By FITSNews || Our love for Dutch Fork (S.C.) high school teacher Kelly Payne apparently does know some bounds …
Mere days after kicking off her campaign with the unveiling of an impressive funding and accountability reform platform, Payne’s campaign put out a press release arguing that South Carolina should continue funding a $6 million a year (and growing) bonus program for teachers who are certified by the National Board.
It shouldn’t.
South Carolina – which pays its public school teachers very well to begin with – should tie any teacher raises to student performance, not teachers passing some exam that has nothing to do with their success in the classroom.
As much as we admire her (and may very well end up endorsing her candidacy), Payne is dead wrong on this issue.
For example, her release (below) touts the fact that South Carolina ranks 3rd in the nation in with nearly 7,300 National Board-certified teachers.
What has that gotten us? A “whole lotta nada.”
South Carolina’s overall graduation rate remains among the worst in the nation – which is consistent with our state’s declining SAT and ACT scores. South Carolina’s rural graduation rate also ranks dead last in the country.
As if these atrocious numbers weren’t bad enough, educrats are currently attempting to dumb down our standards in an effort to fool parents into thinking more children are passing.
All this in spite of the fact that taxpayers are pouring a record $8.4 billion into the public education system this year.
Payne surprised and impressed us last week by rolling out a highly-substantive, remarkably-specific and fiscally-responsible education agenda that was full of great ideas to turn around our worst-in-the-nation system.
This, however, isn’t one of those great ideas.
Teacher raises should be tied to one thing and one thing only – the academic progress of their students.
WEB EXTRA
By beentook2 January 26, 2010 at 11:03 am
Hey, made couple of errors in first submission. Here is corrected copy.
Didn’t take long for Dragon Lady to show her true colors. Money, money, money and more money. Of course she works for Stalag 5 School Board which ain’t never pulled their collective heads out of the taxpayer’s feed trough.
Was told by reliable source that Stalag 5 School Board had installed curb side elevators at District Office. Board members and District Staff were having trouble stepping up from the parking lot elevation to the elevation of the District Office Building.
Was also invited to stop by and see their new door knockers. Apparently they had successfully castrated two of their biggest critics and had their accouterments bronzed and turned into door knockers.
By ohmy January 26, 2010 at 11:42 am
The first misstep… With many more from Payne to come, I’m sure
By RedDeliciousMac January 26, 2010 at 11:46 am
Having seen the kinds of teachers that are being put into the system (although there are some good ones, but they are few and far between) we need to get rid of looking at national board certification and other types of certification, that rewards only effort, we need to look at getting quality teachers. How do we get better recruits, you ask? Make the process of certification more rigorous. Teacher education needs to change from a curriculum of filling out worksheets to a more scholarly approach, where they can actually demonstrate that they have an understanding of what they’re going to be teaching; not just a bunch of people who can spit out facts.
By wildman January 26, 2010 at 11:52 am
How can a teacher put out a press release with so many grammatical errors?
By Bob January 26, 2010 at 11:53 am
I agree with you on this one. I think a lot of Kelly as far as I know but the National Board certification has never produced any results. It is a dog and pony show that was created by Jim Hunt (D, NC) and a group back in the 90s. The program is expensive and not wise use of the taxpayer’s money. It is a Teacher Union program and would gain some votes but is not fiscally responsible.
Bob
(26 years teaching in public school classrooms)
By countryboy January 26, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Have to totally disagree with FITS on this one. National Board Certification essentially means the teacher could teach anywhere. Those NB certified teachers I am familiar with certainly are the best of the best in their schools and county. So they should be paid more. I don’t have a problem with tougher teacher standards either. The NB certified teachers would likely have no problem meeting and exceeding those standards. In other words, they would still be the best of the best. Too much emphasis is placed on teacher accountability in my opinion and not enough on parental accountability and early childhood education. Too many kids in this state get virtually no education until they have to go to school. Then we blame the teachers for kids that probably never will catch up with the kids who have been exposed to education by parents and others. Kelly’s statement makes me support her more, not less.
