Archives for the month of: June, 2017
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New York City: Charter School for “Social Justice” Fires 3/4 of Staff for Wanting to Join a Union

By dianeravitch
June 28, 2017 //
32

This is both sad and funny.

The “Charter High School For Law and Social Justice” fired 11 of its 15 teachers because they wanted to join the teachers’ union.

Doesn’t social justice mean that you listen to the voices of those who feel in need of protection and let them make their own decisions? Haven’t unions been part of the movement for social justice since the late nineteenth century? Don’t the powerful seek to crush collective bargaining so that each worker is on his or her own?

The abrupt dismissals forced the United Federation of Teachers, which represents educators at the Charter High School for Law and Social Justice in the Bronx, to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

“By discharging approximately 73% of the 15 bargaining unit members, CHSLSJ sent a clear message … support the UFT and you will be fired,” the complaint said.

“CHSLSJ’s actions demonstrate a clear attempt to derail the UFT’s status and support … and will irreparably chill bargaining unit members’ rights,” the union said.

The dismissals came after a year of attempts from the charter school teachers to negotiate a contract with CHSLSJ, which was approved as a charter school in 2013 and opened its doors in 2015.

Categories Charter Schools, Injustice, New York City, Unions

SomeDam Poet Explains the Logic of the Supreme Court State-Church Decision

By dianeravitch
June 28, 2017 //
6

SomeDam Poet writes about the Supreme Court decision requiring the state of Missouri to pay for the resurfacing of the playground of the Trinity Lutheran Church:

At first, SDP was puzzled by the decision and asked,

“Is playing on the playground part of the Lutheran religion?

“Is that why refusing the Lutheran school public money for the playground resurfacing constitutes abridgement of free exercise of their religion?”

Today, SDP had figured it out and wrote:

“After sleeping on it, I think I now understand the logic in the Court’s decision.

“The playground is a place for children to exercise “religiously” (on a daily basis), right?

“And if the religious school did not get the money from the state — if they had to pay – to resurface the playground, then that exercise would not be free.

“So, by denying the church school the grant money, the state is abridging free exercise and thereby violating the Free Exercise clause in the Constitution.

“QED.

“PS I also exercise religiously (at Planet Fitness) and as it stands now, I have to pay for that. I am not a lawyer, but given the recent ruling, I believe this may also be unConstutional. It certainly is not good for my constitution to not exercise.”

Categories Religion, Separation of church and state

Portland, Oregon: Corporate Reformers Launch Vicious Attack on School Board Member

By dianeravitch
June 28, 2017 //
5

Portland, Oregon, is in big trouble. Despite massive spending by the fake reform Stand on Children–err, Stand for Children–the corporate reformers lost in the school board election. Now, as local activist Deb Mayer reports, they are trying to bully a school board member into resigning.

Why the attacks on a man who won his seat and supports public schools? The board has been unable to pick a new superintendent. So the composition of the board is crucial, and the privatizers need another seat. They want Paul Anthony’s seat so they can win by bullying what they could not win at the polls.

Citizens of Portland must be informed. Stand for Children represents Bill Gates and the rest of the zbillionaire Boys Club that funds SFC. They are not working on behalf of the children and families of Portland.

Don’t be fooled.

Categories Accountability, Billionaires, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Portland, Privatization, Testing

Texas: House Republicans Say “Hell, No,” to Vouchers, Again

By dianeravitch
June 28, 2017 //
6

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called a special session of the Legislature to deal with school finance and once again to push vouchers. Once more, he will try to bribe legislators to endorse vouchers if they want more funding. No vouchers, no funding. The state cut more than $5 billion from the education budget in 2011 and has never fully restored the cuts, even though the enrollment has grown.

As usual, the camel’s nose under the tent is vouchers for children with disabilities. Note that these children have federal rights in public schools but not in private voucher schools.

The State Senate, corralled by voucher fanatic Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, supports vouchers. The House, also controlled by Republicans, has turned them down repeatedly. Republicans representing rural areas and small towns don’t want to destroy their public schools. They are conservatives: they conserve, they don’t tear down their traditional institutions.

“The top House education leader said Sunday that “private school choice” is still dead in the lower chamber.

“We only voted six times against it in the House,” House Public Education Committee Chairman Dan Huberty said. “There’s nothing more offensive as a parent of a special-needs child than to tell me what I think I need. I’m prepared to have that discussion again. I don’t think [the Senate is] going to like it — because now I’m pissed off.”

