Archives for the month of: August, 2017
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The Trump Reality Show Goes Off the Rails

By dianeravitch
August 2, 2017 //
16

I long for the good old days when we could lead our lives without wondering what the president had done or said. Generally, weeks went by without my giving much thought to the president’s activities.

All that has changed. Now that we have a president who is given to impulsive actions, surprising tweets, and off-the-cuff remarks that reverse longstanding policy, it is impossible to ignore him. This is what he wants. Constant attention. All eyes on him. It’s like watching a train wreck in real time but it is nonstop.

Donald Trump is a loop that plays over and over.

Read the full transcript of his interview with the Wall Street Journal in Politico, which was first to get it. CNN posted a summary of the interview. See if you can find a coherent sentence or a coherent thought process.

The latest story I read is too amazing to ignore. Trump doesn’t seem to draw a distinction between his wish and external reality. He promised to end the war in Afghanistan, this guy who never served in the military. But it is not over yet, and he wants to fire the top commander there.

And it gets worse.

“During the July 19 meeting, Trump repeatedly suggested that Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford replace Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, because he is not winning the war, the officials said. Trump has not met Nicholson, and the Pentagon has been considering extending his time in Afghanistan.

“Over nearly two hours in the situation room, according to the officials, Trump complained about NATO allies, inquired about the United States getting a piece of Afghan’s mineral wealth and repeatedly said the top U.S. general there should be fired. He also startled the room with a story that seemed to compare their advice to that of a paid consultant who cost a tony New York restaurateur profits by offering bad advice.”

He told them to end the war, and they didn’t. He doesn’t understand why they didn’t do what he told them to do. As to mineral wealth in Afghanistan, I recall that he said during the campaign that the U.S. Should have seized Iraq’s oil to compensate for our efforts on their behalf. At the time, many people said that to do so would have been a war crime. Apparently he hasn’t abandoned the idea of seizing another country’s natural resources as war booty.

Categories Education Reform

Another Day, Another Charter Scandal: This One in Ohio

By dianeravitch
August 2, 2017 //
10

Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education, has been tweeting daily with the subject line: Another Day, Another Charter Scandal.

Here is today’s scandal.

Patrick O’Donnell writes in the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cambridge Education Group, the operator of 19 Ohio charter schools and of a new school about to open in Cleveland’s West Park neighborhood, is distancing itself from recent fraud and racketeering charges in Florida against founder Marcus May.

But details are trickling out about how much that alleged fraud may have spread from Florida to the 19 schools Cambridge operates here in Ohio.

And Cambridge and its counterpart in Florida, Newpoint Education Partners – a company that is itself under indictment in that state – have had a tight relationship for several years, beyond just being founded by May.

The school logos in both Ohio and Florida for Cambridge and Newpoint have the same theme, featuring a dark blue circle. Executives have talked openly about the connection. And the two companies have shared some of the same officers at times, including Cambridge owner and President John Stack.

Stack has not been charged in the case. His name does not appear in court filings against May. He was vice president of operations of Newpoint when prosecutors say some of the fraud occurred. And he was “executive director” of Cambridge while prosecutors say money was diverted from schools here in Ohio to businesses May had an interest in.

Keep reading….You can’t tell the players without a scorecard.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Florida, Fraud, Ohio, Privatization

The Onion: Advice on Choosing the Right School for Your Child

By dianeravitch
August 2, 2017 //
15

Parents have so many choices about where to send their child to school and so little information.

The Onion offers a useful guide to choosing the right school here.

Categories Education Reform

Thirty Corporations Earn 50% of All Profits of U.S. Public Companies

By dianeravitch
August 2, 2017 //
25

Just as there is a growing concentration of wealth and growing inequality in the population, there is a growing concentration of wealth in the corporate world.

Only 30 Corporations earn half the total profit of all U.S. companies.

