the school, where students are mostly low-income and English language learners, teachers have adopted the Success For All reading program, which requires intensive, small-group instruction every day. The school increased its API score by 66 points, but missed out on state bonus money because it tested only 94.4 percent of students, rather than 95 percent.
"Teachers here feel very frustrated and saddened," said Hodash. "We would like to see the state consider more than test scores as proof that learning is taking place. Students come to us as blank slates and we take them to phenomenal places. But the SAT-9 doesn't show the growth - it only shows where we need to go.
"We teachers see incredible progress that the public doesn't get to see. Children come in not knowing a word of English and, by the end of the year, they are able to carry on a conversation with their teachers. But that doesn't show up on the testing."
Despite the adverse conditions, teachers stay at Williams Elementary because they care about the children. "These are really great kids," said Rothberg. "They are very appreciative of every little thing you do for them. They are very willing to learn. They may come from a poor background, but they are eager to learn and willing to try."
"You teachers do an amazing job," said Johnson at the tour's end. "You are teaching in broom closets, but showing incredible flexibility and creativity. Despite the odds, you are getting the job done."
Wednesday afternoon, April 18
The fourth-grade students sit nearly elbow-to-elbow and desk-to-desk inside their classroom at Jefferson Elementary School in Fresno. Their teacher, Jesus Gonzalez, told the media he had 34 students at the beginning of the year, but now enrollment has leveled off at 30.
CTA Vice President Barbara E. Kerr visits Jesus Gonzalez's overcrowded classroom in Fresno.
"I do my best every day to step up to the challenge," said Gonzalez, a member of the Fresno Teachers Association (FTA). "But it's very challenging to focus on the individual needs of children when you have so many students in a class." All of his students are English language learners whose English and academic skills range widely.
Sometimes he gets frustrated. "When is the governor going to offer class size reduction for fourth, fifth and sixth grades?" he asks. "When will my students have the same opportunities to use technology as students in wealthier areas?"
Jefferson Elementary School, built in 1953, has an official capacity of 650, but holds 866 students. Students do not have access to the Internet, although there are a few old computers on campus. Sixty-three percent of the students are English language learners, and 99 percent qualify for free lunch. The school holds an API ranking of 1.
Gloria Vass in Bakersfield conducts class on the stage stairs.
"This school has been mislabeled as a low-performing school," FTA President Larry Moore said on camera. "They should really be referred to as schools with great needs. They lack the basic resources to operate successfully. These schools need lots of help from the state Legislature to help their students succeed in life."
Sanchez paused during the tour to chat with some of the students, especially those struggling to learn English. "I am amazed at the number of English language learners who are not able to get help in their primary language," he said. "It's either sink or swim for many of these children. I can see they are frustrated. I felt sorry for one little boy who was sitting in an English reading group, and he couldn't speak a word of English. He didn't have a clue. There was no program to help this kid, who was in a dual immersion ESL class. And it's very difficult for teachers to offer individual help with so many students in a classroom."
"I can't imagine how kids like this are going to perform on standardized tests in English," Sanchez added. "How can they possibly compete at the same level as schools with lower class size? We definitely need to put more resources into schools like Jefferson Elementary School."
Thursday morning, April 19
"Teaching is a lot different than I thought it would be," said Maia Wilcox, a first-year teacher on an emergency permit who teaches at Balboa High School in San Francisco.
Rocio Ramirez risks sitting on derelict bleachers in San Francisco.
"They said teaching would be a lot of work, but they didn't say how much work it would be. Some of the kids are a lot more challenging than I thought they would be. I love some of the kids more than I thought I would. The first month I wanted to quit. I'm glad I didn't."
Wilcox, a member of United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), has a master's degree in animal science but had to fight to get into education classes at a local college. "It's been really difficult for me to get into a credential program," she said. "I'm not even in one now - officially - but I'm taking classes. If they need teachers so desperately, they should make it easier for us."
She told the media she lacks support while working full time and going to school. She was accepted into a district-sponsored intern program, but it fell apart.
