Earlier today, I posted news that the people of Flint, Michigan, lost access to safe drinking water because its “emergency manager,” appointed by Governor Rick Snyder, cut the budget for clean water. Consequently many young children suffered lead poisoning. The state said it made a mistake.
But it it was worse than a mistake. State officials were informed and dismissed the complaints. They lied and tried to cover their tracks.
Arthur Delaney of Huffington Post writes:
“Michigan state officials insisted that the water supply in Flint was safe even though they knew an unusual number of children had suffered lead poisoning, according to a scientist who helped blow the whistle on Flint’s water crisis.”
“Through a public records request, Marc Edwards, a civil engineering professor at Virginia Tech, uncovered a July 2015 memo warning of elevated lead levels in Flint kids’ blood.
“An internal report from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services warned that lead poisoning rates “were higher than usual for children under age 16 living in the City of Flint during the months of July, August and September, 2014.”
Jamaal Bowman, principal of the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action Middle School in the Bronx, gives a dynamite interview aimed at black families about how to change the quality of education for their children.
He says we are investing billions in standardized testing and ignoring what we should be doing in our communities.
Black and brown children are being miseducated by current policies.
The “right to be tested” is not a right that helps children. It hurts them.
Robert Pondiscio raises an issue that casts doubt on the “higher-than-ever” graduation rate. How much of the increase is due to fraudulent “credit recovery” courses?
Credit recovery is undefined, but it generally means any course that enables students to gain credit for a course they failed or never completed.
Some phony courses enable students to gain credit for a semester or a full year by taking classes for a few weeks and then submitting a paper that they may or may not have written.
Some phony courses are offered online. Such courses may be dumbed down. I have heard of tests with true-false questions and tests where students could retake them until they got a passing score.
Not long ago, the the NCAA withdrew accreditation from a score of K12, Inc. high schools because their tests were so simple. An official told me that in some online courses, the students skipped the instruction and went right to the tests, which required only the skill of test-taking.
Raising the graduation rate in such ways cheats students. It should be monitored and banned.
The Florida Education Association is suing to block the implementation of a program that gives $10,000 bonuses to teachers with high SAT or ACT scores (taken in high school), but denies the bonuses to regular teachers unless they can not only produce their high school scores (20 years ago? 30 years ago?) but are rated “highly effective.” At the time the bill was passed, even some Republican legislators called it “the worst bill of the year.” It never had a hearing in the Senate. Its author wrote the bill after he read Amanda Ripley’s “The Smartest Kids in the World.”
December 21, 2015 Contact: Mark Pudlow 850.201.3223 or 850.508.9756
FEA files discrimination charges against Best and Brightest teacher bonus program
The Florida Education Association (FEA) filed age and race discrimination charges today against the Florida Department of Education and the state’s school districts over implementation of the controversial Best and Brightest bonus program that was slipped into the state budget at the close of June’s special session of the Florida Legislature. FEA filed the charges with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Florida Commission on Human Relations.
“Too many high-quality teachers in Florida were denied access to this bonus program because of the unfair and discriminatory rules and short timeline set up by lawmakers,” said FEA President Joanne McCall. “This bonus plan wasn’t thought out very well and wasn’t properly vetted in the Legislature and that has resulted in many good teachers unfairly denied access to this bonus.”
In the complaint, FEA notes that the Legislature appropriated more than $44 million for salary bonuses of a maximum of $10,000 each to teachers who received an evaluation of “highly effective” and who scored in the 80th percentile or above on their college admission test, either the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) or the ACT (American College Testing). The law exempts all first-year teachers from the “highly effective” requirement.
The complaint says this bonus program discriminates against teachers who are older than 40 and minority teachers, providing these reasons:
· Because no percentile data is available from ACT or SAT for teachers who took these tests before 1972, such teachers are disqualified from receiving the bonus.
· The October 1 deadline for submitting applications for the bonus further discriminates against teachers older than 40 years old, because a disproportionate number of them took the ACT and SAT many years ago and were unable to get access to their scores from the testing programs before the deadline.
· The exemption of first-year teachers from the requirement that they provide evidence of being rated “highly effective” under the respondent employers’ performance evaluation system further discriminates against and has a disparate impact on teachers older than 40 years old. First-year teachers are overwhelmingly younger than 40 years of age.
· The bonus program also discriminates against African-American and Hispanic teachers by using the SAT and ACT as qualifiers. It has been well-established in the courts and peer-reviewed scholarship that the SAT and ACT are a racially and culturally biased tests that disparately impact test-takers on the basis of African-American and Hispanic race.
The complaint also notes that the SAT and ACT were not designed for measuring teacher performance, for use in granting salary bonuses, or for any other aspect of the Best and Brightest bonus program.
FEA is seeking to make sure all qualified teachers are able to get access to the bonus money if they are qualified.