“There were 4,819 public US companies in 1975. Forty years on, that number has fallen by more than a fifth, hitting 3,766 in 2015. This peculiar dwindling is but one of the dramatic changes in US public corporations described in a new study published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives.
How else, then, have they evolved? Increasingly, it seems, through survival of the biggest. Not only are there fewer public companies; those that remain are older—and dominated by an ever-shrinking number of ever-growing behemoths….

“Of course, the bigger and richer the market Goliaths get, the harder it is for the Davids of the US economy to lethally bean them—and the need for R&D to compete may have exacerbated this. Companies drowning in cash can easily afford patents and the investments to develop those. Or, as seems to be happening, to buy the company with the patent. If you can’t beat Goliath, join him.”

Categories Education Reform

Kansas: Schools, Funding, Taxes, and Lies from the Koch Brothers’ Spokesman

By dianeravitch
August 2, 2017 //
23

While driving yesterday, I listened to a panel discussion on taxes led by correspondent Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC.

With the usual left-right line-up of guests, they debated whether the Trump tax plan would benefit the rich or everyone.

The man from the right was part of the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity. He insisted that massive tax cuts would be very beneficial for middle-income and poor Americans. The man from the left (center, really) disagreed and insisted that the big winners were the rich.

Then the center-left man said that the governor of Kentucky tried massive tax cuts and it backfired. He quickly was corrected (or corrected himself) and said it was Kansas, not Kentucky.

That’s where Governor Sam Brownback cut taxes, predicting an economic boom–that never happened. Instead, the state is facing a budget hole of nearly $900 million, and even Republicans recognize they must raise taxes.

But Mr. Right winger jumps in and says “the Kansas tax cuts would have worked, but the courts forced the state to spend massive amounts on K-12 schools, which gobbled up all the savings from the tax cuts.”

I almost jumped out of my car. I knew that the Kansas high court ordered the state to fund the schools, but the state has not yet done it.

So Mr. Right winger was wrong on two counts, but no one corrected him:

1. The state did not spend the non-existent savings produced by tax cuts on the schools, because there were none;

2. The courts were trying to enforce the state constitution and demanding equitable funding, which Mr. RW clearly thought was unnecessary.

Having flat out lied, he got away with it because no one else knew the facts. There was no bonanza from the tax cuts, and the K-12 schools have not yet received a dollar of new money.

See here:

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kansas/articles/2017-06-05/kansas-lawmakers-reject-single-plan-on-taxes-school-funding

http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article161585073.html

Categories Funding, Kansas

Why I Removed the 9 AM Post

By dianeravitch
August 2, 2017 //
3

I posted the EdNext annual poll results at 9 a.m.

I had to remove it because it is embargoed until August 15. I apologize for breaking the embargo.

I will post it again on August 15.

Categories Education Reform

Why Betsy DeVos’s “System” is Worse than the One We Have

By dianeravitch
August 2, 2017 //
21

Betsy DeVos likes to slam “the system” (i.e., public education) and claim self-righteously that she focuses on what’s best for individuals, not the “system.” What she means is privatization of public funding and school choice that includes religious and private schools, cybercharters, homeschooling, for-profit schooling, and anything else that can be dreamed up by someone who wants a share of public funding. Hang out s shingle, and–poof–you are a school.

This is sometimes called a lifeboat strategy. If the big ocean liner is in trouble, send out the lifeboats. Some will be sturdy, some will be leaky, there won’t be enough for everyone. Betsy zdeVos was put in charge of the ocean liner by ztrump and she doesn’t want to fix it. In fact, she grew up on a yacht, and she hates ocean liners. She will do her best to sink it rather than advocate for necessary repairs. She claims she is doing it for the passengers in steerage, but she has lived her entire life in the Super DeLuxe top deck and has no idea how to raise up those in the bottom deck–below the waterline–other than to urge them to take their price of admission and flee.

Roy Turrentine, teacher and reader of this blog, has a different view of DeVos’s crusade against “the system”:

“I would submit that DeVos has a point. If a system, which seems the operant word in the fray, does not help the individual, you eventually get a rebellion against it, even if the system is the monarchy of France in the eighteenth century. DeVos’ point, however, may be easily turned on its head. If her system were truly a way of helping individuals, we could support it. But it is not. Rather it is a system of damning some to live in poverty so a few can live in luxury.