By Genomic Repairman January 26, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Wow way for her to pander to the teachers. Any Mongoloid with a teaching degree can get that certification if they get off their ass and study for the test. Does possessing the certification definitely make them a better teacher? Fuck no. I know teachers that are 100% mouthbreathers and couldn’t teach a fucking rock to sit still on the ground. Results based pay increases are the optimal way to run the shitty teachers out of schools and reward the good ones that bust ass for altruistic purposes.
By Jeffy01 January 26, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Shock! Im sure no one thought she was a made up candidate. This will be an ongoing roller coaster for Ms Rookie.
By baker January 26, 2010 at 1:23 pm
From what I understand, the National Board Certification is NOT easy to achieve — and those teachers who do get the certification really are very good at what they do.
However, I agree that there are likely better ways to approach incentive pay.
My guess is that there are excellent teachers who don’t have the time to go for the certification — maybe they’re coaching or running a student club/activity or raising their own kids during off hours. So, I tend to agree with Will here.
By UShouldKnowBetter January 26, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Beautiful. Really, it is. Please call Kelly Payne, 803.767.0875, and ask her if she plans to enroll her consultant, Larry Marchant 803.606.9102, in her highly touted safe driving course after Larry’s DUI back over Christmas ’09.
It seems strange someone who talks about her safe driving program as much as Kelly Payne does allows pond scum Marchant to drink, drive, get busted for DUI, and still advise her campaign. Beautiful.
By UShouldKnowBetter January 26, 2010 at 2:26 pm
by the way, is Kelly Payne a NBCT? If she is, wouldn’t that explain a lot?
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By freddie guy January 26, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Will:
Please do not get sucked in by what her mouth says, look at her tits!
For God’s sake man, what are you doing?
Fred
By Andrew January 26, 2010 at 2:36 pm
As far as I know, Brent Nelsen is the only Superintendent candidate who is tying teacher pay to teacher performance.
http://www.brentnelsen.com/issues/
By countryboy January 26, 2010 at 2:53 pm
To those who think National Board Certification (NBC) is so easy to achieve answer this. The number of NBC teachers in the state is roughly 14% of the total number of SC public school teachers. I think the stipend is something like $7,500 a year for 10 years or $75,000. If it is so easy, why are 86% of the teachers in the state NOT National Board Certified? Any teacher would be a fool to pass up certification and the stipend, if it was so easy to get. The fact is, becoming NBC is not easy. I don’t know the statistic but I do know many do not pass on the first try. I also know it takes a helluva lot of work. I hope some NBC teacher will provide us with an estimate of the hours of study/work required to pass (just the first attempt, not counting repeat attempts). I would guess it takes hundreds of hours, but I’m just guessing.
By crystal January 26, 2010 at 3:01 pm
I am so tired of people blaming everything on teachers. Everything that goes wrong in the education world is not a teacher’s fault. You have so much that makes up a child’s academic success. If you are not a teacher then you do not understand. Yeah you have some educators that are not successful but that is not all teachers. Maybe you should try teaching a class of 26 in a low poverty school where you have very little administrative or parental support. In this day and age teachers are expected to be educators, provide parental support, and some cases be the only positive influence in these student’s lives. It is so disgusting how people have blasted the profession of teaching on here. Oh and for the person who said it is not a rigorous process to become a teacher. You obviously don’t know what you are talking about. Not only do have to go to school, you have to take and pass three test, as well as, go through ADEPT or TAP where they come in and observe and assess your teaching. So before you speak know what you are talking about!
By sclawboy January 26, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Holleman.
By countryboy January 26, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Crystal, you are right on the money. I would like to see some of the jackasses who put down teachers try to educate and improve the scores of kids that teachers in Chesterfield and Marlboro counties are faced with. And less anyone think I am putting down these kids, think again. They can’t help it that they get little or no help at home with the learning process. I am putting down the parents who don’t take an interest in their childrens education from the time their kids are born.
