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Uploaded: Friday, March 1, 2013, 11:42 AM
Updated: Sunday, March 3, 2013, 11:47 PM
Buchanan pushes for education reform
Proposes changes to state education code
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by Glenn Wohltmann
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 | Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo) is proposing laws that could measure teacher performance, streamline discipline and dismissal procedures for teachers and require reporting on suspected child abuse by school personnel.
Buchanan, now chair of the State Assembly's Education Committee with a district that includes San Ramon, is proposing a package of three bills that would change the state education code.
In the proposed legislation, Buchanan said teacher performance should be measured -- but not by test scores alone. Buchanan told a group of educators that teacher performance be judged by "multiple measures," including formal and informal evaluations as well as student performance.
"If you're a teacher, you give a test not only for a grade, but to see what students have learned," she told the group last week.
Buchanan said teachers need time to work with other teachers, too.
The assemblywoman caught flack last year when she voted against a bill that could have let school districts fire teachers who commit sexual or drug-related acts with children.
Buchanan has defended herself regarding her vote; she explained that the bill was flawed, and said district already have ways of ousting an employee involved in physical, sexual or drug-related child abuse.
Regarding discipline and dismissal procedures, Buchanan told the group, "it just takes too long and costs too much money."
"The focus of our bill is going to be cleaning up the part of the statute that needs cleaning," she said. "You want to preserve the intent, but you want to update it."
Buchanan said that includes reducing the appeals process from a year and a half to six to seven months.
Regarding child abuse cases, she pointed to the Miramonte and Moraga school districts. In Miramonte, third grade teacher Mark Berndt was charged with committing lewd acts on 23 boys and girls, ages 6 to 10, between 2005 and 2010, despite complaints that date to two decades ago. No complaint was filed by that school's principal.
The Moraga school district is being sued by former student Kristen Cunnane, who claims two middle school teachers sexually abused her in the 1990s. Again, Buchanan said, the principal filed no complaint.
Buchanan said districts will be required to have a policy regarding mandated reporting, make sure all personnel are aware of the requirement, and will have to review the policy every year.
It's the right thing to do," said Bill Faraghan, assistant superintendent of human resources. "It's hard to understand that it hasn't been required."
Buchanan also discussed Gov. Brown's proposal to give poorer school districts more money.
"It's hard to go from a convoluted formula to a straightforward one on one sweep. The problem is that every one of the districts (in California) has been cut by 21 to 23 percent," she said. "It's going to be hard to put into place next year … whatever we do, it's going to change education for the future."
Buchanan has also co-authored legislation that would require districts to inform voters if they want to use an interest-only bond. Those bonds, known as capital appreciation bonds, became a hot-button issue recently when it was discovered that a $105 million CAP issued in Poway will cost the district nearly $1 billion to repay.
A day after her meeting with school officials, Buchanan and state controller John Chiang met with officials from the Contra Costa Council to talk about the state budget.
"Today we have slow growth but a better economy," Chiang told the group.
Buchanan noted that young people now have more student loan debt than credit card debt.
"My concern is, 'What is the engine of growth?' My belief is it's education," she said. "If we don't have a more educated workforce, we're going to be in real trouble."
Buchanan noted that future manufacturing may move back to the U.S., and that manufacturing will require more educated employees to operate sophisticated equipment.
Chiang said Proposition 30, the voter-approved tax increase, with money targeted for schools, will stabilize things, but only for the next seven years.
"Then, we're going to lose $6 billion dollars," he said, adding that could mean California becoming insolvent. Chiang added that California had dropped from 47 to 49th in per-pupil spending.
In terms of revenue, Buchanan said California "seems to be a state that rides a bubble, each bubble as it comes along." She pointed to the savings and loan bubble, the dot-com bubble and the real estate bubble as examples.
The good times, she said, meant the state could offer better pensions to workers, which led to the problem with CalPERS,the California Public Employees' Retirement System, and CalSTRS, the California State Teachers' Retirement System.
While she's pushing for pension reform, she said court have ruled that the state can't renege on promises made to employees.
"We need to come up with a plan that will raise these funds up over time," she said.Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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| Comments
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Posted by Rick Pshaw, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Mar 2, 2013 at 8:03 am The problem with Joan's thoughts and with some California educators is there ALREADY ARE REPORTING REQUIREMENT ON THE BOOKS. The California Child Abuse Reporting Law is found in Penal Code Sections 11165-11174.3. See also Web Link
For Mr. Faraghan to say "It's hard to understand that it hasn't been required," is astonishing. It's no wonder that abuses occur with this degree of ignorance on the part of some.
