One regular reader gets very annoyed when he sees the local media telling fibs.
He is a truth squad all by himself.
One of the favorite fibs is that charters get better results with exactly the same kinds of students.
That is what the NY Daily News wrote today.
Here is what constant reader wrote in response:
It has finally happened! Education reformers have reached the heights of absurdity in their defense of charter schools. Discussing changes in two New York City school districts, an editorial in today’s New York Daily News attacks non-charter schools claiming that “schools in the districts have defied reform, thanks in large part to an entrenched system — solidified by the teachers contract — that denies principals the power that charter leaders have to demand excellence from their instructors” and that the charter schools in those districts succeed while
“serving the same cohort of neighborhood children.”
Of course this is an empirical claim that can be checked. So I checked it, using the publicly available information on the Department of Education’s website http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/A8A10B87-7BB2-4BBA-97BE-12753D7DE3E6/0/2011_2012_EMS_PR_Results_2012_10_04.xlsx.
Do the charter schools in these two districts serve “the same cohort of neighborhood children?”
They do not!
The charter schools in the districts serve fewer special education students (especially those with the highest needs), fewer English Language Learners, fewer poor students, fewer students with incoming scores that are in the lowest third citywide for both English and Math, and accept students with higher incoming test scores.
Why does the Daily News feel comfortable telling such a lie? It seems that the media is so caught up in the education reform story that they are willing to bend the truth to support the narrative that public schools are bad and charters are good.
But what is the truth? These numbers suggest that the charter schools are not doing a better job than non-charter public schools with the same students. They don’t educate students who most need the help and support of top-notch teachers. As long as education reformers are willing to spread such lies we will never be able to give all students the excellent education they deserve.
Let’s let the true numbers tell the story:
District 7 non-charter public schools
Special education students: 27.7%
Highest need special education students: 11.9%
Economic need index: .93
English Language Learners: 21.5%
Incoming student Math/English scores: 2.83
Incoming students who scored in the lowest third citywide in English: 52.4%
Incoming students who score in the lowest third citywide in Math: 53.6%
District 7 charter schools
Special education students: 12%
Highest need special education students: 2.3%
Economic need index: .78
English Language Learners: 12.6%
Incoming student Math/English scores: 3.08
Incoming students who scored in the lowest third citywide in English: 34.7%
Incoming students who score in the lowest third citywide in Math: 31.5%
District 23 non-charter public schools
Special education students: 18.8%
Highest need special education students: 11.9 %
Economic need index: .86
English Language Learners 4.8%:
Incoming student Math/English scores: 2.92
Incoming students who scored in the lowest third citywide in English: 43.7%
Incoming students who score in the lowest third citywide in Math: 51.8%
District 23 charter schools
Special education students: 14.1%
Highest need special education students: 7.0%
Economic need index: .65
English Language Learners: 2.4%
Incoming student Math/English scores 3.18:
Incoming students who scored in the lowest third citywide in English: 26.9%
Incoming students who score in the lowest third citywide in Math: 20.6%
dianerav | December 3, 2012 at 10:54 pm | Categories: Charter Schools, NYC | URL: http://wp.me/p2odLa-3ce
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This example just shows what is commonly known about charter schools. If you use what I call the “Correction Factor” which allows for charter schools not having to follow most ed code and local regulations, cherry picking parents and students. not dealing with behavioral problems, ESL and special education charter schools really do not do so well. In order to have a real side by side look at their performance the “Correction Factor” must be used. Do not forget to look at the nationwide Stanford Study also. Only 17% of charter schools do better than regular public schools. When the “Correction Factor” is applied they do a lot worse. America is totally corrupt to its core now in all fields education being the most dangerous to be corrupt in for our future and that of our youth. Also, read the DOE OIG recent study on the total failure of charter school accountability in Florida, Arizona and California. This study is ED-OIG/A02L0002. Throw this in their face and see what they do. It works real good I would say from experience.
Even with the cherry picking they still don’t do much better. (My own observation)
Perhaps these reporters are victims of their own NCLB education. It seems that test-prep was the call of the day and critical thinking….oh well.
Yep–happens all the time. Bruce Baker and I (as well as many others) find this repeatedly across the country. Why? One reason is that media corporations have bought into the spin provided by the charter CEOs who travel in the same social network. “Hey–I know this guy personally. I believe what he tells me about his charter company.”
Another reason is that reporters are too lazy, don’t have the time due to supoer-fast/internet-influenced deadlines, or don’t have the capacity to check claims. I’m betting on super-fast deadlines and low-pay creating journalists who are essentially forced to cut corners and are rewarded by bosses for pro-charter stories.
A third reason is that charter folks spend an enormous amount of time and resources (relative to public schools) on spinnig data and meeting with reporters and policiticians. Given that most people have little to no understanding of data or data analysis, a pretty color graph appears rather convincing.
http://fullerlook.wordpress.com/
http://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/
How do we get Bill Moyers to do a special on this? We need a documentary that is shown on major networks that gives examples and specifics with real stories like the failing VAM for the teacher of the year in Florida. Expose the partisan corporate agenda. I can’ take working 80 hours a week and being called a lazy deadwood union thug much longer.
How about a documentary by the AFT (-Randi Weingarten please) to inform the teachers about what is happening. Most of the ones I know are run ragged with APPR and don’t understand that it is part of the conspiracy that is pulling the rug out from under them and the students in public schools.. Where’s Michael Moore when we need him?
Charters have the same advantage that any non-public school has: At the very least, they have parents who have considered their child’s education to the point that they think they need something that the public schools don’t offer. That, in itself, makes a difference.
The Daily News printed pure lies about public education. Here’s an interesting comparison of public schools vs. charters. But we live with media that no longer serve the interests of truth and democracy, but rather have become the propaganda arm of corporations and hedge funds seeking to profit from a privatized school system.
The Detroit newspapers are worthless. They do a poor job of exposing what is going on in charters there. But, you’ll see every negative story there is on DPS. When will it end?