Archives for the month of: August, 2012
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What Will Happen to Chester Upland?

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2012 //
13

Sometimes something happens that is so astonishing, so breathtaking, and simultaneously so disturbing that I don’t know how to characterize it.

The public school district of Chester-Upland, Pennsylvania, is in financial trouble. It was under state control for many years. It was at one time managed by the Edison company. After years of inept state management, it was returned to local control in 2010. It has a for-profit charter school run by a politically connected millionaire that has attracted half the students in the district. The New York Times wrote about how the charter school was being sued by and losing resources to what one educator described as a “charter school on steroids.” The district went bankrupt earlier this year, and the teachers and staff worked without salaries. There have been massive layoffs and budget cuts and the facilities are in disrepair.

One way of looking at Chester Upland is that it has been brought down by state interference, state abandonment of its responsibilities, fumbled efforts at privatization, an inadequate tax base, poverty, budget cuts, and competition with a voracious charter school that sucks millions of dollars out of the underfunded public schools.

Education is a state responsibility. So what is the state doing to preserve public education for the children of Chester Upland?

Ron Tomalis, the secretary of education for the state of Pennsylvania, has appointed Joe Watkins as recovery manager for the school district. Joe Watkins is the head of the PAC in the state that advocates for school choice.

According to the local newspaper: “Watkins is the pastor of Christ Evangelical Church in Philadelphia and a Republican political analyst for MSNBC.
Watkins also is both a registered lobbyist and the chairman for Students First, an advocacy group supporting “comprehensive school choice.” Students First donated thousands of dollars to the campaign of Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, according to published reports…Having since appointed Watkins as Chester Upland’s chief recovery officer, the school board now has 14 days to determine whether it will work with Watkins to develop a financial recovery plan. If the board declines, Tomalis can petition the courts to place Chester Upland under receivership. The financial recovery plan can include closing schools, cutting staff and transforming schools into charters.”

What do you think will happen to the public schools of Chester Upland?

Categories Accountability, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Pennsylvania, Poverty

TFA Alum Criticizes Obsession with College Readiness

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2012 //
18

A friend sent this provocative article, written by a TFA alum.

He questions whether TFA’s focus on college readiness (which apparently begins in kindergarten) makes sense.

I find myself both agreeing and disagreeing with him.

I believe that teachers must treat all students with equal respect and have high expectations for all.

But I have also been taken aback when I visited charter schools and saw college banners in kindergarten and first grade classrooms.

There is something vainglorious about telling a five-year-old that they are bound for the Ivy League.

Very few are, no matter who their parents are.

It appeared to me that the teachers were trying to program the children to be like themselves.

My thought: Educate them.

Inspire a love of learning.

Teach them to believe in their own capacity and help to build that capacity by daily effort.

Don’t confuse your own personal history with theirs.

If you really want to increase the college-going rate, elect politicians who will provide more scholarship money and loan forgiveness for college students.

 

 

Categories Teach for America TFA

Who Is Promoting Vouchers in Pennsylvania?

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2012 //
9

An astonishing $6 million plus has been pumped into the voucher campaign in Pennsylvania in the last year alone.

As this article notes, Tea Party activists were getting cold feet about vouchers because they objected that vouchers might be too generous to poor children.

Not to worry: Governor Tom Corbett and his allies in the Legislature changed the formula to make sure that some of the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars will be spread to more affluent districts.

All this money for vouchers will be extracted from public school budgets at the same time that Corbett & Co. are cutting those same budgets.

It seems as though the Republican conservatives want to decimate public education.

Who are these people?

In little more than a year, activists like Michigan’s Betsy DeVos, of the Amway fortune; the heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton; and three wealthy Main Line hedge-fund traders have doled out an astonishing $6-million-plus in campaign cash to top Harrisburg pols, while they and allies have spent millions more on rallies, inflammatory mailers and lobbyists.

Betsy DeVos’s group, the American Federation for Children, pushes for vouchers under the guise of it being a “civil rights” issue. Just trust the rightwing to protect the civil rights of poor children. And then there is the Walton family, which gives generously to anyone who promotes vouchers and charters (as well as TFA and KIPP and Rhee). And of course, the hedge fund managers. These are the 1%. They don’t have any use for public education. They use their vast resources to undermine the public sector and to advance the cause of privatization.

