Gene V. Glass, distinguished professor of research at Arizona State University, forwarded this story to me. He posted it on his blog in 2014. I am just getting around to posting it now. The story is as current now as it was then. It is terrifying, in fact.
Some charter schools are pressure cookers. Some take the “no excuses” idea to an extreme. The mother in this post tells what happened to her son at the BASIS school in San Antonio. He couldn’t live up to their expectations. They were trying to mold him, pummel him, compel him to measure up. He cracked. No excuses.
Start with the education:
The Education
Our son is a 6th grade student. His education at BASIS included Chemistry, Physics, Algebra, Art History, World History, Biology, Physical Education. Every night starting the first day of school, he was assigned between 3-5 hours worth of homework. Throughout the school year, he gave up all extracurricular activities in order to complete the homework requirements. By the end of the school year, he would come home at 4 pm, open his books and go to bed at 9 pm only stopping to eat dinner. If he did not have his homework completed 100% by the next school day, he would receive a zero on the homework assignment. The homework assignments and projects were also required on Saturday and Sunday.
Read the story. It is gripping and very sad. Also frightening.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’m sorry to blame the victim, but this is what happens when the focus is relentlessly and only on academic “success”. If you care about your child as a whole person, you realize very quickly that 3-5 hours of homework a night is abusive. You notice personality changes, signs of depression and PTSD. Hell, you get your kid out when he’s found unresponsive under the urinals. Yet they left him there for nearly a year because they bought into society’s notion of “meritocracy”. Sad.
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There is quite a bit of research that indicates homework has little academic impact before upper middle school and high school and only limited Impact then. I guess the Basis Schools are creating their own research out of whole cloth to meet the ‘research based instruction’ requirement of NCLB?
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Oh what a horror story! I just cry at such inhumane treatment of our children! It is criminal! They put people in jail for abusing animals; for sure they should be jailed for abusing children. Where do they find such insensitive supposedly human beings! Don’t they have a conscience? They are not educators – educators are caring people and know the students’ limits. True educators follow their conscience and ignore the directives of their boss carrying a horse-whip. Who wants to work for a regime who is destroying our children?!
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The same thing happened to my daughter in a public school…not sure that this is unique to charters. The administrator and Superintendent who allowed it in the public school was just as much at fault as the teacher who assigned the excessive homework with a zero if not fully completed.
Bad teachers/administrators are bad teachers/administrators and good teachers/administrators are good teachers/administrators no matter where they work.
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But yet the City of Phoenix buys into this by offering this: http://www.examiner.com/article/phoenix-mayor-to-vote-for-over-100-000-000-tax-free-bonding-for-charter-schools
Basis is one of the charters that will benefit from this. When are people in this state going to wake up and see what most charters are doing to our children? I am disgusted by what is happening in the city and at the legislature. I love the beauty and weather of the state. I also have many good friends here, but I am so disappointed in all of this.
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NCLB, RTTT, and all the Common Core Crap supported by Bill Gates, Arne Duncan, Jeb Bush, Cuomo and President Obama leads to ECLB or Every Childhood Left Behind.
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ENRCLB.. Every not rich child left behind
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LOL
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I really would like to hear from some other credible sources about the BASIS program. Why would any parent leave their child in a program that is obviously mismanaged and dangerous for children. While I am not in favor of this over the top academic model, this story is a little hard to believe. Why would any parent choose to subject a child to such a program as the one described here?
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2old2teach, here is a first-hand description of BASIS by a current parent whose child has done well there: https://dianeravitch.net/2015/02/13/arizona-charter-school-parent-tells-all-about-basis/
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I remember reading that post. Perhaps it is why I questioned the veracity of this post which paints students, parents, teachers, and administrators as cruel and incompetent save for one administrator. While I do not support charters that function outside the public school system for many reasons, I just cannot swallow this story that appears to be disparate from other critical comments on BASIS.
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My son is in the 11th grade and has been attending one of the BASIS schools for 3 years. He participates in multiple sports / clubs and still has time to do his homework of about 2 hours / day. We have found the BASIS teachers to be excellent, helpful and accomodating. My guess is that the student in the story simply lacked disciplined study skills. Part of the BASIS model is that students can’t coast without doing the work but the commitment is far from extreme.
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Diane, you say:
Read the story. It is gripping and very sad. Also frightening
Too bad you don’t know the story of my daughters’ Washington D.C. Public Charter school. It’s a gripping story of academic excellence, the excitement of learning, and how diversity works. Get off your anti-charter school kick. Inform yourself.
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Robert, there are all kinds of charter schools. Some are awful; some are run by high school dropouts; some are good. That is the nature of deregulation.
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And the name of the school is…?
Unsupported assertions mean nothing unless the rest of us can look at the data and facts for ourselves.
😎
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Funny you say “Public Charter school” but you smack anti-charter school kick. Fancy use of wordplay.
As long as school is organized by non-education professionals, charters are nothing more than non-accredited schools managed by private institutions.
Forget it.
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Frank Engle stated, “ …not sure that this is unique to charters…” You are so right, Frank. Homework was always a thorn in my side causing so much tension and that was before CC appeared on the scene. I am sure I am not the only parent who maintains that if homework is given out it must be tailored to the students needs. Some children don’t have the atmosphere at home for study. Some don’t even have the necessary tools to do their homework. Some students do not need the reinforcement and others don’t understand the assignment. Furthermore, what teacher has that time to tailor their assignments? What teacher has the time to correct all that homework without infringing upon her personal time and often the time for her/his family.
Face it, tailoring is not going to happen. My conclusion: don’t give homework except that of reading – especially for pleasure. Secondly when students have more than one teacher it behooves the teachers to plan together and decide who is going to give home work for a specific evening. Five teachers giving homework each evening is very problematic. Former colleagues would complain about the heavy burden and would speak to the teachers and administrators to no avail. If they don’t listen to a teacher in the district for sure they won’t listen to a parent. After a reasonable amount of time spent on homework I sent my children to bed; my husband and I finished it for them. Our children wouldn’t go to school without their homework being finished: they couldn’t face the consequences. Once one of my sons was facing summer school if he didn’t do his homework. We knew that would be the end of the formal classroom for him so we attempted to do it for him. We managed to do everything but a lab report; we were stumped. The next morning we told him that we couldn’t complete his lab report. As he was crawling out of bed he immediately told us the procedure and answer. The point beginning: he didn’t need that homework/busy work, he already understood the concept.
Reading every night is a must. Let that be their homework. As Dr.Carmelita Williams former president of the NRA stated: You do not have to read every night – just on the nights you eat.”
The Commission on Reading in a Nation of Readers stated: “The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children. ”
Most homework is a waste of time – time that could be better used doing interesting and intriguing work or reading of their choice especially with their parents for younger children. Students need time to pursue other interests: sports, music, art, sharing… When students are burdened with homework it clouds their thinking. They get discouraged.
Homework in some homes causes so much tension almost to a point of causing a divorce. As a parent I resent superintendent, principals, and teachers infringing on my rights as a parent to decide how I want to spend my evenings with my children. In some districts the superintendent decides how much time should be allowed for homework. Teachers who are not married often do not realize the burden they are placing on our children and the tension it causes in the home. Then there is the teacher who appears to get notoriety for her students’ outstanding accomplishments. How does that type of teacher accomplish such a daunting task? He/she expects the parents help teach the children/students at home. But if the parents can not carry that burden, their child suffers.
Everything in moderation, please. I contend, over burden the students’ memory and they will blow a fuse. Force them to work on a frustration level and they will forget what they once knew.
Chris in Florida, “There is quite a bit of research that indicates homework has little academic impact before upper middle school and high school and only limited Impact then…”
Chris is so right! Here are a few papers: The Homework Myth by Alfie Kohn http://www.alfiekohn.org/homework-improve-learning/
Homework: An unnecessary evil? … Surprising findings from new research Valerie Strauss
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/11/26/homework-an-unnecessary-evil-surprising-findings-from-new-research/
Stop Homework/The Toronto Homework Policy after two Years http://stophomework.com/the-toronto-homework-policy-after-two-years-one-parents-perspective-part-
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