Archives for the year of: 2014
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Ed Berger: Why Do Some Parents Choose Partial Schools Over District Schools?

By dianeravitch
October 4, 2014 //
89

Ed Berger tries to figure out why some parents give up on their district schools, whose teachers are fully certified, to attend partial schools, where ill-trained teachers come and go at a high rate.

“Specific information from teachers about the strengths and the needs of the educational programs are too often left out of the messages given to the community. When a bond issue fails, or enrollment drops, there is great concern that the community does not support its schools. Yes, in difficult economic times folks are reluctant to vote for new bonds. Voters need to know that student needs will be met by their vote. Districts need to counter the claims of partial schools and be very clear about what they offer.

“The reality is that the public will not support district schools that fail to communicate the education benefits they provide, and the needs teachers identify. Partial (alternative) schools succeed where the district schools do not explain the wealth of advantages they deliver for every child.

“Voters will support necessary services for children when they understand how this extra burden of taxation helps kids. Not kids five years from now, but kids in school now.”

And he writes:

“When a partial school can suck students away from a district school, something is very wrong. District schools have elected school boards, certified teachers and administrators, the ability to raise capital dollars through bonds for building and maintenance (and not have to use instructional dollars to create a school space), and comprehensive curricula. It is almost certain that teachers are not being listened to. It is an indicator that the immediate needs of children are only assumed to be known by those interfacing with the community.

“District schools must provide information necessary for parents to decide which school best provides all of the options their child must have. If parents take their children out of district schools it is certain that they do not know the differences between a district school and a partial school, or even what comprehensive curriculum, teacher certification, and teacher expertise and experience mean for students. District schools must keep this information before the public.

“Increasing class size, eliminating experienced and proven teachers and counselors, deleting services, closing libraries, killing art programs, using TFA and other cheap, unskilled class-sitters, and assuming that fear (high stakes testing and its inherent threats) motivates human beings, destroy public support for district schools.”

District schools belong to the community. Choice policies allow voucher schools and charter schools to sell their wares with promises. District schools must clearly explain to parents why it matters to have experienced, well-prepared teachers and a full curriculum, why it matters to have the arts and a band and a library with a trained librarian. Community support must be built and rebuilt, daily. Active parents must be relied upon to reach out to other parents. And the message must be clear: this is our school.

Categories Education Reform

Robert Skeels on the L.A. Times’ Mad Crush on John Deasy

By dianeravitch
October 3, 2014 //
27

Ever since it became clear that Los Angeles Superintendent John Deasy was in a whole lot of trouble and might be held accountable for his actions, the Los Angeles Times has run an editorial daily in support of him. So what if he made mistakes, the Times’ editorialists say, he is indispensable. He has a sense of urgency! He can’t wait! So what if he gave the appearance of colluding with Apple and Pearson to give them a contract for iPads and software that would cost the district $1.3 billion? So what if he raided the bond fund intended for school construction and repairs to buy those IPads? So what if he laid off arts teachers and librarians? How dare the elected school board even think of telling him what to do! He is the superintendent! Hands off, you elected troublemakers!

Robert Skeels here explains why the Los Angeles Times is gaga for Deasy. Tip: It is not about the kids.

Categories Los Angeles

My Article in The Nation about the Success of Success Academy

By dianeravitch
October 3, 2014 //
21

In case you don’t have enough to read, here is my article in the current issue of The Nation about the success of Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy charter chain.

Categories Harlem Success Academy

Fighting Charter School Fraud in Pennsylvania

By dianeravitch
October 3, 2014 //
3

Here is the latest from Donald Cohen of “In the Public Interest,” which exposes privatization scams.

Donald Cohen writes:

“A $300,000 plane. $861,000 to pay off personal debts and keep open a struggling restaurant. A down payment on a house and an office flush with flat-screen televisions, executive bathrooms and granite counter tops. This isn’t a list of expenditures from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, this represents a small slice of the more than $30 million of taxpayer funds that have been wasted through fraud and abuse in Pennsylvania’s charter schools since they first opened in 1997.