The Florida Education Association is the state’s largest association of professional employees, with more than 140,000 members. FEA represents pre K-12 teachers, higher education faculty, educational staff professionals, students at our colleges and universities preparing to become teachers and retired education employees.
Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan should hang his head in shame. The emergency manager that he appointed to run the impoverished city of Flint, Michigan, saved money by switching to an unsafe water source, and now many children are suffering from lead poisoning.
Children in Flint, Michigan, have such high levels of lead in their blood that Mayor Karen Weaver declared a state of emergency on Monday, calling the situation a “manmade disaster.” The origins of the escalating situation in Flint go back to 2011, when Republican Gov. Rick Snyder appointed an emergency financial manager to balance Flint’s budget—largely by cutting costs on basic public services. Here’s what you need to know: In April of 2014, Flint switched its water source from Detroit to the Flint River in an effort to save money. The decision, made by emergency manager Darnell Earley, was met with skepticism: Residents complained that the water was smelly and cloudy. Water tests have since shown high levels of lead, copper, and other bacteria, including E. coli. (GM started hauling in water to its remaining Flint plant last year after noticing that the Flint water was corroding engines.)
According to the Hurley Medical Center study…, the proportion of kids under five with elevated levels of lead in their blood has doubled since the switch to Flint River water, to roughly four percent. In some areas, that number has leapt up to more than six percent. “This damage to children is irreversible and can cause effects to a child’s IQ, which will result in learning disabilities and the need for special education and mental health services and an increase in the juvenile justice system,” wrote Weaver in the state of emergency declaration. In October, the city transitioned back to the Detroit water system, though lead levels still remain higher than the federal action level…..
Flint emergency manager Darnell Earley implemented steep budget cuts, including last year’s decision to save money by changing the city’s water source. In March, Earley nixed a city council vote to “do all things necessary” to switch back to the Detroit system in March, calling the decision “incomprehensible.” He stepped down the next month. The series of events has led to litigation: In November, Flint residents filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that the contaminated water caused them to experience myriad health conditions, including skin lesions, hair loss, depression, vision loss, and memory loss. The same month, the ACLU and Natural Resources Defense Council sued the city, governor, and public officials, claiming that public officials have known for years that drinking Flint River water could result in contamination problems. Michael Steinberg, legal director for the ACLU of Michigan, said, “In their short-sighted effort to save a buck, the leaders who were supposed to be protecting Flints’s citizens instead left them exposed to dangerously high levels of lead contamination.”
How are residents getting by?
Those who can afford it are buying bottled water, but Flint is one of the poorest cities in the nation—41 percent of residents live in poverty. Many still use city water for bathing and cooking.
Allene Magill, writing on behalf of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, explains why teachers don’t want “merit pay” based on test scores. They have no objection to extra pay for extra work or other kind of performance, but tying their compensation to test scores is offensive to them.
“The most rewarding aspect of teaching occurs when a former student lets an educator know the difference he or she made in their life. After more than 40 years as an educator, I’ve experienced that many times. I assure you that not once has a former student told me how much he appreciated my contribution to his score on a standardized test. Students have, however, talked about the importance of their relationship with me as their teacher — the encouragement to work hard, the extra attention to help them grasp a concept, a kind word when life got tough, extra responsibilities that built confidence and leadership experience, and making time for the arts and non “core” subjects.
“We’ve committed a disservice to all students and educators over the past 20 years by focusing on performance on standardized tests and reducing opportunities for building great student relationships. Initially, standardized tests were reserved for core content every few years, and teachers could maintain enough flexibility to nurture and support students. Now teacher evaluations are tied to all content. No subject can be studied without the student taking an assessment that stamps her effort with a score while also passing judgment on her teacher.”
Pay for test scores is demeaning to teachers. Yet Governor Nathan Deal and his Education Reform Commission insist that every school district develop a plan to do it.
Please, someone tell Governor Deal that merit pay has been tried for a century and has never worked. Teachers need to collaborate, not complete.
The school board of Anaheim, California, asked for relief from charters. California has one of the most permissive charter laws in the nation. It also has one of the most powerful lobbies in the nation, the California Charter Schools Association.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
________________________
December 18, 2014
Contact: Pat Karlak
Public Information Officer
Phone: (714) 999-5662
Email: Karlak_p@auhsd.us
Anaheim Union High School District Calls for a Temporary Moratorium on Approval of Charter Schools
ANAHEIM—Board members of the Anaheim Union High School District and Superintendent Michael Matsuda on December 18 called for the state of California to implement a temporary moratorium on the approval of charter schools until legislators fix the overly permissive law that enables charters to operate on a business model whose main goal is to make money.
“Although there is nothing wrong with making money, when it comes to public education, our children should be our first priority,” Superintendent Matsuda said. “While charter school proponents may say they care about kids, many charters operate in the shadows with no transparency, no accountability, and no public review.”
