Archives for the year of: 2013
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

A Good Explanation of VAM for Non-Experts

By dianeravitch
January 14, 2013 //
19

Mercedes Schneider prepared a paper explaining value-added modeling, now widely promoted for evaluating teachers. She wrote it for legislators in Louisiana, who have been passing laws mandating VAM without understanding how inaccurate it is. This paper could be used to brief legislators in every state. Also policymakers at your State Education Department, also the U.S. Department of Education.

She introduces the paper as follows:

“Dear Lousiana Senators:
I have written a paper explaining value added modeling (VAM) issues based upon an examination of the Noell and Gleason VAM study presented to the Louisiana legislature in February 2011. I based my paper in part on a detailed Power Point presentation I gave as guest speaker at the Louisiana Association of Parish Textbook Administrators (LAPTA) conference in November 2012. In this current writing, I have removed some of the technical language in order to provide a smoother read.
VAM is highly problematic. I thank you for your time in reading the attached paper. Please contact me if I can offer any additional clarification.
Thank you.
–Mercedes K. Schneider, Ph.D.
Applied Statistics and Research Methods”

Categories Teacher Evaluations

Mississippi Newspaper: Let’s Focus on Good Schools for All Children

By dianeravitch
January 14, 2013 //
5

A good friend in Meridian, Mississippi, tweeted this article to me and he said, “Thank God for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.” To which I add: “Amen!”

Well, you won’t read this in the editorial columns of the New York Times or the Washington Post or the Los Angeles Times or the Chicago Tribune, or any other of our major newspapers.

But you can read it here in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

The newspaper surveyed the usual proposals to “help kids escape” from low-rated public schools: charters, tax credits, etc. and it had this to say:

Taken together, those elements retreat from confronting and overcoming problems in low-performing or marginal schools, which has been proven possible when a district’s resources are fully energized, especially the support of parents and the larger school constituency.

Rep. Forrest Hamilton, R-Olive Branch, a town with schools in the state’s largest public school system, DeSoto County, asked why the state should get involved with private schools.

“Instead of addressing the real root of the problem, we are skirting the issue … We are skirting the issue of D and F failing schools, saying, ‘Let’s just send them to another school instead of fixing the failing ones,’” Hamilton said during the committee meeting.

His point is valid. DeSoto County, a bright red Republican County, wants its public schools to remain strong because the general public school constituency is highly engaged in keeping them competitive. The transfer-and-retreat approach focuses on scattered individual children rather than the obligation of quality education for all children.

Categories Accountability, Supporting public schools, U.S. education

Do Affluent White Neighborhoods Need Charter Schools?

By dianeravitch
January 14, 2013 //
32

Jason Stanford lives in Austin, Texas, where he writes frequently about school issues. Here he gives us the latest in the school choice saga in Texas.

Texas is crazy for school choice. The state legislature is about to take up the question of vouchers, and the state board of education has approved many charters. The new state commissioner of education Michael Williams previously ran the State Railroad Commission, which regulates the energy industry (lightly), and he is a fan of school choice.

Now the state board has approved a charter called Great Hearts Academies for an affluent white neighborhood in San Antonio. Now there will be a charter for white kids, and other charters for black and brown kids. That is the new world of school choice.

There is a charter school for rich white kids in Los Altos (the Bullis Charter School), the Metro Nashville school board has been trying to stop the Great Hearts Academy of Arizona from opening a charter in an affluent white neighborhood, Eva Moskowitz has opened charters in affluent NYC communities on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and in Cobble Hill in Brooklyn (maybe that’s why she changed the name of her chain from “Harlem Success Academy” to “Success Academy”). New Jersey parents in middle-class towns have thus far repelled them.

The wave of the future, it seems, is that charters will expand into mostly affluent white districts. The kids are less challenging. Instead of “saving poor children from their failing public schools,” they will go where the pickings are easy.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Privatization, Texas

Who Will Hold Charters Accountable in California?

By dianeravitch
January 14, 2013 //
9

Recently, I wrote a post about Steve Zimmer, a member of the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Zimmer proposed that the board develop a policy to hold charters accountable.

