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Disgusting! Oregon Businessman Who Funded Charter District in North Carolina Plans to Go into Charter Industry

By dianeravitch
October 11, 2017 //
5

Earlier this morning, I posted about the wealthy businessman in Oregon who funded the North Carolina (not) Innovative School District, which will enable the state to take public schools away from local districts and give them to charter schools.

This strategy, as I pointed out, was tried and failed in Tennessee. The basic plan is to end local control and privatize the schools.

Now, we learn, the Oregon businessman was not just a philanthropist. He is going into the charter school business in North Carolina.

It’s a free-for-all, folks. Step right up and get your money, right from the taxpayers of North Carolina into your bank account!

“A company tied to a wealthy Libertarian donor who helped pass a state law allowing takeover of low-performing North Carolina schools is trying to win approval to operate those schools.

“Achievement For All Children was among the groups who applied for state approval to run struggling schools that will be chosen for the Innovative School District. Achievement For All Children is heavily connected to Oregon resident John Bryan, who is a generous contributor to political campaigns and school-choice causes in North Carolina.

“The company was formed in February and registered by Tony Helton, the chief executive officer of TeamCFA, a charter network that Bryan founded. The board of directors for Achievement for All Children includes former Rep. Rob Bryan, a Republican from Mecklenburg County who introduced the bill creating the new district, and Darrell Allison, who heads the pro-school choice group Parents For Educational Freedom in North Carolina.”

North Carolina is very easy-going about conflicts of interest. Note that the CEO of a charter chain just stepped down from the state’s Charter Schools Advisory Board.

“A spokeswoman for TeamCFA said she would provide comment when she could do so. Helton, who is chief executive officer of Achievement For All Children, did not immediately return a request for comment. Helton had cited an increased workload at TeamCFA for resigning this week from the state Charter Schools Advisory Board.

Advocates for public schools were outraged that Mr. Bryan of Oregon planned to make money by investing in NC charters:

“One wealthy Oregonian’s persistent lobbying resulting in the takeover of elementary schools in distressed North Carolina communities is disturbing enough, but to find out his organization may directly benefit makes the whole scheme even more questionable,” said Andrea Verykoukis, spokeswoman for Public Schools First NC.”

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article178169451.html#storylink=cpy

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, North Carolina, Privatization

North Carolina: Students in Charter Schools Are Richer and Whiter Than Those in Public Schools

By dianeravitch
October 11, 2017 //
20

The News & Observer in North Carolina reports that charter schools have turned into havens for white flight. Twenty-nine percent of charter schools are 80% or more white, compared to only 14% of public schools.

Charter schools in North Carolina are more segregated than traditional public schools and have more affluent students.

Most charters have either a largely white population or a largely minority population, according to a News & Observer analysis. On the whole, charter schools are more white and less Latino than schools run by local districts.

In North Carolina school districts, slightly more than half the students come from low-income families. But in charter schools, one in three students are low-income.

Charters weren’t supposed to look like this. The 1996 state law that allowed charters required that, within one year of the schools opening, their populations would reflect the racial and ethnic composition of the school district.

The law defined one of the purposes of charters: increasing opportunities to learn for all students, with a special emphasis on students who are at risk of academic failure or those who are academically gifted.

The original charter law was the product of a bipartisan compromise brokered by a House Republican and a Senate Democrat. The requirements for racial and ethnic diversity were the authors’ response to worries of charter opponents that the schools would cherry-pick the best students, said former Rep. Steve Wood, the Republican who negotiated the law.

“Opponents were concerned there would be creaming across the top,” Wood said. The diversity requirement is “a laudable goal,” he said. “Some of us said it may not be a completely achievable goal.” The original law also capped charters at 100 schools.

The charter school law has been rewritten many times in the last two decades, including a major and extensively-debated change that removed the 100-school cap. Diversity is still mentioned, but it’s no longer a requirement. A 2013 law dropped the mandate and diluted the language so charters must “make efforts” to reflect the local school districts’ racial and ethnic composition.

Wib Gulley, a Democrat and former state senator who co-authored the 1996 law, said the diversity requirement was important, and charters should have lived up to it.

“It was a key provision that was meant to ensure that the charter schools didn’t segregate in some way and did not take only students from wealthy families and that kind of thing,” Gulley said. “If that’s the result even for one school, it is an undermining of the fundamental intent of the law. It perverts the premise of charter schools in a way that we never wanted and that both houses of the legislature voted to say would not happen.”

