Archives for the month of: May, 2015
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Message to the Obama Administration and the Public

By dianeravitch
May 11, 2015 //
42

A letter from a teacher:

Dear Diane,

Is there ANY way to get this website KnowYourCharter and information to the Obama admin and policy makers (maybe more important, the general public) before public ed is completely de-funded and destroyed?

Is there money that can be raised to launch a major ad campaign that can inform the public of what is happening? 60 Minutes maybe? Is anyone out there who is working on this?

The average person is not aware of how out of control things have become. Anyone I talk to who isn’t in education is only vaguely aware of charter schools and not at all aware of the billions that have been made by profiteers and the billions of taxpayer dollars that have been wasted on this insanity. This includes many public school parents.

The “bad school/bad teacher” propaganda has been heard loud and clear. If you repeat a lie loud enough, long enough and often enough, the people will believe it.That’s a paraphrase from Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda guy. Fraud and waste surely have to be looked into before charter schools are so blindly supported by this administration.

The news that congress plans to increase charter school funding was like a kick in the gut. Charters are supported even by those politicians who have no financial interests. I just don’t get that. This blog is a godsend, and we support and hold each other up, but we are preaching to the choir. We need to reach a much larger audience. The children of America are being screwed.

Just another frustrated Kindergarten teacher California

Categories Charter Schools

Stephen Singer: Why I Support the Senate ESEA Bill

By dianeravitch
May 11, 2015 //
32

Stephen Singer, teacher and BAT leader, here endorses the bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (aka NCLB), as written by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee.

He writes:

“No more federal intervention.

“No more reducing schools to a number.

“That’s the promise of the Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA).

“Sure, it’s not perfect. But this Senate proposed rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) could do a lot of good – even if it includes some bad.

“Imagine it.

“States would be in control of their own public schools. The U.S. Department of Education and its appointed Secretary would lose much of their power to impose unfunded federal mandates.

“For example, the federal government could no longer force states to tie teacher evaluations to student test scores. It could no longer force states to adopt Common Core or Common Core look-a-like standards. It could no longer label high poverty schools “Failing” and then demand they be closed.

“That’s not nothing….

“We have a divided Congress. We have a President who never met a corporate school reform scheme he didn’t like.

“But we also have a citizenry who is fed up with all the bull….. People are demanding change.

“We have a real opportunity. If we can seal the deal, a generation of children will be the better for it. If not, the current calamitous law will stay in place for at least 7 more years.

“That’s just unacceptable.

“The biggest flaw in this proposed act is that it keeps annual testing in place. If approved in its current form, public schools would still have to give standardized tests to children in grades 3-8 and once in high school.

“If you’re like me, you just threw up in your mouth a little bit.

“However, supporting ECAA doesn’t have to mean supporting testing. There is an amendment proposed by Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) that would replace annual testing with assessments only once at the elementary, middle and high school levels.

“Yes. It’s not enough. We really should have zero standardized tests in our schools. If we have to accept Grade Span Testing – as Tester’s proposal is called – it should be done by a random sample. Don’t test all kids. Just test some small group and extrapolate their scores to the whole.

“But Tester’s amendment is not nothing.

“Even if it weren’t approved – even if all schools are mandated to continue annual testing as is – the ECAA requires no minimum length for those tests.
How many questions do we need to have on our exams? How many sections? Right now, most states have three sections in both Reading and Math of around 30-40 questions each.

“If I’m reading this correctly, it’s conceivable that states that disagree with standardized testing could give assessments of only one section with only one question.

“Talk about opting out!

“That’s not nothing.

“Moreover, the proposed law does not require states to continue evaluating teachers based on student test scores. States are free to stop using the same junk science evaluations currently championed by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan or not. It’s totally up to the states.

“That’s not nothing.”

Singer contrasts the Senate bill to the House bill, which turns federal aid into vouchers (“portability”) and finds the Senate bill superior.

It is amazing that Arne Duncan’s lasting legacy will be the destruction of support for the federal role in education among liberals and conservatives alike.

Categories Duncan, Arne, NCLB (No Child Left Behind)

Our Blog Poet on Pearson and Testing, with Apologies to Robert Frost

By dianeravitch
May 11, 2015 //
19

Our blog poet writes a poem for Pearson:

Pearson cares deeply…

about what’s in their pocketses

“Stopping by schools on a doughy evening’ (with apologies to Robert Frost)

Whose schools these are I think I know
Their houses are in the village though
They will not see the Pearson test
And see their schools farmed out for dough

The classroom teacher thinks I jest
Reform without an expert guest
Between the test and Common Core
And iPads, VAMs and all the rest

She spots her pink slip on the door
And curses her value-added score
The only other sounds the sweep
Of janitor broom on hallway floor

The pockets are lovely, dark and deep
And I have promi$e$ to keep
And million$ to make before I sleep
And million$ to make before I sleep

Categories For-Profit, Pearson, Standardized Testing

Massachusetts Teachers Endorse Right to Opt out

By dianeravitch
May 10, 2015 //
52

At its annual meeting, the Massachusetts Teachers Association endorsed the right of parents to opt their child out of state testing.