He was picketed and jeered by charter advocates, who rejected any demands for oversight. The charter lobby is supporting someone to run against Zimmer in the March elections.

Zimmer acted responsibly. Los Angeles now has more students in charters than any other district (over 100,000), and California now has more charters than any other state.

Even the national and state charter associations claim they want more accountability and more weeding out of bad charters. But actions speak louder than words.

A reader sent this background to the current debates in California:

“The following report tells it all. The vast majority of charters, between 65-70%, close due to financial or mismanagement reasons.

Click to access StateOfCharterSchools_CER_Dec2011-Web-1.pdf

Recently, Jed Wallace from the California Charter School Association, wrote about charter school accountability in the publication “Ed Source”.

http://www.edsource.org/today/2013/why-california-must-lead-the-way-in-closing-underperforming-charter-schools/24755#.UObvM445Qts

Below are two sections from the report.

“The second state in the nation to allow charter schools, California has long been at the forefront of education reform. We must also lead the way in accountability, which is why the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) is proud to support the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) “One Million Lives” campaign, which kicked off in November. NACSA’s goal is to give one million children access to high-quality schools by encouraging effective charter authorizing, growing the number of high-quality charters across the country and closing those charters that are failing.

“NACSA has called for:

“All states to establish clear charter school performance expectations and close those schools that do not meet the standards.
Implement new laws to hold charter authorizers accountable for the schools they approve. Those that keep failing schools open will lose the ability to authorize schools.
Urge each state to create a statewide authorizer that will implement professional practices based on high standards and promote quality growth.”

“In order to meet the CCSA Minimum Criteria for Renewal, charter schools four years and older must meet at least one of the following criteria:

“Academic Performance Index (API) score of at least 700 in the most recent year, or
Three-year cumulative API growth of at least 50 points, or
Ranked “within” or “above” for at least two out of the last three years on CCSA’s Similar Students Measure.”

“There seems to be a lack of concern in this report about the financial and mismanagement issues. School districts apparently have no interest in appropriate oversight and/ or don’t have the resources to do it properly. Wallace did not address how to make these kinds of changes.

“Louis Freedberg, of Ed Source wrote the following articles to address these issues:

http://www.edsource.org/today/2011/state-looks-into-start-up-charter-school-loss-of-tens-of-millions-of-dollars/1541#.UOb1o445Qts

http://www.edsource.org/today/2011/state-burdened-by-oversight-of-more-charter-schools/1331#.UOb2XI45Qts

“As far as we know, the report promised by Mr. Zeiger on the millions in lost funds to failed charters either was never done or was not made public. No surprise here!!!!!

“Steve Zimmer did the right thing, but the charter lobby is incredibly powerful. It’s fine for Wallace to ask for tighter controls on charters, but again, he doesn’t address how this could and should happen. Zimmer tried. We know that Los Angeles has the most charters of any district in the U.S. It stands to reason that LAUSD should lead the way to tighten these controls.

“A recent example of massive failure by LAUSD to provide appropriate oversight is demonstrated in this audit done on three Magnolia(Gulen) Charter Schools. Sadly, the Board of Education has taken NO steps to revisit the renewal of these charters.

Click to access 12486MAGNOLIASCIENCEACAD.PDF

“Another controversial charter simply refused to participate in an audit as stated below:

Click to access 12492ACADEMIA%20SEMILLAS%20CHARTER%20SCHOOL.PDF

“The bottom line here is that hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars are being lost yearly. Public schools must make up the difference. It’s no wonder that CA has incredibly high class sizes and student to counselor ratios. We need more school board members like Zimmer to speak out and demand changes in the approval and oversight of charters.”

Categories Education Reform

The Hidden Charter Scandal in D.C.

