Angie Sullivan teaches young children in the public schools of Clark County (Las Vegas), Nevada. Her school is a Title I School. She often excoriates the legislature for ignoring the needs of the state’s neediest children. In this post, which she sent to legislators and journalists, she reminds them that Nevada’s charter schools are among the lowest performing schools in the state, and that their so-called Achievement School District, modeled on the ASD that failed in Tennessee, is also a massive failure.
The Nevada ASD
The Achievement School District is the biggest reform failure in the state of Nevada.
Built on the flawed premise that charters are a remedy for failing public schools, the ASD forces 6 failing public schools into charters. Unfortunately, the worst academic performers in Nevada are charters. Charters are not a remedy. There are zero excellent charters in Nevada. And certainly zero excellent charters in places needing remedy in Nevada.
This is a description of Nevada ASD.
When implemented, no one wanted the ASD job. Certainly no one in the Nevada community wanted the task.
Eventually a young woman Jana Wilcox Lavin with a background in public relations and marketing was imported from the failed Tennessee ASD model to form the new Nevada ASD.
Jana immediately announced she did not want to “takeover” an older school facility. Her primary concern was plumbing. Seems that her “takeover” in Tennessee had issues with pipes she did not want to deal with again. Also charter vendors are not attracted to rural communities. And charter takeover of a failing charter was not an option. Proving ASD charters were not a remedy for student achievement but a business function since they do not go where a remedy for student achievement is needed the most.
Jana has moved on and is now at Opportunity 180. That organization had $10 million (including funds from Eli Broad) under former Nevada State School Board Member Allison Serafin to bring non-profit charters to Nevada. Opportunity 180 also failed.
Due to low per pupil funding, ASD and Opportunity 180 did not attract any quality charter vendors. It certainly did not attract quality vendors with education experience dealing with high poverty and high language learning populations.
Some scary vendors were chosen – later to be excluded.
As mentioned before, the selection process for the ASD was unfair with schools being “chosen” in urban Vegas because the facilities were new. I believe the ASD thought minority parents would be easily swayed to become a charter. They were wrong.
The underperforming list was very telling. Half the list were rural schools and charters. Many listed were immediately disqualified because they were already charters. Outside charter vendors had zero appetite for rural school takeover. No one had an appetite for rural school takeover. Again proving the ASD is not a function of doing what is best for all Nevada students.
The ASD moved to force the six charter vendors on minority communities in Vegas.
Low Performing Vegas schools were the victims. While a very small handful of parents welcomed becoming a charter, overwhelmingly the community came out by the thousands rejecting “takeover”. The community is tired of failed experimentation on communities of color by outsiders. Decades of invasion has taught our parents to be highly skeptical and critical of crazy ideas imposed by top-down policy makers who do not know or care about our kids.
The ASD ended up taking in the Agassi Charters and a very tiny four teacher Futuro started by Allison Serafin’s TFA friends. Some schools ended up with a “compact” since there was no one willing to take them over.
During the last legislative session, correction of this failed reform was attempted. Unfortunately the revised legislation may have been worse than the current version with teacher voice squelched and parent trigger like language. The correction was about forcing charters with even stronger language. Hard to explain the poison pills the NVDOE wanted to place in the revision but they were nasty. While some pieces of the new legislation were better; other pieces were worse. Unfortunate maneuvering by the NVDOE and the ASD. Taught me a lot about the individuals at the NVDOE and how little they know about my community.
We needed to change the ASD legislation but the poison was too hard to swallow.
We are stuck with a system which parents already rejected.
This years underperforming list looks to be similar to last years list. The lowest of the low performers are obviously charter schools and rural schools once again.
