Archives for the month of: March, 2013
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Douglas County, CO: Destructive School Board

By dianeravitch
March 9, 2013 //
27

A teacher in Douglas County, Colorado, reports that the school board and superintendent are determined to wreck the public school system for which they are responsible.

The teacher writes:

I can’t begin to tell you how your sharing the information about the LA school district victory for kids is boosting the morale of fighters for public education in Douglas County, Colorado. We’re in a fight for our public school life here too. The school board elections in November will determine the future of our public schools.

The school board was elected, partly in 2009 and partly in 2011, by money from sources outside of the district and heavily connected with the GOP and ties to ALEC. The purpose seems to be to conduct a corporate experiment to on an affluent, not broken, school district south of Denver.

The school board in turn has proudly broken all ties with the union. While the union still exists there is no collaborative, working relationship, or no collective bargaining agreement between the district and the union. And it seems that every time someone disagrees with them, these opponents are called “union thugs.” If this weren’t so serious, their tactics would look downright silly. At the last board meeting, the BOE supporters dressed up as Grinches in their interpretation of the union, and passed out inaccurate pamphlets about the union.

The school board hired a corporate reform superintendent in 2010. Some of her first contacts with the community involved traveling to community public schools to praise the charter school movement and the important of choice. If you want to listen to her speak, contact the Milton Friedman Foundation. http://www.edchoice.org/Foundation-Services/Speakers/Elizabeth-Celania-Fagen.aspx

The school board has also forced a voucher program currently tied up in litigation thanks to the group, Taxpayers for Public Education- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Taxpayers-for-Public-Education/165645363470905?fref=ts. The lawsuit is on its way to the Colorado Supreme Court. The community voted down funding for merit pay, but they have still spent the money from elsewhere to implement a merit pay program that is basically behavior modification for teachers. And they are extremely proud of the fact that they have reduced the teachers’ salary in this district. Polls show teacher morale at an all time low.

More about the voucher program. The right wing of our Republican party is now going after the head of our public libraries for his participation in supporting the lawsuit. http://www.ourcoloradonews.com/castlerock/news/douglas-county-commissioners-push-for-library-changes/article_11d11136-850d-11e2-9323-001a4bcf887a.html

And now they are moving on with a new era in charter school relations. http://www.9news.com/news/article/321642/222/Douglas-County-Schools-signs-unique-charter-school-deal?fb_action_ids=10200721010176750&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_ref=artsharetop&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B499626156739696%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.recommends%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%22artsharetop%22%5D

They have an $83 million reserve while students sit in unheated classrooms; parents have to pay for student busing, among other things a free public education is supposed to provide. http://strongschoolscoalition.org/dougco-finances-crystal-ball/

And just like the LA elections, the corporate reformers are continuing to spend money on commercials, and the Republic party headquarters here has no qualms about spending over $1 million on November’s elections. The air here is thick with propaganda.

But just like LA, and so many other areas in this country, we have a brilliant and dedicated community that wants its public schools back. Here are just a few of the very information blogs and organizations created by our communities. http://douglascountyparent.com/ and http://strongschoolscoalition.org/ While we don’t have their money, we can only hope that the truth will also prevail here in Douglas County.

Categories Colorado, Corporate Reformers, Unions

Michelle Rhee’s Dishonorable Attack on the Garfield Teachers

By dianeravitch
March 9, 2013 //
42

In this brilliant essay, John Prosser dissects Michelle Rhee’s attack on the teachers of Garfield High School in Seattle.

The teachers decided unanimously to boycott the MAP test for their students.

On March 6, Rhee wrote (or someone in her organization wrote) an opinion piece in a Seattle newspaper making false claims about the teachers and what they were doing and why they were doing it.

She first refers to them as “union members,” not as teachers, immediately suggesting that they are acting from selfish motives, to do something that their union wants, rather than acting as teachers, in the best interest of their students.

She claims that the teachers don’t want to give the test because they don’t want to be evaluated, but the tests don’t figure into their evaluation.

As Prosser shows, she engages in ad hominem attacks; she makes factual errors; she equivocates; she misleads; she uses the straw man argument and the red herring. Her article demonstrates how little she knows, how quick she is to attack teachers while pretending to praise them, and how little respect she has for teachers and students.

As the leader of a group called “StudentsFirst,” Rhee evidently thinks that what students need most is more testing. She thinks that she cares about students more than those who work with them every day in their classrooms. She, who pours millions of dollars into political campaigns for vouchers, charters, teacher-bashing, and high-stakes testing, has some nerve attacking the dedicated teachers of Garfield High School.

The teachers at Garfield High School in Seattle are our heroes. They have true courage. They truly put their students first.

Categories Accountability, Michelle Rhee, Testing, Washington State

Corporate Reform in Idaho

By dianeravitch
March 8, 2013 //
17

A reader in Boise sends the following comment about the trial of Khan Academy videos, funded by the Albertson Foundation:

From the article linked in Diane’s post:

“The statewide pilot received $1.5 million for training, technology, technical assistance and assessment from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation.”

The Albertson Foundation has given over $500 million to Idaho schools over the years, but for the past few years its efforts have been devoted to promoting some of the worst initiatives and legislation ever to don the mantle of “education reform,” most notably in the run-up to the November 2012 elections. Throughout 2012 the Foundation published monthly full-color, multipage supplements in all the major print media in Idaho, touting the benefits of reform efforts, documenting the so-called “failure” of Idaho schools, and casting a suspicious eye upon the teachers union, the Idaho Education Association. (Idaho is a right-to-work state.) Joe Scott, an early investor in K12, Inc., heir to the Albertson fortune, and the current chair of the Foundation’s board of directors donated $200,000 to Idaho Voters for Education in an attempt to save the Luna Laws from repeal. Idaho Voters for Education presented itself as the “voice of Idaho parents,” but after a lawsuit filed by the Idaho Secretary of State forced it to reveal its donors, turned out to be a group of fewer than two dozen hedge-fund manager, venture capitalists, and billionaire social engineers, including NYC Mayor Bloomberg, who donated $250,000.

They threw their money away; the Luna Laws were repealed by large margins at the polls. Diane has written about them here before:

“The Luna Laws imposed a mandate for online courses for high school graduates (a favorite of candidates funded by technology companies), made test scores the measure of teacher quality, provided bonuses for teachers whose students got higher scores, removed all teacher rights, eliminated anything resembling tenure or seniority, turned teachers into at-will employees, and squashed the teachers’ unions.”

To get out the reformers’ message, the Albertson Foundation created the ED SESSIONS, monthly talks by “national thought leaders on education reform,” now in its second year. The Foundation isn’t particularly interested in thought leader opposed to market-driven, for-profit education reform; past speakers include Salman Khan, Sir Ken Robinson, Marguerite Roza, Joe Williams of Democrats for Education Reform, and Andy Smarick of Bellwether Education Partners. Coming up, Kristoffer Haines, VP at Rocketship Education and Rick Ogston, founder of Arizona charter school Carpe Diem, to talk about “no-excuse schools.” In addition, the foundation recently launched a web site and radio/tv ads to promote its initiative “Don’t Fail Idaho,” the latest of the Foundation’s many efforts to dominate the conversation about school reform under the guise of fostering and promoting discussion. In short, the Albertson Foundation is anti-union, pro-charter, and apparently determined to spend a metric boatload of money to get its way.

Categories Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Idaho

Another Bold Jindal Reform: Cut Special Education Funding

By dianeravitch
March 8, 2013 //
28

The wonders of education reform never end in Louisiana.

Reformers Bobby Jindal and John White want to take money dedicated to public schools and give it to religious schools that teach creationism. That’s reform.

Even though a judge said this plan was unconstitutional, that doesn’t stop them. You know, the fierce urgency of now, sending kids off to school where they will learn that the Loch Ness monster lives. That’s reform too.

They want lots of for-profit entrepreneurs to scoop up public education dollars. That’s reform.

They want to cut funding for students with disabilities and gifted students. That’s reform.

Way to go.

Right back to the 19th century.

Categories Education Industry, For-Profit, Louisiana, Vouchers

The Best Picture of the Day

By dianeravitch
March 8, 2013 //
34

Please see this picture. It shows what is truly sick about U.S. education today.

It proves again that a photograph is worth 10,000 words.

Categories Testing

Kevin Huffman’s Zombie Policies

By dianeravitch
March 8, 2013 //
25

The Tennessee Education Association sent out this bulletin today. State Commissioner Kevin Huffman, whose only classroom experience was two years in Teach for America, has plans to adopt every evidence-free, demoralizing tactic in the corporate reform playbook.

Huffman is a purveyor of zombie policies. Nothing he advocates has any evidence behind it. “Pay for performance” has been tried repeatedly for a century and never succeeded. So he wants more of it. It failed in 2010 in Nashville, where teachers were offered a bonus of $15,000 for higher scores. But Huffman either doesn’t know or doesn’t care. It’s not his money he’s wasting.

He knows that the state’s teacher evaluation system is badly flawed, but he wants to push ahead with it anyway. Apparently, he wants to break the spirit of the state’s teachers.

How to explain people who are so indifferent to the morale of teachers? How is this mean-spirited approach supposed to improve education?

Educators are supposed to nurture children and help them grow and develop. To be effective, they must be not only competent, but kind and patient. Treating educators harshly creates a sour and mean culture. Huffman sets a bad example. If teachers treated students the way he treats teachers, they would be fired. Deservedly.

The TEA bulletin says:

“House Finance and Budget Hearing

“In a budget hearing today regarding the 1.5 percent raise for teachers that Gov. Haslam included in his budget, Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman was quoted as saying, “Our intent is that the 1.5 percent raise will not go to all teachers.” Instead, Huffman plans to have local districts develop their own pay-for-performance plans for distributing the funds. He also indicated he expects locals to base their plans on the evaluation system.

“In addition to the distribution of the 1.5 percent raise, Huffman also discussed plans to recommend major changes to the minimum salary schedule, which is maintained by the State Board of Education. TEA was able to stop Gov. Haslam’s attempt last year to pass legislation that would blow up the teacher salary schedule. This year, it appears Commissioner Huffman believes he can do administratively what Haslam was unable to do legislatively.

“Commissioner Huffman recognizes the evaluation system has fundamental flaws, yet he wants to move forward with tying teachers’ financial stability to this unfair system,” said Gera Summerford, TEA president and Sevier County math teacher. “We already have more questions than answers about the fairness of the evaluation system, and to tie teachers’ salaries to it would be reckless and irresponsible.”

TEA is working every day in the General Assembly to prevent these things from happening. We want to ensure teachers maintain a fair and objective salary schedule.

During the hearing, Huffman was also asked about the statewide charter authorizer and vouchers. He admitted a lack of knowledge about vouchers’ constitutionality after a legislator, Gary Odom of Nashville, read him a passage from the state constitution requiring the General Assembly to “provide for the maintenance, support and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools.”

Categories Merit pay, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers and Teaching, Tennessee

How Bad Is New Jersey’s New Teacher Evaluation System?

By dianeravitch
March 8, 2013 //
31

Jersey Jazzman studied the teacher evaluation system devised by State Commissioner Chris Cerf and concludes it is an unmitigated disaster.

Like it or not, teachers will be forced to teach to the tests. Teachers will be fired because of the test, using a system whose designer said it should not be used for this purpose.

The state, now one of the highest performing in the action, will be turned into a dreary testing factory.

Nothing like foisting unproven, demoralizing methods on unwilling teachers.

Some reform plan.

Categories Cerf, Chris, New Jersey, Teacher Evaluations

How to “Invest” in Los Angeles Schools: Buy the School Board

By dianeravitch
March 8, 2013 //
3

In this perceptive essay, California teacher David B. Cohen has some interesting observations about Mayor Villaraigosa and Superintendent John Deasey.

The mayor has no regrets about asking billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch to pour vast sums of money into the school board race. He says that “we” (himself and the billionaires) have to stop letting them (the people who teach in the public schools of Los Angeles) from having so much influence.

“We”–meaning the mayor and a handful of super-rich people who poured $4-5 million into a local school board race. “We” –meaning people who do not live in Los Angeles. “We”–meaning people who do not have children in the public schools of Los Angeles. “We”–meaning corporate elites that control vast amounts of wealth and know nothing about educating anyone else’s children.

“They”–meaning the people who work in the system, teach the children, dry their tears, teach them to tie their shoelaces, see them every single day.

And John Deasey says he is delighted that people like Bloomberg, Murdoch, and Klein are prepared to “invest” in the public schools of Los Angeles. Maybe I am dense, but I have trouble seeing a political contribution to three candidates in a school board race as an “investment” in the schools. If they really want to “invest” in the schools, why doesn’t Dr. Deasey invite them to buy school supplies, build health clinics, reduce class sizes, or do something that benefits children, real students?

Categories Corporate Reformers, Education Industry

School Closings in Chicago: Call in the Lawyers

By dianeravitch
March 8, 2013 //
8

Chicago’s Superintendent Barbara Byrd-Bennett knows better, but she is following orders. Just following orders.

The “independent panel” that she convened advised her to go full steam ahead.

Who will be hurt? African-American children, African-American families and communities.

Barbara, don’t do it.

Barbara, tell Rahm no.

Barbara, you know this is wrong.

Serve the children, not the corporations, hedge fund managers, and entrepreneurs.

Barbara. Listen to the children.

Barbara, you can be a national hero.

Use your voice and your talents for good.

Get on the right side of history.

It’s not too late.

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Closing schools, Emanuel, Rahm

Does Democracy Matter?

By dianeravitch
March 8, 2013 //
21

In school, when we study history and civics, we learn about the principles of democracy. We learn about government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” We learn about how important it is for citizens to be informed and to participate in decision-making because the government is their servant, not their master, and we choose our leaders to represent us, not to rule us.

Except for school reform. Now the fashion is to say that the needs are so urgent, that we can’t wait for discussion and debate. Decisions must be made now, without consultation, and they must be imposed without delay, without evidence.

David Sirota of Denver asks why the school reform movement has decided its answers are beyond question. Are we teaching kids to disdain democracy? Are the reformers so wise that we must do as they say at once, without stopping to think about it? Why is the anti-democratic impulse so deeply embedded in the reform movement? Why do they never acknowledge error? What will be left of public education when they are done with their passion for privatization and move on to the next big thing?

Categories Corporate Reformers
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