Archives for the month of: June, 2017
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Ohio: State Auditor Says Closed Columbus Charter School Owes State $340,000

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2017 //
5

The Ohio State Auditor said that a charter school that closed due to mismanagement in 2015 owes the state $340,000.

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170525/ohio-auditor-closed-columbus-charter-school-owes-state-340000

“A North Side charter school that shut its doors in 2015, stranding about 300 students, has not repaid the $340,770 it owes the state, according to an audit released Thursday by state Auditor Dave Yost.

“The FCI Academy was closed in August 2015, just prior to the start of classes, by its sponsor, the Toledo-based Educational Service Center of Lake Erie West. The shutdown, for mismanagement, came after the school had received its per-pupil aid from the Ohio Department of Education for the 2015-16 school year.

“Poor management ran this charter school aground,” Yost said. “The financial losses to taxpayers are significant, but the biggest victims here are the students and parents who had the rug pulled out from under their feet at the start of the school year.”

“Auditors found that as of Feb. 28, 2017, the academy, formerly located at 2177 Mock Road, had a bank balance of $86,110 and outstanding liabilities totaling $632,339, including the amount owed to the state.”

A financial calamity. Not a public school.

Categories Charter Schools, Ohio

Stuart Egan: A Letter of Outrage to the N.C. State Superintendent: Whom Do You Serve?

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2017 //
5

High school teacher Stuart Egan wrote an open letter to the North Caro,Ina Superintendent of Public Instruction. Mark Johnson.

Egan thanked Johnson for his kind words on Teacher Appreciation Week, but wonders why Johnson has failed to advocate for public schools or teachers. Instead, he sits in silence as the legislature cuts programs, privatizes schools, and allows the state to fall to one of the worst funded. In the nation.

A word about Johnson. He taught for two years as a Teach for America teacher. Then he earned a law degree. Then he won a seat on his local school board. That brief resume enables Johnson to refer the himself as an “educational leader,” worthy of overseeing the entire state system.

TFA likes to say that its recruits become lifelong advocates for public schools as a result of two years of teaching.

But Mark Johnson is not advocating for public schools or for students. His only goal seems to be to enhanc his own power.

Egan writes:

“First, it is quite disconcerting to not have heard you speak about the proposed cuts to the Department of Public Instruction. Actually, they aren’t really cuts. It’s more of a severing of limbs.

“As suggested in the budget proposal, http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/Senate/PDF/S257v2.pdf, there would be a 25 percent cut in operation funds for DPI.

“NC Policy Watch’s Billy Ball reported on May 12th, 2017 in “Senate slashes DPI; state Superintendent silent,”

“North Carolina’s chief public school administrator may be silent on Senate budget cuts to North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction, but the leader of the state’s top school board says the proposal has the potential to deal major harm to poor and low-performing school districts.

“There’s no question about that,” State Board of Education Chairman Bill Cobey told Policy Watch Thursday. “A 25 percent cut, which I can’t believe will be the result of this process, would cut into very essential services for particularly the rural and poor counties.”

Cobey is referring to the Senate budget’s 25 percent cut in operations funds for the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), a loss of more than $26 million over two years that, strangely, has produced no public reaction from the leader of the department (http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2017/05/12/senate-slashes-dpi-state-superintendent-silent/).”

Why the silence? Fear? Timidity? Collusion with the Tea Party Republicans who believe that cutting taxes matters more than children’s lives?

Mark Johnson, whom do you serve?

Categories Education Reform, North Carolina, Teach for America

Chicago: The Devil is in the Details

By dianeravitch
June 2, 2017 //
9

Overwhelming majorities of both houses of the Illinois legislature passed bills to restore an elected board to Chicago.

Chicago is the only district in the state that does not elect its board.

The different bills must be reconciled.

However, there’s a trick clause in the Senate bill.

The Senate bill says that the first election would be held in 2023, at the end of Rahm Emanuel’s third term (which he has not yet won.) He is in the middle of his second term.

