The local story that has grown out of the Bruce Randolph School's quest for autonomy from Denver's red tape and union work rules reached the op-ed pages of the New York Times yesterday. Andrew Rotherham, a center-left Democrat reformer who co-runs Education Sector and famously blogs as Eduwonk, writes in the column:While laws like No Child Left Behind take the rhetorical punches for being a straitjacket on schools, it is actually union contracts that have the greatest effect over what teachers can and cannot do. These contracts can cover everything from big-ticket items like pay and health care coverage to the amount of time that teachers can spend on various activities. Reformers have long argued that this is an impediment to effective … [Read more...]
The School Autonomy Roadblock outside Bruce Randolph
My first op-ed for the Boulder-based Colorado Daily appears in today's edition. The topic is the school autonomy movement growing out of events at Bruce Randolph School. I've pasted the entire op-ed below, for fear that the link provided soon will be broken: … [Read more...]
A Crack Opens in the Education Reform Floodgates
With the Denver Public Schools board's unanimous approval last night of the Bruce Randolph School's request for autonomy from district red tape and union work rules, we may see a crack opening in the floodgates of education reform. Word is that a dozen other DPS schools are ready to follow in Randolph's footsteps. But everyone is awaiting the union's official response:The autonomy agreement must still be approved by the 22-member governing board of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, expected to vote Jan. 8. DCTA President Kim Ursetta did not mention the proposal in brief remarks to the board. She has repeatedly said the union has some questions about the plan and is working with Bruce Randolph staff to get answers."Working with … [Read more...]
Not-so-shocking News: Union Lawyers Caught Lying
Update: More on this story in today's Rocky Mountain News ... Here's the "dog bites man" story of the day: lawyers for the Colorado Education Association are caught telling a series of lies to stop teachers and leaders at Denver's Bruce Randolph School from obtaining autonomy from restrictive district red tape and union-negotiated work rules. Still, unsurprising as the news may be, it can be thoroughly instructive to read the actual memos and see just how far the union's legal team will go to mislead its own members. … [Read more...]