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Member survey: Chancellor, DOE must do better
Jun 26, 2008 3:09 PM
UFT President Randi Weingarten announces the results of the Klein evaluation at a press conference at UFT headquarters on June 26.
New York City educators have told Chancellor Joel Klein in stark terms that he needs improvement. The evaluation comes in the formof confidential UFT surveys designed to hold the Chancellor and the Department of Education accountable for their performance just as they do for the teachers, students and schools they annually evaluate.
In the 15-question survey completed by 61,257 of the city’s 100,000 active educators, 85 percent said the chancellor needs improvement in providing the support and resources they need as educators; 85 percent disagreed that the chancellor’s emphasis on testing had improved education in their schools; 82 percent said the chancellor and the DOE are not focused on educating the whole child; and 76 percent said the chancellor ought to invite parents and community members to play a greater role in setting goals and making important decisions about education. [The complete survey results]
At a press conference at UFT headquarters on June 26 to announce the results of the survey, UFT President Randi Weingarten said, “Accountability has to be not only top to bottom, but bottom to top as well.”
She called on the chancellor to listen to the concerns that teachers expressed through the survey, to listen to their voices and to support their needs.
“Imagine what we could do in this school system if the chancellor actually listened to what they are saying,” she said.
The union took pains to take all the necessary steps to ensure the survey was fair, objective and confidential. Weingarten asked educators to be objective and candid in their responses. Modeled on the DOE’s own Learning Environment Survey, the union survey used the exact same questions wherever possible. The union had members use a Scantron form and a secret ballot envelope to ensure confidentiality, and had the results tallied by the American Arbitration Association, which tabulates union elections and contract ratification votes.
Asked by a reporter whether the survey was just a “tit for tat,” Weingarten said, “We believe, as do most well-functioning organizations, that accountability has to be 360 degrees and that one of the measures of a true leader is to listen to employees and address their concerns.”
When asked if the significantly higher scores on standardized state tests this year were accomplished in spite of Klein, Weingarten pointed out that the surveys indicate test scores do not tell the whole story.
“Let’s focus on educating the whole child, not simply on test results,” she said.
Weingarten called teachers “heroic and incredibly selfless” for putting the disrespect they feel aside “to really help kids.”
“The surveys speak for themselves,” she added, “and indicate the deep-seated concerns teachers feel about not being respected.”
In a letter to Klein about the survey results, Weingarten urged him to address the concerns that educators raised in the survey and incorporate an evaluation of the DOE as part of any future plans to track and improve accountability.
“We hope Chancellor Klein will accept these findings in the constructive spirit in which they are offered,” Weingarten said. “We sincerely believe that any plan to make accountability a cornerstone of school reform should encompass everyone involved in the education of children.”
Delegates at the June 18 DA voted unanimously to undertake the member survey on the heels of a special June 9 citywide chapter leader meeting at the Brooklyn Marriot where chapter leaders voted to recommend distribution of the surveys. The DA resolution called on the DOE “to integrate this 360 degree accountability survey in the [DOE’s own] School Progress Reports.”
In its ongoing effort to make evaluations of schools fairer and more transparent, the UFT developed an alternative school assessment based on four pillars of accountability: academic achievement; a safe, orderly learning environment; teamwork for student achievement; and DOE accountability. The surveys grew out of the failure of the DOE to include itself in its evaluation process.
