The mother of the girl in the infamous Success Academy video told the New York Times that she withdrew her daughter as soon as she saw the video.
“In two lengthy interviews, she said that she did not know what was happening in her daughter’s classroom before she saw the video. She said that she was so upset by what she saw — and by the network’s rush to rally around Ms. Dial, while showing little concern for her daughter or other students — that she took the girl out of the school in late January.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
LikeLike
*** MORE SUCH VIDEOS ARE COMING ***
————————
“If we want to truly reform education in the United States, we must fundamentally reform how we train America’s teachers. Innovative approaches like those employed by small organizations such as Success Academy to create better teacher training programs should be viewed as a model for achieving this important goal.”
— EVA MOSKOWITZ, writing for THE 74
at:
https://www.the74million.org/article/eva-moskowitz-student-performance-is-a-mirror
————–
“Innovative approaches”? Oh, you mean like THIS?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2MHDOiT8Ak
This news coverage BELOW is good because the reporter says he talked, off-camera, to the teacher’s aide who shot the the video. She told him that the reason she recorded the teacher’s behavior was that what was recorded was not, as Eva and the supportive parents claim, just “an anomaly.”
And she has more proof to back up that claim.
( 01:18 – 1:30)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2e39Ybn2XI
( 01:18 – 1:30)
REPORTER: “The video was recorded be an assistant teacher who told Pix 11 News that she was tired of seeing it was because she was tired of seeing this kind of behavior by Ms. Dial every time there was a ‘Numbers Stories’ exercise.”
Now, here’s the mind-blowing kicker at the end of this news report. The teachers’ aide says she’s got more videos showing abusive behavior at Success Academy:
( 03:57 – 4:21)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2e39Ybn2XI
( 03:57 – 4:21)
REPORTER: “The (assistant) teacher who recorded that video surre – tiously… sur-REP-titiously has told Pix 11 that that (video) is not the ONLY video. She has OTHER videos that show that this was typical behavior in that classroom, again, with the teacher that has been touted as being ‘exemplary’ for other Success Academy teachers.”
LikeLike
Here is one of the biggest problems. The girl’s mother said that the girl was in public school for kindergarten, but the mother felt like she wasn’t getting a good education because ““I felt that she was doing more drawing than actually learning,” she said.” How can we get across the message to parents that drawing (and all other forms of playing) is exactly what kindergartners *should* be doing? Being white, I find it especially difficult to talk to parents of color about this because it comes across like I don’t want their kids to get a good education. They simply won’t accept, especially from a white woman, that academics at that age is not “good education”. If minority parents more widely understood that playing is the best education for young children (and even older ones too, but I digress), places like SA would fold under their own weight.
LikeLike
Younger parents here have really internalized the ed reform message that their children are “falling behind” if they’re not doing reading and math drills in kindergarten. They want to see papers- worksheets- and scores or they believe the teacher isn’t “doing their job”. The rhetoric really tracks the ed reform “movement”, which isn’t surprising since they’re literally the only people who are ever heard.
It’s really disturbing to see the kind of “Michelle Rhee” effect, because to me so much of it fear-based. It’s anxious and negative, not positive.
LikeLike
An excellent description: We have all been suffering mightily from the “Michelle Rhee” effect. Remember all those Time magazine covers? So much rhetoric about lazy, selfish teachers not teaching kids.
LikeLike
The education section of Michael Moore’s new doc Where to Invade Next gives a very good overview of education in Finland. American parents of all backgrounds would benefit from watching that clip.
I hope Michael Moore will release segments of the film online once the theatrical run is done.
LikeLike
Dienne and Chiara:
I posted this once before. Your excellent comments prompt me to repeat:
[start]
TEN QUOTES ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY
“Play is the work of the child.” – Maria Montessori
“Play is the highest form of research.” – Albert Einstein
“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.” – Mr. Rogers
“The playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery.” – Erik H. Erikson
“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” – O. Fred Donaldson
“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.” – Carl Jung
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” – George Bernard Shaw
“Do not keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play.” – Plato
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” – Fred Rogers
[end]
Link: http://oneperfectdayblog.net/2013/02/21/quotes-about-the-importance-of-play/
And for the rheephorm-minded that can never get enough of their no-excuses drill-to-kill routines shoved down the throats of children, here’s just one example of what the heavyweights and shot callers of the self-styled “education reform” movement ensure that their children are subjected to:
“The Laboratory Schools are home to the youngest members of the University of Chicago’s academic community. We ignite and nurture an enduring spirit of scholarship, curiosity, creativity, and confidence. We value learning experientially, exhibiting kindness, and honoring diversity.”
That’s the Mission Statement of the U of Chicago Lab Schools.
😎
LikeLike
Did you also notice that the mother said that Success Academy gave a “placement exam” to an incoming first grade student and told her she couldn’t enter their school unless she repeated Kindergarten again? Since when are charter schools allowed to test children who win the lottery before school begins and tell them they are barred from coming if they want to enter their age-appropriate grade? I realize that leaves every spot in an older grade open for the high performers, but really, this is allowed?
If Success Academy is filling every single open seat in 2nd and 3rd grade ONLY with children who pass whatever placement test the charter school feels like giving them to ascertain their worthiness, is it any wonder that their test scores are so high? How do they get away with that? Does the SUNY Charter Institute have any oversight as to what is on this so-called “placement exam” for 6 year olds that sounds like an ideal method to discourage the kids you don’t want from coming? And why does this sound remarkably like those “literacy tests” in the Jim Crow era where not very bright board of election officials would pick and choose which voters had to pass?
Can you imagine what this “placement exam” is for kids who enter in 3rd grade when they are soon to be tested? No wonder there are such high attrition rates for the students who enter in Kindergarten (and thus can’t be tested) when there is a wonderful system in place to replace them with older children who must pass a test requiring whatever skills Success Academy deems necessary if they want to join 3rd grade.
