Archives for category: Budget Cuts
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Mayor Bloomberg: Time to Hold Teachers’ Feet to Fire

By dianeravitch
December 8, 2012 //
31

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decided that rating teachers by their test scores and publishing their names in the paper is the last hill he will stand on in his struggle to establish a legacy. He says it is time to hold teachers’ feet to the fire. He would rather cut the budget than let teachers “off the hook” on teacher evaluations.

The mayor is a busy man. We can’t expect him to know anything about education research. He is making his judgments based on his gut instincts. It’s a shame that no one at the New York City Department of Education will tell him that what he believes in doesn’t work. The teachers of English language learners, special education students and gifted students are likely to look like bad teachers. I’m guessing no one at Tweed has the nerve to speak up. They are all in awe of him.

As his third term dwindles down to its closing days, the public has lost confidence that he can reform the schools. In the latest poll, only 25% approved his stewardship of the schools.

I wish he would call me. I could help him.

Categories Bloomberg, Michael, Budget Cuts, NYC, Teacher Evaluations, Unions

Louisiana Judge Rules Voucher Program Unconstitutional

By dianeravitch
November 30, 2012 //
11

A Louisiana judge ruled against the state’s new voucher program, agreeing with the plaintiffs that it violated the state constitution by diverting public funds to private schools.

The state will appeal.

The attorney for the Louisiana Federation of Teachers explains here why the teachers are suing to block Governor Jindal’s Act 2.

It’s not because the law is “illegal,” but because it expressly violates the state constitution.

It’s not because it spends public money for vouchers but because it takes money expressly reserved for public elementary and secondary schools and gives it to private, religious and online schools, as well as post-secondary institutions, that are clearly not public elementary and secondary schools.

By Larry Samuel, LFT General Counsel

It’s time to set the record straight…and correct the inaccurate media reports as to what our Act 2 lawsuit is all about.

First, we are not claiming that the Act is “illegal.” We are claiming that it is unconstitutional. There is a difference. The constitution is the supreme law. Without it, the legislature has no power. The Constitution contains requirements that must be met.

Second, we are not challenging the use of “taxpayer money” for vouchers. Taxpayer money has been used for vouchers for 4 years in Louisiana, and we never challenged it. Why are we lodging this challenge? Because the source of the money are funds contained in the Minimum Foundation Program. Why does this matter? Because Article VIII, Section 13(b) of the Constitution states that the formula “shall be used to determine the cost of a minimum foundation program of education in all public elementary and secondary schools as well as to equitably allocate the funds to parish and city school systems.”

MFP money is going to online course providers, many of which are private (not public), out of state, and are by no stretch of the imagination “ elementary and secondary public school systems.” MFP money is going to post-secondary schools, which is clearly prohibited. Money is going to private and sectarian schools.

Also, local funds are being allocated to online course providers, post-secondary schools, and non-public schools. These are funds that voters approved at the ballot box, that specifically state that the funds shall be used for public elementary and secondary schools. The Constitution prohibits these local funds from going to private schools.

Third, in this lawsuit we are not challenging whether as a matter of policy, taxpayer money should or should not go to private schools. We fought that battle in the legislature (which is the appropriate place to raise policy issues) and we lost. This lawsuit challenges whether the constitution allows MFP money to be allocated to persons and entities that aren’t public elementary and secondary school systems.

Fourth, this lawsuit has nothing to do with a religious challenge to vouchers. We have not raised the issue of whether voucher money going to religious schools is a violation of constitutional “separation of church and state” mandates.

We are asking the Court to rule whether the MFP Resolution is a matter that is “intended to have the force and effect of law,” and if so, whether Act 2 violates other provisions in the Constitution, such as:

The provision in the Louisiana Constitution that states that matters “intended to have the force and effect of law” must be filed in the legislature prior to a fixed deadline. We contend that because the legislature missed the deadline, the law has no force and effect.

The provision in the Louisiana Constitution that states that matters “intended to have the force and effect of law” must be considered in the legislature prior to a fixed deadline. We contend that because the legislature missed the deadline, the law has no force and effect.

The provision in the Constitution that states that matters “intended to have the effect of law” must receive a majority vote of the elected members of the House (which would be 53 votes). The MFP Resolution received 53 votes. Thus, it never passed.

The provision in the Louisiana Constitution that requires a bill to have a “single object.” This provision is important because it recognizes that when a legislator casts a vote on a bill, he or she should not be faced with the dilemma of having to vote either for or against a bill that has many objects to it. We contend that the Bill that became Act 2 has a multitude of objects.
The lawsuit asks the Court to rule solely on Constitutional matters. Not policy matters. Some call us the “Coalition of the Status Quo.” We prefer to be called the “Protectors of the Constitution.”