“Huberty, R-Houston, told a crowd of school administrators at a panel at the University of Texas at Austin that he plans to restart the conversation on school finance in the July-August special session after the Senate and House hit a stalemate on the issue late during the regular session. Huberty’s bill pumping $1.5 billion into public schools died after the Senate appended a “private school choice” measure, opposed by the House.

“Huberty was joined by Education Committee Vice Chairman Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, and committee member Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, on a panel hosted by the Texas Association of School Administrators, where they said they didn’t plan to give in to the Senate on the contentious bill subsidizing private school tuition for kids with special needs.”

Dan Hubert is on the honor roll of this blog already. Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are today listed on its Wall of Shame.

Categories Budget Cuts, Funding, Honor Roll, Special Education, Texas, Vouchers, Wall of Shame

Ohio: State Auditor Reprimands ECOT for Using Public Money to Lobby Against Penalty of $60 Million

By dianeravitch
June 28, 2017 //
11

ECOT is the largest virtual charter school in Ohio and among the lowest-performing schools in the state. It has thrived over the years because its founder, William Lager, has given generously to elected officials. The New York Times reported last year that ECOT had the largest graduating class in the nation, but also the lowest high school graduation rate in the nation.

The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, an online charter school based here, graduated 2,371 students last spring. At the commencement ceremony, a student speaker triumphantly told her classmates that the group was “the single-largest graduating high school class in the nation.”

What she did not say was this: Despite the huge number of graduates — this year, the school is on track to graduate 2,300 — more students drop out of the Electronic Classroom or fail to finish high school within four years than at any other school in the country, according to federal data. For every 100 students who graduate on time, 80 do not.

Virtual online charters, said the Times, are the new “dropout factories.”

Having abysmal results was not enough to cause a problem for ECOT. If it were a brick and mortar public school, it would have been closed down.

What caused a problem was that the state audited ECOT’s attendance and found that a substantial number of students were phantom. They either did not exist, never logged on, or logged on for a minute or two.

The state sued ECOT, and won a decision that ECOT owed the state $60 million for inflated attendance numbers. ECOT maintains that the state has no right to audit their numbers. Ha.

Now ECOT is flooding the TV space with heartrending advertisements about how the state is picking on the school. And, here is a true demonstration of chutzpah: ECOT is using taxpayer money to pay for the ads defending its right to avoid auditing.

State Auditor Dave Yost has called out ECOT for its audacity. Yost has ordered ECOT to stop using taxpayer dollars to attack the court’s order to repay the state $60.4 million.

Ohio Auditor Dave Yost has ordered ECOT to stop using taxpayers dollars on television ads attacking the state Department of Education’s decision to seek repayment of $60.4 million, saying the commercials are not proper expenditures “and are impermissible.”

In a letter to the giant online charter dated Friday, Yost said he was writing ECOT “to demand that you act without delay to cease and desist the expenditure of public funds” being used for ads.

ECOT has not yet responded, but it is maneuvering in the Legislature to get the debt deferred until it has time for more appeals.

In the latest ad, signed at the end by “Ohio’s children,” a former ECOT student says: “The Ohio Department of Education wants to end school choice and stop parents from deciding what’s best for their children. That’s why I and the over 36,000 students and alumni of ECOT are hoping our elected leaders fix what’s broken and save our school.”

Thank you, Auditor Yost, for upholding the law and requiring accountability even from a big campaign contributor!

As for ECOT, its results speak for themselves: Close it down.

Categories For-Profit, Fraud, Ohio, Virtual Charter Schools

Lesson from Virginia: Real Democrats Support Public Schools

By dianeravitch
June 28, 2017 //
50

Rachel Levy, a mother and public school activist in Virginia, explains here the lesson of the recent Democratic campaign for governor: Real Democrats support public schools.

http://progressive.org/public-school-shakedown/as-democrats-struggle-to-find-their-footing-in-the-trump-era/

Dr. Ralph Northam, Lt. Governor, was a strong supporter of public schools. He won the support of the Virginia Education Association and public school allies across the state.

Tom Perriello had the support of veterans of the Obama administration, Elizabeth Earren, and Bernie Sanders. He also had ties in the past with DFER.

Northam won handily.

Will the national Democratic Party get the message?

Real Democrats support public schools, teachers, and unions. Real Democrats do not support charter schools, high-stakes testing, VAM, or privatization of public schools by charter.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Democrats, DFER, Education Industry, Privatization, Testing

Wow! Editorial Writer at New York Daily News Moves Her Child from a Charter School to a NYC Public School: Guess Why?

