Archives for category: California
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Will Democratic Stand Against Corporate Reform Affect L.A. Mayoral Race?

By dianeravitch
April 15, 2013 //
11

This comment asks an important question. With billionaire money flooding state and local school board races in California, what will the Democratic candidates for mayor of LA do or say?

Will the Democratic parties in other states have the gumption to renounce those who are destroying public education and attacking teachers?

The comment:

Too bad Antonio Villarigosa is leaving office–I’d like to see his response to this since he is a leading Democratic waterboy for corporate reform in California.

I posted this to the two candidates for Los Angeles mayor’s Facebook pages:

I would like to hear Eric Garcetti’s response to the CA Democratic Party’s condemnation of corporate driven public education reform that put the profits of hedge fund managers ahead of what teachers, researchers, and parents think is best for educating our kids.

Breaking News! California Democratic Party Blasts Corporate Education Reform: UPDATE

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was a big supporter of this profoundly corrupt policy.

Will Eric Garcetti support PUBLIC public schools instead of trying to privatize them?

Eric Garcetti:

https://www.facebook.com/ericgarcetti?fref=ts

Wendy Greuel:
https://www.facebook.com/wendygreuel?fref=ts

Categories California, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Los Angeles

Breaking News! California Democratic Party Blasts Corporate Education Reform: UPDATE

By dianeravitch
April 15, 2013 //
26

The California Democratic Party passed a resolution opposing corporate education reform.

It specifically criticized Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst and the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ group called “Democrats for Education Reform” as fronts for Republicans and corporate interests.

See the story in the Los Angeles Times here. The headline repeats the “reform” claim that they just want to “overhaul” schools, when the resolution below correctly describes their agenda.

The message is getting out. The public is beginning to understand the privatizers’ game of talking “reform” and “great teachers” while dismantling public education and the teaching profession.

This is great news!

Here is the resolution:

Supporting California’s Public Schools and Dispelling the Corporate “Reform” Agenda
Whereas, the reform initiatives of Students First, rely on destructive anti-educator policies that do nothing for students but blame educators and their unions for the ills of society, make testing the goal of education, shatter communities by closing their public schools, and see public schools as potential profit centers and children as measureable commodities; and

Whereas, the political action committee, entitled Democrats for Education Reform is funded by corporations, Republican operatives and wealthy individuals dedicated to privatization and anti-educator initiatives, and not grassroots democrats or classroom educators; and

Whereas, the billionaires funding Students First and Democrats for Education Reform are supporting candidates and local programs that would dismantle a free public education for every student in California and replace it with company run charter schools, non-credentialed teachers and unproven untested so-called “reforms”;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the California Democratic Party reaffirms its commitment to free accessible public schools for all which offer a fair, substantive opportunity to learn with educators who have the right to be represented by their union, bargain collectively and have a voice in the policies which affect their schools, classrooms and their students;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the California Democratic Party send this resolution to all elected Democratic leaders in California, publicize the corporate and Republican funding of these groups and work with the authors of this resolution to dispel the false reforms and support the real needs of the classroom: trained teachers, adequate funding, safe and clean facilities, diverse and stimulating curriculum and access to pre-school and higher education.

Categories California, Democrats, Democrats for Education Reform, Rhee, Michelle, StudentsFirst

Celebrated California Charter School Implodes in Dissension

By dianeravitch
April 14, 2013 //
7

The American Indian Model Schools has turned into a long-running drama. This week it took a sharp turn for the worse, as the board fired top administrators, some board members denounced other board members, and everyone was angry.

All this followed the revocation of the charters due to fiscal improprieties.

For years, it was the toast of conservative pundits because of its high test scores, its no-excuses discipline, and the epithets hurled by its director Ben Chavis at unions, school boards, liberals, “multiculturalists,” and anyone else he didn’t like. It won praise from Governor Schwarzenegger, President George W, Bush, Jonathan Alter, John Stossel, George Will, and was the lead exemplar in David Whitman’s book praising “the new paternalism,” which was titled “Sweating the Small Stuff.” Whitman became Arne Duncan’s chief speechwriter soon after his book came out.

Back to AIMS. Chavis was indeed a harsh disciplinarian, but he was also strategic. At last count, there were almost no American Indians enrolled in the school. The student body was predominantly Asian-American.

