Archives for category: Budget Cuts
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Philadelphia: Denying Educational Opportunity

By dianeravitch
June 9, 2013 //
12

Public officials in Pennsylvania are trying to starve public education until it dies. They have a constitutional obligation under the state and possibly the federal constitution to provide equal treatment to all. The students hurt most by state budget cuts are disproportionately black and Hispanic. Someone should sue to compel the state to provide education to all students.

Schools have been stripped of essential personnel. And that’s not all. They can’t even provide a sound basic education.

Read this comment by a teacher in Philadelphia:

“I’m a teacher in Philadelphia and I spent my Saturday this weekend finding out throughout the day which of my friends and co-workers had been laid off. Weingarten is absolutely spot on when she says that the students of Philadelphia are not the concern of Hite, the SRC, or the state. Most of my co-workers laId off were history teachers – an untested subject in PA. What is happening in Philadelphia is a complete travesty and a failure of democracy, and not just because I might lose my job or because the union might lose some dues. If I return to the classroom in the fall, the “education” I will be able to give my students will not look anything like what I was taught education should be. And that’s a travesty.”

Categories Budget Cuts, Philadelphia

In Person with Jon Stewart: The Story of the I.S. 318 Chess Team

By dianeravitch
June 8, 2013 //
13

Yesterday I wrote about the championship chess team at I.S. 318 in Brooklyn, which needs $20,000 to travel to tournaments and remain in competition. The after school funding that keeps the program alive was cut by the New York City Department of Education.

I thought you would enjoy watching the segment on “The Daily Show” when Jon Stewart interviewed the producer and one of the students who are featured in the film.

My favorite moment is when the student, Pobo, says spontaneously, “I love my teachers!” And the audience breaks into applause because they love their teachers too.

John Galvin, the assistant principal at 318 in charge of the chess program, has been reading this blog. John, give us a name and address, and we will do some fund-raising for our chess program.

Categories Budget Cuts, NYC, Students, Support for public schools, Teachers

Wendy Kopp Hails Philadelphia’s “Progress” As District Suffers Draconian Cuts

By dianeravitch
June 7, 2013 //
10

Why did Wendy Kopp hail Philadelphia’s “progress” on the same day that the state-run School Reform Commission slashed the city’s public school budget to the bone, eliminating librarians, arts programs, athletics, and counselors, stripping bare an impoverished district? Maybe she was confused. Or misinformed. Or maybe she meant it.

Kopp quickly apologized but Philadelphia journalist Daniel Denvir thinks it was no accident. He sees the same kind of thinking displayed daily in the acts of PennCAN, the spinoff of the privatization group called ConnCAN, then 50CAN. These groups are “flush with cash,” although the students and families of Philadelphia are not.

He says, “The doomsday budget is morally unacceptable. It must become politically impossible.”

Categories Budget Cuts, Philadelphia, Teach for America TFA

Will Budget Cuts Kill the Nation’s Finest Chess Team?

By dianeravitch
June 7, 2013 //
40

Last year, a terrific documentary was produced about the extraordinary chess team at I.S. 318 in Brooklyn. The film is called “Brooklyn Castle.” Its producer and one of the star players were on the Jon Stewart “Daily Show,” and the chess program was also featured in Paul Tough’s book “How Children Succeed.”

The chess program at this inner-city middle school is phenomenal. Most of the players are black and Hispanic. They work very hard, and their team has won more chess championships than any other school in the nation. The teachers are fantastic. If you see the film, you will be reminded about why public education is a treasure in America.

The strange thing about the film is that it starts off as a somewhat conventional tale about poor kids who overcome the odds and succeed, but midway through the film, it turns into a struggle for survival as the kids and teachers learn that the city cut their budget. Somehow, the students sell enough candy bars and dream up enough gimmicks to pay heir way to the next championship, and life goes on. But at the end of “Brooklyn Castle,” you understand how precarious this project is. There is no funding from Bill Gates or Eli Broad or the Walton Family for one of the most inspiring stories in American education today.

