Archives for the month of: February, 2016
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David Gergen Is Woefully Misinformed

By dianeravitch
February 11, 2016 //
50

David Gergen said on CNN tonight that young people voted for Bernie Sanders because Hillary criticized charter schools. Yes, he actually said that, on the Erin Burnett show. He said that young people like charter schools, and they were angry that Hillary opposes charter schools.

 

To begin with, there is no evidence whatever that young people want charter schools. If they are old enough to vote, they aren’t in school, and very few went to a charter school.

 

But it makes no sense to say that young people voted for Bernie because Hillary doesn’t support charter schools. Bernie has come out in opposition to charter schools. Is that why young people voted for him? Hillary made a 30-word statement that accurately stated that some charter schools don’t serve all kinds of children; her top aide for education “walked back” the statement and insisted that Hillary does support charter schools.

 

Will we have to endure this kind of nonsense from now until November?

Categories Charter Schools, Education Reform, Politics

Hillary Won More Delegates in New Hampshire than Bernie

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2016 //
76

This afternoon, I went to the local stationery store to get a document notarized and faxed. My local stationery store happens to be run by Hasidism, members of an orthodox Jewish sect. I asked Moishe, “How do you feel knowing that a Brooklyn Jew is running for president?” He responded that Bernie can’t win because of the super-delegates. He informed me that Hillary won more delegates in New Hampshire than Bernie, even though Bernie won the popular vote by a wide margin.

 

How could this be? I went home, and googled the “super delegates Democratic party.” I came across this article which explains why the Democratic party has super delegates, who the super delegates are (members of Congress and bigwigs in the party), and how they tilt the field towards the establishment candidate. Moishe was right that Hillary won more delegates in New Hampshire than Bernie.  She won 15 delegates in New Hampshire and Bernie won 13. 

 

The author, Shane Ryan, writes that there will be 4,763 delegates in total at the Democratic convention. Of that number, 712 are “super delegates,” about 15 percent of the total. To win the nomination, a candidate needs 2,382 delegates.

 

Right now, Hillary has 394 delegates, and Bernie has 42.

 

Who are the super delegates?

 

Every Democratic member of Congress, House and Senate, is a Superdelegate (240 total). Every Democratic governor is a Superdelegate (20 total). Certain “distinguished party leaders,” 20 in all, are given Superdelegate status. And finally, the Democratic National Committee names an additional 432 Superdelegates—an honor that typically goes to mayors, chairs and vice-chairs of the state party, and other dignitaries.

 

Shane says that a candidate–be it Hillary or anyone else–could theoretically lose the  popular vote yet have the most delegates. Yet, he believes—and this is what I told Moishe, that no candidate can win the general election unless they are clearly the choice of the party.

 

Which is why the super delegates will not determine the party’s candidate for the general election. The voters will decide.

 

In case you are wondering, I do not favor either candidate. I believe that either Democrat would be far preferable to those running for the GOP nomination. Sitting at home is not an option. This election is far too important to sit home.

 

Vote in the primary, vote in the general.

Categories Education Reform

Why Randi Spoke at the TFA #25 Convention

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2016 //
71

Many readers were upset to learn that Randi Weingarten was speaking at the Teach for America 25th reunion at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C., last weekend.

 

Randi appeared on a panel with Howard Fuller, who advocates for charters and vouchers. Fuller founded the BAEO, the Black Alliance for Educational Options. He goes around the country promoting school choice to black leaders and communities. Many years ago, he was the superintendent in Milwaukee. When he became a choice advocate, he was funded by the rightwing Bradley Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and others.

 

Randi points out in her article that vouchers have been a failure in Milwaukee, but she wasn’t there to debate Fuller. She explains here why she decided to appear at the TFA event.

 

My purpose was not to debate Fuller; it was to have a conversation about a path forward, to end the ridiculous debate in reform circles that poverty and greater economic issues don’t matter, and to debunk the notion that individual teachers can do it all.

