Eva Moskowitz wants the world to know how to achieve student success.
She has launched a national institute to tell everyone how to achieve high high high test scores.
http://www.successacademies.org/edinstitute/
Does she mention the careful selection of students? Or the exclusion of students with disabilities? Or the marketing campaign to persuade parents that winning a slot at SA is akin to winning the lottery? Does she mention the “got to go” list of kids that must be suspended again and again until they leave? Does she explain how to get rid of the students who pull your school’s scores down?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Eli Broad and his foundation have made it clear that the kids who leave — the 5 year old children who are suspended and the children with special needs who are punished and humiliated and targeted for removal — do not matter. They are less than nothing and in Trump’s new America we only care about our own kids getting theirs without having to worry about the “others” whose costs they don’t want to pay for.
This is Betsy DeVos philosophy and Eva Moskowitz has embraced it as her own. After all, she is one of the very few educators who strongly embraced and endorsed DeVos and insisted that the DeVos philosophy is what American schools need. There is no need for regulations as long as there is a “market”. And you may discriminate, you may humiliate, you may suspend, you may lie, because if any of those were bad things parents wouldn’t come to your school.
And if Eva Moskowitz had a special sauce then the schools where her billionaire funders send their kids would have embraced the teaching methods she claims are the reason she gets results with the selected children who she deigns to teach as long as their parents commit to doing everything demanded and their children are SA-approved proficient students.
Notice she doesn’t mention the fact that huge cohorts of at-risk students are failed and need extra time to follow her program. Sadly, if she wasn’t such a dishonest promoter of herself, Ms. Moskowitz could actually do some good by explaining that she has found an extraordinarily high number of at-risk kids need at least one extra year — or even two — to get to 4th grade. A good discussion of how to slow down the curriculum for students without targeting them as “failures” might be worthwhile. But that’s what someone whose priority is children would do. Since Eva Moskowitz’ main priority is herself, anything that even hints of failure in her world must not be spoken. In that, as in many other things, she has much in common with Donald Trump.
The disgrace is this inequitable, exclusionary market based system is the policy espoused by the DOE. It is outrageous that the DOE would forward policies that are elitist and segregative with winners and losers. This is an abandonment of the American dream based on democratic principles and disassociation with the public schools that built this nation.
Yes – one of the ugliest things about this is that thanks to Gov. Cuomo being completely corrupted by the billionaires who donate to his campaign, Eva Moskowitz is able to run a charter school system LARGER than the majority of school systems in America.
But with one very stark difference. Unlike every public school system — including those a fraction of the size of her NYC chain, Eva Moskowitz has absolutely no responsibility to teach any child she deems unworthy. Or too expensive. She does us the great “favor” of opening schools for any above average at-risk student who has no expensive needs. And demands we are grateful for her sacrifice.
Charters in NY State are there to serve the at-risk children failed by public schools. Not to pick off the least expensive of them and expect the city to use its budget to educate those kids with special needs.
Even the wealthiest school districts understand that they can’t simply tell a child with special needs “you’re out of here find someone else to pay for your education”. But somehow there is a unique school system significantly larger that does just that. It’s so outrageous that future generations will be shocked at how corruption like that could go unchecked.
The little mentioned problem is that other charters are now incentivized to follow Eva Moskowitz’ lead. Why should they have to teach “unworthy” kids either? Soon every charter will either follow the “sorry we don’t want you” method to dismiss unwanted students. With the savings used to market heavily to the students they do want.
An additionally almost never mentioned problem: in too many cases the kids who are found “unworthy,” those kids who do not “fit” into the charter/choice mold, are being pushed into criminalized status and incarcerated.
“pushed into criminalized status…”
Oh yes, and at Success Academy the unworthy children are criminalized at age 5 and 6 – especially if they don’t have college educated parents and aren’t middle class and/or white. To hear Eva Moskowitz defend outrageously high suspension rates in Kindergarten and first grades on camera by claiming those very young children were so violent she had no choice is certainly criminalizing them. And Eli Broad and his foundation financially reward her for her good work identifying those violent kids at an early age so they don’t contaminate the “worthy” children’s experience.
Did she mention that the foundation of her methods is to bully children verbally, mentally and physically?
This “Institute” is the equivalent of Trump University. Fraudulent and toxic. I’ve been to Harlem Success. Even if one were to forgive the horrifying treatment of children, the dull regimentation and the inadequacy of the teachers, there is nothing “engaging” about the learning and they don’t “grapple” with complex texts. It takes a special kind of evil to do these things to children and then claim the power of engagement and critical thinking.
Eva’s Famiy Handbooks show clearly that parents are being seclected, not just students. I just scalnned one that is 30 pages long with an “interesting” discussion of how SA will persuade parents the school cannot serve a child with special needs. If children do not comply with long lists of gotch rules, they can be denied the opportunity to particiapte in so-called “enrichment activities” including chess, arts, sports, field trips. Parents have also have what might be regarded as “100% compliance” or your child will have consequences. There is a “parent handbook,” for elementary, middle, and high school. http://www.successacademies.org/family-handbooks/
I love how ed reform never looks at the other side of “choice” schools. The students that don’t fit in at Eva’s chain have to go somewhere, since we have a universal system of public education.
Where do they go? No one is concerned about those schools? No one cares how that impacts them?
These people are supposedly “systems thinkers” yet they somehow omit the public systems that underlay the “choice” schools.
How in the HECK does that happen? I’ll tell you how – capture and ideology.
You can’t design a public system and ignore the vast majority of students. It’s nuts. Yet here we are and it goes all the way to the top. Betsy DeVos has convinced herself that 3% of students who may attend a private school with her vouchers = 100% of students thru the magic of markets or unicorns or something.
Ivanka Trump visits a Success charter and somehow manages to “disappear” the public school students who are in the same building. It’s wacky. Do they blindfold her when she walks past the public school rooms? How’s “co location” working out for them? No one cares?
“Greeting parents coming to pick up their children. Ms. Moskowitz asks a lot of participation from parents, as a condition of admitting their children. She told one group, “If you know you cannot commit to all that we ask of you this year, THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU.”
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/11/03/nyregion/03eva2.slide-11.html
Journalists cover Eva Moskowitz the way they did Donald Trump for the 2 years up to his election. They covered all Trump’s boasts and claims and lies and (sometimes) presented the other side as if both sides “could” be true.
And they cover Eva Moskowitz’ claims and boasts and lies without mentioning that all claims, boasts and lies are meaningless if you are telling parents from the start to get out if they can’t “commit”. And since Eva Moskowitz is the sole arbiter of what it means to “commit”, it’s no wonder she has to weed out so many children whose parents thought they were committing and were not. Their kid isn’t learning fast enough? Shame on the parent for not “committing” enough — find another school.
I only suspend the most violent children says Eva Moskowitz and the journalists don’t question that Eva Moskowitz has just smeared 20% of the kindergarten and first graders in a virtually non-white charter school as violent. They don’t question Moskowitz’ claims that those non-white children’s natural violent tendencies — even at age 6 — can be curbed by no other way but suspension.
“THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU” if Eva Moskowitz decides you or your child’s “commitment” to the program isn’t strong enough. “THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU” if Success Academy’s celebrated “model” teacher’s humiliation isn’t turning your child into a scholar. “THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU” if you don’t accept that your child has to spend his 3rd year in 2nd grade and that it’s all your fault for not being “committed” enough.
After all, who better to judge whether the children and their parents are “committed” enough than the “educator” who has embraced Betsy DeVos and her philosophy as so very GOOD for school children? Let’s give her the “trust” she demands we give to Betsy DeVos.
And journalists say “sounds good to me! We won’t ever ask her why so many kids leave, why she told parents that this school wasn’t for them unless they “commit to all that is asked” and if that is why so many kids leave. We won’t ever ask her how in the world she can claim 20% of a school’s 5 and 6 year old students are violent and why she dropped priority for at-risk kids. We’ll just transcribe her claims and boasts and lies without question just as we did for Trump in the year before his election.” What could go wrong?
It’s great that Success Charters is offering information to the public but it isn’t “generous”. The public paid for every bit of it. They pay every salary in those schools. There shouldn’t even be a question whether the public gets to access content they paid for- it belongs to them.
Despite the way ed reform portrays these charter employees as somehow “gifting” us all with their brilliance that is not in fact true. If Eva Moskowitz is using public dollars to develop content then it always belonged to the people who paid for it- the public.
If she owns it then she’s a private contractor and her schools aren’t public. Pick one.
They have to make up their minds. They can’t take the upside of public with none of the downside. It may be okay to be completely incoherent and contradictory inside the endlessly elastic ed reform “movement” but the rest of us aren’t in the club so don’t know the secret handshake.
We have a public school district where I live that educates 95% of the students in this town. We also have a private religious school and (unfortunately) Ohio has a garbage for-profit “cybercharter sector”. If I were an ed reformer I would spend 99% of my time and energy on the private school and cybercharter.
Luckily the local school board are not in this club, so they don’t do that, because it’s nuts and no one would accept it locally.
Yet I’m somehow supposed to buy this wacky, blinkered approach at the federal level and not only accept it but swallow that they are “agnostics”. Yeah, sure they are. That’s definitely how “agnostics” would behave- they would ignore the 90% of schools that are public and promote the 10% of that schools that are not.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess she says none of the above.
