Archives for the month of: April, 2013
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Florida: The “Parent Trigger” Scam

By dianeravitch
April 11, 2013 //
13

In this article columnist Daniel Shoer Roth explains how parents at the Desert Trails school in Adelanto, California, were hoodwinked into turning their public school over to a charter operator.

Under the Florida proposal, charters can set their own rules for eligibility, and many students will be excluded from the school that once was their neighborhood school.

Roth writes:

“Some local students will not meet the new strict admission rules. This includes students with learning disabilities and those in ESOL classes, as well as many racial and ethnic minority children. A number of surveys have demonstrated that there is a higher incidence of segregation in charters than in traditional schools. The excluded students will carry to their next school the same unsolved problems that contributed to the failure of the converted school, often related to poverty and a range of health and safety challenges.”

“The chain reaction from these student migrations subjects yet another school to low ranking and can put it on the conversion chopping block, too. It’s a vicious cycle.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/10/v-fullstory/3336512/the-dark-side-of-parent-trigger.html#storylink=cpy

Categories California, Florida, Parent trigger

Breaking News: Providence Students Win Major Victory!

By dianeravitch
April 11, 2013 //
10

Congratulations to the Providence Student Union, which exposed the inadequacy of the NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program) as a high school graduation test. As a result of their activism, the Boston Globe today opposed the use of NECAP for that purpose.

Instead of just protesting or writing letters to the editor or to elected officials, the PSU engaged in political theater. They invited 60 accomplished professionals to “take the test,” a test made up of released math items. And of that group, 60 percent would not have received a high school diploma.

Way to go, Providence students!

 

Dear Linda,

This just in: The Boston Globe published an Editorial  this morning calling on Rhode Island’s Department of Education to reconsider using the NECAP as a graduation requirement!
You’ve got to read this.

EDITORIAL

Flunking the test

  APRIL 11, 2013

STARTING THIS spring, Rhode Island high school seniors will have to pass the New England Common Assessment Program to get their diploma. The new requirement is the latest effort by the Rhode Island Department of Education to improve low-performing high schools. But does high-stakes testing ensure the state’s students are properly prepared to succeed in a 21st century workforce? A group of local high school students is raising the question.

  

The Providence Student Union, a student-led advocacy group, last month organized an event at which 50 prominent Rhode Islanders took a shortened version of the math NECAP. Sixty percent of the test-takers – among them elected officials, attorneys, scientists, engineers, reporters, college professors, and directors of leading nonprofits – failed to score at least “partially proficient,” the standard education officials have set for graduation. Under the new rules, many of those 50 successful individuals would not have been allowed to graduate.

  

The good news is Rhode Island’s 11th-graders do score slightly better than the adults. In October 2012, 40 percent failed to achieve “partially proficient” for math, and 8 percent fell short in reading. And those who didn’t pass will have another chance to take the test next fall.

  

The fundamental problem, though, is that the test wasn’t originally designed to be a graduation requirement and isn’t suited for that purpose. Schools need more high standards and accountability, and the NECAP was designed not to evaluate individual students’ proficiency, but to rank the quality of the schools they attend. Unlike tests meant primarily for student assessment, such as the MCAS in Massachusetts, the NECAP expects a certain portion of test-takers to fail. Research suggests that percentage will likely come from low-income, working-class neighborhoods – the students who are least likely to return for a fifth year of high school, even if skipping it means going without a diploma.

  

Plus, as the adults’ mock exam suggests, the NECAP may not even be testing the right skills. The Rhode Island Department of Education should reconsider its graduation requirement – and not only to salve the embarrassment of so many high-salaried professionals.

Wow — strong words and strong points from The Boston Globe!
More and more community leaders, testing experts, and publications are beginning to join students in questioning this misguided policy. But if we’re going to change this diploma system, we need you to make your voice heard.
Will you take one minute to call Governor Chafee’s office at 401-222-2080 and tell him to repeal the NECAP graduation requirement?
 
Thanks. We can’t do this without you.
Sincerely,
Aaron
P.S. When you’re done calling the Governor, please take a few more seconds to leave a message for Chairwoman Mancuso at the Board of Education, 401-456-6002!
Categories Testing

Do Bobby Jindal and John White Hate The Poor and Disabled?

By dianeravitch
April 11, 2013 //
23

I read this post by Louisiana’s Crazy Crawfish with a sense of disbelief.

I could not believe that any human being would expend so much effort to crush the poorest and neediest citizens of his state.

Can you believe that John White is going to apply value-added assessments to determine the funding for students with disabilities? If they don’t get higher test scores every year, they lose funding. He will do the sameto gifted students.

Is this mean or mad?

Read Jindal’s spending cuts. Unbelievable. For example, he cut the budget for higher education by more than half. He proposed a tax plan to raise taxes on the poor (by raising the sales tax) while eliminating taxes on the rich (by eliminating the personal income tax and the corporate income tax). He closed most of the state’s mental hospitals and all of the charity hospitals.

Louisiana is rapidly retreating to the industrial era, where there were no protections for workers, no safety net for the needy. It may be 2013 in America, but it’s 1913 in Louisiana and the clock keeps moving backward.

Categories Jindal, Bobby, Louisiana, Special Education

Ladd to NC Legislature: Do Not Privatize Public Education

By dianeravitch
April 11, 2013 //
7

This article by Helen Ladd of Duke University is absolutely “must” reading.

