Talk Priority Schools

By Len Paolillo, NEA Executive Committee

As you can see in the video above, I’ve had an inspiring week. I began my “listening tour” at Dunbar High School in Dayton, joined by Dayton Education Association President David Romick and Demetrice Davis and Randy Flora from the Ohio Education Association. We first met with the principal at Dunbar, Marlayna Randolph who shared some background on the School Improvement Grant (SIG) application process, and the stress of deciphering both SIG and Race to the Top requirements on a very short timeline. read more »

Eleven schools in the city will use SIG funding for the Transformation model and a new performance pay plan. In most cases, Transformation requires replacement of the principal. But a WNYC online report says the city is hoping the requirement has some flexibility.

“Though the city hasn’t decided yet whether the schools will keep their principals, the schools will hire some new “master” and “turnaround” teachers who will be paid up to 30 percent more in exchange for taking on extra leadership responsibilities and helping other teachers. The Department of Education considers this a major step toward a pay-for-performance system for teachers. The union and the city agreed to a pilot program in which these two new titles will be filled by teachers who have demonstrated an ability to improve student test scores. Sternberg says they’ll make a huge difference.” http://diigo.com/0bjmh