The troubles began with a state audit which reported that $3.8 million of the schools’ funds ended up in businesses run by Chavis and his wife. The charges are still under investigation by the local district attorney.

Categories California, Charter Schools, Duncan, Arne

Florida: The “Parent Trigger” Scam

By dianeravitch
April 11, 2013 //
13

In this article columnist Daniel Shoer Roth explains how parents at the Desert Trails school in Adelanto, California, were hoodwinked into turning their public school over to a charter operator.

Under the Florida proposal, charters can set their own rules for eligibility, and many students will be excluded from the school that once was their neighborhood school.

Roth writes:

“Some local students will not meet the new strict admission rules. This includes students with learning disabilities and those in ESOL classes, as well as many racial and ethnic minority children. A number of surveys have demonstrated that there is a higher incidence of segregation in charters than in traditional schools. The excluded students will carry to their next school the same unsolved problems that contributed to the failure of the converted school, often related to poverty and a range of health and safety challenges.”

“The chain reaction from these student migrations subjects yet another school to low ranking and can put it on the conversion chopping block, too. It’s a vicious cycle.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/10/v-fullstory/3336512/the-dark-side-of-parent-trigger.html#storylink=cpy

Categories California, Florida, Parent trigger

California Charter Founders Convicted of Embezzlement

By dianeravitch
April 8, 2013 //
18

The founders of Ivy Academia in the San Fernando Valley in California were convicted of embezzlement and a variety of other charges stemming from their use of $200,000 in school funds for personal expenses.

From the LA Times:

“”This message is going to resonate throughout the charter school community,” said prosecutor Sandi Roth. “You can’t spend the charter school funds for anything you want. It has to be money spent on the kids and the schools.””

And this:

“”The prosecution seeks to undermine the cornerstone of what makes charter schools successful — their freedom from the rules binding traditional district schools,” said attorney Anne A. Lee, in a brief on behalf of the California Charter Schools Assn.”

Recently, the American Indian Public Charter schools in Oakland lost their charter after an audit revealed that $3.8 million of school funding was directed to businesses owned by the school leader and his wife.

The continuing scandals at charter schools is indicative of the near-complete absence of supervision of the state’s more than 1,000 charter schools.

The state–which has more charters than any other state–and the Los Angeles school district, which has the largest number of charters of any district, should develop a strategy to establish accountability and transparency for these unregulated schools. The reason for the huge number of charters? Former Governor Schwarzenegger appointed a state board dominated by charter advocates, even though less than 5% of the public students in the state attended charters.

Plus, big money in California–starting with Eli Broad–invests heavily in charters.

Without oversight of expenditures, a charter is a license to get public money and do with it whatever you want. You won’t get caught unless someone squeals, because no one at the State Education Department or the local school district is paying attention. No one is watching.

And here is an interesting sidenote: the teachers at the charter school voted in February to form a union and affiliate with the UTLA.

Categories California, Charter Schools, Education Industry

Do Americans Believe in Equality of Opportunity?

By dianeravitch
March 24, 2013 //
27

Governor Jerry Brown of California gave a brilliant state of the state speech in January, where he pledged to change fundings of public schools so that more money went to children with the greatest needs.

It sounded reasonable. It costs more to educate a child who can’t speak English than one who can. It costs more to educate a child with disabilities than one without them. It costs more to educate children with high needs.

But a Los Angeles Times poll finds that only half of the public support the idea of spending more for those with the highest needs.

This raises the question: Do we really believe in equality of educational opportunity? Or do we feel that it is okay that schools for children from affluent families have more resources than those for children of the poor?

Categories California

A Frank Letter from the Principal of Venice High School

By dianeravitch
March 23, 2013 //
27

The Venice High School in Los Angeles has been offered a choice by the district administration: accept a pilot school or a charter school to share your space. The community was not asked for its input nor offered the choice to say no to a pilot school and a charter school.

The first pilot school was going to be created by non-educator Steve Barr, but the LA board decided to backtrack so they approved the plan to co-locate in the VHS building but to locate Barr’s school elsewhere.

The principal of Venice High School was told that a decision about the future of the school will be made during spring break. A typical reformer trick to make sure that the people most affected are not asked to participate in the decisions that affect them.

