We're Taking Over

Yesterday, the Los Angeles School board voted (6-1) to open the district schools (and some proposed schools) to charter schools.

This is great for charter schools (like mine) and bad for unions. The union (UTLA) doesn't get money from the teachers at charter schools, but schools like Green Dot get the option of bidding for these new and current schools. These will not be (as some comments on the Times page suggest) private schools, but public schools with competition.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lausd-schools26-2009aug26,0,4203620.story

Green Day

I had my first day at Green Dot this week. "New teacher orientation" was on Wednesday. According to another teacher, there were at least 30 Teach for America teachers present. I could tell who they were, they actually had a little sparkle in their eye. Although I'm a bit more pragmatic (studying for my GRE), I'm thrilled to work with them. The smiley new teacher next to me mentioned that she went to school on the east coast. When asked which school, she modestly replied, "Harvard." Of the 50 or so teachers, only 3 wore reading glasses.

This is a huge improvement from my last school where most of the teachers graduated from schools that end in .com and had calendars marking down the days to their retirement. Young teachers from schools with low admission rates are not inherently better teachers, but they can't be worse.

Another improvement at Green Dot schools is the absence of tenure. Most teachers at my old school rested on their laurels knowing that they couldn't be fired, even if they thought the definition of teaching was to physically be in a classroom.

I'm not teacher of the year, but I am excited to be a part of this innovative program.