By dianeravitch
January 14, 2013 //
15

Retired teacher Erich Martel wrote the following letter to the Washington Post in response to its article about the sky-high expulsion rates of charter schools:

 
DC Charter High Schools Quietly Transfer Far More Students Than They Expel

The District’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education enrollment audits and the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System reports and graduation reports show that charter high schools take advantage of their freedom from responsibility for educating challenging students by quietly transferring many more students than they expel. This may also help explain why charter lobbyists are opposed to charters becoming neighborhood schools [Mark Schneider and Robert Cane, “Why charters shouldn’t be ‘neighborhood schools,’ ” Local Opinions, Dec. 30].

In its Jan. 6 article on expulsions, The Post described a mother withdrawing her daughter Elsie to avoid having an expulsion appear on Elsie’s record and, unsaid, on Thurgood Marshall Academy’s. This is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Elsie’s ninth-grade class numbered 138; by April 2010 (18 months later), the 10th grade testing cohort was 87 (28 boys; 59 girls!). Sixty-three students graduated in June 2012, 46 percent of the original ninth-grade class. Fifty-seven of the 75 missing students were removed from Thurgood Marshall’s reponsibility by transfer — presumably to traditional public schools — it claimed a graduation rate of 78 percent, higher test scores and the acclaim of being “high-achieving.”

Between the October 2010 and 2011 enrollment audits, D.C. charter high schools’ ninth, 10th and 11th grade cohorts transferred more than 1,350 students, according to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education. It’s time for a serious investigation of this practice.

Erich Martel, Washington

The writer taught in D.C. public schools from 1969 to 2011.

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools

Louisiana Educator: Don’t Believe the Hype!

By dianeravitch
January 14, 2013 //
3

Mike Deshotels is a veteran educator in Louisiana. He writes one of the best education blogs in the state.

Knowing what is happening on the ground, Mike is astounded that Michelle Rhee named Louisiana as a leader of education reform. he says it is all a great sham. He is puzzled that no one in the national press corps has investigated the facts about the state’s Recovery School District.

How could the press allow Governor Jindal to get away with his phony claims?

Writes Deshotels:

“There is only one problem with the Louisiana Recovery District model. It does not work! In fact when Louisiana tried to expand its own Recovery District beyond the New Orleans school system, the result can only be described as a clear failure.

“After 4 years, out of the twelve schools taken over by the state RSD and converted to charters outside of New Orleans, all of them are still rated “F”, and have declined in performance by an average of 10%. But not only have the schools declined academically, enrollment has dropped by an average of 39%. See the linked spreadsheet. So when Governor Jindal touts the success of parental choice, it must be recognized that many parents are “choosing” to pull their children out of the State sponsored choice charter schools!”

Categories Charter Schools, Louisiana, New Orleans, Rhee, Michelle

Los Angeles Community Fights to Block School Closing

By dianeravitch
January 13, 2013 //
14

Los Angeles Superintendent John Deasey plans to shut down Crenshaw High School, which has been making rapid strides with its school improvement plan.

The school community is fighting back.

Here is the exciting news: Community organizers from several cities (LA, Philly, New Orleans and others) are joining together to file a Civil Rights complaint against the US Department of Education around school closings.

If you are in LA, join parents and the community on January 14 and 15.

This email came from Alex Caputo Pearl, a teacher at Crenshaw High School

From: Caputoprl@aol.com

Some CRITICAL, NEW updates. First, we hope to see as many of you as possible (and please forward this broadly and bring more!!!) at both Monday’s, Jan 14, 4:00pm parent-led press conference in front of Crenshaw High School (5010 11th Avenue, LA, 90043) and Tuesday’s, Jan 15, 3:30pm action at the LAUSD School Board (333 S. Beaudry, parking in the lot on 4th/Boylston or on 4th Street around Bixel). Parents and organizers will be outside the Board Room on Tuesday as you arrive to describe the tactical plan (which may be shifting, depending on events). These Mon and Tues actions are critical events in support of real, progressive reform and against scorched-earth destabilization of schools that LAUSD is pushing forward, particularly in South LA. We can draw a line in the sand here — parents, students, community, and faculty/staff are doing that and need support.

