Archives for the year of: 2015
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Superintendent Steven Cohen: This is What Great Education Looks Like

By dianeravitch
December 10, 2015 //
16

Superintendent Steven Cohen addresses parents on Long Island and explains what a great education is. It is the kind of education available to the children of Rahm Emanuel and Barack Obama, Merryl Tisch (the chancellor of the New York State Regents), and other leaders of the “reform” movement. Cohen reads what children do at the University of Chicago Lab School, at the Dalton School in New York, and other excellent private schools, and contrasts them with the punitive mandates imposed on public schools. He denounces the Common Core standards and high-stakes testing. In the elite private schools, children have the opportunity to study subjects in depth, to explore ideas, and to have full programs in the arts and other non-tested subjects. The “reformers” know what is best for their children, but they treat the public’s children as “losers.” They don’t want the public’s children to have what they demand for their own children. In short, he lacerates the “reformers.”

 

Dr. Cohen is one of a group of superintendents in Long Island who are traveling to school districts to explain why Long Island parents should reject the current “reforms” of high-stakes testing and Common Core standards. The others are David Gamberg of Southold-Greenport, Joe Rella of Comsewogue, and Michael Hynes of Patchogue-Medford. They have inspired parents and educators across the Island.

 

He faults Bill Gates for foisting the Common Core standards on the nation with Arne Duncan’s help, without ever having testing the standards anywhere to see what effects they have. “Just trust me,” the salesmen of Common Core say. Would you buy a used car without evidence that it actually runs?

 

He explains how the Common Core was intended to drive the curriculum and testing, for the benefit of vendors and profit-seekers. The claim that it is “just standards, not curriculum,” is nonsense.

 

He describes the excellent results of the New York Performance Standards Consortium, which does not use high-stakes testing, and wonders why the state refuses to allow other high schools to join it. It works, but admission is closed. Why?

 

This is an excellent presentation and well worth your time to watch it. Be sure to hear him reading from the MIT catalogue about what MIT considers “college-readiness.”

 

Dr. Cohen is part of a group of thoughtful and courageous superintendents in Long Island who have been traveling school districts across the Island to explain what good education is–and what it is not.

 

Dr. Steven Cohen is a hero of public education and of students. He richly deserves to be on the honor roll of the blog.

 

 

Categories Accountability, Common Core, Education Industry, Honor Roll, Privatization, Testing

Hillary on ESSA

By dianeravitch
December 10, 2015 //
47

Politico reports that President Obama will sign the Every Student Succeeds Act today, right now, this morning, wasting no time. ESSA is an unusual example of both national teachers’ unions working closely with the GOP majority in Congress. The unions are enthusiastic about the bill and lobbied Congress heavily to remove AYP and other obnoxious features of NLB and Race to the Top.

 

Here is Hillary’s take:

 

– Democratic 2016 frontrunner Hillary Clinton praised the bill, saying it wasn’t perfect, but it “retains a commitment to high academic standards, enables communities to strike a better balance on testing, requires districts and states to take action to turn around struggling schools, and allows states to take a holistic approach when measuring school success.” One of her Democratic opponents, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, sat out the Senate’s vote today. So did two Republican candidates, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, although the latter put out a statement denouncing the bill. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, another 2016 contender, was one of 12 senators who voted no. Kimberly Hefling with more: http://politico.pro/1RFsP08.

 

– Some sharp eyes noticed that Clinton praised the bill for making resources available to “expand high-quality public charter schools.” Was this a deliberate attempt to tone down her rhetoric? Clinton has been a long time charter supporter, but issued a pretty strident rebuke to the sector last month [http://politi.co/1HsRpP4].

– As Obama signs the bill , the White House is releasing a report of progress made in K-12 education since he took office and how ESSA will cement that progress. The report: http://bit.ly/1lwetDg.

Categories Every Student Succeeds Act

Michael Hynes: Time to Abolish the U.S. Department of Education

By dianeravitch
December 10, 2015 //
27

Michael Hynes is Superintendent of the Patochogue-Medford public schools on Long Island in New York state.

 

As an educator, I have no use for the U.S. Department of Education.

