Attention!!
A group of college students has organized a new organization to support public schools, teachers and unions, to oppose privatization and to demand elimination of high stakes testing.
They will work together to strengthen free,open, democratic and equitable public schools.
I have signed as a supporter.
Please join them. Show your support.
On Thanksgiving Day, I posted a tribute to the teachers of the year in Acadia Parish in Louisiana.
With Governor Bobby Jindal in charge and with a compliant state board and a compliant TFA state commissioner, Louisiana is ground zero for the privatization of public education in America.
Jindal has control of the state board mainly because of huge campaign contributions from out of state supporters of his rightwing agenda.
As part of its destruction of public education, the state has enacted punitive laws directed at teachers.
Their evaluations will be tied to test scores, and it will be easy to fire them. They have no job rights.
In response to my tribute to the teachers in Louisiana, I received the following comment. Please recall that prior to the enactment of No Child Left Behind and the implementation of Race to the Top, public schools were not closed because of test scores. They were considered a public service or a public good. Closing them down made no more sense than closing down and selling off a community’s public park. But now we just take for granted that schools are closed, against the will of the community, and no one can stop it from happening. This is outrageous and we must not forget that it is outrageous. It does nothing to help students or to improve education. It is only good as a battering ram to hurt public education and to help the privatizers.
The teacher writes:
As a 30-year educator in Louisiana public schools, I can tell you that your support means so much – now more than ever. I will forward this to all the teachers who work with me at Delmont Elementary. A week ago today we were informed that our school would be closed because of our failure to make AYP within a year. But we are still thankful on this day, because we know that even though our state and district don’t recognize our efforts, we have truly touched the lives of 450 dhildren and families; and they have touched ours.
If you believe, as I do, that standardized testing is now being misused and overused, you will be shocked to read about New York City’s latest plan to ration admission to programs for gifted 4-year-olds.
If you wanted to satirize the misuse of testing, you would come up with a plan like the one in NYC. Little children will take a test, be rank ordered, and only those who score 90% or higher are sure to win a coveted seat. Sorry, an 89% won’t make it.
When you read the editorial linked here, you may momentarily wonder if you stepped through the looking glass and into the bizarro world of testing gone mad..
Anxious parents are paying for test prep and tutoring for 3-year-olds to get ready for the big test. Children who should be playing and romping in the park are under pressure to get the right answer.
The New York Daily News usually lauds everything that comes out of the NYC DOE because of its fealty to Mayor Bloomberg, but this latest plan was too far-fetched even for the mayor’s most fervent advocates:
The News wrote:
“Preposterously, this method tries to make a superexact measurement out of completely nonscientific evaluation. Worse, consider this example:
“Sally and Billy are both 4, but Sally is one day older than Billy. They take the test on the same day. “Both get 28 questions right out of 30. Both wind up in the 99th percentile.
“But, because he is ever so slightly younger than Sally, Billy is viewed as more advanced. He gets a higher composite than Sally, and he beats her out.”
A reader sent this comment in response to an earlier post about Mr. Rogers, the kind and gentle man who had his own television show for children for many years:
I have to believe if Mr. Rogers were in charge of education, Race To The Top would work like this:
“There was a story going around about the Special Olympics. For the hundred-yard dash, there were nine contestants, all of them so-called physically or mentally disabled. All nine of them assembled at the starting line and, at the sound of the gun, they took off. But one little boy didn’t get very far. He stumbled and fell and hurt his knee and began to cry. The other eight children heard the boy crying. They slowed down, turned around, and ran back to him–every one of them ran back to him. The little boy got up, and he and the rest of the runners linked their arms together and joyfully walked to the finish line. They all finished the race at the same time. and when they did, everyone in the stadium stood up and clapped and whistled and cheered for a long, long time. And you know why? Because deep down we know that what matters in this life is more than winning for ourselves. What really matters is helping others win, too, even if it means slowing down and changing our course now and then.”
― Fred Rogers
Investigative journalists are beginning to follow the money trail that leads to privatization of public education.
Chris Potter of the Pittsburgh City Paper recently published an excellent examination of the lavish spending by a small group of interlocking organizations promoting privatization in Pennsylvania. Some of these organizations popped up overnight to dispense large sums of money to candidates willing to support vouchers.
The story is the same everywhere, it seems. A small number of people who are very rich are trying to buy elections. Their cause is “reform” their goal is privatization.
The journalist who conducts a national investigation might discover that the same 200-300 people are putting up the money in state and local school elections across the nation. They are undermining democracy with their targeted spending.
