Archives for the month of: July, 2012
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Perils of Life in the Age of the Internet

By dianeravitch
July 13, 2012 //
14

About 7 pm EST yesterday, my Internet service died a quick death.

When it went down, it took out my access to the Internet, the telephone, and the television.

That happened as I was trying to post the news about Camika Royal’s article on Huffington Post.

I had to use my cell phone to get it posted, my cell having 3G.

Where I am now (not in NYC), cell phone service is spotty, and I had a hard time getting through to the local cable company.

The upshot was that I was offline for 24 hours.

I got Internet access back about an hour ago, and am still waiting for a repair crew to restore the telephone.

Fortunately, I had scheduled the posts that ran today well in advance.

You don’t think I write a post every five minutes from 6 am to 7 am, do you?

I have already written posts for tomorrow, and I will add more as the day progresses.

The good news is that I was able to write a new chapter for my book during the day, as a result of not being online every minute.

There is no bad news, other than the fact that I had to interact with Cablevision’s automated telephone system several times, which is a certain way to raise my blood pressure and reduce me to futile shouts, screams, oaths and unmentionable curses.

Diane

Categories Education Reform, Personal

Where the Jobs Are

By dianeravitch
July 13, 2012 //
0

Thanks to Sharon Higgins for supplying the latest estimate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about where the jobs are for the next several years.

She sent this comment:

Here’s more evidence of the mismatch between “College-for-All” and the STEM push and what the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects. A huge number of upcoming jobs require only a high school diploma or less. See Table 1. Occupations with the fastest growth, projected 2010-20 and Table 2. Occupations with the largest numeric growth, projected 2010-20 @http://www.bls.gov/ooh/about/projections-overview.htm

If I read the chart correctly, we will need many more nurses, nurses aides, home health care aides, retail clerks, food service aides, and construction  workers.

Most of the jobs don’t require a bachelor’s degree. They require a high school diploma and on the job training.

Sharon Higgins, by the way, runs an excellent website called Charter School Scandals. She knows more about the Gulen charter chain than anyone other than people who work for it.

Categories Education Reform, Jobs

Is Segregation OK if It is By Choice?

By dianeravitch
July 13, 2012 //
8

I received a long response from Joe Nathan in response to my post about segregation in the charter schools of Minnesota.

My post included a link to an article by John Hechinger of Bloomberg News about charter schools in that state that are one-race or one-ethnic group.

The question Joe Nathan’s response raises is this: Is segregation in a public facility (remember, charter schools say they are public schools) commendable so long as the individuals there choose to be segregated?

My problem is that I am old enough to remember that segregationists in the South in the 1950s advocated “freedom of choice” as their answer to the Brown decision. They argued precisely what Joe is saying here. They said, let families choose, and let the chips fall where they may. Curiously, the chips fell where they had always been, with white children in this school and black children in that school.

This is Joe Nathan’s comment:

Bill Wilson, Former Minnesota Commissioner of Human Rights and first African American elected to the St. Paul City Council Presidency, and I responded to these questionable assertions in a column, a portion of which is below. Both of us support more excellent public schools, whether district or charter.

One of us (Wilson) responded several years ago at the Minnesota legislature to the charge that charter schools such as the one he founded were “segregated.” He differentiated between schools like his (Higher Ground Academy) and the segregated public school he was forced to attend in Indiana: “We had no choice,” he recalled. “I was forced to attend an inferior school, farther from home than nearby, better-funded ‘whites-only’ schools. Higher Ground is open to all. No one is forced to attend. Quite a difference.”

http://charternotebook.org/giving-parents-choice-among-various-schools-i

Here’s a bit more of that article.

After working in urban communities for a combination of more than 80 years, one of us serving as Minnesota’s State Commissioner of Human Rights and being elected first African American to serve as St. Paul’s City Council Chair, and helping produce major gains with low income and students of color, we vigorously disagree with a recent assertion on the Charter Notebook blog site that “…any achievement” by a group of students at a charter school that is predominantly of one race is “hollow.” (Rachel Scott, “Independent Charter Schools and Diversity, Part One: The Problem of “Resegregation,” January 18, 2012)

Imposed separation because of or on the basis of race or color is the classic definition of segregation. People choosing of their own free will to attend a public school is the exercise of liberty. The right to assemble and exercising freedom of choice is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. How then is choosing which charter school to attend not consistent with the right of assembly? Unlike imposed segregation, charter schools include all who apply or wish to come. Unlike segregated schools of the 1950’s and 1960’s, these schools most certainly do not exclude anyone because of their race or color of skin.

