Archives for category: Connecticut
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Sarah Darer Littman: How to Create a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

By dianerav
June 16, 2013 //
9

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?

Categories Charter Schools, Connecticut, Education Industry, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Segregation, Special Education

Public Education Is Not Failing, But NCLB and RTTT Are

By dianerav
June 14, 2013 //
26

Ron Berler has written about his year in a so-called “failing school” in Norwalk, Connecticut.

The school has a dedicated staff trying its best to raise the achievement levels of students who enter school far behind. Yet it is a “failing school” because no matter how much progress the students make,the children are still not as “proficient” as those in nearby affluent New Canaan.

Berler has a new book out, called “Raising the Curve,” explaining the utter failure of No Child Left Behind.

He wrote this note to me:

“The Title 1 school I wrote about — Brookside Elementary, in Norwalk, Conn. — is 0-for-NCLB. This past school year, the local school board cut $5.9 million from its budget, and applied 80 percent of those cuts to the city’s 12 struggling elementary schools. At Brookside that meant, among other things, eliminating the school’s literacy specialist and shuttering its 15,000-title library every other week. The Brookside principal and the Stamford, Conn., schools superintendent called it “a crime.” I wish this story had a happy ending. It doesn’t.”

It is popular treatments like Berler’s that will help the American public understand that public education is not “broken,” but federal education policy is broken and should be completely scrapped and rewritten to address real problems.

Categories Connecticut, No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top

Bridgeport Parent: Public School Leaders Should Support Public Schools

By dianerav
June 13, 2013 //
8

This Bridgeport parent activist has an old-fashioned idea. She believes that those who are paid to run public schools should support them. The current superintendent of schools in that Connecticut city is Paul Vallas. She reviews his record in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, where he closed many public schools and opened large numbers of privately managed charters.

The same might be said of many other superintendents today, who see their job as advancing private control of public assets.

Categories Charter Schools, Connecticut

The Patron Saints of Standardized Testing

By dianerav
June 4, 2013 //
15

Two political leaders—Arne Duncan and Dannell Malloy, governor of Connecticut–recently held a press conference where they both pretended to disdain high-stakes testing. Duncan went so far as to claim that he had decreased standardized testing when he led the Chicago public schools.

If only it were true! Jonathan Pelto and Sarah Darer Littman did some fact-checking, and the only question is why these guys don’t own up to their public record. They are both champions of standardized testing. Their unwillingness to own up to their own record shows how unpopular the testing-accountability movement has become. Now if they would only practice what they preach!

Categories Connecticut, Duncan, Arne, Education Industry, Race to the Top, Testing

Pelto: Charter Chain Lies About College-going Rate

By dianerav
June 3, 2013 //
8

One of the disturbing behaviors of charter chains is their boasting. All too often, when someone looks past the press release, they find data games, fudging of the numbers, or falsehoods.

Jonathan Pelto, a former legislator who follows Connecticut politics and concentrates on education, says that the boasts of a major charter chain in that state are hollow.

Achievement First, a much-touted charter chain, boasts of that 100% of its graduates are accepted into college.

But Pelto cites a new report showing that the number who graduate and enroll in college is far lower because of attrition.

Stefan Pryor, the state education commissioner, was a co-founder of Achievement First.

Categories Charter Schools, Connecticut

Pelto: It Is Never Too Soon to Prepare Little Children for College

By dianerav
May 28, 2013 //
17

Jonathan Pelto here follows up on his report about the high rate of suspensions of children in kindergarten.

The clincher is the closing lines, where the regional superintendent of Achievement First explains why so many children are suspended:

“The most telling remark came from Marc Michaelson, who works as the regional superintendent for Achievement First, Inc.  He told the Courant that Achievement First, has “a very high bar for the conduct of our students and that’s because we’ve made a promise to our scholars and our families that we are going to prepare them for college.”

“The “prepare them for college” statement seems more than a bit gratuitous considering the statistics he is trying to rationalize relate exclusively to children aged 6 and under.”