The superintendent cited the example of Magnolia Science Academy, one of two charter applications recently submitted to AUHSD. Magnolia Science Academy is one of the largest charter operators in America, with 155 campuses and ambitious expansion plans. According to an expose on 60 Minutes, Magnolia Science Academy is overseen by Fethullah Gulen, a wealthy Turkish national who controls an international chain of Gulen schools.
The 60 Minutes piece exposed the fact that American taxpayer money—hundreds of millions of dollars nationwide—is being funneled into the pockets of Turkish foreign nationals in the form of contracts for building schools and hiring teachers. At the same time, Gulen’s financial health and practices have been called into question and investigated by local and state agencies. Fethullah Gulen, himself a Turkish national, is wanted by the government of Turkey and is in hiding in the United States.
“Because of lax charter laws that favor privatization, we are the only nation where taxpayer money is used to fund schools operated by foreign nationals,” Superintendent Matsuda said. “Although the Gulen officials insist there is no ill intent, enough questions have been raised about Magnolia’s charter school operations that it is a prime example of why we need an immediate temporary moratorium on charter schools until the laws are fixed and accountability is restored.”
Added Trustee Al Jabbar, “We respectfully ask the public to consider that if kids really come first, why are charter schools continuing to hide their funding, ownership, and financial relationships? Why don’t they allow open access to financials, including budgets and salaries, even though they spend taxpayer money, just like public schools do? Why not agree to the same accountability policies as public schools, policies that would build public trust?”
The entire AUHSD Board signed off on an opinion piece calling for the immediate moratorium, which was published December 18 in the Voice of OC. The day before, at a special school board meeting, AUHSD trustees unanimously rejected a petition by Vista Charter Middle School as educationally and financially unsound.
“It’s open season on neighborhood schools in Orange County, because the Orange County Board of Education, which, mind you, was elected to represent the public school children of the region, is now a 3-2 vote in favor of overturning virtually every local school board’s decision against a charter,” Mr. Jabbar noted. “The Orange County Board wants us to assume all the liability for failure. They want us to assume financial authority over charters when we just heard on Thursday night from a charter operator (Vista) who won’t have enough resources to make it through the first year. They want us to take back the special education and English learner students that they routinely ‘disenroll,’ or drop, to game the system and boost their academic reputation. Let the Orange County Board of Education assume that fiscal and moral risk. Don’t put it back on us as our responsibility. We don’t want it.”
The fact that the Orange County school board has the authority to grant charters without the consent of local school boards undermines the concept of local control and makes a mockery of the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), said AUHSD Board President Annemarie Randle-Trejo.
“The 27 school districts in Orange County have to ask themselves if they are OK with the Orange County Board of Education deciding the composition of each of our school systems,” Ms. Randle-Trejo said. “I’m not OK with that and you shouldn’t be, either.”
“If you look at donations to politicians, you will see a lot of money being funneled to them from charter school operators and special interests. These charter people are very smart,” Ms. Randle-Trejo added. “They have wined and dined politicians from the federal level down, providing junkets and campaign contributions. They stage openings of their schools and invite the local politicians. They certainly know how to play the political game.”
The submission of the petitions by Magnolia Science Academy and Vista are part of a coordinated strategy in Los Angeles and Orange counties by charter proponents to establish a stronghold in Southern California.
Voice of OC posts press releases to provide readers with information directly from organizations. We do not edit or rewrite press releases, and encourage readers to contact the originator of a given release for more information. To submit a press release email pressreleases@voiceofoc.org
This is an interesting development. David Coleman was the architect of the Common Core; Arne Duncan used Race to the Top to push it into almost every public school in the United States, without any prior field testing.
Now Coleman tells the Cardinal Newman Society that Catholic schools should not abandon their own core religious values. Did he ever tell public schools to go slowly?
Catholic is our core
Cardinal Newman Society
Editorial: Catholic Schools Should Proudly Keep ‘Catholic’ as Their Core
December 14, 2015
Common Core co-developer David Coleman says that Catholic schools should have the “moxie” to preserve and celebrate their Catholic identity and emphasis on the liberal arts — and The Cardinal Newman Society wholeheartedly agrees.
Today the Newman Society published two reports from our exclusive interview with Mr. Coleman , who not only helped write the Common Core Standards but also is CEO of The College Board, which is revising its college entrance exam (SAT) to reflect the Common Core. Although Mr. Coleman supports the Common Core, his comments to the Newman Society reinforce our consistent position that Catholic schools must have non-negotiable standards of Catholic identity and emphasis on the liberal arts. They should not compromise those standards for any reason, including conformity to sweeping school reforms.