It isn't easy for teachers in general at Balboa High. The average class size is 34 students, and the student-counselor ratio is 761 to 1. Half of the students are low-income and a quarter are English language learners. The II/USP site scored a 1 on the API.
Stan De Bella explains to visitors how difficult it is to recruit and retain new teachers.
"Large class size is the number one challenge here," said Stan De Bella, a member of UESF who serves as science department chairman. "A lot of students need individual attention. When there are large groups of students, it's hard to keep them on track. Some go by the wayside."
Facilities have definitely gone by the wayside at Balboa. The fight against graffiti is a losing battle, although teachers say the situation is better now than a few years ago. All of the showers in the boys' locker room have been unusable for five years, according to Rocio Ramirez, a UESF member who heads the P.E. department. An elevator that goes to an upstairs gym has been broken for five years, and handicapped students are unable to access that part of the school. The bleachers where visiting teams are supposed to sit for outdoor events are so dangerous they are usually roped off with yellow tape.
Because of challenging conditions at Balboa, teacher turnover is more than 30 percent a year - with nearly a third of the staff working on emergency permits. Some teachers have been recruited from foreign countries, including Spain and the Philippines, and are working on temporary visas.
"It's difficult for us to recruit and retain good people here," said De Bella. "And when that happens, it's the students who lose out."
Thursday afternoon, April 19
Final stop: The state Capitol building in Sacramento for a news conference. Weary but exhilarated, the officers described the appalling conditions at schools they visited on the No Child Succeeds Alone tour. Among those attending the event were Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg; Senate Education Committee Chair John Vasconcellos; Latino Legislative Caucus Chair-elect Marco Firebaugh; Assembly Member Manny Diaz; Senator Deborah Ortiz; Howard Lawrence, president of Sacramento Area Congregations Together; and Sacramento City teacher Alexandra Lee Jobe representing the home visitation program.
"It makes you want to cry," said Ortiz. "These are our children in run-down schools. We have no alternative but to fight for the educational opportunities they deserve. Otherwise, we are dooming them to a life of minimum wage and no health care."
Hertzberg said others often ask him if the energy crisis means that school funding should be cut. "As we grapple with the energy issue, do we still grapple with education? The answer is an immediate, resounding yes," he said. "My personal goal is to make sure that resources will be there in the fall budget to help these schools. We will only create a new crisis tomorrow if we fail to act today."
Showing support for CTA's effort at the Sacramento news conference are Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg and Senator Deborah Ortiz with President Wayne Johnson, and Senate Education Chair John Vasconcellos.
"I get angry when people say you can't throw money at schools," said Kerr on camera. "These same people are throwing money at the energy crisis without blinking. The state is spending $50 million a day, $1.5 billion a month to buy energy. But education is also in a crisis - a crisis of poverty and underfunding."
"The problems of public education we need to focus on are child poverty and inadequate funding," Johnson asserted. "Governor Davis is threatening to have the state take over low-scoring schools, which didn't work in Compton or Richmond. It won't work anyplace else, either. We never hear about making real changes in low-scoring schools. Instead of threats, wouldn't it be nice if the governor and legislators said things like:
- 'Let's get a fully credentialed teacher in every California classroom.'
- 'Let's reduce class size to 15-20 in every school with low test scores.'
- 'Let's make sure every kid has all the latest textbooks, materials and supplies.'
- 'Let's make sure all of our kids have the latest technology.'
- 'Let's fix up all of those old so-called slum schools - the ones with leaky roofs, broken windows, backed-up toilets and no air conditioners.'
- 'Let's make sure our teachers have all the materials and supplies they need to teach.'
"We have to fight to make the public understand what our kids need," Johnson told the assembled reporters. "We must start by putting more money into schools with the lowest-scoring students. We don't want to take money away from any school. But we do want to take the $1.4 billion that is being proposed to extend every middle school year in California and those teacher bonuses that the governor loves to hand out every year and put that money into the lowest 25 percent of API schools. We can't wait any longer. We can no longer allow our poorest and most disadvantaged students to continue to slip through the educational cracks."
Sherry Posnick-Goodwin