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article178022436.html#storylink=cpy

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, North Carolina, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration

Ultra-Conservative Oregon Mogul Funds Charter School Takeover District in North Carolina

By dianeravitch
October 11, 2017 //
18

An Oregon multimillionaire funded the creation of North Carolin’s “Innovation School District,” where low-scoring public schools will be handed over to charter operators. This experiment in privatization is modeled on Tennessee’s “Achievement School District,” which promised to turn the state’s lowest scoring schools into high scoring schools within five five years. It failed to meet its goal.

“A school network founded by a wealthy Oregon resident is expanding quickly in North Carolina.

“John Bryan founded the charter network TeamCFA, which has 13 schools in North Carolina – more than in any other state. Arizona has four TeamCFA schools, and Indiana has two.

“Bryan’s influence extends beyond support for the schools themselves and into education policy. He is a generous contributor to political campaigns and school-choice causes in North Carolina.

“In a letter posted to the network’s website in April, Bryan said his commitment of “significant economic resources” – contributions to politicians and nonprofit “social welfare” groups, and the engagement of investment advisers and others – helped win legislative approval of the controversial North Carolina law that will have charter operators take over up to five low-performing public schools…

“Bryan, 84, was vice president of operations at Georgia Gulf until his retirement in 1989. An August 2002 edition of Atlanta Business Chronicle attributed Bryan’s wealth to company stock.

“Bryan has been a contributor to conservative advocacy groups and Republican candidates. He gave the Fund for Growth, a conservative advocacy group, $210,000 in 2008, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In 2014, he gave the conservative super PAC Opportunity Alliance $200,000 and Freedom Partners Action Fund, another conservative super PAC, $575,000.

“In a 2011 “founder’s letter” posted online, Bryan described his philosophy and goals for the CFA operating foundation. One goal, he wrote, was to “inculcate my belief in the libertarian, free market, early American Founder’s principles” into both the foundation and the individual schools.

“Long reliant on Bryan’s money, the TeamCFA board is attempting to expand its donor base. Last spring, TeamCFA announced a $1 million grant from the Charles Koch Foundation.

“Bryan has also contributed to North CarolinaCAN, a group that supports charter schools. Marcus Brandon, North CarolinaCAN executive director, spoke out in support of the law allowing charter managers to take over traditional public schools as legislators debated it in 2016.”

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article177836091.html#storylink=cpy

Oddly enough, the schools that the state is taking over are not F-rated:

“Three of the North Carolina schools opened this year. Student performance was mixed at the remaining schools. Five schools received Bs in the latest round of state grades, while four received Cs and one received a D.”

Communities are fighting the state takeovers.

It seems that conservatives no longer believe in local control.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, North Carolina, Privatization

New York: Civil Rights Group Threatens to Sue if SUNY Charter Committee Lowers Standards for Charter Teachers

By dianeravitch
October 10, 2017 //
30

The Alliance for Quality Education, a civil rights group in New York, has threatened to sue if the State University of New York charter committee passes a regulation allowing certain charter schools to self-certify their teachers with lowered standards.

AQE maintains that the changes in the original proposal require new hearings and a new comment period.

The chair of the committee says he plans to call a vote.

The state Board of Regents, which is supposed to be the ultimate education authority in the state, has e pressed concern about this end run around the state’s high standards for teachers.

The SUNY committee will create teachers unqualified to teach in public schools. At the same time, it insults the teacher certification programs at SUNY campuses across the state.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Reform, Teacher Education, Teachers and Teaching, Testing

Ohio: 9 Out of 10 Score Worse Than Public Schools

By dianeravitch
October 10, 2017 //
6

Stephen Dyer, senior fellow at Innovation Ohio, writes that Ohio’s public schools overwhelmingly outperform its charter schools.

“Under Ohio law, school districts that score in the bottom 5 percent on the state’s “performance index score” are elligible to have charter schools open in those communities. Trouble is that 9 out of 10 charters currently score worse on the performance index score than the median district did to receive this “challenged school district” designation. http://bit.ly/2ybBV2b”

Calling Betsy DeVos! I know you are “not a numbers person,” but please don’t push failure.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Ohio, Testing

Minnesota: Abundance of Choice Destabilizes Neighborhood Schools and Produces High Levels of Segregation

By dianeravitch
October 10, 2017 //
11

This story about Minnesota shows the good and the bad effects of school choice.