Minnesota’s largest daily newspaper, the Star Tribune has found for the last two years that the vast majority of Minneapolis-St Paul area public schools that are “beating the odds” are charter public schools. In September, 2011, a graphic appeared in the Star Tribune listing the 10 public schools in reading and math with high percentages of low income students that had the highest percentage of students proficient in reading or math on the official statewide examinations. See:http://www.startribune.com/newsgraphics/129810153.html.

The top eight of the ten schools listed in math were charter public schools, and the top nine of ten schools listed in reading were charter public schools. These were schools that “showed the highest percentage of students scoring at grade level or better, despite having a high number of students living in poverty.” To be eligible to be on the list, a school had to enroll at least 85% students from low-income families.

The vast majority of these high-ranking charter public schools enrolled 80% or more students of color. Many of the “beat the odds” schools enrolled 90% or more from one race. Bill Wilson, co-author of this blog post (and former Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights) founded and is director of one of these schools. US News and World Report also has listed the school Wilson helped start, Higher Ground Academy, as one of the nation’s finest high schools.

Denying the value of these schools, as Scott does in her recent blog post, reminds us of what Ralph Ellison wrote about in the civil rights classic, Invisible Man. Ellison wrote, in part, “I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.”

Categories Charter Schools, Education Reform, Minnesota, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration

Do You Want to See Camika’s Great Speech?

By dianeravitch
July 13, 2012 //
8

If you are following the saga of Dr. Camika Royal, you will remember that Gary Rubinstein posted a video of her addressing the Philadelphia summer institute of TFA, some 700 young people who will work in the Philadelphia public schools (which is laying off teachers).

Gary sent the video to me, and I wrote a post, but before I could put it online, the video mysteriously disappeared. There was some pushback, as both Gary and I get an email from someone warning us that Camika was not going  to be used by “the anti-reform movement” and that she was a loyal servant of the reform movement.

Yesterday evening, I got a tweet from Camika, addressed to both me and Gary, with a new statement by Camika published on Huffington Post and including a transcript of her speech. I was mentally cheering. I posted how pleased I was and how impressed I was by her courage.

Now apparently the video is back up again. I don’t know who took it down and I don’t know who put it back.

Here is a comment that includes the video.

Some people think that TFA acts like a cult. It programs people and it expects everyone to follow the party line or be ostracized.

My advice to TFA is this: Let Camika be Camika. She’s smart, she’s articulate, she thinks for herself. Don’t muzzle her. Hear her.

Good morning, Diane ~Every day when I open my email, I see your new blogs and a daily email from Ken Derstine, Save Our Schools Information Coordinator in Pennsylvania, He, like many of us work tirelessly and yes, I am sure the hope by the reformies is that we will ALL become reform weary, like Camika Royal talked about in her speech.Ken’s “Pennsylvania Education Crisis Updates” can be read about DAILY on his blog: Pennsylvania SOS [Save Our Schools] on this link:http://www.pa-sos.org/ . Ken does a great job keeping this updated and provides readers a model we can all follow.

He and Helen Gym, Parents United PA are dedicated to saving public schools, along with Philly Acts. The students in PA are very organized as well.

They are folks to follow on Twitter: @KenDerstine @ParentsUnitedPA @PhillyActs

Now, back to the topic, Camika Royal.

We’re not going to play into the reformy’s hands. We’re just getting this party started and like Camika, we’re going to speak out. And when Camika was speaking out, her revolution was being televised.

When I opened Ken’s email this morning, there she was on You Tube. I thought to myself, “Wait, that video was taken down! It probably won’t work. Well, give it a try. What can be hurt?”

