Archives for the month of: November, 2012
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Privatization Picks Up Steam in Memphis

By dianeravitch
November 10, 2012 //
4

A teacher writes to report that the privatization movement plans to take over her school and several others in Memphis.

The schools slated for privatization are not the district’s lowest performing.

She is not pleased and feels sure that the charter operators picked her school because it is doing well, not failing.

Tennessee now has a solid rightwing majority in the state legislature, a rightwing governor, and a TFA state commissioner dedicated to advancing privatization.

Stand for Children is a major presence in the state, assuring that Wall Street money will be available to facilitate privatization and portray it as part of the “civil rights issue” of our day.

The leader of the state’s all-charter Achievement School District, Chris Barbic, who is also TFA, expressed disappointment that the scores in his new district were so low. But it is customary for administrators to low-ball scores when starting new so they have nowhere to go but up. In the new district, teachers will be paid by test scores, not by degrees or experience. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and it Is never too soon to learn that lesson.

Tennessee was one of the first two Race to the Top states in the nation, and we should soon expect to see Tennessee at the very top. It’s fulfilling all of Secretary Duncan’s expectations. Charters and TFA are flourishing. Collective bargaining rights were eliminated. Teachers are being evaluated by test scores. The Common Core has been installed. Public schools are being handed over to every manner of entrepreneur. What more is needed for success?

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Merit pay, Stand for Children, Tennessee

EduShyster Has Discovered an Entire Family of Rephormers

By dianeravitch
November 10, 2012 //
11

Who knew? An entire family in the reform/privatization business.

The pater familias is a major publisher in Minneapolis. And all the offspring are busily closing the gaps. They are paving the way for a dramatic expansion of the charter sector.

If you read the link in the post by EduShyster, be sure to read the comments that follow.

I find these stories about miracle schools really annoying. The implicit assumption is that if we can do it, why can’t everyone else? Such stories are inherently self-aggrandizing and egotistical because they cast aspersion on all those incompetents and dullards who lack the brilliance of the super star. They and they alone work miracles.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Minnesota, Privatization

Who Bought the Charter Initiative in Washington State?

By dianeravitch
November 9, 2012 //
13

Is democracy for sale?

Apparently it is in Washington State.

Three times the voters turned down a charter amendment.

In this election, a small number of extremely rich people decided they really wanted charters.

So they raised $10 million to beat back the parents and educators of the state, who could not match their spending.

Read the list of donors in the link above.

It is shocking to see how much money is being poured into state and local races by a small number of incredibly rich people.

This is a good argument for raising taxes on the super-rich.

Then they have less money to buy elections.

Categories Charter Schools, Washington State

What Will Obama Do Now?

By dianeravitch
November 9, 2012 //
18

Will anything change in Obama’s second term?

More testing, more charter schools, more school closings?

Joy Resmovits asks around for Huffington Post.

She says that if Duncan should leave–which is unllikely–he might be replaced by Rhee.

That’s enough to make you appreciate Arne.

Maybe the purpose of the rumor is to make you like Arne.

Categories Duncan, Arne, Obama, Race to the Top, Testing

“Brooklyn Castle” on the Jon Stewart “Daily Show”

By dianeravitch
November 9, 2012 //
9

Jon Stewart is public education’s best friend in the media.

Maybe because his mother was a public school teacher.

Of course.

He interviewed the director/producer of the wonderful film “Brooklyn Castle” and one of the lead students on the school’s chess team.

It will be  your heart good to hear the student, Pobo, talk about how great his teachers were and why people shouldn’t pay any attention to the rating systems that label them “bad.”

He says, “I LOVED my teachers!”

Stewart asked why New York City was willing to cut the funding for the school’s championship chess team while not cutting the amount of standardized testing.

We all wonder the same thing.

Categories Budget Cuts, Education Reform, NYC

Why Is Pennsylvania Welcoming More Cyber Charters?

By dianeravitch
November 9, 2012 //
11

Despite the miserable results that cyber charters get in study after study, the state has authorized more of them than any other state. It has 12 up and running, four more just approved, and more in line to be approved.

