Archives for the month of: February, 2013
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Exclude Students with Disabilities to Raise Test Scores

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2013 //
14

This is not a new trick. It is proven to work. Remove students with disabilities from the mandated tests and the scores go up.

You won’t be surprised where this is happening. Read about it here.

After all, what matters most? Kids or test scores? In another era, we might have said without thinking twice that kids mater most. But in the age of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, that’s no longer true. The fate of schools, principals, and teachers depend on test scores.

This is sad. It’s wrong. It’s unethical. It’s malpractice.

Categories Special Education

Georgia: “The Chaos Theory of Running Our Schools”

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2013 //
7

Myra Blackmon, a columnist for the Athens, Georgia, Banner-Herald, explains how the state legislature is determined to destabilize and disrupt public education with a wacky “parent trigger” bill. Read her terrific analysis here.

It won’t do anything to improve education nor will it “empower” parents, but it will make ALEC and others advocates of privatization very happy.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Georgia, Parent trigger, Privatization

Amazing Reporting on New Orleans Charters

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2013 //
11

Bobby Jindal went to Virginia to boast of the miraculous transformation of education in Louisiana, all attributable to the magic of replacing public schools with privately managed, deregulated charters.

This is an oft-told tale, repeated again and again by advocates of privatization in both political parties and endlessly regurgitated by an uncurious and credulous media.

But something amazing happened when the Associated Press reported the story. It included the inconvenient fact that most of the charters in the much lauded Recovery School District had received grades of D or F.

Here is the astonishing quote from the story:

“However, New Orleans schools run by the Recovery School District still have a D grade on average while those outside of New Orleans received an F in the latest round of grades released in October.

“We’re not where we want to be but have made great progress in seven years,” Jindal said.”

Honest reporting, not just the customary recycling of the politicians’ press releases.

Now THAT is a miracle.

Categories Charter Schools, Jindal, Bobby, Louisiana, New Orleans

Bad News from Sacramento

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2013 //
16

A reader from Sacramento warns that privatization is moving rapidly in his city:

Here in Sacramento we are facing an all out assault by the privatisation armies. Sacramento City Unified School District has slated eleven elementary schools for closure under their “Children First” and “Right Sizing” plan. Instead of following the six month plan our state dept of ed suggests for closing a school they are pushing it to a vote in one month. We have about a week and a half until eleven of our communities are decemated. Our superintendent – Jonathan Raymond – is a big player in the republican hierarchy with no educational experience. He hired a local charter school bigwig as his chief of staff. To make matters worse our mayor – Kevin Johnson – is married to Michelle Rhee. We are doomed. Here’s a good synopsis from one of our effetced neighborhoods.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/10/1185892/-Sacramento-School-District-Rushing-to-Close-1-5-of-its-Elementary-Schools

Categories California, Charter Schools, Closing schools, Corporate Reformers

This Boy Is Not a Striver

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2013 //
9

A few weeks ago, I posted a column by Mike Petrilli defending the idea that charters skim the best, most ambitious kids from public schools. The column was refreshing in that Mike abandoned the usual reformer pretense that charters enroll “exactly” the same children as public schools and get amazing results. Mike said that charters are for “strivers,” not for the others.

Here is a story about a non-striver and his teacher. Would the charters want him?

Note that his teacher is in Mayor Bloomberg’s ATR (absent teacher reserve) pool. These are teachers who lost their jobs when the mayor closed their schools. They float from school to school, at great cost to their dignity. Through no fault of their own, they are humiliated by the NYC Department of Education.

Categories Charter Schools, Students, Teachers and Teaching

Cody to Gates; What Should We Measure?

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2013 //
16

Anthony Cody advises Bill gates that test scores are not the best measure of effectiveness.

Here he tells Gates
what really matters.

Categories Education Reform, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates

Bridget, Don’t Give Up!

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2013 //
28

An administrator in Louisiana writes about how the Jindal administration tries to strike fear in the hearts of all educators while boasting of their great success.

Dear Bridget, here is my advice: “Illegitimi non carborundum.”

Be there when their pathetic regime is toppled by the good and great citizens of Louisiana.

Bridget writes:

It definitely is getting more and more difficult for teachers to stay. As an administrator, I see the panic on their faces as the date of the state test looms closer each day. Here in Louisiana, our jobs are tied directly to their VAM score, which over-rides any evaluation score given to them by our team. As administrators, we do our best to help to empower them with information and resources, but it will never be enough. Our governor has set us up for failure. I often think about returning to my special education classroom to finish out my last five years before retiring. Then I realize there may not be a retirement system left in five years. The joke is on me. After dedicating my life to teaching, I will probably not have anything to show for it except memories and/ or nightmares. My starting salary years ago was around $13,000 a year. I definitely didn’t get into this career for the money. Thanks to this blog I stick it out. I now have a place to stay abreast of what is happening across our nation. Don’t know how long I can last… one day at a time. I agree with Jesse that it is unfair to leave in the middle of the school year.

 

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents, Education Industry, For-Profit, Louisiana, Privatization, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers and Teaching, Testing

Could Mark Zuckerberg Please Fix This Newark Problem?

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2013 //
10

Mark Zuckerberg paid out $100 million to fix Newark’s schools. Millions have been spent on consultants. Probably lots more charters too, free to push out kids they don’t want.

But couldn’t some of Mark’s millions be spent to clean this high school and bring in an exterminator to get rid of vermin?

Remember that a hot new superintendent was hired by the state to overhaul Newark’s schools? Why can’t she guarantee a clean, safe school to the kids?

Categories Cerf, Chris, Corporate Reformers, New Jersey

Great News: How to Succeed without Corporate Reforms

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2013 //
20

In this superb article in the New York Times, David Kirp shows how the public schools of Union City, New Jersey,succeeded despite all the obstacles of poverty.

The article summarizes his fine book “Improbable Scholars.”

Union City created excellent schools without charters and without Teach for America. And without Cory Booker or Mark Zuckerberg.

Let’s celebrate the good work of the teachers and principals of Union City!

Categories Childhood, Pre-K, K, New Jersey, Support for public schools, Teachers and Teaching

More About Vouchers in Wisconsin

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2013 //
4

A reader who is a parent in Wisconsin notes that the far-right group American Federation for Children is reaching out to disability groups to get their support for vouchers. AFS is committed to privatization, and they know full well that vouchers for special education students is a first step. It is also high on ALEC’s agenda. It arises not from concern for the students, whose rights are protected by federal law in public schools, but out of concern for their own political agenda, which is anti-public education, anti-union, and anti-professionalism.

Writes the reader:

More about Wisconsin and vouchers — I and two other parents of students with disabilities have just had a column published in Wisconsin’s Capital Times:

http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/column/parents-why-we-must-stop-special-needs-vouchers/article_1d0779cc-151a-53d2-b575-62de8feadfbe.html

Amanda’s link above, about expanded vouchers expected to be part of the budget plan, also holds true for special needs vouchers, although the Walker administration has been silent on that aspect so far. Just this week, however, the national American Federation for Children lobby has begun contacting disability groups across Wisconsin, with a pitch for putting the vouchers INTO the budget.

This although no statewide disability group in Wisconsin is asking for these vouchers, and we particularly DON’T want them in the budget where they wouldn’t get a separate public hearing. Such a controversial statewide policy change, full of problems and pitfalls, must be debated and exposed and voted on separately!

Stop Special Needs Vouchers, a statewide grassroots group led by families of students with disabilities, is spreading the word: we need to keep special needs education strong in Wisconsin public schools. We’re on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/StopSpecialNeedsVouchers — please join us!

Categories Special Education, U.S. education, Unions, Vouchers, Walker, Scott, Wisconsin
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