Researchers examined quality in california classrooms, and the results even surprised them. More than half of classrooms studied are not properly ventilated. Reporter the jungle gyms no match for 9yearold nathal. But on the days asthma flares up, his mom worries about the singe act of sending him to class. Its stuffy, hot, hume in a lot of the classrooms, which is disconsearching, if youre a parent of a child with asthma, thats where they spend a lot of the majority of their time instead of at home. Sitting in a classroom, you cant breathe, its just not good. Reporter she may be right. In the largest study of its kind, scientists found more than half of california classrooms studied dont meet state ventilation standards. Lower ventilation rates were associated with substantial increases in illness absence in the students. Reporter scientist mark mandell say indoor air po pollutants can build up. It can from the carpets, dust, even other students. For some reason, its not always happening. Our best guess theyre being operated to save energy and money by bringing in less outdoor air tlhrough the system reporter schools are to be bill to have 7. 1 liters per perk per second. Classrooms studied, 5. 1 leetsit. Prefabricated buildings, they have a median estimate ventilation rate of 3. 1 liters per second. My concern as a teacher, i cant educate an empty desk. I cant. Reporter California Teachers Association has fought for years for healthier classrooms and they say its clear where the responsibility lies. Falls on the School District. The School District is response ebl for following the laws, then they should follow the laws. The air comes from the unit up above. Reporter the director of facilities for the san jose unified School District says the Study Results dont reflect whats happening in his district. But he is frank about the challenges he faces. Ventilation systems are receiving the maintenance by our Maintenance Department but its basically at bare minimum. Reporter chronic underfunding left School Districts strapped for cash. Funnel as much money as they can into classroom instruction with little leftover for ongoing plain nens. In the private sector, Maintenance Program for a ve ventilation system might mean vitsing three, four times a year. A School District can visit a unit when broken. Reporter its not a situation turning around soon. Without a more significant investment from the state, the systems will become more delap tated over time. Im glad the situation is being brought to light now because something definitely needs to be done about it. So why not complain to your school . Interestingly enough, cal osha can be called in to investigate classroom air qualify but only if the complaint is filed by a teacher or staff. Thats because there is an occupational standard in california adequate ventilation must be provided to worker but was not students. Really . Get this, researchers at berkeley lab say if ventilation rates were raised to current standards there would be i 3. 4 reduction in absences, schools would gain 33 million annually in funding linked to attendance, and families, they would avoid 80 million in cost caring for a sick child annually. Clearly a lot is on the line for both families and for schools. Headlines for you now. San francisco and oakland unified get a special reprieve from no child left behind. Remember that . Two districts among eight in california to win an historic waiver from the federal law. What does it mean . Well, it frees up more than 100 million for 8 districts to use as they place. U. S. Department of education previously rejected a waiver application from the state. Now this marks the first time the feds will work directly with actual districts. They gain the cash but not without controversile. The Largest Teachers Union blasted the waiver saying teachers were not consulted. The president said in a statement, quote, at a time when we are are working hard in california to implement positive changes that ensure all students get a fair shot at a quality education, this topdown move that excluded teacher input is absurd, counterproductive, and divisive. Up next, the bathroom battle. Transgender students will be able to use bathrooms and join the sports teams they feel match their gender identity. Thats regardless of what sex is on the birth certificate. It gives transgender students a chance to participates and succeed in school. This is not people looking to get a thrill by going into the opposite gender bathroom. These are people who truly people like they have belonged in the opposite bathroom all along. While transgender students must provide physician proof of gender identity, opponents feel there is room for abuse. The new law violates privacy of students who dont want to share a locker room or bathroom with kids they perceive being from the opposite gender. More cuts to head start. Last spring head start shortened the school year, as a result of sequestration cuts. This fall, forced to cut seats. Head start programs in california are reducing enrollment by 5 , and laying off teachers. These programs are already on a shoestring budget. They get 8,000 a year per child. If you think about how much private preschool costs, close to 20,000 per year per child in the bay area and los angeles, thats not a lot of money. They dont have a lot of wiggle room. Thats why kids are losing their spots. Reductions stay in place unless Congress Reverses sequester cuts. Well introduce you to two people from opposite sides of the negotiating table who came together for a Landmark School agreement. The head of the Teachers Union and san jose and the superintendent stand together. Up next, how they negotiated a new teachers contract unlike any other in the bay area. Look at em. Living on cloud nine with that uverse wireless receiver. You see in my day, when my mom was repainting the house, you couldnt just set up a tv in the basement. I mean, come on nope. We could only watch tv in the rooms that had a tv outlet. Yeah if we wanted to watch tv someplace else, wed have to go to my aunt sallys. Have you ever sat on a plastic covered couch . [ kids cheering ] youre missing a good game over here. Those kids wouldnt have lasted one day in our shoes. [ male announcer ] switch and add a wireless receiver. Get uverse tv for 19 a month for 2 years with qualifying bundles rethink possible. For 2 years with qualifying bundles uhoguess what day it is is . . Huh. Anybody . Julie hey. Guess what day it is . . Ah come on, i know you can hear me. Mike Mike Mike Mike mike. What day is it mike . Ha ha ha ha ha ha leslie, guess what today is . Its hump day. Whoot whoot ronny, how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico . Id say happier than a camel on wednesday. Hump day yay get happy. Get geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Welcome back. Implementing a new teachers contract, trust me, this is Ground Breaking because it includes that controversial e word, evaluation. Only this is a new way of evaluating teachers. With us today, vincent matthews, superintendent of san jose unified and jennifer thomas, president of teacher union. San jose teacheR Association. Thank you for being here. Evaluations, lets talk about there is. A hot button issue for a long time. Traditionally the way it was done is that they go in and watch a teacher for 30 minutes one timing a year and that would be done. A lot of criticism there that people didnt think it was enough. I want to bring you into this. What are you doing different in the way you are evaluating teachers. One of the primary things we needed to change the people who watched professional work in their classroom or at their work with students. One of the things weave asked and negotiated to do is bring in classroom professionals in the form of teachers who recently left the classroom to give feedback and part of the evaluation process with the professional in san jose. Its not one person either. Its several people viewing the teacher in action. At least two. The second being a teacher recently having left the classroom or their assignment with as much as possible a guaranteed subject area specialty or grade level expertise of the teacher who is being evaluated that year. I have to put you on the spot here because you sat in this very chair with me doing a show and michelle was talking about the concept of evaluating teachers and you balked at that idea. What is different in the way youre doing it . Michelle and the people who purport to be proponents of education reform talk about tying standardized test scores to teacher evaluation and tying compensation to the results. We realized the Research Bears no relevant data for us in terms of improving student outcome. Improving instruction, giving high quality and relevant feedback to teachers and using that to determine how best to impact students in the classroom. The Obama Administration has been making this big push a lot of governments have about tying it. Youre using performance and looking at student performance but not use it as the measuring stick for how a teachers doing. Right. Thats not the measuring stick. What were looking at is making sure that the thinner of the universe, in our world, is whats happening in that the interaction between the teacher and the student. So what were doing is looking at how can we improve that. As you mentioned the traditional way you come in, principal comes in with the form, goes through the evaluation, then sits down the with teacher, goes over it and the teacher determines whether theyre going to reflect upon that. This process actually assists the teach somewhere makes it more reflective process whats going on. If the teacher done do well, what happens . As we move forward were continuing to look at we have a number of steps in that we have consulting teachers, so that group, we have a Teacher Quality Panel. If a teacher doesnt do well, they ultimately dont end up moving forward on our stepping column that we set up in the district. Can some of the teachers make more money than others . No. Under edco, a requirement for the uniform Salary Schedule. Teachers advance through the Salary Schedule year by year, assuming their evaluation is positive. Weve set up a tremendous number of safeguards, though to ensure that its not just one individual determining if that teacher meets the standards set by san jose unified but the consulting teacher in the room to off that validation and evidence, and then as dr. Matthews said the Teacher Quality Panel reviewing all documentations to make sure evaluations are fair, transparent, really supportive of the work in the classroom in pursuant of excellence for the students. One of the steps we would like to move forward with, this is discussions as we had, model and Master Teacher type of situation where teacher make more based on the additional steps that they take, additional work that they would do around teaching and around assisting teachers. Based on seniority making more money, its based on the years, it would be on the knowledge that they have . Knowledge, but also the steps that theyre taking and what youre actually giving back and what youre doing for the site, teachers who are there. Let me say, these are conversations that weve had, what we really need, in order to implement a model teacher, Master Teacher type system is much more funding. Money. Always comes down to money. Absolutely. Let me ask you this. You keep saying equitable. Is it equitable, why is it that the Teachers Union isnt embracing it . Why isnt the langua largers R Association embracing it. Theyre supportive of what were doing. Saying if it works in san jose, were supportish of that. Our framework for the evaluation matches both the calf teaiforni Teachers Association and National EducationAssociation Framework for the process that supports professional development in pursuit of the end goal of student achievement. You said youre going to take a tiny take a leap together. Why is it so i dont want to say contentious, but scary to make this change . I think for years in Public Education, the educators and leadership have been pitted against each other so perhaps we will ignore that those people attacking Public Education come from outside of our own organizations. We have been told, dont trust the district, theyre only in it for prestige or teachers cant be trusted because theyre only in it to save their necks. We have trust were all in it for the same reason, and basic as that sounds, its theres not the climate in california and the nation for that to be possible. You can look at wisconsin, for the evidence of that sort of thing. Very quickly, last 30 seconds, do you see this if it happens and does well here, do you see this as a model moving across california and across the u. S. As well . Absolutely. One of the things jen was saying, you talked about the leap of faith, when wean started this process, the management and the Teachers Association both got together in the room and looked at what are the core beliefs that we believe in Going Forward to make this happen for kids. It really is around making sure that all students have 21st century skills and close the opportunity gap. What are the core beliefs we all have to make that happen . Stay where you are. When we come back, more from jennifer and vincent, hear about common core. What is that . Gearing up, teachers across the bay area