“A new report from the Center for Popular Democracy, Integrity in Education, and Action United is blowing the lid off the lack of public oversight at Pennsylvania’s 186 charter schools.

“Inadequate audit techniques, insufficient oversight staff, and a lack of basic transparency have created a charter system that is ripe for abuse in the Keystone state. But there is hope. The report provides a detailed roadmap for the state to create an effective oversight structure and provide meaningful protections that can curtail endemic fraud and waste.

“The report calls for an immediate moratorium on new charters until the inadequate oversight system can be replaced with rigorous and transparent oversight. That’s the right first step.

“According to the authors, charter school enrollment in the state has doubled three times since 2000 and Pennsylvania’s students, their families, and taxpayers cannot afford to lose another $30 million. Pennsylvania’s students and taxpayers deserve better.

Sincerely,

Donald Cohen
Executive Director
In the Public Interest

Thank you!

From the In The Public Interest Team

Categories Charter Schools, Pennsylvania, Personal

Gates-Funded Poll Shows Sinking Support for Common Core among Teachers

By dianeravitch
October 3, 2014 //
25

The Gates-funded poll called “Primary Sources” shows that teachers are souring on the Common Core. The report is co-sponsored annually by Gates and publisher Scholastic.

Emmanuel Felton of the HECHINGER Report writes:

“Fewer teachers are enthusiastic about Common Core implementation and fewer think the new standards will help their students, according to a survey sponsored by education publisher Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“The percentage of teachers who are enthusiastic about Common Core – a set of academic guidelines in math and English that more than 40 states have adopted – is down from 73 percent last year to 68 this year, according to a poll of 1,600 teachers across the country. And while more teachers continue to believe that the standards will help not hurt their students – 48 percent compared to 17 percent – the percentage of teachers in the survey who think the Common Core standards will be good for most of their students is down sharply from 57 percent in last year’s poll. The percentage of teachers who think it will hurt has more than doubled from 8 percent to 17 percent. And the percentage of teachers who think the standards won’t make much of a difference remained the same at 35 percent.”

The Gates-Scholastic poll is at odds with other polls. It shows support among a large majority of teachers, which is declining. Others show opposition among a majority of teachers.

The Ednext poll shows that a majority of teachers in the nation now oppose the Common Core. The Ednext poll shows a one-year drop in support among teachers from 76% to 46%.

A recent poll in Tennessee conducted by Vanderbilt University found that 59% of teachers in the state want to abandon Common Core. “With the future of Common Core under fire in Tennessee, a new report from the Tennessee Consortium on Research, Evaluation and Development could provide more ammunition to those who want to roll back the standards.

“The new 2014 survey, undertaken by a group led by Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development and released Wednesday, found that just 39 percent of respondents believe that teaching to the standards will improve student learning — compared with 60 percent who said the same last year.

“It also found 56 percent of the 27,000 Tennessee teachers who responded to the survey want to abandon the standards, while 13 percent would prefer to delay their implementation. Only 31 percent want to proceed. The 2013 survey did not ask questions in this area.”

Categories Common Core, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Teachers

Eva Seeks New Charters in Successful Districts, Where the Neediest Kids Are Not

By dianeravitch
October 3, 2014 //
43

So Eva Moskowitz proved yet again that charter schools are not public schools, as she closed her schools and directed students, staff, and parents to attend a political rally intended to enlarge her empire. Could public schools so that? Of course not.

Better yet, she claims she wants to “save” children “trapped in failing schools” but her charter applications seek to open new schools in the city’s most successful neighborhoods, in District 2 (the affluent Upper East Side of Manhattan, the city’s wealthiest and whitest school district); in Park Slope in Brooklyn, where townhouses sell for millions of dollars, and in other gentrifying districts where there are no children trapped in “failing schools.” Classic bait and switch. Did she learn this game from her hedge fund backers?

