Administrative ineptitude the cause of Pasadena school restructuring
Volume 12, Issue 6 - March 2008
It was administrative bungling that got John Muir High School to the point of facing harsh sanctions under No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
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| John Muir High School art teacher Cynthia Lake believes that the fallout from Program Improvement has put morale in the basement and numbed the students. |
It was administrative indifference that let the school languish, when reforms could have been implemented to help lift the campus out of Program Improvement (PI) in the early stages before more drastic measures would be mandated.
And ultimately, say members of United Teachers of Pasadena (UTP), it is administrative ineptitude that may cause good teachers to leave the school, since the school board and superintendent chose “reconstitution” from several NCLB options used to punish schools who fail to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) after four consecutive years.
The real tragedy is that despite administrative bungling, indifference and ineptitude, it is teachers who are getting the blame at this Title I school in Pasadena. The school is now at the point of risking the loss of federal funding unless drastic measures — such as a state takeover, becoming a charter or reconstitution — take place in the next school year. (With reconstitution plans under way, teachers reapply for their own jobs. In most cases where this has already occurred, the majority of teachers are not retained.)
“We are being slapped on the hand and completely disrespected as professionals,” says art teacher Cynthia Lake. “Teachers who work at Muir are some of the hardest-working and most loving people you’ll ever find. But now morale is in the basement for teachers. As for the kids, well, they’re kind of numb.”
How did such a tragedy happen? It’s almost a comedy of errors, say teachers, but there’s nothing funny about it. And there is plenty of administrative blame to share, since the school has had a revolving door of principals — as many as five — since 2002. In fact there is presently a temporary or “interim” principal at the site.
Looking back, say teachers, inconsistent leadership is to blame for the current crisis, exacerbated by serious mistakes made by new administrators eager for a quick fix.
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Like many schools in 2002 when NCLB went into effect, John Muir High School had been making slow but steady progress. But during the 2003-04 school year, administration failed to follow proper testing procedures. According to the California Department of Education, John Muir “failed to test a significant portion of students who were not exempt from testing in 2003.” So instead of an Academic Performance Index (API) ranking, the school was told that it did not have a valid 2003 API base and therefore did not have any growth. It was the first step toward PI.
During the 2004-05 school year, the administration decided to take the school’s lowest-performing students and put them in a separate “school within a school” on the campus, so that their low scores would not impact John Muir High School. Not surprisingly, the school’s API shot up 83 points, from 555 to 683.
But the following year (2006-07) a principal decided to return these students to the mainstream population, even though they had not been brought up to grade level. With the return of these students to the school’s general population, it became impossible for John Muir High School to match its high scores of the previous year — which is required to make a school’s API target. Surprisingly, the school that went up 83 points the previous year only went down 22 points the next year. But this automatically meant another year of being labeled a “failing school.”
In most cases, administration would have been working furiously to implement reforms to increase student achievement at a school hovering on the brink. But administrators and school board members continued to ignore the school — with the exception of sending students from other schools back to Muir if they were struggling or behaving badly.
Under the district’s open enrollment policy, students have a “home school” but can attend any campus within the Pasadena Unified School District. Because John Muir High School was perceived as a “failing school” under NCLB, many students within the boundaries of John Muir High School opted to attend other schools. But they were sent back to their home school at the slightest academic or behavior problems, leaving the rest at other schools. UTP members at John Muir believe that this was done so school sites favored by parents did not have to deal with so-called “problem” students.
“The previous superintendent said to me at a meeting that he wished he had a K-8 district, and I believe that neglecting secondary schools was a part of his plan,” says Bethel Lira, UTP president. And by keeping the district’s most challenging students at John Muir High School, they could be contained and ignored.
But now the school is set to undergo reconstitution next year, and it’s not being ignored. All sorts of reforms are planned. Teachers, in fact, were finally asked for their input on how to make the school better — even if many of them won’t be around to appreciate the changes.
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| Michael Harrison teaches U.S. government and economics in Pasadena. |
“This is the first time that teachers have been asked to be involved in anything like this,” says Lira. “And it should have come a lot sooner.”