 

The fact is, as parents and educators begin to understand the infinite failures of federal initiatives such as No Child Left Behind, the carrot-on-a-stick incentive on steroids called Race to the Top and the soon-to-be-passed version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act — dubbed the Every Student Succeeds Act — this bloated department of non-educators has wasted tax dollars and ruined millions of children’s lives over the past four decades.

 

It is an experiment gone awry and it’s time for the U.S. Department of Education to go.

 

It’s as simple as that.

 

Now that our new acting secretary of education will be John King — the man who oversaw New York State’s disastrous rollout of the Common Core State Standards — that only makes my claim that much stronger.

 

The U.S. Department of Education was formed in 1980 by combining offices from several federal agencies. It now has 4,400 employees and a $68 billion budget.

 

The department claims to establish policies on federal financial aid for education. It also collects data on our schools and shares research. Finally, it asserts to focus national attention on key educational issues and pretends to prohibit discrimination and ensure equal access to education.

 

My question is, when was the last time this institution actually produced something positive for our children? According to the Department of Education’s website, its mission is to “promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.”

 

In practice, it has churned out one bad policy after another, policies that have been wreaking havoc on our public schools. This department has left a wake of children who have been tested to death and also degraded educators by reducing them to numbers.

 

What may have sounded like a good idea at the time, some 35 years ago, has proven to be both inefficient and unconstitutional. I don’t believe in federal control of our schools. I feel many of our parents and teachers can figure out for themselves how to educate our children. The challenge of a great education is best addressed as close to the student as possible. Local control should chart its own courses on education.

 

I fear the latest iteration of a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act will perpetuate and enforce the terrible educational mindset of “How intelligent are you?” instead of “How are you intelligent?”

 

You can bet that the Department of Education won’t be far behind waiting to craft and enforce ridiculous policies, technology driven programs and unfunded mandates that schools will have to comply with.

 

By abolishing this behemoth, we will be better served to identify a child’s strength’s and interests while providing opportunities for all children to soar at the local level — right where all this belongs.

 

Categories Accountability, Education Industry, Education Reform, Testing

Long Island: Michael Hynes, a Visionary Superintendent

By dianeravitch
December 10, 2015 //
4

Michael Hynes, superintendent of schools in Patchogue, Long Island, in New York, has a new idea: Let’s forget about the politicians and do what we know is best for students. Hynes is hereby declared a hero of public education for truly putting children first.

 

The Greater Patchogue website reports that Superintendent Hynes is working with the school board and a committee of 65 to forge a better path for the Patchogue-Medford schools. Hynes’ motto is “leave no stone unturned.”

 

Hynes, who has been an outspoken supporter of the opt out movement, said:

 

 

“If we want to stay on the same road and be average and settle for mediocrity, then we’re not going to turn over every stone,” Hynes said in his first in-depth media interview about the plan. “But if you really want to bring this place to another level for our kids, then what you need to do is make sure you look at everything humanly possible that’s going to benefit all of our students.”

 

“He looks to the positive growth of Patchogue Village as inspiration, explaining how the village’s leaders had a clear goal of what they wanted to accomplish, and though there was some pushback, once people started seeing real results, then even doubters began to buy in.

 

“Hynes indicated some drastic changes will be explored, and with that, there could be pushback.

 

“The hardest part will be holding onto our old mental models, or thoughts and feelings of how schools should be,” he said. “Because the one common experience we all have is we all went to school, and there are a lot of emotions attached to that. Many people think that it should stay the same.

 

“I think some things should remain the same, but with some things, because of time and because of the way things are, we need to think differently, and we need to be progressive. And that’s what I’m hoping this plan becomes. But it also needs to be inclusive and collaborative.”

 

“Pressed for details, Hynes mentioned the possibility of reconfiguring the district elementary schools so that they’re no longer K-5 schools drawing students from the immediate neighborhoods. The schools would instead be grouped by grade through what’s called a Princeton Plan, or Princeton Model.

 

“He noted that Princeton Plans are often proposed in districts that are looking to close a school.

