Never doubt that the for-profit sector is ready to close a deal.
Here is the scenario: The results of Common Core assessments set off a panic, as passing rates on tests fall.
Entrepreneurs rush in, selling stuff to schools that have no money.
Schools lay off teachers, social workers, librarians, and guidance counselors, increase class sizes, and shutter programs to buy new stuff.
Works for everyone, no?
That is, except for kids and teachers and education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I said all along, Here come the carpetbaggers again.
Yes, that sums it up! Good for everyone but kids, teachers, and education. Unproven ideas and methods manufactured by those who really don’t understand kids at all will siphon off all the money that was formerly “wasted” on salaries of people who, for the most part, are/were dedicated to children and their education.
There’s a simple word for this: looting.
Greed
No, no, no, don’t you remember Hurrican Katrina? White people don’t “loot”, they “find”.
Yes, that’s about how it is; but mostly because of you, Diane, people are wising up to The Great American School Hustle.
The middle class and higher that live in urban areas often send their children to private schools. Some of them have discovered that some charter schools can replicate the private school experience, except for tuition cost, by screening out “difficult” students. If parents want to send their children to private schools it should be their financial burden and not rely on public funds that further reduce the inadequate resources allocated for public education. Misguided leadership from the President on down has exacerbated the problems in education.
Doesn’t it depend on whether the entrepreneurs create tools and services that improve education? Or is it just bad because they make a profit?
Should public schools operate without the use of any for-profit goods or services? Or just without the use of new ones?
And is Diane an expert on which new goods and services will be ultimately useful?
Are you?
I don’t need to be. I’d leave it to school leaders to make those decisions.
Either you raise a surprisingly naive question, or you want to muddy the waters. Because it is crystal clear that the ed technologies are intended to replace teachers, social workers, speech therapists, and others who support the students. This is the benefit of the technology sale, as Tom Van der Ark will happily tell you. “Ed reform” continues the trend of widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots by creating a two-tier system of public education and by hollowing out another middle class profession — teaching.
Speech Pathologists are protected by 94-142- Sp.Ed law & IDEA.
HOWEVER, whether we work for a Dist. Or Contract Agency is not specified. Example: One of my public schl. Speech only students with a Speech Service IEP transferred to a charter. Parent came to an open house at original Public Schl. & reported child had no speech therapy 4-4 mos. & schl. told her they would re- do the IEP soon. So, they were in violation of not providing service for 4 mos., and now were obviously about to write an exit IEP 6 mos. before current one expired. Child was a mild case and they did not want to foot the therapy bill. Parent could due process the charter but most do not know how or want to do this.
Yes, no, no, no, no!
Satisfied.
Now back to the discussion at hand, which, if you don’t realize what it is then I will be of no help!
Thanks Duane. We agree on the answers, but I guess one of us misunderstood the point of the post. In the very least, we are talking past each other (as it seems I am with Diane as well judging from her reply!).
Ken, schools will always buy goods and services from businesses that make a profit. But in my view, as a historian, there is something wrong with the very idea of for-profit public schools. The public pays taxes to pay teachers’ salaries, to reduce class size, to pay for art and music, not to pay a profit to a school entrepreneur.
Until 20 years ago, there were never for-profit schools in the public sector. Then EAI and Edison started. Neither succeeded.
We became a great nation without for-profit public schools.
Is the article you linked to about for-profit public schools? I thought it was about businesses that sell goods and services to schools.
Perhaps we agree that it could make sense for public schools to buy goods and services from for-profit companies including even modern ed tech companies.
Roy Roberts retired from EM job in Detroit today. Who will Snyder appoint next. Another overpaid puppet.
Diane, this is a little off topic but I read in an article today about Roy Roberts retirement that Roy said that he was told to “Blow the district up.” He claimed that people in Lansing and Detroit told him to do it, not Snyder. I can testify that the district is in smithereens. He claimed that there are many choices in the city now. Next week Duncan is coming to town. Maybe to beam about the blown-up district
Roy Roberts promptly unretired when the expected enormous flack about his ok of transfer of 12 mill. To EAA Charter Schools did not materialize. EAA did not get donations expected & ran out of cash yr. 1.
For-profit goods aren’t bad, but when you start to look at the key players and follow the money, it’s all about making a HUGE buck off public education. “**Jane Swift, a former governor of Massachusetts*** and the **chief operating officer for Middlebury Interactive Languages**, which sells online language courses, said **business can play a significant role** ‘in being one of the catalysts for **our very successful** education reform movement.'” The article itself is made possible by a grant from the Gates Foundation. This isn’t about education, it’s about “reform,” which means “making money.”
I’m sure this is in a Boston Consulting report, entitled something like this: How Corporations Use Elected Officials:
Creating Markets, Manufacturing Demand, Securing Long-Term Flow of Government Funds
In a related way, the mass closing of schools manufactures demand for charters.
School closings force thousands of kids to walk far distances to sit in very large classrooms of 37 students or more. Then when the charter opens up, parents jump at the chance to move their children into smaller classrooms.
But, the very students who need the most help will be shut out even moreso than they are now!
Profits drive “ed reforms”, never the students’ needs. The “reforms” are sure to fail the students in some obvious ways in and some ways not yet obvious to all. But the corporations will not be denied their profits.
Well, when you think of students as “raw materials” that need to be “processed” into “finished products”, it doesn’t make any sense to spend resources on the ones who need the most help. If a company gets defective raw materials, should they waste time trying to improve those materials to be usable, or should they just chuck them (and, preferrably get their money back)?
Now, of course, silly people like teachers might object that children are not raw materials in need of manufacturing, but that’s just because you don’t have the good sense that makes business people successful. That’s why you have to teach instead.
/sarcasm
My point, exactly. Profits drive the reform, not EDUCATION. Money not PEOPLE. Bottom line not HEART. Efficiencies not LOVE.
I didn’t become a teacher to get wealthy. But, I didn’t become a teacher because I couldn’t do
“something better”. I wanted to give back to society, not take from society.
The most hurtful thing that has come out of this “reform” is the recognition that teachers are no longer considered giving … but as moochers … as losers … as inferior. Yes, there are some teachers that aren’t from the “top of their classes” … whatever that really means. But, every single profession has all kinds of people.
We have been manipulated in recent years by people who want to undermine our society in the name of “efficiencies” … disregarding work as we know it, effort as we know it, experience as we know it, wisdom as we know it, nurturing as we know it. The cold, hard, calculated pursuit of saving money by eliminating the “waste” of paying people salaries has taken over.
In a world where the click of a button can make thousands and millions of dollars, hiding transactions behind layers of pass throughs, people who actually have the almost forgotten idea of a “calling” to help others are simply being left behind, trampled in the mud, and ignored. They shrug their cold shoulders and march to their next victim.
Do we have to continue learning NOTHING from the past? Nothing about human needs. Just about a few humans’ wants.
For those who doubt Diane’s analysis, take it from someone working in high-needs urban and working-class suburban communities and school districts: the sales forces are operating at a fever-pitch. Everyone has multiple miracles to sell, just the magic bullets haggard administrators need to turn their “failing” schools around.
Note well, however, that there are systems in place to ensure that there are ALWAYS going to be more failing schools created, and hence more schools either closed to make way for charters (almost certainly of the for-profit sort), or put on one of the school improvement models that require people to be fired, and elaborate plans put into place that cost lots o’ bucks. And naturally, these are generally places that can ill-afford those expenditures, with students who can ill-afford the loss of vital personnel whose jobs get cut because their presence isn’t deemed necessary for pursuing the only thing that matters: higher test scores. Bye-bye art, music, languages, and other electives. Bye-bye, social workers, psychologists, counselors, nurses, etc.