“Delegates to the 2015 MTA Annual Meeting have voted to support the right of parents to opt their children out of high-stakes standardized testing.

“The Annual Meeting, which drew more than 1,100 delegates from all over Massachusetts to the Hynes Convention Center in Boston on May 8 and May 9, also featured wide-ranging discussion of education issues, including the state takeover of the Holyoke Public Schools. The delegates heard speeches by award recipients and a keynote address by Seattle educator and social activist Jesse Hagopian.

“On Friday, the delegates passed a new business item that requires MTA President Barbara Madeloni and Vice President Janet Anderson to send a letter to Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester and state legislators stating the following MTA positions:

“That parents in Massachusetts deserve the choice to opt their public school students out of high-stakes standardized assessments.

“That districts should be required to provide all parents with yearly written information explaining their right to opt students out of assessments.

“That students who opt out should not be included in data used by state or federal entities in “grading” schools.
That no parent or student should be penalized because of a parental decision to opt out.

“That no educator should be disciplined for discussing with students, parents or community members the options for opting students out of high-stakes tests.

“Madeloni said the opt-out vote by the delegates representing more than 110,000 educators in Massachusetts — including preK-12 educators, educators in the public higher education system and retired educators — is indicative of the growing consensus around the country that standardized high-stakes testing is out of control.

“Supporting the right to opt out is one of the strongest statements we can make as educators against standardized testing,” Madeloni said.

“We need to support the parents and students who decide to do this. The MTA will vigorously defend any educator who is disciplined for supporting the right of parents and students to opt out. The more people step up and speak out, the clearer will be the message to our legislators that the people of Massachusetts want to put a stop to the madness of standardized testing,” she said.

“Standardized testing is distorting the goals of public education and choking the creativity and joy that should be at the center of teaching and learning,” Madeloni added.”

Categories Massachusetts, Opt Out, Standardized Testing, Unions

Is the Governor of Texas Crazy or Pandering?

By dianeravitch
May 10, 2015 //
42

Buckle your seat belts, it’s gonna be a rough ride.

 

NPR reports that Governor Gregg Abbott has asked the Texas National Guard to monitor the activities of the U.S. military in Texas because there are a number of wing nuts who believe that President Obama plans to invade and take control of Texas.

 

Don’t be fooled! The training exercises by Green Berets, Special Forces, and Navy Seals is only the beginning of the long-planned invasion, they say.

 

“You see, there are these Wal-Marts in West Texas that supposedly closed for six months for “renovation.” That’s what they want you to believe. The truth is these Wal-Marts are going to be military guerrilla-warfare staging areas and FEMA processing camps for political prisoners. The prisoners are going to be transported by train cars that have already been equipped with shackles.

 

“Don’t take my word for it. That comes directly from a Texas Ranger, who seems pretty plugged in, if you ask me. You and I both know President Obama has been waiting a long time for this, and now it’s happening. It’s a classic false flag operation. Don’t pay any attention the mainstream media; all they’re going to do is lie and attack everyone who’s trying to tell you the truth.

 

“Did I mention the ISIS terrorists? They’ve come across the border and are going to hit soft targets all across the Southwest. They’ve set up camp a few miles outside of El Paso.

 

“That includes a Mexican army officer and Mexican federal police inspector. Not sure what they’re doing there, but probably nothing good. That’s why the Special Forces guys are here, get it? To wipe out ISIS and impose martial law. So now you know, whaddya say we get back to the party and grab another beer?

 

“It’s true that the paranoid world-view of right-wing militia types has remarkable stamina. But that’s not news.
What is news is that there seem to be enough of them in Texas to influence the governor of the state to react — some might use the word pander — to them.”

 

You can’t make this stuff up.

Categories Texas

The KIPP Propaganda Machine, Refuted by Bruce Baker and Jersey Jazzman

By dianeravitch
May 10, 2015 //
58

Some while ago, a reporter contacted me and asked if I would comment on the stellar, incredible, miraculous results achieved by KIPP in Newark. I referred her to Bruce Baker and Jersey Jazxman, who have studied charter schools in Néw Jersey. I sensed that she wanted to write a positive story and nothing I said would cause her to stop and question her presumptions

  • ;

    • It turned out that nothing said by BB or JJ would dissuade her from finding a miracle at KIPP.