Murray Bergtraum High School is literally within view of City Hall in New York City. Just cross a busy intersection and there it is.
It used to be a good school with a good reputation. Sitting in the center of New York City’s financial and governmental activity, it prepared young people for business careers.
No longer. The Bloomberg administration has a policy of preferring small high schools and charter schools. It’s policy for large high schools is, at best, benign neglect, but more often, dumping ground.
Bergtraum became a dumping ground for students who couldn’t go anywhere else. In ten years of Bloomberg-Klein reforms, it went from a good school to a holding pen.
Since NYC’s miraculous test score gains collapsed in 2010, you don’t hear much boasting about the scores.
But you will hear boasting about the graduation rate. You don’t hear much about the credit recovery programs on which the grad rate data rest.
But when you think of Bloomberg and Klein and Eric Nadelstern (quoted in the article), remember Bergtraum.
If you have been wondering what the Obama administration thinks about the role of for-profit schooling, tune in to C-SPAN today at 10 am for a panel discussion. It will be held at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in DC that is enthusiast about free-market reforms. An ominous sign, if you are dubious about profit-making schools, as I am.
If you miss it because you are working (or flying to a funeral in Houston, as I will be), check the archives of C-SPAN.
Discussion on For-Profit Education 11/26/2012
LIVE Airing Time: 10:00:00 AM – 11:30:00 AM EST
http://www.c-span.org/Events/For-Profit-Enterprises-Role-in-Public-Education/10737435980/
For-Profit Enterprises’ Role in Public Education
Washington, DC
Monday, November 26, 2012
The presidential election results will impact much in K–12 and higher education. Monday, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) hosts a panel discussion on the role of private enterprise in education.
According to AEI, “Many Democratic policymakers, including those in Obama administration, have stated their support for gainful employment regulations and competitive grant restrictions rooted in concerns about the motives and behavior of for-profit operators.” The panel will consider Obama’s approach as they look to 2013.
Specifically, the participants today spotlight what kinds of policies, regulations and metrics will allow private enterprise to assist students while governing against malfeasance.
Panelists representing federal policy makers and for-profit practitioners join the discussion. The group includes: Stacey Childress, Gates Foundation; Michael B. Horn, Innosight Institute; Jim Shelton, US Department of Education; Raquel Whiting Gilmer, Learn It Systems; and Chris Whittle, Avenues: The World School.
Updated: Wednesday at 1:42pm (ET)
Pearson is clearly a major force in American education.
It is the dominant provider of testing and textbooks. It owns the GED. It owns Connections Academy, which runs for-profit virtual schools. It owns a teacher evaluation program being marketed to states and districts. It partners with the agates Foundation to develop online curriculum for the Common Core standards.
This article tries to assemble all the pieces. It builds on an earlier article by Alan Singer in Huffington Post.
Please, someone, time for in-depth journalism or a dissertation that documents how Pearson bought American education and what it means for our children. Standardized minds, indeed!
A parent in Massachusetts asked for help writing a petition. Can you help?
She wrote:
“I would like to petition to emphasize that the focus on charter schools is draining money, resources, and motivated students and their families from the traditional public school system. Instead of helping ALL students in public schools, focusing on starting charter schools only helps a small percentage of students in each district.
“As a parent who’s worked so hard in my district, I’m very frustrated that the progress being made in my city’s traditional public schools is being threatened with a loss of funding if a new charter school opens up.
“I’m sure we could get 25K signatures on a well-worded petition, but hope it will present positive steps, not just negative responses to what’s being done now.”
A friend shared an invitation that came to his email.
The for-profit sector is not only lurking, it is invading.
Just think: while teachers and principals work 11hours a day, taking home salaries that barely cover the mortgage and living expenses, an equity investor will make millions from their labor.
Save the date! On January 15, there will be an exciting seminar on how to make a profit by investing in education. It is sponsored by Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP and the Parthenon Group.
The chairman for the day is Harold Levy, former Chancellor of the NYC public schools and now a partner in the Connecticut venture capital firm Palm Ventures.
The title of the conference is:
“Private Equity Investing in
For-Profit Education Companies —
How Breakdowns in Traditional Models &
Applications of New Technologies Are Driving Change”
The description:
“Private equity investing in for-profit education is soaring, and for good reason — the public and non-profit models are profoundly broken.
“This is why for-profit education is one of the largest U.S. investment markets, currently topping $1.3 trillion in value.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 