I mistakenly reported in an earlier post that only one cyber charter had ever made “adequate yearly progress,” but I was mistaken. NO cyber charter has ever made AYP in Pennsylvania. It was only because the State Education Commissioner dummies down the scoring that one crossed the bar. When held to the same standards as public schools, no cyber charter meets the NCLB requirement for academic progress.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, K12 Inc., On-Line Education, Pennsylvania, Privatization

Milkens Join with University of Pennysylvania

By dianeravitch
November 9, 2012 //
11

I received this communication from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.

Just think: You too can earn a cash prize for formulating the best business plan for education.

Maybe it would be like the Milkens’ very own K12 virtual school business, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, makes millions of dollars, and provides a shoddy education. Study after study shows that the students in the Milken virtual schools have a high attrition rate, low test scores, and low graduation rates. They sit at home in front of a computer and guess the answers to questions on the computer. But what a great business plan! It makes a lot of money for its investors.

University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education

and the Milken Family Foundation Launch 2013 Education

Business Plan Competition

Share your idea. Change the world.

Philadelphia, PA, November 7, 2012 – The University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE) and the Milken Family Foundation have opened submissions for the 2013 Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (EBPC) at the newly re-launched web site www.nestcentral.org. Penn GSE’s Executive Director of Academic Innovation Dr. Bobbi Kurshan announced the competition today. The first education-focused business plan competition ever now features a total of $120,000 in prize funding, and is part of Penn GSE’s expanding NEST initiative. The 2013 EBPC will take place on Penn’s campus May 7-8, 2013.

The Milken-Penn GSE EBPC stimulates cutting-edge ideas that serve the world’s educational needs, from Pre-K to adult learning. Last year, EBPC judges selected ten worldwide finalists from over 200 applicants to compete in a live competition in Philadelphia judged by a panel of industry leaders. This year’s competition will also feature the Penn GSE NEST Conference, a gathering of industry leaders for a one-of-a-kind opportunity to gauge the pulse of entrepreneurship in education and explore new ways of fostering a culture of continuous innovation in the field. In coming months, Kurshan will announce a greatly expanded slate of NEST programming that will take place throughout the year.

The $120,000 in total funding is awarded through the following six prizes:

· The Milken Family Foundation:

o First Prize ($25,000)

o Second Prize ($15,000)

· The American Public University System Prize for Innovation in Online Education ($25,000)

· The Educational Services of America Prize for Innovation in the fields of Special Education and At-Risk Students ($20,000)

· The Erudient Education Prize for Innovation in Borderless Education ($10,000)

· The Startl Prize for Open Educational Resources ($25,000)

Penn GSE NEST launched the EBPC in 2010 as a partnership between Penn GSE and the Milken Family Foundation. The EBPC culminates with a live competition, judged by a panel of industry experts, and has more than doubled the amount of prize money and number of prizes since it was first launched. Last year’s winning plans ranged from an effort to leverage mobile technology to educate in Africa (and beyond) to a powerful text-to-audio application that is revolutionary for individuals with visual impairments and those with literacy needs around the world.

Penn GSE NEST

A worldwide leader in education practice, policy, and philosophy, Penn GSE is consistently at the forefront of education innovation. As part of the school’s expanding entrepreneurial effort, each summer Penn GSE invites the best, brightest, and most influential professional educators, education entrepreneurs, business leaders, and venture capitalists to the campus of the University of Pennsylvania for the annual Penn GSE NEST Conference. The Conference is a unique way to generate new ideas, debate policy, forge new collaborations, discover investment opportunities, and conduct social networking and research.

The Milken Family Foundation

The Milken Family Foundation (MFF) was established by Lowell and Michael Milken in 1982 with the mission to discover and advance inventive and effective ways to help people help themselves and those around them lead productive and satisfying lives. MFF has been at the vanguard of education reform for three decades. From founding the nation’s preeminent teacher recognition program to creating the country’s most successful comprehensive education reform system, the foundation continues to champion innovative strategies that elevate education in America and around the world. Learn more at www.mff.org.

About Penn GSE

Penn GSE is one of the nation’s premier research ed schools. A small percentage of education programs in the U.S. offer doctoral degrees, with only a tiny fraction located at flagship research universities. No other education school enjoys a University environment as supportive of practical knowledge-building as the University of Pennsylvania. Penn GSE has long been known for excellence in qualitative research, language and literacy studies, practitioner inquiry and teacher education. Over the past 15 years, Penn GSE has also developed remarkable strengths in quantitative research, policy studies, evaluation, higher education, and psychology and human development. The School is notably entrepreneurial, launching innovative degree programs for practicing professionals and unique partnerships with local educators. For further information about Penn GSE, please visit www.gse.upenn.edu/.