Categories Chicago, Education Reform, Emanuel, Rahm

Illinois: Despite Opposition of Mayor and Governor, Legislature Approves Return of Elected School Board

By dianeravitch
June 2, 2017 //
11

Despite lobbying by Governor Bruce Rauner and Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, both houses of the legislature voted overwhelmingly to replace mayoral control with an elected school board. The two bills differ in important details, and legislative leaders will have to hammer out a compromise. The bills were approved by veto-proof majorities.

This is great news for Chicagoans who have wanted an elected board that would listen to the public.

Categories Chicago, Democracy, Emanuel, Rahm

The New York Times Discovers the “Bright Side” of Betsy DeVos

By dianeravitch
June 2, 2017 //
44

Up until now, you probably thought of Betsy DeVos as an entitled billionaire who cares about nothing but charters and choice. You may have even concluded that she was indifferent to civil rights, since she has refused to say whether she would cut off federal funding to schools that discriminate against students who are black, gay, or whose religion does not conform to that of the school that want to attend. You may have gotten a negative impression of her because she has been energetically protecting student debt collectors, not students, or because she supports Trump’s proposal to cut $10 billion from the Department of Education.

But the New York Times assures you that she is not the hard-right fundamentalist you thought. For one thing, her appointment of Candace Jackson as acting head of the Office of Civil Rights should not alarm you, even though she has vociferously opposed affirmative action. Jackson is gay and married, so her policy views are no longer relevant.

And then there is her appointment of Jason Botel as deputy assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education. He supported President Obama and served as Trump’s chief education advisor. But he earned his stripes running a KIPP school in Baltimore, where he fought the teachers union.

The New York Times calls upon two outside experts to confirm that Betsy DeVos is actually a complex person, perhaps even a secret liberal: Mike Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institure and Tom Toch of Future-Ed, both of whom support charters.

This is surely a story made up out of whole cloth; the fact that Candace Jackson is gay does not qualify her to enforce civil rights if she does not believe in enforcement of civil rights. By his experience in the privatization movement, Jason Botel seems perfectly suited to the Trump-DeVos agenda.

The title of the article: “Some Hires by Betsy DeVos Are a Stark Departure from her Reputation.” Someone please explain this title. I fail to see the stark departure that these two people represent, nor do these two hires change anything about her destructive agenda.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Civil Rights, Privatization

Carol Burris: The Big Lie Behind Vouchers

By dianeravitch
June 2, 2017 //
15

Carol Burris analyzes Betsy DeVos’ narrative about vouchers in this post.

What she describes goes far beyond the whims of a billionaire zealot. She describes the step-by-step plans of rightwingers who have long planned to undermine the very idea of public education as a civic responsibility.

DeVos said when she spoke at Brookings a few weeks ago that she in “not a numbers person.” She is also “not a facts person.”

First, she slimed those who defend public education from privatizers as “flat earthers.” Very likely, her family foundation has supported “flat earthers,” as they have supported creationism, quack science, and anti-gay organizations.

Then, she went on to attribute the origin of the modern voucher movement to African American Democrat, Polly Williams of Milwaukee. She forgot to mention that Polly Williams came to realize that she had been used by conservative rich people, and she renounced her support for vouchers. Not a small detail.

The great lie of the voucher movement is that it is built on the spurious claim that vouchers will “save” poor black and brown children. Faced with that claim, fraudulent though it is, liberals collapse and go along with the rightwing plan. But it never ends with the neediest children. That is only the beginning.

“And that, of course, was what Williams came to understand. Vouchers for the poor were the gateway; they were never the goal. That same pattern of starting small and going big repeats itself over and over. Educational savings accounts, tax credit scholarships and the like begin with student groups that evoke public sympathy — students with disabilities, low-income kids, the children of parents in the armed forces — but the goal is vouchers for all.

“DeVos and her allies are playing the long game. Each legislative season, the selected groups expand and the caps are raised. It happened in Indiana, where DeVos spoke to the American Federation for Children, and it is happening in other voucher states, as well.

“There is no better example than Arizona. Vouchers, disguised as the Empowerment Scholarship Account program (ESAs), began 2011. The program was designed for special-needs students. Then it expanded — foster-care students, children of military families, students on reservations, or students living in districts with schools rated a “D” or an “F” were eligible, as well.”

Now we know that vouchers don’t “save poor kids from failing schools.” In recent years, evaluations of vouchers in Louisiana, Indiana, and D.C. show that poor kids who use vouchers actually lose ground.

DeVos doesn’t care about evidence or facts or numbers. She is a choice zealot, and she will exploit her role in the government to push her lifelong passion to take public education away from the communities and families who support them. She doesn’t understand why people like their public schools. She never will.

Categories Betsy DeVos, School Choice, Vouchers, Wisconsin

Texas PTA Blasts Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and State Senate for Failure to Fix School Finance

By dianeravitch
June 2, 2017 //
2

The Texas PTA is furious at Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and his allies in the State Senate.

Just when it seemed that the legislature was going to increase funding for the state’s woefully underfunded public schools, the Senate insisted on attaching voucher legislation. The House had already defeated vouchers, but the Senate came back a second time and was defeated again. The Senate held the budget hostage.

Meanwhile due to the stubborn Dan Patrick, millions of children across the state will be deprived of the schools they need.

Way to go, Texas PTA!

Categories Funding, Texas, Vouchers

D.C. Schools: A Miracle or a Tragedy?

By dianeravitch
June 2, 2017 //
29

This is a case of cognitive dissonance. Or, when presented with two sharply contrasting narratives, whom do you believe?

Tom Toch started a think tank in D.C., FutureEd, which is funded by foundations such as Walton, Bezos, and Raikes (Jeff Raikes previously led the Gates Foundation).

In its latest bulletin, the lead article by Tom Toch says that the policies put in place by Michelle Rhee and her successor Kaya Henderson are “revolutionizing teaching” and are “a model for the nation.”

But at the same, an article in the Washington Post says that certain D.C. schools are experiencing a spike in teacher resignations in mid-year.

Ballou High School has lost 28% of its teachers since the school year began.

“In most DCPS schools, the faculty is stable. Of 115 schools in the system, 59 had two or fewer resignations after teachers reported to work, the data showed.

“But a handful were hit hard.

“Raymond Education Campus in Northwest lost 13 teachers, which accounts for a quarter of its faculty. Columbia Heights Education Campus in Northwest lost 11 teachers, or 10 percent. H.D. Woodson High in Northeast lost 10 of its 50 teachers, or 20 percent.

“No school has suffered more turnover than Ballou High. It lost 21 teachers from August through February — 28 percent of its faculty. Many of the resignations occurred in the math department, current and former teachers say.

“Several former Ballou teachers told The Post they did not want to leave mid-year and felt bad about the consequences for students. But they said a number of problems drove them to leave, from student behavior and attendance issues to their own perception of a lack of support from the administration. They also raised questions about evaluations. Some veterans said that in previous years they had received high marks from administrators, but this year they were given what they believe are arbitrarily low evaluation scores…

“Ballou has about 930 students, and all qualify for free or reduced-price lunch because they live in poverty. Many come from homes where their parents didn’t go to college. The school ranks among the city’s lowest-performing high schools on core measures. Its graduation rate in the last school year, 57 percent, was second-lowest among regular high schools in the DCPS system.

“In 2016, 3 percent of Ballou students tested met reading standards on citywide exams. Almost none met math standards.

“The school was reconstituted in the 2015-2016 school year, its second shakeup in five years. Reconstitution means the teachers and staff all had to reapply for their jobs…

“Monica Brokenborough, a music teacher and the school’s union representative, sent a letter this month to the D.C. Council, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and DCPS Chancellor Antwan Wilson raising concerns about the staff vacancies.

