Parents in the Binghampton district in Tennessee are furious that the state took over their school, changed the name and colors, brought in an inexperienced staff, and no one thought to consult them.
Tennessee created the “Achievement School District” and put charter founder Chris Barbic in charge. Barbic, a graduate of the unaccredited Broad Superintendents Academy, has promised to take the schools scoring in the bottom 5% and put them in the state’s top 25% in five years. He has the authority to take control of low-performing schools to turn them around.
One of them is Lester School, now renamed Cornerstone Preparatory School and turned into a charter.
At the community meeting, feelings ran high:
“Parents resent an outside group coming in and taking over, particularly, they say, when there is scant evidence teachers and staff are experienced enough to know what they are doing.
“They are furious that the school’s name and colors were changed without input. And they question why the principal has never led an inner-city school and earned her education degree only two years ago.
“And you think you and this gentleman here know what African-American children need?” radio show host Thaddeus Matthews asked Wednesday, pressing Settle to explain why more than half the teachers in the school are in the process of being licensed to teach, but not yet certified.
“It is disrespectful to this community that you are going to come in and make a decision about the lives of children in this community and get no community input. The people in this community have a right to be represented,” he said.”
Barbic promised to work with the community to try to “work out the issues.”
It won’t be easy. Apparently the Cornerstone staff is applying “no excuses” behavior policies, and the parents call it child abuse. “Anger first boiled over in a meeting Dec. 19 at the Lester Community Center. One little girl told the crowd of 120-plus people in a three-hour meeting that her teacher refused to let her use the restroom or get her fresh clothes when she wet her pants. She also said the teacher took her shoes, apparently because she was slow tying her laces. Other parents said teachers twisted their children’s arms or took their shoes as punishment.”
The school is trying to calm the situation: “Cornerstone called more than 100 parents during the holiday break, sent letters to each family and scheduled grade-level meetings with parents, starting last week, to talk over their concerns.”
Let me add that I like Barbic’s pledge. It is concrete and it has a five-year deadline. He can be held accountable in five years. It is not clear what happens if he doesn’t meet his goal. Will he be fired? If he accomplishes it, he can then go to work on the next group of schools in the bottom 5%. Statistically, there is always a bottom 5%.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
People who do that to children need to be prosecuted.
Another thought… despite the five year goal being concrete and specific, what about the five years worth of kids/students who, if goals are not met, will never get their five years back? Maybe this whole move to the privatization and capitalization of public education dollars, built on a business model, should be challenged with language addressing that reality- until they can offer a “childhood back” guarantee (as opposed to a money back guarantee), they have no business treating kids like products.
Charters have had twenty years using the argument that what they do couldn’t be any worse- that’s an entire generation. Clearly, they are taking actions that are indeed worse, and get away with it scott free.
Congratulations to the community that is willing to rise up and protest. I nominate them for the honor roll!
And how much money will he/they make during those five
years?
Say it loud Thaddeus Matthews!. Say it loud! Several interesting points he raises. Sadly, this is the new ‘colonialism’ and ‘cultural/educational imperialism’. This is a story worth following. It gets my blood boiling.
Well, Chris Barbic, from the the unaccredited and disreputable Broad Superintendents Academy, may have given a “concrete” pledge with a five-year deadline, but that means absolutely nothing, unless the following are also true:
1) Are Barbic’s intentions sincere? Is his REAL first priority his students, or is it his compensation, career advancement, influence, power and brandishing his “Personal Brand”?
2) Are both the criteria and the calculus valid when assessing the long-term “failure” or “success” of his school? How will “success” be defined for his school and by what means will it be determined? Will there be widespread agreement about these “Rules Of The Game”, right at the outset, or will this be an arcane and isolated process, using dubious and unclear parameters?
3) Will there be cheating? Given the high stakes here, will we see cheating, by the students, and/or faculty, administrators or volunteers? If this is a “life or death” outcome for the school, will there be any attempts at all to alter the outcomes more favorably?