 

Categories Corporate Reformers, Pennsylvania, Privatization, Vouchers

What the Gates Foundation Said to Anthony Cody

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2012 //
27

Anthony Cody, who has been blogging regularly for Education Week, persuaded the Gates Foundation to engage in an exchange with him.

Anthony has written a brilliant series of analyses and critiques, explaining patiently why the Gates Foundation misses the point by blaming teachers for the ills of U.S. education.

Unquestionably his most powerful post was his description of the impact of poverty in the lives of children today. Anthony asked, “Can Schools Defeat Poverty By Ignoring It?”

He waited patiently to hear how the Gates Foundation would respond.

They responded. They said nothing. 

Nothing.

Nothing.

They will continue their reckless course of action, demoralizing teachers and ignoring the causes of low achievement.

Categories Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Poverty

Most Charters Avoid Students with Special Needs

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2012 //
47

We have seen this story again and again. A lawsuit against the charters in New Orleans and the District of Columbia filed on behalf of children with disabilities. A charter school in Minneapolis that literally pushed out 40 children with special needs, part of a pattern in which the nation’s largest charter chain–the Gulen-affiliated schools–keep their test scores high by excluding students with disabilities. Study after study showing that charters take fewer children with disabilities. Even a federal study by the GAO documenting that charter schools have a smaller proportion of children with special needs, to which the relevant federal official responded with a yawn and a promise to look into it someday.

And now the AP has documented the widespread practice, in which charters take fewer students with special needs, take those with the mildest disabilities, and harm the public schools that are expected to educate a disproportionate share of the neediest, most expensive to educate children.

As this movement, this industry, continues to grow, aided by lavish federal and foundation funding, abetted by a thriving for-profit sector, we must ask the same questions again and again: What is the end game? Are charters becoming enclaves for those who want to avoid “those children”? Will we one day have a dual school system for haves and have-nots? Will our public school system become a dumping ground for those unwanted by the charters?

And why is the U.S. Department of Education not asking these questions?

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Duncan, Arne, Education Reform, Special Education, U.S. Department of Education, US Education

“A Daily Act of Love”

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2012 //
4

I came across a moving story about a music educator in Wisconsin whose death stirred his town and wrote about him last night. His influence was widely acknowledged.

I asked, in light of the community’s reaction, how such an inspiring teacher should be evaluated. It was obvious that test scores was not the right answer, in part because what he taught–music and band–do not lend themselves to measurement by test scores. But the qualities that the community honored in him–his ability to inspire, his love for music, his concern for students–are inherently not quantifiable. The same might be said for teachers in other subjects as well, not just teachers of music and the other arts.

A music educator commented:

As a former high school band teacher, and current music teacher educator, this story shines a light on one of the glaring inadequacies of the current, one-size-fits-all approach to teacher evaluation. music teaching is different than teaching math, or science, or reading–and one rubric or test can’t measure every kind of teacher. or school. or community. music teachers across the country are struggling with how to use these tools to describe the totality of what we do, and with the reality that our jobs–as it is with our colleagues in every other other discipline–are just too complex, complicated and messy to fit in this tiny little box.

It has always seemed to me that the things we care the most about, that are most important to us, are the most resistant to this sort of simplistic measurement. do we measure our marriages with a 4 point scale? do we “grade” the love we have for our children on a rubric? teaching is a daily act of love; love for our students, for their learning, for our colleagues, and for our communities. to think that we can measure our effectiveness as teachers with a 4 point scale is not only absurd, its insulting.

Mr. Garvey made a difference in his community that could never be measured by a test. it was measured by the length of the line at his wake, and by the depth of the grief felt by his former students and his family at his funeral. Mr. Garvey, like many, many teachers across the country who are getting ready to return to their classrooms, taught because he wanted to bring his love of his subject matter to his students, to make them think about the world differently, and to help them become the persons they wanted to become. there aren’t enough “points” on any teacher evaluation rubric to measure the difference these teachers will make this year.