Whether one chooses to believe that all Diane has described and I’ve elaborated upon (with less detail than I would like to offer, but can’t due to respect for privacy) is merely “collateral damage” or see it as a very well-thought out plan to pave the way for the worst sort of looting and pillaging (and a definite sort of raping as well) hardly matters. What does count is the recognition that it’s happening, will continue to happen, and will only happen with greater and greater frequency as long as the current insanity is allowed to go unchecked by good people who know what’s occurring. Teachers and administrators in many of these places are like deer caught in headlights. The burdens being placed upon them are so onerous and unfair that most can’t catch a breath and contemplate fighting back. And yet fighting back is their only long-term hope for survival and integrity. If not now, when? If not us, who?
It is occurring in almost all areas of the workforce. There are tech driven and profit driven motives to turn over every aspect of “life as it was” by undermining whatever possible and “selling” their “data” to those who aren’t able to question it. It is easier to get rid of the old and rush in the new. Collateral damage doesn’t seem to matter. Profits matter. Profits for those who don’t even do the work.
This from the Mackinac center. Too good to be true, I suppose, eh?
Introducing a New School and Leader for Detroit
By Tom Watkins, former Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction
There is nothing that gives greater joy to parents and dread to children than knowing summer vacation is over and a new school year is about to begin.
In Detroit this year, parents and students both are going to be faced with more school choices than ever before when it comes to attending school.
There are conventional Detroit Public schools, charter public schools that were formerly DPS schools, charter public schools operated by other entities, Education Achievement Authority schools and other private and religious schools to pick from.
Choice is a positive thing. Yet, how to choose a school and what school to choose are major decisions for parents and students alike. And making the right choice is important: A solid education provides the strong foundation upon which quality lives can be built.
A school can be selected on proximity to home and strong academic record. Often, a safe and nurturing environment can be as much of a factor as the number of students admitted to college from that school or word-of-mouth reviews.
Schools and Leaders Matter
Our public schools (charter, conventional, blended learning or online learning) can be viewed as the true Statue of Liberty in our great country. Our schools take the tired, the hungry and the poor, as well as children who speak English as a second language and those with disabilities, to give them hope and opportunities. Our great educators are the torch, lighting the way for us all.
In selecting a school for your child, I highly recommend you review the qualifications of its teachers, but also be sure to look at the school’s leaders.
There is one creative, innovative school leader who has forsaken a comfortable and secure suburban school district for one that might create a new learning option in Detroit. His name is Shannon Smith.
Smith is the school director of perhaps the most cutting edge learning environment in Michigan, the WAY Academy (Widening Advancement for Youth), a school chartered by Lake Superior State University.
Smith has 13 years of experience in education. Prior to accepting the position with the Way Academy, he served as a founder, educator and administrator at Westwood New Tech High School. He is a transformational educational leader who is dissatisfied with the present learning opportunities for children, and has a clear vision for how things should be.
Smith will tell you that the purpose of education is to unlock human potential. He believes this is accomplished through hands-on learning experiences that develop only critical thinkers and engaged citizens.
He is enthused about the opportunity to place teaching, learning and students above all else.
I have known Smith for several years and know that he wants what is best for all children. His measuring stick for quality is what he would want for his own child. He is an open, direct and accountable educational administrator.
Perhaps, Smith’s greatest accomplishment has been the cultivation of the seeds of greatness in every student he has the opportunity to serve.
Smith will lead the WAY Academy, a new public charter high school that opened last fall in southwest Detroit.
So, what is so new, revolutionary and exciting about WAY?
WAY Academy hopes to provide children with a world-class education so they are prepared with the tools for success after graduating with a high school diploma. This blended, global learning model encourages positive self-esteem, academic excellence and lifelong learning for young people.
The WAY Academy is a place where every student is provided with personalized, student-centered learning, unique in-school and online/computer environments, as well as 24/7 live access to educators year-round. Each student is given an Apple computer to assist with their learning.
Yes, you read correctly — an Apple Computer placed in each student’s home with access to teachers 24/7 for more than 300 days per year.
The WAY program was founded by Beth Baker and Glen Taylor, who serve as the co-executive directors and serve another 1,400 children through contracts with local and intermediate school districts across the state.
So, if you are searching for the best educational learning environment for your child, do your homework to seek out the best.
It is not buildings that educate children — it is quality teachers and great leaders who accomplish this.