Does anyone know where the US Department of Education “public schools suck!” campaign bus is heading this week? I’m hoping they’ll skip my son’s school. It’s hard enough to raise kids without 2000 federal employees trashing their schools and denigrating the adults who work there as “the status quo” or “the man” or “flat earthers”
I’m teaching him something different. I’m teaching him that his principal and teachers are on his side in this exercise. They’re on his team. I’d appreciate it if ed reform would leave us out of this political campaign. Skip my district. We’ll struggle along w/out you-all. We’ve been doing fine w/out for the last 15 years. What’s another 4?
Bring some value for public school students or don’t bother coming.
A while back, Blogger Mercedes Schneider visited New York City and met with Ms. Gabriella Scull, Success Academy’s public relations “face,” then wrote about it on Mercedes’ blog. Scull has exactly ZERO background or experience in education, by the way, though she does have a background in advocacy for children suffering from autism.
It’s quite an interesting story:
https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/today-i-visited-success-academy-upper-west/
The story continues with Mercedes later going on-line and discovering that Ms. Scull, in her previous employment at AUTISM SPEAKS, was an advocate or the rights of autistic children.
However, Ms. Scull is now fronting for and promoting an organization that is notorious for discriminating against those same children — barring them from entry at the front end, or later kicking them out if they somehow evaded that initial screening out process.
II then posted this comment under Mercedes’ article:
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What I find interesting about Ms. Scull is the contrast between …
… the ideas and values related to one of her past positions of employment (AUTISM SPEAKS)
and
… the ideas and values, as well as the ethos and actions of those in charge of her current place of employment (SUCCESS ACADEMY)
BACKGROUND — Success Academy leader Eva Moskowitz and her fellow Success Academy brass such as Paul Fucularo do not even believe in the existence of Special Ed. disabilities.
Success Academy administrator Paul Fucaloro is a man whom Eva publicly touted as her primary role model as both an educator and administrator. Fucaloro claims that any alleged disability ascribed to a child was or is just the result of bad parenting. He also claims that a primary goal of Success Academy is to turn children into “little test-taking machines.”
https://dianeravitch.net/2015/11/23/paul-fucaloro-director-of-pedagogy-at-success-academy-charter-schools-on-children-as-little-test-taking-machines/
For the money quote from Fucaloro, a quote that shows how Success Academy leaders view and treat Special Ed. children, go to this otherwise celebratory article: (7th paragraph on the page)
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NEW YORK MAGAZINE:
“At Harlem Success, ‘disability’ is a dirty word.
“ ‘I’m not a big believer in Special Ed.,’ Fucaloro says. For many children who arrive with individualized education programs, or IEPs, he goes on, the real issues are ‘maturity and undoing what the parents allow the kids to do in the house—usually mama—and I reverse that right away.’
“When remediation falls short, according to sources in and around the network, families are counseled out. ‘Eva told us that the school is not a social-service agency,’ says the Harlem Success teacher. ‘That was an actual quote.’ ”
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However, Eva and Fucaloro must place at least some credence in Special Ed. disability diagnoses. Indeed, whenever any parent of a diagnosed Special Ed. child (i.e. one who has an I.E.P.) shows up at her door — after winning the Success Academy lottery — Eva or one of her underlings turns away both the parent and child.
“We can’t accommodate your child.” or in other words …
“Get lost!”
For example, this video from a parent describing such an experience is telling:
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JAYBEE SMALLEY: “My name is Jaybee Smalley. I’m a parent, yes. I have two children with special needs. I have one child who I applied to the Harlem Success Academy through the lottery process to see if she could be… would be accepted.
“When she WAS accepted through the lottery, I reached out to them (Harlem Success Academy) before I attended any sort of a orientation to see if they would be able to accommodate her I.E.P. She has a 12-to-1-to-1 I.E.P. for a year-round program, with four different related services.
“They didn’t respond to me through email at all.. and finally, after the second meeting had come, I called them —- I had a very difficult time getting through to them —- Before I could get the words ’12-to-1-to-1′ out of my mouth, they immediately told me that they would absolutely not be able to accommodate that sort of child in their school.”
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That’s the very same organization that Ms. Scull is now being paid to defend in the media, and promote to the public.
However, check out this contradiction once again.
Ms. Scull once worked for, and indeed, was a Founder and Chapter President for AUTISM SPEAKS, an organization that fights for the rights and well-being of those children afflicted with autism.
This is from her LinkedIn page:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriella-scull-b3502640
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“(Ms. Scull) Founded campus chapter, drafted the constitution and gained campus affiliation.
” — Recruited approximately 70 active student participants at campus student group recruitment events.
