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PUBLIC COMMENT RECEIVED VIA E-MAIL From: Joseph Rockne Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 12:48 PM To:

PESB Subject: Teach for America I understand that you will be making a decision on whether on not to allow the University of Washington to create a program making it possible for non-certificated teachers to teach in Seattle and other Puget Sound area school districts. I am writing to urge you to turn down this proposal. Many of the TFA candidates will be coming from outside the state. It is my understanding that they will be paying tuition at a much lower rate than is typically paid by out of state students. I resent this. Our in-state students and their families have contributed their tax dollars that have gone to fund our state schools. To allow these out of state students to enjoy reduced tuition is not fair. I am also concerned about the message that allowing non-certified teachers into classrooms sends to the hundreds (thousands?) of students attending our colleges and universities working toward obtaining their teaching credentials. Is it fair that they spend the time and money to achieve full certification only to be faced with the prospect of competing for a job with candidates who have done nothing to prepare themselves for classrooms? No. It is important that we treat our educators as we treat other professionals. Prospective teachers should expect to spend a significant amount of time preparing to enter the profession. Our doctors, lawyers, and accountants all devote several years to academic study before they are allowed to practice their crafts. Teachers should expect nothing less than the same. To place responsibility for our students in the hands of a young man or woman who has only had five or six weeks of pre-classroom prep will do very little to erase any achievement gaps. Indeed, I fear it will make them worse. Please dont approve the University of Washingtons request. Sincerely, Joseph L. Rockne The Law Office of Joseph L. Rockne, PLLC

From: Carolyn Cunningham Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 1:38 PM To: PESB Subject: No on the Teach for America vote Dear PESB, Please vote no on the Teach for America vote that is coming up. I do not think it is right to have our state's valuable higher ed dollars go to ONE group of mostly out-of-state students. I also urge you to consider giving theconditional certification programs to Washington state residents who are eager to become teachers; not "teach for awhile" students who in most cases won't continue as teachers beyond their first couple years. Let's face it, TFA does not even recruit for students who indicate interest in becoming teachers. TFA's mission is to get young people who are likely to become leaders in other parts of our community, the experience of being a teacher so they will vote on certain education reform decisions. This is not a sustainable way to spend our education dollars that are supposed to be educating people to become teachers for a career. Thanks for listening, --Carolyn Cunningham Resident of Seattle and parent of a Seattle Public Schools student From: Leslie Harris Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 1:43 PM To: PESB; Les Private Email Harris Subject: U-ACT UW/TFA - Agenda 07-07-11 Please DO NOT APPROVE the U-ACT TFA application. 1. There is no need for applicants in SPS. The hiring pool is large already even if the hiring system is fundamentally mismanaged. 2. This proposal represents an unconstitutional unfair gift of public funds to a private entity in deep tuition discounts to TFA. When the UW testified to the state legislature for the ability to set and raise substantially tuition fees and make more in state slots available, it did NOT advise that it was gifting steep tuition discounts to one entity and to mostly out of state potential students. This is an underhanded violation of public trust and all the UW testimony and promises made during the last painful legislative session are at issue. I believe several legislators will find this an enormous beach of trust, as will the current UW student body, aspiring to be UW students, as well as the taxpaying public.

3. The data from UW Tacoma and U-ACT used to justify each program (ostensibly the same entity - the UW) on the same agenda for approval, is not consistent. 4. As educational leaders contemplating approval, you must consider the message sent to current MIT candidates state-wide, aspiring teachers, and current teachers, that a 6 week institute and OJT equals a robust two year curriculumn with supervised student teaching. Is it any wonder that the remainder of the state's higher ed programs did not partner with TFA? 5. The economics of who is paying for staffing, supervision, grant funds, TFA funds, and overhead are not defined or clear and in this economy, there is no such thing as a revenue neutral proposal. If you are inclined to approve this, please demand line item transparent data from several other states' higher ed institutions with a track record. 6. The lateness of this application with a sense of urgency should not be the tail wagging the dog here - you have significant duties of trust of the taxpayers and legislators and should not be inappropriately rushed due to others' strategies or inability to plan. 7. With the closing of dozens of higher ed programs and degrees at the same time as approving a subsidized special interest program at the state's premier institution, would damage the PESB credibility and reputation. Cordially, Leslie Harris Parent, Taxpayer

