Archives for category: Charter Schools
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A Message to the Democratic National Committee

By dianeravitch
August 22, 2017 //
49

I support individual candidates I believe in. I do not send money to the DNC. I often get emails asking which topic concerns me most, listing a dozen topics but not K-12 education (free college is usually on the list). I write back and say, “Not a dime until you support public schools and oppose privatization.”

A reader posted this comment:

“In the year running up to the POTUS election I received a call almost daily from the DNC about Dems taking back the Senate, or winning NC for Hillary, or the evil republicans (a point I have been well aware of for 50 yrs). I told them I was not sending one dime to the DNC for 1 reason: Arne Duncan. Several volunteers said they’d heard the same from other people.

“You would think the DNC would have listened to their most loyal voters as they lost state house after state house to Republicans (the count is now 32 states in Republican control).

“Instead the DNC abandoned us.They thought they could helicopter in at the last min & win the election. After all, in their mind we had “nowhere else to go” (from Thomas Frank, Listen, Liberal!).

“After Devos was appointed, Arne Duncan tweeted “Miss me now?” That tells me all I need to know about the DNC.”

Categories Charter Schools, Democrats, Duncan, Arne, Education Industry, Privatization

John Oliver on Charter Schools and Their Loss of Public Esteem

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2017 //
32

One year ago, John Oliver roasted charter schools. Since then, that show has had 8 million views.

On August 15, the conservative magazine Education Next released its annual poll, reporting that public approval of charters has plummeted.

The 2017 EdNext Poll on School Reform

Question: was the drop in the polls the result of:

1. John Oliver’s takedown
2. The Network for Public Education’s advocacy against privatization
3. The experience of communities with charters, school closures, and budget cuts to fund charters
4. All of the above

Write an essay on this question:

Why are there so few Democrats who endorse charter schools, which are part of the Trump-DeVos agenda?

Or you may answer this question instead:

Why does the Democratic National Committee and other fundraising activities of the Democratic party send emails asking you to pick the issue that matters most to you and list 12 issues, none of which includes K-12 schooling?

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Privatization

San Antonio: Charter Leader Accused of Massive Theft from School

By dianeravitch
August 20, 2017 //
4

The Texas Education Agency accused the former board president of the San Antonio School for Inquiry and Creativity of stealing tens of thousands of dollars of electronic equipment from the school.

http://www.expressnews.com/news/education/article/TEA-accuses-former-charter-school-leader-of-11882598.php

“Two members of SASIC’s state-installed board of managers, Judy Castleberry and Velia Minjarez, said Thursday that they believe that Denise Fritter took computers, televisions, video game consoles and other items from two school buildings Saturday, two days after the state took physical control of the district’s assets. The items were valued at $30,000 to $100,000.”

Don’t expect the TEA to acknowledge that the problem is lack of oversight or accountability for these unregulated charters.

Let the waste of taxpayer dollars proceed!

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents, Charter Schools, Education Reform

Jeff Bryant: The Democrats’ Growing Divide and Confusion Over “Reform”

By dianeravitch
August 19, 2017 //
53

Jeff Bryant assesses the confusion within the Democratic party over “education reform.”

Some Democrats (too few) have realized that preservation of public schools are part of the party’s fundamental agenda. Others (like New York Governor Cuomo, Colorado’s Congressman Jared Polis, and Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy have embraced charter schools and other parts of the rightwing agenda).

The bottom line, however, is that teachers in public schools and union members can’t be expected to turn out to vote for politicians, regardless of their party, who share the agenda of Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump.

So, no matter how uncomfortable it may be for elected officials like Cuomo to acknowledge, their advocacy for charter schools mirrors the views of ALEC, the anti-union Walton family, the Koch brothers, and DeVos.

Trump said that there are “many sides” to the events in Charlottesville. Charter advocates would have us believe that privately managed schools should be embraced by Democrats; they would have us forget that more than 90% of charters are non-union.

