Over the past several years, I have been contacted several times by current and former Success Academy teachers. I met with each of them. They wanted to tell me what really goes on, and their stories sounded alike. They say the atmosphere for teachers is terrible. Teacher turnover is high. They say the children are subjected to pressures that make some of them crack. They say that children pee in their pants while prepping for the tests and taking the tests. They say the schools keep a supply of clean clothes for these incidents. They say that test prep starts in November and doesn’t let up until the tests are ended. They say that students who can’t keep up are subtly pushed out, for example, calling in their parent day after day until the parent gives up and withdraws the student and returns him/her to public school. Each of them has examples of what most would consider child abuse, all in the name of higher test scores.
Recently I heard something new. I was contacted by someone who works in the Success Academy central office. I won’t give any details, because I agreed to protect his/her identity. I will call this person Ariel, a non-gendered name. Ariel says that teachers cheat. Ariel says that each school has a list of teachers, ranked by their students’ test scores, which is extremely demoralizing. Ariel says the central office is chaotic. No one knows who is responsible for what. Ariel can’t imagine how the chain can expand, as it plans to, because it is not really competent to run the schools it has. Ariel says as the teachers do, that kids who have low scores are quietly pushed out.
Recently, a reader named Benton added to the stock of anecdotes:
Here is a story I have always thought of posting here, but I was too embarrassed. As a former teacher at the DOE, I applied for, and got, a position at the infamous Harlem Success Academy, in the the summer of 2008. I had to start immediately, in August, and three weeks of incoherent PD followed, consisting of 11 hour days. There were a lot of speeches about Eva and her disappointment in the “unattractive photos” of her by critics, “Eva doesn’t believe in unions,” and other Eva-centric PD sessions. The days were so long, it felt like they were using cult-indoctrination tactics. My union-activist father would cringe if he saw me in such a position. One day, Jennie Sedlis was talking about how important the upcoming Presidential election would be for charters. I asked what would happen if Barack Obama were nominated. Jennie drew a big smile and said that in the coming week, Eva and a group were going to Chicago to meet with him. I quit soon after, before school started. I monitored the election carefully, and told several people I couldn’t vote for Obama. (I had been a Hillary supporter, and at that point, she said she was going to dismantle NCLB.) With a heavy heart, I finally did the deed, only because of Sarah Palin. This, from a life-long Democrat. I knew that Obama, like Cuomo and others to follow, had been bought, lock, stock and barrel. At this point, I don’t know if Hillary can get out of it, and I don’t believe Bernie is up to speed on the situation. It’s up to this blog and a turn in the tide.
Reblogged this on Crazy Normal – the Classroom Exposé and commented:
Too bad I didn’t know this about Obama back then but I didn’t read Diane’s book “Reign of Error” until after Obama had been elected president for his second term. What a total false propaganda con-job the Obama campaign was. They fooled a lot of Americans and I was one of them, twice.
And then this: http://thealbanyproject.com/eva-moskowitz-hedge-clippers/
My favorite video about Eva Moskowitz and her SUCCESS ACADEMY schools was produced by the BAT’s (Bad Ass Teachers) Association… it’s called “Unknowable”, and has Eva and charter spokesperson Jeremiah Kittredge responding to allegations of cherry picking:
Here’s BATs’ description of the video:
“UNKNOWABLE?” Charter Schools’ Biggest Voices Unclear About Cherry Picking
Eva Moskowitz asked whether her Charter schools admit the highest needs kids in NYC, she says she thinks the jury is still out, she doesn’t have the information to answer the question in all her travels.
Just as tongue tied is Jeremiah Kittredge, top spokesman for a non-profit that is funded by the Waltons, Moskowitz’ husbands’ group, and hedge-funder backed PACs. Hear him twist up a word-pretzel when asked the same simple question: don’t the children whose parents apply to charters them have major home support advantages?
To date, no one seems to have asked the teachers in the rooms with the highest-needs kids everyday, but we’re still hopeful.
—————–
My favorite part is when asked about how few special ed kids attend charters, Kittredge tries to change the focus to the public schools with the following condemnation:
(at 4:30)
(at 4:30)
KITTREDGE: “Over 50% of New York City public schools serve a less-than-average number of Special Ed. and ELL students.”
