Archives for category: Charter Schools
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Leonie Haimson Visits a Summit Charter School, Funded by the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative

By dianeravitch
December 7, 2017 //
11

A few days ago, I posted an article by Kristina Rizga about Summit charter schools and their online lessons. On the whole, it seemed to me, the article was admiring.

Leonie Haimson has a different view of Summit.

Haimson has played a leading role in the movement to stop data mining of students and to protect student privacy. After writing a column in The Answer Sheet Blog expressing her concerns about the Summit charter schools and their online platform, Haimson was contacted by the founder of Summit and invited to visit one of their schools.

Haimson writes here about her experience when she visited the flagship Summit Charter School in Redwood City, California.

“Summit charter schools and their online platform, now used in over 300 schools across the country, both public and charter, have received millions of dollars from Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg; Zuckerberg has pledged to support the continued expansion of the online platform through his LLC, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative.

“Shortly after my Washington Post piece appeared, I was contacted by Diane Tavenner, the CEO of Summit charter schools, who asked if we could meet when she was visiting NYC. I agreed. We had lunch on Sept. 15, and I handed her a list of questions, mostly about Summit’s privacy policy, most of which my associate, Rachael Stickland, had already sent to Summit staff that she had met at SXSW Edu the previous March, and to which she’d never received a response….

“During the lunch, I mentioned that I was going to be in Oakland the weekend of Oct. 14- 15 for the Network for Public Education conference, and that I would be interested in visiting some schools after that are using the Summit platform. I said I was especially eager to visit public schools, since I’d heard from many public school parents in five states who told me their children had negative experiences with the program. These parents were upset that Summit had withdrawn the right of parents to consent to the system shortly after CZI took over, and they were concerned about how their children’s personal data was being shared with Summit and then redisclosed with unspecified other third “partners” for unclear purposes.

“Diane later emailed me and said that I could visit Summit Prep charter school on Oct. 16, in Redwood City, their flagship school. An Uber would come and pick me up at my Oakland hotel, she said, and the drive would take about an hour each way…

“At Summit Prep, I was met by two school leaders, and we talked in an empty office for about a half hour, where they explained to me about the platform and how it was designed. Then we briefly toured two classrooms. In the first classroom, there were about thirty students engaged in “Personalized Learning Time”, gazing at computer screens and working on their individual “playlists.” These playlists include content in different “focus areas” delivered via various mediums, including online texts and videos. When students have learned these materials, they’re supposed to take multiple choice online tests to show they’ve “mastered” the area. In addition, in each of their courses, there are projects they are supposed to complete…

“I visited another classroom where 12th graders were engaged in peer-reviewing essays they had written at the beginning of the class, grading them according to the Summit’s complex rubric of cognitive skills. When I asked why the essays were written on paper rather than on computers, the school leaders told me that this was because they were practicing for the California state exam in which students are asked to write essays on paper.

“I noted that I had seen no classroom or small group discussions. The Summit leaders said that was because none were occurring during my brief visit. It is true that the amount of time I spent in classrooms wasn’t sufficient to make an informed judgment either way, but what I saw did not encourage me.

“When we returned to the office, I questioned why delivering content primarily online was an effective method of teaching. Shouldn’t learning happen in a more interactive fashion, with the material presented in person and then discussed, debated, and explored? Why did they have this comparatively flat, one-dimensional attitude towards content? And how could math be taught this way, given that math requires helping students learn how to solve problems in a more interactive fashion?

“They told me math is taught differently, and indeed had to be taught through teacher-student interaction, but that this isn’t true of any of the other subjects, whether it be English, social sciences or physical sciences.”

Leonie reviewed the many complaints that she has heard from parents at Summit charter schools, especially regarding privacy of student data and long hours in front of a computer.

She writes,

“Yet the juggernaut that is Summit will be difficult to stop. The Silicon Valley Community Foundation gave $20 million to Summit in 2016. The Gates Foundation awarded Summit $10 million in June 2017, “to support implementation of the Summit Learning program in targeted geographies.” In September, the day before I met with Diane Tavenner, Summit was one of the ten winners of the XQ Super High School prize, receiving another $10 million from Laurene Powell Jobs’ LLC, the Emerson Collective, to create a new high school in Oakland.”

Besides, Betsy DeVos loves Summit.

Categories Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Charter Schools, Education Reform, Privacy and Privacy Rights, Students, Technology

Ohio: ECOT Loses In Court Again

By dianeravitch
December 6, 2017 //
9

ECOT, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, is a virtual charter school that was a ash cow for its owner, William Lager, until the Ohio Department of Education got the novel idea to audit attendance.