The reality is that public school teachers and their unions are a core element of the Democratic party base. If the Democrats abandon their base, they can’t win elections. The hedge fund managers may fund their campaigns, but they can’t turn out the vote.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Democrats, Education Industry, Privatization

Where the No-Excuses Charter Schools Go Wrong

By dianeravitch
August 19, 2017 //
33

A faithful reader, Dienne, posted the following comment:

“I used to work at a residential facility for kids we called “severely emotionally disturbed” (I don’t know what the proper terminology is now; I’d call them traumatized). Many of them were DCFS wards who had experienced horrific abuse and/or deprivation, but that’s not the reason they came to us. They came to us because no one else (besides locked psychiatric facilities) could handle them – they were too aggressive and disruptive.

“My experience was that they were as aggressive and disruptive as they were because they were so traumatized. They were in constant survival mode, they didn’t trust anyone, their traumatic experiences had left lasting damage to their nervous system, so they had extreme difficulty interpreting social situations and controlling their impulses. The only thing that worked with them was to keep the environment strictly controlled to instill a sense of safety and predictability so that they could eventually learn to trust. None of those kids would have had the capacity to apologize, sincerely or otherwise, and certainly not publicly.

“I don’t think the majority of kids in public schools are anywhere near that level, but there are certainly strains of that, especially among kids who live in high poverty situations where they are exposed to abuse, deprivation and trauma. If schools are actually going to help these kids, then the same types of interventions are needed. A secure, safe environment where their needs are understood and addressed.

“I understand that’s (allegedly) where the “no excuses” idea comes from – to maintain order and predictability. But where they go wrong is trying to control the child rather than the environment. No one reacts well to being controlled, least of all traumatized children who live in constant survival mode.”

Categories Charter Schools, Discipline

Teachers: Are Your Pension Funds Invested with Dan Loeb?

By dianeravitch
August 19, 2017 //
26

Norm Scott, retired NYC teacher and active fighter against corporate reformers, posted a four-year-old article by Matt Taibbi about billionaire Dan Loeb, whose hedge fund solicits money from pension funds. Dan Loeb is the guy who recently made headlines by slandering a black legislator as worse than the KKK.

He is the chair of Success Academy Network. He hates teachers’ unions, but he loves their pensions.

TAIBBI’s article is a must-read. Taibbi reminds us that Randi Weingarten took the lead in removing from his fund any pension funds she has anything to do with.

Does your pension fund invest with Loeb’s hedge fund?

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Harlem Success Academy, Pensions, Privatization, Racism, Unions

Mercedes Schneider: Stagnation in ACT Scores of New Orleans Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
August 18, 2017 //
4

Mercedes Schneider calculated the ACT scores for the charter schools of New Orleans.

This is a statistic that State Superintendent John White doesn’t want you to know.

It blows away the myth of the New Orleans miracle.

The NOLA recovery School District has been stuck with an average hovering in the 16s. Not at all impressive. Not at all “college and career ready.”

She writes:

“Guaranteed admission to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL) requires an ACT composite of 23. For Louisiana State University (LSU), it’s a 22. For both the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) and Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU), an ACT composite of 21 is preferred, but either an ACT English score of 18 or an ACT math score of 19 is required.

“The average Xavier University undergraduate has an ACT composite ranging from 23 to 28, with Xavier advertising an ACT composite of 24 necessary for admission to its nursing and occupational health programs. Nursing students must also score at least a 21 on the ACT math exam.

“For Southern University (SU), an ACT composite of 20 is preferred, but again, either an ACT English score of 18 or an ACT math score of 19 is required. And for the University of New Orleans (UNO), both an ACT English score of 18 and an ACT math score of 19 are required, and if the student’s high school GPA is at least 2.0 but not 2.5, an ACT composite of 23 is required.

“Thus, for all of its charter-portfolio fanfare, it is difficult to conceive of the state-run RSD-NO as anything but a flop based upon years of its sub-17 average ACT composites.

The first step to addressing the issue is admitting that there is an issue. However, completely ghosting out the RSD-NO high school average ACT composite calculation even years before RSD-NO is formally dissolved certainly dodges any such responsible admission.”

Categories Charter Schools, New Orleans

Cynthia Nixon: Why Won’t Cuomo and the Legislature Fully Fund Our Public Schools?

