Archives for the month of: December, 2017
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How Parents in Douglas County, Colorado, Beat Back the Koch Brothers, ALEC, and Vouchers

By dianeravitch
December 9, 2017 //
13

This is an inspiring story about the successful efforts by parents in Douglas County, Colorado, to save public schools from a far-right faction that gained control of the local school board and began an assault on the principle of public education.

Newly elected school board members in Douglas County, Colorado unanimously voted this week to rescind a controversial voucher program. Despite a $100,000 media ad campaign by the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity asking voucher supporters to show up to the board meeting, not a single public comment was made in support of maintaining the program.

The end of the voucher program marks a dramatic end to a years-long battle that began in this affluent suburban community with the election of a GOP-backed slate of school board candidates in 2009. On the one side was a vast network of deep pockets, including Americans for Prosperity, the American Legislative Exchange Committee and the GOP, pushing a divisive and ideological agenda for the local schools. On the other was a group of moms with no experience running political campaigns. These grassroots activists struggled to out-maneuver big dollars and slick marketing, but their hard work finally paid off. On November 7, 2017, voters swept in a slate of candidates who believe in public schools. The Dougco election results should give hope to activists across the country who are fighting to put the “public” back in public education.

The newly installed board in 2009 not only supported vouchers but it bullied teachers and principals and drove many of them away from the district.

With a GOP political operative in charge of the Douglas County School District communications department, it was increasingly difficult to remember this was a school district. As teachers and parents were intimidated, and fear settled in, teachers began to leave—by choice or force—what was once considered a “destination district.” Teachers left in the middle of the day. They were escorted out of their classrooms by police in front of children. One teacher was pulled out of a school in front of his own children. Principals were intentionally targeted and told, “You are going to do this and when parents ask we can say, ‘The principal said so.’”

Parents found it hard to believe that their elected school board wanted to undermine the public schools. But activist parents joined with the ACLU and sued to block the voucher program.

The resistance built slowly. The privatizers retained control in an election in 2013. The parent coalition won three seats in 2015. The parent resistance swept the board in 2017 and abolished the voucher program.

The story of Dougco proves that organized grassroots resistance can prevail over big money.

As the Network for Public Education says, “We have the numbers. They have the money. They can hire people to carry their message. But we can beat them if we work together and bring people out to vote for their public schools.”

We must not ever lose hope. Dougco is proof that resistance can succeed.

Categories ALEC, Education Reform, Koch Brothers

John Kuhn Takes 2 Minutes to Identify the Real Culprit Behind Inequity in Funding Schools: MUST WATCH!

By dianeravitch
December 9, 2017 //
20

Please watch this two-minute video of John Kuhn, Texas Superintendent, who tells the story of two adjacent school districts, one rich, one poor. He explains with eloquence and passion why schools should be equitably funded and how unjust it is to fund schools differently and expect to get the same results.

This video is part of a series of short videos produced by Michael Elliott for the Network for Public Education.

Please watch it, tweet it, share it on your Facebook page, and wherever else you reach your friends and acquaintances. Send it to everyone you know.

Kuhn is powerful and eloquent on behalf of children, communities, public schools, justice, and equity.

Categories Equity, Funding, Network for Public Education, Supporting public schools

Erich Martel: In D.C., Gaming the System is Commonplace

By dianeravitch
December 9, 2017 //
3

Erich Martel is a retired D.C. teacher and current whistleblower. The principal of the much-criticized Ballou High School–where chronic absenteeism was ignored–has been removed, but the deeper problems have not been addressed. He points out in a letter to the editor of the Washington Post that the system of rewards and punishments built into the system encourages gaming the system. Standardized tests are used not to identify student needs and remediate them, but to hold schools’ accountable for meeting goals.

He writes:

There is no mystery to high school students’ deficient achievement: DCPS doesn’t use standardized tests to diagnose and remediate students’ learning needs; they’re used to hold school faculties collectively accountable, while unremediated students are socially promoted. Fifty percent of principals’ IMPACT evaluation consists of “voluntarily” set performance goals, including promotion and graduation rates at the high school level. Principals face an unethical choice: honor the grades that students earned or keep their jobs. It’s time to end troubled DCPS management policies that impede teaching and learning and teach the wrong lesson on integrity.

These are the “get tough” policies installed by Michelle Rhee in the name of “reform” and kept in place by Kaya Henderson. They have produced phony test scores and phony graduation rates. This is the fruit of corporate reform, where meeting the goals matter more than truth.

Campbell’s Law takes its toll again. And always. By using the measure as the goal, both the measure and the goal are corrupted.

“The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor.”

On a similar note, Campbell also wrote:

achievement tests may well be valuable indicators of general school achievement under conditions of normal teaching aimed at general competence. But when test scores become the goal of the teaching process, they both lose their value as indicators of educational status and distort the educational process in undesirable ways. (Similar biases of course surround the use of objective tests in courses or as entrance examinations.)