It learned that ECOT has inflated enrollments and has charged the state for students who turn on their computer but don’t participate in learning.

ECOT has fought the State I Court and lost repeatedly. Over the past 15 years, ECOT’s founder has given a few million to elected officials and has received about one billion return.

Bill Phillis of theIhio Cpalitionfor Equity and Adequacy has been fighting the squalid charter sector for years.

He reports here onghe latest. Ourtbloss for ECOT:

“Another Court ruling against ECOT

“In a 5-1 decision today the Ohio Supreme Court denied ECOT’s request for an injunction. ECOT was attempting to stop the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) from deducting $2.5 million from its monthly payments in order to collect $60 million it overcharged in 2015-2016.

“ECOT’s claim that ODE erred in its decision to reclaim funds for students not served is still pending before the Ohio Supreme Court. Scheduling of oral arguments in the case has not been announced.

“ECOT has lost all of its many claims before hearing officers and courts thus far. It is interesting; however, that Justice Terrance O’Donnell has always sided with ECOT.”

William L. Phillis | Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding | 614.228.6540 | ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net| http://www.ohiocoalition.org

Ohio E & A, 100 S. 3rd Street, Columbus, OH 43215

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Privatization

Because of This Post, Steven Singer is Back in Facebook Jail

By dianeravitch
December 6, 2017 //
43

A few months ago, Steven Singer wrote a critique of privatization that Facebook refused to let him post. It wa titled “School Choice is a Lie.” This Post was blocked by Facebook, and Steven was banned from Facebook for a week. It has happened again!

Steven wrote this post, “The False Paradise of School Privatization.” Once again, Facebook has banished him. Please read the post and put it on your Facebook page if you have one.

Categories Charter Schools, Privatization

Jeff Bryant: Democrats Should Back Off Corporate Education Reform if They Want to Win Elections

By dianeravitch
December 5, 2017 //
13

Jeff Bryant has a warning for Democrats: Beware of corporate education reform.

Leave it to the Republicans.

Don’t promote privatization and charters. Don’t bash teachers. Don’t beat up on unions. You erode your base.

He points to Denver and Virginia. In Denver, a candidate for school board won, even though she was outspent nearly 5-1.

In Virginia, Ralph Northam made clear his opposition to charters.

Listen, Democrats.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Democrats, Denver, Privatization

Mercedes Schneider: Betsy DeVos Discovers “A Nation at Risk” and Claims That Choice is The Answer

By dianeravitch
December 5, 2017 //
14

Mercedes Schneider’s reviews Betsy DeVos’s speech to her friend Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Educational Excellence.

Betsy and Jeb have this in common: They both hate public schools and have devoted their life to demeaning, belittling, and attacking the schools that 85-90% of American children attend. They are in love with consumer choice, and they would like nothing better than to direct public funds to religious schools, for-profit schools, cyber schools, and homeschooling.

As Mercedes notes, Betsy (or more likely, a speechwriter) discovered “A Nation at Risk,” The 1983 jeremiad that blamed public schools for the loss of industries to Germany and Japan. The report was written in the midst of the 1982 recession, and the commissioners decided that the schools were to blame for the downturn. When the economy recovered, no one bothered to thank the schools.

Betsy devoutly believes that choice will fix everything, but “A Nation at Risk” didn’t mention choice.

And she continues to ignore the evidence of the past 25 years of choice. Her home state of Michigan is overrun with charter schools, and its standing on NAEP fell from the middle of the 50 States to the bottom 10 from 2003 to 2013. The news out of the New Orleans all-Charter District throws cold water on the Charter Movement, as New Orleans continues to be a low-performing District in a low-performing State. The evidence on vouchers continues to accumulate, and it is not promising. In the most recent voucher studies, students actually lose ground. After three or four years, those who have not left to return to public schools catch up with their peers who stayed in public schools, but that’s probably because the weakest students left.

Now that Betsy is talking numbers, maybe she will pay attention to the research on charters and vouchers and admit that her favorite panacea is not working.

But I’m not holding my breath.

Categories Accountability, ALEC, Betsy DeVos, Bush, Jeb, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Michigan, New Orleans, School Choice, Vouchers

AP Study: Charters Intensify Racial Segregation, and Charter Leaders Don’t Care

By dianeravitch
December 5, 2017 //
39

The Associated Press conducted a study of racial segregation in the schools and concluded that charter schools were responsible for intensifying segregation.