KEEP READING FOR IMPORTANT NEW UPDATES

Deasy’s proposal on the agenda for this Tuesday states that he wants to “magnet convert” Crenshaw and 2 other schools (Wright Middle and CRES 20). As far as Crenshaw, it states “tentative” themes for the magnets, but does not give much more detail — including no detail on how existing student programs or staffing are proposed to be handled. The school community’s demands are below, and now include a demand to postpone any Board vote on Crenshaw until the other 3 demands (Support for Extended Learning Cultural model, No reconstitution, Money for programs) are engaged.

MORE IMPORTANT UPDATES HERE. The organizing around this is hot and potentially ground-breaking. Coming out of the panel yesterday with LA’s Labor/Community Strategy Center and Community Rights Campaign (CRC), and organizers from Chicago, Philly, and New Orleans, the CRC and Crenshaw will collaborate on joining the federal Title VI Civil Rights Act complaint against the U.S. Department of Education on the disproportionate and racist impact of unproven, damaging school restructurings on students of color. CRC and Crenshaw will likely send parents and organizers to a hearing on this complaint with the US DOE and Congressional members in Washington, DC in late January. We’ll announce this Monday and Tuesday.

LAST IMPORTANT UPDATE HERE. And, our coalition is broadening in interesting ways. Our allies at the Sierra Club — which is a part of Crenshaw’s Extended Learning Cultural model, providing students with learning experiences while organizing for environmental justice and recreational space in their community — have launched a national online petition protesting Deasy’s reconstitution and supporting the Crenshaw school community’s demands. There are already hundreds and hundreds of signatures from LA and across the country. Sign it at http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=271865.0

The Crenshaw basic flyer and 2-page fact sheet are below, for your reference, again. Please forward this email broadly, recruit people to Monday and Tuesday, and send your emails and make your calls to the LAUSD Board Members (below as part of flyer). HOPE TO SEE YOU MONDAY AND TUESDAY.

Best, and thank you, Alex Caputo-Pearl, Crenshaw High School

LAUSD Threatens Crenshaw High’s Model That Is Showing Gains
Superintendent Deasy Is Disrespecting Parents and Community By Not Consulting Them; He Is Pushing to Magnet Convert and Reconstitute Crenshaw

Take Action! This is Not a Done Deal! Support the Model That Shows Gains!

Crenshaw has a plan to reach excellence. The Extended Learning Cultural model created test score gains and other improvements in 2011-12, and set a pathway for more success.

Deasy is disrupting the model and hurting students by pushing to magnet convert and reconstitute Crenshaw. Reconstitution means forcing all teachers/staff to re-apply, with very few returning, including most or all who sponsor critical student programs. Educational research does not support reconstitution.

The Superintendent has not consulted parents, students, staff, or community about his plans – continuing a history of LAUSD disrespect for our community.

Deasy’s actions go against the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which requires parent involvement. He is putting money from the federal SIG grant and national foundations at risk. Deasy is jeopardizing the school’s positive accreditation review by bringing more instability to Crenshaw.

Crenshaw’s Extended Learning Cultural model is based on supporting all students. Deasy’s plans would likely lead to certain students being excluded and increasing drop-out rates.

The school community demands that LAUSD:
A. Postpone any vote on Crenshaw at the School Board until discussions of these demands are engaged.
B. Support and provide resources for Crenshaw’s Extended Learning Cultural model.
C. Reverse plans to reconstitute. Collaborate with Crenshaw stakeholders on any and all plans. Rather than forcing teachers/staff to re-apply, support the teacher/staff locally-developed commitment letter.
D. Provide money to build on current efforts to provide social services for students, more college counseling, Positive Behavior Support programs, and parent engagement resources.

Come to Crenshaw’s Parent-Led Press Conference on Mon, 1/14, 4:00pm, 5010 11th Avenue

Come to the LAUSD School Board on Tues, 1/15, 3:30pm, 333 S. Beaudry

ASAP Call & Email Deasy and All Board Members to Show Your Support for the School Community Demands Above
Superintendent John Deasy – 213-241-7000 – john.deasy@lausd.net
Board Member Marguerite LaMotte – 213-241-6382 – marguerite.lamotte@lausd.net
Board Member Monica Garcia – 213-241-6180 – monica.garcia@lausd.net
Board Member Tamar Galatzan – 213-241-6386 – tamar.galatzan@lausd.net
Board Member Steve Zimmer – 213-241-6387 – steve.zimmer@lausd.net
Board Member Bennett Kayser – 213-241-5555 – BoardDistrict5@lausd.net
Board Member Nury Martinez – 213-241-6388 – nury.martinez@lausd.net
Board Member Dick Vladovic – 213-241-6385 – richard.vladovic@lausd.net

More information on reverse side of this flyer. To get involved further and to RSVP for 1/14 & 1/15, call 323-907-4681.

LAUSD Threatens Crenshaw High’s Model That Is Showing Gains
Facts Every Stakeholder Should Know

Crenshaw’s Extended Learning Cultural model is based on:
· Personalized and theme-based instruction through small learning communities
· Cultural relevance
· College preparation
· Services and behavior supports for students
· A well-rounded curriculum
· An extended school day
· Learning activities outside of school such as internships and leadership experiences, that help students understand themselves and contribute to their community
· Supporting excellent teaching. Crenshaw was awarded Ford Foundation monies for professional development. The school formed partnerships with USC, the Bradley Foundation, and West Ed for ongoing teacher support.

Crenshaw’s Gains and Improvements — In 2011-12, using the Extended Learning Cultural model, Crenshaw High:
· Improved its API by 15 points and met all California API growth targets except for 1, often far exceeding targets (for example, a 92 point API gain among special education students).
· Improved its API among African-American students to levels higher than 6 of the other 7 major South LA high schools.
· Increased proficiency rates on the CAHSEE math among Limited English Proficient students by 300%.
· Increased the percentage of students who scored Proficient and Advanced on the Algebra 2 CST from 3 percent to 19 percent, an increase of over 600%.
· Increased the percentage of students moving from the Far Below Basic and Below Basic bands into the Basic band on the Geometry CST from 5% to 10%, a doubling in one year.
· Increased the percentage of students moving from the Far Below Basic and Below Basic bands into the Basic band on the World History CST by 10 percentage points, a 50% jump in one year.
· Increased by 7 percentage points the number of students in the Proficient and Advanced bands of the Chemistry CST.
· Increased the number of African-American 10th graders passing the CAHSEE English and Math sections, and increased these students’ math proficiency by 7.7 percentage points.
· Increased scores in CAHSEE Language Arts on all of the content strands except for writing strategies and writing conventions.
· Improved social services, college counseling, and parent engagement, while making plans for Positive Behavior Support and Restorative Justice programs to support students socially and academically.
· More work needs to be done for Crenshaw to reach excellence. However, the gains above are impressive 1-year improvements for a school that LAUSD has constantly destabilized (33 LAUSD administrative changes in the last 7 years) and for a school that fell in some test scores between 2009-11, largely because of a principal who was imposed on the school by LAUSD.

Reconstitution (forcing all faculty and staff to re-apply):
· Led to the majority of staff not getting accepted back at Manual Arts and Fremont. Many staff who were forced out at those schools were African-American. Many had been running important student programs, teaching Advanced Placement, and coaching sports. Most replacement teachers were not connected to the community and were not teachers of color. Some only had commitments to teaching through the time period it would take to pay off their student loans.
· Would end the Extended Learning Cultural model. The model has been built by the current staff, in collaboration with others, including prominent African-American educational researchers. Forcing staff to re-apply, and then not accepting them back, would end the Extended Learning Cultural model.
· Is not supported by educational research. Dr. Tina Trujillo from UC Berkeley writes that reconstitution “destabilizes schools organizationally . . . undermines the climate for students and teachers . . . increases racial and socioeconomic segregation . . . does not improve the quality of new hires . . . and it actually breeds more problems with turnover.”

Superintendent Deasy’s plans disrespect parents and community by not consulting them, and also break the law:
· Federal ESEA section 1116(b) states that when a District decides to restructure a school, it must provide “prompt notice to teachers and parents” and that this must be “in a language the parents can understand.” Many Crenshaw parents never received notice of Deasy’s plans. The letter that was sent out by LAUSD to some Crenshaw parents – not received by many – was not in Spanish (over 30% of Crenshaw’s student population come from homes in which Spanish is the primary language).
· Federal ESEA section 1116(b) states that when a District restructures a school, it must “provide teachers and parents with an adequate opportunity to participate in developing any plan.” This has not happened. Deasy says his office is writing a plan.
· Any change to the SIG grant plan or spending – Deasy’s plan would change both — must go through the Crenshaw School Site Council and the California Department of Education in Sacramento. Deasy’s plan has not been discussed with either. The SIG plan was written collaboratively at the Crenshaw school site – the grant was given to very few schools across the State of California.

Deasy’s plans put Crenshaw’s national foundation monies and WASC’s positive accreditation review at risk:
· The Ford Foundation wrote in November 2012 that the Extended Learning Cultural model “holds promise as an approach to deepen and expand the opportunities available to students.” Over 2011-12, Ford invested $225,000 in Crenshaw – Crenshaw was one of very few schools picked nationally for this grant. Ford was poised to invest more money into Crenshaw – and could have helped leverage more funding from other foundations — but Ford suspended those discussions on additional monies when Deasy announced his plans to undermine the Extended Learning Cultural model.
· In March 2012, WASC wrote that “the entire school is now working together as a team.” The WASC Committee recommended the school be given a chance to further stabilize. The Committee also recommended that Dr. Sylvia Rousseau from USC “continue as a coach or counselor for the next site principal.” LAUSD has not included Dr. Rousseau in Crenshaw High for months now. And, Deasy’s plan threatens to dramatically de-stabilize the school – against WASC’s recommendations.

The Crenshaw school community is not against magnet schools, but any new magnets must include all students and be created collaboratively:
· When Westchester was converted to magnets, many struggling students left the school or were pushed out. Magnet conversion is being used at other schools in LAUSD right now to separate students along academic performance lines, which is unjust and will raise drop-out rates.
· Crenshaw, with new magnets or not, must remain a school for the entire community – providing all necessary supports for all students.

Categories California, Closing schools, Education Reform, Los Angeles, Race to the Top, Support for public schools

Save Lives: Gun Control Now

By dianeravitch
January 13, 2013 //
32

A great editorial in the San Jose Mercury News:

What will it take? Sandy Hook massacre elicits strong opinions on changing gun laws

America faces a defining moment.

Twenty innocent children slaughtered. Six brave educators killed trying to save them. The immediate outcry has been unprecedented. But will anything change? Will America finally cast aside the unhinged ideas of the National Rifle Association and begin to place utterly obvious regulations on guns that can, over time, make it harder for madmen like Adam Lanza to wreak mayhem? And can prevent at least some of the 30,000 deaths every year that result from this nation’s gun-mad culture?

Our laws aren’t just do’s and don’ts to keep order. They define our values. If we allow this moment to pass without insisting on common-sense restrictions on weapons designed for war, we will be saying that what happened in Newtown is an acceptable price to pay for the Second Amendment.

Unequivocally, it is not.

President Barack Obama has seized the moment. Vice President Joe Biden is leading a task force that will recommend policy changes in January. The new Congress may need time to consider some of them — in many ways, this serious discussion is just beginning — but there are three things that must be done right away:

Pass a comprehensive, permanent assault weapons ban. The ban authored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein that expired in 2004 was ineffective, but that’s because it was riddled with exemptions needed to win passage, as The New York Times detailed last week. Many experts believe California’s ban, perhaps the strictest in the nation, could be a model. Lanza’s weapon, legally purchased by his mother in Connecticut, is not legal here.

Restrict ammunition purchases — require licenses and track sales, for example — and ban high-capacity magazines outright. Newtown, Tucson, Aurora and Oak Creek make it clear that high-capacity magazines have no place in civilian life. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat endorsed by the NRA, said last week: “I never had more than three rounds in my gun. I don’t know any people who go hunting with assault rifles with 30 rounds in their guns.”

Close the gun show loophole. Forty percent of guns are bought at gun shows, where buyers don’t need background checks. States like California have closed the loophole within their borders, but it’s easy to cross state lines to shop.

These are the simple matters. Congress will need time for the more complex ones — particularly improving access to mental health care. And the country needs to grapple with the impact of violence in popular culture.

The Newtown tragedy hit us hard because of the visceral horror of classrooms full of first-graders systematically mowed down. But the daily drumbeat of gun violence is hardly less horrifying: On Wednesday, a 49-year-old woman was killed by a stray bullet in Oakland, the city’s 124th homicide this year. Twenty-six of San Jose’s 45 homicides in 2012 have been from gunfire.

Nothing will change unless law-abiding supporters of gun rights continue to raise their voices, as they have for the past week. That is the only hope of neutralizing a too-powerful gun lobby whose answer to this tragedy is more guns, everywhere.

Larry Alan Burns is the gun-owning, Fox News-watching judge who in November sentenced Jared Loughner — the man who killed six people while trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — to life in prison without parole. Last week, he wrote an op-ed with this plea to the nation: “Ban the manufacture, importation, sale, transfer and possession of both assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Don’t let people who already have them keep them. Don’t let ones that have already been manufactured stay on the market. I don’t care whether it’s called gun control or a gun ban. I’m for it.”

The coming weeks will tell us a lot about our nation. Today, we have 5 percent of the world’s population and 50 percent of its guns. That is insane.

It must change.

Categories Connecticut

Time to Divest?

By dianeravitch
January 13, 2013 //
22

A reader sent along a story that the California teachers’ pension fund, the second largest in the nation, has decided to divest from corporations that manufactures weapons.

That’s a good start. Now how about divesting in Walmart, which is the biggest retail outlet for assault weapons like the one used in the Newtown massacre? Another reason to divest in Walmart is that the Walton family is one of the biggest sponsors of vouchers and charters–all non-union–of course. Why should teachers invest in corporations that want to cut their pay, eliminate their job security, tie their profession to unreliable test scores, and break their union (if they have one)?

Teachers often act powerless but in fact their pension funds wield a lot of power in the marketplace. Others use their economic power to attack public education. Why shouldn’t teachers and administrators use their economic power to defend this citadel of democracy?

The reader asked the following question:

Why can’t we ask our retirement funds to divest from at least those companies that directly profit from the corporate education reform movement, like testing companies, education management companies, and the for profit charter companies?
There is another way to get at the same effect is to move districts and states toward open source textbooks and testing, that are developed by educators collaborating and offered to schools at minimal cost.  The state of California passed a law setting up a project to do this at the college level for the most commonly used course textbooks.  I can’t imagine collaboratively developed tests would be as expensive as the corporate ones, and politicians would have a hard time arguing against the cost savings as well.  
 
We need to stop giving money to companies that are slowly strangling our public schools.
Categories Education Reform

Breaking News: Astonishing Exchange about PBS on Rhee

By dianeravitch
January 13, 2013 //
55

This is a remarkable exchange of correspondence about the PBS program “The Education of Michelle Rhee.”

Many readers on this blog thought the documentary was too favorable towards Rhee, recycling a lot of old footage in which she is shown as a courageous upstart who did it all “for the kids.” They thought it provided far too rosy a portrait of a woman who provided lessons in how NOT to be a leader, not only because she used pressure tactics to demand higher scores, but because she repeatedly showed herself to be heartless, callous and indifferent to other human beings.

Others, however, thought it was unfair to Rhee.

Chancellor Kaya Henderson wrote a statement to the PBS ombudsman to complain about the program’s portrayal of the (alleged) cheating scandal. She believes that the investigation by the D.C. Inspector General cleared the district of any suspicion.

Someone who describes herself as a DC parent also wrote to the PBS ombudsman to complain that the program harped on a non-existent cheating scandal.

As you will see, both the statement and the letter attack the credibility of former principal Adell Cothorne, who told John Merrow that she witnessed staff changing test sheets.

PBS stands by the documentary. The exchange is well worth reading.

Categories Michelle Rhee
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »