Archives for the month of: January, 2016
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The Absurdity of Common Core in Special Education

By dianeravitch
January 22, 2016 //
90

Imagine teaching “To Kill a Mockingbird” to children who can’t read. Teachers of special education are expected to teach the Common Core to their students regardless of their ability or readiness.

This comes from Jill Cataldo, a teacher of special education, blogging on Brandin Stratton’s blog, called “Humans of New York.” (Thanks to readers for correcting me.)

“Even in special education, our curriculum is based on Common Core standards. I’ll have to teach about seasons to a child who doesn’t know his own name. I’m expected to teach To Kill A Mockingbird to a classroom full of nonverbal students, some of whom may be wearing diapers and haven’t learned their ABCs. I think it’s insulting to tell students what they’re going to learn, regardless of their abilities and needs. But I try to work some magic and design a lesson plan where everyone in the class can take something away from the story. For the least advanced students, we just use To Kill A Mockingbird to practice the alphabet. Then I’m also expected to teach Algebra. I try my best using lots of velcro and lamination, but I can’t say that many of my students have ever learned how to solve for x. We spend so much energy on learning how to sit still. I think special populations should be focused more on vocational training like filling out forms and budgeting money—things that will give them confidence and prepare them for independence. But I keep my mouth shut and do my best to work within the system. When I first began teaching, my mentor told me: ‘If there’s anything about the system that you want to fight, just make sure it’s the hill you want to die on.’”

Categories Common Core, Special Education

Washington State: Whose Children Matter Most?

By dianeravitch
January 22, 2016 //
23

Washington state has a school problem. The legislature confronts two court decisions that it doesn’t  like.

 

First, the highest state court ordered the legislature to fund the schools fairly. For every day the legislature fails to do so, it pays a fine of $100,000. This affects 1,070,000 children.

 

Second, the court ruled that charter schools are not public schools and cannot receive public funding. This was a direct rebuff to Bill Gates, who lives in Seattle and spent millions on a referendum supporting charters that won by less than 1%. He and his friends want the legislature to bypass the court ruling so charters can get public money. This affects 1,000 children.

 

Which issue do you think the legislature acted on?

 

The one that mattered to Bill Gates and 1,000 students, of course.

 

The State Senate voted 27-20 in favor of a “fix” that allows charters to get public funding that helps 1,000 children. The legislature has done nothing to increase the fair, equitable funding of 1,070,000 children.

 

The dissident senators understood what an epic fail this vote was:

 

“Yet some legislators disagreed that the bill was the measure that was needed when the legislature is being fined $100,000 a day by the state Supreme Court for failing to fully fund education. Referred to as the McCleary lawsuit, legislators questioned whether that sweeping imperative should take priority over the fate of charter schools. Some proposed amendments to the charter school bill, which would have added language to confirm the precedence of fully funding K-12 education.

 

“We have a systemic divestment in public education in this state,” said Sen. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle. Jayapal said she didn’t look to pit one issue against the other, but argued that the Senate needed to address its paramount duty.

 

“Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, agreed, adding that a move to create smaller class sizes — something she heard charter students testify was beneficial to their learning — should be accessible to the other 1 million children in the state’s K-12 system, not just the roughly 1,000 students in charter schools.”

 

Now the other house of the legislature will decide whether to address the problem of the 1,000 students in charters or the 1,070,000 children in public schools.

 

Parents and teachers should contact their representatives at once. Send letters, emails, phone calls. If the parents or guardians of more than 1 million children spoke up to defend their children, the plutocrats would lose.

 

The issue is this: the common good or special interests? Why doesn’t Bill Gates, with his $60 billion or so, pay to keep the charters open and insist that the legislature meet its constitutional obligation to the children of Washington state? Why not promote the greatest good for the greatest number?

Categories Education Reform

Gates Gives $2 Million to EdWeek

By dianeravitch
January 22, 2016 //
29

There are many fine journalists at Education Week. I count on EdWeek to be the K-12 paper of record.

That is why it is distressing to learn that the Gates Foundation gave Edweek nearly $2 million to cover technology. Gates has supported EdWeek for years.

“Date: October 2015
Purpose: to broaden education digital media capacity in the U.S. to share analysis, best practice, and current innovation in public education
Amount: $1,998,240
Term: 36
Topic: College-Ready, Strategic Partnerships
Regions Served: GLOBAL|NORTH AMERICA
Program: United States
Grantee Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Grantee Website: http://www.edweek.org”

I wish the billionaires would keep hands off the independent media. Can EdWeek be independent of the man and the industry that underwrites their coverage?

