Archives for the month of: January, 2013
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Petrilli: What’s Wrong With Skimming the Best Students?

By dianeravitch
January 8, 2013 //
129

Mike Petrilli at the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute has an interesting post about the high expulsion rate in DC charters (72 students are expelled from DC charters for every one expelled from the public schools). Be sure to read the story in the Washington Post that he refers to as well as the short video, in which Mike Petrilli appears).

Usually, corporate reformers insist that charter schools enroll exactly the same kids as the public schools. They even insist that attrition rates from charters are no different from public schools. They claim that if they could get high scores with “exactly the same kids,” why can’t public schools.

Petrilli disagrees. In effect, he says that charters are not for all kids. Charters are for strivers. So what if they kick out the lazy kids and the troublemakers. He thinks that’s a good thing because it rids the charter of the kids who don’t want to learn. That way, they can do their best for the strivers and not waste time on the non-strivers.

This commentary by Petrilli is refreshing. We can move past the claim that charters enroll exactly the same kids. We can acknowledge that they are created to skim off the best kids in the poorest neighborhoods. And increasingly, they are opening in affluent neighborhoods where they will skim off top students and destabilize successful community schools.

His post reminds me of a dinner I attended a few months ago in Chicago with a wealthy charter supporter. He said that they are schools for the kids who are motivated to succeed. I asked him what we as a society should do with the other kids. He didn’t know or care.

Categories Charter Schools

Do Public School Students in Florida Get Art and Music?

By dianeravitch
January 8, 2013 //
18

A reader in Florida saw the description of the Rocketship charters, where students get no art or music. She was not surprised because her child’s school has neither art nor music, just testing:

“My children attend a Title I school in Florida called Triangle Elementary in Mount Dora. They have no art class, no music class, and no recess (my children are 6 and 8). Florida puts all its emphasis on high-stakes testing, and this is the norm unfortunately, unless you can afford private school.”

Florida was one of the two highest rated states on Michelle Rhee’s report card. Providing the arts and a full curriculum does not qualify as education reform in her ranking system. Only testing and pro privatization policies.

Categories Arts Education, Education Industry, Florida, Rhee, Michelle, Testing

Local School Board Hijacked in Winston-Salem?

By dianeravitch
January 8, 2013 //
6

A reader writes to alert us to developments in Winston-Salem:

Diane:

Another School Board Scandal is developing in Winston-Salem, NC. The recent long-time chair has been elected to the General Assembly, and the handling of vacancies has been outrageous, particularly in light of the fact that the elections are supposed to be non-partisan!

Once a new chair was named for the Board, the Vice-Chair selected was an official that was appointed (not elected) by the majority Republican County Commission to fill a vacant seat from a well-known Democratic member of the Board.

http://www.camelcitydispatch.com/new-school-board-vice-chair-unelected-official-john-davenport/

The vacant seat has basically be bungled, first when the county GOP nominated an extreme right-winger and then he had to withdraw after his residency was questioned:

http://www.camelcitydispatch.com/forsyth-county-gop-makes-school-board-replacement-recommendation-who-is-david-regnery/

http://www.camelcitydispatch.com/ccd-reporting-leads-to-regnery-withdrawal/

Then they chose a total unknown with a history that includes working for the Koch Brothers’ America for Prosperity.

http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/article_466e746e-55e3-11e2-bdad-0019bb30f31a.html

http://www.camelcitydispatch.com/unknown-irene-may-appointed-to-ws-forsyth-county-school-board/

To sum up: the GOP has hijacked two seats (and the vice-chairmanship) on what is supposed to be a Board chosen through non-partisan elections, naming two candidates that are voucher supporters and corporate reformers.

Hope you can help us shine some light on this terrible problem.

Categories Corporate Reformers, North Carolina, Privatization

When Is a Zero Percent Dropout Rate Not a Zero Percent Dropout Rate?

By dianeravitch
January 8, 2013 //
6

Jonathan Pelto takes a closer look at the media hype surrounding Dr. Steve Perry’s fabled Capitol Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut. Dr. Perry has claimed that the school has a zero percent dropout rate. This claim has repeated again and again by others.

But is it true? Read on.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers

What Did Rhee’s Report Card Actually Measure?

By dianeravitch
January 8, 2013 //
11

G.F. Brandenburg, retired math teacher, has done a close analysis of Michelle Rhee’s. state report card.

He calls it a “Brave New World-type Orwellian fantasy,” in which words mean the opposite of what they say.

Her ranking does not measure whether states have high test scores or high graduation rates. it does not measure whether states have laws and policies that have encouraged better teaching and successful schools. It des not measure anything that matters.

Read the full story on his blog to see how and why Rhee gave out her abysmal grades, in which almost every state gets a D or an F except those run by her rightwing buddies.