I think Barbic—knowingly or otherwise—has set up a “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” process. And I think we should all look upon what he’s doing with some skepticism.
Will Barbic end up like the Rhee of DC???
It seems to be their goal.
This type of child abuse smacks of inexperience in teachers. I am well pissed off just reading it. If a child has to go to the restroom more than the usual number of times for more than a day or two she is likely to have a urinary tract infection and the parent should be notified. A 6 year old regular ed who carries extra clothing may have a neurological disorder, such as a mild spina bifida, or just a weak bladder muscle that the teacher does not know about. And six year olds are just learning to tie their shoes. Of course it takes a while and they are very proud when they can accomplish this complex self care task. You don’t ever take a child’s shoes unless he or she is throwing them.
This is the kind of thing that happens when you change the schools without parental and community input, put inexperienced “reformers” in charge and dispose of the teachers. The students are the ones who get hurt. I am so tired of hearing about this kind of crap going on and it seems to have infested the entire country.
This is definitely child abuse. Parents need to report such abuse to child protective services. There is no excuse for such behavior. Parents, WAKE UP and take action to protect your children.
What do you expect from the former husband of Michelle Rhee who also has custody of their children. That’s right Rhee does not have custody of her children. How did that happen?
Both of them have the same philosophy on education and that is corporatization, privatization and zero tolerance like children are being produced by a CNC machine which is accurate to 1/10,000.” This is not reality. Educating children is like producing each item as a custom item. The basic rules are the same but how you do it and what you do to accomplish the outcome is different as each situation requires a separate solution for the outcome. Children are individuals and all have different needs to be successful there is no cookie cutter solution and that is what these privatizer corporatizer “True Believers” are pushing in spite of the fact of individual needs. Every time you go against nature nature bites back. Peoples genetics and brains have really not changed in over 30,000 years why do we think that in a few years just because of technology that this has all changed?
This is what you get with Obama, Duncan, Rhee, Huffman, Gates, Broad, H.P., Walton et al who are pushing this loser agenda on our youth and it is not for good intentions.
What good is a 5 year contract? By then those kids will be totally damaged and hating school just in time for their hormones to add to the problem in middle school. Progress yearly, demonstrable progress must be required, with monitors from the community to ensure that he is not cheating plus an absolute open door policy for any parent to visit any classroom at any time as long as they are not drunk or high or carrying a weapon or with threats or a history of bonafide disruption. (Then they have to be accompanied by a staff member.). Just put a “parent chair” in the back of each room for the visitors and tell the inexperienced not-teachers to always be prepared. If you don’t have anything to hid you won’t hide anything. These charters, if they are run by anyone other than certified, experienced teachers need to be supervised much more closely than regular schools.
Soooo its better to leave them in the bottom 5% and try NOTHING? Hmmmmm. Sounds kinda racist to me.
Sigh
How about real solutions instead of the corporate model which does not work in educating people as they are individuals not widgets. Passing it off to a totally unaccountable method is not an answer.
Racist? Their parents don’t won’t the change. Who is the racist? Forcing minorities to knuckle under a billioniare’s will? Once again, someone will get rich and the children will not be in the top 25% in five years. All a scam. Why do they keep steamrolling the will of minority people? I guess the “reformers” are just racist.
Because they can and there is lots of money in it.
Now Tery what I heard is that they want experienced teachers in the classroom. You can’t argue with that. experience beats non experienced every time. It has been researched.
Terry is a troll.
Or EB!
Snake oil for sale, snake oil for sale, who will buy my snake oil?
Education reform will implode soon enough. Basically it is a ponzi scheme and its promoters are a bunch of Madoffs. The stream of poor districts and three years teachers who are the marks will dry up.
Barbic’s promise reminds me of another one from a certain pro-charter governor from New Jersey a few years back.
‘nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor.’
these people are all liars
Diane left out some information on Barbic.
http://www.chattanoogan.com/2011/5/10/200921/Tennessee-Hires-First-Superintendent.aspx
More phony baloney. “100% accepted to college”-a scam-they all say that. I saw nothing remarkable. Why do they keep repeating this same baloney over and over again in these poor districts? Same story, second verse.
I want to see the demographics of his charters’ student population. I wager there aren’t any special ed or special needs students in any of them….hidden away in some woe be gotten alternative program..isolated and excluded from mainstream achievers
…..at best.
YES prep seems to have discovered Le Sauce Secrete. Between 9th & 12th grades, they “disappear” about 40% of students. Looks like a chunk of undesirables vanish between 8th and 9th as well. From the NCES Common Core of Data:
9th grade students 12 grade students Attrition Rate
YES PREP – NORTH CENTRAL CAMPUS
Class of 2010 74 43 41.9
Class of 2011 97 56 42.3
YES PREP – SOUTHEAST CAMPUS
Class of 2010 114 86 24.6
Class of 2011 118 76 35.6
YES PREP – SOUTHWEST CAMPUS
Class of 2011 79 45 43.0
Total 482 306 36.5
Well, they are doing a wonderful job now aren’t they? More for the “School to Prison Pipeline” to feed our friends in the prison wealth market. Do not forget the privatization there also. Have to get it on all ends after all.
The newest article, posted tonight for tomorrow’s paper, is even more damning.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/jan/14/charter-schools-face-backlash-in-inner-cities-to/
Memphis is starting to see some balanced reporting. This particular writer has done some wonderful puff pieces for the ASD, but may have turned a corner?
The Schooling Memphis blog is also staying very on top of this controversy. Diane linked to the article under “child abuse” above, but Cornerstone employed an accounting firm to do an audit of processes, but still hasn’t really investigated the claims. Shame. Are they just leaving it to Child Services to investigate all of these claims?
Has there been any court that has ever ruled on the legality of charter schools being designated as public schools?
In Allen v. Casper (1993), the court found in favor of the defendants, ruling that Bethlehem Baptist Christian School had the right to expel Kristen Allen because her parents had violated their contract with their school and private schools are under contract law.
Many charter schools require parent and student contracts and expel/release students when breaches of these contracts occur, yet the receive public funding and are considered public schools.
Can a legal-savvy reader here explain if there’s a loophole I’m ignorant of or if this contradiction persists simply because it hasn’t been tried in court?
In a recent post, I referred to a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals about a case from Arizona. A teacher was discharged by a charter school and couldn’t get another job because the charter said things about him that he disputed. He sued to get a fair hearing, but the charter corporation said it was not a public entity. The court agreed with the charter operator that it was a private contractor and not subject to state laws. A recent decision by the NLRB referring to the Chicago Math and Science Academy (where teachers wanted to form a union) also agreed that the charter corporation was a private entity like a construction contractor, not a public agency.
Whether charter schools are “public” or “private” is largely a rhetorical battle between supporters and opponents of charter schools. It doesn’t have a lot of meaning in the abstract. Charters are “public” (and subject to state regulation) in some ways and “private” (and not subject to state regulation) in others.
Yes, of course.
And whether the American Colonies had the kind of “representation” in Parliament that could justify their “taxation” by same was a purely “rhetorical” question, hence the American War of Rhetorical Independence in 1776.
They are public when it is time to get money, but private for all other purposes.
A bit of an overstatement, Diane. They’re subject to a lot of state rules and regulations that purely private schools are not subject to. Surely you’ve referred to charter schools as “public schools” on many occasions. And when you did, I assume my point is exactly what you had in mind.
Private schools obtain all their money privately that is a big difference. Charter schools are able to avoid almost all ed code and local regulations and since you have no access to their financial records they cannot be held accountable or know what they are really doing. Also, what do they do when and/or if the extra financing goes away. Can they survive? Charter schools cherry pick parents and students, do not deal with behavioral problems, ESL or special education in general. How is that a public school? Real Public Schools have to take all comers no matter the problems. When this is factored in charter schools are not performers.
“How is that a public school? Real Public Schools have to take all comers no matter the problems. When this is factored in charter schools are not performers.”
I don’t know whether they’re “Real Public Schools.” That’s not a legal argument. That’s an argument about what kind of schools you think should receive public money, or about what kinds of rules should apply to schools that receive public money. When a court rules, for example, that a charter school is not a “state actor” under section 1983, it is not ruling that charter schools are not “public schools” in the sense you’re talking about.
I no longer refer to charter schools as public schools. They are privately managed, have selective admissions and are not subject to state laws.
I’m confused — many (I’m not sure, but I assume most) charters were “privately managed” a decade ago just as they are today. And a decade ago they were subject to state laws but are no longer subject to state laws?
As a factual matter, charters are certainly subject to state laws. Maybe not in a way that’s meaningful from your current point of view, but let’s stop with the doubletalk at least.
I get that. What I don’t get is how they’re allowed to get away with it.
They get away with it because the U.S. is a very corrupt lawless country that is almost completely fascist by defination. The defination being the government being run by the corporations. Classic Mussolini.
“I get that. What I don’t get is how they’re allowed to get away with it.”
They get away with it because there are state laws that expressly permit them to do what they do. Charter schools didn’t just pop up out of nowhere last week when nobody was looking. They’re the result of a decades of political lobbying and think-tank policy papers (many of which Diane wrote). There are legal challenges that pop up now and then (and will pop up more frequently) relating to whether charters are complying with state and local laws and regulations, but I’m not aware of any lawsuits challenging the legality of the charter statutes themselves.
In other words, your question is mainly a political question, not a legal one.
charter schools have been declared by the courts to be private entities. After all you have no rights to their financial records as a result of their being private entities even if non profit. The only thing you have a right to is their non profit tax returns. This is how Steve Barr from Green Dot was caught.
My last reply was supposed to be to flerper.
I tried a charter and it was the worst decision of my life. My kids hated it. They nearly broke down my son. They cared only about their scores on the state assessment not for the students. I watched as many teachers with masters degrees were let go and wonderful classess were discontinued as they slashed their spending to make up for the nepotism which ruined the school and caused them to lose their high school. Parents were forced to agree by signed contract to all testing or their kids had to leave the school regardless of special needs. Charters cherry pick; that’s how they manipulate scores. They are not family friendly and don’t care about special needs kids. I won’t recommend a charter ever.
Is the concept of equal citizenship and equality under the law really such a dim memory from bygone days that some people no longer have a grasp of what it means — nor any way to work it out from common sense?
Double Talk?
Double talk is when someone pretends that making schools subject to the laws governing burger franchises is what any sensible person means by the laws appropriate to ensuring universal free public education.
Update today
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/jan/26/former-memphis-mayor-asks-governor-to-intervene/
This is a very inaccurate article that does not look at who Barbic really is nor does it consider the schools teachers nor the methods and purposes behind the state’s current education policies. Barbic received his master’s degree from Vanderbilt University, the top education school in the country. He has worked heavily with Teach for America, one of the most reputable teacher training organizations in the country and one that has proven success using innovative pedagogy, none of which involves child abuse. The teachers he recruits for his school are often from TFA and therefore must adhere to the organization’s standards as well as the expected practices of all teachers according to state regulations. Child abuse in the classroom is never tolerated by the state and Barbic is under enough scrutiny that any whispers of such a thing that proved true would kill his career. These teachers and Barbic himself are there to improve an area where poor K-12 education has cost these children their future. The community can shout all they want about this being the wrong method but what they were doing wasn’t enough. These kids deserve a future. They deserve to graduate high school with not just a degree, but the skills to be successful in a job and in college. Everyone needs to quit bashing new ideas and start helping because that is the only way we are going to save this state from continual ridicule due to our own ignorance.
Was this response satire or real? If real what kool aid and psychedelics are this person taking. Must be a good trip seeing pink elephants dancing in the sky.