Well… uhh… yeah. That’s sort of the definition of “average.” That’s a totally nonsensical and meaningless statement, but said authoritatively by Kittredge, may fool people into thinking he actually made a convincing argument countering charter schools’ dismal record regarding special ed students.
Or the video’s initial Q & A that inspired the video’s title.
In this friendly interview—from Reason TV, a libertarian, anti-union org—the interviewer asks Eva about the selection process
(0:00 – )
(0:00 – )
INTERVIEWER: “Critics of charters argue that schools like SUCCESS ACADEMY are excelling in part because they serve kids that come from more stable homes, with more involved parents than their public school counterparts. Those parents that are willing to take the effort to enter their kids into a lottery, critics say, are more likely to have children who are motivated to get ahead.
“Is there a difference between the parents who decide to go into a lottery? So, you know 18,000 kids apply for your spaces… are the parents of those 18,000 kids somehow radically different than, ya know, the parents who either don’t care or don’t know about lottery schools?”
Why the answer to that question is just “unknowable”, Eva dodges, then blathers about her outreach, then talks about how much parents love their students…. the question being asked of her now left behind in the dust of her obfuscations.
Actually, Eva, it’s quite “knowable”. It’s basic common sense, actually… that requiring multiple steps and applications for a parent to jump through will weed out those parents means you will self-select for a group of kids with parents will be more involved, and whose kids will be easier to educate, and produce your beloved higher test scores.
Eva then defends her “marketing”… … it’s benign and harmless… she just likes informing people about her schools, you know… not mentioning that SHE IS SPENDING MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO POACH STUDENTS… that’s an amount of money that the increasingly de-funded public schools do not possess, and thus, cannot counter with their own multi-million-dollar marketing campaign.
To make this poaching happen, Eva is also using money from NYC citizens and taxpayers… some of whom do not want their public schools wiped out and replaced with Eva’s charters…and who object to the insanely unlevel playing field that this marketing enables in favor of Eva’s privatization of NYC schools.
One more thing: “1-in-9” NYC students are classified as “homeless”.
At Eva’s schools, what fraction are homeless?
Try “0-in-9.’
How did this happen?
Why that’s just “unknowable.”
—–
New York City School parent added this:
“Jack, this is such an interesting video. It’s actually scary to see how she doesn’t miss a step when she claims she educates exactly the same students as in failing public schools and how her attrition rates aren’t high at all. If you just take one of their schools like Success Academy Bed Stuy 1, you find the number of economically disadvantaged students declined by 40% between 2nd and 3rd grade.
“The 2nd grade class in 2013-2014 was 103 students, and only 76 were tested in the 2014-2015 3rd grade cohort. That’s over 25% of the class missing. And what’s worse, if you look at the number of economically disadvantaged 2nd graders who were missing for the 3rd grade test, it’s nearly 40% of the at-risk kids!
“There are ways for a truly ethical charter operator to try to figure out why their attrition rates are so high and how to help lower them. With all those millions in donations, why not spend it to make sure the struggling students are made to feel welcome. If you are simply denying there is any problem — that your school is a model for all public schools – then how can you ever improve your school’s ability to teach those at-risk kids? And why the desperation to deny what even the parents at the schools acknowledge is true — they like the school because the difficult to educate kids aren’t there?
“t’s not just that parents seek the school out. I agree that Success Academy has a built in advantage since they are already getting more motivated parents: “if you cannot commit to all that we ask, this is not the place for you” as Eva Moskowitz tells parents! But Success Academy also has a built in advantage in how much they encourage or discourage that motivated parent to enroll their child. NY 1 just ran a piece about a parent whose child won the lottery for SA Williamsburg and she was “tested” and told she’d have to repeat 1st grade instead of going into 2nd. So she didn’t use her lottery win to attend. What kind of test is this and how advanced does a 1st grade graduate need to be to join the class? That’s up to Success Academy.
“No one really knows what the attrition rate at Success Academy is because they DO backfill with students who test at grade level in 1st and 2nd grade. It hides those numbers. Not to mention that the comparison “averages” they use to rationalize that so many elementary school age kids go missing almost always includes failing high schools (which obviously have high drop out rates) and never just elementary schools.