Well, low and behold: “It works!” In this modern world, “the revolution will be televised.” Here is Camika saying every word we needed to hear — in Pennsylvania where the reformies are trying to kill public education and Camika stands up and says NO!

Thanks, Diane. I thought your readers would like to hear Camika’s outstanding speech!
Categories Education Reform, Philadelphia, Teach for America TFA

Wisdom from an Experienced Urban Teacher

By dianeravitch
July 13, 2012 //
5

A reader comments with hard-won knowledge. I would summarize it as being prepared with a variety of approaches and strategies and knowing when to apply the one that is right for the situation. No single approach is right for all.

Diane, I’m an inner city teacher with 14 years of experience.The guiding principle I see for teachers’ practice is to create a teaching style that plays to one’s own strengths as a person and a member of the educational community. I believe that a great diversity in approaches creates a healthy learning experience for all.But this also means that there is a place for the driven disciplinarian.Despite the poorly thought out tone of the excerpt you shared, there is a need for something of an assertive no-nonsense approach to teaching, especially in the most challenging environments. I’m talking about environments with no functioning discipline in the hallways or in administrator’s offices. In some inner city schools, the teacher is truly on their own.

Beneath the Chuck Norris tone, I see the practice of clarity of directions and expectations, immediate and appropriate disciplinary feedback, a commitment by the teacher to infuse the classroom with drive and energy… these are all desirable.

I love my students in that special way that is unique to teachers. Part of how I bring that to my classroom is a willingness to “be the bad guy.”

But this is only an *approach* to teaching. The goal should be the same as that of a teacher who prefers to only catch flies with honey.

They may have a different approach, but the diversity of approaches can– in a well run and supportive school– all be successfully aimed at the same goal.

That teacher must temper their friendliness and fun-loving environment with a willingness to develop a tougher side to balance this. The reverse is also true.

The same applies to the curriculum. Teach your strengths, but make a conscious effort to supplement what you provide the students with areas where you’re not so strong.

This is what kills me about lockstep teaching. The very best of what the most skilled teachers have to offer will be dulled– irrevocably diminishing what it means to be an educated person in our nation.
Categories Education Reform, Teachers and Teaching

Real Life in a “Turnaround” School

By dianeravitch
July 13, 2012 //
4

Mayor Bloomberg and Secretary Duncan like to describe the firing of teachers and the closing of schools as a wonderful reform strategy.

Something magical is supposed to happen because of clearing out half or all of the staff and starting over with a new team, or half a new team.

The public knows nothing about the details, reads that “reform” is happening, and is satisfied to know that someone is doing something even if they don’t know what it is.

There is an implicit assumption that the teachers who got fired must be “bad” teachers because they work in a “failing” school.

Change the teachers, goes the story, and the school won’t be a failing school anymore, It will be a “turnaround” school.

If only it were that easy.

Here is a comment by a teacher who worked or works in a turnaround school in New York City. I don’t know which verb tense to use because he was fired, then he was reinstated by the ruling of an arbitrator, and now Mayor Bloomberg is litigating to reverse the arbitrator’s decision. So, for the moment, he has a job. But only for the moment. If nothing else, his account gives the lie to the claim that those who were fired deserved to be fired and that getting rid of them would “help the school” and “save the students.”

I work in one of those 24 turnaround schools in NYC and was appalled at the hiring process. The majority of the teachers who were NOT hired back were indeed effective and amazing teachers. They were “culled” from the herd because they were senior teachers and made too much money. Among the teachers who were not hired back were the bilingual science teacher whose Regents passing rate was the highest of all the science teachers. She is amazing, but her sin was being in the system too long. Honestly, teachers were stunned when they were not hired back.Ironically, some of the teachers who were hired back were among the weakest on our staff. Nobody really understood the hiring process or how these decisions were made. Yes, we knew there was a rubric and yes, the UFT sat on these committees, but let’s be honest–none of this addresses the real issues in many of these students’ lives. They are sent to the high school with deficient skills and other social problems.And “Harold,”,none of this, please be clear, was about helping kids. It was about hiring the least expensive workers. Kids be damned. Morale at my school was so low to begin with. Nobody even knows if they are back or not, nobody knows if the old principal is in or not and nobody even knows what the school’s name is.This is chaos. This is destruction. This is immoral. This is DANGEROUS!

