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G.F. Brandenburg on the Strange Case of the D.C. Editorialist Who Still Loves Michelle Rhee

By dianeravitch
July 10, 2019 //
21

 

G.F. Brandenburg cannot understand the Washington Post editorial writer Jo-Anne Armao. When Michelle Rhee started her job as chancellor of the D.C. schools in 2007, Armao interviewed her and decided that she was the greatest educator ever. Nothing that has happened in the past dozen years has changed her views. To this day, she still writes lovingly, respectfully about the Miracle that was Michelle Rhee. All her initiatives have failed. A huge cheating scandal was covered up and forgotten. Charter scandals have come and gone. A high school boasted of its 100% graduation rate, but it was a fake.

No matter. The Washington Post editorial board has Rhee’s back, almost a decade after she left.

For a fun trip down memory lane, read the comments on the John Merrow post from 2013 that is included.

Categories Accountability, Cheating, Corporate Reform, Corruption, Disruption, District of Columbia, Education Industry, Education Reform, Failure, Fraud, Rhee, Michelle

Angie Sullivan: Is Soner Tarim Opening a Charter in Nevada?

By dianeravitch
July 9, 2019 //
15

 

Angie Sullivan teaches in a Title 1 elementary school in Las Vegas. It is underfunded. The state is willing to fund failing charter schools but not pay for the public schools that most children attend. Angie wants to know why.

She recently learned that Soner Tarim wants to open a charter in Nevada. This is the same man who wants to open a charter in rural Washington County in Alabama and set off a firestorm of controversy. This is the same man whose proposal for a new charter chain was just rejected by the Texas State Board of Educatuon.

Angie writes:

Google:  Soner Tarim lawsuit
 
 
Why is Soner Tarim pictured at Switch with these local Nevada folks?   
 
Soner Tarim is a constantly under investigation all over the United States.  As soon as he gets caught – he goes to the next place. 
 
Someone in the NVDOE needs to be accountable for this and fired.   
 
Google:  Soner Tarim lawsuit
 
Folks in other states are contacting me to warn Nevada.   This huge charter scammer keeps reinventing himself and opening charter shells in various states to try to attract investors.  
 
Why is he opening new charters in Nevada?   Who gave permission for this?   He been kicked out of so many other states?  Does anyone in charge have google?  
 
Google:  Soner Tarim lawsuit
 
80% of Gulen Schools have been closed across the world for good reason.  
 
Alabama just kicked Soner Tarim out for fraud, hiring and other sketchy practices.  
 
 

 

The New York Times wrote an article about the misuse of federal money. 
 
 
Memphis denied their application – School of Excellence. 
 
 
List of Gulen Charters- Soner Charters are listed as low performing and closing or denied. 
 
 
Are they funding a terror group using Texas education money?  
 

 

 
This is bad. 
 
We have no education money and this is what we do with the money we have?  Fund a scammer?  
 
He uses local folks to scam the Nevada Tax Payer?  
 
Google:  Soner Tarim lawsuit
 
We do not have money to waste like this.  I’m not convinced the Gulens we have are honest or doing an education service.   Please. Make.  It.  Stop. 
 
I am
Mad. 
 
The teacher,
 
Angie 

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Gulen Charter Schools, Hoax, Nevada, Privatization, Resistance

Angie Sullivan: The Great Charter Scam in Nevada

By dianeravitch
July 9, 2019 //
8

 

Angie Sullivan teaches children in a Title 1 elementary school in Las Vegas. Many of her children are poor and don’t speak English. Her school is underfunded. Angie frequently sends blast emails to every legislator in the state, as well as journalists. She refuses to allow them to ignore her students, while they cater to the whims of billionaire casino owners, like the chair of the state board of education.

Angie wrote these posts recently:

Ironically as many scream for transparency of public schools  – they also seem intent on making it as difficult as possible to find information on Nevada Charters.  I’m looking at you “fiscal conservatives”.
 
Finding information on Nevada’s charters is like finding a needle in a haystack.
 
You can find it if you have 100 years. Or have time to puzzle it together.  It took me hundreds of hours to develop just a list of Nevada charter campuses a few years ago.
 
I might come across the name.  Or not.
 
Currently the Nevada State Public Charter School Authority (SPCSA) is the only sponsor accepting applications for new charter schools
 
The main source of information I have found is the Nevada Charter Authority.
 
 
You could look there for the names charters use.  As you know, charters can change their names and I have found up to 15 names for the same address.   Multiple campuses with different names are stacked under one charter.
 
