Archives for category: Budget Cuts
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The Real Goal of Reformers: Re-Segregation?

By dianeravitch
October 25, 2012 //
33

Anthony Cody has a stunning article this week about what is happening in Louisiana.

The expansion of vouchers and charters will facilitate the re-segregation of the schools, he predicts.

Governor Jindal eliminated all funding for public libraries in his new budget.

The TFA Commissioner has put a young and unqualified TFA alum in charge of teacher evaluation.

The freight train of reform (aka privatization) is running full blast in that unfortunate state.

Arne Duncan will be there any day now to congratulate Governor Jindal on the progress made in “reforming” the schools.

And lots of thanks to the Gates Foundation, the Broad Foundation, the Walton Foundation, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Netflix founder Reed Hastings, and Teach for America for turning the clock back to 1950 and calling it “reform.”

Categories Broad Foundation, Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Duncan, Arne, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Jindal, Bobby, Louisiana, Privatization, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration, Vouchers

Texas Democrats See the Pattern on the Rug

By dianeravitch
October 25, 2012 //
5

These past few years, some of us have been trying to awaken the public to the goals and strategy of the privatization movement.

First, they demand high-stakes testing, and they claim they want to “reduce the achievement gap” or “it’s all for the kids.”

Second, they use the scores to give grades to schools and to declare that those with the lowest scores are “failing schools” (purposely ignoring that those with low scores are almost always located in the poorest neighborhoods and enroll high proportions of children of color)

Third, somewhere along the way, they strip teachers of every job protection so they can’t complain and do not have a seat at the table when the budget is slashed

Fourth, they welcome private management, and freely hand out public dollars to entrepreneurs, amateurs, and assorted corporations (don’t forget, “it’s all for the kids,” because “kids first,” “children first,” “students first.”)

In Texas, as the letter below shows, the Democrats are beginning to see what is happening.

The Texas legislature cut over $5 billion from the public schools’ budget but somehow managed to find a measly $500 million for Pearson’s testing regime. Pearson must have super lobbyists, like the guy who was the architect of No Child Left Behind.

Now the next legislature is likely to expand charters and vouchers.

Getting ready to finish off public education.

This letter is from Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party:

Dear Democrat,

There’s a reason that the Texas Republican platform is opposed to teaching critical thinking skills. Anyone with the ability to think can look at what Republicans are doing to our schools and realize that it’s insanity!

Last year, Republicans cut five billion dollars from public education. But they won’t be happy until they fully end public education as we know it. There’s a war against teaching and schools going on in our State, and we won’t sit by and let this happen!

 

Republican Senator Dan Patrick was recently appointed Chair of the Senate Education Committee. We know what that means for the next legislative session, because he’s already told us.

 

“This is the session for us to be bold. This is the session for us to reform public education,” Patrick has announced.

 

“Reform” is code for defund and destroy.

 

Patrick is partnering with Perry and Dewhurst to further defund our schools in a dramatic way.  They want to take money from our children’s futures and pass it to their cronies. Republicans call it vouchers, but it’s clear that their goal is not to provide better educational opportunities. Those who truly champion our children would not start by cutting over five billion dollars of support for their education.

 

It is absolutely insane and objectionable that Texas Republicans see the education of our children as a political tool and as a way to give more money to their rich buddies.

 

Every Democrat in this State needs to get out there and vote like the future depends on it because IT DOES. At the Texas Democratic Party we’re fighting against this insanity. But we need you to fight with us.

 

Yours,
Gilberto Hinojosa 

Categories Accountability, ALEC, Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Testing, Texas, Vouchers

Who Needs Public Libraries?

By dianeravitch
October 15, 2012 //
6

What a quaint idea Andrew Carnegie had when he subsidized 2,500 free public libraries a century ago. He wanted knowledge to be free to the public.

Today, our reformers don’t believe in subsidizing anything other than for those at the very bottom (but not much). If you want a book, buy it. If you aren’t willing to pay for it, they assume, you don’t really need it. They have all the books they want, so why do we need public libraries?

A reader, David Eckstrom, writes about the library in his community:

I am on the board of trustees for my local public library. Our usage continues to grow every year at about 10%, but our funding (which comes from the county) has been flat for at least the 3 years I have been on the board.

I live in WI and our governor has made it a major part of his mission to cut funding to municipalities and to give them the “tools” they need to deal with the cuts (i.e. eliminate collective bargaining so the municipalities can make their employees pay for the cuts). However, we are finding that there is no way cutting the salaries and benefits of the few employees on our staff can possibly make up for the growing gap in funding caused by the increased usage. In fact, cutting the salaries of all employees to minimum wage with no benefits would not even make up the gap. When our county begins (probably next year) to pass the cuts on down to us, that funding gap will get even larger.

The only way we are continuing to survive now is by dipping into the reserves we have accumulated over the years from private donations. We project that money will last another 1.5 – 2 years and then we will have to start reducing services.

What do we eliminate first? The heavily used juvenile section? The heavily used public computers? The heavily used periodicals collection? The heavily used adult collection? The heavily used community outreach programs? There is evident need for everything we provide, but something is definitely going to have to go. It won’t affect people who can afford their own books, computers, periodicals and educational programs, so who the hell cares? Not our governor.

Categories Budget Cuts, Corporate Reformers, Wisconsin

A Blow to Reform/Privatization

By dianeravitch
October 9, 2012 //
9

If you ask leading privatizers where are the examples of success for their theories, they will surely point to New York City.

Surely you heard about the “New York City miracle.” Australia is redesigning its national system because of the success of the alleged miracle.

But what about New York City? More than 100 schools closed, and hundreds of new schools opened. More than 100 new charters. School report cards. Testing and accountability. Constant evaluation and data-based-decision-making.

As New Yorkers know, the claims of a “New York City miracle” collapsed in 2010 when the State Education Department acknowledged that it had lowered the passing mark on state tests. When the scores were recalibrated, the miracle went up in smoke.

Now the people of New York City weigh in. A new Marist poll finds that 49% of New Yorkers say that the public schools are worse now than 20 years ago; only 23% say they are better. The rest are undecided.

Why so much public discontent? Budget cuts. Overcrowded classrooms. Charter co-locations pitting parents against parents.

After a decade of privatization and high-stakes testing in NYC, the public is fed up. And the miracle is gone.

PS: Would someone let the Australian government know?

Categories Bloomberg, Michael, Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, NYC

Wish I Had a Newspaper Like This in My Hometown

By dianeravitch
October 8, 2012 //
17

The Mercury of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, has an editorial describing the devastating effects of budget cuts and tax caps on Pennsylvania’s public schools.

The cuts threaten the future, says the editorial. Class sizes are growing. Thousands of teachers have been laid off. On the chopping block and already cut are music and art, sports, kindergarten, early childhood education, after-school activities.

State budget cuts, combined with the transfer of public funds to charter schools and voucher schools, are eroding public education for the vast majority of the state’s children. The great many are suffering because of privatization.

What is at risk?

“Public education is the foundation of our democracy,” said William LaCoff, Owen J. Roberts School Board member. “You need an educated populace to make good decisions about the nation’s future and education is expensive. If we have no public schools, or if they are the school of last resort, not everyone is going to get an education and then we have a permanent under-class? That’s the last thing we want.”

My comment on the editorial: as privatization expands, public education will implode. And maybe that is the goal of the privatizers. As they grow, they are plundering a basic democratic institution.

Categories Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Pennsylvania, Privatization

Spread the Word about October 17 Campaign for Our Public Schools!

By dianeravitch
October 6, 2012 //
77

I will write about this every single day from now until October 17.

Please write your thoughts about what needs to change in federal education policy and send a letter to President Obama by that date.

You can write it now and follow instructions here.

Anthony Cody, experienced middle school science teacher and fabulous blogger, has offered to coordinate our campaign to write President Obama on October 17.

We call it the Campaign for Our Public Schools.

Our campaign is meant to include everyone who cares about public education: students, parents, teachers, principals, school board members, and concerned citizens. We want everyone to write the President and tell him what needs to change in his education policies.

Tell your friends about the Campaign. If you have a blog, write about it. Wherever you are, spread the news. Join us.

Here are the instructions:

You can send your letter to Anthony Cody or to this blog.

Or you can send it directly to the White House, with a copy to me or Anthony.

Anthony will gather all the emails sent to him and me and forward them to the White House.

1. Email your letters to anthony_cody@hotmail.com.

2. Or submit them as comments to this blog. You can respond to this post or to any other post on this blog about the October 17 Campaign for Our Public Schools.

All letters collected through these two channels will be compiled into a single document, which will be sent to the White House on Oct. 18.

In ADDITION to this,

3. You can mail copies of your letters through US mail to The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 20500

4. You can send them by email from this page: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments

If you choose to write or email the White House, please send us a copy so we can keep track of how many letters were sent to the President.

One more thought: when you write to the President, also write to your Senators and Congressman or -woman and to your state legislator and Governor. Send the same letter to them all.

Let’s raise our voices NOW against privatization, against high-stakes testing, against teacher bashing, against profiteering.

Let’s advocate for policies that are good for students, that truly improve education, that respect the education profession, and that strengthen our democratic system of public education.