have been in training for a new set of academic standards called the common core. Teachers picked up their pencils, this time as students to brush up on new standards for math and literacy. Common core supposed to be more rigorous than previous course work and emphasize analytical and reasoning skills. Back viwith vincent and jen. Were starting to hear common core a lot. What is common core . Its a set of standards, 45 states adopted common standards. Previously you had a student from texas take an assessment and taught in a different way than students in california. And at the end of the day, you didnt know exactly where students stood in terms of comparing them to each other. Its a common set of standards throughout the 45 states who have adopted them. And it gets us to a place where we can look at where students are and how theyre moving forward in terms of being prepared for the 21st century. Not all School Districts in california have adopted it yet. Am i, as a parent, when i walk into school, an i going to notice anything different in the way my kid is being taught with common core . San jose unified you will. What were doing is teachers are beginning to implement them when i say the 21st skills, like clab reag, problem solve, creative thinking, its a way as instead of going wide, which the previous standards did, its a more focused approach and we go deeper and especially highlighting problem solving skills. Youre not going to teach to the test . That is what youre saying to me. Absolutely. Jen, how much is this how much we saw the teachers there, how much harder is this for teachers to learn the new standards . Its got to be tough to be thrown into the new way of teaching which changes the way theyve been told to do it for a long time. Does it give teachers creative license . You hit the nail on the head. California has dictated discream standards which limited creativity, collaboration, communication. They said, that was a huge mistake and were sending kids auch off to the university and workforce unprepared to think creati creatively. Lets change that. Like a lot of things that the government has done, heres this thing, go. Before we used to give you all of the parameters, told you what to do, that was a mistake, you were right, but undo everything youve spent the past 10, 15 years doing. A lot of retraining for the teachers, too. They have to have a sense of bravery to go back into the water. They very brave. Theyre trep dash shus. We have the most precious thing, the children. They are care itll with that. They put a lot of pressure on themselves. San jose unified spent a lot of money. This will require more computers in the classroom, new testing system, talking about the smarter balance rather than moving away from the start tests. Where are we getting money for all of this . We have prepared one of the things we did, budget dollar, we knew this would take an incredible amount of professional development to get people to feel comfortable doing this. The exciting thing for me, our teachers are jumping in head first because they know that these are absolutely the skills that students are going to need to be successful in the 2 1st century. If they do jobs that havent been created yet, these are the skills they absolutely have to have. As a parent, what support do i give my teacher now that shes implementing new standards when it comes to reading and platte . What are we supposed to do as parents to make it successful . If the parents downloaded the common core standards. Theyre available online. If they look at them in reading and platte and theres literacy standards in social studies and science, the progression makes sense and continuing to ask students what they learned in school that day and asking them to bill upon that learning by asking them to reflect on it add to something else, those conversations at dinner trabl powerful because it remains kids we think at home and school. Can common core be successful if were not giving schools, especially schools struggling,er to support they need with the right teachers and funding . It will make it more difficult to close the gap. And so we absolutely have to look at schools equitably. Thats what were doing as part of our strategy explan, and those places that are going to need additional help, with resources need to be aimed that way. As governor moves forward, local control, the funding formula, thats one aspect that will assist also ha. I got an education today. Tonight, updates for you now on higher education. Janet napolitano takes reins at university of california next month. Selected to be the first female president of the uc system. Recall that protesters interrupted her confirmation in july. There are concerns about her views on immigration and deportation, according to them. We have been following the saga at city college of San Francisco for you on class action. Theres a new twist this week. The city of San Francisco is now standing up for its city college and suing to restore the schools academic standing. The largest city college in an ongoing battle with a commission that threatens to yank accreditation. Hes asking a judge to block the commission from taking further action. The City Attorney has filed a separate lawsuit against the board of governors of the California Community colleges, saying theyre the ones that should be judging accreditation and not handing the job over to another agency. The saga will continue from there. Thats going to do it for us today. A quick note, see all of our class action stories the nbcbayarea. Com classaction. Hope to hear from you seen. Thanks for watching. Good night. Previously on siberia. joyce i think we need to get out of here. johnny we went to that camp, and its a complete ghost town. No ones there. Were pretty much here on our own. daniel theres a radio. static crackling someones jamming the signal. Whats going on here . why are they bleep with us . stop it aah joyce johnny, johnny, no thuds i think what we need to do is we need to protect ourselves and prove that something happened here. So you guys keep filming. We want a record of it. annie daniel found this light. I guess itd been there all the time. We just never saw it. daniel im going in the morning. You guys wanna go, thats fine. Oh, my god. Guys, what happened here . joyce whew. Oh. Yeah. Johnny, can i have some water, please . shivering Something Weird had to do that to all those trees. Did it have anything to do with the sky . The green sky . If theres enough debris in the air from that explosion, maybe that caused a refraction of light. Thatoesnt make sense. joyce like a nuclear bomb . No. How are you so sure . Wed all be dead. joyce what is that . clangs