“Students simply roam the halls because they know that there is no one present in their assigned classroom to provide them with an education,” Brokenborough said. “Many of them have simply lost hope…

“In her message to city officials, Brokenborough included handwritten letters from students who described feeling unprepared for their Advanced Placement exams and fearful that their prospects for college will be hampered by not having a teacher in key classes.

“Iyonna Jones, an 18-year-old senior, said in one of the letters that security guards tell the students lingering in hallways to go to class, but she has a substitute teacher in her math class and doesn’t feel she is getting the instruction she needs.

“We should just stay home, because what is the point of coming to school if we are not learning and have no teachers,” she wrote.”

A national model? Not yet.

Categories District of Columbia, Rhee, Michelle, Teachers

Senator Warren Launching Project to Hold DeVos Accountable for Policies on Student Debt

By dianeravitch
June 1, 2017 //
45

Senator Elizabeth Warrren has created an online program called “DeVos Watch” to hold Betsy DeVos accountable for her oversight of student debt. The online platform will be hosted on Senator Warren’s website.

She wrote this opinion article for CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/31/opinions/devos-watch-opinion-warren

The Trump administration is pondering whether to turn over responsibility for student debt collection to the Treasury Department. This has been debated for years. During the Clinton administration, Secretary Richard Riley turned the idea down,saying that “the move would be prohibitively expensive and that “since most borrowers default on their student loans because they are unable to make the payments, the IRS would be no more able to collect these payments than the Department of Education.” Mr. Riley added that perhaps large employers could make wage-withholding arrangements to streamline the process.”

Chester Finn, however, saw a benefit to making the Treasury the collection agency. He said,

Chester Finn, an assistant secretary of education during the Reagan administration, told a congressional committee that was considering the proposal that allowing the IRS to collect loans might encourage borrowers to repay them. “Perhaps the prospect of a stay in Leavenworth would finally reduce the multibillion-dollar loan-default problem,” he said.”

http://www.chronicle.com/article/What-if-the-Treasury-Dept/240218

Warren’s decision to create “DeVos Watch” was applauded by Ashley Harrington of the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). She said,

“We applaud Senator Warren’s leadership for holding Secretary DeVos and the Department of Education accountable to students and parents. This new resource will be valued not only by education leaders and advocates, but additionally by the 44 million student loan borrowers who collectively share $1.4 trillion in debt.

“It is a matter of public record that higher education accountability at the federal level has suffered a series of setbacks since Secretary DeVos was confirmed earlier this year.

“From her senior-level appointees with close ties to the for-profit college industry, to the departmental regulatory reversals that favor for-profit colleges and loan servicers to the detriment of student borrowers, a growing concern has developed among consumer and civil rights advocates. We continue to call into question the quality, accessibility, and affordability of for-profit college institutions.

“Further, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the recently-released 2018 White House budget proposal would result in $26.8 billion in cuts that students and families will have to pay for over the next decade. Additionally, nine programs now operating within the Department would be eliminated at a cost of nearly $5 billion to students.

“No elected or appointed official should ever depart from or diminish the primary role of government: service to the American people. Instead, Secretary DeVos’ actions create a pattern of preference to private interests. Shedding further light on these practices is essential to protecting students and taxpayers.”

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Higher Education, Student Financial Aid and Student Debt

Dallas: Early Voting is Underway: Vote for Lori Kirkpatrick

By dianeravitch
June 1, 2017 //
2

Dallas is holding a crucial school board election. Early voting started on May 30. The election is June 10.

The balance of power hangs on this run-off election.

Lori Kilpatrick is a teacher and a mother of a child in the Dallas public schools.

Lori is in a run-off with businessman Dustin Marshall. Marshall supports all the failed corporate reform ideas, like Jeb Bush’s A-F school grading system, which is highly correlated with family income. His children attend private schools.

Lori is an advocate for public schools.

Her vote would be the swing vote that turns control over to a board majority that respects teachers and public schools.

Please vote.

Categories Dallas
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