By dianeravitch
August 18, 2017 //
28

The story has circulated in the media that megastar Cynthia Nixon may run against Andrew Cuomo for governor. You may have seen her on television or on Broadway, but what you don’t know if that she is a public school parent in New York City and cares deeply about public education.

In this article, she explains that New York City public schools have been denied funding that was promised by the courts. She also explains that Andrew Cuomo is no friend of public education. He is a cheerleader for the charter industry, whose wealthy patrons have underwritten his past campaigns.

Nixon knows more about education that any other candidate who will be on the ballot in 2018 in New York state.

She writes:

As a public school parent, I am fearful about what our new U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has in store for our nation’s public schools.

The Trump-DeVos agenda includes more support for privately run charter schools — which in DeVos’ home state of Michigan are known for being some of the worst performing in the country — and a dramatic expansion of school privatization through vouchers. It could also greatly reduce federal funding for public schools. For New York State that could mean a cut of up to $2.5 billion.

Frightening. But equally frightening is how much Betsy DeVos and Andrew Cuomo’s policies echo each other.

Governor Cuomo wants to eliminate New York’s obligation to provide schools statewide with $4.3 billion in additional funding, including nearly $287 million for schools in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties. There is no doubt that high-needs schools require this support: Guidance counselors in Yonkers carry a caseload of 750 students. Ossining and Peekskill struggle to find resources to serve a growing influx of English language learners. And parents in Mount Vernon are suing the state to receive their fair share of education funding. We have the same problems in New York City.

In 2001, on the day my oldest child Sam began kindergarten, I was shocked to find that two thirds of the school’s paraprofessionals, the art teacher, the music teacher and the assistant principal were all gone since the spring tour I had taken a few months earlier — casualties of a woefully inadequate budget. On that day, I joined the fight for New York State to fully implement the ruling from the landmark Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit against the state…

In 2007 and 2008, the state made progress towards its constitutional obligations to students by funding Foundation Aid, but after Cuomo took office he did everything he could to avoid paying this debt, and now he wants to eliminate Foundation Aid outright.

He also wants to increase the number of privately-run charter schools in New York City by more than 50 percent. And he has been a loud proponent of private school tax credits, essentially a backdoor voucher system. These are policies we expect from Betsy DeVos, but from Andrew Cuomo?

Whoever runs for office in New York and in other states should go on the record about whether they support public schools. We know the answer from Cuomo. He wants more charter schools. This will be an albatross around his neck if he runs for president in 2020. That is, unless Cynthia Nixon beats him!

Categories Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Cuomo, Andrew, Funding, New York

New York: State Commissioner Boots Paladino OffBuffalo School Board

By dianeravitch
August 17, 2017 //
22

New York State Commissioner MaryEllen Elia kicked billionaire Carl Paladino off the Buffalo school board.

http://buffalonews.com/2017/08/17/state-education-commissioner-removes-paladino-from-school-board/

Paladino has enriched himself by expanding charter schools, then leasing space to them. He has made racist remarks. He is Trump’s biggest supporter in the state.

But that is not why he got bounced. The reason is mundane.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, New York

Laura Chapman : The Gates Foundation’s Newest Reformy Organization

By dianeravitch
August 17, 2017 //
11

Laura Chapman explains the nature of “Education Cities,” the latest plaything of the Billionaire Boys Club!

Here is the latest reformy initiative: Education Cities!

Our dear friend Laura Chapman has deciphered what this latest disruptive program is.

She writes:

“Here is some information about Education Cities.

http://www.educationcities.org/

“It is connected to the Education Entrepreneurship Trust (CEE-Trust) launched by The Mind Trust in Indianapolis.

“Both ventures have received Gates Foundation money to push “personalized learning.”

“About Education Cities:

“FUNDERS Laura and John Arnold foundation, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and Walton Family Foundation.

“PARTNERS

“Education Cities works with leading organizations to help our members achieve their missions.”

1. “Bellwether Education Partners works with Education Cities on research and capacity building projects. Bellwether is a nonprofit dedicated to helping education organizations—in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors—become more effective in their work and achieve dramatic results, especially for high-need students.”

