Archives for category: Administrators, superintendents
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Note to Media in Louisiana: Don’t Mess with Mercedes Schneider

By dianeravitch
July 24, 2017 //
24

Mercedes Schneider teaches high school in Louisiana. She has a doctorate in statistics and research methodology, and she taught in higher education. She is careful with facts and evidence.

Recently, she has been on a tear about Louisiana Superintendent John White, who rose rapidly through the ranks of corporate reform with skimpy credentials. By law, he is supposed to have taught for five years to qualify as the top educator in Louisiana. Schneider says he never taught for five years. A media outlet in Louisiana rose to John White’s defense.

Mercedes Schneider responds, with facts and evidence.

The interesting question is why so many states and districts bend the law or ignore it to install unqualified people to take charge of education (think Joel Klein in New York City, Michelle Rhee in D.C., Hannah Skandera in New Mexico).

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Louisiana

New Mexico: TFA Alum Takes the Reins as State Chief

By dianeravitch
June 25, 2017 //
7

Many teachers in New Mexico were relieved when Hanna Skandera resigned as Commissioner of the Public Education Department. Skandera never met the minimum legal requirement to hold the post; she had never been a teacher. She was a protege of Jeb Bush and wanted to bring the Florida model of high-stakes testing, accountability, and privatization to New Mexico. She subscribed to her mentor’s radical anti-public school, anti-teacher policies and even served as chair of Jeb’s Chiefs for Change, a far-right group.

The American Federation of Teachers and the Albuquerque Federation of Teachers filed suit against Skandera’s value-added teacher evaluation program, which counted student test scores as 50% of each teacher’s evaluation. Teachers hated this flawed and inaccurate method. See here. The New Mexico courts have enjoined the state from applying penalties based on its VAM. The New Mexico method is the toughest in the nation; it finds about 30% of teachers to be ineffective. New Mexico has a growing teacher shortage, due to low teacher pay and poor working conditions. Skandera did nothing to support teachers, nor has Governor Martinez.

Although Skandera has left, help is not on the way. Governor Susanna Martinez has appointed Christopher Ruszkowski, a deputy of Skandera, to take Skandera’s place.

“Ruszkowski arrived in New Mexico in April 2016 to oversee the Public Education Department’s research agenda, policies and academic priorities, including PARCC testing, school grades and pre-kindergarten….

“Born in Chicago, Ruszkowski spent three years teaching in Miami and Boston schools through Teach for America, then received a master’s degree in education policy from Stanford University. He most recently worked for the Delaware Department of Education, earning accolades from the state’s Democratic governor.

“Ruszkowski told the Journal on Wednesday that he is excited to lead New Mexico’s PED and maintain its “strong foundation.”

“(Teachers) are saying, ‘Let’s have some stability for once. Let’s have some continuity for once. Let’s not have another pendulum swing,’ ” Ruszkowski said. ” It’s very rare for a state to have the opportunity to have some degree of stability and continuity in its core systems over the course of a decade. New Mexico is getting there.”

In other words, the new chief thinks that teachers want to maintain and deepen Skandera’s hated policies.

Ruszkowski went out of his way to praise the Gates-funded Teachers Plus organization and to lob criticism at the NEA and AFT.

“Ruszkowski said he has yet to meet with Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Raquel Reedy, who oversees the state’s largest district, with more than 80, 000 students, and who often disagreed with Skandera’s reform efforts.

“Ruszkowski said districts in cities including San Antonio, Denver and Phoenix are making strides, while APS continues to struggle. Districts must adopt innovative approaches to education if they want to improve outcomes, Ruszkowski said.”

This last comment was an outright smear. None of those districts participate in NAEP, and there is no objective basis for comparing them, other than to note that those districts are in the forefront of privatization, which has shown no gains, except for schools that cherrypick their students and exclude those with disabilities.

It is time for New Mexico to elect a new Governor, one who wants to improve public schools, not destroy them.

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, New Mexico, Privatization, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers and Teaching, Testing

Top Atlanta Official Won’t Be New Superintendent in Portland, Oregon

By dianeravitch
June 11, 2017 //
3

Donyall Dickey was chosen as the sole candidate for the Portland Superintendency. He announced his resignation as Atlanta’s top academic official. A few days later, he withdrew his name from the Portland job.

Something in his background report caused the Portland board to change its decision. They aren’t releasing the report.

Why didn’t they do due diligence before embarrassing Dickey and themselves?

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents

Michael Hynes: This is What Education Should Be Today

By dianeravitch
May 9, 2017 //
10

Michael Hynes is the superintendent of the Patchogue-Medford School District on Long Island in New York. He has a progressive vision of what schools should be, and he is implementing it in the schools of his district, with the support of the elected board.

Take a few minutes and watch his TED talk, where he explains how to transform our schools and make them schools of thoughtfulness, learning, and joy.

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Joy, Real Education, Students

Christine Langhoff: The Corporate Reformers Are in Control of Massachusetts Public Schools

By dianeravitch
May 1, 2017 //
11

Christine Langhoff teaches in Massachusetts and is a member of the Network for Public Education.

She writes:


Massachusetts public education is being run by a cabal of reformsters, many of them affiliated with a local thinkster tank, The Pioneer Institute. Jim Peyser, state Secretary of Education, is a former director of The NewSchools Venture Fund, having run the Pioneer Institute from 1993-2000. Gov. Weld named him as undersecretary of education in 1995, shortly after the introduction of charters to the state, for which Peyser was – and is – an advocate. In charge of higher education is perennial gadfly Chris Gabrieli, failed gubernatorial candidate, who has developed no fewer than three reformy edu-businesses. (Time on Learning – extended day and year no extra pay; TransformEd – measuring grit and feelings; and Empower Schools, which seeks to destroy union contracts and impose a “third way” in urban districts – so far 3 and counting). So, to use the local dialect, all of them are wicked reformy.

Things have not been going so well for Chester. He signed on as chairman of PARCC, but that boat sank under the weight of the Common Core. This past November, when he thought the charter cap would be lifted and privatization could proceed apace, that too went down to an ignominious 2-1 defeat, in the process awakening parents and taxpayers to the charter scam. He has lately signed on to be a Chief for Change. Reformsters, unlike teachers, don’t need tenure because they have sinecures.

I think this latest peevish salvo stems from Chester’s frustration at being unable to simply sign executive orders and command the world as he would have it. Recently, after testimony from Lisa Guisbond of Citizens for Public Schools, he was forced to revise a punitive policy for students opting out:

“On the related issue of state testing, I thought you should know that some teachers are being given these instructions for handling students whose parents have chosen to opt them out:

‘When a student opts out they will remain in the classroom, listen as the test directions are being read and given the test. If after 15 minutes the student doesn’t write anything down, then, and only then, may the teacher remove the test.’

A 4th grade teacher shared her reaction:

‘This is public shaming, will cause emotional harm, and is a travesty to the precious relationship between teachers and students. Remember we cannot say anything except the scripted words on the test document or we are threatened with job termination, legal and or criminal action.’

So we have a fourth grader embarrassed and crying and a teacher who could lose his or her job for consoling the child. The teacher must ignore this child in need and say nothing.

I trust that these instructions are in error, and that your humane instructions from last year, Commissioner Chester, that students should not be pressured or punished for opting out, remain in place. I urge you to communicate this to the field.”

Delay and Revise MA ESSA Plan to Help, Not Harm, Struggling Schools

At the April 18 board meeting, one of the topics under discussion was the use of the scores from this year’s round of testing. Chester proposed to have 2017 scores included in the average for determining school levels. That was nearly unanimously rejected by the Board due to the use of several variants of tests in the past three years. Previously, it had been agreed that schools would be “held harmless” during the transition to a new test.

A recess was called, during which time Secretary Peyser expressed his belief that if the 2017 scores were not included, teachers would deliberately have students tank the exams so that they could increase scores in future years. In other words,he believes teachers across the state would INTENTIONALLY have thousands of children do poorly on tests in order to create a low baseline. NB: At the time of the discussion, we were already halfway through the testing period.

These people have no respect for the work teachers do. They do not believe we have any integrity. They do not treat us as professionals. It is indeed shameful.

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Massachusetts, Students, Teachers and Teaching

Will Birmingham Be the Next New Orleans?