Categories Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Media, Technology, Computers

Jeb Bush Cronies Harass School Board Members

By dianeravitch
January 22, 2016 //
18

This is a shocking development. Associates of Jeb Bush have filed public records requests about elected local school board members. Behind this tactic is a growing anti-charter sentiment. Floridians have become aware of the numerous financial scandals connected to charters. Because of Bush, Florida is one of the friendliest environments in the nation for the charter industry.

 

 

“Folio Weekly has learned that three of Duval County’s seven sitting board members have been targeted for public records requests by Robert H. Fernandez, a litigation attorney who once served as Deputy General Counsel to Gov. Jeb Bush.

 

 

“Fernandez, a partner in the Coral Gables-based Zumpano Castro Law Firm, has issued two separate public records requests to Duval County School Board members Becki Couch, Dr. Connie Hall, and Paula Wright.

 

 

“Who is Robert H. Fernandez?

 
“As Deputy General Counsel in the then-Governor’s office, Fernandez served as a top lieutenant in Bush-brand education reform, particularly on school privatization efforts. Fernandez and one other attorney represented Jeb Bush in Florida’s landmark school voucher case, Bush v. Holmes. The Holmes case ended Bush’s plan for tax dollars to be used for private school vouchers. (Now, pre-treasury, “tax-credit” dollars are used for private school vouchers through the 501c3 organization, Step Up For Students.)

 

 

“According to his firm’s website, Fernandez “… is considered one of the leading lawyers in South Florida on representation of elected officials and candidates on election and ethics law issues.”

 

 

“Fernandez also once served as a reference for the cousin of charter school lobbyist Ralph Arza.

 

 

“Hugo Arza listed Fernandez and one other Bush-affiliated attorney when he applied to serve on the Florida Schools of Excellence Commission in 2007. The commission, which was designed to take charter school decisions out of the hands of local school districts, became defunct in 2008, when the First District Court of Appeals found it unconstitutional. Folio Weekly left a message for Fernandez on his office voicemail, but the call was not returned in time for our publication deadline.

 

 

“Who is Ralph Arza?

 

 

“Ralph Arza, a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, turned himself into the police for witness tampering charges in 2006. He admitted to leaving an obscenity-laced voicemail message for fellow lawmaker Gus Barreiro, and to using a racial slur in that recording. Barreiro had previously filed a complaint against Arza for calling a sitting schools superintendent a racial slur. Arza pled guilty in the criminal matter, served probation and community service, enrolled in anger management classes, and apologized publicly for his actions. He also withdrew his name from consideration for re-election to the House.

 

 

“Prior to the scandal, Arza was regarded as an important point-person in the Florida House for implementing Bush’s education reform initiatives. Arza, quoted often in the media as a longtime friend and adviser to presidential candidate Marco Rubio, now lobbies for the Florida Charter School Alliance. FSCA is one of several school-privatization advocacy organizations that are organized under the umbrella “Florida Alliance for Choice in Education,” or FACE.

 

 

“A vocal champion of school privatization, Arza told CBS affiliate WPEC-TV Channel 12 in South Florida, “The parents decide where the money goes, not the school district.”

 

 

“Charter schools have become more controversial in Palm Beach County recently, where, on Nov. 9, the school board voted 6-0 against opening a new CharterSchoolsUSA operation, citing a lack of innovative programming, which state statutes require. Charter schools are privately run, publicly funded organizations. Charter schools operate in privately held real estate assets, which receive public dollars for capital improvements.”

 

 

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Education Industry, Education Reform, Florida

EXCLUSIVE: How Does ESSA Affect Opt Outs? Part 4

By dianeravitch
January 22, 2016 //
15

This is the fourth in a series of exchanges about the Every Student Succeeds Act. I asked the questions, and David P. Cleary, Senator Lamar Alexander’s chief of staff, responded.

What does the law say about parent opt outs from testing? Are states allowed to withhold funding from schools where the participation rate is less than 95%?

Short Answer:

Under ESSA, in section 1111(b)(2)(K) of the new law, states are allowed, if they choose, to allow parents to opt students out of the federally required 17 tests.

In section 1111(c)(4)(E) of the new law, states are required to ensure that 95 percent of all students participate in the federally required 17 tests.