A comment from a reader:

“Diane, I think you should try to publicize the fact that the SUNY Charter Institute is about to approve 14 new Success Academy schools, and many (arguably most!) of them are designed to compete with reasonably strong community schools instead of creating new strong schools where the community school is failing. We just saw a rally that purported to be about the 143,000 students in failing NYC public schools. The SUNY Charter Institute has a chance to address it by approving charters that give lottery priority to the low-income students zoned for those failing public schools. Let’s make sure that the public and politicians are well-aware that SUNY could be approving charter schools that make those students a priority, instead of charter schools that locate in neighborhoods where those 143,000 students don’t live or are shut out in favor of affluent students. If SUNY is showing favoritism to the well-connected charter school that refuses to give any of those 143,000 students lottery priority to attend their schools, then the public needs to know that and ask why. It would show that SUNY Charter Institute doesn’t care about those kids, except as props for rallies.”

Categories Charter Schools

Perdido Street Predicts that Cuomo Will Start “Witch Hunt” for Teachers After Election

By dianeravitch
October 3, 2014 //
34

Perdido Street predicts that Governor Andrew Cuomo will start a witch hunt for “failing” teachers as soon as he is re-elected.

 

Cuomo is fully in line with the failing national “reform” movement that relies on test scores to grade teachers. Despite a solid base of research that shows that this method is inaccurate and unstable, Cuomo will force through a statewide rating system based on test scores. The problem is that Cuomo has no knowledge of research; he never heard of the American Statistical Association statement on value-added methods, nor of the work of Edward Haertel at Stanford, or Jesse Rothstein at Berkeley, or any of the many others who have closely studied VAM and found it deeply flawed. He has, however, heard from Arne Duncan and the Wall Street hedge fund managers who generously support his campaign. They want experienced teachers gone and replaced by Teach for America or Educators 4 Excellence, or other bright young things who will not stay long enough to want a pension.

 

Perdido Street writes:

 

“But Cuomo’s framing this system just as the deformers are framing the system – test scores are the only valid measure and if many students are failing the new Common Core tests (despite the tests being rigged by NYSED and the Board of Regents to have just that outcome), then the teachers of those students must be failing as well.Beware the second term, folks – as the commenter at the Buffalo News story notes, this is a teacher witch hunt that we have coming and Cuomo’s going to be the head hunter.

 

‘If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I have written over and over again that APPR was always devised to fire as many teachers as possible.

 

“It wasn’t a mistake that they rolled APPR out at the same time they rolled out the new Common Core tests that they rigged for 70% failure rates.

 

“The one thing the deformers didn’t count on was a revolt in the suburbs over the Common Core tests and the Common Core Standards themselves.

 

“After a year of furor over the CCSS, they had to de-link the Common Core test scores from APPR for teachers of 3rd-8th grade students.

 

“But make no mistake, the link is coming back and it will turn into a bludgeon they will use on you.”

Categories Common Core, New York, Testing

Lamar Alexander, Wherefore Art Thou?

By dianeravitch
October 3, 2014 //
19

I worked for Lamar Alexander when he was Secretary of Education in the first Bush administration. There were so many things I liked about him. He is smart and funny. He plays the piano. He is my kind of conservative: he didn’t think he should shove his ideas down other people’s throats. As Secretary, he knew he had to obey the law and not intrude on the right of states and localities to make decisions. He had a gut sense that other people had good ideas.

I have a copy of Lamar’s Little Plaid Book, where he spells out his principles but I didn’t read it closely. So I didn’t know that Entry # 84 said this: “Read anything Diane Ravitch writes about education.”

Sadly, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander has forgotten #84. He is pushing vouchers in Tennessee, which will decimate the public schools in communities across the state.

This is not a conservative idea. It is a radical idea that will destabilize communities. Conservatives don’t destroy traditional institutions. They protect them.

