Readiness details

By Liam Day
June 12th, 2008

Governor Patrick’s administration leaked the first details of what the Readiness Project will be recommending to fix public education in Massachusetts. The recommendations include what are being termed “readiness schools”, schools that incorporate some elements of both charter and pilot schools and will, if the necessary legislation is passed, operate with both reduced union obligations and reduced district control.

Readiness schools will be created in one of four ways: 1) groups of teachers can band together to run one; 2) districts can convert existing public schools to “readiness” status with teacher consent; 3) school committees will be able to contract with external operators, such as charter schools; 4) in cases of chronic underperformance, the Board of Education will be able to step in and force the conversion.

There is much here to like, particularly the performance contracts under which readiness schools would operate (as opposed to the collective bargaining agreements that constitute the base of operation right now), as well as the empowerment of teachers to collaborate and operate schools themselves. This element of the plan provides a possible avenue for smart, young, ambitious teachers who grow frustrated by the collective bargaining requirements that seem to dictate almost everything they do. I suspect that this might be one aspect of the plan the unions go after precisely because it allows young teachers who have little interest in being union members some freedom. It’s clearly a threat to union authority.

Still, we already have schools that let smart, young teachers do all that. They’re called charter schools and they’ve proven incredibly effective at reducing the achievement gap, despite which the administration seems poised to use them as a negotiating chit. If a district buys into the readiness plan, the state will freeze the number of charter schools in that district. Ironically, charter schools are listed among the operators with whom districts can contract to operate readiness schools. Go figure.

Thus far, I can tentatively applaud the Governor for some of what we’ve seen of the Readiness Project. Ultimately, however, I’m just not willing to accept the trade. If the Governor’s readiness plan can make room for charters, though, then you can count me in.