    Read Jersey Jazzman here: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-kipp-propaganda-machine-and-its.html

    Read Bruce Baker here: https://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/2015/05/09/the-willful-ignorance-of-the-nj-star-ledger/

    Categories KIPP Charter Schools, New Jersey

    Bald-Headed Pearson “Executive” Defends Validity of Tests: LINK ADDED

    By dianeravitch
    May 10, 2015 //
    5

    Have you heard complaints about the validity of Pearson tests? Have you heard complaints that test questions may have more one correct answer?

    If so, listen to the other side as “The Bald Piano Guy” Defends Pearson.

    (Joke. Laugh. Humor conquers all.)

    Categories Humor, Pearson, Standardized Testing

    Paul Thomas: National Charter Scam Week

    By dianeravitch
    May 10, 2015 //
    3

    Paul Thomas of South Carolina calls out the charter industry for its spiraling frauds, hoaxes, profits, and resegregation.

    At the end of his post, he includes a list of readings:

    “It’s Charter Scam Week again—time for the annual corporate Charter School Week P.R. campaign. Time to point out how that charter advocacy has revealed itself in the following ways:

    “Charter advocacy cannot be about improving student achievement since charter schools consistently have a range of outcomes similar to public schools.

    “Charter advocacy cannot be concerned about resegregation of schools by race and class since charter schools are significantly segregated.

    “Charter advocacy is a thinly veiled attempt to introduce school choice as “parental choice” despite the U.S. public mostly being against channelling public funds into privately run schools.

    “Charter advocacy is tolerating at best and perpetuating at worst schools for “other people’s children”—a system that subjects minority and high-poverty children to limited learning experiences, extensive test-prep, and authoritarian/abusive disciplinary policies.

    “Charter advocacy chooses to ignore that charters eject some the most challenging students, ELL and special needs students.

    “Charter advocacy also ignores that nothing about “charterness” distinguishes charter from public schools.

    “Charter advocacy has committed to the (dishonest) “miracle” approach to demonizing public schools, and abandoned the original ideal of charter schools as pockets of experimentation (means and not ends) for the improvement of the public school system.

    “The problem for charter advocacy is that the evidence is overwhelmingly counter to nearly every claim in favor of charter schools.”

    – See more at: http://www.progressive.org/news/2015/05/188123/charter-scam-week-2015#.dpuf

    Categories Charter Schools, For-Profit, Scandals Fraud and Hoaxes

    Robert Mann: Louisiana Business Leaders Hope to Destroy Unions

    By dianeravitch
    May 10, 2015 //
    20

    Robert Mann, professor of journalism at Louisiana State University, describes the effort by Louisiana business leaders and sympathetic legislators to drive “a fatal spear to the heart of the giant,” meaning the teachers’ union.

    “Public school teachers, firefighters, state troopers and other law enforcement officials can have their dues deducted from their paychecks and remitted to their respective unions. House Bill 418, sponsored by Rep. Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, would outlaw that practice. The bill is among the highest priorities in the current legislative session for the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI). The House Labor Committee approved the legislation last week in a 9-6 vote.”

    The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry is hoping to pass legislation cutting off automatic deductions for union dues, known euphemistically as “paycheck protection.” Ostensibly, the goal is to save money. But Mann obtained a secret video where the business leaders revealed their real goal, which was to starve the union of funds to cripple it.

    Mann saw the bigger picture after watching the video:

    “Last month, when I first saw that this bill was among LABI’s top priorities for the 2015 session, I wondered how a supposedly minor issue could be so important to the state’s top business organization. Now, thanks to [industrialist Lane] Grigsby’s candid comments behind closed doors, we know. It’s about killing the teachers unions.”

    Categories Louisiana, Unions

    How to Start a Movement

    By dianeravitch
    May 10, 2015 //
    19

    Learn here in only three minutes how to start a movement.

     

    I posted this a few years ago, but it stayed with me as I watched what is happening in our society.

     

    A few brave people spoke up and said what was in their hearts.

     

    They didn’t like the corporate takeover of public education. They didn’t like the overemphasis on testing and the punishments that following testing. They didn’t like the nutty ideas that teachers are solely responsible for students’  test scores. They didn’t like the powerful top-down dictation coming from the federal government, nor the policy capture of government by hedge fund managers and billionaire philanthropists. They didn’t like the assault on public education as a keystone of our democracy.

     

    One person alone is a “lone nut.” The key figures are the followers, who risk ridicule by joining in, but who together create a movement.

     

    Today we have a movement. A movement of parents, educators, and concerned others who want to take education back from entrepreneurs; who want to build respect for teaching and learning; who admire teachers; who understand that poverty is the biggest obstacle in the lives of children who get low test scores; and who also understand that tests are a measure, not the goal of education. The goal of public education is to contribute to the development of well-educated citizens with humane values, citizens who are prepared to take charge of their own lives, to help their neighbors, to advance knowledge and science, and to improve our society. Turning standardized testing into a fetish does not advance us towards that goal.

     

     

    Categories Privatization, Testing
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