“When you’re out to get the honey you don’t go killing all the bees”
― Joe Strummer

“Religion is like baseball,” said Steve. “Great game, bad owners.”
― Jim Bouton, Ball Four

When I was a kid, my parents often lectured me about the company I kept. Hang out with the right kids and success was sure to follow. Hang out in the wrong crowd and trouble and heartbreak were equally likely to be the outcome. Chose your friends carefully was their constant warning.

Growing up, I didn’t put a lot of stock in those warnings. What did they know after all? And who were they to be judging people? I knew my friends and sometimes maybe they colored outside the lines, but they were all right and just because they colored outside the lines didn’t mean I did, right?

Life has a funny way of teaching you the lessons that you are the most resistant to. I’ve had to learn the hard way that the company you keep certainly affects the trajectory of life. Hang out with honest hardworking people and you tend to attract better fortunes than if you hang with lazy people looking to game the system. Argue all you like, but it’s pretty much a fact – like attracts like.

A recent example is the early terminated tenure of MNPS Director of Schools Shawn Joseph. It didn’t take a very deep dive into his associates to discover examples of tax fraud, mishandling of city contracts, and misuse of school property. When brought to light, people played it down. Said it didn’t mean anything. In the end, it was born out that it did mean something as Joseph’s run was ended by the mishandling of purchasing contracts and the mishandling of reports of sexual harassment.

Did we learn anything from Joseph’s administration? Cast an eye towards the current leadership at the TNDOE and I think you’ll find that jury is still out.

Start at the top with Penny Schwinn. Schwinn is a graduate of the Broad Academy and a member of the Chiefs for Change. Two organizations that have never kept their agendas quiet. Their history is riddled with charges of mismanagement and unethical behavior.

Equally concerning should be Schwinn’s work history – seven major education roles in four states in the past 10 years: principal, superintendent, school board member, deputy commissioner and now commissioner. Not exactly a record that builds belief in a commitment to long term sustainable plans and policies. In fact, it indicates a commitment to just the opposite – short term plans that produce big noise to attract future employment.

In the past, Schwinn herself has played fast and loose with contracts. In Texas, there was accusations of steering a large contract to a preferred company. That contract was terminated before execution, cleared of inappropriateness and the department member who filed the complaint was quickly terminated. Taken on its own, nothing to see here, just a blip in the road for an ambitious and fast-rising executive. But is it indicative of more in light of current events?

Last April, Schwinn hired a new Human Capital director, David Donaldson. Donaldson, like Schwinn, has roots in TFA and has worked 8 assignments since 2008. One of the most notable being Associate Chancellor for Michigan’s Education Authority. That’s right, Michigans own ASD and just like Tennessee’s ASD it was a failure. The district was shuttered in 2017.

Donaldson next went to work in Puerto Rico for new superintendent Julie Keleher. Keleher is also listed as the second reference behind Broad Academy and vice-president of ETS’s Student and Teacher Assessments Lillian Lowery. In her work leading the departments of education for Maryland and Delaware, Lowery was a member of the PARCC and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium while the testing programs were being developed. Hmm…

Back to Keleher, Donaldson joined the TNDOE after Keleher resigned in April of 2019 after a 2-year run. In July Keleher was busted by the Feds on charges of steering federal money to unqualified, politically connected contractors. This shouldn’t have surprised anyone, as throughout her tenure she courted controversy.

The U.S. Department of Education backed her attempts to expand educational options. In a 2018 speech, Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary of Education Frank Brogan said Puerto Rico would be a “beacon” of school choice and a “laboratory” for people to observe.

Not everyone agreed. “The proposal in Puerto Rico to transition to charter schools and the use of private school vouchers is one that mirrors what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, in March 2018 remarks, about three weeks before a bill creating charters and vouchers was signed into law by Governor Rosselló.

Three weeks ago, Keleher was indicted again. This time for her involvement in a land deal using school property. She continues to maintain her innocence and in December asked for a change in venue for her trial due to the polarized atmosphere. She indeed may be innocent, but I’m not sure I would list her as a primary reference on my resume.