LikeLike
@NYC public school parent
Parents may “win” the SA lottery, but the choosiest schools choose their students and families, not the other way around. Nadya Miranda and her little girl may not have fit the prototype for “success” at SA and one manner to winnow out those children is to undermine their and their parents self worth by using a test to demonstrate they are sub-par. Insisting that a child take a seat in a grade already completed has a double impact. One, it reinforces the notion that “regular” public schools are inferior (all that coloring and playing!). Two, it magnifies the gratefulness one must feel to be able to prostrate one’s self and submit to the new regime.
If the unworthy child can’t conform to ridiculous expectations, they can always go elsewhere. That’s what choice means.
LikeLike
I wonder how many of the students in the low-income Success Academy schools are told they must repeat grades or leave? If someone were to look closely at those sky high test scores at some of Success Academy’s high poverty schools, would 1/2 of the 3rd graders be over age? Even more? How many of the students achieving those sky high test scores were randomly selected at Kindergarten, and how many were “tested in” when they passed a placement test that allowed them to enter an older grade?
No researcher worth his salt would use a control group of children without having any idea whether they had been at the school for one year, or five years. Are most of those high-achieving 3rd grade students the students who entered in Kindergarten and moved along with their cohort to 3rd grade? Did half disappear and half come in later after scoring high enough on the “placement” test to satisfy Success Academy administrators who “allowed” them to join their appropriate grade? And how many of those 3rd graders should be in older graders but were held back once or twice because Success Academy found that a shockingly high percentage of children who started in Kindergarten needed one or two extra years spent in 1st or 2nd grade before being ready for 3rd grade testing?
If Success Academy’s real purpose was to help all students learn, the answers to these questions would not be treated as if they were state secrets. If 30% or 40% of the at-risk kids need an extra year to cover what the common core curriculum requires of 2nd graders, why not make that clear to the public? Public education isn’t a zero sum game where a charter operator can only “win” if a public school loses. Public education is in service of ALL students and if a charter school really is having miraculous results, they would happily provide all of that information.
When will the SUNY Charter Institute realize that they have enabled and encouraged the practices that victimized a young girl at Success Academy because they refused to look closely at why one charter school with sky high suspension and attrition rates of very young at-risk students has test scores that no other charter school can match?
LikeLike
So true. It’s a hard subject to talk about without sounding racist.
But it’s true.
LikeLike
“Seeking to hold someone accountable for what happened to her daughter, Ms. Miranda went into a Department of Education building in Brooklyn to ask about filing a complaint, but was told that Success was independent from the school district. She said that Ms. Nicholls, the principal, had given her information about how to reach Success’s board of trustees, and that she had sent a letter, but she was not optimistic that she would get a response.”
Seems like a big hole in the “governance” scheme ed reformers have designed.
I know public entities aren’t always responsive but at least we have someone to contact and a process. She’s supposed to petition this private board? How? Success didn’t even trust her enough to let her draft an email by herself.
Do they have some kind of uniform, transparent process or will this all be conducted privately? Don’t the board of trustees have a bit of a conflict? Is there an appeals process? How does an ordinary person access that?
LikeLike
For the benefit of any parent at a Success Academy or any other SUNY Charter School Institute-authorized charter school in New York State, here is the process for registering a complaint.
“Step 1: Formal Complaints – School Level. A formal complaint involves an alleged violation of law and/or charter. Please review and follow the school’s Complaint Policy which will instruct you how to file a complaint, in writing, directly to the charter school education corporation board or a person or entity the education corporation board has designated to handle complaints.
“Step 2: Formal Complaints – Appeal to SUNY. If the school board of trustees does not satisfactorily address the issue, you may appeal the decision, in writing, to the Institute. You must have a written copy of the school decision on your complaint. Please complete the SUNY Formal Complaint Form and email to charters@suny.edu or mail it to the Institute at: 41 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207. If you have questions about the SUNY formal complaint appeals process, you may leave a message at (518) 445-4275 and an Institute staff member will return your call.
“Step 3: Formal Complaints – Appeal to Board of Regents. If the Institute as the authorizer of the school does not satisfactorily resolve a formal complaint, you can appeal the Institute’s written determination to the New York State Board of Regents through the New York State Education Department ((518) 474-3852). Please or by submit written appeals by mail to the address listed below.
Charter Schools Office
Room #5N EB
Mezzanine
89 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12234”
A direct link to the complaint form is here: http://www.newyorkcharters.org/wp-content/uploads/Grievance-Form.pdf
The direct phone line is (518) 445-4250.
There is nothing even remotely comparable to this grievance process at NYC DOE traditional public schools, which my children attend. If you can’t resolve something at the school level, your remedies are things like calling 311 (the city’s catch-all non-emergency complaint line) or asking for help from a completely toothless and overburdened family engagement office.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well here just arrived a timely article to help you get a better sense of how accountability works at traditional public schools in New York City.
It involves PS 207, a K-2 school in a working-class section of the Bronx where last week a local paper broke news about severe problems with students bullying and assaulting other students (yes, little five- and six-year-old kids). In the most shocking incident, two six-year-old boys propositioned and exposed themselves to a female classmate.
This week, the same paper did a follow-up piece. It seems no one, not the local education council or even the city councilman, can get in touch with the principal. She simply refuses to meet with anyone or open up the school’s books or even return emails from parents and concerned citizens.
http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Parents-appear-disempowered-at-PS-207,59270?page=1&
Now, I’m sure you’ll mount a “no true Scotsman” defense—well that’s not true public education, it must be starved of resources, etc. But wildly dysfunctional public district schools are a reality for a not-insignificant number of NYC parents.
In the meantime, I bet the parents at 207 would love to have a clearly defined grievance process like the one laid out for NY charter schools. Anyone here have any ideas on who they should contact for help? Should they call 911? The National Guard?
LikeLike
Chiara: following your excellent observations…
Deflect, avoid, sidetrack, excuse, muddy the waters?
For those making the worse appear the better cause, theoretical rheeality in defense of $tudent $ucce$$ always Trumps actual reality.
And in the most Johnsonally sort of ways too…
😎
LikeLike
Chiara asked “Do they have some kind of uniform, transparent process or will this all be conducted privately? Don’t the board of trustees have a bit of a conflict? Is there an appeals process? How does an ordinary person access that?”