The Nevada Secretary of State website can be searched.
 
 
I do know that business licenses with multiple names often come up as a topic in the Las Vegas City Council.  Mainly because charters open many businesses under different names and/or expand without permission (like open an on-line in a brick and mortar).    They forget to get licenses for all their “businesses”.
 
Charters are a nuisance.  They do not consider traffic at pick up and drop off.  They do not monitor kids and often do not have a playground.  The public regularly complains about charter “business practice” in Las Vegas City council meetings.   Sometimes I find information about them because they are a pain and citizens complain in public forums.
 
There should also be a way to follow the money since the receiverships are so plentiful.  But there is not a easy way that I have found.
 
 
Aaron Ford who got a PHD in charters before becoming our Attorney General is not likely to ask for accountability anytime soon.
 
It is for all these reasons – lack of transparency, lack of accountability, and poor business practice:   Nevada Assembly considered a moratorium on charters.  It did not pass but it should have.  
 
So long story short. 
 
I would not surprise me if you found a someone running a charter in Nevada using a sham company.    Who doesn’t?   Throw a rock and hit a charter scam.  
 
The bottom dwellers have all attempted to come here too.   Sometimes as the FBI is chasing them out of other places.  
 
I can hunt and peck around.   The name does not ring a bell but these shady characters come and go and change their name so often in my corporation friendly state – they could be right under my nose and I see nothing.  
 
You are welcome any time to come and I will find a venue for a movie showing.  I’m just a teacher and have no money – we pulled together enough to have a viewing of the Matt Damon Film last year with Congresswoman Dina Titus and Candidate for Governor turned Governor Steve Sisolak.  They did not watch the film but spoke at the beginning of the event.  
 
You have a true champion in Congresswoman Dina Titus if you ever need one. 
 
You need to avoid anyone from Team Harry Reid – he attended the Gulen Coral opening at the Air Force Base and supports Gulen charters fully.  May even be key to bringing them to Nevada. 
 
Teachers are most likely going to strike in the fall – so no union resources.  The union actually owes me one because VP Theo Small held a union event with a charter expert as a headliner. 
 
Gulen is a problem.
 
Academica is the charter monster in Nevada.  It’s a real estate grab.
 
Along with the Agassi-Turner Hedgefund.  It’s also a real estate grab.
 
We need money so badly – all of this is worse than a shame.  Robs all the kids I love.   All of them.   Robs kids.   Hurts kids.
 
Angie Sullivan
I would love to hear what new appointment Rebeca Feiden thinks of all of the above.   Lack of information or accessible information is long running.  And she knows it.
 
TFA creates data monsters who then are well paid to ignore data.
 

Then Angie wrote this post:

The Nevada Department of Education has been very pro-Charter under the direction of Casino Billionaire Elaine Wynn, Nevada State School Board President.
 
The other Nevada Gulens which are named Corals – even displaced the Air Force Teachers by offering to build a new school for the base.  They forced the military wives off the base because the charters could not match salary.  Gulen Corals clumped their data by north and south.   Their administrators came to some meetings I held and became verbally irate telling folks about how great they are.  How would anyone know?   The Gulen Corals have not shown three years of data for their campuses yet. Opened for decade plus and zero data by campus.
 
Now I suspect they will just manipulate the data.  There have been limited campus visits so no one makes sure there are testing protocols in place.
 
How do you keep a Nevada Charter from opening?
 
If someone can figure that out – I will employ that technique non-stop.  It is difficult to even find a place to voice opposition.
 
They have agenda here:
 
Meetings are held during the day when teachers work.  The person in charge of the 100+ charter campuses is a very young former TFA without a curriculum vitae to manage one charter let alone a $350+ million money distribution.
 
Most of the agendas are charter expansion.
 
And talking about charter problems without ever doing anything.
 
I would love to know how to actually prevent Nevada from being scammed by these corporations that other states are kicking out.
 
Please.   Let me know.
 
Reason does not work.
 
Logic does not work.
 
Data does not work.
 
Nevada insists on pouring money into the charter toilet.
 
Crazy folks go nuts for choice – even as it is explained to them it the worst choice in the nation.
 
There is zero accountability.  Nevada does not close charters for financial corruption/receivership.  Nevada does not close charters for lack of data or lack of graduation.  One charter might have closed because it literally had only one student.
 
Basically I keep pointing out to all the elected legislators,  these businesses are failing to educate children.   I try to shame folks taking money $350+ million and not providing anything to the tax payer.
 