Betsy DeVos will read it with pleasure. She can now point to Minnesota as an exemplar of school choice, one that fulfills her goals.

Those who care about democratically controlled public schools that have civic obligations, such as diversity, will see it as a nightmare.

The charter schools of Minneapolis are highly segregated and proud of it. The most popular charter school is almost completely Asian. Other charters are almost completely black or overwhelmingly white.

Remember the Brown decision of 1954? Minnesota doesn’t.

The proliferation of charters has forced public schools to cut their budgets, their programs, their staff.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Privatization, Segregation

Virginia: DeVos Funds Republican Candidate in Governor’s Race

By dianeravitch
October 10, 2017 //
18

In Virginia, the governor’s race will determine the future of public schools in the Commonwealth. Teachers unions are supporting Dr. Northam, who is currently Lt. Governor and also a pediatrician. Dr. Northam is a graduate of public schools in Virginia. The unions spend their members’ dues, the dues of people who work in classrooms daily. The billionaire DeVos family has spent money for Gillespie, a Republican operative and lobbyist with no experience in education or elected office.

“The Democratic Candidate Dr. Ralph Northam is a strong supporter of public schools. His opponent Ed Gillespie wants to introduce school choice with privately managed charters and public funding of religious schools.

“The outcome of Virginia’s race for governor, the country’s marquee statewide election this year, will have widespread significance for the state’s roughly 1.29 million schoolchildren, political observers and education experts say.

“The governor’s race matters a whole lot for what public education will look like in Virginia in the days ahead,” said Sally Hudson, an assistant professor of public policy, education and economics at the University of Virginia.

“The contest pits Republican Ed Gillespie, who has received more than $100,000 in donations from the family of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, against Democrat Ralph Northam, who has accepted at least $465,000 from teachers unions.

“Gillespie and Northam both want to boost teacher pay — Virginia ranks 32nd in the nation in that category — support more workforce training and rework the state’s Standards of Learning tests, a measure for school accountability and student achievement.

“But they diverge sharply when it comes to public charter schools and using tax dollars to help parents pay tuition at private schools.

“Gillespie wants to expand the state’s charter schools beyond the eight in operation. As a state senator Northam voted against loosening restrictions that govern the establishment of charter schools, and as a candidate for governor he has advocated investing in traditional public schools.”

When Betsy DeVos says she wants to leave decisions to the states, she forgets to mention that she is trying to buy control of States that have not yet turned red.

The good news: Dr. Northam is leading in the polls. Virginia parents are alert to the threat to their public schools.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Funding, Privatization, School Choice, Virginia

New York: SUNY Moves Ahead with Plan to Lower Entry Standards for Charter Teachers, Due to High Teacher Attrition at Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
October 9, 2017 //
93

The State University of New York charter committee, which contains no educators, made a few tweaks to its plan to lower standards for new charter teachers and is forging ahead. Charter schools in New York have high teacher attrition and constant need to hire new teachers. The best way to help them is to lower standards for new teachers. Charter teachers with a fast-track license will not be qualified to teach in real public schools.

Whereas real teachers need to pass three tests to become certified, charter teachers will have to pass only one test.

When the Regents dropped the number of tests required for new teachers from four to three, “reformers” howled that the Regents were lowering standards. Now that charter teachers need pass only one test, the howls are not heard at all.

This means that students in charter schools will not have fully qualified teachers. It means that the charters are self-certifying their own teachers. Above all, it is a slap in the face to the teacher education programs at SUNY, which prepare teachers to meet all requirements to be professionals.

But charters in New York have a special status due to their relationship with Governor Andrew Cuomo. His campaign donors from the financial industry want more charters and don’t believe teachers need any professional education. Cuomo appoints all the members of the SUNY charter committee. The Board of Regents, supposedly the ultimate education authority in the state, cannot override decisions made by the businessmen and lawyers on the SUNY charter committee.

A sad state of affairs.

Categories Charter Schools, Cuomo, Andrew, Teachers and Teaching

ProPublica: For-Profit Schools Offer Students Prizes to Recruit Other Students

By dianeravitch
October 9, 2017 //
9

Heather Vogell, an investigative reporter writing for ProPublica and USA Today, reports that for-profit schools are handing out rewards to students who recruit other students or post positive reviews on Facebook. This practice shows the difference between a business—where the bottom line is profit—and a school, which is dedicated to education and human development.