I answered. No deflection, muddying, etc.
LikeLike
And going to the SUNY Charter Institute with a complaint about charter anuses will have about as much success as going to the NYPD and PBA about police brutality.
LikeLike
That is a humdinger of a typo, Michael Fiorillo. Oh, my.
LikeLike
Whoops, sorry for the poor proofreading: that should be charter abuses, not charter anuses (correct though it may be).
LikeLike
I think the typo works better.
LikeLike
I think Michael’s typo was a Freudian slip
LikeLike
When you thoroughly read through the first linked NY Times article, you are the witness to what is happening across this country- parents who see ‘just coloring’ as ‘not learning enough’ in kindergarten, as what is portrayed in America as ‘just playing’. As the story progresses, it is explained that she ‘struggled with Reading and writing’- which perfectly reflects inappropriate expectations in the standards on our young children. Again, we who know the real story cry out- PLEASE LISTEN TO THE EXPERTS! Young children NEED, REQUIRE PLAY in the early years! This is about much, much more than just a charter school failure- it’s about our entire country’s failure to stand up for the young children, and getting lost in the lime light of the big picture. http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/
LikeLike
I am the proud parent of a teacher who quit Success Academy after 6 months. She started teaching at SA right out of college with promises and dreams of making a difference in education and providing these children with a stellar education and love of learning.
She was an AT in kindergarten. She cried everyday. She would call me in Los Angeles, where our family lives, (I am a licensed MFT) and tell me she felt these children (scholars) were being mistreated and her concerns were falling on deaf ears.
She relayed story after story that seemed too impossible to be true.
I kick myself for encouraging her to stay as long as she did. I thought that maybe she was just new to this and that Success must have a method to their madness.
I was wrong.
Kindergarten children should not cry everyday, should not be afraid of their teachers, should not be suspended for repeatedly not being able to sit without moving, holding a pretend bubble in their mouth. so they won’t speak. A five year old child wringing his hands out of nervousness and anxiety is not and act of defiance that requires a call to their parents. It’s an appropriate act of a new child in kindergarten, missing their parents and trying to adjust.
“Scholars” we’re required to “silent laugh” using their fingers during story time. No audible sounds. There was no nap time in an 8 hour day for 5 year olds. No music, no free time, no fun!
There were 45 min long tests and hours of test prep for 5 year olds.
Seriously, the worst thing to me was the tone in which teachers spoke to children. It was robotic with no emotion whatsoever. I asked her to record it on her phone because I just couldn’t believe it.
My stories are endless. I documented every call she made to me.
We had to get her out of there. She was heartbroken to leave her kids because she felt she was the only person they had at school who cared about them. (She had to sneak them kind words and encouragement and hugs)
I feel culpable because I know better and should have done something. I feel these kids could be scarred for a very long time. I feel the tactics at Success Acadeny are abusive.
My son is a sophomore at an Ivy League college, a division 1 baseball player and a stellar human being. He would have been “counseled out” at SA. In kindergarten he could not physically sit in “magic 5”, could not restrain himself from asking questions and could not, at 5 years old walk the hallways like a soldier. In my mind, no 5 year old should ever have to.
I’m grateful these stories are coming to light. It matters not the color of your skin, the amount of money your family makes, the home you live in, the status of your parents’ marriage….children need love and guidance. They need someone to listen to them and believe in them and empower them. Success Academy is about money and test scores and egos. The children are little chess pieces that they navigate.
I know our education system needs reform. I know my children were so fortunate to attend amazing schools that cost money. I’m not naive. My husband and I have spent our energies in teaching our children to give back, to share, to make a difference in the lives of others who may not have had the same opportunities. Success is not interested in this. To be honest, I don’t care about Success Academy, I care about the precious babies. I care that they don’t lose their spirit and love of learning. I care that no one is showing them how to tap in to their individuality and uniqueness.
The more people speak out and share their stories, the better the future will be and the goal of charter schools can be shaped accordingly.
LikeLike
“she said that she did not know what was happening in her daughter’s classroom before she saw the video.”
My son has told me some things that have happened in his classroom that were very upsetting to me. I believe him, for reasons I won’t go into. I won’t be specific about what these “things” are because I don’t want to identify the school, the teacher, or my family. I can say that the conduct does not involve yelling or physical abuse, but teaching methods designed to maximize humiliation. I am now in the position where I have to confront his teacher about it. She will likely either deny it happened or glibly explain why what sounds like a bad thing is actually a good thing. Then she’ll go on doing whatever she does in the black box that is her classroom. My options for “appeal” are non-existent. I feel like putting a body camera on my son.
LikeLike
I don’t believe your options for appeal are non-existent.
Do you know the other parents in your son’s class? Have you spoken to them to see if they are hearing similar things from their children? If they are, why wouldn’t you take those complaints to the principal? What seems to be happening in your son’s class is not just mediocre teaching, but targeted bullying of certain students by a teacher. That is absolutely unacceptable and I can’t imagine that other parents aren’t concerned as well. Why are you already certain that your talking to the teacher won’t make a difference? And if not, taking it up the chain of command? Are you saying that the administration at your child’s school is supporting a teacher whose bullying is targeted to make a struggling child feel misery?
At public schools, if you complain, the school administrator will not tell you “if you don’t like that our teacher is bullying your low-performing child for not trying hard enough, why don’t you go back to that nice neighborhood public school that has to teach every child?” The public school is YOUR school. They can’t get rid of your child at a drop of a hat and can’t suspend him without due process if you make a stink.
I hope you have good luck addressing your child’s teacher’s behavior. It may be hard to fire a tenured public school teacher, but it can be done. And sometimes all it takes is them knowing that someone is watching them and aware of their practices to get them to stop. Unless the administrators at your school condone that behavior because it serves a purpose that no one wants to acknowledge. Hopefully that isn’t the case in your school.