 

“If its sole purpose is to save money, I don’t believe in it,” he said. “If you move to a different construct because it’s best for kids, and allows teachers to meet more often, to collaborate, to serve kids in a higher and more efficient way, then that’s a model we need to look at. That doesn’t meant adopt, but at least investigate and research it.”

“The district could examine freeing up a building for vocational opportunities, he said.

 

Hynes explained that, currently, students who might be looking toward the trades or the military, as opposed to college, aren’t offered resources within the district to pursue those interests until the twelfth grade.

 

“For us, we want to start providing those opportunities in ninth grade,” he said. “Right now we’re missing out on three extremely vital years.”

 

“A vocational school would allow Patchogue-Medford to offer trade skills from plumbing to hairdressing to paralegal work, he said.

 

“These are professions where people are making a good living,” Hynes said. “The caveat is, it would have to include a one-year internship program through the Patchogue and Medford areas, and that’s where a relationship with the larger community comes into play.”

 

“As for the district’s higher-achievers, Hynes said there are opportunities for them to be challenged even further, such as through a Geneva-based International Baccalaureate program.

 

“We’re already looking at the feasibility of that,” he said. “It’s an investment, not only in resources but it’s actually an investment in our educators, because they have to be trained as well.”

 

With special education and English language-learners, Hynes said there could be more of an emphasis on before and after school opportunities, outside of the students’ core academic work, that could help them socialize within the wider communities more effectively.

 

 

“Asked about whether spending would need to increase under the strategic plan, and if the district would consider bonding, Hynes replied as follows:

 

“You want to do whatever is necessary to accomplish what needs to be done. When we look at cost, we’re going to look at investment and return on the investment, and if the return on the investment is worth it, then anything is possible as far as I’m concerned…..

 

“Asked how the plan could operate within the state’s mandates, including its across-the-board educational standards, Hynes — an outspoken critic of recent education reform efforts in Albany — said he must do now whatever he believes is in the long-term interests of Patchogue-Medford students — not wait for Albany to figure its own policies out.

 

“If this plan comes to the place where I think it can, I would like the state to exempt us from 3 through 8 testing, and allow us to evaluate teachers on our own accord, based on our professional judgements, and assess students in a much better way,” Hynes said.

 

“Then we can possibly use this as a case study for other districts in New York State, to see if this is a possibility for them to — I don’t want to say emulate, but to look into and make it their own.

 

“Nothing like this has ever been done before.”

 

Superintendent Michael Hynes is already a member of the blog’s honor roll.

Categories Education Reform, Honor Roll, New York, Testing

Jeff Bryant on the Charter Gravy Train Report from NEPC

By dianeravitch
December 10, 2015 //
4

Here is Jeff Bryant’s take on the Baker-Miron report on the Charter Gravy Train.

 

In one of the more bizarre schemes the authors examine, charter operators will use third-party corporations to purchase buildings and land from the public school district itself, so taxpayer dollars are used to purchase property from the public. Thus, the public ends up paying twice for the school, and the property becomes an asset of a private corporation.

 

In other examples, charter operators will set up leasing agreements and lucrative management fees between multiple entities that end up extracting resources, which might otherwise be dedicated to direct services for children.

 

These arrangements, and many others documented in the brief, constitute a rapidly expanding parallel school system in America, populated with enterprises and individuals who work in secret to suck money out of public education.

 

Charter Schools Aren’t Really ‘Public Schools’

 

The first secret of charter schools that keeps their financial workings hidden and their funding prone to exploitation is that they aren’t really public schools, despite what charter advocates say.

 

As Baker and Miron explain, charters generally aren’t subject to the same disclosure laws that apply to state operated entities and public officials, especially when the governance bodies for these schools outsource management services to for-profit management firms, as is increasingly the case.

 

As the brief explains, outsourcing school operations to private entities has the potential to make transparency laws – for open meetings, public access to records, and financial disclosures by public officials and state operated institutions – subject to court interpretation. Courts across states have offered mixed opinions as to whether and to what extent to apply transparency laws to charter schools, their authorizers, operators, and governing boards.

 

Further, the public-private arrangement of charter schools often place new limits on the constitutional (and some statutory) protections that are customarily guaranteed to school employees and students in state operated institutions.

 

These important differences between charter schools and traditional public schools are not generally understood or appreciated by even the most knowledgeable people, which is why charter advocates put so much energy and resources in marketing their operations as “public” schools.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Privatization

Bruce Baker and Gary Miron: The Business of Charters, Or, The Charter Gravy Train

By dianeravitch
December 10, 2015 //
10

Bruce Baker and Gary Miron have written an important new study of the business of charters. It was released overnight by the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado. The report proposes regulation of charter schools to remove the corruption and money-making that is currently an embarrassment to the charter sector. So far, so good. As I have told the authors, I don’t agree with their proposal that states declare charter schools to be public schools and to regulate them as public schools. Several states already have labeled them public schools and don’t regulate them. In those states where the governor and the legislature have been captured by charter industry financiers, it is not likely that there will be either regulation, transparency, or accountability because the lobbyists will never accept it. Nonetheless, this is an important report because it lays out the specific ways in which charter operators have gamed the system for the sake of lucre.

 

The Lucrative Side of Charter Schools

 

New report puts first pieces together on how charter schools are profiting through the privatization of public assets

 

Contact:

William J. Mathis, (802) 383-0058, wmathis@sover.net
Bruce D. Baker, (848) 932-0698, bruce.baker@gse.rutgers.edu Gary Miron, (269) 599-7965, gary.miron@wmich.edu

 

URL for this press release: http://tinyurl.com/py94cuk

 

BOULDER, CO (December 10, 2015) – Charter schools are educational providers, but they are also businesses. A large portion of them are run by private corporations, and receive taxpayer dollars to provide their services. Yet there is very little public understanding of the often- convoluted ways these companies use those dollars and take advantage of laws in ways that enrich owners, officers, and investors.

 

A new research brief from Bruce Baker and Gary Miron details some of the ways that individuals, companies, and organizations secure financial gain and generate profit by running charter schools, leading them to operate in ways that are sometimes at odds with the public interest. In The Business of Charter Schooling: Understanding the Policies that Charter Operators Use for Financial Benefit, they explore the differences between charters and traditional public schools, and they illustrate how charter school policies sometimes function to promote profiteering and privatization of public assets.

 

The authors explain, for example, how charter operators working through third-party corporations can use taxpayer dollars to purchase buildings and land. The seller in these purchases is sometimes the public school district itself. That is, taxpayer dollars are used to purchase property from the public, and the property ends up being owned by the private corporation that operates or is affiliated with the charter school.

 

“This particular type of transaction is usually legal and it can be very logical from the perspective of each of the parties involved,” said Baker. “But we should be troubled by the public policy that allows and even encourages this to happen.”

 

“In addition,” Miron explained, “less than arm’s-length leasing agreements and lucrative management fees are extracting resources that might otherwise be dedicated to direct services for children.”

 

The authors conclude with eight recommendations for policies to help ensure that charter schools pursue their publicly established goals and that protect the public interest.

 

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Privatization

The State of Charter Schools, A Report by Pro-Charter Advocacy Group

By dianeravitch
December 10, 2015 //
19

Bellwether Education Partners is a consulting firm that works with “reform” organizations, with charter chains, Teach for America, and others who promote the privatization of public education and the replacement of the teaching profession with inexperienced short-timers. It prepared this very interesting report on the state of charter schools today. It projects that by the year 2035, between 20-40 percent of all students will be in charter schools (p. 60).

 

The report contains a wealth of information about which states and cities have the most charters, about which states do not permit charters (there are five of them), about the demographics of charters, about how many charters have opened and how many have closed, etc. The language of the report is much like an annual report to the board of directors of a corporation.

 

A skeptic would question the data on “wait lists,” as investigations in New York City and Boston  have found that the claims about long wait lists are padded, often by parents applying to several different charter schools or other means.

 

A skeptic would also question the data on special education enrollments, citing the GAO report, which compared charter enrollments in big-city districts with national data, instead of comparing it to the special education data for big-city districts.

 

Of course, there is no consideration of the downside of creating an unregulated sector that receives public money and seeks to avoid audits and public accountability. And there is no consideration of education as a whole, whether it makes sense to have one sector that chooses its students and another sector that takes everyone who enrolls.

 

Nonetheless, the report is worthy of your attention.

 

 

Categories Charter Schools

Mike Klonsky: The Feds Have Come to Chicago to Save Rahm

By dianeravitch
December 10, 2015 //
16

Mike Klonsky writes that Rahm breathed a deep sigh of relief when he realized that the Justice Department intended to focus its investigation solely on the Police Department, not on individuals (like the Mayor).

 

The Chicago gang will gather round and protect Rahm. This won’t be an easy task as his poll numbers have dropped to 18% approval.

Categories Chicago, Education Reform

Rafe Esquith’s Lawyer Responds to Release of Emails by LAUSD

By dianeravitch
December 10, 2015 //
110

Earlier I posted an article in the Los Angeles Times that included quotes said to be from emails written by Rafe Esquith.

 

In response, Rafe Esquith’s law firm has released a statement blasting the LAUSD for conducting a “witch hunt.”

 

Mark Geragos and Ben Meiselas, attorneys for internationally renowned teacher Rafe Esquith, have issued the following response:

 

LAUSD, which is run by Superintendent Ramon Cortines who (1) used $350,000.00 in tax payer money to settle his own crotch-grabbing lawsuit, and (2) who defends a policy in California Courts that the age of consent for his students with teachers is 14 years old, has hit a new low by its own exceedingly low and perhaps non-existent standards.

 

The release of discredited and baseless allegations with no validation in law or any court, and the piecemeal out-of-context release of an email from a graduate from years ago, reflects the depths of retaliation and retribution from LAUSD on its last throes of existence due to the class action brought against it by thousands of teachers who have been victims to LAUSD teacher witch-hunts. As an initial matter, Mr. Esquith has never used an LAUSD email account. This means that LAUSD would have had to hack into Mr. Esquith’s personal AOL Account, without a warrant or notice, and harvested thousands of emails for over a decade since the account was set up. LAUSD illegally accessed attorney-client documents and marital documents, and crafted an illegal and criminal strategy to smear Mr. Esquith by purporting to selectively quote an email from a graduate from years ago from the hundreds of thousands of emails that would have been processed. No student, or parent to this day has ever made any allegation against Mr. Esquith. In fact, LAUSD’s hit squad invaded the homes and colleges of these students demanding that they say something negative about Mr. Esquith and threatening to return if they did not. The students had nothing negative to say. Several former students have hired attorneys and will be bringing lawsuits against LAUSD for the harassment and abuse inflicted on them by LAUSD investigators at the direction of Superintendent Cortines. Additionally, LAUSD is a mandatory reporter under the California Penal Code, Government Code, and Education Code, to report misconduct to the California Teacher Credentialing Commission which conducts investigations into teacher misconduct.

 

There is more. I invite you to read it and reach your own judgment.

 

Categories Education Reform, Los Angeles

Music Educators Love ESSA

By dianeravitch
December 9, 2015 //
21

The National Association for Music Education is very happy with the new Every Student Succeeds Act. For the first time in anyone’s memory, the act specifically refers to music and art as important subjects.

 

Here are two examples of what the music educators love:

 

Title I: Improving Basic Programs Operated by State and Local Educational Agencies

o Section 1008: Schoolwide Programs (Schoolwide Program Plan): Plans which may be executed via a combination of federal, state and local funds, in efforts to improve the overall educational program of a school meeting the appropriate threshold of disadvantaged students to become eligible. Strategies should seek to strengthen academic programs, increase the amount and quality of learning time, and provide a WELL-ROUNDED education (music, arts). (pg. 164)

o Section 1009: Targeted Assistance Schools (Targeted Assistance School Program): Aimed at assisting schools and Local Educational Agencies with support in ensuring that all students served meet the State’s challenging student academic achievement standards in subjects as determined by the State. Criteria includes the potential to provide programs, activities and courses necessary to ensure a WELL-ROUNDED education (music, arts). (pg. 169)

 

 

 

Categories Arts Education, Education Reform, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
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