The last two years in Virginia have seen calls for limiting continuing contract status for teachers (similar to tenure), changing dismissal policies to make it easier to fire teachers, and increases in accountability measures to make sure that schools and teachers are doing a good job.
Governor Bob McDonnell is a strong supporter of teacher and school accountability. Apparently not so much for leadership accountability.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is one of six regional accrediting organizations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. K-12 public schools and colleges in eleven states receive accreditation from SACS. They are a recognized and legitimate source of accountability for institutions.
This organization issued an official Warning to the University of Virginia for non-compliance with it's standards. A warning that if not addressed could lead to loss of accreditation. This warning had nothing to do with academic quality at the University. The warning applies solely with leadership of the institution, specifically, minority control of the board and decision-making. This warning is a direct result of the Board of Visitors actions last summer in dismissing President Teresa Sullivan.
How did the Governor hold the Rector of the UVA Board of Visitors accountable for leading the board down this improper path?
In response to the resignation and subsequent reinstatement of President Teresa A. Sullivan, SACSCOC required that the University document compliance with three principles – Principle 1.1 (Integrity), Core Requirement 2.2 (Governing Board), and Comprehensive Standard 3.7.5 (Faculty Role in Governance). After reviewing the response from the University’s Board of Visitors, the Board of Trustees of SACSCOC found the University non-compliant with Core Requirement 2.2 and Comprehensive Standard 3.7.5. In a recent press conference after the announcement, the president of SACSCOC cited concerns related to minority control of the board (Core Requirement 2.2) and policies surrounding faculty role in governance (Comprehensive Standard 3.7.5).
In an age where "grades" grow more irrelevant by the day, the TU thought it fitting to assign grades to some people and events that have transpired during the past school year.
Teaching Underground-
We increased traffic and managed to avoid violating our moral standards(we have none). Still we navigated the past 12 months with some effort and did our best to share what we thought about where we are and where we are going. Grade = B+
Virginia Weather-
Earthquakes, derechos, 100+ degrees, no snow days. Grade - You decide.
NASA-
This actually happened during Summer School last year but how on earth(how's that for a punn) could we have a space program without the shuttle? Since 1981 the Space Shuttle has been the face of manned American Space Flight. In an age where we are expected to inspire young scientists and explorers we will have to teach them more from movies than real life. Russia and China are now the only 2 government programs capable of manned missions that dock in space. China was 40 yrs late but is catching up fast. NASA might not actually deserve a low grade but the Feds and others who complain about the budget saying "we should solve our problems here on earth before going into space"... leave me uninspired. Grade = D
"Rhee" rhymes with "me"
Michelle Rhee-
You have learned much during the past year. You have worked hard. Sadly it seems all your efforts have done little save self promotion and distort actual events. We suspect you are a nice and decent person, but dislike your policies immensely. Grade = F-
Diane Ravitch-
TU was very impressed with her comments back in December and we would rank her among the smartest kids in the class. Keep up the good work. Grade = A+
UVa Board of Visitors-
We are grading them just because in the new world of accoutability..the people at the top have carte blanche for Strategic Dynamism and that ain't good. While re-instating President Teresa Sullivan calmed the storm, some things you can't take back. Dragas is back on the board, re-appointed by McDonnell in a move some found unexpected. Hope you all learned something from all this and won't mess up again. So we have to do our best to give the grade you earned on this group project. Grade =D
Albemarle County-
More is not always better and as high school students now flock to study halls and complain about workloads, their hand is forced by trying to remain competitive amongst their own classmates. Teachers share an increased burden as well, leaving some kids regrettably, behind. The longer the system stays in place, the less people are able to say about it because of fatigue. This creates the illusion that it's ok. Seven classes seemed plenty, just sayin'. Grade = Proficient(grades will soon be replaced a standards based system)
KC reacts to an SOL question.