LikeLike
The teacher is rude, mean-spirited, dim, and self-assured, but I don’t know if I’d call it “bullying.” It’s difficult to describe without actually describing it, which I don’t want to do. And yes, that is more or less what the principal will say, although not in those words. I don’t want anyone fired, and even assuming I did want that, the principal does not, and even assuming the principal did want that, there is absolutely no record evidence that would support initiating a termination proceeding, much less a successful one; and even assuming such a proceeding did result in a termination, my son would be long gone by the time that happened.
It’s a shame. We had a great experience with our first-born at this school. But the administration’s changed, almost all the old-timers have retired, and most of the new-timers are just a completely different breed, and not in a good way.
LikeLike
I’m sorry your family and son are going through such a trying situation. Small consolation though it might be, if your child is old enough, explain that learning to deal with not-nice people is a necessary life skill, for when he has a co-worker or boss who is difficult. Knowing he has your support will help.
When my oldest was applying to colleges, one of the essay questions was to describe a teacher who been an inspiration. My kid discarded from consideration some exceptional teachers she had had and instead wrote quite the essay about a woman who embodied professional and personal awfulness – and held her up as an inspiration never to be like that person. Living through that time was sucky, though, I must say.
LikeLike
I had to use the principal of my son’s school as a buffer on one occasion. Parent-teacher conferences were scheduled and my son had brought home a math workbook in which it was evident he was teaching himself to divide. There was no evidence the teacher had ever looked at the workbook especially since he had invented his own wrong method and had no idea what division was. I called the principal because I was afraid I could not contain my anger if I met with this teacher alone. (She was a long term sub in for an experienced teacher who was out medical leave.) The teacher got the supervision she obviously needed from then on, and I avoided jail time for assault. 🙂 You are not going over a teacher’s head if you need someone who can be objective. If your son has reported on questionable teaching methods, I have a feeling other children have probably done the same. You might want to talk to some other parents first, though. Even if their children have not said anything a little careful questioning by their parents may bring out some confidences that their children felt ashamed to report. A group of parents with concerns is very hard for a teacher or a principal to ignore. Lord knows, as a parent I could not maintain my cool without a professional ally; I was not interested in retaliation but remediation, but you have to protect your son. If nothing else, he should know he has you as an ally.
LikeLike
FLERP!: I don’t care a rat’s patootie what kind of school it is…
I hope your concerns are properly, and appropriately, addressed.
Good luck.
😎
LikeLike
FLERP! if it is as bad as you describe I urge you to see if other parents in the class are experiencing the same thing. Usually they are and if you are in a “good” school in NYC, there are usually quite a few parents willing to complain. They are New Yorkers, after all!
One of the problems with public education is people say “well, the teacher is in the union so since he can’t be fired immediately l give up”. Principals say this and I find it unconscionable. If a principal thinks a teacher is doing something wrong, he or she should be documenting every instance. And if a parent — or group of parents — documents in an e-mail exactly what a teacher’s problem is, that is a record that a principal can’t ignore and sometimes they are glad of it.
What I see is that if a principal isn’t too lazy and parents are complaining in writing, a teacher will shape up. It may take a while to fire them, but teachers are rarely going to sit around and continue with the same unacceptable behaviors when they know that parents and administrators are paying attention.
I happen to like due process because for all I know you could be a rich and connected parent angry that your teacher gave your kid a C because he never studied for tests nor turned in homework and he deserved it. Of course I don’t really think that but you see my point. I don’t see anything wrong with requiring documentation and there are too many very lazy administrators who use the teachers union as their excuse for not doing the job they are paid to do – oversee the teachers under them.
The other reason I like due process is demonstrated very clearly by the Success Academy video. In that case, and in Success Academy schools all over NYC, teachers are witnessing behaviors they know are wrong and are terrified to speak out. The teachers who act in ethical manners get fired and the teachers who are willing to do all that is required to make sure the students on the got to go list realize that they need to find another school are rewarded. And everyone is afraid to speak out. The assistant teacher in the room tried to talk to someone and it was clear it wasn’t good for her career. Neither system is perfect, but I’d rather know that teachers have the protections to be able to stand up for kids. I guess it depends whether you generally trust teachers more than you generally trust administrators or charter school CEOs to look out for the best interests of your child.
LikeLike
“… most of the old timers have retired, and most of the new timers are a completely different breed, and not in a good way.”
Do you mean to suggest, Flerp, that there might be benefits to having experienced teachers in the classroom?
What an unreformed thought!
LikeLike
I do indeed mean to suggest that.
LikeLike
Flerp, I wish I had a solution for you and your family’s predicament. I don’t. The “black box” metaphor is one I use often.
I think you were joking about the body camera, although the technology is certainly cheap and easy enough to use. Just be aware that despite all of the concerns about the school-to-prison pipeline and the mandated use of “restorative practices,” unauthorized video or audio recording is still a Level 2 violation of the NYC DOE student disciplinary code, and repeated violation can escalate enforcement to an even higher level.
This is to protect your child’s privacy, of course, and to preserve the possibility of the types of spontaneous interactions that your son is currently enjoying with his teacher.
In all seriousness, I hope you can navigate through this successfully. School problems suck.
LikeLike
Flerp, one more thing: when you go into that meeting, if things get heated, watch the tone of your voice and maybe don’t use any hand gestures.
A father who went to an NYC DOE school to complain that his second-grade son had been left to sit in his own feces all day was thrown in jail, and now he’s barred from entering the school. The teacher, perhaps overestimating how calm a parent should be after his kid tells him he’s soiled himself because his teacher wouldn’t let him use the bathroom for hours, admitted that the father did not touch her or move to touch her, but that she felt threatened.
http://abc7ny.com/education/father-arrested-and-injured-after-confronting-teacher-about-not-letting-young-son-use-bathroom/1219555/
The school has gotten complaints about kids not being able to use the bathroom before, but they were found to be “unsubstantiated.” The kids must have been imagining it.
Be careful in there!
LikeLike
“Tim
February 25, 2016 at 11:28 am
Well here just arrived a timely article to help you get a better sense of how accountability works at traditional public schools in New York City.