Categories Budget Cuts, Jindal, Bobby, Louisiana, On-Line Education, Vouchers

Parent Asks for Your Help Writing a Petition

By dianeravitch
November 25, 2012 //
8

A parent in Massachusetts asked for help writing a petition. Can you help?

She wrote:

“I would like to petition to emphasize that the focus on charter schools is draining money, resources, and motivated students and their families from the traditional public school system. Instead of helping ALL students in public schools, focusing on starting charter schools only helps a small percentage of students in each district.

“As a parent who’s worked so hard in my district, I’m very frustrated that the progress being made in my city’s traditional public schools is being threatened with a loss of funding if a new charter school opens up.

“I’m sure we could get 25K signatures on a well-worded petition, but hope it will present positive steps, not just negative responses to what’s being done now.”

Categories Budget Cuts, Charter Schools

Michigan Plan to Dissolve School Districts

By dianeravitch
November 20, 2012 //
30

As readers of this blog know, Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan is determined to break up public education and encourage privatization as rapidly as possible.

He has been relying on a group called the “Oxford Foundation” to devise his plans. As we now know is customary among corporate reformers, the group is named deceptively. it has nothing to do with Oxford and it is not a foundation. while the website has a section about “transparency,” the website contains no names.

Transparency is for the little people.

This article in the Detroit Free Press identifies the leader of the “Oxford Foundation.” He is Richard McLellan, a lawyer who was a founder of the free-market think tank Mackinac Center. Like the Center, he is a strong advocate of vouchers.

McLellan’s time has come. He has the ear of a governor who hates public education as much as he does.

And guess who is funding the privatization activities? Eli Broad.

They will say it is for the benefit of poor minority children. Don’t believe it.

Poor and minority people never benefit by destruction of the public sector.

When the public sector is privatized, follow the money.

Categories Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Michigan, Privatization, US Education, Vouchers

Are Teachers Unions Bad for Education?

By dianeravitch
November 18, 2012 //
40

After several consecutive years of hearing that teachers’ unions are terrible, teachers’ unions are an obstacle to reform, teachers’ unions are greedy, it’s easy to cringe when the subject of unions comes up. I personally have gotten over that. I have come to realize that the war on unions is part of the larger war on public education. The unions are the strongest political ally for the public schools, which are the workplaces of their members, and they need make no apology to the far-right that wants to reduce all working people to atomized individuals, lacking representation.

Bruce Baker decided to explore the recent attacks on teachers’ unions after reading a comment in The Economist magazine saying that the unions are a “scourge.”

Baker looked at the effect of unions overall and found that they tend to be associated with higher pay for teachers (which attracts better candidates into the profession) and with greater funding fairness. No, unions are not a scourge. Unions give teachers a voice in determining the conditions in which they teach and children learn. Why should that be left to the politicians and policymakers, who know little or nothing about education?

Categories Budget Cuts, Students, Teachers and Teaching, Unions, US Education

How to Avoid Hurting Kids and Schools in Fiscal Crisis

By dianeravitch
November 15, 2012 //
3

Leonie Haimson has some excellent ideas about where to make budget cuts and how to raise revenues to protect children in the looming fiscal crisis.

Haimson is executive director of Class Size Matters in New York City and has long been the city’s leading parent activist. Her ability to analyze research and budgets is astounding. Her courage in fighting for students and parents is unmatched.

Leonie Haimson was among the first people to be placed on the honor roll as a champion of public education. She was one of the original founders of Parents Across America.

She is a tireless and effective advocate who makes a difference in improving the lives of children.

Categories Budget Cuts, Education Industry, Education Reform, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Merit pay, Parent Groups, Parents, Race to the Top, Students, Washington State

Are Colleges Spending Too Much on Administrators?

By dianeravitch
November 15, 2012 //
11

John Hechinger has written an important critique of administrative salaries in higher education.

His article focuses on Purdue, an outstanding university known for its engineering programs.

The university has a long list of administrators who do supervision or marketing and are paid far more than full professors.

Makes you wonder if the university–and Purdue is typical, not unusual–has its priorities right.

One good thing about Purdue that comes out in the article is that, unlike so many other universities, it does not rely on adjunct faculty.

