The number of towns saying NO to Question 2 now exceeds 200 in Massachusetts.
Out-of-state billionaires have poured $20 million into the campaign to pass Question 2, which would cause budget cuts to the state’s public schools so that the charter industry could grow by 12 a year indefinitely.
School districts say no.
Mayor Walsh of Boston says no.
Senator Elizabeth Warren says no.
Save your schools: Vote NO.
I recently posted Carol Burris’s analysis of a court decision in California that blocked the sneaky expansion of charters into districts outside the one where they were authorized; the new charters called themselves “resource centers” and were infiltrating districts that did not want them.
Here is a report by the San Diego Union-Tribune on the same decision.
California’s booming satellite charter school industry that has persevered through lawsuits, scandals and turf wars suffered a blow this past week when a state appellate court ruled hundreds of the campuses are illegally operating outside their districts.
At issue now is how 150,000 California students — including 25,000 in San Diego County — will continue their education. The court decision also puts at stake millions of dollars in revenue generated by the charters for privately run organizations.
The 3rd District Court of Appeal overturned a lower court decision in a lawsuit filed by the Anderson Union High School District near Redding claiming the Shasta Secondary Home School (now Shasta Charter Academy) illegally opened satellite charter campus, which are officially called resource centers, in its jurisdiction.
Filed Monday and set to go into effect Nov. 16, the appellate decision reverses the lower court ruling, which sided with the charter that was authorized by the nearby Shasta Union High School District. The lower court said it was legal to operate a resource center, as such schools are officially called, in the neighboring Anderson district to give its independent-study students who live there a chance to use computers, receive tutoring and work on assignments in a classroom setting.
Of the state’s 1,200 charter schools, 275 are “resource centers,” many of them storefronts where students show up from time to time. That means that unless this decision is overturned by the state’s Supreme Court, more than 20% of California’s charter schools will cease to operate or seek some other option to survive.
San Diego public schools will welcome the return of the students in these “non-classroom-based” charters:
Andra Donovan, general counsel for the San Diego Unified School District, offers another option: Returning to district and its expanded catalog of independent-study programs.
San Diego Unified “is fully prepared and has sufficient capacity to absorb those students currently attending these charter schools, with fully robust, higher quality independent study and online learning programs as well as traditional and blended programs,” Donovan said. “Our graduation rate far exceeds that of many of these them and our district provides integrated support not available from these charters.”
These “resource centers” are locations intended to coordinate online instruction, which has repeatedly been shown to be a farce, educationally, an easy way to collect credits without getting an education.
Some districts opened resource centers because it was easy money.
Online instruction offers flexibility to students who want an alternative to traditional schools, and big revenue to charter organizations and authorizers. Districts that approve the charters receive up to 3 percent of their revenue for oversight and other services.
The Julian Union district opened its first charter in 1999, and now enrolls some 4,000 students in its charter resource centers across the region. Fewer then 400 local students attend Julian’s district schools.
The tiny rural two-campus district earned nearly $800,000 in revenue from its Julian and Diego Valley charters in the 2014-15 year, when its total revenue was $6.2 million.
Former Julian Superintendent Kevin Ogden helped establish the district’s first charter school, which took in $18 million in revenue last year, and operates 14 programs in eleven facilities.
Ogden helped usher in Diego Valley and Harbor Springs charters, both of which operate resource centers in other districts through independent study programs that offer as much as four days a week of classroom instruction or as little as a few teacher meetings. The Grossmont lawsuit targets Diego Valley.
Ogden retired about two years ago to take a top job at the Lancaster-based Learn4Life, an organization that includes Diego Valley, its Diego Plus Education Corporation and other charters throughout the state.
Following Julian’s lead, dozens of far-flung charters and resource centers have been authorized by other small East County districts, including some that acknowledged the arrangements were forged mostly for the money.
Does anyone seriously believe that the students who receive diplomas from these sham institutions are getting a high-quality education? Is this the way the U.S. will compete in the global economy? Hey, reformers, this is a farce.
Lawrence Feinberg, a veteran school board member and head of the Keystone State Education Coalition, warns here that the charter industry is trying to slip a bill through the legislature that would vastly expand charters while reducing accountability.
Pennsylvania currently has one of the most corrupt charter sectors in the nation. The number of prosecutions for theft and misappropriation of funds is rivaled only by the rapacious charter industry in Ohio.
But the charter industry wants more charters and less regulation.
Feinberg warns that HB 530 is a trick on the public and a treat for the charter lobby.
“With only a few days left on the legislative calendar, lawmakers are trying to push through charter expansion with HB 530. Those in favor are dressing it up in the best costume they have and passing it off as charter school reform. It is anything but. The state’s most recent School Performance Profile scores show that only 22 percent of charters achieved a score of 70 or higher, the level that state education officials view as acceptable. So why are legislators so quick to allow unchecked expansion of these schools, wasting of tax dollars?
“There are many good charter schools out there. They serve as a valuable piece of the education puzzle in our state. But the lack of accountability and transparency is something that taxpayers should not tolerate. If HB 530 becomes law, charters would be able to ignore enrollment caps, hold higher fund balances than their traditional school counterparts, open schools in more than one location without permission from the authorizing entity, and avoid participating in the state evaluation system for teachers and principals required of other schools.
“Authors of HB 530 also made sure to stack the decks in favor of charters through a new Charter School Funding Advisory Commission that the bill creates. The purpose of the commission is to explore issues related to charter schools and make recommendations. Its members include representatives from charter schools, the secretary of education, legislators and members chosen by legislators, and school business managers. Oddly, school directors who are charged with authorizing charter schools (and who are responsible for raising local revenue from their neighbors to support education) have no seat on the commission. Also, the current six-member Charter School Appeal Board is expanded to nine. Two of the three new positions are reserved for charter school administrators and trustees.
“As schools consolidate and populations continue to drop, many schools are finding that they need to shut down school buildings. Currently, schools can work within certain parameters to sell or lease these buildings. HB 530 requires schools to first offer these buildings to charters on first right of refusal, simply ignoring the wishes of the local taxpayers who paid for these buildings and may have other desired uses for them.
“One final concern I wish to mention is a new performance matrix created by HB 530 that would be used to measure the academic performance of charter schools and to assess renewal terms. This matrix is the only measure that may be used by school boards for evaluating charter schools. In current law, charters can be revoked for poor academic performance. Additionally, under case law, if a charter school does not meet specific, measurable academic benchmarks required under federal law, it may be subject to charter revocation if the sending school districts are performing better. House Bill 530 eliminates the ability to compare charter schools and their sending school districts and undermines the original intent of the Charter School Law to create schools that provide something above and beyond what is provided by traditional public schools. Oh, and guess who creates this matrix? The previously mentioned commission that is weighted in favor of charter school representatives.”
Call your representative. Stop HB 530.
Tom Hayden was a leading theoretician and activist in the civil rights movement and in the anti-war movement against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s. He died Sunday night.
His Port Huron statement was a powerful call to action.
His activism reminds us that regular citizens can stop a war, end injustice, and change the world.
Angie Sullivan sent the following message. The charter schools of Nevada are performing far worse than the public schools. As Angie asks, how can more charters be the answer when they are the problem? Should the failing charters be handed over to another charter? Or should they be closed so the students return to the more successful public schools? Unfortunately, as the law is written, only low-scoring public schools can be closed, not failing charter schools. Another irony: The Andre Agassi Charter school is listed by the state as a “failing school,” yet Agassi and his business partner Bobby Turner are opening Andre Agassi charter schools in many other cities. Why? To make money, not to make better schools.
Angie writes:
We have 39 charters in the state of Nevada and 14 of them are on the lowest performing list. 36% of Nevada Charters are in the lowest of the low in the state.
We have 359 schools in Clark County School District. 2 of the schools listed are alternative schools that teach credit retrieval and adult education. 17 schools in the lowest of the low in the state. That is 5% of CCSD schools.
Can someone explain to me how charters are the solution and not the problem in my state?
Frankly the public schools are doing much much better than the charters – even according to this invalid and weird data.
Also . . . keep in mind these rural schools which are failing represent a huge percentage. If Elko has 22 schools and 5 are failing – that is 23% of all their schools.
Comparatively, Clark County School District is doing better than the rest of the state and especially better than the charters.
CCSD is serving the most disenfranchised and likely to fail communities – we are doing better than the rest WITH the least amount of per pupil money. Everyone else in the state – including charters gets more.
Just think what we could do if we funded near the middle?
Yet the Nevada Department of Education keeps threatening public school staff with turnaround and now the Achievement School District. Schools without textbooks or supplies have to have entire staffs interviewed right before holiday break?
I think we need to start having a REAL discussion about education our state.
We need to demand REAL and timely data if that is what is driving this vehicle – not this sketchy fly-by-night multiple list craziness.
Tomorrow the Charter Authority will be meeting with the Las Vegas City Council at noon.
Those in power need to have a REAL discussion about closing these failing charters and a REAL discussion about the other costs charters have in our communities.
Like receivership – with receivers from Washington DC getting paid $25,000 a month to come out and reorganize charters: Quest and Silver State Schools. Who makes $25,000 a month?
_________________
I recieved the following message from a concerned parent today:
The details how this charter school set itself up is a scam.
It is part of an eviction case.
Then the receiver gets paid $25,000 a month to rehabilitate it. Plus $35,000 for a report.
And the state is soliciting for MORE receivers!!!! (On the charter school authority page.)
Look up Josh Kern and Ten Square he has 2 schools he is doing this for in Nevada the other is Silver State in Carson City.
$25,000 a month plus expenses dont want to miss that part.
Click to access Summary-Eviction-Tenant-Answer.pdf
You should see how insulted he is by the John Oliver attacks on charter schools in the Aug 26 video
http://charterschools.nv.gov/News/Public_Notices/
If they are failing shut them down and pay all of those $$$$ to public schools.
No one is going to jail over any of this.
_________________________
Someone is spending big money to try to protect these charters! BIG MONEY Who makes $25,000 in a month? Is the tax payer paying for these receivers? What a waste!
Charters are making Nevada’s education problems worse.
Angie
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Carson City, Nevada |
Pioneer HS |
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Charter |
100 Academy |
http://ccsd.net/divisions/stud ent-support-services-division/ 100-academy-of-excellence |
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Charter |
Agassi SEC |
http://www.agassiprep.net/apps /pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=24017 2&type=d&pREC_ID=854780 |
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Clark County School District |
Bailey MS |
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Clark County School District |
Brinley MS |
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Clark County School District |
Burk Horizon SW HS |
http://ccsd.net/divisions/educ ation-services-division/adult- education-horizon-sunset-high- schools |
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Clark County School District |
Cambeiro ES |
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Clark County School District |
Clyde Cox ES |
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Clark County School District |
Craig ES |
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Charter |
Delta Charter |
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Clark County School District |
Desert Pines HS |
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Clark County School District Alternative |
Desert Rose ALT |
http://desertrosehs.org/apps/p ages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=216521& type=d&pREC_ID=423036 |
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Clark County School District |
Ftizgerald ES |
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Charter |
Global Community |
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Charter |
Innovations ES |
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Charter |
Innovations SEC |
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Clark County School District |
Jerome Mack MS |
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Clark County School District |
Kelly MS |
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Clark County School District |
Lowman ES |
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Clark County School District |
Monaco MS |
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Charter |
Odyssey HS |
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Charter |
One Hundred Acad ES |
http://ccsd.net/divisions/stud ent-support-services-division/ 100-academy-of-excellence |
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Clark County School District |
Orr MS |
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Clark County School District |
Peterson ES |
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Clark County School District |
Priest ES |
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Clark County School District |
Von Tobel MS |
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Clark County School District |
West Prep Sec (MS) |
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Clark County School District |
Tom William ES |
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Clark County School District |
William Wendell ES |
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Elko |
Carlin HS |
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Elko |
Owyhee ES |
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Elko |
West Wendover ES |
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Elko |
West Wendover JHS |
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Elko |
West Wendover HS |
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Mineral |
Hawthrone HS |
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Mineral |
Schurz ES |
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Nye |
Pathways HS ALT |
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Nye |
Round Mountain ES |
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Charter |
Beacon Academy |
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Charter |
Discovery Charter |
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Charter |
NV Connections Academy |
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Charter |
Silver State Charter School |
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Washoe |
Desert Height ES |
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Washoe Charter |
I Can Do Anything HS |
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Washoe |
Natchez ES |
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Washoe Charter |
Rainshadow HS |
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The Washington Post has an interesting article about a curious phenomenon: Deaths caused by opiod abuse are rising, while prosecution of those involved in the supply line by the Drug Enforcement Administration has been ebbing.
The story begins:
“A decade ago, the Drug Enforcement Administration launched an aggressive campaign to curb a rising opioid epidemic that was claiming thousands of American lives each year. The DEA began to target wholesale companies that distributed hundreds of millions of highly addictive pills to the corrupt pharmacies and pill mills that illegally sold the drugs for street use.
Leading the campaign was the agency’s Office of Diversion Control, whose investigators around the country began filing civil cases against the distributors, issuing orders to immediately suspend the flow of drugs and generating large fines.
But the industry fought back. Former DEA and Justice Department officials hired by drug companies began pressing for a softer approach. In early 2012, the deputy attorney general summoned the DEA’s diversion chief to an unusual meeting over a case against two major drug companies.
“That meeting was to chastise me for going after industry, and that’s all that meeting was about,” recalled Joseph T. Rannazzisi, who ran the diversion office for a decade before he was removed from his position and retired in 2015.
Rannazzisi vowed after that meeting to continue the campaign. But soon officials at DEA headquarters began delaying and blocking enforcement actions, and the number of cases plummeted, according to on-the-record interviews with five former agency supervisors and internal records obtained by The Washington Post.”
What gives?
It is always useful to follow the money trail. The article mentions Purdue Pharmaceuticals, one of the biggest manufacturers of opioids.
Purdue has made one family into billionaires: the Sackler family of Connecticut, who made Forbes list of the nation’s richest families in 2015, with a family valuation of $13.5 billion. By some estimates, more than 2 million people are addicted to OxyContin is the US. Purdue has paid out hundreds of millions in fine, and the state of Kentucky is suing the company for nearly $1 billion. Not to put to fine a point on the matter, one article blamed the opiod epidemic on one company, with its aggressive marketing: “How the American opiate epidemic was started by one pharmaceutical company.” That company: Purdue, owned by the Sackler family.
What does this have to do with education?
Jonathan Sackler of the billionaire Sacklers is a big supporter of charters and privatization. Jonathan Pelto pointed this out in this post.
Charters? Check.
50CAN? Check.
StudentsFirst? Check.
Teach for America? Check.
Students for Educational Reform? Check.
And let us not forget daughter Madeline Sackler’s worshipful film about Eva Moskowitz called “The Lottery.”
It is ironic that people who fight for the public good must turn to crowd-sourcing and GoFundMe and Kickstarter campaigns, while those who push privatization of public schools can count on fortunes created by drug abuse, death, and addiction.
Peter Greene writes about a ruling in Pennsylvania that protects the privacy rights of teachers. The public does not have a right to know where teachers live, i.e., their home addresses. Sounds simple, no?
Today, when there are so many challenges to privacy, this is a ruling that is heartening.
Now, we need parents willing to challenge the right of school districts to agree to the data mining of their students without parental consent.
And parents who will sue when the district gives the names and addresses of their students to charter chains in search of students.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, former talk show host, really wants vouchers for the millions of students in Texas. Fortunately, he has been defeated year after year by a coalition of rural Tepublicans and urban Democrats.
The battle is on again this year. Patrick and his fellow ideological zealots are headed for a showdown on the issue. There is no evidence that vouchers “work,” and much evidence that they don’t. In a state like Texas, the voucher proposal is strongly opposed by a brave group called Pastors for Texas Children. (Make a donation if you can to help them.)
Supporters of vouchers insist that the schools that receive public funds should be exempt from state tests or any other accountability measures, which might limit their “freedom.”
“A bipartisan group of state representatives hammered private school choice proponents at a heated legislative hearing on Monday, signaling an enduring uphill battle in the Texas House for proposals that would use taxpayer dollars to help parents send their kids to private or parochial schools, or educate them at home.
“Rural Republicans and Democrats in the lower chamber have long blocked such programs — often referred to in sweeping terms as “private school vouchers,” although there are variations. Passing one has emerged as a top priority in the Texas Senate for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who unsuccessfully pushed a private school choice program when he was a Republican state senator from Houston and chairman of the Senate Education Committee.”
Of course, the proposal for vouchers is a pathetic excuse for failing to restore the $5 billion cut to the public schools in 2011.
Mike Klonsky reports on the Trump plan to get rid of public education, as described by Carl Paladino, a Trump surrogate and far-right extremist who owns charter schools in Buffalo, New York.
“If there was any doubt, Trump surrogate Carl Paladino made it perfectly clear that if his boss is elected his goal will be nothing less than the elimination of public education and complete liquidation of the nation’s teacher unions.
Paladino ran for governor against Cuomo and lost. He is the Trump of upstate New York.
Klonsky writes:
“Paladino, Trump’s N.Y State co-chairman told a group of urban school superintendents yesterday, that Trump would seek to do away with “corrupted, incompetent” public school systems in America’s cities, replacing them with charter schools and vouchers for private schools.”
Clinton may or may not continue Obama’s disastrous education policies, but she will listen when we push back.
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Blogger Jersey Jazzman is an experienced teacher and graduate student at Rutgers, where he has learned how reformers play games with data. He is better than they are and can be counted on to expose their tricks.
In this post, he blows away the myth of the “success” of Boston charter schools.
The public schools and the charter schools in Boston do not enroll the same kinds of students, due to high attrition rates in the charters (called Commonwealth charter schools).
He writes:
“As I pointed out before, the Commonwealth charter schools are a tiny fraction of the total Boston high school population. What happens if the cap is lifted and they instead enroll 25 percent of Boston’s students? What about 50 percent?
“Let’s suppose we ignore the evidence above and concede a large part of the cohort shrinkage in charters is due to retention. Will the city be able to afford to have retention rates that high for so many students? In other words: what happens to the schools budget if even more students take five or six or more years to get through high school?
“In a way, it doesn’t really matter if the high schools get their modest performance increases through attrition or retention: neither is an especially innovative way to boost student achievement, and neither requires charter school expansion. If Boston wants to invest in drawing out the high school careers of its students, why not do that within the framework of the existing schools? Especially since we know redundant school systems can have adverse effects on public school finances?”
Conclusion: Jersey Jazzman opposes Amendment 2, which would lead to an unsustainable growth in charter schools, free to push out the students they don’t want.
Diane Ravitch's blog 