It involves PS 207, a K-2 school in a working-class section of the Bronx where last week a local paper broke news about severe problems with students bullying and assaulting other students (yes, little five- and six-year-old kids). In the most shocking incident, two six-year-old boys propositioned and exposed themselves to a female classmate.”
I don’t know why this is a defense. Eva Moskowitz is lauded in the ed reform movement and in Congress and God knows where else for her schools. She has promoted her system as much better than the public system and a lot of powerful people seem to agree with her, since they’re pushing this model on every public school in the country.
Moskowitz had a choice. No one was holding a gun to her head forcing her to travel the country proclaiming the superiority of her schools and the inferiority of public schools. She chose to do that.
She makes extraordinary claims so she gets extraordinary scrutiny. That’s how this works. She was happy to bask in the kudos and free advertising she was getting for her schools. Now that there’s negative coverage she’s complaining it isn’t fair.
LikeLike
Chiara: don’t bring up reality.
It will just confuse him.
😎
LikeLike
Chiara, Moskowitz isn’t asking the Times not to cover her schools. She is wondering, and I would be interested to see a public editor’s or ombudsman’s take on this, whether the Times covers conditions at traditional district schools with the same intensity. Follow the clicks and page views.
And PS 207’s travails illustrate the complete failure of traditional public school governance and accountability. Contrary to the party line, isolated and segregated schools have always been prone to the sorts of spectacular breakdowns we’ve seen at places like PS 194 and PS 207. Local control, mayoral control; reform, pre-reform; charters, no charters; extra funding: it’s been this way for a long time.
LikeLike
Chiara: a bit of translation from Rheephormish [thank you, Bob Shepherd!] into standard English—
“party line” = “the soft bigotry of low expectations of public schools” aka the knee-jerk rheephorm reaction to anything that even hints at praise or support of public schools rather than praise or support of what in $ucce$$ Academy passes as pedagogy but sometimes borders on [if not crossing the line into] institutionalized child abuse.
Your comments are fair and appropriate and, quite honestly, understated.
You are on topic. Thank you.
😎
LikeLike
Looks like Chicago is going fully privatized:
http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/1349750/amid-declining-enrollment-budget-woes-21-charter-campuses-seeks-open-cps
If Rahm Emanuel had had the courage to run on privatizing the public schools and eradicating the teachers union in that city, would he have won? Of course not. So he lied to voters.
LikeLike
This is the problem—most parents never visit their child’s school or classroom. I saw a a network documentary years ago about parenting and public educaiton and the host of the documentary said that after or starting with Kindergarten, 80% of parents never step foot on the grounds of their child’s schools—the parents trust the schools to protect and teach their children or the parents, due to work pressure and long committees, don’t have time to check out their child’s schools.
During my thirty years as a public school teacher, on parent conference nights, the turnout was seldom over 15% and that was considered good. Often, the parents who did show up were the parents of the A and B students who never earned referrals for disrupting the learnign envinroment of the classrooms. Most of the parents teachers NEEDED and WANTED To talk to the most, never came to parent conference night and were also difficult to reach by phone.
It was easier for parents to trust the public schools, because public schools are so transparent and an elected community based school board, often made up of parents or grandparents of children in the same school district, were watching over the schools to make sure children were not being abused and were being taught well.
But that has now changed. The corporate public education demolition derby is into secrecy and being opaque. How these corporate charters manage the children is a secret and if parents discover what’s going on and complain, they are told to take their child and leave. In addition, there is no longer a community based, elected, democratic school board watching over the public schools to make sure the schools are doing the job the community wants eon3—to teach their children and keep them safe from harm and that harm includes stopping bullies from harming children both physically and mentally.
In the autocratic, opaque and often fraudulent corporate charters we are seeing the schools becoming the bully that traumatizing the children causing life long harm.
What happens when there are no community based, democratic, transparent public schools left and there is no choice but the corporate choice, the streets and/or prison?
That is where I think the U.S. is headed if we don’t stop the autocrats—Bill Gates, the Koch brothers, the Waltons, etc.
LikeLike
I’d like to point out the simultaneous existence of the way Success Academy is a public school when it receives public school funding, but it’s not a public school when a parent needs to make a complaint. Very convenient arrangement for the “reformsters,” as Peter Greene calls them!
LikeLike
Ask to see Eva’s books and records – she will take you to court, and WIN, that her books and records are private. Now, how does it feel to stick THAT in a pipe and smoke it? Unreal, yes? Eva is a polished turd, but still a turd. She makes a living grifting the public and has been successful to date in duping some of the people some of the time. I think her time is coming to an end; she can’t hush some people, and the truth is coming to light.
LikeLike
A good classroom is parent friendly.
LikeLike
agree
LikeLike
SA and Evita have done a marvelous job of marketing – with taxpayers’ funds, and this parent swallowed all of it, hook, line and sinker. She thinks a charter school is a school, but it’s a business plan, not an education plan.
LikeLike
“Don’t cry for me, public school children
The truth is, I’ll never teach you
All through my charter days,
My mad existence,
I kept my paycheck,
You got those test scores.
I’ll keep my distance . . . . “
LikeLike
TAGO! Winner! Winner! Chicken dinner!
LikeLike
I’ll take mine rosemary, thyme, lemon, and garlic please, and can I have dibs on some of the white meat? And “jus de poulet”? Please?
LikeLike
These kind of widely dispersed articles in the NY Times are extremely dangerous to Success Academy. It’s no wonder they have hired an expensive PR firm.
In the past, the parents of all the kids on the nonexistent “got to go” lists were made to feel ashamed. Their child had been given this wonderful opportunity and had failed woefully. The Success Academy administrators charted every instance of their child “acting out” and made sure their parents understood he was lacking in that certain something that makes him worthy of a spot in this coveted charter school. So the parents of those kids — often without much education beyond high school themselves — went away quietly and hoped no one found out what an incorrigible and unworthy child they had raised. Maybe they even believed it was their fault.
