No excuses!
The Noble Network of charter schools in Chicago is proud of its high test scores. Mayor Rahm Emanuel says Noble has some “secret sauce” that produces great success.
Could this be it?
A Noble charter has fined the mother of a student $3,000 for his rule-breaking.
The mother is unemployed. She can’t pay.
She says she thought that public education was free.
Noble has its high standards. It collected $190,000 in 2011.
Pay or get out.
Is that the secret sauce?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So once again, success can be tied to the families who can afford to “choose” it.
I’m sure his test scores are below par. This is a great way to encourage him out.
How can this be legally allowed under their MOU? How do they think they are helping low income minority students by demanding large sums of money from people who do not have it? If they tried this in a wealthy neighborhood where they could afford it they would probably be sued and taken to the cleaners on T.V.
Charter schools make you sign a contract. If you don’t adhere to it’s standards they can kick you out. They have many rules, and most have motivated parents and have the well behaved kids. Your test scores will be better when the parents care.
One small charter school collects $190,000 in fines. Not a bad profit center is it.
Public schools get in trouble if we ask students to clean up their mess if they throw food in the lunchroom. Obviously whatever behavior problem this child has, fining him is not working. The school however is making out pretty well. Maybe it’s not just the secret sauce but the special cheese in the form of politicians protecting this school. Why is it if public schools seek out a stronger form of discipline, it’s considered abuse but here it’s okay because it increases the bottom line???
btw, who runs Noble charters because I think I have read about them before???
I read an article about this earlier this month that had the mother claiming she was going to pull her son out of the school. Well, THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT HER TO DO!!! She seemed to think the fines were all about raking in extra cash, but they aren’t — they’re about getting rid of the “riff raff”.
Meanwhile, after she pulls her son out of the school, Noble can say with a straight face that it doesn’t expel anyone — that in this case, “unfortunately” the mother removed the student from the school, “as is her right”. Scratch that — it won’t be a straight face, it’ll be a smug smile directed at anyone who accuses them of “creaming”.
Ron Poirier: I much appreciate your comments. However, I think the Noble Network is consciously and conscientiously doing a twofer: raking in the benjamins while weeding out the “undesirables.”
And the only thing missing is masking tape…
Ancillary revenues are the future! Perhaps window seats or extra legroom could go for a small charge?
They need bill operated bathrooms and water fountains. And why not a credit card to get through the door everyday and into every classroom.
Diane, I’m opposed to the fines that Noble hands out. I’m also opposed to public schools forcing kids to pay hundreds/in some cases more than a thousand dollars a year to participate in various extra-curricular activities. This is happening around the country. Are you opposed to that?
I’m not real keen on extra costs for extracurriculars myself, but surely you’re not equating that with fines for not having your shoes tied, are you? At least with extracurriculars the student is actually getting something for the money put in.
Dienne, I think k-12 public education should be free – no fines, no extra fees.
Yes, but that is entirely different from fining a student for misbehavior. Really Joe, someone as intelligent as you can’t see the difference? Any of the poor or poorest families get those fees waived: nominal instrument rental fee, gym uniform, etc. If districts weren’t busy cutting budgets to meet state and federal unfunded mandates maybe they wouldn’t need these fees. You would be upset about that, too?
Teachers pitch in to help a student go on a field trip or buy supplies or build a computer system for a student. We don’t fine them for untied shoes, not slanting or any other stupid nonsensical offense, so try not to be overly dramatic while defending the charter chain gangs.
I thought the law was society pays for education, but not transportation and sports and clubs.
If local taxpayers choose to provide optional funds for those things, why aren’t all students given an equal stipend to spend on the transportation or sports and clubs of their choice?
Just a thought.
Hey Joe,
Yep we all hate fees.
But we have to pay for all those consultants, they are not cheep.
And don’t forget all the testing and the computer data bases to keep up with all the data mandates.
Yep, really takes a bite out of the ol budget.
Suggestions?
While this reporting of levying substantial fines to parents of disruptive students is initially reprehensible, a second thinking reveals a certain logic to the policy.
In New Haven, CT. public schools, a secret problem that faces the district is the lawsuits filed each year by parents whose children are behavior problems. These parents know that the BOE usually settles these kinds of cases for a few thousand to make them go away. This is a huge reason why building and district administrators don’t want to back up their teachers as admin jobs, with their substantial salary, benefits, and future pensions , could be in jeopardy if a scapegoat is needed by someone with a bigger desk..
