Archives for the month of: March, 2013
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NY Times Reports Spread of Vouchers, Ignores ALEC, RTTT

By dianeravitch
March 28, 2013 //
15

A story today in the New York Times gives an overview of the rapid advance of voucher programs, now found in various forms in 17 states.

What is missing from the article is context. The defenders of unlicensed education quoted are the heads of the unions and spokesmen for LLC school boards. The advocates for vouchers are referred to as “nonpartisan,” like the far-right American Federation for Children. AFS was created by the wealthy DeVos family in Michigan and has been pushing the demolition of public education for many years.

Also unmentioned is the power behind the scenes: ALEC, the far-right organization that has drafted model legislation for the voucher and tax-credit laws, using their 2,000 state legislators to promote them.

Nor does the article raise the obvious questions: where is President Obama? Where is Arne Duncan? Did Race to the Top, with its promotion of choice to “escape failing public schools” (and go to privately managed charters) aid and abet the voucher movement?

Who will be held accountable for these assaults on a basic institution of our democracy?

Categories ALEC, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Duncan, Arne, Education Industry, Obama, Race to the Top, Vouchers

Who Dropped $18,000 into Alabama to Endorse Controversial Law? UPDATE! Link fixed!

By dianeravitch
March 28, 2013 //
5

Somebody put up at least $18,000 to run ads supporting the so-called Alabama Accountability Act.

A newly formed group called the Foundation for Accountability in Education spent the money but won’t disclose the donors, nor are they legally required to.

The act was rushed through by GOP legislators who had been negotiating with Democrats on a different bill. The at publicans pulled a bait and switch and passed a bill without bothering to show it to the members of the minority party.

The law establishes tax credits for private and parochial schools, effectively creating vouchers.

For the backers of corporate reform in New York and California, $18,000 is chump change. It usually costs them more.

Categories Alabama, Vouchers

Where Are the Progressives?

By dianeravitch
March 28, 2013 //
18

Jeff Bryant decries the phony bipartisan consensus surrounding education “reform.”

He wonders where are the progressives.

He compares the bipartisan consensus around education reform to the bipartisan consensus that prevailed before the war in Iraq, when dissenters were marginalized and ignored.

But he sees hope in the growing rebellion against high-stakes testing.

More and more parents and students understand that what is happening does not work, will not improve education, and will inflict grievous wounds to public education.

How long can our policymakers continue to demonize teachers and expect that “better” or “great” teachers will magically appear to take the places of those who left in disgust?

I share his view that the current reign of toxic policies will not last forever. Not a one of them has any evidence behind them, and not a one of them works to improve the quality of education.

Failure cannot survive indefinitely. The American people will indeed awaken to the great hoax called education “reform” and reclaim their schools.

Categories Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Privatization, Teachers and Teaching, Testing

North Carolina Republicans Want Unregulated, Unsupervised Charter$

By dianeravitch
March 28, 2013 //
32

North Carolina Republican State Senators have filed legislation that would remove oversight of charters by the State Education Board and turn it over to a new board hand picked by the governor.

Charter schools would no longer be required to submit applications to local school boards. All meaningful supervision and oversight would be eliminated.

Local school boards would be required to lease available space to charters for $1 a year. Charters would be accountable to the new state charter board, not the local board.

This legislation appears to be based on ALEC model legislation, which is intended to allow charters to flourish while gutting local control.

And here is where it gets scary.

The charters would no longer be required to assure that at least half the teachers are certified.

Charter schools would no longer be required by law to conduct criminal background checks of their staff.

The law would have no provisions barring conflicts of interest for members of the new charter board, implying that charter operators might be appointed to the board to advance their self-interest.

In the public comment period, Baker Mitchell, the incoming chairman of the NC Alliance for Public Charter Schools testified in favor of the bill. He “owns The Roger Bacon Academy, which is contracted to run two public charter schools in Brunswick County. In the 2009-10 fiscal year, Mitchell received more than $3 million from the two charter schools for management fees and the cost of renting the buildings from another company Mitchell owns….”

He is just the kind of person likely to be appointed to serve on the state’s new charter board.

The only thing public about these charters is the money they take from unsuspecting taxpayers.

Categories Charter Schools, North Carolina

Photos from Chicago Protests

By dianeravitch
March 28, 2013 //
7

Fred Klonsky has an excellent assortment of photos from the Chicago protest today against school closings.

Parents, students, and teachers will not go quietly.

And they should not.

 

 

Categories Chicago

Bad Bill Alert in Texas!

By dianeravitch
March 27, 2013 //
16

Raise Your Hand Texas ACTION ALERT
Bad Bill Alert!

Your Action Is Needed TODAY!

March 27, 2013

Let the Senate Education Committee Know You Oppose SB 1263!

SB 1263 by Senator Larry Taylor is the “Parent Trigger” bill.

The “Parent Trigger” Is About Destroying Public Schools, Not Saving Them

SB 1263 radically undermines efforts to turn around a struggling school and may be voted out of committee Thursday (tomorrow) if we don’t act now.

We already have a parent trigger.

Texas’ current parent trigger law operates only after the Commissioner has reconstituted the campus, developed an intervention plan, and the campus has remained academically unacceptable for three years. SB 1263 blows up a campus for two years of academically unacceptable performance before any of the proven methods of intervention have been tried.