But suddenly, they read the news and all these parents realize it isn’t just their child, it is many children. How many? Well, that’s the problem from Success Academy’s perspective. How many children who won the lottery have been made to feel misery in their schools over the last 10 years? We certainly know the attrition rate is high, and maybe most of those students moved away, as Success Academy implies, just like the students who leave other schools usually move away. Or maybe most of those students are still living in NYC, back at less desirable public schools and remembering how their child was treated just like those other children who couldn’t get the right answers fast enough. As those families realize that they have been played for fools, and it isn’t their kid, it’s the school’s desire to max out their test scores, they are coming forward. Their child wasn’t the so-called “violent” kid acting out — he was the targeted victim who was punished because Success Academy believes that not knowing the right answer means you just aren’t trying hard enough. It will not surprise me if more and more parents will come forward, now that they realize their child was the victim and not the criminal that the charter school made him out to be when they wanted him out of their school. And that will be very bad for Success Academy if that happens.
LikeLike
Here’s the sequence of events, as best as I can cobble it together:
———————————————————–
1) Fall 2014 — fed up with witnessing the abusive treatment that Success Academy teacher Charlotte Dial dishes out to Dial’s 1st graders, a Success Academy teacher’s aide begins surreptitiously videotaping Ms. Dial with the camera in her phone.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
2) Spring 2015 — unaware of the existence of these videotapes, the New York Times Kate Taylor publishes her first story, detailing abusive treatment of children at Success Academy … including kids being forced to urinate and defecate on themselves, both from intense stress and being refused the opportunity to go to the bathroom. The report also accuses Success Academy of counseling out students to increase their schools’ test scores. Eva defiantly denies all.
One administrator wrote an email stating that “misery must be felt” by students who are not performing up to the Success Academy standard.
Eva defends the statement in the email, stating that was part of the high standards to which her schools aspire.
Keep in mind that some of those for whom “misery must be felt” were as young as 4 and 5 years old (the 4 year-olds being kindergartners with late birthdays)
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
3) October 2015 — PBS’s John Merrow does a television report going over the same ground as Taylor, and points out alarming numbers of 5-year-olds being suspended countless times; under Merrow’s questioning, Eva has a Captain Queeg-like reaction, calling his accusations “crazy talk.”
Included in the report was one parent’s accusation of her child being wrongfully expelled, based on lies and exaggerations.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
4) mid-October 2015 — Eva retaliates against this parent and child, illegally releasing the child’s private disciplinary records — a major violations of FERPA privacy laws;
preserving the image of Success Academy is worth humiliating and defaming a child, apparently; one of those accusations is that this then-five-year-old child threw a desk at a teacher … a somewhat unrealistic scenario, to say the least. The parent says much of what’s in that report are lies and exaggerations.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
5) late-October 2015 — the New York Times’ Kate Taylor writes and article responding to the denails made by Eva in Merrow’s PBS piece; specifically, Taylor targets Eva’s denial of Eva’s systematic efforts to push out kids;
Taylor publishes this new article, which includes a “Got to Go” list created by one of Success Academy’s supposedly model principals. This is a list of kids that the principal is targeting for removal from the school; Taylpr also details other tactics to push kids out… not allowing the parents to receive any paperwork to enroll the child for the coming year, being one of them.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
6) Early November 2015 — Eva orchestrates a grotesque press conference where the principal involved, Candido Brown, does a full-on Jimmy Swaggart tear-fest; he vehemently insists that he had acted along, and without any influence from Eva or from anyone else when he created the Got to Go list; Eva says that she refuses to “throw him under the bus” for public relations purposes;
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
7) December 2015 — a dozen former Success Academy parents file a lawsuit against Success Academy; a Federal Civil Rights investigation is also begun.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Early January 2016 — Candido Brown, the Got to Go List Principal … “goes”… err .. is pulled from his position indefinitey; a few weeks later, he’s demoted back to being a teacher in a Success Academy school, the the New York City Department of Education, and Candido Brown.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
8) Early January 2016 — the un-named teacher’s aide from Fall 2014, having followed the above events, makes contact with Kate Taylor, and turns over one (or more ?) of the videos she took of Charlotte Dial’s abusive treatment of students; Taylor writes another report; to provide an opportunity for Success Academy to respond, Taylor turns over a copy of the video and asks for Success Academy’s response;
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
9) January 13 & 14, 2016 — Nadya Miranda — the mother of the girl that Charlotte Dial screams at in the video — goes to pick up her child from the school, but is told that her child is in the principal’s office, and that the principal, Kerrie , needs to meet with her’
Here’s Taylor’s / the New York Times’ accounts of that meeting and what followed:
——————————————————-
NY TIMES: “The principal, Kerri Nicholls, told Ms. Miranda that The Times was asking about a video of an incident between her daughter and Ms. Dial, but that she did not know what it showed.
“The next day (January 14), at a meeting with Ms. Nicholls, Ms. Dial and Ann Powell, the network’s executive vice president for public affairs, Ms. Miranda watched the video. She said that Ms. Dial cried and apologized to her, saying that she had had a bad day.
“But Ms. Miranda said that an apology coming more than a year after the incident did not feel genuine.
“Upset after viewing the video, Ms. Miranda said she did not want it published, to protect her daughter’s privacy. Ms. Powell suggested she send an email to The Times. When Ms. Miranda said she did not know what to write, Ms. Powell drafted the email for her and told her to send it from her email address because it would be more powerful coming from her.”
—————————————-
January 20, 2015 — Eva called for a meeting of parents who in the past, had been supportive of Success Academy, and who had made such supportive comments to the press. Nadya Miranda attended that meeting and was sitting in the front row.,
The New York Times gave this account of the meeting:
——————————————————-
NY TIMES: “At a meeting Ms. Moskowitz held at the school on Jan. 20, Ms. Moskowitz asked the parents to support Ms. Dial and to defend the school to the paper. Ms. Miranda said that when she stood up, identified herself and objected that Ms. Moskowitz was asking parents to support the teacher without even showing them the video, Ms. Moskowitz cut her off.
“She’s like,
” ‘You had enough to say, you had enough to say,’
” … and she tried to talk over me,” Ms. Miranda said. “So I just really got frustrated, and I just walked out, and the parents that were concerned followed me, and the parents who were against me and for the teacher” stayed in the auditorium.