Here is a sample from Brandenburg, stating first what Rhee claims she is measuring, followed by Brandenburg’s short explanation of what she really measured:

■ Reduce legal barriers to entry into teaching profession and permit alternate certification programs to provisionally place teachers in the classroom (Brandenburg: In other words, make a 5-week summer program like TFA, or no program at all, the legal equivalent to a traditional one- or two-year professional teaching license system.)

■ Pay structures based on effectiveness and performance pay (Brandenburg: In other words, make teachers’ pay dependent on the score from an arcane mathematical algorithm that no one understands (VAM) and which jumps around widely and wildly from year to year for the same teacher; and which correlates with nothing else. BTW, none of the many studies conducted on performance pay has yet shown that ‘performance pay’ for teachers does anything to help students. What’s more, many teachers in jurisdictions that have bonuses for teachers who score high on these formulas refuse to accept the bonuses, because of the ‘poison pills’ attached to the bonuses.)

■ Parental notification and parental consent for student placement with ineffective teachers (Brandenburg: in other words, public shaming of teachers who happen to end up on the short end of the VAM yardstick; this is part of Rhee’s Orwellian use of the phrase “Elevate the Teaching Profession”)

■ Remove arbitrary caps on public charter establishment and establish alternative authorizing and fast-track process for high-performing public charters (Brandenburg: We now know that charter schools are frankly aimed at destroying public education, not improving it. We also know that in 5/6 of the cases, charter schools do the same as OR WORSE THAN their peer public schools. We also know that the few charter schools that have good student achievement records do so by winnowing out all of the problem students — who are sent back to the public schools — and by having longer days, longer years, and summer programs, all of which cost more money.)

■ Provide comparable funding and prohibit authorizers from charging fees from public charter schools for oversight and administration (Brandenburg: In other words, make sure that charters get MORE money per pupil than the regular schools, since just about all charter schools receive large private donations. My administrator friends in DCPS and elsewhere tell me that private donors essentially refuse to give anything to regular public schools these days, no matter how worthy the program.)

Categories Charter Schools, Privatization, Rhee, Michelle, StudentsFirst, Teach for America TFA, Teacher Evaluations

Chicago Facing Mass School Closings

By dianeravitch
January 8, 2013 //
9

Will Rahm Emanuel go down in Chicago history as the mayor who destroyed public education? Will he take his vengeance on the Chicago Teachers Union by closing 100-140 public schools while opening charters? How will history judge him?

A reader sends this comment:

We are feeling the pain DC is facing in Chicago as well.

In Chicago, the Chicago Public Schools board is seeking to close up to 140 schools. The educators, clinicians, paraprofessionals, parents and community members are speaking out about this.

Even today, educators handed out information about school closings at different train stops across the city.

And unfortunately, we are seeing these school closings occur primarily in African American neighborhoods.

People are speaking about this and there its even a petition on the White House website that was established by a community member that resides in one of the neighborhoods that will be hit hard by these school closings.

It is at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-education-policies-promote-massive-closing-traditional-public-schools-while-expanding-charter/7N4DRln5….please sign and share.

Categories Accountability, Chicago, Closing schools, Education Industry, Emanuel, Rahm, Privatization

Michelle Rhee’s Upside Down Agenda

By dianeravitch
January 8, 2013 //
22

Michelle Rhee issued a report card yesterday that graded states by whether they satisfied her.

What she wants is privatization of public education (charters and vouchers); high-stakes testing by which to judge teacher quality; an end to teacher tenure; and the weakening if not outright elimination of teacher unions.

Here is what we can say about her agenda:

THERE IS ZERO EVIDENCE THAT HER POLICY PREFERENCES PRODUCE HIGHER TEST SCORES OR BETTER SCHOOLS.

To the contrary, the states that follow her advice tend to have the lowest test scores!

The public schools of Massachusetts are unquestionably the most successful in the United States. On the National Assessment of Educational Progress, they are number one in the nation, by far. When Massachusetts students took part in the latest international assessment, they were ranked among the highest performing nations in the world in math and science. Black students in Massachusetts performed as well as Finland. Rhee graded Massachusetts D+.

Rhee gave a D to Connecticut and New Jersey, which are consistently among the top three on NAEP.

Rhee gave Louisiana one of her highest marks, even though the state is among the lowest ranking states in the nation on the NAEP. But it scores high with Rhee because Bobby Jindal is following the ALEC playbook on vouchers, charters, online learning and for-profit schools.

Rhee rated Washington, D.C., #4 among all states even though it is one of the nation’s lowest performing districts with the lowest graduation rate and the largest black-white achievement gap and Hispanic-white achievement gap of any big city. Having shifted nearly half its pupils to privately managed charters, it is a success by Rhee’s metrics, even though the students do poorly and teacher turnover is among the nation’s highest at 20% annually.

