Anthony Cody has a piece of good advice for Bill Gates: You can’t buy the respect of teachers. You have to earn it. You have spent hundreds of millions of dollars coercing teachers to do what you want. Teachers know that you know less about teaching than they do. And they are tired of having you not only criticize them but use your fortune to control the conditions of their work.
Archives for the month of: June, 2013
To prove that he is definitely not over-reaching, definitely not telling states what to do, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is giving states more time to meet his deadlines to tie Common Core test results to teacher evaluation.
He is apparently responding to Randi Weingarten’s request to postpone “high stakes” until teachers have curriculum and professional development.
I hate to be the skunk at the garden party, but I think it is wrong to attach high stakes to testing.
There is very little evidence to support the value of high stakes testing–after all, we have had a dozen years of No Child Left Behind– and plenty of evidence that it is harmful. If it were so great, why aren’t other nations evaluating their teachers by their students’ test scores.
But now states may ask Duncan’s permission to defer the axe. Some members of Congress are beginning to think this is arbitrary and capricious. They don’t remember writing legislation putting the Secretary in charge of every public school in the nation. They don’t remember when they approved national standards and tests.
Duncan doesn’t seem ever to doubt that test scores matter more than anything else. He doesn’t care if value-added modeling narrows the curriculum or mislabels teachers or demoralizes teachers. That’s not his problem.
Remember, he is the guy who reformed the Chicago schools.
Far-right Governor Pat McCrory has brought in an aggressive leader for his strategy to privatize public education and dismantle the teaching profession. That is Eric Guckian, the governor’s tip advisor on demolishing–re, transforming –North Carolina’s education system.
Guckian is a TFA alum with long experience in the corporate reform movement. He wants “an aggressive K-12charter school environment in the state.”
At a meeting of the governor’s task force on education (which has no teachers on it), “Guckian presented five pathways for education in North Carolina that included a call to dismantle walls and textbooks for “digital online solutions;” having the business community play a larger role in developing educational pathways; job-embedded professional training for teachers; and basing teachers’ salaries on their “outputs in the field.” You can see where this is heading: profits for corporations, a welcome mat for for-profit virtual providers, and no professional preparation for teachers.
A proposal–Senate Bill 337–is already in the works in the ALEC-dominated Legislature to set up a charter commission that takes supervision and authorization of charters away from the State Board of Education and gives it to a new charter-friendly board. This charter board will be able to authorize charters over the opposition of local school boards. Senate Bill 337 is extreme in its commitment to deregulation. Charters would be able to take any unused public space for only $1. They would not be subject to conflict of interest laws. Their employees would not be required to pass criminal background checks. Their teachers would not require certification of any kind. High school teachers need not be college graduates. They would be relieved of diversity requirements.
I am still waiting for Gary Rubinstein to post his brilliant and funny speech last night at the Skinny awards in Néw York City. These awards are conferred by Class Size Matters, the city’s leading voice for public education.
Fortunately, that great blogger G. F. Brandenburg transcribed Gary’s remarks here.
It is, as you will see, a hilarious riff on corporate reform rhetoric. The audience loved it. He hit the target.
Blogger Alexander Russo interpreted Gary’s remarks to mean that bloggers are the charter schools of the media. So he tweeted. But there is a big difference. The mainstream media, which Gary satirizes, are not publicly owned. They are private, for-profit enterprises. Dissenting from them is the vital role of bloggers, who create room for dissent and freedom of thought, who are free of corporate control and free to criticize the grand poohbahs and titans of the media.
Bloggers are indeed, as Gary said, incubators of innovation. They seek not to quash public institutions but to allow room for dissident voices to be heard in a world where profit and power dominate the media.
This is an astonishingly moving and candid website where teachers write a personal letter to Bill Gates, explaining how his ideas and policies have influenced their lives and classrooms.
Add your own experience if Bill Gates has changed your life too.
Here is a correction I just received.
Please read the article, especially the correction at the end, which says:
Correction: We initially reported that Robert J. Hall, publisher at Interstate General Media, parent company of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News, and Philly.com, was a PennCAN funder. The PennCAN funder appears to be a different Robert. J. Hall. We apologize for the error.
An earlier post described a secret GOP poll that acknowledges Governor Corbett’s weakness and recommends that he could gain popularity by attacking the Philadelphia teachers’ union. The strategy is that he can portray himself as a “leader” and “reformer” trying to solve the Philadelphia fiscal disaster by blaming the union.