“When DeVos calls public education a system, and seeks to supplant it with another system, she is being dishonest when she does not call it a system. All attempts at societal organization are systems. It just so happens that her system seeks to rip the support for public education from it by enticing the most dedicated participants in the system from it and passing them off to a group of schools where these people, who have the time and money to advocate for the kids, will advocate only for the kids who are in that particular school. This is a good plan if you are trying to wreck public education.

“We could argue that the DeVos plan (we wreck public education so that concerned parents begin to choose alternatives and then we make money off the alternatives) has precedents in the way the public system works. Local control of school boards can mean that parents are really interested that students in Jones County are well served. All well and good, but Smith County, which is right beside Jones, cannot afford to fund education. The people in Smith have to just get by. Their teachers teach for a few years, then get a job in Jones, where the pay is considerably higher and the number of problematic students is lower. No one in the Jones County political system will be willing to go to the state capital and argue for higher funding of education. No one in the Smith County district will dare suggest more funding because most cannot pay it. So parents who care about education move to the rich places so their kids can get a good education.

“What we need to rectify this inequitable system is not a DeVos blowup of the present one. If you blow the bridge, no one crosses it. What we do need is a public funding of public schools that actually helps the public, not small parts of it. Then, and only then, will “the system” help the individual student. If DeVos and the rest of the voucher proponents truly wanted to help the individual, they would get on board with taxing those who can pay for the good of the system. But they would lose their political base. Everybody wants a great system, but nobody wants to pay for it.”

Categories Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools

Illinois: Join the Protest at Gov. Rauner’s Home!

By dianeravitch
August 1, 2017 //
10

MEDIA ALERT: Wednesday, August 2, 2017

“SB1 IS NOT A CPS BAILOUT!”
CPS Parents and Students Cry Foul on Rauner’s False Rhetoric and SB1 Veto

Protesters Descend on Gov’s Neighborhood with $6.9 Billion Collection Notice

WHAT: CPS parents and students respond to Governor Rauner’s veto of SB1

WHERE: Governor Rauner’s block: 720 Rosewood Ave, Winnetka, IL

DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 2017

TIME: 10:00 am start

Chicago Public School (CPS) parents and students will gather at Governor Rauner’s house to reject his veto of SB1 and to present a collection notice to him for $6.9 Billion in unpaid pension payments to CPS.

Parents and students will bring attention to Governor Rauner’s false statement that SB1 is a Chicago ‘bailout,’ by pointing out that the state has for years failed to pay billions in dollars due to Chicago for pension support.

Raise Your Hand Action (RYHA) has determined that the state failed to pay at least $6.9B in payments to Chicago Public Schools that they intended to pay according to statute 40 ILCS 5/17-127, item B. Under this standard, and according to information from TRS’ annual reports, the state should have paid a total of between $6.9B and $10.3B to CPS for pensions since 1995.

The group will also canvass in the Governor’s neighborhood, sharing facts about the lack of pension parity for CPS, which contributes greatly to the plight of Chicago children, who attend one of the most financially-disadvantaged districts in the country, just miles from some of the most well-funded schools in the US, those in Rauner’s hometown.

Chicago is not asking for additional taxes or extra money, just its fair share of what the state already allocates to schools. SB1 was designed using recommendations from Rauner’s hand-picked panel to do just that.

The Better Government Association (BGA) conducted an analysis this week and found Governor Rauner’s claim regarding the pension ‘bailout’ language to be false because “it [SB1] only gives CPS what every other school district already has.” It now seems that Rauner would rather demonize CPS than see schools open on time or provide the fair resource allocation that will give kids a chance.

Back of the Yards College Prep High School student Veronica Rodriguez says, “To stop the rise in violence in our communities, we need investment in our schools. We need counselors, teachers and afterschool programs. I need the governor to stop playing politics with my future.”