Ladd is a major economist of education.

The same article might be written for many states.

North Carolina was once renowned for its commitment to public education.

But now the legislature is starving the funding for public education: “Per-pupil spending on K-12 education in North Carolina is now 46th in the country, teacher salaries are 48th and the General Assembly has been cutting funding for our university and community college systems, once the envy of other states.”

Worse, the legislature seems determined to create a dual school system, one public, the other run by privately managed charters, vouchers, and for-profit vendors.

Here is the utterly predictable result:

“Proponents of this private vision push for reduced spending on traditional public schools, unfettered expansion of charter schools, transfer of school management to private firms that view education as a business opportunity, school vouchers that shift public funds to private schools and scholarships for private school tuitions financed by tax breaks to corporations and wealthy individuals.

“This private vision espoused by Republican leaders diverts attention from the public purposes of schooling and reduces accountability for the use of public funds. Perhaps most important, this anti-public education vision leaves little room for principles of social justice and the commitment to equal educational opportunity for all students.

“When education becomes primarily a private affair, benefits flow disproportionately to those with the most means to work the system to their advantage. The losers are typically disadvantaged children who end up in under-resourced traditional public schools with large concentrations of low-performing and challenging-to-educate students. The role of education as an engine of opportunity for every North Carolina child is downplayed in favor of greater benefits for those already advantaged.”

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/04/10/2816261/the-perils-of-a-private-vision.html#storylink=cpy

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, North Carolina, Vouchers

Comment by a Charter Teacher in Ohio

By dianeravitch
April 11, 2013 //
8

This arrived in response to the post about the poor results of charters in Ohio:

“My first teaching job out of university was a charter high school in Toledo. The director’s husband was convicted of stealing public funds and sent to prison. The politically connected company that held the charter cut off the faculty’s health insurance without telling us midway through the year and didn’t plan on paying us once summer hit. The charter company closed the school immediately after the last day. If those who run charters are willing to steal and lie and cheat teachers out of their salaries, they’ll be willing to cheat on graduation rates and in-house test scores too.

“One more note: The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools just sold my current charter school a “data collection system” that we’ve spent every single PD day working with, and in conjunction with the Ohio Dept. of Education, both enthusiastically push vendor assessment on us as the best path. If I could find a public school position, I’d leave and never enter a charter again. 90% of the charters I’ve worked with or subbed at in Ohio are an affront to our system of education.”

Categories Charter Schools, Ohio

Comment by a Charter School Teacher

By dianeravitch
April 11, 2013 //
15

In a post today, a comment by a charter school teacher explains the high turnover in charter schools.

“Sadly, JUST like the teachers in KIPP, I got a job in a charter school WELL before realizing what this whole “school reform” movement was all about… didn’t know the difference between charter/public/private… and it’s only been over the course of several years, total exhaustion, and in the last few months of being enlightened about the “school reform” movement that I now understand what type of system I’m working in. Although I work with some wonderful people, I’ve seen the toxic result of the reform movement creeping in … always expecting more, doing more, giving more… . If you find ANY work/life balance, you “appear” lazy and you earn a reputation for “not doing your job” (because some of the expectations are through the roof. I’m sticking it out this year, but looking for either a public school position in a high SES neighborhood (where parents work with their kids and it doesn’t fall all on the teacher)… or a parochial school (where if I have to push kids so hard, at least I can pray with them too!) “

Categories Charter Schools, KIPP Charter Schools, Teachers and Teaching

Governor Malloy of Connecticut Opposes School Funding Lawsuit

By dianeravitch
April 11, 2013 //
5

This is a sad reversal for Connecticut’s poorest children.

As a candidate for governor, Dannell Malloy supported a lawsuit that would guarantee that the children of the state have a constitutional right to a quality education.

Now that he is governor, he is trying to quash the lawsuit he once supported.

Go figure.

Categories Connecticut

Burris to Parents: The Common Core Assessments Are “Bunk”

By dianeravitch
April 11, 2013 //
12

Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School in Rockville Center, New York, explains here why parents should take the results of the new Common Core assessments with more than a grain of salt.

They will be used in New York to determine whether students ages 8-14 are “college-ready.” Can you imagine that? A test taken by a child of 8 will tell you whether he or she is college ready!

Categories Common Core, Corporate Reformers, Testing

Illinois House Blocks Online Charters

By dianeravitch
April 11, 2013 //
6

The Illinois House moved to set a three-year moratorium on virtual charter schools after some suburban districts rejected them.

I wonder if the representatives understand that the quality of cyber charters is low, test scores are low, graduation rates are low. And the quality of education is poor.

But the companies make big profits.

Categories Charter Schools, Illinois, On-Line Education

EduShyster Skewers Mark Zuckerberg

By dianeravitch
April 11, 2013 //
17

Really, EduShyster has done it again.

The rich, powerful, and famous end up as toast when skewered by her sharp satirical lance.

In this post, she has Wonder Boy Mark Zuckerberg solving the problem of the “skillz gap” by hiring a rightwing operative to run a national campaign. This campaign will use our public schools as the enemy, the schools that fail to provide the entry-level workers (willing to work for less), thus making it necessary for him to import foreign talent (willing to work for less).

What will those hapless billionaires think of next?

Categories Education Reform
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