Vogell writes:

“Lyla Elkins transferred to North Nicholas High School in Cape Coral, Florida, in 2016 with hopes of sailing through its computer-based courses and graduating early. She didn’t realize the for-profit charter school would also be a source of income: a $25 gift card each time she persuaded a new student to enroll.

“I referred almost all of my friends,” said Elkins, 17, who earned three gift cards. She also won a Valentine’s Day teddy bear in a raffle for sharing one of the school’s Facebook posts.

“Such incentives are rampant among for-profit operators of public alternative high schools like North Nicholas, which serves students at risk of dropping out. These schools market aggressively to attract new students, especially during weeks when the state is tallying enrollment for funding purposes. They often turn their students into promoters, dangling rewards for plugs on social media, student referrals or online reviews, a ProPublica-USA Today investigation found. Some also offer valuable perks simply for enrolling.

“The schools’ reality is often less inspiring than their promotions. While they face a daunting mission of salvaging students who struggled elsewhere, they’re characterized by high absenteeism, low graduation rates, little instruction from teachers and few extracurricular activities or elective classes. Their intensive recruitment, when coupled with poor outcomes, “is wrong on so many levels,” said Samuel E. Abrams, a professor at Columbia Teachers College and author of a 2016 book on for-profit education. “It’s not addressing the pedagogical needs of these kids.”

“It’s legal for schools to provide gift cards to students for referrals, and free electronic devices, such as tablets or computers, to newcomers. And students are free to express their opinions on their schools. But advertisements have less protection under the First Amendment, and some for-profit school promotions involving online posts or reviews may violate federal consumer safeguards.

“According to the Federal Trade Commission, companies that use students and other groups as social media marketers should instruct them to disclose publicly that they expect to be paid. In settlements with the FTC, companies that failed to encourage such disclosures have agreed to follow the law — or face a potential penalty of up to $40,000 per transgression. Those instances didn’t involve students.”

For-profit companies have no shame in exploiting their students to lure more students.

“Refer-a-friend programs like the one at North Nicholas are common in the sector. “Bring a friend into Mavericks!” said one 2015 Facebook post for a Palm Springs school in the for-profit Florida charter chain. “They will get help getting their diploma and you will get a gift card.” The post promised a $5 gift card for each referral as part of the “Friends & Family Club,” as long as the recipient had acceptable attendance and no disciplinary problems.

“Mavericks’ new parent company, EdisonLearning, hands out Walmart gift cards for student referrals at its “Bridgescape” schools in Illinois and Ohio. It posted pictures on Facebook this past spring of students displaying their prizes. EdisonLearning officials said the gift cards enable low-income students to buy essentials.”

Shameless.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Florida, For-Profit, Fraud, Shame

Mercedes Schneider Gets Out the World’s Smallest Violin for Corporate Reformers Who Object to “Backpack Full of Cash”

By dianeravitch
October 9, 2017 //
22

Mercedes Schneider was interviewed for the documentary “Backpack Full of Cash.” At the time, the filmmakers did not have a title, and they called it “School Reform.” At their request, Mercedes signed a release to allow them to use her words and image in the film. The form is enclosed.

The filmmakers interviewed many other people, including Jeanne Allen, the director of the Center for Education Reform, which is virulently opposed to public schools. Before Jeanne founded the CER to advocate for choice, she worked for the far-right Heritage Foundation. She was among the first of the privatizers who saw the value of using the word “Reform” instead of the Center to Destroy Public zschools.

Allen didn’t like the documentary at all, because it did not praise her efforts to privatize public funding. She also doesn’t like that the filmmakers used her words, quite literally, as the title of the film.

Strangest of all is her complaint that the privatizers are vastly outspent by the unions. She says,

“The teachers unions spend $300 million a year on political races. We don’t have that kind of money.”

Bring out the world’s smallest violin.

The privatization movement is funded by a pack of multibillionaires, any one of which could outspend the unions.