Elementary Schools
CCSD Bottom 5% – 12 Schools (5%)
CCSD Low Performing – 14 Schools (6%)
CCSD has 216 elementary schools. (11%)
Washoe Bottom 5% – 3 Schools (5%)
Washoe Low Performing – 5 Schools (8%)
WCSD has 60 elementary schools (13%)
Rural Bottom 5% – 3 Schools
Rural Low Performing- 8 Schools
** 100% of schools in most places are failing – since often only a singular choice is offered**
Charter Bottom 5% – 1 Schools (4%)
Charter Low Performing – 4 Schools (17%)
24 charters – (21%)
Middle Schools
CCSD Bottom 5% – 2 schools (3%)
CCSD Low Performing – 6 schools (10%)
CCSD has 59 middle schools. (13%)
Washoe Low Performing – 2 schools (13%)
WCSD has 15 middle schools (13%)
Rural Bottom 5% – 5 schools
Rural Low Performing – 4 schools
** 100% of schools in most places are failing – since often only a singular choice is offered**
High Schools
CCSD – 4 schools
CCSD has 49 high schools. (8%)
Rural – 5 schools
** 100% of schools in most places are failing – since often only a singular choice is offered**
Charters – 8 schools (67%)
24 charters – 12 having high schools
Nevada has 24 charters. 11 are on the list. 46% of charters are performing lowest of the low. Mater (Academica) , NV Connections, Nevada Virtual, Quest, Delta Academy, Innovations, Odyssey, Beacon, Encompass, Silver State, and I Can Do Anything.
Elko County has nine schools. 7 are on the list. 78% of its schools.
Places like McDermitt which serves primarily Native Americans – 100% of its schools are on the list for elementary and high school.
Unfortunately the list still includes schools which are obviously credit retrieval and alternative programs. This should be fixed instead of continuing to list obvious programs already identified as specialized.
Alternative Schools
CCSD Burk
CCSD Desert Rose
Nye Pathways
In summary:
If ASD is really about improving student achievement and not a Vegas school grab – it will look at the data.
Reform rural schools first since there is zero other school choice in those locations. Some places have the most obvious and overwhelming need. Start in Elko and McDermitt. ASD should focus on places with 100% of schools failing – which are most of the rural schools listed and a third of the list.
In addition, all schools listed should be allowed to make a compact instead of charter takeover if targeted. This was allowed last year and set a precedent.
If CCSD schools are the only schools targeted again for takeover – it will be obvious to everyone this is unfair according to the data. Also, Vegas offers choice by magnet, zone variance, and location. Parents can move students because we have 351 schools not a singular choice.
Charters under scrutiny by the State Public Charter Authority, in receivership, or under investigation should not be allowed to “escape” by opting in to the ASD. That would include all of them on the low performing lists. Nevada Charters have avoided accountability for too long. They need to be closed if they are failing.
Personal note: Also listed are many schools with ZOOM, Victory, SB178 money. This shows that money is obviously required and the Vegas schools labeled Low Performing are filled with students experiencing high poverty and language learners. Since this funding was recently legislated, especially the weighted funding, those places should be left alone to see if those funds can work.
I will be watching ASD closely to make sure it makes it choices based on student achievement . . . and not nice real estate or extra money.
Forcing a charter on minority communities is not school choice.
And that is why Nevada ASD is a huge policy failure.
Angie.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Speaking of… new article from NC Policy Watch on our “Innovative School District”:
“Following angry backlash in Robeson County, potential applicants for Innovative School District have second thoughts”
http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2017/10/31/following-angry-backlash-robeson-county-potential-applicants-innovative-school-district-second-thoughts/#sthash.ZNvwMT56.QX0ToBxz.dpbs
Hmm… sounds like the charter admins are basically saying they don’t want to do an obvious, overt takeover. They would prefer to do it sneakily and covertly so they don’t have to risk their brands, and so they can infiltrate more schools that they never intend to leave.
Alexis Franco, director of Raleigh, NC-based Achieve Educational Partners LLC, in her own words:
“Because you and your team plan on having a presence and being hands-on in this process, would it be more effective long term to do this in house?” Franco wrote in an email to Hall. “Bring on additional team members with successful charter experience to then guide the transformation. This team can then build a process where they can then roll into additional schools seamlessly. The idea of this team being part of the ISD and state rather than ‘the school being handed off to a CMO’ may also allow schools to be open to accepting the support.”
Franco also questioned the long-term strategy of the state’s takeover district, which would ink five-year contracts with companies with the option to extend further.
She said she believes an organization could work for five years to boost test scores in the school, only to see its work undone once control is returned to local leaders.
“We’re not looking for a quick turnaround,” said Franco. “We’re looking for sustainability.”