Vouchers will be used to send children to little backwoods church schools with uncertified teachers. Instead of modern science, they will learn the science taught in the Bible. They won’t be prepared for college or life today. That’s what happened in Louisiana. Kids are getting a worse education.

Lamar! Don’t forget #84. You are too smart to fall for nonsense. Stand up for better education for all.

Your friend,

Diane

Categories Ravitch, Diane, Republicans

Carol Burris: A New Way to Honor Successful Schools

By dianeravitch
October 3, 2014 //
4

Carol Burris, an experienced high school principal, knows that there are many dimensions to school success. Here she writes about a new program to recognize success without relying exclusively on test scores.

Does your school qualify?

Burris writes:

Dear Colleagues,

The National Education Policy Center (NEPC) has started an exciting new high school recognition program called Schools of Opportunity. http://opportunitygap.org/

Unlike previous “top 100” lists, Schools of Opportunity will recognize schools for doing the right things by their students in order to close opportunity gaps. It allows nominators (principals, teachers or parents) to show how their high school is outstanding by choosing 6 of 11 research based principles and explaining how their school made progress.

The first round requires short responses where the applicant makes his or her case.

The second round asks the school to provide the data it chooses to submit to make its case.

Using a rubric, Silver and Gold Schools will be recognized. There will be follow-up phone or Skype interviews.

Finally a few truly outstanding schools will be visited for special recognition.

We will not be “ranking” Gold or Silver Schools, but they will be recognized with much publicity.

The Answersheet of the Washington Post will be covering and publishing the lists just as Jay Matthews’ does with his challenge index list.

We are piloting this in New York and Colorado this year, and next year going national. That means that there will be a New York Schools of Opportunity list and one for Colorado this spring.

In order to be eligible, you must have at least 10% of your students receiving free or reduced price lunch, and the % of students with IEPs must be no more than 2% below the average for your district. (For most of you, you are the sole high school in your district so that is of no concern). I am one of the co-directors of the program (I am an NEPC Fellow) and because of that, South Side will not be eligible.

We need to change the conversation regarding what school quality is about. This is how we hope to make that happen.

Press releases are going out. You can find the Answersheet’s announcement here http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/02/schools-of-opportunity-a-new-project-to-recognize-schools-that-give-all-students-a-chance-to-succeed/.

The link to apply is above as well as in the WAPO announcement. If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 516 255 8820. Thanks! Carol

Categories Education Reform

Paul Horton: Strong Communities, Strong Schools

By dianeravitch
October 3, 2014 //
3

In this post, Paul Horton reviews an important book, and its implications for public schools today.

He writes:

“An important new study, The Long Shadow: Family Background, Disadvantaged Urban Youth, and the Transition to Adulthood by Karl Alexander, Doris Entwisle, and Linda Olson, casts doubt on the current policy push to starve neighborhood public schools and fund charter schools that are not connected to supportive communities.

“The 2014 Russell Sage Foundation study emphasizes that it does take a village to raise kids, and to the extent that schools are not a part of a supportive web of extended families, mentorship opportunities, institutions that provide constructive activities, health care, child support, and access to entry level and skilled jobs through community networking, they can not deliver success to disadvantaged urban youth.”

Horton adds:

“Although the authors of The Long Shadow do not come down on one side of the public vs. charter school debate, they do emphasize that building stronger communities and neighborhoods is the key to building schools that can leverage resources to strengthen schools to help construct more positive job pathways for underserved black urban youth.

“At a time when many charters are encouraging the segregation of students living in “hyperpoverty” neighborhoods schools need:

to desegregate beyond the selective magnet model

to develop quality preschools

to create smaller class sizes

to create high quality, engaging summer school and after school programs

to hire highly qualified, well prepared, well-supported, and committed teachers

to develop high standards and strong curricula

to support meaningful integration across SES levels

to create classroom environments that respect children’s background and builds from their strengths

to build an it-takes-a-village mindset that addresses children’s and their parents’ needs.”

Categories Charter Schools, Closing schools, Supporting public schools
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