 

I caught some flack on Twitter and Facebook for even attending a TFA event. The AFT and TFA disagree on a number of fundamental issues regarding education. I believe that teacher preparation should reflect the complexity and importance of this work, and that a crash course simply doesn’t cut it — it’s not fair to corps members or their students. Further, I think that TFA’s model of inadequately prepared teachers and high turnover deprofessionalizes teaching by design. And it’s dead wrong when districts use austerity as the excuse to hire TFA recruits as replacements for experienced teachers.

 

Read on.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Education Reform, Milwaukee, School Choice, Teach for America, Vouchers

Indiana: Glenda Ritz Says No to Vouchers But Will It Matter?

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2016 //
7

In Indiana, Republican legislators want to expand the voucher program so more students can attend religious schools paid for by taxpayers. Glenda Ritz opposes the expansion.

 

“Ritz is referring, in part, to an idea in Senate Bill 334, authored by Sen. Carlin Yoder, R-Middlebury, that would allow schools to accept voucher students for the spring semester as late as Jan. 15 — four months after the current Sept. 1 deadline.
“The bill would eliminate provisions in state law that limit students to just one voucher per school year and would do away with current rules requiring students who leave a private school before the year ends to pay back the rest of that year’s tuition. House Education Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, said he plans to hear the bill, a signal it could have support among House lawmakers.
“At a Senate Education Committee hearing on the bill last month, Yoder said he proposed the bill, which passed the Senate last week 40-9, for programs similar to ones at The Crossing, a network of private religious alternative schools that serve about 2,500 Indiana students.
“The network includes 28 accredited private Christian schools spread throughout Indiana that cater specifically to students who struggled at other schools, were expelled or dropped out.”
“Yoder’s bill, however, would apply to any eligible student who wants to transfer to an eligible private school, not just those who are struggling and want to switch to a school in The Crossing network.”

 

Ritz may not be able to stop the legislative raid on funds that the state constitution reserves only for public schools.

 

Categories Education Reform, Indiana, Republicans, Vouchers

John Kasich and Charter Schools: Privatization and Fraud

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2016 //
11

The media has swallowed the myth that John Kasich is a moderate. They have forgotten that he tried to eliminate collective bargaining but was rebuked by Ohio’s voters. Certainly the media doesn’t know about the shameful profiteering in Ohio’s charter sector, where wealthy campaign contributors have been excused from any accountability. Just keep those campaign bucks coming!

 

At least the Cleveland Plain Dealer knows the story. Kasich’s campaign manager is Beth Hansen. Her husband David Hansen resigned as director of charter school operations after he presented phony data to the feds and won a $71 million grant to create more charter schools. Unfortunately–it must have been a “lapse of judgment”–he neglected to include in his report to the US Department of Education the F grades of Ohio’s online charter schools (a source of great profit to their owners and a reliable source of political donations).

 

In an editorial the newspaper said:

 

At this point, it’s nearly impossible to trust anything the Ohio Department of Education has to say on charter school performance, the subject of so much chicanery last year that in November the federal government froze a giant $71 million charter school expansion grant to Ohio.

 

And it just gets worse.

 

The latest news? A Jan. 29 letter from ODE to federal regulators sent in an attempt to win back the grant reveals that Ohio has nearly 10 times as many failing charter schools as it first reported to the U.S. Department of Education in its 2015 charter-school-expansion grant application.

 

The letter was in response to a federal government request for more information from Ohio as it reviews the state’s once-successful grant that would allow the best charter schools to expand using federal funds.

 

The state department of education seems to be more committed to the well-being of the charter industry than to Ohio’s children, say the editorial writers.

 

Here is the latest restatement of the charter data:

 

In the letter, the state increased the number of failing charter schools to 57 in 2013-2014 compared with six in the original application. That’s a nearly tenfold difference. At the same time, the letter reported 59 high-performing charter schools instead of 93, a 36 percent decrease.

 

So Ohio has 57 failing charter schools, and 59 high-performing charter schools. Picking a successful charter is akin to flipping a coin. Meanwhile, scarce taxpayer dollars are subsiding an inexcusable number of failing charter schools. And the state wants more.