“ASD should focus on places with 100% of schools failing – which are most of the rural schools listed and a third of the list.”
Playing the “schools failing” game is guaranteed to come back on haunt you, Angie.
We need to start focusing on the equity, or lack thereof, of the inputs that go into schools. Are the resources enough to ensure that all students can learn to their desires in fulfilling the public school constitutional mandate of “to promote the welfare of the individual so that each person may savor the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the fruits of their own industry”?
YES. We must stop buying into and using the language of reform. “Failing, bad, broken and low-scoring” must be strategically exchanged for words which bring the focus back onto a very transparent inequity: “under-funded, under-resourced, neglected, invaded…”
Excellent change of words
Speaking of… new article from NC Policy Watch on our “Innovative School District”:
Following angry backlash in Robeson County, potential applicants for Innovative School District have second thoughts
http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2017/10/31/following-angry-backlash-robeson-county-potential-applicants-innovative-school-district-second-thoughts/#sthash.ZNvwMT56.QX0ToBxz.dpbs
Hmm… sounds like the charter admins are basically saying they don’t want to do an obvious, overt takeover. They would prefer to do it sneakily and covertly so they don’t have to risk their brands, and so they can infiltrate more schools that they never intend to leave.
Alexis Franco, director of Raleigh, NC-based Achieve Educational Partners LLC, in her own words:
“Because you and your team plan on having a presence and being hands-on in this process, would it be more effective long term to do this in house?” Franco wrote in an email to Hall. “Bring on additional team members with successful charter experience to then guide the transformation. This team can then build a process where they can then roll into additional schools seamlessly. The idea of this team being part of the ISD and state rather than ‘the school being handed off to a CMO’ may also allow schools to be open to accepting the support.”
Franco also questioned the long-term strategy of the state’s takeover district, which would ink five-year contracts with companies with the option to extend further.
She said she believes an organization could work for five years to boost test scores in the school, only to see its work undone once control is returned to local leaders.
“We’re not looking for a quick turnaround,” said Franco. “We’re looking for sustainability.”
And in this article published today, Dr. Eric Hall tells us what the REAL challenge is before us with NC’s “Innovative School District”…
“I understand and respect the concerns,” [Dr. Eric Hall] wrote. “The challenge before us, however, is to get past the issues of power and control and focus on the mission that I believe everyone in this debate shares — student success and brighter futures for our children. I want to propose a new narrative, one that transcends power struggles and elicits instead an urgent call-to-action to address students’ needs across North Carolina.”
(http://www.robesonian.com/news/104361/southside-ashpole-officially-accepted-for-isd-program)
OHHHHH, so the real problem is that we all need to just “transcend power struggles” and give up all of our local power and control to business interests?? 😡
Yes, you saw right through the nonsense. Don’t worry about who controls your schools. Just pay your taxes, hand over your children to the education-industrial complex, and go away.
Here’s what I just posted as a comment on that article, as a sort of open letter to Dr. Hall.
Thank goodness Dr. Eric Hall finally reveals to us what the REAL challenge is before us with NC’s “Innovative School District”:
===============
“I understand and respect the concerns,” [Dr. Eric Hall] wrote. “The challenge before us, however, is to get past the issues of power and control and focus on the mission that I believe everyone in this debate shares — student success and brighter futures for our children. I want to propose a new narrative, one that transcends power struggles and elicits instead an urgent call-to-action to address students’ needs across North Carolina.”
OHHHHH, so the real problem is that we all need to just “transcend power struggles” and give up our children, our local educators and all of our local power and control to business interests?? 😡
Well if you are sure that we all have the same mission and students best interests at heart, and this isn’t really about power and control (and money!), then why the takeover approach? If you really think that this is the best way to serve struggling schools and you truly believe that schools will want to partner with the ISD and invite (for profit?) charter school management to run things (for 5+ years?), why not allow qualifying schools who are interested in the ISD to apply…?
Why not ASK us what we need rather than imposing this top-down takeover and then belittling us by saying we’re not “transcending” enough while you open the doors for people who want to make money off of our children?
Well I, for one, reject your ridiculous suggested false narrative.
We will NOT roll over,
We will NOT hand our kids over, and
We do NOT consent to your takeover.
Transcend that.