This charter school has turned the tables–instead of getting sued by the parents of a disruptive student, they are essentially suing the parents! I would be interested to know just how legal this policy is and why public school administrators have not been more proactive to see the state assembly pass effective legislation to curtail frivolous lawsuits against a school district, etc.
Maybe I am a bit perverse in my analysis, but anything that helps the kids who behave not have their rights trampled by those who don’t is a good thing to me.
I’m reluctantly with you. Some – not all – of our parents say “lawsuit” if their child curses out a teacher and then turn the legal tables if you suspend the child for bad behavior. Administrators who usually back our teacher up are quiet and and unresponsive as they do not want to be in pension harm’s way. So why can’t the public schools fine like the charter schools? It’s not fair – and it is a double standard.
So much for believing Inclusion classrooms are in readiness for the child who may
have a behavior disorder, learning disability, challenged learner with special needs.
If the classroom is only for the best and brightest, behavior obedient, we have kicked the research to the curb and the kids with it. Charters are making it plain that they are
wanting not wanting an open enrollment and meeting the unique needs of special learners.
How to destroy federal mandates without worry or respect. Punish the parent with zero tolerance and financial punitive damage is appalling. It is lazy and elitist and certainly
unworthy of an education system that professes to care about learners.
Ronee, I am not happy about what Noble is doing. However, for DECADES, district magnet schools all over the nation have been keeping out kids that they did not want. Is that ok with you? Is it ok that unless a kid is in the top 5 – 10% of students on traditional standardized tests, she is not permitted to attend a “magnet” school?
I think this is reprehensible too. I think public schools should be open to all and should not be allowed to have admissions tests. How do you feel about that?
Magnet schools don’t falsely claim that they are out-performing the traditional school with the same students. That’s the difference.
Magnet schools are quite up-front about the notion that they are taking the cream of the crop for a very special school that only the well-prepared will thrive in.
Actually, David, many magnets promote themselves as among the best schools in the country. Look on a variety of websites of some of these exclusive schools (as I have) and you will often see they note that US News or Newsweek proclaims them as among the best in the country. Of course, one of the reasons they have very high test scores or large numbers of students passing AP tests is that they screen out most of the students.
But today’s discussion reinforces my understanding that some people who criticize standardized tests and criticize charters that are open to all are ok with district schools using those tests to screen out students out.
Why is the charter school expert a teacher who was let go after three months?
Like I always say about most charters – PRE Military training!! Dress alike, follow all rules exactly, never question anything you are taught or are told to do, do not exhibit any individuality! And these behavior courses sound like some kind programing or conditioning that you might read about in a science fiction novel!
Would you mind sharing how many charter schools you have observed to come to the conclusion that most of them provide this pre military training?
Tracy, I don’t understand your question.
What gets me is that by fining the parent they are basically saying the parent needs to control there child so it is the parents fault he/she isn’t learning. Yet then they turn around and say we have to stop blaming the parents for the childs behavior, that it is the teachers fault the child isn’t behaving and subsequently not learning.
That’s their motto: No excuses until it’s our excuses.
And now on our terms we can banish the incorrigible who may also be poor test takers and quickly before the high stakes test, but we will keep the per pupil expenditure.
It’s a win win.
In NYC if you don’t pay your parking tickets they put a boot on your car. Perhaps if Broad and Gates gain control of public education in America, parents will have a boot placed on them for not paying fines.
It’s difficult to believe that this is legal.
Reblogged this on Transparent Christina.
NYC thought this was such a good idea, they’re implementing it in city public schools http://studentslast.blogspot.com/2013/01/infraction-transaction-city-to-fine.html #satire
Students Last, am I correct that NYC is not implementing this? Your column leads with this: “What you are about to read is NOT real news. It is satire. Where possible we have provided links to the real stories/issues that inspire us at the bottom of each article.”
So could please clarify whether NYC is or is not doing this? Thanks.
You didn’t notice that it said “satire” in several places on that website, as well as in the address? Oh, dear. Reading is fundamental.
You are correct Joe. NYC is NOT implementing this as the piece was satire. But isn’t it sad that NYC’s education is so screwy that you thought it was possible?
Screwy is screwy and N.Y. is screwy as are most now.
Yes, it is sad.
Jennifer, I agree that reading is fundamental. I also have seen many times where someone did not realize something was satire and it was passed around endlessly on the internet as fact. You may have noticed that another country recently picked up on something in the Onion (a satirical magazine) and passed it off as the truth. So I was seeking confirmation.
So let me get this “straight”… fining a mother 3 thousand dollars (who cannot afford this) is going to help this child understand why he should not have broken rules and will supposedly solve the problem? I am guessing the mother’s failure pay the fine will “conveniently” result in the expulsion of her son from this school. Horrific!
This is like “I owe my soul to the company store.” The student can’t leave until the fine is paid and the fine will continue to grow as long as the student is there. Great scheme if you can get it to work.
This is a public school?? Tax dollars are funding it? Where is all this “fine” money going? Extortion is legal in Chicago?
Perhaps the schools should offer the Mother (any student’s parent) the opportunity to come into class with the student to monitor his or her behavior. Oh right, I forgot it’s all about money, not the student.
If the schools have taken in $190,000 in 3 years then clearly the fines are not a deterrent.to bad or otherwise unacceptable behavior. however I suppose collecting those fines makes poor behavior a highly profitable nuisance.
Ms. Cartwheel Librarian: I know this is unpleasant news, but the situation is worse than you noted. You understated the amount of disciplinary “fees” the Noble Network has raked in over the last three years.
I include via copy-and-paste from the article accessed with the link provided above by Diane:
“The Noble Network, an alternative school program championed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has drawn the ire of students and parents alike for collecting nearly $390,000 in disciplinary fines from low-income, largely African-American and Latino students and their families over just a three-year period. In 2011, the network collected nearly $190,000 in disciplinary “fees.” Noble currently operates a dozen schools in Chicago.”
Wonderful how the business model in education works so well for under-served students and parents, ain’t it?
😦
Thanks for setting me straight.
I wonder if students were paid for good behavior would that have a better outcome? I’m sure it’s been done but two side by side charters dueling it out might make for some interesting data(!)
Where is the ACLU? Surely there is a lawsuit in there somewhere.
If you can’t pay, your child’s credits will be stolen and he/she will have to repeat the year. If you choose to take your child out of the wonderful Noble Network, your child will get back their credits. That’s choice.
If this kid is really that bad, why is not in special education? Sounds like he might have a TFA for a teacher who cannot control her class.
Are parents aware of this upfront? And, if so, to what extent are they aware? I can’t imagine reading in a handbook that parents will be fined for such infractions as untied shoes or not SLANTing and still choosing to enroll my child there.
After reading every entry, thus far, I find the conversation one-sided. What was the student’s offense? Is this the only school, within home address, the child may attend? Where are the voices for the students that ‘choose’ not to misbehave and who want to learn and who appreciate a classroom where their learning isn’t subdued or derailed by those who make it clear learning isn’t their priority? In my city public school system offers alternative education for students who do not do well in mainstream classrooms that have been quite successful. Does Chicago offer alternatives to traditional learning environments?
The headline is misleading. The $3k is an accumulative amount the student racked up which suggests the student isn’t exactly a charm. The student obviously has a behavior problem. Why should teachers and students, without behavior issues, suffer because of one child that needs special attention?
Five dollars for a minor infraction is not obscene. Requiring behavior classes for students who rack over 25 detentions (25???) in a year is fair, too. If your student misbehaves have them earn the $5 to pay for it instead of letting him run free to play on the weekend and evenings.
The fee punishment can be viewed one of two ways; the school is punishing the parent or, the school forcing (the agreed upon) partnership with the parents. It’s up to the parent portion of the partnership to discern how the fee is paid. If the student is young, then walk with them door to door to neighbor’s houses while they ask if they can take their garbage out for a week to earn a dollar. Wouldn’t the parent be teaching the child to make sound decisions for themselves by teaching them they have a “choice” to follow the rules or not to follow the rules. If you choose to follow the rules then this allotted time on the clock is yours, but if you choose to break the rules this time will be spent paying the fine. Maybe the child might learn that chewing gum in class isn’t so all important.
Annabella,
This charter school didn’t fine just one family. It fined many and collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from poor families. Do you think that is right?