Categories Accountability, Campbell's Law, District of Columbia, Fraud

John Merrow: When “Too Good to Be True” Is Not True

By dianeravitch
December 9, 2017 //
25

John Merrow reviews the miraculous but not true story of the high school in Washington, D.C., that increased its graduation rate from 57% to 100% in one year. And every one of these graduates were accepted into college! A touching story. But a false story. Made even worse by the fact that it was reported by NPR, which is a usually reliable and trustworthy source for news.

Merrow notes that in the original report, 26 of the graduating class of nearly 200 students had not yet earned enough credits to graduate. How, then, could the school have a graduation rate of 100% and a college acceptance rate of 100%?

A little digging, he said, would have revealed the fact that a local D.C. community college accepts all students who have a high school diploma, a GED, or the equivalent, so gaining college acceptance is not a high bar to cross.

He then recounts how NPR walked the story back and did some investigation, finding the original story to be wrong. There was no 100% graduation rate, and many students earned credits with “credit recovery,” sitting in front of a computer for a week to get a semester’s credits. How phony is that!

He writes:

Further evidence that the 100% college acceptance story is bogus comes from academic results. Only 9% of seniors were able to pass the city’s English test, and not a single student passed the math test. The average SAT score for Ballou test-takers was 782 out of a possible 1600. Moreover, teachers told NPR that some administrators actually filled out the college applications for those students who had no interest in attending college!

This disgraceful approach to schooling does widespread damage beyond what is obviously done to kids who receive phony diplomas but no real education. One teacher told NPR, “This is [the] biggest way to keep a community down. To graduate students who aren’t qualified, send them off to college unprepared, so they return to the community to continue the cycle.”

I am not writing this to criticize NPR for missing the story** the first time around. I did that myself more than once in my 41-year career, and I was late in recognizing the flaws in Michelle Rhee’s ‘test scores are everything’ approach in Washington. Her wrong-headed strategy is, arguably, responsible for the mind-set that exists at Ballou today.

Here’s what matters: the Ballou fiasco is the bitter fruit of the ‘School Reform’ movement that continues to dominate educational practice in most school districts today. These (faux) reformers continue to support policies and practices that basically reduce children to a single number, their scores on standardized, machine-scored tests. This approach has led to a diminished curriculum, drill-and-kill schooling, buckets of money leaving the schools and going instead to testing companies and outside consultants, the growth of charter schools (many run by profiteers), and a drumbeat of criticism from ideologues who seem determined to break apart and ruin public education, rather than attempt to reinvent it.

(This approach also once again proves the truth of Campbell’s Law, the more importance given to a single measure, the greater the probability that it will be corrupted. When test scores rule education, some people cheat. And when high school graduation rates rule, people also find ways to cheat.

In case you were not sure, Merrow makes clear that he was hoodwinked by Michelle Rhee, and he calls out the false premises and false promises of the “School Reform” movement, which has done so much to corrupt education by setting targets that can’t be reached without cheating.

Categories District of Columbia, Fraud, High School Graduation, Hoax, Media, Michelle Rhee

Paul Krugman: The Republican War on Children

By dianeravitch
December 8, 2017 //
20

Nobel-Prize winning economist Paul Krugman asks a simple question:

“Would you be willing to take health care away from a thousand children with the bad luck to have been born into low-income families so that you could give millions of extra dollars to just one wealthy heir?

“You might think that this question is silly, hypothetical and has an obvious answer. But it’s not at all hypothetical, and the answer apparently isn’t obvious. For it’s a literal description of the choice Republicans in Congress seem to be making as you read this.

“The Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, is basically a piece of Medicaid targeted on young Americans. It was introduced in 1997, with bipartisan support. Last year it covered 8.9 million kids. But its funding expired more than two months ago. Republicans keep saying they’ll restore the money, but they keep finding reasons not to do it; state governments, which administer the program, will soon have to start cutting children off.

“What’s the problem? The other day Senator Orrin Hatch, asked about the program (which he helped create), once again insisted that it will be funded — but without saying when or how (and there don’t seem to be any signs of movement on the issue). And he further declared, “The reason CHIP’s having trouble is that we don’t have money anymore.” Then he voted for an immense tax cut.”

Maybe children’s health is “the Civil Rights issue of our time,” not school choice.

Any chance we could persuade Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump, DFER, billionaire Daniel Loeb, Ted Cruz, and the rest of the school reform gang to agree?

Categories Childhood, Civil Rights

Ted Cruz Wants Vouchers for Every Student in D.C.

By dianeravitch
December 8, 2017 //
15

The most recent federal evaluation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program found that students who used the voucher experienced a decline in their test scores. Betsy DeVos was undisturbed by the finding because, she said, when choice is fully expanded, all sectors will get the same results. I suppose that means that choice is the goal of choice, not better education. Previous evaluations said that even though vouchers had no impact on test scores, the graduation rate of voucher students was higher, but those evaluations downplayed or hid the high attrition rate from the voucher schools, which falsely inflated the graduation rate.

Ted Cruz and Mark Meadows, a Republican from North Carolina, want to extend vouchers to every student in the District of Columbia. They claim that vouchers (i.e., the destruction of public education) is “the civil rights issue of our time.” You can always count on rightwing Republicans like Cruz and Meadows to be concerned about civil rights.

Maybe they should have a sit-down with the NAACP, which believes that the adequate and equitable funding of public schools is one of the civil rights issues of our times, along with stopping the Republican efforts to suppress the vote of African Americans.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, District of Columbia

Tennessee: “Backpack Full of Cash” Was Hit in Knoxville

By dianeravitch
December 8, 2017 //
6

Professor Mark Harmon writes here about the showing of “Backpack Full of Cash” in Knoxville, where the audience learned about the devastating impact of charters draining resources from public schools, as well as charter school scandals.

Someday, when people look back on this era of malignant privatization, “Backpack Full of Cash” will be recognized for its role in informing the public about the assault by rightwingers on public education.

Go to the film’s website and learn how you can arrange a showing in your community.

It is a shame that PBS refuses to show this excellent documentary. If only a few billionaires stepped up and offered to buy time for it. Or even one billionaire.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization

Chester-Upland, Pennsylvania: Exhibit A for Pennsylvania’s Broken Charter Law

By dianeravitch
December 8, 2017 //
7

This article was published a year ago. It remains timely. It tells the story of the charter schools (one in particular) that bankrupted one of Pennsylvania’s poorest school districts.

While the public schools have been bankrupted and taken over by a receiver, the owner of the biggest charter became very rich selling goods and services to his charter corporation. He is active in Republican politics. He was on Governor Tom Corbett’s transition team for education. Governor Wolf has approached him with care. His charter has fattened on special education payments, which were $40,000 per student, even for those with the mildest speech disabilities, leaving the most disabled students to the bankrupt public schools.

Governor Wolf was able to negotiate a lowering of the special education payment to $27,000.

To put some noteworthy flaws of Pennsylvania’s charter law in stark relief, one need look no further than the Chester-Upland School District, a desperately poor enclave in generally well-off Delaware County.

As the state’s most distressed district, it is so unable to meet its students’ needs that it is under the control of a receiver.

Nearly half of the students in Chester Upland attend charter schools, and 46 percent of its budget goes to charter payments. Most charter students there are enrolled in the Chester Community Charter School (CCCS). The K-8 school has 2,900 students, nearly as many as the 3,300 K-12 students in the district. The state’s largest brick-and-mortar charter by far, CCCS was founded and is operated for profit by a company owned by businessman Vahan Gureghian, a major supporter of former Gov. Tom Corbett and other Republican candidates and causes.

CCCS and its management company, Charter School Management Inc., have built a reputation for taking maximum advantage of the financial opportunities built into the charter school law, while strenuously resisting any public scrutiny about where that money goes.

Until court-sanctioned action that lowered payments this year, the state’s special-education funding formula required Chester-Upland to send its charters more than $40,000 for every special education student. How much of that actually went to student services is not known, in part because the charter law does not require CCCS or any other charter to make that information public.

What is known, however, is that CCCS spends a healthy chunk of its budget on fees paid to Gureghian’s management company. Gureghian won’t open his books, but about 10 years ago, the school spent an estimated 40 percent of its revenue on management, as opposed to the state average for charters of about 16 percent.

What is also known is that the Chester Upland district’s payments to CCCS for special education have a profound effect on the district’s budget. “Unfair and excessive special education payments are bankrupting the District,” wrote Chester Upland officials in their recent recovery plan. Last summer, Gov. Wolf asked a judge to intervene and bring special education payments more in line with special education expenses.

A hallmark of the CCCS approach is that the school identifies large numbers of students as needing special education, usually in relatively low-cost categories.

For instance, in the 2014-15 school year, more than 27 percent of the special education students were classified as having a “speech and language impairment,” the least expensive classification of disability, which generally requires speech therapy once or twice a week. That is close to twice the state rate of 15.4 percent and more than 11 times the Chester Upland district rate of 2.4 percent for that category.

When the state tried to adjust the formula for special education reimbursements to reflect the level of student needs, charter lobbyists descended to fight it. And nothing changed.

By the way, the owner of the Chester Community Charter School has his mansion in Palm Beach for sale. He dropped the price last May by $5 million. You can pick it up for a mere $64.9 million. Quite the steal, never lived in.

For some reason, the Chester Community Charter School has a high rate of “safety incidents” and suspensions, more than any other school in Delaware County.