Ashleigh McFadden is your Director of Performance Management for the TNDOE. She was hired in June. She’s only had 5 jobs since 2008. An interesting note, an early job was a paralegal for the NRA. She lasted 3 years there.

Crystal Kinser came on board in October as the Deputy Chief of Staff. Her employment history is much more stable having spent 8 years employed by TFA.

Robert Lundin serves as an assistant commissioner since October. He joins the team from the Houston Independent School District but he got his start…wait for it… with TFA.

The Chief of Staff is Rebecca Shah. Shah came with Schwinn from Texas where she served as the Director of Academics Strategy and Performance.

Katie Houghtlin came over from Texas as well in June. She’s now Chief of Whole Child Supports. Since 2007, she’s held 7 jobs starting with TFA.

Then let’s not forget Dr. Lisa Coons, the Chief of Standards and Materials. She’s held 7 jobs since 2013. While at MNPS she helped TNTP secure numerous contracts in regard to the professional development of teachers. She was brought in by Schwinn to take over leadership on the ELA adoption process after Ms. Schwinn was disappointed in who was making the cut and who wasn’t. We all know how that process has unfolded. (Lawsuit)

It’s important to note that these career nomads have replaced a number of long term TNDOE employees. Employees that served under several state superintendents. Something that concerns Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, who worries about the institutional knowledge in the agency. “We do have concerns because of the amount of turnover, many from the institutional knowledge that we depend on to get answers,” White, the chairman of the House Education Committee, told WPLN News back in December.

While not exactly an official part of the TNDOE, SCORE has long enjoyed a reputation of being a shadow department of education. Since being founded in 2009 by Senator Bill Frist, MD, former US Senate Majority Leader they have been a heavy influencer on Tennessee education policy.

Here’s a fun little side story for you. Retired MNPS board member Will Pinkston was deeply involved in the founding of SCORE. Early on he ran the advocacy arm of the organization until they kicked him to the curb. While this led to the formation of his own company, it’s something he is still sore about to date.

How many of you knew that SCORE was the beneficiary of Bill and Melinda Gates’ generosity? Back in April of 2018, they were awarded nearly 3 million dollars over 3 years by the charitable organization. An organization that has been proven wrong in virtually every initiative they’ve ever undertaken. Being wrong has never been a concern of theirs though.

Back in June, Gates started himself a new lobbying outfit. Per researcher Laura Chapman,

This will be 501(c)(4) initiative led by the current director of the Gates Foundation, Rob Nabors, who was White House director of legislative affairs for President Obama. According to Nabors, “the group” hopes to avoid giving to political groups, but will focus “almost exclusively on legislative outcomes and the lobbying effort.” According to Nabors, they hope to “accelerate outcomes” without getting too “wrapped up into broader political types of issues.” “They are interested in learning what works and what doesn’t work.” Nabors said the lobby shop will be using data the Gates foundation has collected from programs it has funded.

Hmmm…who’s good at lobbying? SCORE has been extremely vocal in its support of TNDOE Superintendent Penny Schwinn’s recently announced initiatives. Initiatives that align with the agenda of the Gates Foundation and others in the so-called reform movement.

I have to say that I do admire the cajones of SCORE in their sounding of the alarm over Tennessee’s Literacy. They present the supposed crisis as being independent of any actions they’ve taken over the past decade. A decade in which they’ve wielded considerable influence.

Some of you may be wondering what the point of all of this is? It may be nothing, but the information here should be considered in evaluating the legislation and policy being pushed by the TNDOE. If nothing else it shows a shared history of subverting the democratic process and of watching out for private interests over the public interest. As such, their actions warrant close scrutiny going forth.

Each of us has to ask ourselves, are these the best people to associate with to get the best results or can we find better friends? I know my answer, what will yours be?

RESPONSE TO A READER

A comment from a reader last week accused me of overreacting to proposed new “science of reading” curriculum and urged me to focus more on the detrimental role standardized testing plays in education policy. Unfortunately, this a “chicken or an egg” situation.

There is no doubt that educational outcomes have suffered over the last decade due to an over-reliance on standardized testing. But this over-reliance is fueled by the adoption of new standards, new teacher accountability policies, and new curriculum. All which lead to even more testing.

Currently, in the “science of reading” adoption legislation, there is a call for more assessments for kids k-2. You can’t tell how transformational the new approach is if you don’t constantly measure it, right?

So the question comes do you fight against overtesting by denying the adoption of new initiatives to measure or do you fight against it by removing the practice of testing itself. I don’t know, but I do know that we need to back off the amount of testing we currently engage in.

I find it very troubling that we continue to craft policy based on test results while never evaluating the tool itself. We depend upon private institutions to calibrate our measurement tool in secret and then take their word that it’s accurately measuring what we are asking it to measure. We never question whether failings are a symptom of performance or failure of the tool itself. That needs to change.

DISCIPLINE

Under Dr. Joseph MNPS modified its discipline policy. The new policy introduced more restorative practices and limited the number of students out of school suspensions. Unfortunately, resources were not provided to support the change. The results have been disastrous and student behavior has been repeatedly cited as a contributor to an increased rate of teacher attrition.

Defenders of the policy have claimed that the policy doesn’t prevent the suspension of students for just cause. However, behind the scenes teachers that have been victims of poor student behavior have been repeatedly counseled to temper their demands of punishment. As a result student behavior has worsened with both teachers and students voicing concerns around safety.

In an attempt to quell criticism and assuage fears, this morning Dr. Battle sent out a district-wide communication that included her thoughts on the district’s discipline issues. Unfortunately, those thoughts come off as another attempt to continually straddle the fence. In one sentence she voices her trust in teachers’ judgment while giving cover for students’ misbehavior in the next.

Equally troubling is that Battle attributes the current perception as being a new one. Far from it, teachers have been screaming about the discipline policy and the lack of support it affords for 2 years. As a former community superintendent, this shouldn’t be news to her. Yet apparently it is and change is still being promised…soon.

In 6 years of covering MNPS, I have never seen as many schools in open rebellion against their principals as I’ve seen this year. It’s deeply concerning and I attribute it to a lack of change despite years of voiced concerns. It seems we’ve reached a tipping point.

A tipping point that places principals in a particularly precarious position. Teachers don’t always understand the role of the central office in principal performance and so they take it out on who they know. Sometimes deservedly, but sometimes not so much.

I certainly don’t fault teachers for their anger. They’ve been patient way too long with way to little reward. It’s long past time for the discipline policy to be revamped. The district needs a policy that protects the safety of teachers and students and focuses on getting students needed services as opposed to where they get those services. A policy that protects the rights of those who follow the rules, as well as those who struggle with authority, is long overdue.

The longer the administration tries to give the impression of prudence by straddling the fence, the worse things are going to get. This is an area, much like with the circumstances around Dr. Majors, that call for decisive action. Action that will set expectations for Battle’s leadership.

POLL RESULTS

Time now to look at the results from the weekend poll.

First question asked for your opinion on Metro Nashville suing the state over voucher legislation. Not surprisingly, this was a popular move. Sixty-five percent of you voiced strong approval, while 3% thought it a foolish move. Here are the write-in votes,

Question 2 asked how convinced you were that MNPS teachers would actually see the 4% raise Governor Lee included in his proposed budget. Altogether, over 80% of you voiced skepticism. None of you expressed any confidence in the governor. That should say something. Here are the write-ins,

The last question asked you to name your trusted news source. I must admit surprised by this one, as I thought answers would be more evenly divided between the local TV news. Not the case. Channel 5 ran away with this one. 61% of you named them your main source. The second was Channel 4 with 12%. The Tennessean was named by only 1 person. That’s concerning. Here are the write-ins.

That’s a wrap. Check out the Dad Gone Wild Facebook page, where we try to accentuate the positive.

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it on to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Any wisdom or criticism you’d like to share is always welcome.

Categories: Education