You can read the Hartford Courant story here:http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-kindergarten-suspensions-20130525,0,6059434.story

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Childhood, Pre-K, K, Connecticut

Bridgeport Parents Respond to Charter CEO Attack

By dianerav
May 27, 2013 //
12

Bridgeport parent leaders responded forcefully to an attack on their schools by Jennifer Alexander, the leader of ConnCAN.

Alexander claimed that charters in Connecticut outperform public schools and that 65,000 students are trapped in failing public schools. She certainly knows the corporate reform script.

The parent leaders wrote:

“As Bridgeport public school parents and elected parent leaders, we find it insulting that a paid charter school proponent is attempting to speak on behalf of a community she has no involvement with. Ms. Alexander does not have a child in the Bridgeport public schools, does not reside in the city of Bridgeport and does not pay Bridgeport taxes.

To Alexander’s claim that charters outperform public schools, the parents wrote:

“In reviewing the data of the six state charter schools that service Bridgeport students, it is abundantly clear that these six schools do not reflect the demographics of our traditional public schools. These six schools collectively underserve children with disabilities, English language learners and students receiving free/reduced-price lunch. By underserving these student populations, in some cases by double digits, they are able to claim that they achieve higher test scores.”

Bridgeport parents understand that ConnCAN represents fabulously wealthy individuals who use the public schools as a plaything. They wrote:

“ConnCan is funded by some very wealthy individuals. Their main purpose is to advocate for charter schools and their expansion. We are Bridgeport public school parents and elected parent leaders who volunteer our time and service. We do not receive a dime in compensation for the advocacy work that we do.

“Until Ms. Alexander can say the same, we recommend she speak for herself and not for those of us that are in the trenches fighting and advocating for our children’s education every day.”

The heartening aspect of this letter is that regular parents are seeing clearly what the game is. They understand that ConnCAN doesn’t care about their children. They recognize that the end game will be a publicly funded dual school system, with one free to exclude or push out kids it doesn’t want.

They are fighting for their children, for their community, for public education, and for democracy.

Categories Charter Schools, Connecticut, Corporate Reformers, Support for public schools

Duncan: In Chicago, I Cut Testing by 50%

By dianerav
May 26, 2013 //
59

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy at a meeting with students in Hartford, Connecticut. The main topic was school security, but at one point a student asked what could be done to cut back on excessive testing.

This was the exchange:

“Student Justin Vega said he feels as if all the time and money spent on standardized testing has compromised the quality of his education. He asked whether the money might be better spent on security.

“Both Malloy and Duncan agreed that it makes sense to find the right balance in testing. Malloy noted that Hartford schools could potentially have a 40 percent dropout rate. “We have to do everything in our power to make sure that doesn’t happen. We need a multifaceted approach which doesn’t overemphasize [testing],” Malloy said.

“Duncan agreed about balance and noted that when he was the head of Chicago schools, he cut the amount of standardized testing by 50 percent.”

The student didn’t ask Duncan about what he had done in Chicago, but what he could do now to reduce the time and money spent on testing.

Does Duncan not understand that his zeal to evaluate teachers by the scores of their students has led to more testing than at any time in the past? Why didn’t he answer Justin Vegas’ question?

Categories Chicago, Connecticut, Duncan, Arne, Testing

The Connecticut Corporate Reform Gravy Train

By dianerav
May 22, 2013 //
15

Now that Commissioner Pryor has the go-ahead from Governor Malloy to apply the principles of corporate education reform, he has loaded up the payroll of the state education department with his fellow reformers. Here comes the privatization movement, prepared to bust unions, demoralize teachers, and generate profits for friends of the movement.

Naturally, there is a Talent Officer, a Turnaround Officer, a Performance Manager, and a bevy of Broad interns. This in one of the nation’s top performing states.

Categories Broad Foundation, Connecticut, Corporate Reformers, Privatization

Connecticut: High Suspension Rates for Kindergarten

By dianerav
May 20, 2013 //
19

Guess which schools in Connecticut have the highest suspension rate for children in kindergarten?

Categories Charter Schools, Childhood, Pre-K, K, Connecticut
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