This comment is a response to an earlier post about an unscrupulous charter operator who continues to get new charters, despite his history of failure.
This teacher writes:
“I’ve lived this nightmare. I was a teacher at Techworld Public Charter School in DC back in the early 2000s. We had an incredibly dedicated staff of mostly young teachers, an innovative plan to integrate technology into a rigorous curriculum, and kids who wanted to learn. We also had corrupt adults behind the scenes who led the school into scandal and financial ruin. It ended badly, despite the teachers’ best efforts.
“The real problem is that it SOUNDS great to have a school unfettered by oversight and district administration. But without that layer of local administration and oversight, unscrupulous businessmen can rob the school blind and building administrators can quickly get in over their heads.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yes, some people are corrupt. Some are incompetent. Of course, this never happens in school districts.
Yes, please defend your charter schools as always, but you never arrive to defend the public schools despite your rhetoric. Same old Joe.
Actually, I said there’s a lot to learn from district as well as charters on another part of this discussion board earlier today (and was attacked for that).
Joe, perhaps you wouldn’t be “attacked” if you would respond to the direct point of the post: charter schools need oversight and checks and balances to prevent corrupt people from taking advantage of taxpayers, children, and teachers, just like district public schools.
Do you have an opinion on that? Using the old “but she did it too!” argument is not the kind of substantive argument I’ve come to expect from you.
While I do not oppose charter schools outright I have seen so much corruption, waste, and loss here in Florida and it has been challenging to see charters exempted from the accountability that my public school is subject to regarding finances, testing, and governmental mandates. The state legislature has begun moving toward more accountability for charters and I am grateful for that.
Chris, you know more about Florida than I do. Yes unquestionably there have been problems with some charters there and elsewhere.
Yes, I agree that charters need oversight. As you put it, “charter schools need oversight and checks and balances to prevent corrupt people from taking advantage of taxpayers, children, and teachers, just like district public schools.”
Agreed
Joe, the people who fund you will either never allow real oversight of charter schools, or will move on to other vehicles of attacking public education if oversight is put in place. Your comments over the past months show that either you are unaware of this, or you are being duplicitous.
In either case, your opinion transacts at an extremely high discount.
Michael – we have a vast array of funders, some of who disagree with each other. And we disagree with some things some of our funders promote (like vouchers).
We’ve also worked closely with teacher unions in several places – including Cincinnati and St. Paul.
Here’s a link to a column for the Minneapolis paper that I wrote, praising the Cincinnati Public schools, teachers and the Cincy Federation of Teachers. I wrote a similar, longer column for Education Week.
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/11150746.html
This work with Cincinnati district high schools, which has been widely discussed, was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It involved a considerable amount of respect for, and empowerment of classroom teachers. It also involved having the union at the table, helping to plan and carry out the small schools within schools initiative.
Of course people can dismiss or discount the views of anyone they wish, or any funder they wish. I’ve learned a lot here, including from people with whom I sometimes disagree.
In public schools, the issues are front page news for months.
Yes, of course it happens in school districts. That’s why it’s important to have oversight.
Agreed, Linda. I was being satirical with the last sentence but this often does not come across clearly via email.
It happens, obviously everywhere, but with NO regulations in charters, its truly “Shooting ducks in a barrel.” We ALL are seeing the devastating results of regulations, if they exist, being comedy material for the corporate cronies who rape and pillage with no fear of consequence. It’s gotten so foul that the BANKERS are writing their own rules!!
This morning I made a RARE visit to cable “News.” MSNBC had a piece that depicted the Star Chamber courtroom of the Bradley Manning trial. It was bristling with fully armored soldiers who had the “Brass” to look over the shoulders of the audience to make SURE no one was doing any form of reporting…gotta love that “Freedom of the Press” bygone law!
Then the program’s sponsor had their turn…TEACH FOR AMERICA was a Hollywood quality ad, complete with EARLY 20 something, photogenic “teachers” and students I’d bet were direct from Central Casting! It was about as far from reality as Florida is from extending voters rights! Must have cost a sweet sum for the production and air time. Just goes to show that while the guinea pig, well meaning “teachers” have slave labor pay, no benefits and only 5 weeks of “prep” time, such realities will never become public knowledge!