Historically, interests outside our school districts and even our state are the ones pushing for parent triggers. This is no exception.

SB 1263 undermines the authority of elected school boards: SB 1263 undermines the authority of locally elected school boards. While the statute allows the school board to petition the Commissioner to take a different action, it only he says he “may” order the action requested by the elected school board.

SB 1263 is brought by well-heeled national advocacy organizations, not parents. Many of the same groups pushing for school vouchers and other means of privatization are pushing this legislation.

Let the Senate Education Committee know you oppose SB 1263 by Taylor today.

Contact these legislators:

Dan Patrick, Chairman
(512) 463-0107
Dan.patrick@senate.state.tx.us

Eddie Lucio, Jr, Vice-Chair
(512) 463-0127
Eddie.lucio@senate.state.tx.us

Donna Campbell
(512) 463-0125
Donna.campbell@senate.state.tx.us

Robert Duncan
(512) 463-0128
Robert.duncan@senate.state.tx.us

Ken Paxton
(512) 463-0108
Ken.paxton@senate.state.tx.us

Kel Seliger
(512) 463-0131
Kel.seliger@senate.state.tx.us

Larry Taylor
(512) 463-0111
Larry.taylor@senate.state.tx.us

Leticia Van de Putte
(512) 463-0126
Leticia.vandeputte@senate.state.tx.us

Royce West
(512) 463-0123
Royce.west@senate.state.tx.us

To learn more, please visit our website

David Anthony, CEO

RAISE YOUR HAND TEXAS

http://www.RaiseYourHandTexas.org

Categories Parent trigger, Privatization, Support for public schools, Texas

Indiana Voucher Decision Allows Public Funding to Schools That Discriminate

By dianeravitch
March 27, 2013 //
21

This is a thoughtful analysis of the dreadful voucher decision in Indiana yesterday.

It says, “The plaintiffs in the voucher case alleged the program violates three sections of the Indiana Constitution: Article 8, Section 1, which requires a “general and uniform system of Common Schools”; Article 1, Section 4, which says citizens can’t be forced to support a place of worship or ministry; and Article 1, Section 6, which forbids spending state money to support a “religious or theological institution.”

In a 5-0 decision, the state court rejected their case.

The schools getting the vouchers may require students to participate in religious exercise, and they typically do.

The schools getting vouchers may not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin, “But they are free to discriminate on the basis of religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, test scores, IQ, family income, parental politics or just about any other criteria you can imagine.”

It is hard to square this decision with the language of the state constitution.

The radical choice ideologues in Indiana don’t like public education. Left in power, they will destroy it.

Categories Indiana, Vouchers

Breaking News: A Desperate Message from Memphis

By dianeravitch
March 27, 2013 //
21

I received this email from a high school teacher in Memphis. Please read it and understand that we must organize against the destruction of public education in America. This, plus the court approval of vouchers in Indiana yesterday sends an ominous message: the radical reactionaries are determined to destroy public education. We must fight back. We must awaken parents and civic leaders.

This comes from Memphis:

“Diane,

“Public education in Memphis/Shelby County is on the verge of collapse.

“Gates gave $90 million to Memphis City Schools, and now he’s calling the shots: increased class sizes, no extra pay for advanced degrees, merit pay based on test scores, etc.

“The initial budget for the first year of operation for the merged district is already $145 million in the red.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/feb/12/memphis-shelby-school-board-ups-the-ante-in/

“Yet last night the school board voted to continue paying $350,000 a month to a four-person team from Parthenon, a consulting group, to develop a merit pay system to stick it to teachers.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/mar/26/unified-memphis-shelby-school-board-rejects-pay/

“That’s $87,500 per month per Parthenon team member. In a year, each team member will gross $1,050,000 for Parthenon. $4.2 million altogether. (Meanwhile, they’re looking to cut teacher pay and health and retirement benefits.)

“The best part: No one on the Parthenon “education” team is a classroom educator. They’re all business strategists, investors, lawyers, and—surprise, surprise—former members of the Gates Foundation. http://www.parthenon.com/Industries/Education

“Help expose these corporate reformer frauds!”

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Merit pay, Privatization, Tennessee

Will Florida Republicans Block Parent Trigger Again?

By dianeravitch
March 27, 2013 //
12

Coach Bob Sikes wonders if Florida Republicans will learn a lesson from Georgia Republicans.

In Georgia, the Republicans pulled back on a so-called Parent Trigger bill, which would enable a vote of parents to convert their community school into a privately managed charter school.

In Florida, the Jeb Bush foundation and the Chamber of Commerce are beating the drums for the “parent trigger” again, even though it has only been used once in the nation (in California) and no one knows the results. Why not faith-based legislation?

What does it matter if Florida has closed over 200 failing charter schools? What does it matter if half the schools on the state’s list of failing schools are charters?

Why delay when corporations stand ready and willing to make a profit by extracting money from public schools and sending it to their investors?

 

 

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Privatization

Mississippi Retreats from Public Education, Back to the Dark Ages

By dianeravitch
March 27, 2013 //
13

In Mississippi, the speaker of the House of Representatives announced that he was appointing a proponent of charter schools to the state board of education that oversees public education.

The nominee was home-schooled.

Is Mississippi moving boldly forward into a world without public schools or dumbly backward into a world that predates the establishment of public education?

Categories Charter Schools, Closing schools, Education Industry
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