From: Luz Villasana Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 2:09 PM To: PESB Subject: No to TFA Dear Board Members, Please consider the drain of resources that would go to TFA, those valuable higher ed dollars would go to ONE group of mostly out-of-state students. The conditional certification programs should be for Washington state residents eager to become teachers; not "Teach For A while" students. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Luz Villasana

From: Heather Young Harrison Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 2:15 PM To: PESB Subject: Teach for America Dear Members of the Professional Educator Standards Board: I am writing to you with deep concern about the possibility of Teach for America coming to Seattle Public Schools. I urge you to reject proposals to bring this program to Seattle and neighboring cities. As a young teacher in the greater Seattle area, it has been a great struggle to gain and sustain employment in the teaching profession. I graduated from a traditional four year program with a Bachelors of Arts in Education with a teaching certificate. In my efforts to gain employment, after two years of substitute teaching and part time private school work, I went back to graduate school to earn a Master of Arts in Education degree. Even with an additional graduate level education degree it took many months before I was finally hired for a part time teaching position. I find it highly insulting that proponents of Teach for America claim that there is a teacher shortage in the Seattle area. I am one of many young, dedicated, energetic educators who have been struggling to build their career in education. I am one of many who have poured countless hours into completing practicums, reading studies, writing lesson plans, studying teaching and applying for jobs. There are many amazing Colleges of Education in the greater Seattle area who are helping create amazing young teachers who will change the world--if they can get into a classroom. Laying the groundwork and allowing Teacher for America recruits (with five weeks of training) into districts will create even more competition for the small number of classrooms in our area. The school districts in the greater Seattle area already have a large, high qualified, creative and innovative pool of candidates to full their classrooms with, there is no need for a program like Teach for America. Thank you for your time and consideration, Heather Young Harrison

From: Ellen Levesque Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 3:28 PM To: PESB Subject: Conditional certification of TFA (Seattle) As a taxpayer in the Seattle area, and the parent of a middle school student - I urge you to reject the UW School of Education's

application for conditional certification of the Teach For America program. Not only is there no demonstratable need for an addition to the hiring pool available to SPS, there are plenty of well deserving Washington State citizens who deserve conditional certification over more expensive out-of-state applicants. It appears the UW has bent over backwards to accomodate this program's existence in Washington - at the expense of their existing student pool, who are eager to become permanent members of the teaching profession. In these complex economic times, it makes little sense to spread limited public funds so thin by financing out-of-state students. As a reference librarian-, I have read much of the research on both sides of the TFA arguement. It's clear the expenses of this program, especially as they relate to it's high rate of attrition, make it a poor investment - some qualified researchers have stated the average cost of a TFA recruit is $70,000. We can not afford this, we don't need it and the parents and citizens of Seattle strongly oppose it. Thank you. From: ksmith Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 8:52 PM To: PESB Subject: Teach for America To Whom it May Concern, SPS boasts it receives 100-150 applicants per available teacher position. Last year, West Seattle Elementary (a high poverty school) received 600 applications for a single teacher position. Seattle does not have a teaching shortage. Teach for America is a well funded organization with political motives. It is common knowledge, TfA is backed with dollars from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is common knowlege that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided Uof W funds...under the condition they cooperate with TfA The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found placing TFA recruits with America's poorest children a violation of Federal Law. Common sense says: There is no way an individual with 5 weeks of training could identify or deal with special need children. SPS has adopted an inclusion model, which places special needs children within each classroom. This presents additional challenges to our classrooms.