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Posted by Kimberley Gilles, a member of the Monte Vista High School community, on Mar 3, 2013 at 3:22 pm I am always nervous about using test scores. There are so many holes. What about teachers who teach the arts? computer science? robotics? P.E.? Are they off the testing "hook" -- even though their disciplines are VERY important? Which tests will you use -- SAT? ACT? STAR? The new "Smarter Balance" test ... that has NEVER been nationally calibrated? What about the cheating scandals that have gripped students ... and let's be honest ... teachers? Are there other more authentic ways to measure that students are indeed learning? Are there ways to account for -- and ameliorate -- the main factor in determining student performance -- specifically, poverty?
As a veteran teacher of 27 wonderful years in the classroom, I am committed to ensuring the quality of instruction all students receive at every grade level in every school. I am decidedly not convinced that testing is the most effective measure of high quality education. Testing may be convenient, but it is inadequate -- woefully inadequate.
And, while I'm at it, has anyone been monitoring how profitable test publishers, test tutors, and test prep centers have become? Does it occur to anyone beside me that an entire industry has sprung up ... on the backs of our children?
At the high school level, we are witnessing what one administrator admitted to me is an "epidemic" of anxiety and depression among adolescents. One source? The relentless measurement of students' academic trajectories. Young people are being so continually prepared for tests that they can barely learn or think! That cannot be what our school improvement movement intended. (Just ask Diane Ravitch, one of th founders of the movement who has since recanted!)
Yes, I am a teacher. No, I am not an apologist for poor teaching. I am asking for more nuanced, more imaginative, and more humane ways to account for our students' progress or lack of progress. We may have to give up a modicum of efficiency in favor of the truth ... in all its messy complexity.
Our students and, yes, our teachers deserve nothing less.
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Posted by lori, a member of the Monte Vista High School community, on Mar 4, 2013 at 8:57 am Thank you Ms Giles for your comments. School is a business and getting into college is a business. These kids want to be kids as long as possible and should be. They do not need the added stress that is starting in elementary school regarding their futures.
Has anyone asked the students who they think are good teachers? No, and they will not due to the union. It is silly not to ask students what they think. Some will give thoughtful, caring replies, others will be immature, but an overall picture will be revealed.
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Posted by Christa, a resident of the Walnut Creek neighborhood, on Mar 4, 2013 at 10:16 am In most districts, especially Redwood City across the bay, it's all politics. A teacher who admitted to teaching exact problems on the state math test was merely reassigned to a better school. Another was hunted for getting a kid to admit he lied about her to others including his whacked parents. My daughter had her---best experience ever.
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Posted by Conservator, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Mar 4, 2013 at 10:35 am There is a central point made in the prior two opinions that I believe bears out the most angst and emotion in any discussion on this topic. The cottage now 'corporatized' industry that has evolved to support the post-secondary educational system is not by any rational measure the source of our frustrations. Point of fact as opposed to opinion, most reasonable individuals would accept that this industry of testing, counseling and preparing 'all' students for university life was created by US (i.e. parents). Yes, myself, yourself and virtually any parent that has raised a child over the last 20 to 25 years. We want all of our children to be IVY-ready regardless of whether they attend a state school or not.
Let us recall, that just two generations back (i.e. prior to the GI Bill rightfully afforded to returning GIs from WWII - our fathers, for some grandfathers), the notion of a university level education was something only for the privileged and scholarly families particularly in the Northeast. Yes, this is a generalization. However, it is an easily researched fact from reputable sources that the proportion of college degrees (e.g. BA, BS, 4-year) earned by lower to upper middle class families has grown exponentially since the Eisenhower era. During the Vietnam era, an academic deferment for many of my peers was yet an added motivation to pursue further post-secondary education then their fathers and so forth.
At that time, a young person did not need to chart their life's path by the time they had reached adolescence. One could 'mature' in their 20s to set themselves onto a proper path to contribute to society and themselves by their 30s. If a young man needed some discipline in life, conscription was always a decent option. For others, a trade with modest skills taught in 'shop class' was another good option. Today, it's either get into a great school or simply suffer with rest of the unwashed masses. For my perspective, this is untenable and unsustainable for generations to come after us.
As long as we continue as we have over the last couple of decades to overwhelmingly value the child that attains a professional position over the child that seeks a more hands-on skill or trade, we will just continue to add to the stress and anxiety that we profess to hate see laid upon our children.
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Posted by Carolyn, a resident of the Blackhawk neighborhood, on Mar 11, 2013 at 1:55 pm As a parent of one of Kimberley Gilles' past students, I put her in the top 1% of teachers my son has had. She knows what she is talking about and I wish more teachers would be concerned about our students actually learning. My daughter is just about to start Monte Vista and I would love to hand pick her teachers to be sure she will actually learn something rather than just have the attendance box checked that she was there. It is a sad, but very true statment for some of the teachers at that school.
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