“But there is something off about the Bed Stuy 1 numbers last year — where were the 40% of 2nd graders from 2013-2014 who were “economically disadvantaged”? Were they all held back and that’s why they were missing from the 2014-2015 3rd grade testing cohort? It’s a shame that the SUNY Charter Institute has such a deplorable lack of curiosity about that.
“Backfilling with kids who are tested and only allowed to enter their rightful grade if Success Academy thinks they will test well on the standardized tests isn’t exactly a “best practice” that Eva Moskowitz ever talks about.
“Holding back 40% or more of a grade because it takes your inexperienced teachers 2 years to teach them the material isn’t exactly a “best practice” that Eva Moskowitz talks about. Nor does the press. It’s all about joyful rigor but if 40% of the at-risk students aren’t moving ahead each year after joyful rigor, why isn’t SUNY demanding that the school address it?”
Good timing. She is supposed to announce today what her political plans are.
A cautionary tale.
For the leaders and enforcers and enablers of self-proclaimed “education reform” this is what success looks like—
$tudent $ucce$$. Am I over the top? Hmmm, let’s look at yearly compensation…
The self-sacrificing saint of the “new civil rights movement of our time”: Eva Moskowitz, head of Success Academy, 10,000 [I am rounding up] students, $56.75@student.
Evil incarnate: Carmen Fariña, head of NYC Public Schools, 1,000,000 [I am rounding down] students, 0.212614@student.
From that hotbed of anti-“education reform”—
Link: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/success-academy-charter-schools-revenue-doubles-year-article-1.2050561
So massage and torture those numbers & stats like test scores and expulsion rates and exclusion rates—winning for Success Academy isn’t everything, it’s the only thing!
And you can’t argue when it makes so much ₵ent¢. And if someone doesn’t agree, then I appeal to a higher authority:
“Men lie and women lie but numbers don’t.” [“Dr.” Steve Perry, channeling rapper Jay-Z]
I rest my case…
😎
P.S. Because when it comes to $tudent $ucce$$, it’s all about the kids!
Rheeally!
http://mytruesense.org/2013/10/02/the-agenda-behind-educating-black-and-brown-children/
Thank you for this piece, Diane, and for this article, Donna. I have also felt that the methods used at Success Academy will result in creating adults who remain in the places and do as told. The whole setting of SA classrooms is so disturbing — classes with over 90% minority children, being sanctioned if their feet aren’t firmly on the floor, their hands aren’t placed as required, their eyes aren’t tracking the teacher, they aren’t silent in the halls — it’s a level of required obedience that most of us would never accept for children. (I’m not criticizing the parents; the gross underfunding of public schools has left parents with little choice.) And often the teachers, who must order the sanctions, are white. The dynamic is painful, and this level of control literally over the bodies of these children, should be banned.
Lisa Eggert: your comments resonated strongly with me.
Thank you for articulating painful truths that are hushed and ignored by the rheephormistas in their rush to declare total victory over compassion and decency.
😧
Thank you KrazyT.
And I remain troubled by Moskowitz’s comments that are patronizing — or worse — and go unchallenged. This one was particularly offensive:
“If you spend time in schools, you know they are rough places. Many people would not feel safe in many of the buildings. … We are old-fashioned. We don’t believe that children should curse at teachers. We do not believe that children should throw chairs, either at teachers or other kids. Not only do we not believe that children should hit, we have a no-hitting-back rule. And that’s very challenging for parents. Many of our parents say to us, “I teach my kid, you get hit and you stand up for yourself and you hit back.” And we have to say, you know, that might be an appropriate rule for the street, but we are in a house of learning. And that’s not what we do here.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-eva-moskowitz-charter-schools-success-perspec-0522-20150521-story.html
“We don’t believe children should throw chairs….”
Can you IMAGINE the kind of misery the teachers put the 5 or 6 year old through so that the child felt the need to throw a chair? Most children aren’t looking to do violent things at a young age, but apparently at Success Academy, as many as 20% of them are doing that. And yet, it never occurs to Eva Moskowitz to wonder why the children in her school are acting out constantly and doing these supposedly violent things.