I understand that you will be making a decision on whether on not to allow the University of Washington to create a program making it possible for non-certificated teachers to teach in Seattle and other Puget Sound area school districts. I am writing to urge you to turn down this proposal. Many of the TFA candidates will be coming from outside the state. It is my understanding that they will be paying tuition at a much lower rate than is typically paid by out of state students. I resent this. Our in-state students and their families have contributed their tax dollars that have gone to fund our state schools. To allow these out of state students to enjoy reduced tuition is not fair. I am also concerned about the message that allowing non-certified teachers into classrooms sends to the hundreds (thousands?) of students attending our colleges and universities working toward obtaining their teaching credentials. Is it fair that they spend the time and money to achieve full certification only to be faced with the prospect of competing for a job with candidates who have done nothing to prepare themselves for classrooms? No. It is important that we treat our educators as we treat other professionals. Prospective teachers should expect to spend a significant amount of time preparing to enter the profession. Our doctors, lawyers, and accountants all devote several years to academic study before they are allowed to practice their crafts. Teachers should expect nothing less than the same. To place responsibility for our students in the hands of a young man or woman who has only had five or six weeks of pre-classroom prep will do very little to erase any achievement gaps. Indeed, I fear it will make them worse. Please dont approve the University of Washingtons request. Sincerely, Kathleen A. Smith

From: cpvmac To: pesb@k12.wa.us CC: pres@uw.edu Subject: PESB's obligation to maintain rigorous standards for teacher preparation Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2011 09:38:34 -0700 Please provide this email to all members of the PESB Board, including the Executive

Committee, and staff reviewing the University of Washington's U-ACT proposal. Dear Board Members, I write today as a parent and a Washington resident concerned about the future of quality teaching in our public schools. My daughter attends 5th grade in the Seattle School District. I have been tracking the district's unnecessary and ill-advised partnership with Teach for America to place minimally-trained intern teachers into the highest need schools in our district. This kind of practice was found to be discriminatory by a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court, as it exposed disadvantaged students to a disproportionate share of inexperienced teachers. Furthermore, there is no shortage in Seattle of highly-qualified, fully certificated and experienced teachers for our struggling students. Every child deserves an experienced and professional teacher. Now the University of Washington wants dispensation to perform its own form of discrimination, by offering a rump teacher preparation program designed solely for Teach for America members. This is objectionable on so many grounds. First, there is no reason why a public university in Washington should be allowed to shut out qualified in-state residents. The UW is required to vet its candidates after they have met the criteria for admission set in the WAC. Second, the UW's program is inferior to other available (and properly designed) programs. Let the TFA candidates apply for those programs until the UW gets its act together. Do not hold the UW to a different (read, lower) standard than SPU, PLU, City U and other, more professional, programs. Finally, by providing a private (TFA) teacher preparation program a fast-track to certification, the Board creates an environment that will limit the spots for aspiring career teachers. Over 80% of TFA interns leave during or after their two year commitment, creating a harmful churn and high turnover (shown to impact students and learning). Meanwhile, aspiring teachers (yes, UW COE graduates) will face a tighter job market than necessary (see this unscientific and unofficial "needs assessment" for teaching spots in Seattle and Federal Way http://www.scribd.com/doc/56412579/TFAProjected-Staffing .) I ask that you maintain the integrity of teacher preparation in Washington, and make sure the laws and rules in place are followed. Sincerely, Cecilia McCormick

From: Gabrielle Kasper Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 8:16 AM To: PESB Subject: No to TFA Dear PESB:

I am writing to urge you to cancel plans to allow Teach for America candidates into Seattle Public Schools. Our students deserve teachers who are committed to their teaching profession. A first step of commitment is to seek and undergo the best professional training available at a fully accredited university. I have an unusual perspective as a teacher originally frustrated by the lack of alternative routes available in our state for those with teaching experience. I taught environmental education for 8 plus years. I taught adult literacy and math for another three years. I thought with all my teaching experience that I could bypass going through a traditional certification program, but I had no such luck. That turned out for the best. Going through a traditional certification program ultimately benefited me in my process of becoming a public school teacher in terms of pedagogy and in meeting the needs of the students I teach. Each stage in the process of becoming a certified teacher involved spending time in classrooms observing and working with the teachers and students. Each stage was another opportunity to review my commitment to teaching in public schools. It would not have been reasonable for me to even consider alternative routes without my strong teaching experience. Nor would it have been reasonable to expect to be sponsored as a potential teacher without proof of a strong commitment to teaching. There is no way that Id have the audacity to think of myself as a public school teacher if all I had was a five-week summer course.

Each year I become a better teacher. I learn more about teaching students with disabilities, the craft of teaching, the sensitivity of working with families with special needs children, and the collaboration of working with other teachers. Each year I work hard to meet new challenges. Each year I reaffirm that there is no other career I would rather have. Please do not contribute to the de-professionalization of teachers. Please do not perpetuate the falsehood that anyone with a smart brain and a pre-written curriculum can teach. There is no shortage of well-trained and committed teachers in the Seattle area. There is no need to bring TFA into our schools. Consider that if TFA were truly interested in supporting the learning success of students of poverty, TFA would deploy an army of tutors into the neediest schools. Respectfully yours, A Dedicated Seattle Teacher, Gabrielle Kasper-Plack (Endorsed: General Science, Biology, Special Education, Elementary Education, Autism Specialization)

From: maggie everett Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 7:55 AM To: PESB Subject: WAC 181-79A-231 and the Seattle School District application for conditional certificates Importance: High Dear Board Members, Since the PESB has always upheld the highest standards of quality preparation for teachers in our state, I urge you to reject the Seattle Schools blanket application for alternative certification for a cadre of unknown "recruits" of the Teach for America (TfA) program. I submit their application does not meet the standard set forth in WAC 181-79A-231. The purpose of the conditional certificate is to assist local school districts, approved private schools, and educational service districts in meeting the state's educational goals by giving them flexibility in hiring decisions based on shortages or the opportunity to secure the services of unusually talented individuals. The professional educator standards board encourages in all cases the hiring of fully certificated individuals and understands that districts will employ individuals with conditional certificates only after careful review of all other options. The professional educator standards board asks districts when reviewing such individuals for employment to consider, in particular, previous experience the individual has had working with children.

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There is no shortage of highly qualified teachers in Seattle - Seattle had over 18,000 applications last year for 800 openings. These are not "unusually talented individuals" - They have only a B.A. degree unrelated to education. Being a mathmetician does not mean you can teach young people how to become mathmatieicians. Research shows no evidence for the claim that TfA will close the "achievement gap" - The largest study to date on this issue from Stanford (see attachment) studied 4,400 teachers and 132,000 students. It showed students taught by TfA recruits performed WORSE than certificated techers on all six measures of reading and match achievement. The district is not employing individuals with conditional certificates "only after careful review of all other options" - Disadvantaged students more individual help and more time in school, an extended school day and wraparound services, - not inexperienced trainees - to close the achievement gap

In addition, according to this and other studies, most TfA recruits leave the classroom after their two year commitment, incrasing turnover and disruption of

school communities. This proposal undermines the professional standards that we have worked to establish in Washington. If this application is approved, it will discourage future educators from seeking traditional certification programs. Why, after all, would someone choose to pay the rising tuition rates to university education programs when they can take this shortcut? Please save our students from well-meaning but inexperienced instructors and uphold professional teaching standards in our state by denying this application based on the district's failure to provide evidence that the application fails to meet the requirements set forth in WAC 181-79A-231. Thank you. Sincerely, Maggie K. Everett, M.Ed. Seattle, WA

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