Start with the Waltons, whose net worth is near $50 Billion. Aside from their contributions to political campaigns, they currently are spending $200 Million a year to open new charter schools. Then there is Billionaire Reed Hastings, who recently dropped about $5 Million into the Los Angeles school board race. Then there are Democrats for Education zreform, which pools the money of scores of hedge fund managers. Add billionaire Daniel Loeb, billionaire John Paulson, billionaire Eli Broad, billionaire Joel Greenlight, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, bilionaire Daniel Tepper, billionaire Rex Sinquefield, billionaire Betsy DeVos, billionaire Bill Gates, billionaire Philip Anschutz, billionaire Jonathan Sackler, billionaire JOHN Arnold, and many many more, all of whom have contributed to political campaigns to expand and benefit the privatization movement.

Teachers unions collect money from the dues of their underpaid members. They have skin in the game. Why are billionaires so passionate about defunding public schools?

A reader looked over the list of contributors to the Center for Education Reform. No teachers union has this many rich people contributing to its coffers.

The Achelis and Bodman Foundations
The Anschutz Foundation
The Apgar Foundation
The Laura and John Arnold Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Bakke
Mr. Tim Barton
Mr. Brian Bauer
The Honorable and Mrs. Frank Baxter
The BelleJAR Foundation
The Blackie Foundation
The Bonsal Family
Ms. Katherine Brittain Bradley
The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
The Broad Foundation
Mr. Eric Brooks
Mr. S. Joseph Bruno and Building Hope
Mr. Kevin Chavous
Ms. Kara Cheseby
The Ravenel and Elizabeth Curry Foundation
The Daniels Fund
Mr. Angus Davis
Mr. Kenneth Davis
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Devereux
Mr. Philip H. Dietrich
The Honorable and Mrs. Pete DuPont
Mr. and Mrs. Terry Eakin III
Mr. John C. Eason
Mr. William S. Edgerly
The Doris and Donald Fisher Fund
Mr. and Mrs. John Fisher
Mrs. Maureen Foulke
Mr. Robert W. Garthwait
Mr. Randy P. Gaschler
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Mr. Philip E. Geiger
The Gleason Family Foundation
Dr. Charles J. Gorman
Mr. Jon Hage
Mr. John P. Hansel
Admiral Thomas B. Hayward
The Honorable Thomas J. Healey
The Shirley and Barnett Helzberg Foundation
The Christopher and Adrianna Henkels Charitable Fund
Mr. Donald Hense
Mr. Robert M. Howitt
Ms. Virginia James
Bob and Lynn Johnston
The Dodge Jones Foundation
Mr. William I. Jones
Mr. Melvin J. Kaplan
Mr. Robert D. Kennedy
The Kern Foundation
Mr. Norman V. Kinsey
Mr. Steven Klinsky
The Jean and E. Floyd Kvamme Foundation
Mr. Byron S. Lamm
Mr. Bob Luddy
Mrs. Maryann Mathile
Mr. Thomas McNamara
Mr. Anthony Meyer
The L & S Milken Family Foundation
Greg and Pam Miller
Mr. Michael Moe
Mr. and Mrs. Owen Moen
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Moore
Mr. Gene E. Nicholson
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Oberndorf
Mr. Dennis Odle
Dr. Vivian Pan
Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm Peabody
The Ruth and Lovett Peters Foundation
The Pumpkin Foundation
The Honorable William J. Raggio
Mr. James S. Regan
Ms. Janice B. Riddell
Mr. Geoffrey Rosenberger, CFA
SABIS Educational Systems, Inc.
Michael and Ellen Sandler
Mr. Daniel P. Schmidt
Mr. Adam Shapiro
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Sills
The William E. Simon Foundation
Ms. Shirley Sontheimer
The Smart Family Foundation
The Honorable H. Cooper Snyder
Mr. and Mrs. William B. Snyder
Mr. John R. Stambaugh
The John Templeton Foundation
Mr. Whitney Tilson
The Walton Family Foundation
Mr. Robert M. Weekley
The Honorable and Mrs. Ronald Weiser
Mr. Helmut Weymar
Mr. Chris Whittle
Jeff and Janine Yass
Ms. Marykay Zimbrick

And Jeanne Allen complains that her side is outspent by the teachers union!

Cry me a river!

How about a deal: Her side agrees to spend not a penny more than the teachers unions on political campaigns and advocacy?

Deal?

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Billionaires, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Democrats for Education Reform, Education Industry, Privatization, School Choice, Vouchers
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