This much is clear: Rhee has no regard for evidence. As Richard Zeiger, the deputy superintendent of instruction in California told the New York Times, the state’s F rating was a “badge of honor.”

“This is an organization that frankly makes its living by asserting that schools are failing,” Mr. Zeiger said of StudentsFirst. “I would have been surprised if we had got anything else.”

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Privatization, Rhee, Michelle, StudentsFirst

New Tennessee Parent Group Stands Up for Public Schools

By dianeravitch
January 8, 2013 //
5

A group of parents in Tennessee has formed to support public education and local control. Most of them are public school moms. Their group is “Standing Together for Strong Community Schools.” They oppose vouchers, and they oppose the governor’s plan to create a commission to impose charters on local communities, whether the locals want them or not.

Their inspiration is Amy Frogge, a Nashville parent who was elected to the Metro Nashville school board despite being outspent 5-1. Amy Frogge is a member of our honor roll because she has started a parent movement to defend public education against privatization and profiteers. Amy took a strong stand against the Great Hearts Academy of Arizona, which wants to open a charter school in a mostly white and affluent neighborhood of Nashville. Remember how charters were supposed to “save minority children from failing schools” and “close the achievement gap.” That is not Great Hearts’ plan, and the Metro Nashville board voted to deny the charter. It voted not once, but four times to deny the charter. To punish the school board, State Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman withheld $3.4 million in state funding that the state owed to the children of Nashville.

And here is the odd part of the Nashville story. Commissioner Huffman told the Metro Nashville school board that the $3.4 million was to be withheld only from public schools, not from charter schools. Remember a few days ago, we discussed here the question of whether charter schools are public schools? Well, apparently, Commissioner Huffman thinks that charter schools are NOT public schools. Only the children who attend public schools in Nashville will be penalized by his decision, not those in charter schools.

So that question is settled. In the eyes of Commissioner Huffman (who previously served as public relations director of Teach for America), charter schools are not public schools. Only the children in public schools are to be affected–punished—by his decision.

And now you know why the parents in Tennessee have created a parent group to fight for public education. Because Commissioner Huffman and Governor Haslam and the far-right members of the Legislature want to privatize public education in Tennessee. The parents want to support their community schools. They want one Nashville.

Groups like “Strong Community Schools” in Tennessee are springing up in states, cities and school districts across the nation. In Texas, there is a moms’ group known as “Moms Against Drunk Testing,” but its real name is Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment. In Ohio, there is a new group called “Strong Schools, Strong Communities.” A civic group in Indiana called Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education got started last year and was key in the campaign to beat corporate reform state superintendent Tony Bennett.

None of these groups is funded by the big foundations or the big corporations that support ALEC or the Wall Street hedge fund managers that support Democrats for Education Reform or Stand for Children.

They are grassroots citizens who care about their public schools. There will be many more such groups as the public awakens to the privatization juggernaut that is aimed at our public schools.

 

 

 

Categories ALEC, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Honor Roll, Privatization, Tennessee

Ironic Twist in Rhee’s Report

By dianeravitch
January 7, 2013 //
17

Mercedes Schneider, who has been writing up terrific statistical analyses of Louisiana’s fudging of school data, read the New York Times account of Rhee’s report card on education reforms and makes a great observation:

“The ratings, which focused purely on state laws and policies, did not take into account student test scores.” Ironic, ain’t it?

Rhee wants teachers to be evaluated and fired by test scores; she wants schools to be closed by test scores. But when she ranked the states, she didn’t look at test scores! If she had, her number one state–Louisiana–would have been at the bottom of her rankings.

Categories Accountability, Rhee, Michelle, StudentsFirst

Waltons Will Spend More to Privatize Public Education

By dianeravitch
January 7, 2013 //
10

The Walton Foundation likes vouchers and charters. It does not like public schools.

Last year, it spend $159 million to promote vouchers and charters.

In addition, members of the billionaire family have dumped a few million here and there into political campaigns, like the Georgia referendum to allow the governor to create charters despite the opposition of the local school board, or the Washington State referendum to allow charters in that state.

Now the Walton Foundation plans to expand. As a local Arkansas blogger puts it, “Wow, when the Walton family — which has put more than $1 billion into “education reform” through its foundation and spent untold millions more in separate political activties — indicates it’s going to increase its political effort it’s time for political opponents to build a bomb shelter.”

It is important that when the Walton Foundation says “education reform,” what they really mean is privatizing public education, getting rid of local school boards, and allowing for-profit corporations to run your neighborhood school.

Sort of like Walmart. When they come into your local region, the mom-and-pop stores go out of business, and the Waltons own everything. If they don’t make enough money, they leave, and your town has a lot of empty stores on Main Street.

Categories Corporate Reformers, For-Profit, Privatization, Walton Foundation
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