Moreover, there is no need to rush into the Common Core Standards in Catholic education, even if educators find some value in them. Observe and see what works, reject what doesn’t. Mr. Coleman praises religious liberal arts education and says that students in traditional Catholic schools — even those in the growing number of classical education programs — have no need to worry about getting lower SAT scores on his revised exams. Certainly Catholic educators have no reason to fear falling behind public schools.
Changing curricula, textbooks, testing and literature standards in order to “keep up” with the Common Core is not in the best interest of Catholic schools and the students and families they serve. The Cardinal Newman Society works with wonderful Catholic schools across the country that continue to have great success providing a traditional liberal arts education with a strong Catholic mission.
It’s time for Catholic educators to “be proud of what you have to offer, which is different,” as Mr. Coleman said. Let’s stand in confidence with what we know and believe.
Please join with us in promoting faithful Catholic education by forwarding this email on to a family member or friend.
The Cardinal Newman Society 9720 Capital Court, Suite 201 Manassas, VA 20110
Scott McLeod, a blogger in Iowa, explains how politicians are following a script that details how to kill public education. Watch what they do. The same game plan is being repeated in other states.
McLeod knows that Iowa is not the worst-hit state, but it is being targeted for privatization.
Follow the steps. See if your state is suffering the same treatment at the hands of “reformers.”
He writes:
*underfund schools so that they can’t keep up with operational costs, will struggle to meet educational mandates, and will have to reduce personnel (bonus: fewer union members!)
*maintain claims about ‘fiscal accountability’ and future revenue concerns, even when they require ignoring strong revenue generation and projections
*reduce existing revenue streams in order to bolster claims of fiscal hardship (bonus: less government!)
*employ bait-and-switch funding mechanisms that supplant rather than supplement and/or disappear at the last minute
*ignore legal requirements to timely establish school funding levels that would allow districts to adequately plan and budget
*implement new, supplemental ‘bread and circuses’ initiatives (say, STEM or financial literacy) that distract the general public from the year-to-year erosion of base school funding
*give as little policy attention as possible to the known educational needs of students who live in poverty or don’t speak English as their primary language (and thus struggle academically), even as those student and family populations increase markedly within the state
*deflect the blame for your underfunding of schools by alleging schools’ inefficiency and superintendents’ mismanagement
*frequently change state standards and assessments and/or make them more difficult so that educators and students struggle to keep up and have less chance of hitting the moving targets
use selective data (say, NAEP scores) to manufacture educational crises that feed your rhetoric of public school failure
*create school grading and ranking schemes that shame struggling schools, demoralize the educators within them, and alarm parents
implement teacher evaluation schemes that are guaranteed to be unfair, demoralize educators, and confuse the public
*pitch tax credits and private/religious school vouchers or ’scholarships’ (‘money that will follow students in their backpacks’) to the general public as natural recourses to the failures of public schools
*write legislation that expands public school alternatives such as charters or homeschooling, particularly ones that can siphon funds away from public schools
*create double-standard school and educator ‘accountability’ provisions that apply to public schools but not non-public alternatives
*accept policy proposals, money, and political influence from seemingly anyone other than actual educators
affiliate with anti-public-school organizations (say, ALEC) that will feed you ‘model’ legislation proposals, connect you with successful players and tactics from other states, and provide ongoing encouragement to stay the course
*hold yearly education summits at which educators can only listen passively to carefully-vetted speakers who feed your desired agendas
*publicly dismiss, disparage, intimidate, or try to silence educators, parents, researchers, and others who speak out against your policies
The Ohio blogger Plunderbund produces documents to show that Governor John Kasich and State Superintendent Richard Ross planned the takeover of the Youngstown City school district. Up until now, they claimed that they were responding to a request from Youngstown leaders to get involved. But Plunderbund says Kasich and Ross initiated the process, not Youngstown residents.
The plan involves having the state takeover after the school board resigns, the local superintendent resigns, and the union contracts are canceled. Then…we may speculate that the goal is to turn the district into an all-charter district, which would meet ALEC specifications. This kind of structural change doesn’t improve schools or education; it doesn’t reduce class sizes or provide more teachers of the arts, more libraries, or more resources for the schools that need them most. It is a fast-track to privatization. We still need to see a proof point to show that privatization has anything to do with improving education.
We know what good education is, and it is not produced by driving out experienced teachers and bringing in low-wage, inexperienced temps and new technology. For examples, look at the best public and private schools in Ohio or any other state. What do they value? Experienced teachers, small classes, the arts, well-maintained facilities, and a supportive community. Neither charters nor vouchers produces those conditions.
The irony of the Youngstown plan is that, as Stephen Dyer of Innovation Ohio showed with state data, the charter schools in Youngstown do not perform as well as the public schools that Governor Kasich wants to get rid of. If the state wants to improve test scores in Youngstown, it should close down those low-performing charter schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 