New documents reveal that the poll was paid for by a pro-voucher group called PennCAN, which is affiliated with the pro-privatization 50CAN and the original group ConnCAN.
The story says:
“PennCAN funders include: the William Penn Foundation, which was heavily criticized for its support of “school choice” during the brief tenure of Jeremy Nowak; Robert J. Hall, publisher at Interstate General Media, parent company of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News, and Philly.com; and Michael O’Neill, who contributed $100,000 to pay for Boston Consulting Group’s controversial “Blueprint” for transforming Philly schools.
“PennCAN has also received funding from Janine and Jeff Yass, the latter being one of three partners at the Bala Cynwyd-based hedge fund Susquehanna International Group and major givers to causes supporting school vouchers and similar free-market inspired reforms. In 2010, they donated an astronomical $5 million to support the quixotic gubernatorial bid of state Sen. Anthony Williams, a high-profile supporter of school vouchers.”
A secret poll conducted on behalf of the Pennsylvania Republican Party found that Governor Tom Corbett is highly unpopular and likely to lose to his Democratic challenger.
Corbett’s biggest vulnerability is on education issues, which voters of both parties consider important. The poll recommends that the governor can improve his image on education issues by attacking the teachers’ unions.
Sixty-three percent of voters across the state disapprove of Corbett’s handling of education issues.
Most voters recognize that the problems of Philadelphia’s schools cannot be solved by Philadelphia alone.
91% believe that the Philadelphia public schools face an extremely serious funding problem.
62% of voters say that the state should provide greater funding to Philadelphia, as compared to 24% who say the district should declare bankruptcy, or 7% who say it should sell bonds.
The pollsters say that the governor should insist on such reforms as 1) allowing public schools to assign and transfer employees based on performance, not seniority; 2) allowing principals more say in hiring teachers for their schools; 3) no more automatic pay raises for years of service or degrees or certification. These are very popular with voters, who also believe that new funding should be tied to adopting these changes. Teacher union supporters agree with the first two, but not the third.
Most voters believe (despite the absence of any evidence) that these three reforms will improve education in the Philadelphia public schools while getting costs under control.
Some voters told the pollsters that these reforms would help “get bad teachers out of the classroom.”
Perhaps influenced by Rhee-style propaganda in recent years, voters think that the intense concentration of poverty and segregation in Philadelphia’s schools, as well as years of harsh budget cuts, can be cured by eliminating seniority and curbing the influence of the teachers’ union.
The pollsters conclude that Corbett can substantially improve his image as an “education reformer” and as someone who leads the battle for “change” by fighting the union.
The pollsters say that education is the wedge issue that Corbett can use to reverse his sagging approval ratings.
I thought readers might be interested in reading the latest update from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. As you will see, they are about to have a big national conference. The newsletter comes from Nina Rees. Nina has a long history as a reformer: she worked as a domestic policy advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney where she was involved in crafting No Child Left Behind and worked in the U.S. Department of Education during George W. Bush’s administration.
Dear Friends,
With June marking the kickoff for this year’s National Charter Schools Conference, we are excited to see many of you in person in our nation’s capital very soon! The largest gathering of the year for the public charter school movement, this year’s conference runs from June 30-July 3 and will feature more than 4,000 attendees as well as fantastic speakers, panels and sessions.
To stay updated on all of our activities and happenings in the public charter school sector, follow me on Twitter along with @charteralliance and #NCSC13 for conference tweets, subscribe to The Charter Blog, and make sure to sign up for our mailings—including news clips, press releases and other important announcements.
Best regards,
Nina Rees
President and CEO
@Ninacharters
Conference Update—Welcoming Pitbull
As a sign of the broad reach and resonance of the public charter school movement, worldwide music superstar Mr. Armando “Pitbull” Pérez will kick off this year’s National Charter Schools Hall of Fame induction ceremony. A globally successful musician, performer, business entrepreneur, fashion icon and actor whose career sales exceed five million albums and 40 million singles worldwide, Mr. Pérez will join us to talk about his decision to open a charter school this fall in Miami called SLAM (Sports Leadership and Management) Charter School.
SLAM’s mission is to innovatively and deeply prepare students for secondary studies and beyond. Through an emphasis on preparation for sports-related careers, SLAM’s teaching philosophy centers on the “3 Rs”: rigor, relevance and relationships. Operating a middle and high school, the school’s first cohort of students will begin classes in the fall of 2014.