“In Cincinnati, Bellwether was the recruiter for the “Accelerate Great Schools,” initiative that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, pushed by high profile local foundations and the business community—all intent on marketing the need for “high quality seats” meaning you close and open schools based on the state’s weapon-ized system of rating schools, increase charter schools, and hire TFA. (We have a TFA alum on the school board). The CEO of Accelerate Great Schools recruited by Bellwether was a TFA manager from MindTrust in Indianapolis. He lasted about 18 months and accelerated himself to a new job.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2017/01/24/ceo-quietly-quits-school-accelerator/96997612/

2. “Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) at the University of Washington partners with Education Cities to analyze and identify policies that create the conditions that allow great schools to thrive. Through research and policy analysis, CRPE seeks ways to make public education more effective, especially for America’s disadvantaged students.”

“CRPE should be regarded as an operational arm of the Gates Foundation. It marketed the Gates “Compacts,” a make-nice-with-your-charters MOU giving district resources to charters with charters promising to share their “best practices” and other nonsense. The bait included $100,000 up front with the promise of more money to the district if they met x, y, z, terms of the memorandum of understanding. Only few districts got extra money. Many reasons, some obvious like the departure of the people who signed the MOUs.

3. “Public Impact” partners with Education Cities (and Bellwether Education Partners) on research and capacity building projects. With a mission to dramatically improve learning outcomes for all children in the United States, Public Impact concentrates its work on creating the conditions in which great schools can thrive. The Opportunity Culture initiative aims to extend the reach of excellent teaches and their teams to more students, for more pay, within recurring budgets. Public Impact, a national research and consulting firm, launched the Opportunity Culture initiative’s implementation phase in 2011, with funding from The Joyce Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.” Current work is funded by the Overdeck Family Foundation and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.”

“Public Impact is marketing 13 school turnaround models, almost all of these with reassignments of teachers and students to accommodate “personalized” something. One arm of the “opportunity culture” website is a job placement service for teachers. In prior administrations Public Impact and Bellwether worked together to get USDE support for charter schools.

4. “Thomas B. Fordham Institute partners with Education Cities to analyze and identify policies and practices that create the conditions that allow great schools to thrive. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute works to advance educational excellence for every child through research, analysis, and commentary, as well as on-the-ground action and advocacy in Ohio.”

“Well, we have a pretty good idea in Ohio of how all of that pontification worked out.

“Here are the cities in the foundation-led move to eliminate democratically elected school boards and substitute public schools with contract schools that receive public funds but usually privately operated. At one time the number of Education Cities was 30, then 28, now 25.

1. Albuquerque, NM, Excellent Schools New Mexico

2. Baton Rouge, LA New Schools for Baton Rouge

3. Boise, ID Bluum

4. Boston, MA Boston Schools Fund, Empower Schools

5. Chicago, IL, New Schools for Chicago

6. Cincinnati, OH, Accelerate Great Schools

7. Denver, CO, Gates Family Foundation, Donnell-Kay Foundation

8. Detroit, MI, The Skillman Foundation

9. Indianapolis, IN, The Mind Trust

10. Kansas City, MO, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

11. Las Vegas, NV, Opportunity 180

12. Los Angeles, CA, Great Public Schools Now

15. Memphis, TN, Memphis Education Fund

16. Minneapolis, MN, Minnesota Comeback

17. Nashville, TN, Project Renaissance

18. New Orleans, LA, New Schools for New Orleans

19. Oakland, CA, Educate78, Great Oakland Public Schools Leadership Center, Rogers Family Foundation

20. Philadelphia, PA, Philadelphia School Partnership

21. Phoenix, AZ, New Schools for Phoenix

22. Richmond, CA, Chamberlin Family Foundation

23. Rochester, NY, E3 Rochester

24. San Jose, CA, Innovate Public Schools

25. Washington, DC, Education Forward DC, CityBridge Education

“These cities have been targeted for capture by promoters of choice, charters, tech, poaching talent and resources from public schools, and pushing the idea that established public schools are failures.”

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates
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