Ken Cuccinelli-
Who sues a college professor for fraud? Never mind those people who steal money from the elderly with phone and E-mail scams or companies that pollute our streams. He's running for governor and steering hard right. If he gets the nod hope he builds bridges instead of burning them. Still you are the C.A. for our great state, obscene seal and all, props. Grade = No Credit
The US Supreme Court-
How can a corporation be a person? Agree or disagree, it was interesting to see them make a ruling that mattered on health care. Grade = NA(we know nothing about the law, just the Constitution)
Lebron James-
He stands still, the world spins around him. That "announcement" showed that some people do lose touch. Still he did win a title and is probably among the most athletic individuals, ever. Present company excluded. While in a perfect world, Cleveland would have won a title before him, he won. Let's end the hate and hope he plays as well and as hard at the Olympics since everyone else is hurt or backing out. Grade= B+
Sausage Boy-
Man that guy is a legend. He lost all that weight and when he puts that shirt with epaulettes on, look out. The world would be his oyster, if he ate those. He left the basement but still managed a solid year. (and rumor has it Turner's on a mini-juicing binge.)
Patricia Wright-
Not sure about what to assign here. The state continues to pour money towards Pearson and SOLs but also was recently granted a NCLB waiver doing away with complex and unrealistic AYP objectives . (Thanks secretary Duncan). Time will tell if the hoops that probably come with the waiver will help or hurt. Still 2014 was only 1 year away. Grade = Inc
Fermilab Tevatron Scientists
You maybe sort of found or proved that the Higgs Field or the Higgs Boson exists? Huh? This theoretical physics stuff is above our pay grade but makes more sense thanks to all things, Youtube(see video here).
Take that CERN and your Large Hadron Collider. We like particle accelerators as long as they don't make Black Holes. Grade = B(too smart is not always good)
Bashar al-Assad -
You should be expelled and the people of Syria will be better for it. Grade = Double F
City of Lynchburg
For the second time they discharged wastewater into the James River. This time 250,000 gallons an hour for about 18 hours. Sees to me that somebody somewhere could find a way to fix this. Either that or change your city logo to show the stench coming off the river Beyond the damage to the river itself I and other citizens of the state will again have to avoid a place we love dearly. Grade = F
Greece and the EU-
Not saying we understand economics, austerity measures or anything having to do with international fiscal policy or currency but it appears the same could be said for you folks over there in Europe. Grade = D
Bryce Harper
This talented rookie plays hard day in, day out and we admire that. The Washington Nationals are for now relevant, though some TU members remain Orioles fans and think the Senators will always be the only rightful DC team, not the Expos. He did break a bat in a tantrum and injure himself but he still went to bat, blood and all. Only retiring Chipper Jones stood between him and the MLB All Star Game. He dropped out of HS to chase his dream. What does he deserve? "That's a clown questions, bro." Grade = C or A depending on your loyalties.
Va General Assembly-
What the heck is going on down there in Richmond? What was once a proud bipartsan legislature has devolved into side by side party convention on our dime. Please stop the political infighting and focus on doing the job you were given when elected.
Grade = D
America
This is still the best country on Earth. Anyone who disagrees is a red bellied commie. Have a great July 4th. Grade = A++
Have some grades you want to assign? Add a comment.
The TU went on down to the UVa lawn today to watch things play out between the Board of Visitors, Teresa Sullivan and just about anybody else who has an opinion. When asked by a former student why we were there we didn't have a quality response. I went with "stickin it to the man" while Steve had something about the "power of people and decisions in a vacuum." While most of the happenings seemed scripted it was neat to watch things unfold and they did so in a remarkably rapid manner.
After what can only be described as a seriously ill conceived maneuver, Teresa Sullivan was reinstated by a unanimous vote. But not before just about everyone said they were sorry for something. No doubt most of the moves took place behind closed doors well in advance of today but that should not lessen the significance of what transpired. Sullivan will still face the sane daunting challenges we have all been made aware of but she will do so with a mandate of support from the community and likely a renewed faith in the University's ideals. We will share more on today's outcome and the events as a whole but for now we will let the pictures tell the story. If you wish to add your own caption, funny or otherwise, feel free to do so.
