Sarah Darer Littman watches in wonder as the Gates Foundation uses its billions to reorganize public education in Connecticut.
Their goal: more Achievement First charters, regardless of their high suspension rates for children in kindergarten and their poor record relating to students with disabilities.
Gates wants close collaboration with AF and other “high performing” charters. It wants them to be treated equitably, as if the generous support of Connecticut’s equity investors was not enough of a cushion.
What do they want? A dual school system of regulated public schools and unregulated charters, free to exclude, expel, or suspend any child?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Read more about the Achievement First practices here, a place where you get “the culture you need” in the reorientation room:
After not completing his homework, Cochrane’s client “B” was disciplined. After putting his head down on his desk in class after he fell behind with no help from the school, he was again disciplined.
The problem, his lawyer said, is that the homework was not modified to accommodate his special education needs, as required by his education plan.
“B grew increasingly anxious and depressed over the difficulty of work at [Achievement First], and the constant fear of earning demerits,” the complaint reads.
This student was subsequently suspended for multiple days and failed every one of his classes during the 2011-12 school year.
The complaint details four other instances of similar “discriminatory practices” involving other students at the middle school.
Achievement First’s discipline policies are based on the use of “demerits” and pulling students out of class into “Isolation” or suspending students from school for nonviolent, non-safety-related issues.
The network’s School Culture Manual reads, “We trust your gut, better to refer than to ignore. If unsure, please refer. If in doubt, send them out.”
The complaint says that once a student is pulled out of class into “isolation,” there is no proof that any instruction is provided. State law significantly limits when school officials are able to suspend students from school, and the lawyers at Greater Hartford Legal Aid think the charter schools rely too heavily on this method of discipline.
http://www.ctmirror.org/story/state-education-board-review-achievement-firsts-discipline-policies
See more here. A strategy employed by Achievement First is to isolate the special Ed. Student and force him to wear a white shirt. This is a signal to all to not associate with the ostracized student.
And Gates has selected this charter management company as an example of “high performing”?
Johanna Rodriguez, whose eighth-grade son was included in the civil rights complaint, said her son was suspended and at home for most of last year, while this year she said he was suspended in school most of the time in a room set aside for students who are removed from class because of a behavior issue.
For lesser offenses, he was given “re-orientation” where he could remain in class, but had to wear a white shirt and other students were not allowed to talk to him.
Rodriguez said she got called “just about every day” and told that her son was being removed from class because he had been fidgeting or not promptly carrying out directions or talking to himself or humming in class.
She said her son has a variety of disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other problem behaviors. She said she warned Achievement First before her son enrolled in the sixth grade. “I told them he’s a handful,” Rodriguez said. She said she asked “Are you sure you can handle him?”
Over the past two years, she said, the academy had promised special accommodations for her son in various ways but didn’t follow through.
According to the complaint filed by the Greater Hartford Legal Aid, Achievement First has a “no excuses” philosophy that says, “We must refuse to make excuses for our students because of their prior education, their family situation, their community, or other potential excuses.”
http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-achievement-first-settlement-0611-20130610,0,6932863.story
Linda, do you really think Gates has any clue what is a good school? He doesn’t talk to people with real education experience. The school you’ve described sounds awful. Who in their right mind would promote this or allow it to operate. It just shows how one person with tons of money can go around America and bully everyone.
No he hasn’t a clue about teaching, learning, child development and many other education related topics. He just has a never ending supply of money and ego, which results in power. The bloviating billionaire buffoon is clueless. Who will tell him?
And one more …read the op-Ed by Dacia Toll. Here she starts out by telling the readers it has been a rough few days for her….aren’t they all about DATA?
Didn’t they already know, prior to the public release of this DATA and the resulting embarrassment, that they were suspending students at high rates, including special education students?
And the solution, after school and Saturday instruction for these students ….as compared to having qualified, certified special education teachers, behavior specialists and proper supports during the day, which would cost more money.
Remember their mantra: every child deserves a great teacher, this is the civil rights issue of our time, and our schools are failing.
H E L L O
By DOUG MCCURRY AND DACIA TOLL | OP-ED
The Hartford Courant
June 16, 2013
Achievement First had an important wake-up call last week when a state report included several of our public charter schools because of their high suspension rates — posing a direct challenge to our promise to provide an excellent education to all our students. The last few days have been tough as we work to reconcile our values and our practices. We recognize that our suspension numbers are simply too high, and we are committed to significantly reducing the numbers.
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/hc-op-mccurry-achievement-first-suspensions-target-20130616,0,2041591.story
“Our dean of students will receive additional training about proper suspensions, blah blah blah.” What a bunch of bs spin. I have no doubt the dean of students was suspending people the way the management wanted them to suspend people. The dean was just following the orders from the upper management. I really don’t understand how schools like this become promoted as some sort of solution to education issues in urban areas. It is very oppressive.
Our state commission, Stefan Pryor, a lawyer, created this charter management chain with Dacia Toll. He is the “education leader” in Connecticut.
Very good article. You beat Gates and crew with facts such as the 10 year failed and $1 billion boondoggle “Small Schools.” They sold Villaraigosa on that failed concept and now they are changing due to the total failures. Since Mayor Villaraigosa’s, King Tony’s, PLAS took over schools as a charter organization the API scores/year gains are now 1/2 of before PLAS took over except at two schools. Total failure. They have broken every part of their legal MOU and Matrix and yet LAUSD reapproved them months early as they knew we had them legally. This is how total corruption and the Gates, Broad and Walton road show are losers in reality.
Sarah Darer Littman’s fact-filled commentary about Achievement First’s “methods” and the Gates money that funds its charters in Hartford appeared on CTNewsjunky, with prominent ads next to her column from ConnCan showing photos of a cute elementary-age student wearing scrubs with a logo above For “a Better Connecticut.” I clicked on it and it was ConnCan cheering Gov. Malloy & the Legislature for passing wonderful education reforms. I hope Sarah’s words got more attention than the ad adjacent hyping Charters and their supposed “quality education.”
Agree on you! Fine point of view