Categories Accountability, Chicago, Education Reform, Funding

Mike Klonsky: Governor Rauner Vetoes Funding for the Kids of Chicago

By dianeravitch
August 1, 2017 //
9

Mike Klonsky describes Governor Rauner’s rationale for vetoing aid to Chicago public schools.

“Gov. Rauner has vetoed SB1, the school funding bill, thereby continuing to deprive the state’s neediest districts of millions of dollars and threatening the opening of schools in the fall.

“Rauner claims that the bill takes money away from wealthier white districts in order to “bail out” needier, mainly black and Latino districts like Chicago. He also claims, the bill, “includes a bailout of Chicago’s broken teacher pension system.”

“Both claims are false, says the BGA.

“In fact, under the new funding formula no school district gets less state money, but many low-income districts get more. With low-income students accounting for 80.2% of its enrollment, CPS is among the latter group.

“The biggest problem with the bill as I see it, is that it fails to identify new sources of revenue, ie. a graduated income tax, making the wealthiest pay their fair share. But nevertheless, the bill, which passed both houses in Springfield needs to be signed, and fast.

“Rauner’s been using the big-lie technique to play off white students against students of color, urban schools against downstate and suburban schools and everyone against teachers, their unions, and retirees.

“But let’s say, for the sake of argument, that his “bail out” claims are correct. What’s wrong with bailing out public schools or other public institutions in distress? If IL paid its fair share of education dollars, a bail out wouldn’t be necessary. IL continues to rank near the bottom when it comes to school funding.

“The state, by constitutional mandate, has the primary responsibility for funding its public schools but has never come close to covering even 50% of the cost. In recent years, the state’s contribution has dipped below 30%, forcing local school districts to raise their property tax levy or cut programs.”

Another example of a state that has decided to starve its public school and evade its state constitutional responsibility.

Categories Funding, Illinois

Indiana: Child Evangelicals Win an Injunction to Protect Their Activities in Public Schools

By dianeravitch
August 1, 2017 //
54

As a Jew who believes in religious freedom and nonsectarian public schools, I find this troubling. Do you?

I don’t care what your religion is. Practice it. But leave me out.

This is Mike Pence’s world, not mine.

August 1, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CEF Wins Injunction Against Indiana School District

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Today, an Indiana Federal District Court granted Child Evangelism Fellowship’s (CEF) requests for a preliminary injunction against an unconstitutional policy that the district used to discriminate against Good News Clubs. Liberty Counsel represents CEF nationwide. One of the ministries of CEF is Good News Clubs for children K-5.

The case, Child Evangelism Fellowship of Indiana, Inc. v. Indiana Metropolitan School District of Pike Township, was filed to secure the same access and benefits for the Good News Clubs that non-religious groups currently enjoy. The school district required CEF to pay facilities use fees for Good News Club meetings, while waiving the fees for similarly situated, non-religious groups. For nearly two school years, the school district ignored CEF’s numerous attempts to resolve the constitutional violations. This deprived Pike Township elementary students of the Good News Club’s program, which CEF offers to all interested students free of charge.

Horatio Mihet, Liberty Counsel’s Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief Litigation Counsel, recently presented oral argument before the court. Today, Judge William T. Lawrence granted CEF a preliminary injunction against Policy 7510, which gives the superintendent unfettered discretion to determine which groups pay a facilities usage fee.

“We are pleased that the district policy has been blocked by the court,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “The school district cannot discriminate against the religious viewpoint of Good News Clubs. This has been the clear ruling from the Supreme Court since 2001. This ruling comes just in time for the beginning of a new school year. Good News Clubs are good for children, parents, and especially good for schools,” said Staver.

CEF has been encouraging learning, spiritual growth, moral development and service to others since 1937 and is actively expanding its ministry into new nations and new areas within nations, with a goal of reaching “Every Child, Every Nation, Every Day.”

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics

Categories Indiana, Religion, Separation of church and state
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