Almost there...
The whole world is watching...maybe not.
Nobody frames a protest sign like the TU.
Shade was key during the actual meeting.
When word spread of a decision people scrambled for a good spot.
The TU had cameras everywhere, even far away.
Can you find Waldo? How about Turner's hair?
Can we get a guest post? And why is the girl behind the notepad staring at us?
It has been a busy week. The UVa situation has continued to spin and one parallel that haunts the future of K-12 Education is how decision makers and those affected by those decisions often see the world through a different lens. The disconnect too often leads to frustration, confusion, even anger from both groups of people. Maybe the higher ed folks could benefit and learn from a look down into the same schools that provide them with most of their clientele. We are more often forced to bridge that gap and work together. As we all travel forward and reshape education of the future we must
remember that we are all actually here for the same thing.
What should and often does unite everyone in K-12 is the mission of serving all our children. This road usually gets bumpy and some people even get run over. But we are in it together and we forget this at our own peril. Our sometimes conflicting views should be a source of strength. One difference that does exist is that division wide employees usually work 12 months and teachers 10. Consequently decision makers might focus on ideas and developing long term improvement goals but doing so in a degree of isolation. While most teachers spend summer throttled down recovering from the past year allowing time to energize for the one that is approaching. Many teachers use this time to retool and better equip themselves as professionals. Some take classes, some plan units and I have spent the past the three days at a division-wide conference. Curriculum Assessment and Instruction(CAI) brings county teachers from all levels and schools together and tasks them make long term visions a reality.
The last time I attended CAI 4? years ago these conversations were cenetered around talk of SOLs and AYP in an effort to define quality instruction. SOL talk was noticeably absent this year and we were developing different things. The goal this summer was to create and polish Performance Assessents to measure a range of the county's "Lifelong Learning Standards. " These then provide additional and more balanced ways to see where kids are with skills and content and how they are progressing,
beyond objective quarterly assessments and the SOLs.
That was where our efforts were focused for three days and I had the privilege of spending time working closely with teachers and leaders from other schools, something that is rarely afforded during the busy school year. There we all were trying to turn theoretical ideas into tangible things. At times it was frustrating, confusing, difficult but also rewarding,worthwhile and even funny. We voiced differences and concerns and navigated in a positive direction. Some of the products no doubt will exceed expectations and other may fall short. But for 3 days there was a unity often lacking in the us vs them world.
Make a large donation, name a building.
This bring us back to the situation at UVa where us vs them might not go far enough in describing the polemical debate taking place over Teresa Sullivan's ouster. We touched on the money and online education trail that are potential aspects and this week also saw major UVa donor Paul Tudor Jones weigh in supporting her removal. Then the interim President stated he does not support the boards removal of Sullivan This was followed by a lengthy and long overdue public response by Board of Visitors rector Helen Dragas that included the Pseudo apology "we did the right thing, the wrong way. For this, I sincerely apologize." Bloggers were quick to link this to a PR firm now working with Dragas and the Board have been working with. Meanwhile no sign of stabilizing of the states portion of funding which is now around a meager 5-6%. So what is really at the core of any disagreements?
And now news that the Board will be meeting on Tuesday to potentially "reconsider" its decision and re-instate Sullivan, assuming she would accept. Like I said, busy week.
These are not so much symptoms of change or a failure of leadership. They are side effects of the tensions among the players that shape the world of education. What appears to be missing t UVa and often across our nation is common and collegial conversations about what is good for students and then moving forward. Those lower down can suffer from short sightedness from focus on the real work of education. Those higher up often farther removed and lack understanding of what things mean on the ground. In defense of teachers and those lower down any missteps there are far less disruptive and damaging.
The CAI conference closed with some reflection on and discussion of leadership, charges as we move start the year, door prizes(thanks!) and even some dancing. We now break for the summer before moving the challenge will be moving everyone that did not attend forward. I will steal a quote from the closing presentation at the conference which I think is fitting. In the meantime we'll keep an eye as things across town continue to unfold.
As we continue to digest and react to the happenings on the grounds at the University of Virgina the fallout continues. After the epic 12-hour Board of Visitors Meeting naming McIntyre Dean Carl Zenthaml as the Interim President, the Vice Rector Mark Kington and noted professor Bill Wulf have announced they are leaving. It is hard to imagine Helen Drages would be reappointed in 2 weeks by governor Bob McDonnell. The Daily Progress reported today that the potential fact that when Sullivan's became an obstacle to a plan to partner for online learning, her fate was sealed Hmmmm?
Forgive me for thinking this is the most plausible explanation for the whole debacle. You draw your own conclusions but there appears tat the very least to be a lot of people writing letters. Imagine though what the for profit giant Education Management Corporation would stand to gain by securing their place in developing UVa's online presence.
EMC's growth strategy is to tap into public and private education funds through UVa and like my colleague stated this all just fits too nicely. In short For Profit Education(K-12, Apollo Group, Bridgeport, et al.) needs markets and colleges(and public schools) are those markets.
Peter Kiernan, Darden School Board of Trustees Chair who resigned a short while into all of this, was closely tied in and coincidentally a former partner of Education Management Corporation(and Goldman Sachs), a company in which Goldman Sachs acquired a major stake. EDMC is “one of the largest providers of private post-secondary education in North America." Can't blame business people for doing business, except when they do it in the manner many now suspect.
Set aside the merits of Online Learning or the fact we have business
people not
educators weighing the merits of such programs, the basic problem
remains that if is there is a sliver a truth to any of this money and
profit has become a poor substitute for why we have schools and learning
institutions. When education becomes about money and private financial
outcomes we are destined for bad things. To bring it full circle we
cannot judge this as good or bad unless we shine a light upon all the
shadows. By contractual amendment Sullivan can only speak out so much on this and is prohibited from making disparaging comments. So someone else will have to help piece this all together. It does appear to be about business. And based on public response to what has transpired here, most people agree this is no way to do business. Helen Dragas and the Board of Visitors are framed as the villains but that might be overly simplistic. They might be, this exact lack of response was responsible for Jefferson's most famous work. He preferred to be remembered for the founding of UVa.
The TU does not necessarily think online learning or virtual education
is bad. Nor do we dislike money. I don;t even have a problem with most rich people. :) It is the for profit aspect that is troubling. These are public schools and institutions and part of the
public trust. They are
intended to serve the greater good and not the bottom line. Once we
hand them the keys will we be able to take them back? I can live with
selling naming rights to a rest stop but not sure I'm OK with sending my
kids to State University of Inc.
Make too much sense? Read what you want, believe what you will, I am not alone.
In the previous post I said that "as more information comes to light things smell worse." That appears to have been a bit of an understatement. In the past two week there have been quite a few developments. Locals are well aware of them since the developments are hard to escape.
Every media outlet is following the happenings and all this is the talk of the town. Far beyond the town actually. Arguably among the premier state higher learning institutions in the nation none of this is good news for the Orange and Blue. People care what happens and we are all anxious to find out exactly what will come of or from these events.
Beyond the "resignation" of President Teresa Sullivan, the tumult has claimed the Darden School Foundation’s Board of Trustees Chairman who also resigned. It has seen the Faculty Senate, Student Council and local legislators all weigh in with their disapproval and calls for more transparency. The Board of Visitors has for the most part remained relatively quiet but is meeting today with the purpose of selecting an interim leader amidst tremendous controversy.
What the future holds will probably prove even more unexpected than what led us here in the first place. As events unfold and more information comes to light, rest assured things are likely to smell even worse. And that means bad things for the prestige, respect and strength of UVa. I suppose it is fitting the capitals on the columns on the Rotunda that is undergoing restoration are shrouded in black. It has endured fire before when it burned in 1895 but the scars from this firestorm might be harder to heal.