By countryboy January 26, 2010 at 5:10 pm
sclawboy. Holleman= Just another damn lawyer in Columbia if he became Supt. of Education.
By Edmund Burke January 26, 2010 at 5:41 pm
It is clear that she was not certified in English. The press release reads like a standardized test question where you are asked to pick out all the punctuation, capitalization, diction and grammatical errors. How many can you find? I stopped counting at eighteen. Excuse me, eight teen.”
By UShouldKnowBetter January 26, 2010 at 7:56 pm
wildman and Edmund Burke,
Maybe Larry Marchant wrote it when he was bagged and that’s the reason for all the errors. The Legislature is in town, ya know. Boozehounds flock together.
By albert glenn January 26, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I hope nobody in the classroom wrote or approved this press release with all those errors. Besides, according to the title of the release, only one teacher’s pay is being cut.
By BIN News January 26, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Political candidates “put out” (wildman picked that phrase) a bunch of typos when they get political pimps (like sic(k) willie) to write for them.
And don’t for a minute think sic(k) willie is the only political pimp supporting MS Payne. She has at least one or two other political pimps helping her. Not nearly enough.
What a joke. Just political pimps at work.
By Genomic Repairman January 26, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Crystal I’ve taught so I think I have the right to air my opinion. While I was busting my ass to learn science in undergrad my education major friends were fretting about where to put the class pet and motivational posters in their classroom management classes. So don’t lecture me on how rigorous it is to become a teacher, the shit isn’t rocket science. I may excel in a bunch of my classes in my graduate science program (cancer biology would boat race even the hardest education graduate program), but undeniably we work in a results based society and the data that I produce is ultimately what I am judged on. And I ultimately think teachers should be merited on the quality of students and their improvement that they turn out, not whether they get a national certification.
By April Dosier January 26, 2010 at 9:38 pm
This is one that even Jim Rex agrees with FITS news on. Teacher pay should be tied to performance. I’ve heard him say so.
By HMMM January 26, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Genomic Repairman: You don’t get national board certification by passing a test. It’s not Praxis. You have to demonstrate excellence in teaching, with lots of proof, and it’s hard. I also don’t care how much science you know. If you can’t figure out how to get it across to 30 kids who are thinking about their cell phones and their boyfriend and girlfriend problems and not their futures, you can’t do much as a teacher.
Andrew: I don’t know what Brent Nelson is proposing, but South Carolina is already one of the only states in the nation moving toward a pay-for-performance system, and we’ve been nationally recognized for it.
Baker: I’m not sure I agree that we shouldn’t reward teachers who get national board certification. It’s a rigorous process that mediocre teachers don’t even attempt, so it probably does end up compensating the best teachers. On the other hand, I’m of the opinion that we should get bad teachers out of the classroom altogether, so maybe we should focus resources on that.
By HMMM January 26, 2010 at 10:28 pm
And Payne’s press release truly is terrible, even if you discount the punctuation errors (which are appalling). It criticizes Rex without offering a single alternative. “Surely there must be something else” is not a substantive contribution.
By TheVoice January 27, 2010 at 9:01 am
Kelly is on point with this stance. Here is what the research says about National Board Certification:
In a Congressionally?mandated report, the National Research Council confirmed that National Board Certification has a positive impact on student achievement, teacher retention and professional development. Studies also show that students with National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) improve n terms of “deep” learning —the higher?order thinking that is needed for a successful U.S. workforce. Students of NBCTs outperform students of non?NBCTs on achievement tests—and the positive effect is even greater among minority students (National Research Council, 2008; Clotfelter, Ladd and Vigdor, 2007; Goldhaber and Anthony, 2004; Cavalluzzo, 2004). Students of NBCTs make learning gains equivalent to an extra month in school. (Vandevoort, Beardsley and Berliner, 2004).
By TheVoice January 27, 2010 at 9:03 am
continued…
The National Board Certification process improves teachers’ professional development by: (a) enhancing reflection on teaching practice, (b) establishing a professional discourse among teachers, (c) raising,
the standards for teaching performance, and (d) facilitating collaboration (Park, Oliver, JohnsonGraham and Oppong, 2007). National Board Certification is a “transformative experience” for many teachers, and they often apply in the classroom what they learn from the certification process—whether they achieve certification or not. The certification process itself improves teachers’ ability to improve student learning (Lustand Sykes, 2006; Rotberg, Futrell and Lieberman, 1998). A survey of NBCT candidates found that 92 percent reported the process made them better eachers, and 89 percent said it equipped them to create stronger curricula and better evaluate student earning (Yankelovich, 2001).
By TheVoice January 27, 2010 at 9:07 am
and some more…
It helps with teacher retention: Many NBCTs provide mentoring and guidance to the new or struggling teachers who are most likely to leave within the first five years of teaching (Yankelovich, 2001; Sykes, et al., 2006). Begining teacher retention is a difficult problem in our state, mainly due to a lack of administrative support and the inability for teachers to teach on account the mountains of paperwork and observation in the first three years of teaching (the ADEPT process). NBCTs create more challenging curricula, demonstrate in?depth knowledge of teaching skills and subject matter, provide better feedback to students and routinely seek educational strategies that better meet students’ needs (Ralph, 2003; Bond, Smith, Baker and Hattie, 2000). NBCTs take on leadership roles that include mentoring and coaching others and developing programs aimed at improving student learning (Freund, Russell and Kavulic, 2005; Yankelovich Partners, 2001).
By TheVoice January 27, 2010 at 9:11 am
lastly…
Whatever position you take on issues this election cycle please do not become fueled by personal objectives or internal frustrations with your profession (i.e. Genomic Repairman). Instead, I encourage you to do the research and educate yourself on issues before making a definitive selection as to who will lead our state’s educational system for the next four years. I respect anyone’s opinion, but I’m more appreciative of one who provides a research-based opinion rather than emotionally-charged attacks at a candidates’ position.
By ohmy January 27, 2010 at 10:40 am
The Voice… ugh, to Randy Page write all those points for you or what? SCRG is alive and well my friends
By No Deal January 27, 2010 at 11:26 am
National Certification is a BIG JOKE — kind of like the idea that teachers need “certification” (as opposed to education) in the first place.
We obviously haven’t even begun to care about reforming our education system. We need BYPASS surgery, and they’re still passing around the Band-Aids!
By NBCT teacher January 27, 2010 at 9:48 pm
I am a National Board Certified Teacher, and I can attest to the fact that it is the most rigorous professional experience I have encountered in my twenty years of teaching. The average NBCT has invested more than four hundred hours in the process, which is much more than a “bunch of tests.” Portfolios of work showing evidence of student learning, standards based teaching, differentiated instruction, knowledge of content and the talent of teaching were all examined. In one portfolio I had to examine students in the field of literacy, uncovering their strengths and weaknesses, collecting and analyzing data to formulate instruction specifically for those students, document avenues I explored to impact their learning, document my communication with parents, resource teachers in the school and beyond, design a curriculum, implement it, and document the impact with work samples. I had to explain why I did everything I did and reflect on my successes and failures. All this was just one of six of those portfolios.
I learned so much from this. I learned that although I had a classroom full of kids, each one had to be examined as an individual, and one size doesn’t fit all, or even many. I learned to read and interpret all those tests we give our kids, and use the data to drive my instruction. I learned to make all that money you pay for all those tests mean something. And, apparently I learned it well. This past year alone, ALL, not some, not most, ALL, of my students passed every test the state gave them. And in literacy, ALL were exemplary. You get what you pay for. You paid for it, and I am giving it to you. I suggest you continue to fund this wonderful program. Your children deserve every penny you spend on it.