Mr. Pérez is one of the most powerful voices speaking out today on behalf of young Americans and communities. The National Alliance applauds his leadership in drawing attention onto the need to give all young people access to good public schools. You can read more about Mr. Pérez and our other keynote speakers on our website.
ESEA—Reauthorization Sooner is Better than Later
As many of you know, the potentially long process of reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)—the federal statute that governs the majority of federal investments in K-12 education—has begun. I recently put forward a few reasons why Congress and the Administration should focus on reauthorization sooner, rather than later.
First, many of the Administration’s most effective programs—such as Race to the Top, Investing in Innovation Funds (i3) and the Charter School Replication and Expansion Grants—are not etched into law yet. If ESEA is not reauthorized, these programs may fall by the wayside, which would mean that countless future charter schools may never come to pass.
Second, we have seen overwhelming bipartisan agreement on a host of ESEA reforms,such as strengthening the Charter Schools Program, which passed the House with strong majority. Despite disagreement over some other key aspects of reauthorization, because the House and Senate have already been through this reauthorization exercise twice, putting together a strategy that would get a bill to the finish line would be challenging, but would be well within reach.
Finally, if media attention around the Common Core is any indication, America may be ready to have a more substantive discussion about education policy. You can read more here.
To learn more about ESEA reauthorization, read the National Alliance white paper: Free to Succeed: Public Charter Schools & the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
ESEA—Tests taken, lessons learned through NCLB Sanctions
This past month, the National Alliance participated in a forum held by the American Enterprise Institute which explored a new analysis from Duke University that indicates certain NCLB sanctions have proven more effective than others. Specifically, this analysis found that the threat of significant school restructuring raised student achievement in underperforming schools. You can watch the forum in its entirety here.
ESEA Legislation
The Senate HELP Committee approved the Strengthening America’s Schools Act; and on June 19, the House Education and Workforce Committee started its consideration of H.R. 5, The Student Success Act. Both bills would make changes to the federal Charter Schools Program. In particular, both would increase the number of entities eligible to apply for grants from the Department of Education. We are analyzing the bills very closely on a number of important issues related to charter school quality, growth and innovation. We are working with Congressional staff in the Senate and House, and we’ll continue to keep you apprised of what’s going on in Washington, D.C. as these bills advance.
Click here to view a chart that compares select provisions from the ESEA bills introduced by Senator Harkin, Senator Alexander and Chairman Kline against current law and ESEA Waivers.
STEM
According to the responses to our recent national survey, over 20 percent of public charter schools indicated a STEM or math/science instructional focus. Given the prominence of a STEM-focus in public charter schools, the National Alliance was recently invited to join two important dialogues on STEM Education – POLITICO’s Pro Technology team discussion on the current state of STEM education and U.S. News’ STEM Solutions conference.
At the POLITICO forum, I had the pleasure of joining Tom Kalil, White House deputy director for technology and innovation, Becky Pringle, NEA secretary-treasurer, and Eric Schwarz, co-founder and CEO of Citizen Schools, for a conversation focused on the implications of STEM on the American workforce as well as what to expect for STEM policy in the year to come.
POLITICO’s Jessica Meyers (left) and Tony Romm (right) are joined by Eric Schwarz (second from left), Nina Rees (third from left), Becky Pringle (third from right) and Tom Kalil (second from right).
I also joined a fantastic team at the STEM Solutions conference, which included Maria Klawe, Harvey Mudd College president, Arthur Levine, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation president, Camsie A. McAdams, U.S. Department of Education Senior Advisor on STEM Education, Leland Melvin, NASA Associate Administrator for Education, and Richard Middleton, regional vice president of the southwestern region at the College Board, to address the question: ‘Are we moving too slowly?’
About the National Alliance
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement. Our mission is to lead public education to unprecedented levels of academic achievement by fostering a strong charter sector.
© Copyright 2006 – 2013, The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
1101 Fifteenth Street, NW, Suite 1010. Washington, DC 20005. (202) 289-2700
The National Opportunity to Learn Campaign is funded largely by the Schott Foundation for Public Education.
Schott is one of the few national organizations that supports public education, not privatization.
This is a good video that it funded. Takes only a minute to watch.
Diane Ravitch's blog 