Archives for the month of: February, 2013
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If You Watch Oprah’s Show About New Orleans…..

By dianeravitch
February 16, 2013 //
35

A teacher in New Orleans writes:

Oprah’s documentary series about John McDonogh High School in New Orleans was moved to tonight @ 8p Central Time, in order to follow Beyonce’s show.

Please comment on Oprah’s page, if you find that her show does not accurately tell the whole story, and if your perspective on the history of the school is different. I personally find the preview to be highly stereotypical about New Orleans, it’s mostly black unionized teachers (pre-charter), black students, the need for white savior charter operators and TFA teachers. In my 3+ years as a teacher at this school and English Department Chair, I never saw a fight, nor did any students ever put their hands on me. However, I did see the state run Recovery School District (RSD) set the school up to fail by giving the school administrator after administrator, not accurately staffing the school, having classes over the state maximum (my max was 54), leaving the building in decrepit condition, under resourcing the school (no science labs) removing honors & advanced placement classes and replacing them with extra remediation classes, etc. But we’ll see how the show is tonight…

http://www.oprah.com/own-blackboard-wars/blackboard-wars-blog.html

Oprah should watch the “John McDonogh Legacy Lost” series, created by students, and interview community members about their historical struggle for the school.

Some have expressed an interest in creating a facebook page titled: “The Truth About John McDonogh.” Anyone interested?

Elizabeth Jeffers, M.Ed.

Categories New Orleans

Mother Crusader Finds Another Smelly Charter Deal in New Jersey

By dianeravitch
February 16, 2013 //
3

Mother Crusader has done another smashing job of research, showing how one smart person can accomplish the job of an investigative reporter.

Charter advocates like to say they are responding to popular demand for choice, but in Paterson, New Jersey, there was no popular demand. A charter with no roots in the community and no input community was planted in Paterson by Chris Cerf.

A pattern, she says, is emerging. Governor Christie drops in charters where he gets no votes but leaves his solid Republican base alone.

Categories Charter Schools, New Jersey

Brevard County Closes Schools, Despite Parents’ Tears

By dianeravitch
February 16, 2013 //
21

The school board in Brevard County, Florida, voted to close three popular schools, to save money.

Parents protested, along with local elected officials, but the board spared only one school. The chair of the board acknowledged that they were compelled to close good schools.

“Tears streaming down her face, Gardendale Elementary Parent Karen Proctor said she didn’t know what to say to her 7-year-old son.

“And then her tone changed – and she promised to shift her passion from working to keep the school open to kicking out the board members who voted in favor of the closures.

“It’s disgusting,” she said. “It’s not OK.”

It’s puzzling that the richest, most powerful nation in the world can’t afford to keep its public schools open.

Categories Closing schools, Florida

How to Tell if Your Local Charter School Is Avaricious

By dianeravitch
February 16, 2013 //
34

This post was written by Mark Naison and Bruce Bernstein. Naison is a professor at Fordham University and Bernstein is a community activist, with a background in business and software.

How to Know If Your Local Charter School Sucks

By Mark Naison and Bruce Bernstein

We will not categorically write off charter schools because there are some great ones. However, more and more charter schools are bringing the worst features of private enterprise to public education. You know the local charter school probably sucks if:

1. Its leader calls himself/herself a CEO.

2. The CEO’s salary is more than three times the salary of the highest paid teacher in the school.

3. The board of the school is full of hedge fund executives.

4. Teachers in the school are terrorized and students treated as though they were in prison or on the verge of being sent to prison.

5. The construction company who built the school is owned by a relative of a politician or a powerful community organization.

6. The school teaches that those who practice some of the world’s great religions are heading straight to hell.

7. The school drives out students who are discipline problems or don’t test well.

8. The school accepts a co-location with a public school and then tells its teachers and students not to talk to anyone in the other school.

9. The school is run by a private for-profit “educational management company” which won’t reveal its budget for the school.

10. The Principal or “CEO” of the school is related to one of the owners or executives of the “educational management company.”

11.The school has board members who blog and tweet about how screwed up teachers unions are.

12. The school uses extreme forms of “merit pay” or a bonus system to create huge disparities among teachers.

13. Teachers who used to teach at the school tell horror stories about how everything was geared towards tests and fundraising.

Please feel free to add your own points!

Categories Charter Schools

This TFA Teacher Is Wise

By dianeravitch
February 16, 2013 //
9

Emma Lind is in her fourth year of teaching. She entered teaching through Teach for America and started teaching in the Mississippi Delta. She now teaches in an inner-city school in Brooklyn.

In this article, she warns Harvard seniors not to apply. She discovered the job of teaching is much harder than her TFA recruiters described.

Emma is one of the few TFA who stayed in teaching more than three years. She came to realize that she and other TFA teachers were not producing dramatic change. Students need teachers who stay in it for the long haul.

Her advice:

“There is some limited statistical evidence that TFA can be at least marginally impactful. But so few TFA teachers stay in the classroom beyond three years (more than 50 percent leave after two years and more than 80 percent leave after three), that the potential positive impact of TFA is rarely felt by the people who matter most—the students. In short, TFA may be pumping alumni who “understand” the achievement gap firsthand into various professions and fields outside of direct instruction, but it is doing so at the academic expense of the highest-risk kids who have the greatest need for effective teachers

“If you feel inspired to teach, I beg you: teach! There are young people who need “lifers” committed to powering through the inevitable first three years of being terrible at teaching sinusoidal curves to hormonal 17 year-olds. I encourage you to pursue an alternative route to licensure and placement: one that encourages and actively supports longevity in the classroom and does not facilitate teacher turnover by encouraging its alumni to move into policy or other professions. If you feel compelled to Teach For America instead of teaching for America, please preference a region that has demonstrated a high need for novice teachers due to verifiable teacher shortages. And then stay in the classroom. For a long time. Feel at home teaching, and feel even more at home learning how to get better. Sit. Stay a while. Then stand and deliver.”

Categories New York City, Teach for America TFA, Teachers and Teaching

This Columbia Student Will Not Join TFA

By dianeravitch
February 16, 2013 //
8

This is an interesting article by a Columbia student, explaining why he will not join TFA.

It is especially interesting because he is a former president of his campus Students for Educational Reform, the nicely-funded baby brother (or sister) of the Wall Street guys’ DFER.

Whenever he gets a letter pleading with him to apply for a “transformational” experience, he sends it to his spam folder.*

Why, because he went to a public school in Texas and he can still remember the names of the dedicated career teachers who inspired him.

He is also concerned that TFA is sending young white kids to replace black teachers. He notes a study (which I have not seen ) that says that three-quarters of the charter teachers are white.

In Chicago and New York City (and he doesn’t know this), there has been a sharp decline in the proportion of black and Hispanic teachers during the past decade of “reform.” Not all because of TFA, to be sure, but because those in charge don’t care.

;

*Note from Diane to Wendy Kopp: Please stop using the word “transform,” “transformational,” “transformative,” etc. I read your last book and checked the word every time it appeared. It appears dozens of times. Really, you need to find a new word.

Categories Teach for America TFA

Zimmer Camp Reacts to Bloomberg Gift of $1 Million to His Opponent

By dianeravitch
February 16, 2013 //
12

As readers of this blog know, Steve Zimmer is a former TFA who became a career teacher in the Los Angeles public schools. He has served one term on the L.A. school board.

He had the temerity to suggest that the school districts, which now has hundreds of charters, develop an accountability and oversight plan for the charters.

That made the charter lobby very angry.

They decided he had to be defeated.

So now, in a race where candidates typically spend $50,000 or so, seldom as much as $100,000, the billionaires have raised large sums to kick Steve out.

Eli Broad put up $250,000. The mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, tossed in $1,000,000. Other charter allies have ponied up another million.

Once again, as in other school board races over the past two years, the question arises: Can people power defeat big money?

This is the response from the Zimmer camp:

Zimmer for School Board 2013

Yesterday we learned that Former Republican turned Independent New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote a $1 million dollar check to defeat Steve Zimmer. We need your help more than ever to make sure we reach every voter in District 4. This District should not be sold to the highest bidder but it should be won by winning the hearts and minds of voters.

Will you commit to Phone Banking and/or Precinct Walking this weekend?

Instead of money, it requires people willing to donate time and energy. All over the country people have proven billionaires that people can beat money.One example: Governor Jerry Brown defeated Billionaire Meg Whitman, Meg Outspent Brown By Over $140 Million!
Please sign up for a precinct walk and/or a phone bank shift. We have three locations where we are meeting:

Woodland Hills/Valley: Saturday and Sunday at 10am
– 6206 Jumilla Avenue Woodland HIlls 91367

West Hollywood/West LA: Saturday and Sunday at 10am
– 9028 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, 90069

Mar Vista: Sunday at 10am
3300 Mountain Ave, Mar Vista, 90066

I hope to see you in one of the locations. We need you.

Ari Ruiz

P.S. Please be sure to check out our videos on our YouTube page and share them with your friends. 

http://stevezimmer2013.nationbuilder.com/

Zimmer for School Board 2013 · 3700 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1050-B, Los Angeles, CA 90038, United States
This email was sent to Asobaji@aol.com. To stop receiving emails,click here.

You can also keep up with Zimmer for School Board 2013 onTwitter orFacebook.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry

Mercedes Schneider on the Board of NCTQ and Corporate Reform

By dianeravitch
February 16, 2013 //
5

Mercedes Schneider continues her review of the board of the National Council on Teacher Quality.

NCTQ is working with U.S. News to review the quality of the nation’s education schools and colleges.

This is the latest in her series. 

Categories Corporate Reformers, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)

Indiana: Politicians and Landlord Welcome New Charter School

By dianeravitch
February 16, 2013 //
2

Ball State University terminated three low-performing charter schools, but not to worry. More are on the way.

Despite the lack of demand, the state board of education invited charter school Carpe Diem to come to Fort Wayne. As veteran Fort Wayne journalist Karen Francisco put it, “Indiana supporters of corporate education reform are determined to force a charter school on Fort Wayne– whether the community wants one or not.”

The state charter board will hold a “hearing,” but apparently the most interested party is the charter’s prospective landlord. Read the article to see all the really cool connections between the charter board, the landlord, and politicians.

Carpe Diem is heavily dependent on computers, has very large class sizes, and is reportedly a favorite of ALEC.

Another step backward for American education.

Categories ALEC, Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Indiana, On-Line Education

Charter Leader Resigns in Chicago

By dianeravitch
February 16, 2013 //
50

The UNO charter schools are well connected. Juan Rangel, the head of the Chicago charter corporation, was a co-chair of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s campaign. He is a major figure in The city’s Hispanic community.The legislature gave UNO $98 million to build three charter schools.

Unfortunately, charter schools are so deregulated that problems arise, like lack of accountability, lack of transparency, and nepotism.

The second-in-command at UNO, Miguel d’Escoto, had to resign when the news came out that he awarded contracts worth millions to his relatives.

Here is the key revelation: l

“D’Escoto’s brothers were paid with state funds under a $98 million grant UNO got to build new schools. The Sun-Times reported Feb. 4 that UNO’s contractors under the grant included d’Escoto Inc. — owned by former UNO board member Federico “Fred” d’Escoto — and Reflection Window Co., owned by Rodrigo d’Escoto.

“Rangel said Sunday UNO would stop doing business with d’Escoto Inc. until after the organization completes an internal review of its contracting process.

“Fred d’Escoto was the secretary of UNO’s board until stepping down at some point in 2010, according to public records. His company received its first payment of state grant money in August 2010 for work on the construction of the Soccer Academy Elementary School on South Homan Avenue.

“D’Escoto Inc. has been paid more than $1.5 million so far for working as “owner’s representative” on that project and on two other UNO schools: in the Galewood neighborhood, on the Northwest Side, and at the Soccer Academy High School that’s under construction.

“Rodrigo d’Escoto’s company was paid about $6.7 million for work on the Soccer Academy Elementary and Galewood schools, and the firm has a contract for about $3.1 million to help build the new high school.

“Rangel has said UNO hired d’Escoto Inc. without seeking other bids but solicited multiple offers for the deals awarded to Reflection. UNO did not use the sealed-bid process that’s required to select contractors for new Chicago Public Schools facilities and other public construction projects.”

But that was not all. In addition to the contracts awarded to the family of d’Escoto, UNO also awarded contracts to the sister of the organization’s lobbyist and to brothers of State Rep. Edward Acevedo, who voted to award the $98 million grant in 2009.

Is this business as usual in Chicago? As the article notes, the public schools are required to ask for competitive, sealed bids. Conflicts of interest are prohibited.

It is certainly not a wise expenditure of taxpayers’ dollars at a time when Chicago is slashing the schools’ budgets, when schools lack guidance counselors, librarians, psychologists, and teachers of the arts.

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago
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