The principal sent out the following appeal to the Venice High School community, inviting them to deliberate the future of the school. It was a bold move to assert the concept that the public schools belong to the public, not to John Deasey, not to Monica Garcia, not to Eli Broad or Bill Gates or Michael Bloomberg or Wall Street. Its about an old-fashioned but nearly forgotten idea called democracy, where the voice of the public matters.

They met yesterday, and I look forward to hearing what was decided.

She wrote:

Pilot School Information

Dear Venice High School Community,

I wanted to give you an update to the LAUSD School Board vote regarding the Incubator Pilot School.

The School Board decided yesterday, 3/19/13 to approve the Incubator Pilot School but not the location. The board specified that either Venice High School’s SBM OR SSC vote on whether the Pilot School should be placed on our campus. The alternative is that if Venice denies the Pilot, a charter school would be offered the 14 empty classrooms.

At first, we thought we had until the next time the board meets, which is in April to make a decision.

During a late afternoon, phone conference today, with several central and ESC-W staff members, I was informed that the district has a legal deadline to meet in regards to offering space to a charter school, which is next Friday, March 29, 2013 (when we are on Spring Break). Venice High School therefore has to make a decision by this Friday, March 22 on whether we are approving the Pilot School to co-locate on our campus or not. Again, if we decide not to have the Pilot School co-locate on Venice HS, the empty classrooms will be offered to a charter school.

The Incubator Pilot School Design Team and Sponsors will be here all day tomorrow, 8:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. to facilitate optional informational sessions for teachers and parents during the different periods. They will also speak with the Leadership Class tomorrow. Please feel free to see them and get more information if needed.

I am calling for an emergency SBM and SSC meeting for Friday, March 22, 2013 at 12:40 p.m. Under the Brown Act an emergency meeting can be called with a 24-hour notification. I think it is best that we come together as a big group to hear the same information and then we can break and vote as individual groups. The Incubator Pilot School Design Team will also be available on Friday, 12:30 p.m. to 3 :00 p.m. to provide any additional information. I apologize for the inconvenience but this is truly out of my hands. We have tough decisions to make for the future of Venice High School but I have the confidence in each and every one of you that you will vote with your heart and mind and do what is best of our students.

Please know that I will share any and all information I get regarding the Pilot School in a fast and transparent manner and that might include late night emails. I will also be sending out an automated call to the entire Venice HS community informing them of this change of plans and post information on the website. Again, I thank you for all that you do.

Elsa Mendoza, Ed. D.
Principal
Venice High School

Categories California, Charter Schools, Los Angeles

Why Steve Barr Did Not Get Venice High School

By dianeravitch
March 22, 2013 //
12

I received an urgent message from a parent of a student at Venice High school in Los Angeles. She was desperate because had just learned that the privatization-friendly LA school board was about to vote on whether to give half of Venice High School to Steve Barr, eduentrepreneur (founder of Green Dot charters but now running a new charter chain). He wanted to start a “pilot school,” and this parent was outraged because, she said, Venice is a good school and didn’t need another school to take half its space away.

She wrote later to tell me that Venice High had narrowly escaped.

This reader offers his perspective:

“At the Tuesday LAUSD Board Meeting Deasy’s and Steve Barr’s sneak attack on Venice High School was stopped. The board voted to approve the plan but not the location because LAUSD and Barr made sure that until the last moment the public did not know. In fact a board member brought up Barr’s name and said it was in their documentation. I looked at my large printout and it was in theirs not ours. A student obtained in less than 2 days about 1,000 signature to not have that school on their campus.

“Previous to this as a result of Steve Zimmer being elected instead of the corporate privatizer put up by Rhee and friends Monica Garcia, every privatizers bought and sold friend, will not be board president after this term. She has had six and that has never before happened. Now no one can have it for more than 2 years.”

Categories California, Los Angeles, Privatization

Sacramento Will Close Schools Serving Neediest Students

By dianeravitch
March 18, 2013 //
10

I am late posting about the school closings in Sacramento, but better late than never.

In Sacramento, the Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP) and the Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education are working together to protest the closing of seven elementary schools. The closing of these schools will have a disparate impact on children of color and English-language learners. The “savings” to the district will be miniscule.

