(From MEA Exposed, June 8, 2010)
Harrison Blackmond has worked on both sides of the education debate.
He spent time as a staff attorney at the Michigan Education Association’s East Lansing headquarters, and negotiated labor contracts as a Uniserv director in the field.
That was early in his career.
More recently, Blackmond (pictured at right) has concentrated on improving the state’s failing education system as head of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce’s education group. He’s sharpened his focus on urban school systems like Detroit, Pontiac, Saginaw, Flint and Muskegon Heights, traditionally Democratic areas that seem perpetually plagued by achievement gaps when compared to their suburban counterparts.
Early this year, Blackmond teamed with Joe Williams, executive director of the national Democrats for Education Reform, to launch a state branch of the organization, joining the ranks of education leaders in nine other states that are bucking the teachers unions that have dominated their party for decades.
Since February, the Michigan DFER has swelled to over 1,400 supporters, including several key state lawmakers. DFER is shaking up the Democratic Party in Michigan by questioning the MEA’s agenda and supporting Democratic leaders willing to do the same.
“I think that the MEA and the (Michigan Federation of Teachers) have put the interests of adults ahead of those of children,” Blackmond, the first state director of Michigan DFER, said in an interview with the Insider. “The union has resisted significant change in the way we provide education to our children.
“The only change they advocate for is more money and lower class size, and that benefits them,” Blackmond said.
Blackmond points to Michigan’s participation in the federal Race to the Top grant competition as evidence that reform is gaining traction in the Wolverine State.
Improvements to the way the state manages charter schools, somewhat better methods for closing failing schools, and other minor reforms in Michigan’s RTTT application were a step in the right direction, Blackmond said. But perhaps more importantly, it served to inspire Democrats who are willing to part with traditional party policies and put kids first.
“I think that one thing that happened that was good is you saw a lot of Democrats bucking the teachers union. I think we saw more Democrats supporting meaningful reform than since 1994, when legislation passed starting charter schools,” Blackmond said.
“Was it enough? No. I think the reviewers found we didn’t go far enough in addressing the problem of failing schools, and we didn’t go far enough in tying student achievement” to teacher evaluations, he said.
Accountability measures, and closely related tenure laws, are issues the state still needs to tackle, Blackmond said. Michigan DFER supports “the president’s efforts to tie student performance to teacher retention and wage increases,” he said.
“We have to take a good hard look at the process and how tenure has evolved over the years,” Blackmond said. “We have to make sure we have the best teachers and leaders possible.”
Those changes will require the state to address clauses in teachers’ contracts that base layoffs, pay and just about everything else on an outdated seniority system.
“That (contract) language has done a lot to limit the ability of administrators to manage the educators in the buildings. The administration should be managing the time of the teachers, not the contract,” Blackmond said. “The union’s model … which is based on the manufacturing model, just doesn’t work in education. Education is not like manufacturing automobiles.”
Reforming the system, and injecting more accountability into the classroom, should be an effort led by Democrats, Blackmond believes, because the majority of struggling urban school systems are in traditionally Democratic areas.
Regardless of party, the bottom line is simple, he said.
“We just need to figure out a way to do what is in the best interests of our children.”
That is certainly change we can believe in.
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While most conversations danced around the obvious conflicts between DFER and the MEA, the group seemed truly focused on changing the way the state educates students, regardless of what it means for the union.
“The reforms we did, even before Race to the Top was relevant, met with some resistance (from the MEA), but the one thing we are committed to is we are not going to leave kids behind in failing schools. That’s going to be the litmus test for us as to what we do or don’t do,” Dillon said in an interview with the Insider.
Dillon, who recently lost the MEA’s endorsement for governor to Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, said “they can make their choice as to who to support, but I am going to stick with what I think is right for the kids in Michigan.”
What will it take for Democrats to move forward with strong reforms in Lansing, considering that the MEA remains such a dominant force within the party?
“With term limits, it takes making certain we hand off the baton to our successors,” Dillon said. “We are right on the merits of the issues, but we have to let people know it’s OK to challenge the status quo and push for change.
“And if you don’t, then shame on you, because you are only hurting the kids in this state,” he said. “It’s incumbent upon us to make certain … the legislators that come behind us are informed and realize you can do big, bold stuff and get re-elected.”
It is the ultimate success of those efforts, and charter schools in particular, that will determine if future legislators and education leaders will stick their necks out politically and oppose the MEA, Thomas said, shortly after he was presented with Michigan DFER’s first annual award.
“In the end (of the RTTT process) there was a lot of Democrats that still weren’t willing to make the changes that we made … to apply” for RTTT, Thomas said. “So … clearly there is still antagonism between traditional Democratic ideas and new Democratic ideas on how to educate kids.”
“When we start eliminating the achievement gap that exists between the races, between urban kids and rural kids and suburban kids, and can get at just kids, I don’t believe there will be that antagonism,” he said. “We need to focus in on results, and those people who are getting results should be rewarded, and those people not getting results should find something else to do.”
Melton, chairman of the House education committee, echoed Thomas’ focus on results, particularly from Lansing legislators. In the end, it is Michigan voters that must hold them accountable, he said.
“Every single candidate that runs for the House, all 110, Republican or Democrat, their number one or number two issue is education. Yet when they get to Lansing they put that speech in a closet and they bring it out in two years when it is time for re-election, and they don’t have anything to say they have done for education except protect the status quo,” Melton said. “If education is important, let’s make sure we hold our legislators’ feet to the fire.”
Democrats, in particular, should focus on improving public education because the majority of failing schools are in Democratic districts, Melton said.
“Democrats are the ones that have been protecting the status quo for quite some time,” he said.
We agree, Tim. And you can bet DFER and EAG are watching your committee closely.
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ONE FINE EXAMPLE
We would be remiss if we didn’t tip our hats to Ron Farrell, the veteran superintendent in the small Montabella district.
Farrell recently gained national attention by offering to give up his entire $95,820 annual salary next year to help the school overcome its financial difficulties.
As it turns out, the school board turned down the offer and insisted that it will pay Farrell something. But the superintendent, entering his 40th year with the district, still expects to surrender somewhere between $80,000 and $85,000.
Farrell insists his gesture is not meant as an example for others. He told the Insider it’s simply a gift from one grateful person to his community and employer.
“My intentions are 180 degrees from that,” Farrell said. “I don’t think superintendents are overpaid at all. I hope I have a few superintendent friends left. They’re probably thinking, ‘What is he doing to us?'”
Despite Farrell’s protests, we at EAG believe he clearly set an important example for school personnel throughout the state. We’re not suggesting anyone give up as much as he will, but there are many smaller sacrifices that would help a great deal.
Many administrators and teachers have already offered or accepted concessions, but more are needed.
More than anything, we hope national and state officials of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers take serious note of Farrell’s actions.
If they would simply encourage their local unions to accept a one-year pay freeze, with no step increases, it would do a lot of schools a great deal of good. Thousands of teacher layoffs, as well as deep cuts in student programs, could be avoided.
We know the unions fear that if they make any concessions, they will never get back to the same level of salary and benefits. We believe the opposite would be the case. If more local unions gave up something for the greater good, their communities would probably remember their gesture and reward them later.
On the flip side, the unions’ current stubbornness when it comes to concessions will only hurt their long-term image with school boards and the public.
The time has come for the unions to be part of the solution. And they need to hurry, before more ugly cuts have to take place.
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