Mitch Daniels, about to leave the governorship, will assume the presidency of Purdue. As governor, he became known nationally for privatizing and outsourcing public education and undercutting teachers’ professionalism. We will see what his Purdue agenda may be.

As a show of good will, he could start his tenure in office by cutting his own salary in half (that figure is not mentioned in the article but is surely a higher figure than the highest-paid administrators).

Categories Budget Cuts, Higher Education

Pedro Noguera’s Good Agenda Going Forward

By dianeravitch
November 14, 2012 //
11

Pedro Noguera, my colleague at New York University, took my place as blogging partner with Deborah Meier at “Bridging Differences.”

In his latest column, Pedro says that it is not enough to recognize that No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have failed. It is necessary to shape a new agenda.

Pedro offers these three elements to a new agenda.

1. “The federal government should call for the creation of a comprehensive support systems around schools in low-income communities to address issues such as safety, health, nutrition, and counseling. This should include the expansion of preschool and after-school programs and extended learning opportunities during the summer.” Since the federal government is unlikely to fund what is needed, states and localities should develop public-private partnerships to make it happen.

2) “The federal government must support a new approach to assessment that focuses on concrete evidence of academic performance—writing, reading, mathematical problem-solving—and moves away from using standardized tests to measure and rank students, teachers, and schools.”.

3) “The federal government needs to call upon the states and school districts to undertake careful evaluations of struggling schools to determine why they are failing to meet the needs of the students they serve before prescribing what should be changed. Instead of simply closing troubled schools such a strategy would require a greater focus on enrollment patterns (i.e. have we concentrated too many “high-needs” students in a school?) and ensuring that schools have the capacity to meet the needs of the students they serve rather than merely judging them under the current accountability systems.”

I heartily agree with Pedro’s diagnosis. If children are not healthy, if they are hungry, their ability to learn is negatively affected. The value of preschool and after-school programs is well-established. In state after state, these programs are being cut, while testing is expanded. I would go even further, as I do in my book, and say that class-size reduction must be part of the new vision, especially where the children with the greatest needs are enrolled.

The problem here is that we can’t get federal or state policymakers to change course unless they recognize that the present course–the strategy of high-stakes testing, accountability, choice, and school closings–has failed. I note that Pedro does not mention the Common Core standards, which has now become the linchpin of federal school reform.

Going forward, I think, requires that we persuade President Obama that Race to the Top is not working and must be replaced by a new vision. Pedro has well described the outlines of that vision.

But we can’t assume that the President will change course until he recognizes that four more years of the Bush NCLB strategy won’t help our children or improve their education. Twelve years is enough. It’s time to think anew.

Categories Accountability, Budget Cuts, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Privatization, Race to the Top, Testing, US Education

Is This “Irreplaceable” Teacher a Bitch?

By dianeravitch
November 13, 2012 //
6

This post was written by a young teacher in New York City. A law school graduate, she teaches special education in the Bronx in one of he city’s poorest neighborhoods. She requested anonymity, for obvious reasons.

She asks: Is it worse to be called a bitch (by a student) or to be treated like one (by politicians and bureaucrats)?

She is what The New Teacher Project would call an “irreplaceable.” When the New York City Department of Education released the names and ratings of thousands of teachers earlier this year, she was rated 99%. She was not at all happy. She wrote a protest against the whole rating system (which organizations like TNTP love). She knew that this year she might be on top, and next year at the bottom. And she knew that many of her colleagues with low ratings were hardworking teachers who did not deserve to be humiliated. When people wrote to congratulate her, she thanked them and said the ratings meant nothing.

Her new post expresses her outrage towards the system and the politicians who shortchange teachers and students.

She asks, Why do teachers have to buy their own supplies? Why must they beg or borrow the most basic resources?

She understands why a student may call her names, but why does society?

Categories Budget Cuts, NYC, Special Education, Teacher Evaluations

“Brooklyn Castle” on the Jon Stewart “Daily Show”

By dianeravitch
November 9, 2012 //
9

Jon Stewart is public education’s best friend in the media.

Maybe because his mother was a public school teacher.

Of course.

He interviewed the director/producer of the wonderful film “Brooklyn Castle” and one of the lead students on the school’s chess team.

It will be  your heart good to hear the student, Pobo, talk about how great his teachers were and why people shouldn’t pay any attention to the rating systems that label them “bad.”

He says, “I LOVED my teachers!”

Stewart asked why New York City was willing to cut the funding for the school’s championship chess team while not cutting the amount of standardized testing.

We all wonder the same thing.

Categories Budget Cuts, Education Reform, NYC
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