The HIP press release against the closings follows here:

For Immediate Release Contact
March 7, 2013 Jonathan Tran
626.607.1897
Press Release
School Closures Disproportionately Impact Sacramento’s Most
Disadvantaged, Budget Woes to Continue
SACRAMENTO, CA – On Thursday, Superintendent Jonathan Raymond and four members of
the Sacramento City Unified School Board of Education finalized the last of their “wrong-sizing”
plan. While Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP) is extremely happy for the students and parents of
Mark Twain and Tahoe Elementary; we also recognize that the District’s poorly devised
proposal, arbitrary saving projections and disregard for community input will have devastating
impacts on the Sacramento’s most vulnerable communities. In total, the Board voted to close
seven neighborhood schools—ALL in low-income and socioeconomically disadvantaged
communities.
With poorly developed transition plans and only a month of public discourse, it is clear that the
Superintendent and Board Member’s irresponsible decision will hurt Sacramento’s most
vulnerable populations. According to the California Department of Education, two of every five
displaced student will be Limited English Proficient (LEP). Moreover, while students of color
account for 80.9-percent of the total SCUSD Elementary school population, they account for
more than 93.4-percent of the displaced student population. Finally, students enduring
‘socioeconomic disadvantages’ make up 97.8-percent of the total displaced student population,
compared to only 72-percent of the total Elementary school population.
Overall, the detrimental impacts of these school closures outweigh any fiscal gains. Originally
anticipated to be a savings of $2.3 million, the District’s projected savings has dwindled to $1
million or less than 0.8% of the total budget. These projections do not reflect the drop in
Average Daily Attendance (ADA) that historically follows school closures nor does it include the
unexpected expenses of transition impacted students. In addition, Thursday evening’s board
meeting highlighted the possibilities of on going budget deficits. HIP has maintained that rather
than closing schools, the District must seek out innovative solutions that attract more students—
not disenfranchise parents. Ultimately, the Superintendent and Board Member’s actions will
exacerbate issues of under-enrollment, undermine student achievement and jeopardize student
safety.

Categories Budget Cuts, California, Closing schools

Why California Tightened Oversight of New Teachers

By dianeravitch
March 12, 2013 //
32

In a recent post, I referred to a decision by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to set higher standards for those who teach the state’s neediest students, especially English-language learners.

Some readers thought this decision was unfair to Teach for America recruits, who get only five weeks of training before assignment to difficult jobs.

However, a reader who closely follows the work of the Commission described the decision, as follows:

“In a nutshell, when TFA teachers as a group are compared to other teachers in their same schools (who are also less likely to be fully prepared and certified than most teachers), they typically do about the same in reading and sometimes better in math, especially in middle / high school.

“However, when entering TFA teachers are compared to fully certified teachers, they tend to be less effective, especially in their first year (and also often in their second year) and especially in elementary reading. Some studies also find them significantly less effective in elementary math. TFA recruits become equally effective after they are certified but then they are ready to leave.

“Of relevance to the California situation are two studies finding that TFA teachers are less effective than certified novice teachers when teaching Hispanic or Spanish-speaking students.

“Anne Ware, R. Jason LaTurner, Jim Parsons, Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn, Marshall Garland, Kristin Klopfenstein, Teacher Preparation Programs and Teach For America Research Study, The University of Texas at Dallas, Education Research Center, January 2011: Study of TFA teachers in Texas: Data on p. 16-17: Although in general, TFA teachers showed relatively strong outcomes for their students in comparison to novice beginning teachers, Hispanic students of TFA teachers had significantly lower gains than students of novice non-TFA teachers in reading / English language arts at the elementary and high school levels, and in math at the elementary level in 2009-10.

· “Darling-Hammond, L., Holtzman, D. J., Gatlin, S. J., & Vasquez-Heilig, J. (2005). Does teacher preparation matter? Evidence about teacher certification, Teach for America, and teacher effectiveness. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 13(42), 1-51.Controlling for teacher experience, degrees, and student characteristics, uncertified TFA recruits In Houston were found to be less effective than certified teachers on 6 tests over 7 years, and the negative effects were largest for limited English proficient students who were tested in Spanish.

“Also of relevance to the CA situation are another two studies finding that they are less effective than certified novice teachers when results are looked at on the SAT-10 test (which measures more conceptual understanding). TFA recruits tend to do relatively better on the Texas TAKS (basic skills, high-stakes). Their training is increasingly focused on how to teach for the current high-stakes tests. This is relevant because of the state’s move to the Common Core, which aims at higher level skills, which require greater skill to teach to.”

Categories California, Teach for America TFA
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »