Faust. Robert Johnson. Paganini. There’s a common theme linking those characters: they all made deals with the devil. They all wanted something so badly that they signed on the dotted line without worrying about the ramifications of their commitment. They believed their needs would be met if they just did one little thing, confident that they would find a loophole or work out something later.
Should the Lima City teachers have added their name to the list of characters that would sell all without regards to the details?
The Lima Education Association did refuse to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would have allowed the city school district to apply for a grant called “Race to the Top.” Potentially, the grant could have brought a million dollars to the district. If that is the headline, the teachers’ refusal to sign is inexplicable. In a financially-strapped school system, turning down significant grants seems unforgivable. However, the Devil is in the details. Past the headline, there is a lot of fine print.
The L.E.A leadership read reams of government explanation about the requirements for receiving the money. The L.E.A sent the information to its members, soliciting advice and engaging in discussion about the “Race to the Top.” This decision was not made quickly or lightly. The information is available online, but it is dense with educational jargon and slippery qualifications, especially the further you read.
Simply, the people who are part of “Race to the Top” agree to do whatever the Department of Education requires to get the money. At this point, there are very few specific requirements; the main one is that no state laws or union contracts get in the way of whatever the Department of Education says they should do. There are many “potential” and “possible” guidelines, with the assurance that it is an evolving process and will be more clearly explained after they have firm commitments, but at that point, the teachers and the district have signed that they will do whatever it takes. Although publicly it says schools may pull out, the teleconference the district had with the Ohio Department of Education specified that consultants would be sent here to help us comply—it would not be a simple “thanks but no thanks” break up.
In the last few years, the Lima City Schools has seen tremendous improvement in their state report cards. We are on the right path, and we have been involved in many state-sponsored grants and programs to help us get there. Without exception, a large part of that improvement has involved teacher-leadership, site-based management and letting everyone involved in the process have a voice—not just a voice to moan and complain, but to impact positive change.
“Race to the Top” completely demolishes that. It is set up as old-style top-down management, and treats the teachers—the bottom of the educational food chain—as the cause of all the system’s ills. We have made significant improvement by having teachers partner with the district and the state in fundamental ways. Signing away our progress for whatever is behind the closed door goes counter to everything we have learned and experienced the last six years.
And these objections exist without even raising the point that the money we would get is severely limited in what it can do. We would have more consultants and nebulously-defined positions. Many people still question what building coaches and literacy coaches do; imagine a whole new layer of positions like that, which is assured under “Race to the Top.” Teachers would have more trainings and meetings, which means more substitute teachers covering while teachers are fulfilling “Race to the Top” requirements. Based on comments from the public, the parents, and the teachers, the union believed that our district will be able to make more progress by continuing and perfecting the path we are currently on, not by signing the pact that would lead to total redefining of how we go about educating children.
The Lima City Schools is not perfect. There are teachers who need to improve, and there are situations that must change. That’s clear—and that’s true in any district. Even without “Race to the Top,” the administration has the ability to make substantive changes, and the union has a history of supporting initiatives that do radically challenge us to improve. But if the L.E.A had signed the MOU, they would have gotten money with strings attached. Big strings, that are unnamed and unknown right now—and they would have signed way their voice in the process, agreeing to do whatever was needed to meet the terms. Until the details are in writing, with clear expectations and guidelines, the L.E.A would have been right there with Faust, Robert Johnson, and Paganini in learning the hard way the devil is in the details.
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