Well, it has happened again. Mayor Bloomberg cut the budget, and there is no money for after school programs like the chess team at I.S. 318. Unless the kids can raise $20,000, the famous chess team is dead.

About a month ago, Eva Moskowitz held a fundraiser for her Success Academy charter school chain and raised $7 million in one night.

Wouldn’t you think that just one of those hedge fund managers would adopt the chess program at I.S. 318?

Categories Budget Cuts, New York City, Students

Philadelphia’s Mayor Nutter Bets on Privatization

By dianeravitch
June 5, 2013 //
3

An earlier post today described the devastating budget cuts to public education by Pennsylvania’s Governor Tom Corbett. Districts across the state are laying off staff, cutting librarians, teachers of the arts, and school nurses and guidance counselors. No city has been harder hit than Philadelphia, which has been under state control for over a decade. The following commentary was written by Ken Derstine, a retired teacher in Philadelphia.

Ken writes:

Philadelphia’s Democratic Mayor Nutter’s role in these events should be noted. Nutter, currently the President of U.S. Conference of Mayors http://www.usmayors.org/about/orgleaders.asp,
is Mayor of a city whose public schools are in crisis. After ten years of starvation budgets to build up charter schools http://tinyurl.com/kphmwmm, last week the School Reform Commission passed a Doomsday budget which will devastate an already struggling School District cutting school staff to only a principal and classroom teachers.

It is in this situation that Nutter on Tuesday held a special press conference in Harrisburg with charter school operators to lobby for Corbett to fund schools….so that Philadelphia can expand charter seats! His only prescription for the struggling public schools has been that there must be “shared sacrifice” in the new contract of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers starting September 1st, with wage and benefit concessions of $133 million.

Nutter is hoping to capitalize on Corbett’s ALEC inspired agenda of privatization of public schools. The Philadelphia School District was taken over by the state in December, 2001. The School Reform Commission which runs the District has brought in the Philadelphia School Partnership and Boston Consulting Group to oversee the privatization of public schools. In FY09, charters were 15% of the District budget. In FY14 they will be 30% of the budget.

The charter management companies have come into conflict with the SRC over the last few months. The SRC in March called a moratorium of expanded charters at this time because of the budget crisis. A number of charters defied this moratorium and enrolled students even though it violated the contractual enrollment caps in their charter. When the SRC refused to pay for this over enrollment, the charter companies went to Corbett’s Secretary of Education and he took the money out of state funds that had been approved for the Philadelphia School District. It is in this situation that Mayor Nutter is in Harrisburg lobbying for more money for charter schools. 21 charters want 15,000 new seats which the District estimates would increase charter costs to about $110 million annually.

Categories Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Philadelphia

Pennsylvania Parents Mobilize to Protest Governor Corbett’s Budget Cuts

By dianeravitch
June 5, 2013 //
3

Pennsylvania blogger Yinzercation reports that parents and concerned citizens are pressing their legislators to reverse Governor Corbett’s policy of defunding public schools.

Philadelphia has been under state control for a decade. Now parents and activists are demanding the restoration of a democratically elected board. The School Reform Commission “passed a draconian budget, wiping out public education as we know it. The plan cuts 3,000 more employees (including teachers); completely eliminates counselors, librarians, and secretaries; provides only one nurse for every 1,500 students; and gets rid of athletics, music, and art. [Philly.com, 6-4-13] As Philly parents have pointed out, this is a plan to warehouse students, rather than educate them. [Philly.com, 6-2-13]”

“Allentown has just proposed a plan to cut over 150 employees – nearly all teachers, and most of those in art, library, and physical education.”

Districts across the state are reeling because of Corbett’s ALEC agenda of cutting the schools while bestowing generous tax breaks on corporations.

In Philadelphia, Mayor Nutter seems to be deeply concerned that state funds are not available to permit charters to expand their enrollment, even though many existing charters are either failing or under investigation for corruption. Nutter has not spoken up for public schools, which most of his city’s children attend, only the privately-managed charters.

