June 25, 2001

City Schools Focused On Improving Student Achievement: Will Not Countenance Blatant Political Attacks

It’s disappointing to see the leadership of the San Diego Education Association resort to a cheap political stunt in pursuing its Pavlovian opposition to needed school reforms and a personal vendetta against Superintendent Alan Bersin. It’s sad to see the leadership attempt to use district teachers to poison dialogue and even to tarnish the magnificent work of so many teachers with students in order to paint a mean, distorted picture of San Diego City Schools.

The majority of district teachers are seeing their students improve academically as a result of their efforts in implementing the Blueprint for Student Success:

--We believe that these teachers approve of the more than $20 million in paid professional development they have received under Blueprint reforms, a tenfold increase over three years, in order to enhance their teaching year-by-year. More than 6,000 teachers have already signed up for district-paid seminars and conferences this summer.

--We believe that these teachers approve of the $22 million summer school program that began today, to help as many students as possible continue improving their literacy and math skills and achieve or surpass grade-level performance.

--We believe that these teachers want students to succeed academically, that they approve of lower class sizes in many grades, that they approve of tens of millions of dollars of new books and equipment, that they approve of having more children able to read and write at grade level, and that they approve of the effort to end social promotion and instead to graduate well-prepared students.

--We believe that these teachers understand that Supt. Bersin cares about their work and their concerns, and that he listens to and respects their constructive criticism to make their jobs better: for example, as in the three teacher dialogue dinners that he held during the school year with two teachers from every school invited to participate, selected not by the superintendent.

--We believe that these teachers understand a school district is at its finest when it devotes its mission to improving student achievement, not sacrificing it for the special interests of a politically-motivated few.

The SDEA leadership claims that 5,500 of 8,500 teachers returned its recent survey—a survey whose simplistic questions were designed not to promote a dialogue but to elicit pre-planned responses in a crude ploy of character assassination. By its own numbers, the return is 65%. So by its own numbers, the percentage of teachers allegedly voting "no confidence" comes out as 60%, not the trumpeted 93%.

But the district doesn’t trust SDEA numbers. SDEA President Marc Knapp has been quoted in the media in the past two weeks "lamenting" the fact that upwards of 1,300 teachers are retiring or resigning this year out of disgust with Supt. Bersin. The figure is patently false. The fact is that some 185 teachers are retiring, and some 273 others are leaving for other reasons. The fact is that these numbers are less than in 1999-2000, and about the same as in 1998-99. When SDEA inflates and distorts statistics in one case, it’s likely that the SDEA may inflate and distort in other cases.

The superintendent and the district are more interested in the proven numbers that show a strong trend in improved student achievement—a trend that is the result of hard work by all district employees, and especially by teachers.

The superintendent and the district will continue to focus on what is important: improving student achievement. The superintendent and the district will not countenance a blatant political attack—accompanied by personal crudities from some—which has nothing to do with improving student achievement.