By dianeravitch
May 1, 2017 //
12

Public education activists in Birmingham are afraid that their school board is getting ready to appoint a Broadie–or worse–to be the next superintendent of schools. They fear that the plan is to deliberate this crucial decision in complete secrecy, then spring someone on the schools who wants to demolish them and turn them over to profit-driven, unaccountable charter schools. They are aware of what has happened in New Orleans, where academic gains–if any–are limited, segregation remains intact, and communities and are disempowered and silenced.

Read here to see the lengths the board will go to so as to shield their superintendent search from public view.

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents, Alabama, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, New Orleans, Privatization

Mercedes Schneider: How Louisiana Superintendent John White Ran Out of a Contract and Falsely Credentialed Himself

By dianeravitch
April 12, 2017 //
2

Mercedes Schneider, who teaches high school in a Louisiana public schools, points out in this post that State Superintendent John White’s contract expired, so he is now a month-to-month employee.

He can’t get a contract without eight of the state board’s 11 votes, and he only has seven. White, who comes from TFA and Joel Klein’s administration as chancellor in NYC, was appointed during the reign of far-right Bobby Jindal. Now there is a new governor, John Bel Edwards, but Jindal’s appointees still control the state board.

John White managed to give himself credentials as an educational leader just last year, when the new board came in.

He gave himself three education credentials, although he actually lacks the teaching experience necessary for the third one. Schneider guesses he is preparing himself for his inevitable exit and giving himself the credentials to be a district superintendent.

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Louisiana

NYSAPE Calls on Board of Regents to Remove Commissioner Elia

By dianeravitch
April 3, 2017 //
24

NYSAPE, the New York State Alliance of Parents and Educators, is a coalition of 50 parent and educator groups across the state. The board of NYSAPE has called on the New York Board of Regents to demand the resignation of State Commissioner MaryEllen Elia.

Here is the statement:

“New Yorkers Call on the Board of Regents to
Remove Commissioner MaryEllen Elia for Failure to Protect Children

“For the past five years, hundreds of thousands of parents, from every corner of New York State, have called for meaningful changes to our damaging test-and-punish accountability system, resulting in the largest opt out movement in the nation.

“When MaryEllen Elia replaced embattled former Commissioner John King as NYS Education Commissioner two years ago, New York’s families and educators hoped to see improvements. Instead, as Commissioner, Elia doubled down on King’s speculative reforms, and children continue to suffer. Elia further compounded the testing debacle by implementing untimed tests in New York, resulting in substantial numbers of children testing for the entire school day for days on end.

“Elia’s willingness to expand controversial testing, disregard student privacy rights, ignore best practices, and condone the unethical treatment of students has worsened New York’s toxic educational environment and further outraged parents. The Commissioner’s recent defense of a high school assignment requiring students to write an essay in support of Nazi viewpoints has only widened the divide between Elia and the parents and students she is supposed to serve.

“The MaryEllen Elia experiment in New York has failed. It is time for the Board of Regents to remove Commissioner Elia and substantially change course.

“Eileen Graham, Rochester public school parent and founder of the Black Student Leadership said, “When a school resorts to bribing students to take a test, it says more about our dysfunctional education system than any test score. Unfortunately, Commissioner Elia’s lack of leadership has created a corrupt learning environment in which administrators feel pressured to compromise their integrity by promising pizza parties and field trips in exchange for test participation. Not surprisingly, Commissioner Elia has done nothing to publicly discourage this unethical behavior, and in fact seems to encourage it. The exclusion and shaming of students whose families exercise their right to opt out is undemocratic and unconscionable. Our schools and our children deserve better.”

“It is disturbing that Commissioner Elia has gone to such great lengths to convince parents of significant improvements to the NYS tests when students actually take longer than ever to complete them. The Commissioner will stop at nothing to artificially increase test scores including allowing young students to sit for 6 hours of testing for (3) three consecutive days through her unilateral untimed testing policy. These abusive policies must stop and the Commissioner must go!” stated Lisa Rudley, Westchester County public school parent and founding member of NYSAPE. She went on to say, “Elia’s recent actions defending assignments supporting Nazi viewpoints are indefensible.”

“Commissioner Elia’s failure to keep accurate data on untimed testing is incompetent at best and deceitful at worst. By refusing to ensure that schools are complying with New York State’s 1% cap on the number of instructional hours devoted to the state tests, the Commissioner has shown utter disregard for the well-being of children and opened the floodgates for abusive testing practices with little to no accountability. It’s time to completely remove the Tisch era from SED and remove Commissioner Elia,” said Jeanette Deutermann, Long Island public school parent, and founder of Long Island Opt Out and NYSAPE.

