Archives for the month of: May, 2013
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Bridgeport Parents Respond to Charter CEO Attack

By dianeravitch
May 27, 2013 //
13

Bridgeport parent leaders responded forcefully to an attack on their schools by Jennifer Alexander, the leader of ConnCAN.

Alexander claimed that charters in Connecticut outperform public schools and that 65,000 students are trapped in failing public schools. She certainly knows the corporate reform script.

The parent leaders wrote:

“As Bridgeport public school parents and elected parent leaders, we find it insulting that a paid charter school proponent is attempting to speak on behalf of a community she has no involvement with. Ms. Alexander does not have a child in the Bridgeport public schools, does not reside in the city of Bridgeport and does not pay Bridgeport taxes.

To Alexander’s claim that charters outperform public schools, the parents wrote:

“In reviewing the data of the six state charter schools that service Bridgeport students, it is abundantly clear that these six schools do not reflect the demographics of our traditional public schools. These six schools collectively underserve children with disabilities, English language learners and students receiving free/reduced-price lunch. By underserving these student populations, in some cases by double digits, they are able to claim that they achieve higher test scores.”

Bridgeport parents understand that ConnCAN represents fabulously wealthy individuals who use the public schools as a plaything. They wrote:

“ConnCan is funded by some very wealthy individuals. Their main purpose is to advocate for charter schools and their expansion. We are Bridgeport public school parents and elected parent leaders who volunteer our time and service. We do not receive a dime in compensation for the advocacy work that we do.

“Until Ms. Alexander can say the same, we recommend she speak for herself and not for those of us that are in the trenches fighting and advocating for our children’s education every day.”

The heartening aspect of this letter is that regular parents are seeing clearly what the game is. They understand that ConnCAN doesn’t care about their children. They recognize that the end game will be a publicly funded dual school system, with one free to exclude or push out kids it doesn’t want.

They are fighting for their children, for their community, for public education, and for democracy.

Categories Charter Schools, Connecticut, Corporate Reformers, Support for public schools

TFA Cleans Up in North Carolina, Where Privatizers Run Legislature

By dianeravitch
May 27, 2013 //
16

As an earlier post showed, Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota vetoed $1.5 million earmark for Teach for America, noting that the organization has $300 million in assets and thus no reason to be charging the state for its bright but poorly prepared recruits. But TFA scored big in North Carolina, where the reactionary legislature handed over $6 million a year to TFA. This from a parent activist in North Carolina:

The NC Senate just passed their version of a budget in which State support for TFA will total $6 million in both years of the biennium.
We had an outstanding program, the NC Teaching Fellows program http://www.teachingfellows.org.  That received the ax.  Two of our legislators filed a bill to restore the program, but the bill doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. The bigger picture so far with the state budget looks like this:
 
Here’s the Senate’s education budget:
http://www.ncae.org/wp-content/uploads/Education-Section-F.pdf?j=1681267&e=zkids@yahoo.com&l=14260_HTML&u=21281549&mid=1077648&jb=119
 
Here’s what the NC Association of Educators thinks of the budget:
http://www.ncae.org/whats-new/give-the-senate-budget-an-f-viral-campaign/
 
NCAE President’s letter to House Speaker with recap of destructive budget cuts in the version passed in the Senate:
http://view.email.nea.org/?j=fe9515777566017f7c&m=fe8e1570726302797d&ls=fe2c1276776d017f741771&l=ff021574776204&s=fe541c74776303787217&jb=ff6415717c&ju=fe5c16717367037b7011&r=0
Categories Budget Cuts, North Carolina, Privatization, Teach for America TFA

EduShyster: Wall St Is Only Thinking About the Kids

By dianeravitch
May 27, 2013 //
5

What happened when the head of the biggest charter chain in Illinois had a frank conversation with Wall Street investors?

EduShyster listened in. This is what she learned.

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Education Industry

Good News: Texas Legislature Reduces Number of Tests to Graduate; Bad News: More Privatization

By dianeravitch
May 27, 2013 //
6

The good work of many parent organizations and local school boards achieved a positive result yesterday when the Legislature passed a bill reducing the number of tests needed to graduate high school from 15 to five.

