Archives for the month of: June, 2013
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Why Failing Charters in Michigan Are Not Closed

By dianeravitch
June 8, 2013 //
31

This comment was posted in response to a report by Education Trust Midwest about Michigan’s expansion of low-performing (and failing) charter schools. The irony is that the original theory of charters was that they would either meet their goals or lose their charter. twenty plus years ago, no one considered the possibility that for-profit and even nonprofit charters would make political contributions and assemble a political base that outweighed the quality of the schools.

The reader writes:

“Yes, there are charters of varying quality. The problem in Michigan is that the state has no real authority to close a charter (even though it gets state money). A member of the state board of education noted in an article months ago (on the same topic) that it’s up to the authorizers to close the school. So in the case of a for-profit organization (like Leona Group) the only motivation to close a school would be a lack of profitability rather than a poor quality school.

Also understand that Michigan’s ideological legislature (particularly the House) doesn’t really care about school quality when it comes to charters. Charters don’t typically unionize and they underpay their teachers relative to public schools. This is in the interest of the legislature (and governor). So they really don’t mind that many charters underperform.

In 2011, Michigan passed many policies that seemed to make some sense. Public school couldn’t really debate accountability measures too hard. In some ways, those laws were well-intended. But the state’s magnificent investment in charter expansion and the money-pit EAA (which is getting so much outside money and additional state money that it is unbelievable) has revealed an ideological approach rather than an educational reform.

Charter schools have become the “out” for parents who want their kids away from other kids more than anything. Some charters are really just a way for churches to have a school funded by the state. One local charter is really just the kids from a local mega-church. As has been noted many times, charters are not a game changer. They vary in quality. This is particularly noteworthy in that the report comes from EdTrust who is no friend of public schools, by the way.”

Categories Charter Schools, Michigan, Privatization, Separation of church and state

Teacher: Reflections on Deborah Gist’s New Contract

By dianeravitch
June 8, 2013 //
20

This post was sent to me by a teacher in Rhode Island who uses the nom de plume Horace Manic.

Mr. Manic writes:

The recent renewal of the contract of Deborah Gist, the Commissioner of Education in Rhode Island, brings to light some interesting political dynamics. Considering the recent, well-publicized conversion of Rhode Island Governor, Lincoln Chafee, to the Democratic party of President Obama, it is not a surprise that Gist was rehired – despite the pleas of teachers and student groups throughout the State. After all, Deborah Gist is the poster girl for the Broad Academy, one of the most well-financed and influential corporate reform organizations in the United States. Secretary of Education and Obama’s Chicago basketball-buddy Arne Duncan also came through the Broad Academy. Had the contract of Deborah Gist not been renewed, it would have been a symbolic rejection of Broad and the ideology of the reform organization – an ideology that has pervaded school districts throughout the United States through the placement of administrators in key posts.

One has to wonder what will be the political implications for Governor Chafee, who already lost his seat in the United States Senate when he was a Republican. Even though he was well-known in Washington as a moderate, if not liberal Republican (one of only a few Republican who voted against the invasion of Iraq), he lost handily to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse in 2006 in a wave of rejection of the Grand Old Party. Four years later, having declared himself an Independent, he won a hotly contested three-way race for the Rhode Island Governorship. He was pushed over the hump after President Obama endorsed Chafee, thereby putting nails in the coffin of the Democratic candidate, Frank Caprio. Chafee also was aided in his win by the strong endorsement of Rhode Island’s most powerful teacher’s union, the NEARI. By supporting Gist, Chafee seemingly has alienated the teachers of Rhode Island. Resentment toward the Democratic Party has been expressed by union members across the state due to the punitive actions put in place as a condition of Race to the Top funding. Obama’s ardent support of Duncan, both of whom who supported the firing of an entire school faculty in Central Falls, has left Rhode Island teachers feeling like jilted lovers.

If his actions as of late are an indication, Lincoln Chafee does not plan to run for reelection. He has estranged himself from an estimated forty percent of his supporters in rehiring Gist. With Sheldon Whitehouse serving in the Senate for another five years, Chafee, perhaps, has his sights set on a post that will return him to Washington as part of President Obama’s team. He is not wanting for money as his wife is an heiress of the Danforth family, one of the wealthiest in Rhode Island. A return to Washington seems a likely route for the son of a popular Senator. Whatever the political future of Lincoln Chafee, he was not much concerned with the vote of the teachers of Rhode Island when he made the decision to reappoint Gist. It has been suggested that Chafee’s decision was a courtesy and will set up the departure of Gist by her own volition. Time will tell.

While Chafee’s moves have been evocative, another dynamic is playing out behind the scenes that few political junkies have claimed to comprehend. Deborah Gist’s other supporter is Jeb Bush, brother and son of Presidents of the United States. As a lynchpin member of Chiefs for Change, a collection of state leaders most closely associated with Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Educational Excellence and proponents of Bush’s views favoring high-stakes testing and privatization, Gist has supporters in Democratic and Republican camps. This brings into question the relationship between the Obama Administration and Jeb Bush. This collusion of leaders and parties seems to go beyond reaching across the aisle and political cooperation. After all, one day not far off, Jeb Bush will announce his candidacy for the Presidency.

How do Obama and Duncan view Chiefs for Change? Does Jeb Bush back the efforts of corporate form organizations like Democrats for Education Reform and individuals like Michael Bloomberg? How will the competition for votes, corporation funding, and union support affect the entangled relationships that corporate reformers like Deborah Gist have formed.

Recommendation: Don’t be near the fan in 2014.

Categories Bush, Jeb, Chiefs for Change, Obama, Unions

A Teacher at Weigand Responds to Ben Austin

By dianeravitch
June 8, 2013 //
34

The following comment was posted on the blog by a teacher at Weigand Avenue Elementary School in response to Ben Austin’s open letter to me, in which Austin defends Parent Revolution’s campaign to oust the school’s principal Irma Cobain.

The teacher writes:

.
Mr. Austin claims that “every teacher who signed that 2011 petition is now gone, and the school has gotten even worse since then.” There are exactly TWO teacher names on that petition. One of those 2 transferred to another school, and the other retired. The remaining names are staff members, 2 of whom are still at Weigand, and 1 State Preschool Teacher who holds neither a Bachelor’s Degree nor a California Teaching Credential.

As to Mr. Austin’s claim that the school has “gotten even worse since then,” does he mean that our staff is worse than in 2011? If Ms. Cobian drove teachers away, why have we all decided to leave with her? I wish Mr. Austin had been there today, our last day of school at Weigand. There were many tearful goodbyes, and some students expressed fear about not knowing anyone next year. In fact, this entire week, students have been asking us teachers whether we are going to be there next year. Their tension is palpable, their desire to seek out that “yes” so evident, even if they cannot express it in words. It broke my heart each time I answered with a “no, I won’t be here next year.” Even more difficult was trying to explain why.

Mr. Austin goes on to say “When I see kids attending schools like Weigand, I see kids who are going through a whole lot more at home than I could have ever imagined as a boy, but who don’t have a safe place where somebody believes in them, supports them and loves them.” Mr. Austin, how DARE you imply that we don’t do all this and MUCH more for our students? Anyone who teaches knows that we teachers willingly give our blood, sweat, and tears every day for our students. This is especially so in a community like Watts. You have NO IDEA how much of our personal and family lives we have sacrificed for our students at Weigand. When have you ever set foot on our campus? I have taught at Weigand for 11 years, and let me tell you, the staff at Weigand these last 3 years is without a doubt the most professional, intelligent, and passionate group of teachers I have ever had the privilege of working with in my 16 years as an LAUSD educator. Most of those teachers were recruited by Ms. Cobian herself, because she knows talent when she sees it. Perhaps our test scores dropped because we were actually TEACHING under Ms. Cobian’s leadership, and not simply drilling for the next assessment.

We left Weigand today relieved that this Parent Revolution nightmare is over for us, crushed for our students, and determined to help others FIGHT against your agenda.

— Fabiola Banuelos, dedicated veteran teacher, Stanford University graduate, who will go where I am better appreciated.

Categories California, Parent trigger, Principals, Teachers

Alan Singer on Common Core

By dianeravitch
June 8, 2013 //
18

Alan Singer has some concerns about Common Core but much to admire.

Categories Common Core

Principal: My View of the Pearson/Common Core ELA Tests

By dianeravitch
June 8, 2013 //
50

Anna Allanbrook, principal of the Brooklyn New School, wrote a letter to the families of the school expressing her view of the new ELA tests.

Yes, they were harder, because so many of the multiple-choice questions had more than one answer. This is simply very bad test design. Test questions should have one answer, not two or three. This is confusing to students and serves no useful purpose.

The tests were “harder” because they spanned three days. One teacher wondered why it took three days to figure out a student’s reading level. A reason the tests were longer, though not the only reason, was that they included field-test questions, and the students could not know which was which.

