Having worked for nearly two years in the federal bureaucracy, I have learned to decipher government documents (most of the time).
But this one, written under the name of New York Commissioner of Education MaryEllen Elia, is the worst tripe I have ever encountered.
I don’t understand it but it doesn’t sound good.
It sounds threatening and ominous. I hear the sound of punishment. Missing is any sign of hope or support.
Please let me know if you know what the plan is here.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Does this statement fall under the Common Core definition of fiction or non-fiction?
Well, just considering the title:
“Moving Forward with Receivership in New York State”
I’d say she’s doing some preliminary work in setting the table for the privatization of the public schools.
Wolf in sheep’s clothing?
Glancing through it. . . Let me just say it is a Grade AA Pure piece of rare bovine excrement smothered in a mental masturbation glaze.
Duane,
This is a gem: “Glancing through it. . . Let me just say it is a Grade AA Pure piece of rare bovine excrement smothered in a mental masturbation glaze.” TRUE.
Blech.
As if the state knows how to improve schools!
“Receivership” is a “gift” from Governor Cuomo. now part of NYs law, approved in the 2015 legislative session, Cuomo was “unhappy,” in the 2014 democratic primary a number of teacher union locals endorsed his opponent, Zephyr Teachout, the state teacher union made no endorsement. The commissioner was complying with the law, in the four years since the law was passed NO schools or school districts have been placed under receivership. Cuomo, who is bipolar in his dealing with teachers unions is in a positive mode, over the next few weeks we are hopeful that teacher evaluation will be returned to school districts, not imposed by the state, and, perhaps, changes in the charter school law, maybe a moratorium on new charters, then again, the Cuomo may be off his meds and decide differently.
This document is a maze of bureaucratic doublespeak. It outlines the phases of warnings and punishment after testing. The chart is even confusing and not very helpful. Why is their no burden of proof on the part of the state to show that receivership is a better option for a low performing school? Considering the poor outcomes of most receivership relationships, why is this option assumed to be a magic bullet?
Looks and reads as if it was made in OHIO, or perhaps the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation…. not kidding a whole lot.
The layering of administrative levels and jargon is designed to obscure the reality that the state is on a path to take over schools, privatize the worst, with some lip service to “community engagement.” there will be no serious effort to address the causes of low test scores and other Level ! and 2 indicators. T
“Moving Forward with Deceivership in New York State”
Fixed
This sounds like a direct violation of the four-year moratorium on the use of CC test scores, which is now in its final year.
Sounds to me like they are going to strip schools away from local school boards and then make them charter schools, under the guise of Community Engagement Teams (a.k.a. charter governing boards).
It seems pretty straightforward that they’re taking the old NCLB receivorship designations (from 2005 and on) and repackaging them. I’d be astounded that this was occuring at this point if I didn’t know that charterists evolve their tactics over time.
Under The Guise Of Community Engagement: another great title for a book about the privatizing/profiteering game
HIdden behind all the high-sounding doublespeak that opponents of public schools use to promote “reform” and charter schools is the ugly face of racism. Free public schooling is the path for not only non-white children, but also poor white children into the world of the Middle Class and beyond. The 1% don’t want anyone moving into their “beyond” territory; they want the “beyond” exclusively for themselves and their children, And many Middle Class whites who feel threatened share the 1%’s opinion that they don’t want anyone moving upward into their turf. Stifling public schools with “reforms”, and diverting vital funds from public schools and into privately-operated charter schools are the two main methods by which the elite 1% and the Middle Classers who feel threatened are defending their turf from the “rabble” moving upward.
Good thing we’re all using engage ny here in Ohio. Well, maybe not all. But, districts that aren’t seem to be few and far between.
Omg. What do you think of engageNY so far?
Isn’t this 3 years old? Why is the date October 2015?
Good catch, NYCpsp! That having been said, does that mean this plan was secretly put in motion &, this being 2019, there can be an announcement forthcoming? (That is, the “plan” is complete-?!)
&–again–WARNINGS to Chicago (& to ILL-Annoy, because a # of charters rejected have appealed to the ILL-Annoy Charter Commission)–the Walton PACS are here to buy those running for mayor & aldermen.
Yes, it is from 2015. I hear the new ESSA regs are even worse.
Sorry, I can’t read Volgon.
It will be a great day for the state of New York when the Volgon is removed from office. Here’s the difficult thing for people who work in the Deform Movement:
There is this pesky thing called Democracy, and in time, it wins out.
I wish I could agree with your last statement, Robert. But I’m not sure that it is true. In my lifetime (last 50 years) “Democracy” has been losing big time (think Citizens United and other abominations of laws) and I don’t see those few that benefit from those laws giving any of it back. Not without massive work shutdowns, strikes, protests, and many dying in the street.
Trump will be impeached and indicted. No question about this. What they have on him is BREATHTAKING, unprecedented. A win for Democracy. A new generation of kids is coming up. They are talking universal, single-payer healthcare and equitable taxation. Charter schools are in trouble. Standardized testing is on life support. The Common Core vampirism, unfortunately, lives on. Time to put a stake into that.
I just don’t share your optimism that the tRump will be impeached much less convicted by the Senate. By the time this plays out it will be time for a new election. And then we’ll get a retread from the Dims and who knows what from the Rethugs.
But I also don’t trust my political forecasting skills as I’ve been wrong many times in the past-Raygun, Georgie the Least or the tRump.
It’s all coming to a head right now. Trump made a really big mistake in taking on his own intelligence services. He’s just another of those dumb criminals, like the guy who robbed the house and stopped to check his Facebook page and left it open. LOL. Just you wait, Duane. It’s going to be an interesting year.