“Ms. Miranda took her daughter home that morning and did not bring her back to the school. The next week, after confirming that there was a seat in the regular public school where her younger son is in prekindergarten, she withdrew her daughter and placed her in that school..”
” … ”
“On Jan. 20, after the schoolwide meeting with the parents, Ms. Miranda sent another email to The Times saying that she was not happy with how the school was handling the incident and asking to be contacted. She did not speak with a reporter until last week.” (February 14-20, approximately)
—————————————-
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
January 21, 2015 — Disgusted with Success Academy’s handling of the situation and with Eva’s shutting her up at the meeting the day before, Nadya pulls her child from Success Academy and enrolls her daughter in a neighborhood public school, something that Eva and the rest of the staff must have become of aware of immediately, and since. Given how explosive this who situation was, Eva, her staff, and her P.R. handlers most certainly must have kept track of both Nadya and her child.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
February 12 — the New York Times publishes Kate Taylor’s article about the video, and it includes the testimony of 20 former Success Academy teachers and administrators — some who allowed their names to be used, others who did not — who claimed that what was on the video was not, as Ms. Moskowitz claimed, “an anomaly”, but the systemic reality of how kids are treated at Success Academy
That same day, Eva calls for a press conference lashing out at the New York Times for shoddy journalism and “Gotcha tactics.” She again uses her line, “We’re not going to throw Charlotte Dial under the bus”, and in fact, shows a defiance not present in the late October press conference with Candido Brown. Not only did Eva not fire Dial, she had promoted her to the position where she now trains Success Academy teachers in how to treat children in the classroom.
Some parents get up and lash out at the New York Times’ story, per Eva’s orders. Eva releases an audio of some parents telling Kate Taylor how wonderful Ms. Dial was as a teacher. she then angrily asked why this wasn’t included in its entirety in the article. This was supposedly some kind of “smoking gun” proof of the New York Times shoddy journalism.
Duh … every writer excerpts interviews writing an article. Indeed, Taylor did include quotes and a description of what was in the audio. She just didn’t include it in its entirety. a perfectly acceptable journalistic practice..
At that press conference, Kate Taylor asked Eva whether or not the child on the video still attended Success Academy, and Moskowitz denied know the answer to that question.
Incredulous, Taylor asked Eva how this could be, knowing how momentous this situation is, as is the child in question, and her mother.
“Don’t get snarky with me,” Eva responded, refusing to answer anything more.
Given the fact that the mother of the child, Nadya Miranda, pulled her child out of the school on January 21, and never came back, and that Eva must have been certainly aware of this fact ….
… Eva almost certainly lied when she claimed she did not have the answer to Taylor question.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
February 14 – 20 (approximately) — Kate Taylor and Nadya Miranda finally meet, and engage in two lengthy interviews, which form the basis for Taylor’s latest article, published on …
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
February 25 — Kate Taylor’s article giving Nadya Miranda’s side of the story, regarding the video where Success Academy teacher Charlotte Dial is verbally and emotionally abusing her daughter.
LikeLike
Here’s my favorite of the pieces responding to
the video:
Teacher and historian John Thompson puts the video and
the realities of Success Academy in a historical perspective,
but doesn’t mince words, referring to the Charlotte Dial
abuse video as “brutal,” and as “that disgusting video”:
http://www.alternet.org/education/worst-thing-about-brutal-no-excuses-success-academy-video
——————————
——————————
“How could we see the existence of ‘No Excuses’ schools in the 21st century as anything but a tragedy?
“Have we lowered our horizons to the point where we replace engaging teaching and learning with indoctrination? If so, how can we hope to flourish in the 21st century?”
— John Thompson, award-winning historian
and inner city teacher
——————————
The Worst Thing About that Brutal ‘No Excuses’ Success Academy Video
The video forces us to confront basic questions about
the society we want to leave for future generations.
By John Thompson / Huffington Post
February 19, 2016
– – – – – –
As Vox’s Libby Nelson writes, the “undeniably upsetting” video of a Success Academy charter school teacher berating first graders is “the latest exhibit in a long-running debate about Success Academy and similar ‘no excuses’ charter schools.” Nelson is correct in explaining that “it’s part of a broader division within the Democratic Party on education.”
The video, however, is about much, much more. It raises basic questions about the society we want to leave for the next generations. I hope every parent with children old enough to watch the video will use it as an opportunity to discuss some of the most fundamental issues that we human beings must tackle.
My father and I had such a conversation in the 1950s after the Boston Red Sox star, Jimmy Piersall, had a televised breakdown in Yankee Stadium in the wake of his father’s death. As was explained in the book and the movie, Fear Strikes Out, Piersall was pushed over the edge by his father (played by Karl Malden in the film) who combined “the ignorant dominance of a bitter man with the occasional tenderness of a parent who genuinely loves his only son.” The baseball star (played by Anthony Perkins) carried “the weight of the paternal ambition” that “is felt by the nerve-racked observer to the point where it is recognizable that the young man must go mad.”
As my dad explained, many of my friends had parents who endured great suffering. Fathers who survived the Great Depression, and combat in World War II and Korea carried a heavy load, and sometimes dumped that stress on kids. Too often, they sought to “live through their children.”
Sadly, parents may put too much pressure on their kids, forcing them to grow up too quickly. But, with the post-war economic boom, many adults shielded my generation from such worries until we were old enough to tackle adult challenges. The “Baby Boomers” were more likely to be granted the buffer zones that children deserve, as well as opportunities and freedom beyond that which was enjoyed by our predecessors. My generation, we were told, should not be limited by the past. The fears of our fathers should not define our lives. We should express ourselves, create, explore, and take full advantage of our unprecedented opportunities.
Like so many other members of our fortunate generation, when I got old enough to understand, I was encouraged to be “inner directed,” to maintain an “internal locus of control,” as opposed to an “outer directed” person who just followed orders. Our job was to “learn how to learn,” and to practice “creative insubordination.” My friends who were more competitive were free commit to meeting objective metrics (like higher batting averages or yardage gained on the football field), to push themselves to the limit and/or outperform others. We who preferred to “go with the flow” were empowered to do that also. Moreover, we almost always had multiple “second chances,” so we could learn from our mistakes.