Big news breaking in Florida and why Bennett changed the rubric for school report cards…. to protect a charter run by a big Republican donor. Once again, proving why we need stronger standards, regulations and oversight of charters!! So once again tax payers are lining the pockets of these frauds.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/07/29/us/ap-us-indiana-school-grades.html?pagewanted=1&hp
Interesting NYT doesn’t allow comments for this article. He should resign in Florida, yes?
I’ve wracked my brain to figure out what a charter school teacher can do in a classroom that I can’t. I stay on top of the latest education ideas (fads), I have freedom to teach the way I see fit, so why can’t I get those scores up? Oh yeah, I teach in a title one.
Charter schools are creaming the better students and more motivated parents. Their is something undemocratic about that. That’s not what this country is about.
I also taught in a Title 1 school. We did NOT have the freedom to teach the way we wanted. It was dictated to us HOW to teach. With the implementation of CCSS new tests were given. Scores will be back this fall. The results will be very interesting.
Ms Dee and 7th grade teacher make good points. In some schools, educators are “free to teach,” to choose their own curriculum, materials and teaching strategies. In others there are not.
There is not a generic district school philosophy or teaching environment. Same is true of charters. They vary widely. Chartering is something like freedom of speech. People use it in a vast array of ways. Some use it wisely, Some use it poorly. Same can be said of district public schools.
My entire career has been in Title I schools.
I have watched as my last 2 schools slipped from a “B’ to a “C” to a “D” and finally, for the past year, to an “F” due to the state raising the bar higher and higher every year.
As the grade slips down the freedom in the classroom evaporates. Florida requires “failing” schools to follow a strict regimen of lesson planning, lesson delivery, and assessment alongside constant “data meetings” and elimination of anything not supportive of raising test scores.
The funny thing is, my district had a mandated curriculum in place during these years that the grades were slipping down, year after year. We were required to follow a curriculum map and every teacher had to be on the same page on the same day at the same time using the prescribed textbooks. No deviation was allowed and those who tried were humiliated and punished.
Even though we had no say in what we taught, how it was taught, and how we could react to student needs, we were held accountable for the results, instead of the district curriculum and its enforcers.
After much turmoil in my district we were allowed more leeway last year as we launched the new CCSS curriculum literally only days behind it being written and distributed by the district.
We hired a new Superintendent mid-year and he hired a new Asst. Superintendent who he assigned oversight of instruction for the whole district.
We have not been told what changed will be made starting in a couple of weeks for the new school year; I guess we’ll find out a few days before school starts.
Whether the changes are better or worse the hardest part of this whole process has been being forced to do things dropped down from on high with no input and no room for professional expertise at the same time a new VAM-based teacher evaluation system was put in place which will determine whether we keep a job and our very teaching certificate.
Asking charter schools to be held accountable for finances and outcomes seems like a small ask under these circumstances yet I see that Eva Moskowitz in NYC is suing to prevent the city comptroller from auditing her charter school network’s books and other such charter exceptions being championed.
Not a level playing field at all, is it?
Well, it looks like Tony Bennett might have been caught jiggering a charter school grade in Indiana to support his reform program:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-exclusive-gop-donors-school-grade-changed-19807123
His position as chief of Jeb! Bush’s Chiefs for Change, his position as Florida’s Commissioner of Education, and his credibility as spokesman for Florida’s School Grade program during the current fiasco over changing the criteria for around the 30th time in a year are all up for intense scrutiny.
This should prove to be interesting.
Also on the charter school front…emails show current Florida Secretary of Education Tony Bennett scrambled to change a GOP donor’s charter school grade from a C to an A in Indiana. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20130729/WIRE/130729603?p=1&tc=pg
How did Florida come to hire Tony Bennet anyway? It even made Alabama news that Indiana had had enough of him. One of those “Good Ole Boys” connections perhaps?
There’s a Jeb Bush connection. Also, Jonathan Hage, CEO of Charter Schools USA, donated to Bennett’s campaign in Indiana. CSUSA is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. Hage has been influential in Tallahassee. This page explains in more detail and provides links. https://bobsidlethoughtsandmusings.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/jonathan-hages-selective-memory-of-charter-schools-usa-indianapolis-venture/