Categories Arts Education, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers and Teaching

The Flawed Assumptions of the Parent Trigger

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2012 //
1

A reader in California writes about the “parent trigger” law. It was enacted when Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor and the state board of education had a majority that were charter school advocates. Its lead sponsor in the legislature ran for state superintendent, lost and is now employed by the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ group Democrats for Education Reform. The organization behind the parent trigger, Parent Revolution, is funded by Gates, Walton, and Broad Foundations. The law was enacted in California in January 2010. Since then, Parent Revolution has attempted in two districts to use the law to convert a low-performing school into a charter school. The school in Adelanto is thus far the only one to date that has gained momentum. [For a factual explanation of the parent trigger, read this summary by Parents Across America]:

The Parent Trigger Act as originally presented in California was completely based on assumptions.   The definition of assumptions is: something taken for granted.

So what kinds of assumptions did former Senator Gloria Romero, members(including herself) of DFER(Democrats for Education Reform), charter offshoot Parent Revolution, and the then charter-friendly CA Board of Education make?

1.  They assumed that parents in supposedly failing schools would easily fall prey to promises made by an outside astroturf group peddling the Parent Trigger mantra of instant school success.
2.   They assumed that parents would be so enamored of these promises that they wouldn’t demand an open meeting that would also include teachers and administrators to discuss the pros and cons of parent takeover.
3.  They assumed that once a majority of parents signed on, that the rest would happily sign on.
4.   They assumed that a slew of top charters would magically appear to sweep the “failing” school off its feet.
5.   They assumed that the parents would not question whether or not there is any evidence that turning a school over to a charter would produce the desired results.
6.   Worst of all, the assumption was made that a Parent Trigger would create unity, not serious divisiveness amongst all involved in the school community, a consequence that would certainly seriously hamper any school improvement plan.

Is there any part of the present school reform agenda that is based on hard evidence rather than assumptions?????

Categories California, Education Reform, Parent trigger

What Happened in Adelanto?

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2012 //
0

Yesterday I wrote a brief summary of the situation in the Adelanto school district in California, the only district where the so-called “parent trigger” has made any headway. The reader is correct: no vote was ever taken. It was a bad choice of words on my part.

This reader comments.

Your post is inaccurate. They didn’t vote. No one ever voted.A handful of parents worked with Parent Revolution, an organization with no ties to Adelanto.There were no public hearings or news stories before the petitions were circulated. There was no public discussion about what was in the petitions nor were requests/demands made of the school board for changes before the petition drive began.

Two petitions were created and circulated. One asked for changes, one asked for Parent Trigger. Multiple people have stated they only signed the Parent Trigger petition because they were told it was a backup, a lever, for the other petition, which would be presented first. That’s not how it happened, and that is the reason for people withdrawing their signatures.

Ironically, it’s possible that many of the signatures are from people whose children are no longer enrolled in the school. What if the new parents want something different? What if the community wants something different? What if the community was happy with their elected school board and would have liked to work through that?

Oh no. Far better to take the school governance out of the hands of the community altogether, and indefinitely if not forever.

I don’t think that’s really parent empowerment, not in any way.
Categories California, Education Reform, Parent trigger

How Would You Evaluate This Teacher?

By dianeravitch
August 20, 2012 //
12

One man, one band teacher, united a town.

He taught instrumental music and band for 31 years at McFarland High School in Wisconsin.

He was admired, respected, loved.

How would you evaluate this teacher?

By the test scores of his students?

Not likely.

Categories Teachers and Teaching

Parent Trigger District Heading Back to Court: UPDATE

By dianeravitch
August 20, 2012 //
3

The only school in the nation ever to vote to invoke the state “parent trigger” law is in Adelanto, California. [CORRECTION: As a commenter noted, no vote was ever taken; there was no public discussion or public hearings.]

Parent Revolution, the organization funded by Gates, Walton and Broad to promote the trigger has been funding the fight in Adelanto.

It helped dissident parents form a union, organize a petition drive, collect signatures, and push for a charter school. [CORRECTION: Two petitions were circulated, one for improvement, the other for a charter; only the latter was presented to the board.]

When the school board resisted the idea of turning the school into a charter, some of those who signed the petition tried to remove their names.

It turned out that they wanted the school to be improved, not turned over to a charter.

Parent Revolution went to court and the judge declared that parents were not allowed to take their name off the petition, so it seemed that a charter was in the offing.

But the school board just decided that it was too late to turn the school into a charter–it is late August–and the board  has come up with a plan to overhaul the school.

Parent Revolution is outraged, and will probably take the board to court again.

What happens next?

Categories California, Parent trigger
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