After Sputnik, some worried adults condemned Baby Boomers as soft, and sought to impose more discipline, even using standardized testing to raise the bar for elementary students. I distinctly remember my feelings of anxiety when bubble-in accountability was briefly imposed on us. On the whole, however, the rising economic tide raised all boats and my generation was amazingly fortunate.
As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the message is that we must start early and toughen ourselves up for the global economic battleground. Vox’s Nelson notes that Success Academy teachers work in “a competitive environment with high expectations, and they work 10- to 12-hour days, which can contribute to burnout and frustration.”
I would add that non-unionized charter teachers aren’t they only workers who are overburdened. As corporate power grows and unions decline, more of the 99% have to struggle harder to merely keep their heads above the water. More and more fear is striking out towards all employees.
I can understand the anxiety which has come from the shrinking middle class, the decline of wages, the increase in inequality and a world where a single youthful error can doom a teenager.
But, it is wrong for Americans to succumb to our fears, as is often done in the face of economic stagnation.
And, this I can’t comprehend:
How could we see the existence of “No Excuses” schools in the 21st century as anything but a tragedy?
I have no doubt that some students, who have the personality for structured and/or competitive behavior, will become more productive due to such a pedagogy. Even a brutal “No Excuses” classroom can be better than the chaos and violence which often characterizes the highest-challenge schools.
But, what parent would want their own children to attend such schools? Would any parent or student — who had a real choice in terms of learning environments — settle for a Success Academy school? Above all, why would any person even think about imposing that regimen on other peoples’ children, as they do when they engage in the mass charterization of urban schools?
The first question raised by that disgusting video should be why in a democracy would the “No Excuses” ideology be imposed on children? Why commit so fully to grinding children into square and round pegs for square and round holes? Do we really have no alternative to a behaviorist system where students’ eyes must always track the speaker, as kids sit with their hands folded and where deviation from the script results in zero-tolerance discipline?
Second, is it not shameful that corporate reformers believe that they can impose a training regime on poor children of color that they would never dump on their own children? Do they really believe that America is completely incapable of devising humane and respectful methods for educating poor children?
That raises the third and, perhaps, most important question. Have we lowered our horizons to the point where we replace engaging teaching and learning with indoctrination? If so, how can we hope to flourish in the 21st century?
And that brings me back to Libby Nelson’s questions. As an Obama supporter, I’m terribly saddened that he and too many other Democrats have deferred to the elites who treat other peoples’ children in such a way. It seems like we Democrats have been so afraid of our shadows that we haven’t been embarrassed by our sacrificing of our principles.
The biggest questions, however, transcend electoral politics, education policy, and even our willingness to accept “Neo-Plessyism” in order to increase education “outputs.” The issue is what vision, what dream, or what lack of a dream do we want for our children and grandchildren?
– – – – – –
John Thompson is an award-winning historian and inner-city teacher.
LikeLike
Rishawn Biddle, a former supporter of SUCCESS ACADEMY, has turned on it with a vengeance:
http://dropoutnation.net/2016/02/25/excuse-thy-name-is-success-academy/
RISHAWN BIDDLE:
“But in simply suspending Dial and returning her to the classroom, Moskowitz has done little more than tolerate the kind of educational malpractice that happens far too often in traditional districts. In fact, one can argue it is even worse because Success isn’t governed by collective bargaining agreements or by state laws governing tenure and dismissal, and therefore, can more-easily rid its schools of laggard and abusive teachers. Moskowitz has actually behaved worse in this situation than your average district superintendent.
“What Success has done instead is engage in a crisis management strategy geared toward protecting Dial and its own practices from scrutiny. This becomes clear from the Times‘ latest story on the teacher’s malpractice, which features an interview with Nadya Miranda, the mother of the harmed girl. As the Times reports, after Success finally showed the video to Miranda, she was asked by Success staffers to sign on to an e-mail it drafted telling the paper that she didn’t want the video released to the public.
“When Miranda confronted Moskowitz during a meeting about the video a week later, Miranda said the school leader told her curtly that “you had enough to say”. Miranda, along with several other parents, walked out of the meeting, then pulled her daughter from the school. The fact that Miranda and her children are homeless, and thus, struggling with other issues, makes Dial’s malpractice even more unacceptable.
“Anyone who has paid attention to Success’ crisis management tactics over the past few months shouldn’t be surprised — nor should anyone else. Through actions such as Moskowitz’s unauthorized release of school discipline data on the son of Faida Geidi, Success has proven more interested in defending the outfit than in doing right by the children and families it serves. That its board members, including CNN anchor-turned-reform advocate Campbell Brown have used their own media outlets to defend Success from criticism makes clear that the organization will not address its issues even when a media outlet shines light on them.
“These issues are deeply-ingrained. As former Success teachers and school leaders such as Jessica Reid Sliwerski have noted in the Times first story on Dial’s misdeed, the practice of ripping papers and embarrassing children for their learning struggles has been common practice within the operator for some time, and has been taught in professional development courses it has held. Moskowitz, in particular, is unwilling to consider that Dial’s “model” is damaging children in the operator’s care, an issue pointed out by Miranda in her interview. Add in Success’ long-documented overuse of out-of-school suspensions and other forms of harsh school discipline, and it becomes clear that the operator approaches teaching poor and minority children from a Poverty Myth thinking similar to that of far too many traditionalists.
“Firing Dial would have been a tacit admission by Success that all isn’t well within it. Such humility isn’t possible, either for the institution, its founder, and its allies. For traditionalists looking to halt the expansion of school choice in both New York City and the rest of the nation, Success’ unwillingness to address the damage its educational malpractice does to futures of children gives them the ammunition they need to continue their own.”
LikeLike
The story of this chilld’s abuse is horrifying. The broader issue of who holds a charter school accountable is equally horrifying.
My take: http://russonreading.blogspot.com/2016/02/who-holds-success-academy-accountable.html
LikeLike