 
Categories Accountability, Bloomberg, Michael, Education Reform, NYC, Race to the Top

When a Teacher Loves Teaching

By dianeravitch
July 13, 2012 //
26

In response to a post asking why politicians are scapegoating teachers, I received this inspiring comment from a teacher in Louisiana:

Teacher bashing is an integral part of the reform movement. It’s almost as if these republican governors were coached or told that this was the plan. Here in Louisiana it was as if the teacher bashing began almost as soon as Jindal was elected and made education reform his focus. Teachers are the only people in the school beurocracies that have a direct contact and influence on the students. Why disenfranchise this group? Why tear them down instead of build them up? I’m no businessman, but if your employees are constantly looking over their shoulder, in constant fear, it can not help productivity. Even if these reformers are correct that schools should be run as businesses, well, this is a terrible way to run a business.As an aside, I find it telling that he decided to ruin public education during his final term in office and just in time to position himself as a possible VP.It’s tough, I know, but we’ve got to keep our chins up, remain proud, and focus. Ignore the “adults” and focus on the kids. They still love and respect us. They are great judges of character. I’m not saying be silent or not to concern ourselves with these outside influences that effect us, but when I close the door to my classroom, I am in my element. It’s still where I belong. It’s my happy place. Teacher bashes throw out terms like lazy, entitled, union thuggery, but all that gets drowned out in my noisy classroom (yes, my class is noisy, learning is not silent). I still can’t wait for the school year to start. No, I’m not a wide eyed optimist, I’m not a green teacher (10th year of service), I love my job, bust my tail doing it and dare anyone that knows me or sees me teach or had me as a student tell me I’m lazy or entitled. Those that say those things just don’t know. They’ve obviously never tried to teach. Their comments prove their ignorance, not my incompetence.

Ms. Ravitch, thank you for fighting for the children. To those that are ignorant it may seem as though you are fighting for teachers, and yes that may have truth to it, but I sense that you really want what’s best for children. What is best for the teachers often goes hand in hand with what’s best for the student. I believe this is where unions and teacher advocates dropped the ball. Here in Louisiana, teacher groups complained about the loss of tenure and how it effects teachers, but no one said how it effects students. Pick nearly any issue and it was us against them with little to no mention on the effects it has on kids.
Categories Education Reform, Jindal, Bobby, Louisiana, Teachers and Teaching

How Bill Gates’ Ideas Taint Other Nations Too

By dianeravitch
July 13, 2012 //
16

Under the influence of wrong-headed economists, Bill Gates has publicly stated that teachers should not be paid more for experience or education because such things do not raise test scores. This is really a terrible set of ideas. I have never met a teacher who said that experience doesn’t matter. Every teacher I know says that he or she tried to improve every year, and that they didn’t reach their stride until five to seven years in the classroom. As for education, I don’t know how a master’s degree affects test scores, but I would think someone who believes in education would want more education and would find it valuable to study subjects and the issues of education in greater depth. The “philosophy,” if you can call it that, that everything should be decided by test scores or some other metric, is essentially anti-intellectual and detrimental to the larger goals of education.

A reader sent me this email about how the education philosophy of Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation is affecting the rest of the world, and not for the better:

You recently wrote: “I am puzzled by their funding of ‘astroturf’ groups of young teachers who insist that they don’t want any job protections, don’t want to be rewarded for their experience (of which they have little) or for any additional degrees, and certainly don’t want to be represented by a collective bargaining unit.”
 
I have an anecdote that may interest you. A few months ago, I was teaching in Saudi Arabia. The head of the program showed a video clip to all the teachers, about seventy of us. In the short video, Mr. Gates said that teaching experience and graduate degrees were not important for teaching performance. The director said he agreed with Gates after showing the video. By the way, the director has far less teaching experience and is far less educated than myself and many of the other teachers. Not only that, I was hired just a few months previously based on part on my extensive classroom experience. I am no longer working for that organization. The direstor made it clear that day and later that highly-educated and experienced instructors were not welcome. I will be starting-hopefully-a new position soon.
Bottom-line: Mr. Gates’s approach to education has had a pernicious impact both in the USA and abroad.
Categories Black Alliance for Educational Options, Education Reform, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates

Why Are So Many STEM Graduates Unemployed?