But, in that same section, the federal requirement is that, as part of the state accountability system, states determine how to take into account—or “factor”—the participation rate of students in determining how to judge the schools within the state. The Secretary, in section 1111(e)(1)(B)(iii)(XI) of the new law, is prohibited from telling a state how that requirement must be factored into the state accountability system. This means that the Secretary cannot say a school must drop a rating in the state accountability system, or be forced to enter into some kind of school improvement, or dictate any solution from Washington. How the 95 percent requirement factors into the state accountability system and the consequences for a school that fails to meet the 95 percent requirement are state decisions.

As under NCLB, the new law allows the Secretary to withhold Title I administrative funds if a state does not measure 95 percent of all students (or meet other requirements of the law).

However, it is up to the state, and not the Secretary, to enforce the 95 percent requirement for schools and determine the consequences for schools who do not meet the 95 percent requirement.

Long Answer:

This was a tough issue in the discussions in the Senate and House conference process. We were unable to get agreement to drop the 95 percent participation requirement from NCLB, which we recognize can interfere with opt-out efforts by parents.

We tried to balance the concerns of those who supported the NCLB testing mandates (the civil rights groups, the disability groups, the business community, among others) against the concerns of those who were frustrated with overtesting (parents, teachers, students, and others).

But our primary goal was to allow states, if they choose, to de-emphasize the importance of testing as the only indicator of school accountability. We hope that this will cause states to re-evaluate the number and types of tests that they require students to take, and make better decisions about how important any single test is for school accountability purposes. This, in turn, will help reduce the emphasis placed on testing, and restore to teachers the freedom to teach and students to learn.

It is our hope that as tests and the high stakes associated with an unthinking, punitive accountability system as in NCLB become less significant, the pressure and stresses associated with the tests will diminish, and the time spent on testing and test prep will drop. And states can develop new, more innovative testing systems under the new law, if they choose.

We’ve also clarified within the new law that states can choose to have opt-out policies for all of the tests they administer if they would like. Nothing prohibits them from creating these policies.

States have to take into account what happens to a school if the individual school fails to meet the 95 percent participation requirement within the state accountability system. But this can be very flexible. A state could choose a variety of outcomes—including that test participation has no impact on a school’s identification; or that the school can no longer receive the top rating in the state accountability system; or that the school’s rating must be downgraded a level. A state could also decide to strictly enforce the 95 percent participation requirement. It is up to the state.

As for the Secretary, enforcement of this provision is after the fact, not up front, and not at the school level. This means that a state that fails to meet the 95 percent participation requirement would typically be given a warning, then placed on corrective action where the state and the Secretary work together on a plan to work towards meeting the requirement.

A state can also seek a waiver from the 95 percent testing requirement.

Categories ESSA

Mike Klonsky on Rauner’s Plan to Control Chicago and CPS

By dianeravitch
January 21, 2016 //
26

We have learned in recent years that “reform” goes hand-in-hand with the suspension or muzzling of democracy. Mike Klonsky explains what’s behind Governor Bruce Rauner’s plan to take over Chicago and the Chicago Public Schools.

He writes:

“Yesterday, we heard the news that Gov. Bruce Rauner and top Republican leaders are planning to introduce legislation aimed at an emergency financial takeover of the city of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools. Their rationale is the $500 million shortfall within the Chicago Public Schools system which they themselves — with help from sellout Democrats — created.

“We are told that the legislation would also allow for CPS and the city of Chicago to declare bankruptcy – something by law both cannot currently do. To sweeten the pot, Rauner threw in the promise of a elected CPS school board, but only “once the financial situation is remediated”.

“Given the history of corruption, racism, and incompetence behind Rahm Emanuel’s own autocratic rule over the schools, the promise of an elected board may sound attractive, given the widespread support shown for an end to mayoral control by Chicago voters. But it’s merely a ploy.

“The move is also Rauner’s way of heading off a budget compromise and a contract agreement between CPS and the CTU and cutting the heart out of collective bargaining rights for teachers public employee unions, statewide. It’s their alternative to raising taxes on their wealthy and corporate patrons to pay for the operation of a predominantly black and Latino school district.

“It’s the “Katrina model” which Paul Vallas used to bust the teachers union and privatize the entire New Orleans school system, getting Arne Duncan’s stamp of approval in the process. Gov. Snyder used it in Michigan to destroy democracy, including elected city government and the school system in Detroit. Snyder poisoned the people in Flint as a cost-cutting measure, along the way….