Let’s act. Start here. Start now.

Join our campaign. Speak out. Enough is enough.

Diane

Categories Accountability, Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Obama, Parents, Privatization, Race to the Top, Students, Teachers and Teaching, Testing, US Education

Hands Off Big Bird!

By dianeravitch
October 6, 2012 //
23

During the Presidential debate, Mitt Romney said he would stop funding PBS. He made it clear that there would be no more government subsidies for Big Bird, who is apparently a freeloader, one of the 47% who couldn’t survive without federal assistance.

Charles Blow wrote a terrific column about Big Bird and about the value of subsidizing high quality programs that provide news, in-depth documentaries, education, and the best of culture, whether high or middlebrow.

If the government were to withdraw support for the arts and for cultural institutions, we would lose a lot more than Big Bird. We would lose museums, libraries, concerts, and everything else that is not self-sustaining.

To remove all government support for the arts and humanities is profoundly anti-educational. It would dumb down the public and impoverish us all.

Categories Budget Cuts, Education Reform

Putting a Stake in the Heart of the Vampire

By dianeravitch
October 2, 2012 //
14

On Sunday evening, after I spoke to the joint meeting of the Texas School Boards Association and the Texas Association of School Administrators, and after I spoke to parents and teachers at Eastside Memorial High School, I met Abby Rappaport, who writes for The American Prospect.

Abby knows Texas politics well. She asked me many good questions, and reprinted a slightly edited version of the interview. I boiled down everything I said to TSBA and TASA in the interview. I told her what I thought about high-stakes testing, about the Chicago strike, and about choice.

The only thing with which I disagree in her post is that I was not famous for promoting the “reform movement.” The so-called reform movement of today didn’t exist until about five years ago, and by then I was on my way out the door.

I don’t know if I was famous, but I’d like to think I got to be known among educators for the histories that I wrote, like The Great School Wars (a history of the NYC schools) in 1974; The Troubled Crusade (1983); Left Back (2000); and The Language Police (2003). Those books survive, and none is about testing/accountability/choice/competition.

Categories Accountability, Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Unions, US Education

The Big Tradeoff: Common Core and the Budget

By dianeravitch
September 29, 2012 //
12

Mike Fair, a Republican legislator in South Carolina, worries about the cost and complexity of the new standards and tests.

When you read about the heavy spending that lies ahead, in a time when school budgets are being slashed and teachers laid off, you can see why the Common Core national standards/national tests movement is warmly endorsed by the technology industry.

This is an excerpt:

School districts will need enough computers to allow almost every student to take multiple annual exams. These computers must be suitable for the “innovative” test items and must be maintained and upgraded. Add to this the cost of increased IT staffing, and you begin to realize the problems of buying a Porsche test on a Ford budget.

A recent study projects that states will collectively spend $2.8 billion and $6.9 billion over seven years on technology alone for Common Core. And the authors cautioned that they were accepting the consortiums’ cost estimates at face value; analyst Ze’ev Wurman has predicted that South Carolina’s annual testing costs may skyrocket to $100 per student, compared with $12 per student today.

School districts that can’t afford substantial new technology will have to rotate students through the computer labs; Smarter Balanced recommends a 12-week testing window. But that creates significant security problems — how to keep the earlier-tested students from talking to the later-tested ones? — as well as inequity in results. The students tested late in the window will have almost three more months of instruction than those first out of the gate. Might this give an unfair advantage? And might teachers, whose evaluations depend on these test scores, resent having their students put at the front of the testing window?

These problems will have to be worked out, assuming the whole concept of nationalized standards, tests and curricula doesn’t collapse under its own weight. When that collapse or implosion happens, I hope it is before too much damage is done to our budgets, our schools and our children.

Categories Accountability, Budget Cuts, Common Core, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Technology, Computers, Testing

A Recipe for Failure?

By dianeravitch
September 29, 2012 //
13

In response to a post about standards for pre-schoolers, this reader wrote:

As far as I am concerned, with all the variety of disabilities under special education, English language learners, 504, medical plans, modifications and accommodations, full inclusion, differentiation, and now the new term: responsive teaching and any other new fad coming our way…this is an impossible feat and the Common Core State Standards will just widen the achievement gap even more.

But, maybe that is the purpose and then they can close down even more schools and further segregate the children into other categories and sub-categories….I guess the levels within the American caste system are yet to be determined.

We have larger class sizes, less supports, more children with a wider range of abilities in the same classrooms with limited supplies…..even the superman or woman we are all waiting for would fly away ASAP. They do not understand what we deal with everyday, so they have no idea what they are asking us to do. This is a recipe for failure.

Categories Budget Cuts, Common Core, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform
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