By dianeravitch
July 13, 2012 //
33

How many times have we heard the President, the Secretary of Education, and leaders of corporate America tell us that we must produce more scientists? That there are thousands of jobs unfilled because we don’t have qualified college graduates to fill them? That our future depends on pumping billions into STEM education?

I always believe them. Science, engineering, technology and mathematics are fields critical for the future.

But why then, according to an article in the Washington Post, are well-educated scientists unable to find jobs?

Three years ago, USA Today reported  high unemployment among scientists and engineers.

Some experts in science say there is no shortage of scientists, but there is a shortage of good jobs for scientists.

Some say that the pool of qualified graduates in science and engineering is “several times larger” than the pool of jobs available for them. And here is a shocker: The quality of STEM education has NOT declined:

Despite this nearly universal support for upgrading science and math education, our review of the data leads us to conclude that, while the educational pipeline would benefit from improvements, it is not as dysfunctional as believed. Today’s American high school students actually test as well or better than students two decades ago. Further, today’s students take more science and math classes, and a large number of students with strong science and math backgrounds graduate from U.S. high schools and start college in S&E fields of study. 

Why don’t our leaders tell us the truth? Why don’t they tell us that many of our highly trained young people will not find good jobs in research labs or universities or anywhere else?

I have said before on this blog that the economy is changing in ways that no one understands, least of all me.

Over the past century, whenever reformers told the schools to prepare students for this career or that vocation, the policymakers and school leaders were woefully inadequate at predicting which jobs would be available ten years later. When the automobile was first invented, there were still plenty of students taking courses to prepare them to be blacksmiths. The same story could be repeated over the years. We are not good at prognosticating.

My own predilection is to believe that all young people should get a full and rounded general education, which will teach them to think and evaluate new information. I prefer an education that includes the usual range of disciplines, not because of tradition but because each of them is valuable for our lives. We don’t know what the future will bring, but we all need to learn the skills of reading, writing, and mathematics. We don’t know what jobs will be available in ten or twenty years, but we all need to study history, so that we possess knowledge of our society and others; we need an understanding of science so we know how the world works; we need to be involved in the arts, because it is an expression of the human spirit and enables us to think deeply about ourselves and our world. I could make the same claims for other disciplines. The claim must be based on enduring needs, not the needs of the job market, because the only certainty is that the  job market will be different in the future.

Categories Education Reform, STEM

Hoosiers Speak Out for Public Education

By dianeravitch
July 13, 2012 //
11

Indiana is one of the states where the governor and the state commissioner of education seem determined to put public education out of business. They are implementing vouchers, expanding charters, and given the green light to for-profit online charter schools. They do not have a shred of evidence that any of this will improve the education of children in Indiana, but that doesn’t slow them down. They are in love with the ideology of choice and competition and the glories of the marketplace, and that’s the end of the discussion. Plenty of entrepreneurs will get rich off taxpayers’ dollars in Indiana.

Fortunately, there is strong resistance from parents and educators in Northeast Indiana. When I spoke in Indiana last fall, I met some of the parent leaders. They were in despair about the destructive policies being pushed through the legislature. I am glad to say that they organized and are speaking out. They can serve as a model for other concerned citizens.

They have drafted a statement in opposition to what Governor Mitch Daniels and State Superintendent Tony Bennett are doing. They not only oppose these harmful policies, but they offer a platform describing the positive steps that must be taken to save public education in the state of Indiana.

Congratulations to these courageous, thoughtful, and concerned citizens of Indiana!

I hope that others will take this statement of principles and adapt it to their own community and state. Help it go viral, as the Texas anti-high-stakes testing resolution has gone viral. Join with your friends and neighbors to awaken the American public to support good education policies that strengthen our public schools and our democracy.

Categories Education Reform, Indiana, Parent Groups, Parents, Pre-K, Teacher Evaluations
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