Charter schools are among the nation’s most segregated, an Associated Press analysis finds — an outcome at odds, critics say, with their goal of offering a better alternative to failing traditional public schools.

National enrollment data shows that charters are vastly over-represented among schools where minorities study in the most extreme racial isolation. As of school year 2014-2015, more than 1,000 of the nation’s 6,747 charter schools had minority enrollment of at least 99 percent, and the number has been rising steadily…

In the AP analysis of student achievement in the 42 states that have enacted charter school laws, along with the District of Columbia, the performance of students in charter schools varies widely. But schools that enroll 99 percent minorities-both charters and traditional public schools-on average have fewer students reaching state standards for proficiency in reading and math.

“Desegregation works. Nothing else does,” said Daniel Shulman, a Minnesota civil rights attorney. “There is no amount of money you can put into a segregated school that is going to make it equal.”

Shulman singled out charter schools for blame in a lawsuit that accuses the state of Minnesota of allowing racially segregated schools to proliferate, along with achievement gaps for minority students. Minority-owned charters have been allowed wrongly to recruit only minorities, he said, as others wrongly have focused on attracting whites.

But charter advocates respond that the segregation in charters is voluntary and therefore acceptable.

There is growing debate over just how much racial integration matters. For decades after the Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that segregated schools were unconstitutional, integration was held up as a key measure of progress for minorities, but desegregation efforts have stalled and racial imbalances are worsening in American schools. Charter schools have been championed by the U.S. education secretary, Betsy DeVos, and as the sector continues to grow it will have to contend with the question of whether separate can be equal.

National Alliance for Public Charter Schools spokeswoman Vanessa Descalzi said today’s charters cannot be compared to schools from the Jim Crow era, when blacks were barred from certain schools.

“Modern schools of choice with high concentrations of students of color is a demonstration of parents choosing the best schools for their children, rooted in the belief that the school will meet their child’s educational needs, and often based on demonstrated student success,” Descalzi said. “This is not segregation…”

Charter schools, which are funded publicly and run privately, enroll more than 2.7 million nationwide, a number that has tripled over the last decade. Meanwhile, as the number of non-charter schools holds steady in the U.S., charters account for nearly all the growth of schools where minorities face the most extreme racial isolation.

While 4 percent of traditional public schools are 99 percent minority, the figure is 17 percent for charters. In cities, where most charters are located, 25 percent of charters are over 99 percent nonwhite, compared to 10 percent for traditional schools.

School integration gains achieved over the second half of the last century have been reversed in many places over the last 20 years, and a growing number of schools educate students who are poor and mostly black or Hispanic, according to federal data.

The resegregation has been blamed on the effects of charters and school choice, the lapse of court-ordered desegregation plans in many cities, and housing and economic trends…

Howard Fuller, a prominent advocate of charters and vouchers whose organization was funded by rightwing foundations for millions of dollars said that “It’s a waste of time to talk about integration.”

He might have also said it is a waste of time to talk about charters and vouchers, which have not provided educational excellence for large numbers of black children. Boucher’s actually depress test scores, and the charter “successes” are those that winnow their students down to the survivors. There is no large-scale charter succcess story. School Choice has failed black and brown children.

The AP study gave breakouts for individual districts. I can’t find the link, but will keep looking. Here is the data for the schools of Jacksonville, Florida.

“Between the 181 public and charter schools in Duval County, 13 percent of them reported a black student population of 90 percent or higher in 2014, while none had a 90 or higher white population. Of the 10 most segregated schools in Jacksonville, seven of them were either charter or magnet schools; the other three being traditional neighborhood schools.

“Looking at the data a different way, 1 percent of white students attended a school that is overwhelmingly white while 23 percent of Duval County’s black students attend a school where at least 90 percent of the student body is black.”

Categories Charter Schools, Privatization, Segregation

Chicago: Public Schools Closed and Consolidated, While New Charters Open

By dianeravitch
December 4, 2017 //
17

Mayor Rahm Emanuel continues his crusade to push public schools out of Chicago.

In a wave of closings and consolidation, the mayor found room for a new charter school run by a megachurch and a hip hop artist. The mother of the hip hop artist serves on the zchicago Board of Education.

“Chicago Public Schools on Friday moved ahead with school closing and merger proposals that would affect thousands of kids next school year.

“Under a previously announced plan, four South Side schools would close over the summer and the district would send hundreds of displaced students to surrounding schools. One building would be demolished to make way for a new high school, and privately operated charter schools would take over two other sites, under the district’s plan.