Administrators even have a fancy name for the process of forcing teachers to reapply for their own jobs. They aren’t calling it reconstitution. The school will undergo a massive makeover and call it “reinvention.”
Under this plan, the comprehensive high school will be replaced by five smaller learning academies. The themes being considered are environmental science, freshman success, visual and performing arts, engineering and technology, and public safety careers. Two California Partnership Academy programs already exist on the campus. But teachers have been told that they are unlikely to be renewed, even though it is very prestigious and competitive to be included in the state program. There are also plans for block scheduling and lower class size for next year, which teachers say should have happened a long time ago. Some classes, including upper-grade math, have 40 or more students.
“We did not need drastic measures, we just needed the basics,” says Dave Herman, a physics and calculus teacher.
The reinvention planned for the school has not yet addressed discipline, which teachers call a huge issue due to a gang presence and a lack of support from administrative staff. In fact, one special education teacher with an excellent reputation recently left the school after being threatened by a student and not feeling supported by administration.
“There are no consequences to students who act out, and that’s putting it politely,” says Michael Harrison, who teaches U.S. government and economics. “At faculty meetings this is brought up constantly by teachers and administrators say, ‘We’re working on it.’ ”
A few teachers sit on the school’s Reinvention Committee, but details on what will happen next year have been sketchy. Teachers say they have no idea what criteria will determine whether they’ll keep their jobs or be forced to leave. Administration wants all applicants — both reapplying and new — to present a portfolio showing standards-based lesson plans used during the previous year, along with student work samples and teacher comments. Classroom observation is apparently not a factor in rehiring.
UTP won’t have input on which teachers are rehired or hired, but a representative will be allowed to observe the interview panel, and the association will have an active say on the selection of all new administrators hired at the school.
“We also bargained incentive pay for any unit member currently teaching at Muir who is retained, as well as new hires,” says Lira. “They will receive $5,000 a year for three years and $250 per year for supplies.” One of the goals, says Lira, is to reduce high teacher turnover at the site.
For teachers who aren’t rehired, UTP has successfully bargained voluntary transfer rights at other school sites based on seniority.
Some teachers have preemptively made plans of their own. World history teacher Brandon Landreth went to the District Office and filled out a transfer request because he has decided not to reapply for his position.
“I have had perfect evaluations, but hearing all teachers have to reapply for their jobs has a demeaning effect and makes me feel unvalued,” says Landreth. “Many teachers have voiced their resolution not to reapply, reserving a measure of integrity despite our treatment throughout the course of this process irrespective of our performance and contributions to Muir and student success.”
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“The previous superintendent said to me at a meeting that he wished he had a K-8 district, and I believe that neglecting secondary schools was a part of his plan.”
— Bethel Lira,
UTP president |
Lake, a member of the Reinvention Committee, says that she wants to return, but will retire if that doesn’t happen.
“I don’t want to leave and I don’t want to give up. But I will be 55 this year and if I’m not invited back, I won’t go to another school. You could say that I’m here until I retire.”
Nearly all teachers say they are more concerned about improving conditions for students than keeping their own jobs at John Muir High School.
“I’m in favor of anything that makes this school better,” says Harrison. “And if that means I have to go, then I’ll go.”
“I don’t like the terms reinvention or reconstitution, but I hope anything that happens will make this school a better place,” agrees social studies teacher Phil Hoge.
Reconstitution has taken an emotional toll on students, says English teacher Lorena Guillen. “A lot of students say, ‘I’m not coming back here next year.’ Seniors are very worried about what their senior year is going to look like. Their concerns are the same as ours.”
Many students have only recently learned of the plan, and don’t find it to be a fair — or acceptable — alternative.
“It wouldn’t help students if a lot of teachers leave,” says student Rand Vance. “Students know their teachers and have a relationship with their teachers. It would be weird to come back and have nobody I know. It’s not right.” “I don’t think teachers should have to do that,” agrees student Krystal Simpson. “Lots of teachers have been here a long time and do a very good job.”