Public sentiment was strongly opposed to the massive testing regime that had grown out of control and beyond reason.

More than 80% of the state’s local school boards had passed resolutions opposing high-stakes testing.

And the parent groups led the charge to persuade the legislature that testing had become a burden, not a means of improving student achievement.

The parent group called TAMSA (Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment) was also known as “Moms Against Drunk Testing.”

However, do not believe for a minute that the Texas Legislature has turned wobbly overnight. At the same time that they passed House Bill 5 to reduce the number of tests needed for graduation, they also passed a bill that will vastly increase the privatization of Texas public education by lifting the cap on charter schools. Another bill opens up the state to unlimited expansion of online corporations, the predatory companies that take dollars away from public schools while providing inferior education.

This is the language opening the door to exploitation of public dollars by the online industry:

“7:13 p.m. by Morgan Smith

Legislation expanding online education in Texas public schools is heading to the governor’s desk. Both the House and Senate have adopted the final version of HB 1926 from Rep. Ken King, R-Hemphill.
The bill opens up the state’s virtual school system — which is now restricted to school districts, charters, and colleges — to nonprofits and private companies. Currently, many course providers within the virtual school systemalready subcontract with private companies. Starting in middle school, HB 1926 also requires all districts to offer students a chance to take online courses, though it limits the number of those classes students can take to three per year.
The Texas Education Agency would authorize course providers, renewing their approval every three years depending on student performance.
The online industry is powerful in Texas, and it lobbied hard to open the door to its inferior products. There is no evidence to support the value of online courses or homeschooling online at the government’s expense. There is a wealth of evidence that these courses and virtual schools are a waste of money.
So, score this legislative session as a victory for the critics of high-stakes testing, and a victory for the vultures who want to suck money out of the public system for their own enrichment.

TAMSA issued the following press release after the testing bill passed:
Dear TAMSA Members:
Today, legislators in the Texas House and Senate voted to adopt House Bill 5 as recommended by the Conference Committee. TAMSA commends this effort and would like to specifically thank Speaker Joe Straus, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, Representative Jimmie Don Aycock, Chair of the House Public Education Committee, and Senator Dan Patrick, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, for their extraordinary leadership and commitment to shepherding HB 5 through the legislative process. Rep. Aycock and Senator Patrick and their committees personally listened to days of parent and student testimony on how the excessive focus on state-mandated standardized tests is negatively impacting Texas schools and student learning. These leaders met with stakeholders and other members of the legislature to diligently craft HB 5. Rep. Aycock and Sen. Patrick have set a new threshold in Texas for legislative access and transparency.
HB 5 has been extensively debated and amended during this legislative session. This much-needed legislation reforms and reshapes public education at the high school level, in particular revising the testing, curriculum, and accountability regime in Texas. Under HB 5, state-mandated STAAR exams required to be passed for high school graduation will be limited to five:  English 1 and 2 (reading and writing combined into one test), Algebra 1, Biology, and US History. HB 5 also eliminates the provision that required 15% of EOC scores to count in students’ final grades, as well as the cumulative score requirement. Two additional state-designed standardized tests, Algebra 2 and English 3, can be administered at the school district’s option. Further, HB 5 provides flexibility in high school curriculum that will allow Texas students to pursue their interests, while retaining rigor and allowing all high school graduates to be eligible for admission into Texas public colleges and universities. This bill also modifies the school accountability rating system.
“Texas parents have been extremely active and involved in the legislative process for the last two years since realizing the detrimental impact of the new STAAR tests,” said Dineen Majcher, President of TAMSA. “Parental involvement significantly helped legislators to understand the dire, albeit unintended, consequences of the current system. We have worked together to craft meaningful solutions.”

On behalf of parents across the state, TAMSA expresses its deepest appreciation to the House and Senate leadership and members for taking bold and positive action on behalf of Texas students.