“New York’s student body is incredibly diverse,” said Chris Cerrone, School Board member from Erie County, “Our students deserve a commissioner who is sensitive, principled, and unwaveringly dedicated to rooting out prejudice and bigotry. Elia’s lack of a timely ruling to deal with the racist comments made by Buffalo School Board member Carl Paladino shows an inability to stand up forcefully for the dignity of all students.”

“Commissioner Elia’s ESSA Think Tank and its related surveys and regional meetings have been an exercise in futility—and deception,” says New York City public school parent Kemala Karmen, who serves on the purportedly advisory body. “Instead of allowing for ground-up ideas from stakeholders, the Think Tank leadership, under Elia’s guidance, summarily dismisses any proposals that do not conform to their same-old, same-old Merryl Tisch-John King era notions, effectively squandering the ability of the state to create an accountability system that might actually help schools improve. It makes me wonder what boss or bosses the Commissioner is actually answering to.”

“While Commissioner Elia is required to ensure that NYS tests are offered to all students, it is not the job of NYSED to persuade parents to subject their children to tests they deem harmful and meaningless. Commissioner Elia’s failure to provide parents with straightforward facts and information is shameful. We need a Commissioner of Education who values research-based practices and will advocate for students. Unfortunately, Commissioner Elia seems more committed to test compliance than to the children she serves,” said Marla Kilfoyle, Long Island public school parent, educator and Executive Director of BATs.

“Until our education leaders and lawmakers understand that high standards are best evidenced by equitable learning opportunities and not a fetishistic commitment to corporate learning standards and politicized test scores, the opportunity gap will continue to widen. New York State deserves an education leader who values student-centered and developmentally appropriate practices. Now, more than ever, our schools need a transformative leader who will change the conversation from one about test scores to one about equitable resources and research-driven supports. Sadly, Commissioner Elia has fallen far short of the mark,” said Bianca Tanis, Ulster County public school parent and special education teacher.

“Dr. Michael Hynes, Superintendent of Patchogue-Medford in Long Island said, “The Commissioner’s goal should be to focus on the whole child. Schools should be drawing out the talents of children and maximizing their potential. Thus far, Commissioner Elia’s agenda has been the complete opposite. She has failed to show the educators and parents of New York State that the physical, emotional, academic and social growth in children is her number one priority.”

“The Board of Regents must act to remove Commissioner MaryEllen Elia. We deserve a leader who will institute best practices and dignity for all, as opposed to one who continues to undermine the well-being of our children.”

NYSAPE is a grassroots coalition with over 50 parent and educator groups across the state.

###

Categories Administrators, superintendents, New York

New Hampshire Governor Appoints Businessman Who Home-Schooled His Children as Commissioner of Education

By dianeravitch
January 25, 2017 //
19

 

 

Wayne Gersen was a school superintendent in New Hampshire for 11 years. He was appalled to learn that the new Republican governor, Chris Sununu, appointed a completely inexperienced businessman, who home-schooled his own seven children,  as the state’s next education commissioner.

 

The only way to block this appointment is by vote of the state’s five-person Executive Council, three of whom are Republicans. If even one of them is a public school parent or graduate, there is a chance of stopping this unqualified nominee.

 

This is a portion of the letter that Gersen wrote to the Executive Council members.

 

“I am writing to express by unequivocal opposition to the appointment of Frank Edelblut as Commissioner of Education. As a former NH Public School Superintendent of 11 years (SAU 16 from 1983-87; SAU 70 from 2004-2011), a Superintendent with 18 additional years of experience in other States, and one who has worked as a consultant for the past six years in Vermont and New Hampshire, I have a great understanding of and great appreciation for the work performed by a chief school officer in a state. I also know that overseeing a state department of education requires an in depth knowledge of how public schools are governed, how they are managed, and the challenges employees in public schools face. It is evident from what I have read about Mr. Edelblut that he possesses no knowledge of the workings of public schools. Mr. Edelblut asserts that his skills as a private businessman are transferable to overseeing a complex public agency. The experience of other businessmen with no public sector experience who take over schools shows otherwise. Mr. Edelblut also asserts that his experience as a CEO provides him with an understanding of “what kids need to be successful”. While he may know what a HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE needs to be successful IN HIS BUSINESS, I do not believe that gives him any sense of what a Kindergartner needs to be successful in Colebrook, Concord, or Contoocook.