By dianeravitch
June 28, 2017 //
97

Alyssa Katz, an editorial writer for the New York Daily News, is switching her child from a charter school to a New York City public school. The teacher turnover at the charter school was constant and disruptive for her daughter, she writes. But that’s not all.

She does not name the school, but it is likely a well-regarded school that she and her husband chose with care.

She writes:

Some extracurricular forces eased the choice. My husband, who’s logged hundreds of miles driving to and fro, will hand our girl off to a convenient bus. She in turn will be thrilled to shed a loathed uniform. Me, I look forward to an end to lunch box prep, thanks to an improved cafeteria menu.

But the bottom line is that her elementary-school years were marked with a whirlwind of teachers that, if she and her classmates were lucky, would last the year and then move on.

The ritual became as certain as winter succeeded fall: Some parent would post on the school Facebook group that their child’s teacher was leaving mid-year. Moans and commiseration ensued.

Our child avoided that fate until last fall, when, two weeks in, her promising teacher — a veteran at three years served — suddenly vanished, and a substitute arrived much sooner than any explanation. Her class refound its footing, eventually, with a new teacher — but never quite recovered from those lost weeks.

With so many teachers coming and going, the school as a whole felt perpetually improvisational. I’ll always remember it as a flurry of photocopied handouts….

Last year, 47% of her school’s teaching staff turned over. And during her six years, the school had three principals….

I’m not naming the school because it would be unfair to single it out — it turns out such astonishingly high rates of teacher turnover year by year are par for the course among charter schools.

Among New York charter school teachers, 41% changed jobs last year — compared to just 18% of district school teachers. The retention gap between district and charter schools is not new, but it has been widening over time.

The big reason for charters’ turnover plague is plain as day: District school teachers are universally represented by teachers unions, and enjoy contracts whose ample benefits include generous pension plans, non-negotiable business hours and tenure.

At Success Academy, with its sky-high test scores, teacher turnover annually is close to 60%.

I wish that every politician in New York, especially in the Legislature, would read Katz’s commentary.

Surely the rest of the editorial board at the New York Daily News will read the article and possibly learn from it. The NYDN has been aggressively pro-charter and pro-Eva.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, New York City, Privatization, Teach for America, Teachers and Teaching

Linda Weber Needs Your Help: She Is Running for Congress

By dianeravitch
June 27, 2017 //
5

Linda Weber is a staunch friend of public education. She is running for Congress in New Jersey, seeking a seat now held by a Republican. She needs our help.

Linda has raised $25,000 in the past two weeks. She must raise $8,500 by June 30!

I sent a contribution, I hope you will too.

You may not know Linda, but if you read this blog with regularity, you know her husband Mark Weber. Mark blogs as Jersey Jazzman. He teaches music in a New Jersey public school and is working towards a doctorate at Rutgers University. Mark has repeatedly exposed charter school scams by demonstrating that they do not enroll the same students as public schools.

This is Linda’s statement on why she is running:

“Why I’m Running!

“Like many Americans, and women in particular, on November 8th I was shocked and angry. Since that night these sentiments have only intensified as I’ve watched President Trump aggressively work to turn back the clock for women. He rolled back equal pay protections for women working for federal contractors, he is chipping away at the ability of women to make their own reproductive health choices, and his healthcare bill essentially penalizes women for their gender. Not only does the Trump/House Republican healthcare plan take us back to the days when pregnancy was a preexisting condition, it will also substantially raise the out-of-pocket costs for childbirth and other women’s health services.

“Donald Trump’s behavior, actions, and rhetoric are unacceptable, but what’s worse is the refusal of House Republicans to hold him accountable. In my district, Congressman Leonard Lance, who I am challenging, is actively enabling President Trump. He has voted with him 93% of the time. With regard to women’s health, Representative Lance has 0% score from Planned Parenthood and does not support a woman’s right to make her own healthcare choices.

“In 2017, it is stunning that we are still debating whether women should have the freedom to make their own health choices and be paid the same amount as men for doing the same work. What message are we sending to our girls? This is why I am running. I am running to stand up for pay equity, a woman’s right to choose, and health insurance coverage that does not subject women to a different standard. I am also running to advance policies to protect the air that we breathe and the water that we drink, to create a more equitable and innovative economy, to rebuild our neglected transportation infrastructure, to stand up for marginalized communities, and to ensure that our education system is adequately preparing our children to be successful in our rapidly evolving economy.