Vamos a ver, eh.
I agree about what should be done to Common Core, but impeachment doesn’t mean the Senate will convict, so don’t base your hopes for an education turnaround on a new president because the new president will be Pence, who is more DeVosian than DeVos.
P.S. The capitalist oligarchy will still be in power even if Trump is ousted or not reelected, but he will not even be impeached I predict AND moreover he WILL be reelected because the presumed field and platform of the Democrats will be too left for the country as long as the electoral college is still the way voting in the republic is conducted. And consider this too: what if Trump truly did NOT collude with Russia to win the 2016 election. There will be found that there is zero evidence he did. Then what? Trump wins in 2020. Pence wins the two elections after that. The oligarchy continues its subterranean war against unionized teachers. What would Sun Tzu do in your shoes?
Harlan Underhill,
It doesn’t matter if Trump “truly did NOT collude with Russia to win the 2016 election.”
What matters is whether his campaign did AND whether Trump broke the law and obstructed justice in order to cover it up, when his legal obligation was to make sure people who broke the law were punished even if they are his family and the people who ran his campaign.
And this might surprise you if you are not an American citizen, but meeting with Russians offering dirt on your opponent in exchange for “helping Russian adoptions” or whatever euphemism you want to use is against the law when you are involved in a Presidential campaign.
Does that surprise you that the meeting in Trump Tower with was illegal? Why else do you think Trump ordered his son to lie to the American people about the purpose before Trump knew that Mueller already had the e-mails that proved what the meeting was about?
“…because the presumed field and platform of the Democrats will be too left for the country….”
Sigh. You were doing pretty well for a bit until you got to this piece of nonsense. What exactly about the Dems is too “left” for the country? Is it their warmongering and saber-rattling against Syria, Iran, Russia and half the rest of the planet? Is it their overwhelming and ardent support for Wall Street and their resistance to any new banking or corporate regulations? Is it their opposition to single payer and $15 minimum wage? Is it their support for education deform? Which of those things (or what other things) make the Dems too far “left” for the country?
There’s nothing to figure out here.
It’s not a question of being the “worst” or “best” government Mary Ellen Elia can put out. It’s a simple matter of a formula: “Stay in receivership long enough = become a charter district and let a for-profit company manage your schools and tax dollars with little to no transparency”.
That was easy.
Oh–an addendum to my previous comment–thoughts of ALEC in the mix–you know, because it started in 1971, & everything they’d planned has been coming to fruition.
Thank G-d for Diane & this blog–& its contributors & commenters–who remain informed & at the ready to do battle. “Knowledge is power.”
Finally, more government “worst” statements–the federal gov’t put out “suggestions for coping w/the gov’t shutdown,” & among those were that people not being paid could have “yard sales,” “babysit” &/or “walk dogs” to make ends meet.
!!!!!!!
“or walk dogs”.
The dogs around here walk themselves! They don’t pay anyone to walk them.
Yeah–most people walk their own dogs.
(Or, in the case of some of my friends who have big ones, like yours–the dogs walk the owner!)
Sure sell off your possessions to pay the rent, mortgage, utilities,… I did hear about a worker who was selling her car to make ends meet. Is that like a yard sale?
speduktr: I saw that on the news, too: a man was selling his car & attached trailer. Also read about people selling jewelry they’d received for Christmas.
I am waiting for a government “memo” “counseling” people to NOT sell their cars, as they may have to live in them.
GRRRRR.
Although the term “Receivership” is used, there is nothing in this Dept of Ed memo (or the referenced NYS Ed law) relating to the bankruptcy law.
A review of the law (section 211-f) shows that Independent Receivers have the same sort of carte blanche re: hiring & firing as in any garden-variety state school takeover.
However, the receiver’s recovery plan is required to include formal, specifically-defined community stakeholder input, as well as connecting ample soc services to the school [“conversion to Community School”].
The reqd measures to determine ‘annual improvement’ under the Recovery Plan are comprehensive (incl even ‘using devptlly-approp child assessments from PreK thro 3rd gr that are tailored to the needs of the school’). Other recommended measures include improvement/ expansion of curriculum e.g. early intervention for struggling readers, research-based literacy pgms, AP or similar– plus firing unqual/ uncert teachers & raising teacher salaries to attract best qual. – et al! Everything but the kitchen sink here…
However again, way down at the bottom of this part… “and/ or conversion to a charter school”…
Which makes you wonder: how difficult would it be for Receiver to skip over all the wonderful advice on “Recovery Plan” & just cut to the chase (do not pass go do not collect $200)?… Um… especially since I do not see anything in this law regarding appropriations to fund such measures other than a vague mention of govt grants…
But Diane asks for translation of Elia’s jargon-filled feedback to Legislature on NYS Ed Law 211-f. Elia says, “Despite the significant new responsibility, no additional resources were provided to the Department to handle the implementation related to Receivership.” Turn-around time for assessment/ analysis/ recommendation/ implementation also criticized. Department recommends Legislature allot adequate funding & more time to support quality decisions.
The big question for me is: where is the $ supposed to come from for the law’s ambitious– recommended– district Recovery Plan? The NYS Dept of Ed? Somehow I doubt that. In which case, she’s just asking for $/time to do the bureaucratic calcs/ppwk to support the effort… or possibly (generous interpretation), she’s obliquely pointing out that the law cannot be implemented at all, w/o a reasonable schedule & a revenue stream to fund it. [Otherwise districts will have no choice but to choose buried Plan B, which is charterization…]
No schools in NYS have been placed in receivership, the bar is low, the law was passed in 2015 …
This is sounding a lot like the beginning of the Bloomberg/Klein era.