Archives for the month of: May, 2013
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Why Is Philadelphia in Crisis?

By dianeravitch
May 30, 2013 //
22

Philadelphia is once again facing catastrophic budget cuts that threaten to gut public education.

Who is killing Philadelphia’s schools, asks journalist Daniel Denvir. Here is the sordid story.

The state has had control of the Philadelphia schools since 2002. It took control because of a budget deficit. The state School Reform Commission made the deficit worse.

Paul Vallas took over as superintendent and launched the nation’s most sweeping privatization plan. It failed. Vallas left the district with an even bigger deficit.

Now the School Reform Commission wants to have another go at privatization, even though a number of the city’s charters are under criminal investigation. The Mayor supports a pro-voucher group that has become increasingly vocal.

Governor Tom Corbett has slashed the state’s support for public schools. The state is threatening more cuts. Will public education survive in Philadelphia?

Does anyone have the nerve to say “it’s all for the kids”?

Categories Budget Cuts, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Vallas, Paul

NC Teacher: How Our Legislature Is Driving Bad Policy

By dianeravitch
May 30, 2013 //
12

Could things get worse in North Carolina? Here, a teacher describes the bills that are moving towards passage, all of which will undermine public schools and transfer public funds to private corporations.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, North Carolina, Vouchers

Who Are the “Chiefs for Change”?

By dianeravitch
May 30, 2013 //
4

Media accounts sometimes refer to the Chiefs for Change, a group of state superintendents. They are the state leaders most closely associated with Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Educational Excellence and with Jeb Bush’s views favoring high-stakes testing and privatization.

Here is Mercedes Schneider’s analysis of the organization and its members.

Categories Bush, Jeb, Chiefs for Change

Choice Zealots Take Control of Wealthy Douglas County, Colorado

By dianeravitch
May 30, 2013 //
33

There are times when reality is zanier than satire.

Read about Douglas County, Colorado, where choice fanatics run the district.

They want students and families to choose schools the way you choose a color for your car or a brand of cereal.

In other words, they don’t believe in public education.

They don’t believe in the democratic ideal of common schooling, where children from many backgrounds learn together. They believe in consumerism.

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Charter Schools, Colorado, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Vouchers

Pennsylvania: Cyber Charters Are a Scam

By dianeravitch
May 30, 2013 //
5

Pennsylvania is overrun with cyber charters. There are 16 of them competing for customers, sucking money out of real public schools, supplying a terrible education. Some are under investigation. The legislature protects them because of campaign contributions.

Meanwhile public schools are suffering due to budget cuts while these sham schools make profits.

They have extracted $4 billion from the state’s taxpayers in inflated costs, padded enrollment data, and legislative beneficence. This is legal graft.

Categories Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, On-Line Education, Pennsylvania

New York Rally Against High-Stakes Testing on June 8

By dianeravitch
May 30, 2013 //
9

Carol Burris of South Side High School in Rockville Center, New York, sent out the following notice:

Thank you again for signing the petition against high stakes testing. It will be delivered on June 8 at the Rally for Public Education in Albany.

The purpose of the rally (12:00-3:00) is to express opposition to high stakes testing and support educational funding. Although it is sponsored by NYSUT, other groups are marching as well, including parents and principals.

Fellow principals and I will march behind a banner that says

http://www.newyorkprincipals.org

Our kids and teachers are more than a number .

We are assembling at the bottom of the egg, so if you are coming alone, feel free to join us or come by and say “hello”.

Parking is available under the egg. You can park for free in the two lots
on Madison Ave. I hope to see you there.

http://www.theegg.org/about/directions

*Field Testing*

This is a link to a site that gives parents information about field testing
http://www.scribd.com/doc/141872303/say-yes-to-learning-and-no-to-field-testing-what-nyc-parents-need-to-know

Although it was designed for New York City parents, it is relevant to all New York State parents.

inBloom and your children’s data

Please urge your legislators to support the bill A.6059/S.4284, to block the state’s plan to share private student and teacher information with inBloom Inc. and for-profit vendors, which has 59 co-sponsors in the Assembly and 20 in the Senate. It’s especially important to call Sen. Flanagan at 631-361-2154 and Sen. Skelos at (516) 766-8383 and ask them to support the bill and hold hearings on it now.

More about VAM and APPR

Whether you are a parent, principal or teacher, I think you will find this article on VAM of importance.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/20/principal-why-our-new-educator-evaluation-system-is-unethical/

Here is the bottom line: No measure of teacher or principal performance should put the best interests of students in conflict with the best interests of the adults who serve them.

Categories Class size, New York, Privacy and Privacy Rights, Support for public schools, Teacher Evaluations, Testing

Jersey Jazzman on the Hess-Austin Kerfuffle: Haul Out the Fainting Couch

By dianeravitch
May 30, 2013 //
22

Jersey Jazzman is fast on the draw. Here he dissects Rick Hess’s defense of Ben Austin.

JJ wonders how Hess would feel if the parents of Newark and other cities in New Jersey–which have not had local control for two decades– were given a “parent trigger” to eliminate state control of their districts.

Good question:

Why is parent trigger swell when Parent Revolution organizes a parent petition to kick out the staff but not good at all when parents are denied the power to kick out their district superintendent?

Categories California, New Jersey

Voting Machines, Old and New

By dianeravitch
May 29, 2013 //
16

This is off-topic, since it is not about education. But, hey, it’s my blog and I am allowed now and then to think about other topics.

I just read in the New York Times that New York City is planning to ditch its new electronic voting machines and go back to using the old lever-operated machines, first invented in 1890. The city has already spent $95 million on the electronic machines, and some critics said that it was wrong to revert to the old technology. The old machines are apparently in a warehouse, covered in plastic.

The reason I mention this was that I served on a federal commission to review the electoral process after the fiasco of the disputed Presidential election in 2000. The commission was co-chaired by ex-Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. Our report was released in August 2001.

One of the subjects of our investigation was the voting machines: which were in use and which were most effective. We saw demonstrations of all the electronic machines, as well as some existing machines. The technical people said the best, most foolproof machine was the New York City lever machine, which many considered a dinosaur. It counted every vote and had a low error rate. The electronic machines were subject to hacking.

Ironic that the city is now planning –at least temporarily–to bring back the tried and true lever machines.

Categories Education Reform

Jeb Bush Slams Public Schools

By dianeravitch
May 29, 2013 //
52

Jeb Bush really truly doesn’t like public schools. He sees them as the essence of mediocrity, strangled by unions.

What does he want? Charters, vouchers, virtual schools. Anything but public schools.

Categories Bush, Jeb, Charter Schools, Florida, Vouchers

Gary Rubinstein: Watch Kevin Huffman Debate a Straw Man

By dianeravitch
May 29, 2013 //
13

Gary Rubinstein came across an article in which Tennessee State Commissioner Kevin Huffman boasted about the merit pay scheme he was proposing and derided the leader of the Memphis teachers’ union for expressing caution about the program. Gary decided to take a closer look at the merit pay program and concluded that the union leader’s concern was well placed. Teachers would receive $2,000 to sign up and would receive another $5,000 only if they got the required gains.

I am constantly amazed that policymakers pay no attention at all to the evidence on merit pay. It has failed again and again. The most spectacular failure was in Nashville, where teachers were offered a bonus of $15,000 to produce higher test scores. There was a control group and an experimental group. After three years, there was no significant difference in the test scores of the two groups. Merit pay also failed in New York City and in Chicago.

Merit pay is faith-based policy.

 

Categories Merit pay, Tennessee
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