Categories Budget Cuts, Parents, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

North Carolina: Public Schools First Rallies Against Cuts

By dianeravitch
June 5, 2013 //
11

ACTION ALERT!
publicschoolsfirstnc.org

Help Us Deliver 15,000+ Signatures
to Governor McCrory on Thursday!

It’s time to wake up the people of North Carolina and let them know that our public schools are in danger! Pending bills in the General Assembly could devastate our schools as we know them — lifting the cap on classroom sizes, eliminating classroom positions, slashing eligibility for Pre-K, authorizing vouchers that send public money to private/religious schools, and funneling public money into for-profit schools with no oversight.

Join us for a press conference and rally as we deliver our petition to Governor Pat McCrory! Children are especially welcome to join us — let’s show our lawmakers who will pay the price if they go through with these terrible ideas.

If we don’t let our friends and neighbors know what’s going on, no one will — and it will be too late!

Join Us

Thursday, June 6 at 4:30 PM

State Capitol Building
1 E Edenton Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
Public Schools First NC
(919) 576-0655
info@publicschoolsfirstnc.org

Categories Budget Cuts, Education Industry, For-Profit, North Carolina, Vouchers

Is School Reform Really About Economic Development?

By dianeravitch
June 4, 2013 //
8

Leslie T. Fenwick, dean of education at Howard University, argues that what is called school “reform” is really about urban land development, not about improving the lives of disadvantaged minority children. She says, follow the money to understand the “reforms.”

Dean Fenwick doesn’t mince words. She writes:

“The truth can be used to tell a lie. The truth is that black parents’ frustration with the quality of public schools is at an all time righteous high. Though black and white parents’ commitment to their child’s schooling is comparable, more black parents report dissatisfaction with the school their child attends. Approximately 90 percent of black and white parents report attending parent teacher association meetings and nearly 80 percent of black and white parents report attending teacher conferences. Despite these similarities, fewer black parents (47 percent) than white parents (64 percent) report being very satisfied with the school their child attends. This dissatisfaction among black parents is so whether these parents are college-educated, high income, or poor.

“The lie is that schemes like Teach For America, charter schools backed by venture capitalists, education management organizations (EMOs), and Broad Foundation-prepared superintendents address black parents concerns about the quality of public schools for their children. These schemes are not designed to cure what ails under-performing schools. They are designed to shift tax dollars away from schools serving black and poor students; displace authentic black educational leadership; and erode national commitment to the ideal of public education.”

What is needed to change the stagnant status quo? Read the article.

Categories Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Parents, Privatization, Teach for America TFA

Why Is Philadelphia in Crisis?

By dianeravitch
May 30, 2013 //
22

Philadelphia is once again facing catastrophic budget cuts that threaten to gut public education.

Who is killing Philadelphia’s schools, asks journalist Daniel Denvir. Here is the sordid story.

The state has had control of the Philadelphia schools since 2002. It took control because of a budget deficit. The state School Reform Commission made the deficit worse.

Paul Vallas took over as superintendent and launched the nation’s most sweeping privatization plan. It failed. Vallas left the district with an even bigger deficit.

Now the School Reform Commission wants to have another go at privatization, even though a number of the city’s charters are under criminal investigation. The Mayor supports a pro-voucher group that has become increasingly vocal.

Governor Tom Corbett has slashed the state’s support for public schools. The state is threatening more cuts. Will public education survive in Philadelphia?

Does anyone have the nerve to say “it’s all for the kids”?

Categories Budget Cuts, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Vallas, Paul

Pennsylvania: Cyber Charters Are a Scam

By dianeravitch
May 30, 2013 //
5

Pennsylvania is overrun with cyber charters. There are 16 of them competing for customers, sucking money out of real public schools, supplying a terrible education. Some are under investigation. The legislature protects them because of campaign contributions.

Meanwhile public schools are suffering due to budget cuts while these sham schools make profits.

They have extracted $4 billion from the state’s taxpayers in inflated costs, padded enrollment data, and legislative beneficence. This is legal graft.

Categories Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, On-Line Education, Pennsylvania
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