This is of course enlightening, but I will add that “what it is up to” is for everyone to stop their addiction to the Democratic Party altogether and realize there are other parties to vote for! The Green Party IS VIABLE and the movement for electoral reform is growing! If people wake up and realize that we CAN take the power away from these criminals if we stop voting for them it would be a completely different ball game. This CAN HAPPEN! Did you know that over 50% of all Americans DO NOT IDENTIFY WITH EITHER THE DEMOCRATIC OR REPUBLICAN PARTIES and say they want a 3rd party to vote for??!!! If every student in debt voted for the Green Party that would be enough for Jill Stein to win the presidential election. Don’t give up your power thinking you have to vote your fears. Vote your dreams and get on board the freedom train!
I LOVE the Green party and its leaders. My concern is that like what happened when Ralph Nader split the vote a president was elected who has in my opinion so devastated this country it is doubtful if we EVER can recuperate. WISH it were not so.
Gordon, as far as Ralph Nader running as a Green in 2000 and “splitting the vote” is concerned:
1) If there hadn’t been gross cheating and malfeasance in the Florida election, and if the Supreme Court had not, basically, given the Florida electors to the Republican Party, in a blatant partisan vote,
And 2) If Al Gore had won his own d@mned home state, Tennessee, Bush II, a.k.a. “Shrub,” would not have won the election.
” when Ralph Nader split the vote a president was elected”
That false meme has been debunked numerous times in various ways-one of them that the number of registered democrats who voted for Georgie the Least was itself enough to give the election to that Idiot Bush.
Hi Krazy TA;
May I add more words after your last sentences, like:
P.S. Because when it comes to $tudent $ucce$$, it’s all about the kids “”who are wet from fear of success””! May.
m4potw: I gratefully accept and thank you for the improvement.
😃
While at the same time feeling uncomfortable and pained that such an addition makes my point more realistic and not quite as hunorous.
😎
It’s good to hear the dam is finally starting to sprout leaks concerning Success Academy’s test scores, and the likelihood they are bogus.
The fact that not a single SA 8th grader passed the exam for the specialized high schools last year, despite Moskowitz and her supporters constant touting of her schools’ superiority and high test scores, should have been cause for an immediate investigation.
That investigation, were it to happen, should be conducted by an agency (preferably a law enforcement agency, to investigate fraud) other than the SUNY Charter Institute, SA’s authorizing institution, which is bought and paid for by the patrons of so-called reform.
“Ariel says that teachers cheat.”
No details about how they cheat? Well, based on previously provided info from SA teacher moles, we already know that they are given test prep materials that are based on the tests, and unlike public school teachers, they get to see and score the tests themselves… We also know how high-stakes testing can influence some teachers who feel threatened by public humiliation and the loss of their jobs, such as in DC and Atlanta. (And no wonder their high scoring students can’t get into selective enrollment schools.)
Reblogged this on Politicians Are Poody Heads and commented:
Why does this sound like a cult, with Eva Moskowitz as its L. Ron Hubbard……..
It’s also child abuse. I feel bad for the teachers, but they are adults and can quit. I feel much worse for the students.
Reviewing many of the blogs in the last few days and in answer to a comment on this blog today it seems worthwhile to add addendums to previous items posted on this blog.
As educators it is imperative to continually educate ourselves on the most important issues of the day. As educators we of course focus attention on items related to our schools. However there are MANY things which affect our schools, education in general, and the way we are allowed to educate our students. Please do not focus entirely on just one issue and consider carefully who you will be supporting.
Following are but a few of the items affecting ourselves, our schools and our students.
Charter schools: We ALL rightly abhor Obama’s appointment of Arne Duncan and now of King. Some may have suggested that because of this one item they may vote for a Republican. If that be so how likely is it that a Republican president would have appointed a person who would not have pushed charters and corporate agenda or at looking at the present Republican candidates would now appoint someone with a different perspective on charters, et al?
Seemingly perhaps tangential issues but which to my mind affect and will affect our students in the coming years in ways it is difficult to overstate and must be added to the equation.
1. Poverty: It is generally acknowledged by educators this item is one of the most important problems facing the students and of course affecting their educational progress. Which candidate[s] have spoken out to try to address this for the longest time and with the most force?
2. Money in politics: tangential but what is the effect on our schools, our students? Which party is most influenced by corporations?
3. Climate change: Most of us as educators believe in the importance of unbiased, deep, lengthy research by our best scholars over a long period of time. What do the climatologist scientists say? Is there ANYTHING more important to our students future? How will this affect our students, indeed are affecting so very many now? Which party has denied climate change?
4. Gun control; Which party, both have, but which is the predominate one to back the NRA?
5. Supreme Court decisions: As mentioned numerous times, the next president will probably select 4 new judges. What effect will that have on us, our schools and our student’s future? With a now divided court with 5 – 4 decisions which have given corporations unprecedented influence on our legislators, our rights as citizens to oppose them etc., how important is that to our schools, children as well as to us as citizens? Have corporate interests been in the best interests of our public schools?
You will be able to add many to the above list and will make your judgments accordingly. These are just some of my concerns and which I hope you will think carefully about in making your decisions as to whom you will support.
Too, it is not just the president on whom we must focus our attention. The Congress makes the laws. The president either supports or vetoes them.
A final comment. One of the things that has earned my deepest respect for Bernie Sanders is the following. When asked how he would bring Congress around to support him he said he COULD NOT NOR COULD ANYONE ELSE DO IT BY HIMSELF. He was hoping to get our citizens involved in making their views known to Congress. For me, a refreshing bit of candor and honesty not often found in politicians. Can ANY president work that effectively if our citizens do not educate themselves, vote, then keep involved and hold their representatives, ALL branches of government’s feet to the fire. Democracy only works if these things are done. We vote. Corporations don’t. Politicians wish to get and stay elected and will listen to those who affect their tenure in office. As educators we must lead the way and educate ourselves, our students and get them involved in their government. To whom do politicians listen now? If democracy is to exist who MUST they be made to listen to?
My son had warned me about Obama and how he was a “corporate” man and not who,people think he is. He has worked out to be in my opinion, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Don’t know who to vote for.
Personally, I plan to vote for Mickey Mouse!
I know I sound like a broken record…..but VOTE FOR JILL STEIN OF THE GREEN PARTY!!!! Check out her site and platform and see interviews at http://www.jill2016.com. You will be glad you did!
For the past ten years I have watched a school district, a community and an entire young generation be mis-treated, mis-educated and students literally pushed into the prison system. I am not telling tall-tales here, I am talking about New Orleans school systems. I started working in New Orleans Public Schools in 1995 as a teaching artist under a program called Arts Connection. I saw some beautiful programs that worked in many of these schools but sadly there was an agenda to move towards privatizing public services that many of us were unaware of during the 1990’s. This new system doesn’t work and I see this whole state headed towards darker days with John White and other billionaires supporting this agenda. This is happening in other cities and states in this country. The political division in this country is well orchestrated by all parties who have their hand in this honeypot, where plenty of money is being made on the backs of children who live in poverty. It is in our best interest for communities and for the next generation that we come together as a community representing all of our diversities and put an end to this destruction. New Orleans is not well. The children are not well.
Teachers cheating may explain why no Success student tested into an elite NYC high school.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/gonzalez-success-charter-students-fail-top-city-schools-article-1.1833960
I appreciate this article because it depicts just how much strings are being pulled in the background of the education field. Charter school pushers force one-sided stories on the public creating doubt and mistrust of public education. This grave misuse of propaganda creates issues for students in this metro area, as well as those in other cities because it eliminates parental comfort and choice based on bogus information about testing statistics and overall school productivity.
Parents send their children to schools with the hope of them obtaining the best education possible, and with the current assault on public education, some can only feel that charters stand to provide better circumstances. In some major cities, parents are take heed to the shaming of public education which causes them to funnel students to nearest charters. The issue here is access to wealth. For example, in Atlanta, families have to provide transportation to and from school for their children. For students whose families don’t have access to reliable transportation or the financial means to gain access, these students are stuck at under performing schools in their own neighborhoods. It creates a further division in public schools focused on socioeconomic status.
The blatant lies told about the Success Academy shows multiple issues of the education field. From teachers being held accountable for their students poor testing performance, teacher’s cheating, the push for students to be funneled into schools that aren’t treated the same as public schools, and the issue of classroom management strategies.
So you went through part of the PD. you quit before school started. What right do you have to criticize?