TAMSA
Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Reform, On-Line Education, Testing, Texas

Khan Academy Receives $2.2 Million to Develop Common Core Lessons

By dianeravitch
May 27, 2013 //
26

The Khan Academy received a grant of $2.2 million from the Leona and Harry Helmsley Trust to create math lessons aligned to the Common Core.

Harry Helmsley was a real estate baron in New York City. When he died, his wife Leona inherited his huge estate. She was convicted of tax evasion and went to prison. She once memorably said, “only the little people pay taxes.” She was known as “the queen of mean.” Her only son died of a heart condition, and Leona sued her daughter-in-law and evicted her from her home. She left an estate worth billions and set aside $12 million for her dog Trouble. A court reduced the amount to $2 million, as adequate to the dog’s needs.

Categories Common Core

Gov. Dayton Joins the Honor Roll

By dianeravitch
May 27, 2013 //
13

Governor Mark Dayton vetoed an earmark (set-aside) of $1.5 million for Teach for America. The governor quite reasonably noted that TFA is a wealthy organization with $350 million in assets and saw no reason the state should pay to rent more of
them. He suggested a competitive bidding process. Here is his veto message.

For his recognition that Minnesota needs a cadre of highly professional, experienced teachers, for his willingness to stand up to the fawning media hype about TFA, Mark Dayton joins the honor roll as a champion of American education.

Categories Minnesota, Teach for America TFA

Duncan: In Chicago, I Cut Testing by 50%

By dianeravitch
May 26, 2013 //
59

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy at a meeting with students in Hartford, Connecticut. The main topic was school security, but at one point a student asked what could be done to cut back on excessive testing.

This was the exchange:

“Student Justin Vega said he feels as if all the time and money spent on standardized testing has compromised the quality of his education. He asked whether the money might be better spent on security.

“Both Malloy and Duncan agreed that it makes sense to find the right balance in testing. Malloy noted that Hartford schools could potentially have a 40 percent dropout rate. “We have to do everything in our power to make sure that doesn’t happen. We need a multifaceted approach which doesn’t overemphasize [testing],” Malloy said.

“Duncan agreed about balance and noted that when he was the head of Chicago schools, he cut the amount of standardized testing by 50 percent.”

The student didn’t ask Duncan about what he had done in Chicago, but what he could do now to reduce the time and money spent on testing.

Does Duncan not understand that his zeal to evaluate teachers by the scores of their students has led to more testing than at any time in the past? Why didn’t he answer Justin Vegas’ question?

Categories Chicago, Connecticut, Duncan, Arne, Testing

Jersey Jazzman Shows the Love for the Indomitable Karen Lewis

By dianeravitch
May 26, 2013 //
15

Jersey Jazzman loves Karen Lewis. Me too. (Note the picture at the end of his post.)

She is a larger than life figure who is not only unbossed and unbought, but unbeaten. (I am paraphrasing Shirley Chisholm here, the first black woman to run for President).

Karen explains the importance of collaborating with parents and local communities.

She sees the union as a voice for children.

She is a force of nature.

She is fearless. She is not impressed by the wealthy patrons of corporate reform.

As a graduate of Dartmouth, she too wears the coveted green blazer. She is not intimidated by their airs.

If she went hand-to-hand with Rahm, he wouldn’t stand a chance, neither intellectually nor physically.

Categories Chicago, Unions

The Day They Closed My School

By dianeravitch
May 26, 2013 //
14

From a reader:

“I live in Chicago, and one of the 50 neighborhood schools slated to close is an excellent school named Miriam Canter Middle School. I like to think I came into the process with an open mind– I’m not averse to school closing, if necessary–but I was so disgusted with the town hall meeting that I made a very short video concerning the process. I would appreciate it if you reposted the video on your blog.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Irami Osei-Frimpong”

Categories Chicago, Closing schools

Why Does a Low-Income School in Tampa Beg for Books?

By dianeravitch
May 26, 2013 //
43

Here is a low-income school in Tampa that put out a public appeal for books. It needs $3,000 for books.

The superintendent makes $263,000 a year.

Categories Florida
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