“Students at two predominantly African-American elementary schools near downtown would merge with more diverse campuses. One of those buildings, in the growing South Loop area, would gradually convert into a new high school.

“In addition, Hirsch, one of the city’s lowest-enrolled high schools, would share space for a privately run charter school program that’s backed by a local megachurch and a foundation headed by hip-hop artist Common…

“Hirsch, one of the city’s most underenrolled neighborhood high schools, would open its campus to the Art In Motion charter school next fall. CPS said the charter program, which is backed in part by the New Life Covenant Church and Common Ground Foundation, would first open to seventh- and eighth-graders before expanding to include a high school program.

“Mahalia Hines, a member of the Chicago Board of Education and mother of the hip-hop performer Common, also serves on the board of her son’s foundation.”

Does Illinois have conflict of interest laws?

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Closing schools, Corporate Reform, Emanuel, Rahm, Ethics, Illinois, Privatization

Yesterday in San Diego….

By dianeravitch
December 2, 2017 //
52

I spoke to the California School Boards Association yesterday, at its annual meeting in San Diego. I love San Diego. It is on the ocean and always beautiful, with a temperate climate. I had dinner the night before I spoke, with Cindy Marten, the superintendent of the San Diego district. As in the past, we had dinner at Miguel’s in Old Town. The one thing I have never been able to find in NYC is good Mexican food. When I first moved to NYC in 1960, after marrying a Native New Yorker, a friend told me that Texans in the city were always looking for Mexican food and always disappointed. In San Diego, I am never disappointed.

I spoke to a very large and friendly audience at the Convention Center. A few thousand people. I didn’t see any empty seats. When the video is released, I will post it. I was preceded by Marshall Tuck, who is running for State Superintendent and sure to have the support of the charter industry. We spoke in the Green Room, and he assured me that he would lead the fight to ban for-profit charters. The charter industry in the state is unregulated and unaccountable.

In my speech, I went through the history of NCLB and Race to the Top, and the damage they have done to students, teachers, and public schools. I then dissected the negative impacts of standardized testing and its utter uselessness as currently implemented. I pointed out that the achievement gap can never be closed with standardized tests because they are designed on a bell curve, and the bell curve never closes.

I then ticked off the many charter scandals in the state, the inevitable result of a total absence of supervision. I listed scam after scam. I reiterated the conclusions and recommendations of the NAACP report on charters.

My theme was the relationship between public schools, citizenship, and democracy.

When I concluded, I received a standing ovation.

Later, I was sitting in the lobby, waiting to meet a friend from Los Angeles and chatting with people who had heard me speak. One woman stepped up and said, “I walked out on your speech. It was too political. There’s no room for politics her.” She turned on her heel and left. I happened to be sitting with another member of the same school board, and I asked him, “What did she find ‘too political?’”

He said, “She’s a Trump supporter. You mentioned Trump in your opening remarks.”

That was true. I started by mentioning that Trump wants to cut federal funds for education by 13%, and he wants to shift $20 Billion to charters and vouchers.” These are factual statements. But the board member objected and walked out.

I can accept that people disagree. What I find hard to understand is an unwillingness to face plain and incontrovertible facts.

Anyway, I’m writing this on the airplane home. The CSBA was incredibly gracious. I met hundreds of people who are passionate about public schools. I’m looking to them to carry on the fight for better schools in their communities and at the ballot box.

Categories Accountability, California, Charter Schools, Citizenship, Democracy, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization, Testing

San Jose, CA: Planning to Close Several Elementary Schools as Charters Proliferate

By dianeravitch
December 2, 2017 //
12

Several elementary schools in San Jose, California, are on the chopping block. Meanwhile, charter schools are booming. Local school boards are helpless to stop the charter growth. If the local board says no to the charter, the charter appeals to the county board. If the county board says no, the charter appeals to the state board, which almost always says yes. Governor Jerry Brown appointed the state board. It is very charter friendly. Unless the next governor reins in the charter industry, it will wreck public education in California.

Categories California, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Privatization

Thomas Ultican: Roll Up the Failed Charter Experiment

By dianeravitch
December 1, 2017 //
4

Thomas Ultican writes that it is time to give up on the failed charter experiment. He reviews Carol Burris’ Charters and Consequences.

The establishment of a dual system of publicly funded schools, he says, is not sustainable

Big profits. Big money for marketing. Big salaries.

The key to success? Creaming the best students, tossing out the others.

Innovation? None.

Breakthroughs in achievement? None.

Enough.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Hoax
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