Categories Billionaires, Charter Schools, Pennsylvania, Special Education

Laura Chapman: Koch Brothers Want Researchers for Hispanic Propaganda Campaign

By dianeravitch
December 8, 2017 //
8

Laura Chapman has done her usual fastidious research and discovered that the Koch Brothers are offering pocket change to anyone who will offer help for their propaganda campaign to persuade Hispanic parents that privatization of school funding is good for them.

She writes:

“The Libre Institute “research” program will pay $10,000 to academics and fellows who will offer the Institute papers that offer an “analysis and proposed policy initiatives rooted in values such as economic freedom and well-being, fiscal discipline, limited government, market entrepreneurship, and personal accountability.”

“To the extent possible, each analysis should examine federal and state-level policies related to each topic and the respective impact to Hispanics in those states. Particular states to be highlighted are Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Virginia. “

“The academics who are enlisted to do research on education for the Libre Institute are asked to “review School Choice regulations and their impact on closing the achievement gap between Hispanics and other demographics.”

“Other topics for the research initiative are:

“Health Care – explore the current Medicaid system and its ability to provide adequate health care services to Hispanics in the U.S.; alternatively, or in coordination with, an analysis of the regulations and taxes under the

“Affordable Care Act and its impact on U.S. Hispanics’ ability to access care, choice and overall economic impact;

“Regulation – examine impact of regulations on Hispanic small business owners and entrepreneurs’ ability to enter markets and succeed;

“Poverty – evaluate the success of current government policies and their ability to move Hispanics out of poverty;

“Immigration – study the economic goals behind Hispanic immigration to the U.S. and determine whether immigrant populations are achieving those goals and whether current policies are an impediment to success;

“Labor / Employment – investigate the current employment situation of Hispanics in the U.S., explore any changes in employment throughout the economic recovery as compared to other demographics, and analyze polices which may further exaggerate any differences.”

“Now here are a few of the strings attached to becoming a shill for the Libre Institute.

“Each paper will be peer reviewed by at least 2 scholars in the community prior to publication. ” (“In the community” scholars are not identified but it is obvious they must meet ideological criteria).

“Once released, each paper will be the subject of a roll-out campaign highlighting the topic of the analysis, and may include additional efforts including op-ed publications, local-level town halls and legislative briefings. It is envisioned that the author of the piece will participate in a select few of these efforts. ”

“Authors will be expected to provide a non-exclusive, but otherwise unlimited license to The LIBRE Institute so that it can publicize and otherwise use the material as part of its public education activities. Authors will be encouraged to submit their pieces for publication in other journals after the paper has been published and released by The LIBRE Institute.”

Research Initiative: The LIBRE Institute Perspective Series

“The Libre Institute is not really interested in research. It wants propaganda points annotated with some references.”

Categories Arizona, Billionaires, Koch Brothers

Mercedes Schneider: Study Says State Takeover of Low-Performing Schools in Tennessee Failed

By dianeravitch
December 8, 2017 //
18

Mercedes Schneider reports on a study funded by the Race to the Top program of the U.S. Department of Education and the Walton Family Foundation which concludes that state takeovers of low-performing schools in Tennessee made no difference. The schools remained low performing. That is, the takeovers failed. The schools taken over did not vault from the bottom of state rankings to the top. The so-called Achievement School District failed. The study can be found here.

This finding is no surprise to readers of this blog, as Gary Rubinstein has followed the progress–or lack thereof–of the ASD since its inception and has regularly reported that the low performing schools were not making any gains. Rubinstein said after six years of watching that the ASD was “a colossal failure.”

This is the abstract of the study by Ron Zimmer, Gary T. Henry, and Adam Kho:

In recent years, the federal government has invested billions of dollars to reform chronically low-performing schools. To fulfill their federal Race to the Top grant agreement, Tennessee implemented three turnaround strategies that adhered to the federal restart and transformation models: (a) placed schools under the auspices of the Achievement School District (ASD), which directly managed them; (b) placed schools under the ASD, which arranged for management by a charter management organization; and (c) placed schools under the management of a district Innovation Zone (iZone) with additional resources and autonomy. We examine the effects of each strategy and find that iZone schools, which were separately managed by three districts, substantially improved student achievement. In schools under the auspices of the ASD, student achievement did not improve or worsen. This suggests that it is possible to improve schools without removing them from the governance of a school district.

Schneider’s post includes additional quotations from the study.

And she finds it amusing, as do I, that the study was funded by the Walton Family Foundation, which is spending $200 million a year on new charters, every year. Add that to the $263 million that Betsy DeVos handed out from the U.S. Department of Education and that is a half billion a year to open new charters, from only two of the many sources committed to privatization.

After 25 years of the charter “experiment,” there is a growing body of evidence that they do not have a “secret sauce,” other than selection and attrition. That is not a replicable model for American education.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Privatization
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