Shaming.
 
Put them in the local newspaper.   That is about the best tool I have.
 
Failing charters that are bottom
dwelling scum are what Nevada attracts because our per pupil spending is last in the nation.
 
So of course Gulen wants to open more.
 
What a scam.
 
Angie Sullivan
Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Fraud, Privatization

Noliwe Rooks Speaks About School Privatization and Racial Inequity

By dianeravitch
July 9, 2019 //
17

 

Please watch this six-minute presentation by Noliwe Rooks about her book Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education. 

The video was produced by Bob Greenberg as part of his Brainwaves project.

Rooks is the Director of American Studies and Director of African-American Studies at Cornell University.

Her book is a fascinating history that examines the interest of billionaires in the education of communities of color.

Dr. Rooks will be a keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Network for Public Education in Philadelphia in March 27-28, 2020.

Categories Accountability, Billionaires, Education Industry, Education Reform, Network for Public Education, Privatization, Racism, Segregation, Teach for America

Did Jeb Bush Choose Your District’s Superintendent?

By dianeravitch
July 9, 2019 //
25

 

Jeb Bush created an organization called Chiefs for Change, whose original membership consisted of state superintendents who shared Jeb’s ideas: high-stakes testing, evaluating teachers by the test scores of their students, school grades of A-F, and school choice (charters and vouchers).

Chiefs for Change has now become a clearinghouse for district superintendents.

You can be sure that anyone recommended by Chiefs for Change is dedicated to disrupting and privatizing your district.

Here are some of the district superintendents that Chiefs for Change points to with pride.

Lewis Ferebee, the new Superintendent of the schools of the District of Columbia.

Susana Cordova, the new Superintendent of the Denver schools.

Jesus Jara, Superintendent of the Clark County (Nevada) Schools. Nevada’s State Commissioner Steve Canovera is a member of Chiefs for Change.

Donald Fennoy, Superintendent of Palm Beach County, Florida.

Deborah Gist, Superintendent of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Schools, along with Andrea Castenada, the district’s “chief innovation officer.”

There are more.

This is the Jeb Bush pipeline, the leaders committed to his vision of disruption and privatization. Of course, you won’t find those two words on Jeb’s website, but those are the results of his convictions, and the proof of those convictions can be found in Florida, the state whose education policy he has controlled for 20 years.

Categories Accountability, Bush, Jeb, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Disruption, Education Industry, Education Reform, School Choice, VAM, Vouchers

Benton Harbor, MI: Commissioner Ron Singleton Reviews Options for District

By dianeravitch
July 7, 2019 //
2

This statement by Benton Harbor Commissioner Ron Singleton was posted on the blog as a comment:

 

I spoke with teacher and different members of our community to put recommendations for the department of education to consider. Here is a copy of the suggestions. We have to wait and see what happens, it’s to my understanding others have sent suggestions also, hopefully we will all Make an impact. Benton Harbor Commissioner Ron Singelton.

Action Plan Committee to Save Benton Harbor School System.

Ask the governor to appoint the University Of Michigan School Of education to administrate the Benton Harbor School district with the Benton Harbor School Board in an advisory capacity. The board is to learn and over time resume control. Be it understood the University Of Michigan will hire and fire educational staff, provide resources and do what is deemed necessary to have the students in the Benton Harbor School system be able to enter the University Of Michigan or any state or private learning institution in the United States, as its current standard for the Ann Arbor school system.
Ask the governor to appoint school board Vice President Joe Taylor and current Benton Harbor School teacher Marilyn Ross-Golden, former educator Sam Hudson and a state accountant) to form an independent review board to audit the Benton Harbor School system finances for a minimum of the past 5-7 years to possibly locate missing funds and correct current wasteful practices and have a preliminary report in 5-7 business days.
Ask the governor to request Wayne county executive Mr Warren Evans and former Berrien County Commissioner and former Benton Harbor School Board President Marletta Seats to review the history, conduct, and qualifications of school board members and set standards and penalties for misconduct from the state and local school board.

Request governor order no business or real estate transactions until the University Of Michigan and Action Plan Committee recommendations are in place for 30 day of the evaluation period.