 

If you want a candidate to take from the middle class and give to the rich, if you want a candidate to protect the powerful, if you want a candidate to attack unions and working people, Kasich is for you.

 

Valerie Strauss posted earlier today a review of Kasich’s education record. It is a mess and nothing to boast about. He is no more a moderate than Cruz, Rubio, or Bush.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories Charter Schools, Education Reform, Ohio

Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnono: “Are Detroit Children Less Deserving of a Good Education?”

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2016 //
5

Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnono was previously a science teacher in Detroit Public Schools. She is now a member of the Michigan legislature. Here she addresses the “savage inequalities” that Detroit’s children and teachers suffer daily.

 

Watch her powerful testimony at a state senate committee meeting about the destruction of public education in that city. She points out that Detroit has had four consecutive emergency managers, who have caused the district’s budget to ballon and solved no problems. Detroit is celebrating a renaissance of business and cultural life, yet Governor Snyder–who controls the Detroit public schools–continues to use their students as guinea pigs in his free-market laboratory instead of doing what works: small classes, experienced teachers, a rich curriculum, plenty of arts, social workers, guidance counselors, psychologists, librarians, and school nurses.

 

The Network for Public Education was proud to endorse Rep. Gay-Dagnono as a candidate for office. Her voice in the Michigan legislature is necessary and important.

Categories Detroit, Michigan

Obama Friends Take Over For-Profit Higher Education Group

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2016 //
15

A group of investors with close ties to the Obama administration have taken control of the University of Phoenix and other for-profit “universities.”

“The troubled for-profit education company that owns the giant University of Phoenix agreed on Monday to be bought for $1.1 billion by a group of investors that includes a private equity firm with close ties to the Obama administration.

“The university and its owner, the Apollo Education Group, have been subject to a series of state and federal investigations into allegations of shady recruiting, deceptive advertising and questionable financial aid practices.

“In recent years, many for-profit educational institutions that have received billions of dollars in federal aid, including the University of Phoenix, have been pummeled by criticisms that they preyed upon veterans and low-income students, saddling them with outsize student loan debt and subpar instruction.

“Moreover, at many of these schools, enrollment has been falling and profits shrinking, casting doubt on the future health of the industry.

“The investors in the Apollo Education Group include the Chicago-based investment firm Vistria Group, the Phoenix-based Najafi Companies, and funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management, which is not connected to the Apollo Education Group….

“Vistria’s founder is Marty Nesbitt, one of President Obama’s closest friends and the chairman of the Obama Foundation. Mr. Nesbitt is also a longtime business partner of Penny Pritzker, the commerce secretary.

“A Vistria partner and its chief operating officer, Tony Miller, was deputy secretary of the United States Department of Education between 2009 and 2013. He has been tapped to become the new chairman of Apollo Education Group in August, when the deal is scheduled to be completed.”

If you watched the video of the congressional panel quizzing John King about the ethical “lapses” of Chief Information Officer Danny Harris, you may recall that King said that deputy secretary Miller had cleared Harris.

Now we understand why the for-profit higher education industry has gotten a free pass.

Categories For-Profit, Higher Education

Chicago: No, Children, This is not a Normal School District

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2016 //
6

Julie Vassilatos, a parent of children in the Chicago public schools, writes about how she explains the Chicago public schools to her children.

 

“No, kids, this school district isn’t normal.”

 

She writes:

 

 

But it isn’t so much CPS I feel I need to explain. It isn’t so much the dictatorial leadership, the robotic degree of testing that’s required, the number of librarians who are fired, the unimaginable inequities among schools from neighborhood to neighborhood, a food contract that is so bad students all over the district are boycotting meals.

 

It’s not the way arts and music have disappeared from curricula, or the constant looming threat of hundreds, or thousands, of teachers being fired. It isn’t the revolving door of leadership and the chaos that ensues, or the dark insinuations from Springfield that our already untenably undemocratic situation could get a lot more North Korea on us.