“I have spent over 30 years in technology and banking where I’ve often been the only woman at the table so I know what it means to fight for myself and for others. I made sure that while I had a seat at the table, I also created seats for other women, including women of color, to ensure equal access of opportunity. I know how to fight and I know how to win, but more importantly, I know how to serve.”

“This statement was first published on UniteWomen.org on May 16, 2017 as the the first in their new series entitled #WhyImRunning, highlighting the record number of women are running for office since the November election.”

Categories Education Reform

Confession by a Teacher: “I’m Responsible for Betsy DeVos: Are You?”

By dianeravitch
June 27, 2017 //
32

Jennifer Berkshire features an essay by a teacher who realizes that she was responsible for the appointment of Betsy DeVos. Why? She didn’t pay attention.

Read her story.

This is what she learned after a career of setbacks:

“Neoliberalism is an attractive ideology precisely because it meshes so nicely with our existing cultural norms and myths. We all want to be successful, and neoliberalism’s emphasis on quantification, organization, control, and discipline as a means of maximizing *performance* seems normal and reasonable rather than sinister. That’s why even students and teachers who are disenfranchised by a worldview that says competition is the defining characteristic of any relationship, scarcity the fundamental state of reality, and ownership and entrepreneurship the highest level of citizenship, still participate in it.

“A few weeks ago I accepted temporary employment as an on-site test proctor for state assessments for a virtual charter school, despite not agreeing in principle with charter schools, exam-based summative assessments, or online education. The position pays more than I usually earn as a substitute teacher and is much easier too. I’m also a participant in what researchers call *shadow education,* the supplementary instruction parents and adult students use to address the failings of the formal education system. I earn money as a tutor and academic success coach for high school, college, and graduate students. Shadow education is both a response to and result of the transfer of risk from society to individuals. It’s difficult to live within a system without adopting the culture of that system.

“But I am also working to be less complicit in the full-on assault upon public education. I try to remind myself and others that education is not a product. That understanding and expertise are knowable and observable conditions, but they don’t readily lend themselves to systematized mass production. That students, or rather, children, are not capital or resources for exploitation; neither are teachers, administrators or other school employees. That people have value because of their humanity, not just because of their predicted contribution to or detraction from economic growth. That learning has value apart from and above, say, achieving tests scores or getting a job. You should remind yourself of those truths, too, because the appointment of a philanthropist and political rainmaker to oversee public education will only heighten the consumerism and competition of the present policy-setting.

“I want public education to embody all the positive traits denoted by the words *public* and *education.* My first step to achieving that end was to examine myself. What do you want for public education? What are you going to do about it?”

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos

Michigan: State Takeover Effort Collapses, Schools Will Return to Detroit Public School District

By dianeravitch
June 27, 2017 //
11

Michigan’s Education Achievement Authority is closing down, and the low-performing schools put into the state-controlled district will be returned to the Detroit public schools.

The EAA was a disaster from the beginning. Its leaders had total control, and they used it to run experiments on the children, using technology. They ran up the bills and produced no academic improvements. The first leader was Robert Bobb, with Barbara Byrd-Bennett as chief academic officer (BBB is now sentenced to jail time for taking bribes in her role as superintendent of the Chicago public schools). Then there was Broad-trained John Covington, who increased the deficit, then moved on. At all times, Eli Broad was deeply involved in creating and staffing the EAA. This Friday is the last day for the EAA.

The EAA’s 15 schools will stay open, but they’ll be absorbed back into the Detroit Public Schools Community District. Sonya Mays, treasurer for the DPSCD school board, says the district is working with the EAA to make it a smooth transition for students.

The two districts are coordinating on transferring school records, communicating with families, and hiring administrators and teachers, among other things.

“And so it’s our hope, and we’ve tried to be very intentional about this, that students themselves will see very little disruption,” Mays said.

The EAA was created in 2011 to turn around Detroit’s lowest performing schools. But, according to Michigan State University education professor David Arsen, it fell far short of that goal.

“The EAA could fairly be regarded as a train wreck of educational policy,” Arsen said.

Arsen says a rushed policy process, plus a lack of state investment, meant the EAA had little chance of turning around Detroit’s failing schools.

In the state’s latest rankings, two-thirds of the EAA’s schools were in the bottom five percent.

Do you think maybe there is a lesson here for the low-performing Achievement School District in Tennessee and the copycat districts created in Nevada and elsewhere?

Categories Failure, Michigan, Turnaround Schools
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