“The move brings to mind the Tribune editorial board’s call back in May, for a “Mussolini-type” dictatorship over CPS followed by the Trib’s Kristen McQueary praying for a Katrina-like storm to hit Chicago.”

How can Rauner do this when Democrats have a veto-proof majority in the legislature?

Categories Chicago, Democracy

Tennessee: Legislators Propose Closing “Achievement School District”

By dianeravitch
January 21, 2016 //
30

One of the celebrated feats of the corporate reform movement is Tennessee’s Achievement School District. It was launched by then-State Commissioner Kevin Huffman as the way to increase the performance of the state’s lowest performing schools. Huffman recruited Chris Barbic, founder of the Yes Prep charter chain to run ASD. Barbic said that ASD would take the 5% of the state’s lowest performing schools, and in five years, these schools would be in the state’s top 25%.

 

It didn’t happen. Barbic resigned. Gary Rubinstein reviewed state data and learned that the six original schools in the ASD made no improvement. A Vanderbilt study said the same.

 

Now state legislators are introducing legislation  to close the ASD.

 

A number of other states, such as Georgia, are opening their own ASD. What sensible person would use failure as a model?

 

ASD is another setback for corporate reform. None of the reform ideas has succeeded. Their only “achievement ” is to introduce disruption. Nothing good comes of it.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Education Reform, Tennessee

Miron: Charter Schools’ Administrative Costs More than Public Schools

By dianeravitch
January 21, 2016 //
18

Recently there was a back-and-forth among readers about whether charter schools or public schools pay more in administrative costs. One of our readers who supports charters insisted they were more efficient and spent less on administration. 

I decided to ask one of the nation’s foremost scholars of charter school organization and finance, Gary Miron of Western Michigan University. 
Here is his response:

Hi Diane,
** This has been a recurring finding in the 9 state evaluations commissioned by state ed agencies that we conducted between 1997- and 2007 as well as in a national study of charter school finance we conducted in 2010.
 See cite below
Miron, G., & Urschel, J. L. (2010, June). Equal or Fair? A Study of Revenues and Expenditures in American Charter Schools. Boulder and Tempe: Education and the Public Interest Center & Education Policy Research Unit. Retrieved [date] at http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/EMO-RevExp.pdf
** We also write about this and document this in our 2002 book, Chapter 4, around page 58. Also, in chapter 4, we hypothesized that over time charters would increasingly be able to devote more to instructional costs but this did not happen.

 

Miron, G., & Nelson, C. (2002). What’s public about charter schools? Lessons learned about choice and accountability. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.  
Hope this helps. 
 Gary
 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Reform, Funding

Nancy Flanagan: Hear the Voices of Detroit’s Teachers: Heroes of Education

By dianeravitch
January 21, 2016 //
13

Nancy Flanagan is a veteran NBCT teacher in Michigan, now retired an blogging. She shared the following posts about what is happening in Detroit. Let me add that in my view the public school teachers of Detroit are heroes. Despite the vilification heaped on them by politicians and the media, despite being blamed for the poverty of the children and the state’s persistent neglect, they serve. They are first responders. I name them heroes of American education and add them to the blog’s honor roll.

Flanagan writes:
“Here’s some commentary directly from Detroit PS teachers–the situation is much more complex than crumbling buildings and overstuffed classrooms. The entire system has been taken over by an Emergency Manager:
<br />
<br />http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/2016/01/teacher_protests_unethical_and_union-led–or_evidence_of_professional_courage.html
<br />
<br />ANd here are more teacher voices–both from those who were protesting via sickout and those who went in to work:
<br />
<br />http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/2016/01/whats_going_down_in_detroit_today.html
<br />
<br />What has happened in Detroit is now a template for the rest of the nation–witness the IL governor’s call for an Emergency Manager system there.”

Categories Detroit, Education Reform, Honor Roll, Teachers

Mercedes Schneider: Pearson Cuts 4,000 Jobs and Boots CFO

By dianeravitch
January 21, 2016 //
26

Mercedes Schneider posts that Pearson is downsizing by 4,000 jobs worldwide. In addition, it is shedding its CFO. She attributes Pearson’s bad economic news to its bet on Common Core. A bad bet.

Here is the BBC account.

Categories Budget Cuts, Common Core, Pearson
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