Class room recommendations

Class size maximum 20 students all schools
Keep 7,8,9 grades separated to middle school
Keep 10,11,12 grades separated to high school

Elementary school recommendations

Students needing behavioral support are separated and provided additional resources
Tutorial services for all students and those performing below 75%
Home assessment for students with behavioral issues and a collaboration with DHS
Re-establish local Benton Harbor resident paraprofessional Assistants For all K – 6 classes

High school Recommendations

1. Mandatory SAT/ACT prep course starting freshman through the senior year
2. Summer school course:

a. Study skills class. b. PSAT summer course. c. Essay writing course. d. African, African American literature reading course.

Administrative Recommendations

To have only a Superintendent for the current district size.
Each school with a principal.
Middle school has a principal and counselor.
High school has a principal and at least two counselors.
Eliminate CEO and CFO position due to management by the University Of Michigan or educational institution and the limited size of the school district.

Parent Recommendations

1. Family counseling and support to children underperforming academically 
2. Family counseling and behavioral support for students with conduct difficulties
3. Mandatory parental support or supervision in their students class for two random graded marking periods. 
4. Reestablish parental Advisory Board to represent each school. 
5. Establish local parental disciplinary advisory board for each school.

Mandatory Parental workshop to prepare parents and students for the up coming school year; without attending the workshop students can not register.

An additional option: U of M would manage the Benton Harbor School system for serval years and then transition to Western University due to proximity to Benton Harbor and after several years Western would finally transition management back to the Benton Harbor administration when the district is stabilized and independently healthy.

These recommendations humbly submitted as an effort to help

Action Committee Contributors

Chair Commissioner Ron Singleton, Co-Chair Emma Kinnard, Marilyn Ross-Golden, Rev Ed Pinkney, Cleveton Jack, Sam Hudson, Ruthie Haralson, and Rev Dr Don J Tynes MD, FACP

Chair
Benton Harbor City Commissioner Ron Singelton
+1 (269) 487-5992

My plan would be to replace the whole school board with retired teachers and or outstanding teachers based on the academic performance of their students. The president would be Marylin Ross-Golden

Categories Accountability, Michigan

Christine Langhoff Describes the Charter-Friendly Power Elite in Massachusetts

By dianeravitch
July 7, 2019 //
28

Christine Langhoff, retired teacher and education activist in Massachusetts, describes the power elite in the Bay State. After losing the charter referendum in 2016 by 68-32%, they keep pursuing ways to bypass the voters.

Massachusetts has 3 Walton-connected members of the state board of education, appointed by the governor, who was formerly the executive director of The Pioneer Institute. The Pioneers are funded by the Kochs and State Policy Network (worth checking out, as they like to fly under the radar). The Pioneers are affiliated with ALEC. The secretary of education, Jim Peyser, formerly ran Pioneer and in between serving Republican administrations in MA, he also ran Education Next, which posted this bio:

“Jim Peyser is Managing Partner for City Funds at NewSchools Venture Fund, a non-profit grant-making firm that seeks to transform public education by supporting innovative education entrepreneurs. In this role, Jim leads NewSchools investment activity in Boston, Newark and Washington, DC. From 1999 through 2006, Jim served as Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education. Prior to joining NewSchools, Jim was Education Advisor to two Massachusetts Governors, where he helped shape state policy regarding standards and assessments, school accountability, and charter schools. In 1995, he served as Under Secretary of Education and Special Assistant to the Governor for Charter Schools. He spent more than seven years as Executive Director of Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, where he helped to launch the Massachusetts Charter School Resource Center, which supported the development of the state’s first charter schools. Prior to joining Pioneer Institute, Jim held various positions at Teradyne, Inc. in Boston, an electronic test equipment manufacturer. In his role with NewSchools, Jim currently serves on the board of directors for Achievement First, New Schools for New Orleans, Success Charter Network, and Uncommon Schools. He is also chairman of the board of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). In June 2011, Jim was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Jim holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School (Tufts University) and a Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University.”

Of course, they all play nice guys on television.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Privatization

Peter Greene: The Essential Foolishness of the Fordham-CAP “Moonshot”

By dianeravitch
July 7, 2019 //
17

 

Peter Greene writes here about the “moonshot” to transform American education, co-sponsored by the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the allegedly liberal Center for AMERICAN Progress. Peter points out that this collaboration demonstrates that both sides of the DC Establishment endorse corporatedceducarion reform (despite its manifest failure for the past 25 years).

He compares their competition to education’s version of the self-driving car.

He writes:

Do you mean something that’s promoted relentlessly but is still far off in the future? Or do you mean a program that faces major obstacles that tech-cheerleaders just sort of gloss over?

Perhaps you meant a tech-based solution that strips all participants of power and agency and gives it instead to a bunch of programmers? Or did you mean a new tech initiative that promises to make a bunch of people rich?