We need to get past the ideological battles between conventional public schools, charters, blended learning and online. We all need to understand the only adjective that matters before the word “school” is quality.
There is a new WAY of learning.
For more information on the WAY Academy call (313) 444-9292 or go to the website http://www.wayprogram.net.
#####
Tom Watkins is a former state superintendent of schools and state mental health director for the state of Michigan. He is a U.S./China educational consultant and can be reached at tdwatkins88@gmail.com.
Harlan you should interview teachers who have worked in the EAA. It is not an acceptable education. What has happened there is a sham. The choices now are worse than ever. Charters with no libraries, fine arts, theatre, and not enough supplies or technology. Terrible.
I hear the choir of angels in the background.
“Choice is a positive thing.”
Bamboo under the finger nails, electro-shocks to the genitals or waterboarding, your choice.
There’s educational deformer choice (as you’ve suggested), and then there’s real choice. People in high-needs, poverty-stricken communities are rarely, if ever, offered real, meaningful choice when it comes to education or anything else. Certainly not the sorts of choices that well-to-do people are able to select from when it comes to educating their kids or getting them well-prepared for school. See http://nyti.ms/14KTUIz from the 4/29/13 NY TIMES for an excellent analysis of the reality of what’s causing the gaps everyone speaks about but few really get. It isn’t your local public school that’s to blame.
The hedge fund manager’s take on “fixing” education. He sits on top of the education food chain.
And no honest individual would ever claim that the insane over testing is useful to administrators and beneficial to students. It is very harmful to both.
The truth is the textbook companies are deathly afraid of the “disruptive technology” that will put 75 pounds of textbooks into a 12 ounce iPad.
So they will replace one set of dying ed products with a never-ending rotation of tests and databases.
And there must be a gentlemen’s agreement between Silicon Valley and the Textbook companies that keeps the Valley sharks from eating their product line.
This is Dr. Seuss’ story The Sneetches, through and through!
Another manufactured crisis–crazier Common Core Tests, harder to pass–so our kids aren’t doing well–close schools, fire teachers. NEVER let a crisis (even a manufactured one!) go to waste! “Katrina was the best thing to ever happen to New Orleans schools.” Wag the Dog! Rather than a “fad-to-fad” education system, we now have a buy-&-sell education system.
For a look at the sort of marketing of magic bullets that goes on now daily, check the feeds from Ed Week, ASCD, and my new favorite, DA Web Seminars.
I have foolishly spent time sitting in on a couple of sessions from the latter. They offer what always sounds in the descriptions like what might be useful insights into issues like getting teachers, students, schools, SOMETHING OR SOMEONE, ready for the Common Core, the coming assessments from the big testing consortia, and so forth. Granted, these aren’t REALLY things I care about as a mathematics educator, teacher, coach, consultant, etc. But some of my clients care deeply, so I try to stay informed on the outside chance I’ll bump into some information that is actually germane.
What in fact happens at DA webinars is a virtually non-stop pitch by one or two companies for their services and products. Period. If the ostensible topic is directly touched upon without mentioning what’s being sold, it’s sheer coincidence. I took one a week or so ago. Since then, though I found it useless and dull once I realized that it was a pitch for some miraculous math program on the computer of which I was already aware, I’ve received follow-up e-mails AND a phone message from a company shill who is going to be in my area next week and would like to meet with me. Imagine how less eager he’d be to set that up if he were clear that I’m holding no purse strings. But then, I have the ear of a few people that do, and I have been known to recommend things I’ve actually used and found of unusually high value for teachers and students. So maybe taking me to lunch would be well-worth it to the average salesperson. I suppose if I were in a position of greater “power,” I could get flown to some conferences, too.
I hate what’s going on with a passion, not that it’s entirely new. But this is the first time, as far as I know, that the corporations have been allowed to directly create a phony crisis, set all the rules for how things will be measured, and THEN start turning up the pressure for all their so-called solutions.
I believe the story can best be understood reading it from the bottom to the top.
“Coverage of the education industry and K-12 innovation is supported in part by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.”