 

“Most troubling to me is his lack of experience in dealing with public schools as a parent. If Mr. Edelblut was a successful businessman who ALSO served on his local school board, or who attended his child’s PTA meetings or back to school nights, or who had any children who attended public school I might be open to an assertion that he has some sense of the challenges of public schools. The fact that he chose to homeschool his children instead of working with his local school board or local principal or his child’s teacher experience speaks volumes about his commitment to the cause of improving schools. Parents who are engaged in public education soon gain an appreciation for the hard work required to educate all children and find ways to improve their local schools through teamwork.”

 

If any readers live in New Hampshire, please express your opposition to this absurd nomination. If you don’t live in New Hampshire, contact the governor’s office to let him know that this appointment makes New Hampshire a laughing stock and undermines the hard work of the state’s educators and its students.

 

With appointments like Betsy DeVos and this unqualified nominee in New Hampshire, our nation is not only showing disrespect for public education, but hurtling back to the early nineteenth century, when children went to religious schools, charity schools, charter schools, were homeschooled, or were without any education. Rushing backward two centuries will not prepare our children to live in the 21st century.

 

 

Categories Administrators, superintendents, New Hampshire

North Carolina: Ousted Superintendent Wonders: “How Do I Help an Infant in Public Education?”

By dianeravitch
December 17, 2016 //
8

June Atkinson, the incumbent Superintendent of Instruction for the state of North Carolina, was beaten by 33-year-old Mark Johnson on November 8. She was surprised by the outcome. Johnson won 50.8% of the vote; of 4.4 million votes cast, Johnson’s margin of victory was 58,000 votes. 

 

Atkinson had worked for the Department of  Public Instruction for 40 years, the last 11 as state chief.

 

Atkinson is the longest-serving state superintendent in the nation and the first woman in North Carolina to hold the job. She lost to Republican Mark Johnson, the second-youngest statewide elected official in the country. Johnson is a lawyer and school board member in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. He received 50.6 percent of the vote in the Nov. 8 election.

 

During an interview at her office last week, Atkinson shifted between moments of sadness, sometimes crying as she spoke about leaving the job she loves, and moments of frustration as she recalled comments Johnson made during the election, some of which she thought were unfair.

 

“I have two pet peeves. One is it bothers me when people swim in the swamp of ignorance or swim in the swamp of dishonesty,” Atkinson said. “It bothers me that my opponent would say disparaging things about people here in the department, that they are incompetent, that there are a bunch of bureaucrats here who don’t work well. I don’t take that personally because I know what it’s like to run for office. It’s the first time, however, I’ve run for office when I felt as if my opponent was dishonest in what he said.”

 

The two have not spoken about the election outcome, Atkinson said, and she doesn’t know what she’ll say when the time comes. She promises a smooth transition when Johnson takes over in January, but it’s clear the transition will be tough.

 

“It’s really hard for me to figure out what I want to say to him, because I don’t know where to start. I mean, he has taught two years. He’s never run an organization that has almost 900 people. He has never traveled to the 100 counties. He doesn’t have a background,” she said. “So, it’s like, how do I teach or how do I help a person who is an infant in public education to become an adult overnight to be able to help public education in this state?”

 

When asked about Atkinson’s remarks, Johnson responded:

 

“I acknowledge that (Atkinson) has been at the Department of Public Instruction for 40 years, and she has a lot of institutional knowledge,” he said. “I look forward to talking to her and hearing what she has to say about running the department and taking that into consideration as I go forward.”

 

Still, he said, Atkinson should not discount his experience as a teacher, local school board member and lawyer.

 

Johnson was a TFA teacher for two years, and a local school board member for less than two years, which should position him well to take charge of the schools of the state of North Carolina.
Read more at http://www.wral.com/ousted-nc-superintendent-on-successor-how-do-i-help-an-infant-in-public-education-/16236296/#2E8eABKf7wCRS4sO.99

 

 

Categories Administrators, superintendents, North Carolina, Teach for America TFA
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