Or do you mean something that can fail with really catastrophic results?

All their goals are stated as measurable results.

And he notes:

These goals are all about changing numbers; they are an open invitation to apply Goodhart’s or Campbell’s Laws, in which focus on a measurement leads to that measurement being rendered useless. This is about coming up with ways to make better numbers. Yes, one way to improve numbers can be (though not always) to improve the underlying reality those numbers are supposed to represent. But those techniques are hard to scale, expensive and not easy to devise. There are always simpler methods.

If you want a piece of this action, the group is open to submissions of 500 words until the end of the month. But remember– this is not about coming up with a self-driving car. It’s about coming up with a marketing package that makes it look like a self-driving car has been perfected. It’s about doing a good job of using modern CGI to fake your presence on the moon without all the hard work, expense and challenge of actually getting a rocket up there.

Categories Accountability, Campbell's Law, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Data, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization, Testing

Carol Burris: Don’t Let Democratic Candidates Get Away With: “I’m Against For-Profit Charters”

By dianeravitch
July 7, 2019 //
64

 

Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education, writes here about the efforts by most Democratic candidates to avoid confronting the dangers of privatization:

When Democratic candidates are questioned about charter schools, many typically reply, “I am against for-profit charter schools.” Everyone cheers. Politicians have created a convenient (and false) dichotomy that says nonprofit charter schools are good, and for-profit charter schools are bad.

Don’t be fooled. There are now only 2 states that allow for-profit charter schools—Arizona and Wisconsin. California changed  its laws. 

However, 35 states allow for-profit Charter Management Organizations (CMOS) to run their nonprofit charter schools. 

40% of the charter schools in Florida are run by for-profit charter management companies. While the individual charter is a nonprofit, it can turn over everything from hiring, to curriculum, to financial management to a for-profit corporation. In Michigan, 80% of the so-called nonprofit charter schools are run by for-profit companies. 

To understand how this arrangement works, read this blog I wrote for the Answer Sheet on Florida’s charter schools. You will read about the Zulueta brothers who were on the board of an Academica charter school even while their for-profit real estate companies, including one in Panama, were leasing property to the schools. 

Let me shock you a bit more. The National Alliance for (so-called) Public Charter Schools recently gave the controversial profiteer, Fernando Zulueta, an award at its national conference!

You probably know the names and reputations of the other big for-profit CMOs—BASIS, National Heritage, Academica, K12 and more.

The question candidates need to answer then are:

 “Do you support for-profit Charter Management Organizations, and if you do not, what are you going to do about them?”

The most important questions to ask, however (and don’t let them off the hook), are whether they support the NAACP moratorium on new charter schools and “Will you stop the the federal funding of new charter schools?”

There is a reason the charter lobby never complains when a candidate says that he/she is against for-profit charter schools. It means nothing will change.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Hoax, Privatization

Gary Rubinstein: Success Academy’s Curious Test Scores

By dianeravitch
July 7, 2019 //
9

 

Gary Rubinstein tries to decipher the paradoxical test scores At Eva Moskowitz’s controversial Success Academy.

For years, the No-Excuses charter chain has posted sky-high test scores, which skeptical observers attribute to the chain’s practices of exclusion and attrition.

However, Gary has noted this strange contradiction: SA students get high scores on state tests but low scores on high school Regents exams and on the exams for selective high schools in New York City.

Could it be that they do test prep for the 3-8 grade tests but have not cracked the code for the high school tests?

He writes:

Last year I wrote about how the top charter chain in New York City, Success Academy, only managed to have three students get between 52% and 72% of the questions correct on the Algebra II Regents…

Success Academy had 130 9th graders in the 2017-2018 school year.  Presumably most, if not all, would be taking the Geometry Regents, yet according to the records they had zero students even attempting that test.  For Algebra II I wrote about how in 2016-2017 they only had 13 students out of 16 pass and only 3 of them with grades above 72%.  Well, after seeing this recent story about their 8th graders and Algebra I, I looked that their Algebra II scores for last year (this year’s scores are not out yet on the data site).  Despite having 161 10th graders last year, 31 11th graders, and 17 12th graders, Success Academy had only 22 students even take the Algebra II Regents.  And their scores were the same as they were the previous year with 68% of the students getting between 30% and 52% of the possible points and 14% of the students getting between 52% and 72% of the possible points.

The meat of the story is between the ellipses. Read it.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Harlem Success Academy, New York City, Testing
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