For the students who are struggling learners and for special education students, the tests were harder, and they were made aware of how far behind they are.

And then she asks the hardest question of all: At a time of cuts to basic services and shortages of supplies, why is there always plenty of money for testing?

Categories Common Core, Education Reform, Testing

A Race for the Cool?

By dianeravitch
June 8, 2013 //
28

Sara Mosle explains why air-conditioning matters.

When elected officials hear complaints about sweltering classrooms, they sometimes reply that back in the day, there was no air-conditioning.

Mosle points out that when the end of year tests are given, children in affluent districts with air-conditioned classrooms have an advantage.

When the Chicago Teachers Union complained about the lack of air-conditioning, many thought this a ridiculous demand.

Karen Lewis proposed that the administrators at central headquarters work without air-conditioning. That, of course, was unthinkable.

Categories Chicago

In Person with Jon Stewart: The Story of the I.S. 318 Chess Team

By dianeravitch
June 8, 2013 //
13

Yesterday I wrote about the championship chess team at I.S. 318 in Brooklyn, which needs $20,000 to travel to tournaments and remain in competition. The after school funding that keeps the program alive was cut by the New York City Department of Education.

I thought you would enjoy watching the segment on “The Daily Show” when Jon Stewart interviewed the producer and one of the students who are featured in the film.

My favorite moment is when the student, Pobo, says spontaneously, “I love my teachers!” And the audience breaks into applause because they love their teachers too.

John Galvin, the assistant principal at 318 in charge of the chess program, has been reading this blog. John, give us a name and address, and we will do some fund-raising for our chess program.

Categories Budget Cuts, NYC, Students, Support for public schools, Teachers

CPS Policies Will Promote Privatization, Inequality

By dianeravitch
June 8, 2013 //
7

The Chicago Public Schools’ policy of closing public schools and opening charter schools will obviously promote privatization. What it will also promote is inequality and lack of transparency.

This is the contention of a panel that recently met to discuss the closure of some 50 public schools.

Categories Chicago, Privatization

Randi: Philadelphia Superintendent Demolishes Public Schools

By dianeravitch
June 8, 2013 //
30

William Hite, the Broad-trained superintendent of schools in Philadrlphia, released his plan to demolish public education in that poor district, which has been controlled by the state for more than a decade. There is plenty of shame to go around: to Governor Corbett, who wants to destroy public education in his state; to the Legislature, which has let the governor have his way; and to the business and civic leaders of Philadelphia, who didn’t care enough to fight for Other People’s Children. Here, Randi Weingarten details the carnage:

June 7, 2013

AFT President Calls Philadelphia School Layoffs a Travesty

Washington—AFT President Randi Weingarten released the following statement on the announced layoffs of nearly 3,800 Philadelphia educators and school employees.

“What was Superintendent Hite brought in to do? Mass close schools even though it makes the corridors and streets less safe for kids and destabilizes neighborhoods? Make draconian budget cuts that strip schools of nurses, libraries, guidance counselors, art, music and after-school activities, and rob children of the rich learning experience they deserve? And now impose nearly 3,800 layoffs so that public schools can’t function?

“This is a travesty. We are watching before our very eyes the evisceration of public education in the City of Brotherly Love. And instead of an all-hands-on-deck approach, instead of investing in our children’s futures, we see Gov. Corbett and Mayor Nutter sit on their hands while Superintendent Hite and the School Reform Commission have the gall to strip our schools to the bone and blame the very people who work closest with kids—the very people who devote their lives to helping children achieve their dreams. Where are the priorities of the governor, the mayor, the superintendent and the SRC? Certainly not with the children of Philadelphia.”

###

Categories Education Reform

Karen Lewis on Ben Austin’s Letter

By dianeravitch
June 7, 2013 //
51

A comment on Ben Austin’s open letter to me:

“Why would Ben Austin insert his own and his brother’s story in an open letter to you? And just for good measure, the annoying phrase, “…kids trapped in failing schools…” I am so sick of this refrain because it sounds like the rich and powerful really care. The parent tricker law is an outrage as are so many of these ALEC-induced mandates that are driving the joy out of teaching and learning.

“Here’s how we fix the schools. Go to the private schools where the elite send their children and watch what their teachers do. Recreate it like they do on HGTV (High/Low Project) and voila! Answers to all your problems. Be sure to include high paying jobs for the parents and safe neighborhoods. If you can’t provide the jobs, how about a welcoming space for parents in the schools??? It could happen.”

Categories Parent trigger
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