Categories Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Higher Education, K12 Inc.

A Parent Leader Thanks Karran Harper Royal

By dianeravitch
November 9, 2012 //
1

Helen Gym is a brave and articulate parent leader in Philadelphia. She has been leading the fight to stop the privatization of the public schools in that district, particularly the plan proposed by he Boston Consulting Group (parent of Bain Capital) to shift 40% of Philadelphia’s children into privately managed charters.

This is Helen’s public letter of thanks to Karran Harper Royal, who ran a valiant race against a heavily funded charter advocate. Karran was outspent 20-1. Running for office educates the public. Eventually, they hear and get it.

From Helen to Karran:

“I just wanted to take a moment and congratulate Karran Harper Royal for a hard-fought, courageous and important struggle for school board in NOLA.

Karran, you put your values and heart on the line by stepping out front and running for school board in what would eventually become a national marker of proof of how big money plays in school board races. I can’t imagine what a toll this took on your personal life, but thank you so much for the courage of your convictions, for speaking an independent voice in a critically important race, and for staking your ground. The fact that things have gone so awry in public ed politics makes me that much more grateful for the sacrifice you’ve given over the last few months.

Wishing you some days of (relative) peace and calm ahead and hoping your increased profile will only help your voice in speaking up for NOLA’s children and all of us.

Thank you.

Helen Gym
Parents United for Public Education
Philadelphia

Categories New Orleans, Philadelphia

An Appeal to George Lucas for Help

By dianeravitch
November 9, 2012 //
33

Anthony Cody has written an eloquent request to George Lucas, asking for help on behalf of the children and educators of America.

Lucas sold his company to Disney for $4 billion and announced that he would give much of his bounty to education.

Cody calls on him to think anew, to bring the same out-of-the-box thinking to his philanthropy that he brought to film-making.

If Lucas listened to Anthony, it would change the future of education in this country and clear the way for genuine innovation, not the stale rhetoric of testing, accountability, and choice.

It’s time for real ingenuity and creativity, not the blather of accountants and bean-counters.

Categories Education Reform

Duncan’s Weighty Responsibilties

By dianeravitch
November 9, 2012 //
16

It’s not easy being U.S. Secretary of Education these days.

Back in the old days, before No Child Left Behind, the Secretary was basically a cheerleader with a bully pulpit. He or she ran a Department that oversaw many programs but had relatively little money and no authority to change what Congress authorized.

All that changed with NCLB. Suddenly, Congress declared that it was the judge of “adequate yearly progress.” It legislated the expectations for all schools. Now the federal government was in charge of crucial decisions about issues that used to belong to states and localities.

But as 2014 grew nearer and no state in the nation was on target to get to 100% proficiency–how could the schools have failed to meet their mandated deadline–Secretary Duncan issued waivers to states that agreed to do what he said.

Secretary Duncan, of course, knows how to reform schools. He did it in Chicago, remember, which is now a national exemplar of reform. It has been saved repeatedly, not only by Arne Duncan, but by Paul Vallas. Now it is going to be saved again by Barbara Byrd-Bennett and Rahm Emanuel.

Once Secretary Duncan issued waivers from NCLB, he was in a scary role. He is now dictating the terms of school reform for the entire nation! Don’t think this is easy. Not only is it a tough full-time job, but he is the first Secretary ever to struggle with this mighty burden.

Undaunted, he is now supervising a Race to the Top for districts, so he can run them too. They too will take the bait (re, the money) and fall into line.

Arne Duncan has the job of redesigning America’s education system. It’s one he has willingly assumed. Now he has four more years to make sure that every child in America is frequently tested, preferably beginning at age 3; that a vast federal data warehouse is built with relevant information about the test scores of every child and teacher; that privately managed charters take control of most urban school districts (using New Orleans as their model); and that every teacher knows how to raise test scores every year.

What a vision. What a burden. Arne Duncan can do it.

Categories Duncan, Arne, Federal Waiver, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Race to the Top, Teacher Evaluations, U.S. Department of Education, US Education
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