” — Managed a 10 person executive board; ran chapter and executive meetings to promote advocacy, fundraising and follow up.
” — Led fundraising efforts for Autism Speaks U chapter raising over $3,000 for the 2012-2013 school year.
” — Primary liaison between Binghamton University and the national office of Autism Speaks.
” — Created email list-serve of approximately 120 students; Utilized and oversaw social media outlets to network, publicize chapter.”
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Now go to the AUTISM SPEAKS website, and you find total compassion shows towards children suffering from autism — the same children Eva and her fellow leaders at S.A. want nothing to do with:
https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
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“Each individual with autism is unique. Many of those on the autism spectrum have exceptional abilities in visual skills, music and academic skills. About 40 percent have average to above average intellectual abilities. Indeed, many persons on the spectrum take deserved pride in their distinctive abilities and “atypical” ways of viewing the world. Others with autism have significant disability and are unable to live independently.
“About one third of people with ASD are nonverbal but can learn to communicate using other means. Autism Speaks’ mission is to improve the lives of all those on the autism spectrum. For some, this means the development and delivery of more effective treatments that can address significant challenges in communication and physical health. For others, it means increasing acceptance, respect and support.
“Resources: We are pleased to offer many resource-packed tool kits for free download (here and here), including the 100 Day Kit for families who have a child recently diagnosed with autism. For still more information and resources please see our Video Glossary and FAQs and special sections on Diagnosis, Symptoms, Learn the Signs, Treatment, Your Child’s Rights, Asperger Syndrome and PDD-NOS. These resources are made possible through the generous support of our families, volunteers and other donors.”
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On the one hand, Ms. Scull once fought for (and perhaps still does so, but on the side) the rights and well-being of children afflicted with autism, yet she is now working for and promoting an organization that, figuratively speaking, sh-ts all over those same children.
Thus, the question must be asked:
What kind of salary is Ms. Scull now pulling down working for Eva?
Or to put it another way …
How much do souls go for nowadays?
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So…..Has Scull perhaps mentioned to Fucalaro, who doesn’t “believe in” special education, that autism is a real, actual thing, and is not due to bad mothering (that belief was debunked well over 40 years ago)? Or has Scull totally lost her soul and sold out to the devil?
Does Fucalaro also think that dyslexia does not exist, nor intellectual handicaps, nor physical disabilities, nor deafness, nor blindness, and on and on and on?
All I have to say is, “fuc” Fucalaro. And Moskowitz. And Scull.
Every one of them.
I would love to devise an adult boot camp and send those three there for a year or two. No excuses.
I’m guessing she fails to mention that she stole her military style boot camp approach from “No Excuses” charter schools like KIPP and “Teach Like a Champion,” which pre-date the establishment of SA.
She also probably doesn’t mention that her curriculum is based on the state tests which her students are regularly drilled in, which are tests that SA teachers can see and score, while genuine public school teachers are not permitted to see and score the tests.
I have no interest in reading Moskowitz’s propaganda. I prefer to read the probably much more honest 313 reviews by employees who gave SA a grade of 2.9:
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Success-Academy-Charter-Schools-Reviews-E381408.htm?sort.sortType=OR&sort.ascending=true&filter.employmentStatus=REGULAR&filter.employmentStatus=PART_TIME&filter.employmentStatus=UNKNOWN
Thanks for posting the glassdoor reviews, homelesseducator.
Very, very interesting, although not surprising.
And I won’t be reading Eva’s propaganda, either. I can only take so much bilge per day.
This was a news “item” on NY1 the other day. I wonder how much Success Academy’s PR firm paid for that placement.
Of course, the story started by mentioning that Success Academy is “controversial.” I love how news organizations such as NY1 and the New York Times mention this, as if doing so absolves them of the respsonsibility of doing real journalism. I think the adjective that should be used is “criminal.”
It went on to mention how the Success Academy schools’ rank in the top 10% in New York State without saying what this ranking is based on. Presumably it’s based on the state tests, which have been discredited. Not to mention SA’s forced attrition issue and excessive test prep.
The example given from their “revolutionary” curriculum was “Our students do not read in a monotone voice.” Yes, that was the example given.
The story then cut to what looked like a Moskowitz press conference in which she affirmed repeatedly that SA is a nonprofit. I don’t know how many nonprofits have $70M lying around to buy commercial real estate (which of course will somehow be billed to the city and state) and litigate until they get their desired result.
I wish she would just go far, far away….
I see a lot of educators here, and wonder of your opinion about the material displayed, both printed and visual, in the edinstitute
Blogger Mercedes Schneider has enrolled in the edinstitute. She will have access to the information but cannot cross the legal lines spelled out in the terms of use policies.