 

It isn’t so much the methods we parents must use to communicate to this district, this mayor, and his puppet board–like hunger strikes for weeks and weeks, and occupying libraries so they can’t be demolished, and declaring sit-ins so somebody somewhere will talk to us because they will have to step over us, or sitting in the middle of the road in order to get arrested, or staging press conference after press conference after press conference because maybe the media will listen even if the CEO doesn’t.

 

I don’t so much feel any of this needs explaining. It is, after all, all my kids have ever known.

 

Rather, what I sometimes wonder about is just that. I wonder if they know that this isn’t normal.

 

Oh, I know it’s their normal. I just don’t know how to explain that it isn’t everyone’s normal.

 

And it shouldn’t be anyone’s normal.

 

This school district, Chicago Public Schools, fills me with horror and astonishment every day. No–I certainly don’t mean the schools. They do an admirable job of shielding the students from the unending stream of harm and nonsense that comes from central office. Most of our schools are strong communities where so much learning and growth happen. Kids are mostly protected from the drama, the galling contracts, the high stakes chess games that characterize central office.

 

 

Categories Chicago, Parents, Students

Pennsylvania: Whistle-Blower Files Federal Lawsuit Against Charter for Corrupt Practices

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2016 //
16

The ex-principal of the Franklin Towne Charter School has filed suit against his former employer, charging that he was fired because he objected to improper activities.

 

A federal whistle-blower suit claims an elementary principal at the Franklin Towne Charter School in Bridesburg was hired under false pretenses and then terminated after he raised serious concerns about its operations.

 

Todd A. Dupell alleges that he was wrongfully dismissed as principal last August after he complained to the board chair that the charter was billing the Philadelphia School District for full-day kindergarten even though the program was not full day; the charter was awash in nepotism; and the school was paying the wife of a former board member $80,000 for a nonexistent job because otherwise her husband could “make noise.”

 

Dupell also alleged that the charter was violating state law because it was not providing required services to students who were learning English….

 

Dupell gave up his tenured post as a principal in Bucks County to work for the charter school. He was told by staffers that the former principal had been removed because of improper activities, including charges of shoplifting and using excessive force against a student. Then Dupell learned that the former principal would be his supervisor. Dupell said that when he met with the chair of the charter board to express his concerns, he was terminated.

 

 
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20160208_Ex-principal_of_Franklin_Towne_charter_files_whistle-blower_suit.html#RzXdREHwHCei8ZmD.99

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Hoax, Philadelphia

Warning! Every College and University in Illinois May Have to Close Due to Legislative Inaction

By dianeravitch
February 10, 2016 //
6

Dr. Barbara Gellman-Danley, president of the the accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission, wrote to the governor and state legislative leaders in Illinois and warned them that every public college and university in the state may be required to close because of the legislature’s failure to act on the budget. 

 

She wrote:

 

 

I am writing on behalf of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), the regional accrediting agency for nineteen states, including Illinois. HLC is recognized by the United States Department of Education to assure quality in higher education and to serve as the gatekeeper to federal financial aid for students in our region.

 

As your role in Illinois includes consequential decisions regarding the governance and funding for colleges and universities, I am notifying you of the potential accreditation outcomes that may result from not approving a budget that will provide funding to Illinois colleges and universities and their students.

 

A criterion for accreditation is demonstration of the availability of financial, physical, and human resources necessary to provide quality higher education. HLC is aware that the colleges and universities in Illinois may need to suspend operations because financial resources from the state are not available. HLC is obligated to move swiftly to protect Illinois students and to ensure the quality of the colleges and universities they attend.

 

Following federal regulations, HLC has notified all Illinois colleges and universities that if they believe they will have to suspend operations or close in the next several months, they must provide HLC with a plan for how students can continue at another college or university to avoid eliminating their access to higher education. For students to continue at another institution, it could mean having to transfer to private universities or leave the state. It is also probable some students may drop out of college. The plan also must explain how students will be informed about this urgent situation, including how they access transcripts if operations have been suspended due to lack of state funding.

 

Will Illinois’ elected officials act responsibility to protect public higher education in their state?

 

 

Categories Funding, Higher Education, Illinois
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