The PARCC assessment group includes all or almost every member of Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change.
What is strange is to see the commissioners of Massachusetts and New York aligned with the state commissioners of the states most closely aligned with the ALEC agenda of high-stakes testing and privatization.
According to a report in the Santa Fe Reporter, Hanna Skandera has taken numerous trips to conferences and meetings, with travel expenses paid by organizations that do business with the state.
The story says, “… over the past two years, various PED [Public Education Department] contractors have paid for Skandera’s flights and hotel rooms. For instance, in 2011, PED paid the Minnesota-based Summit Education Associates, LLC, more than $96,000 for “professional services,” according to the state’s Sunshine Portal.
“The company lists as its manager FEE [Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Educational Excellence] Senior Policy Fellow Christy Hovanetz, who helped advise Skandera on legislation [news, Feb. 19: “Business School”]. Then, in June 2012, FEE paid nearly $3,000 to fly Skandera—who is a member of Chiefs for Change, a FEE-operated group of public officials who support the nonprofit’s reform agenda—to a Chiefs meeting in Washington, DC, followed by FEE’s “Festival of Education” in London.
Skandera also serves on the board of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a consortium of 22 states “working together to develop a common set of K-12 assessments in English and math”—online evaluations Skandera plans to implement in New Mexico in 2015. Travel vouchers show PARCC paid a total of more than $2,000 for Skandera to attend board meetings in Washington, DC, and Alexandria, Va.
PARCC, too, has ties to state money: It’s run by Washington, DC-based nonprofit Achieve, Inc., which last year landed a $39,660 contract with PED, according to the Sunshine Portal.”
A spokesman for the PEDRO said, “Over two days of the hearing, supporters for Secretary Skandera and reform for our students outnumbered those who stand for the status quo. As far as responding to the presentation, it is beyond disappointing that a political operative funded by special interests is given more time before this committee than the citizens of New Mexico who traveled hundreds of miles to testify.”
The Acting Secretary of Education in New Mexico is Hanna Skandera, who worked in Jeb Bush’s state department of education in Florida and also for Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She was appointed by the Republican governor but the Democratic-controlled State Senate has not confirmed her. Skandera wants to bring the “Florida model” to New Mexico.
Here is a news story about the hearings.
She has no classroom or school-level experience, but critics are worried about other issues as well.
Anthony Cody here takes a close look at Skandera’s record and supporters. This is a scenario that will be played out in state after state, as corporate interests and right-wing activists converge.
What follows now testimony submitted at public hearings by Michael Corwin, a New Mexico parent who is also a private investigator.
If Skandera wants to refute this testimony, I will gladly print her comments here.
Here is Corwin:
Hanna Skandera Senate Rules Committee Confirmation Hearing
Michael Corwin
March 1-2, 2013
Thank you for the opportunity to present information today. I am here today because I have a son in public school in New Mexico. His education and that of hundreds of thousands of other students requires that an assessment of Ms. Skandera’s management of the New Mexico Public Education Department (“PED”) be performed with the most complete information. She has been in office for over two years so there is a true track record of her performance.
Per Article XII, Section 6 the New Mexico Constitution requires the director to be a “qualified, experienced educator.” It is clear that Ms. Skandera lacks classroom, or school administration experience, so the question is whether her two years as secretary designate has dispelled concerns about her qualifications and experience, or reinforced her lack of those constitutional requirements.
The administration would like this hearing to be about “reform vs. status quo”, but it is about far more than that.
Policies are a critical component of determining what is best for our kids, but before we tackle policy we must first look at her operational actions for they reveal significant problems in the areas of misuse of public funds and resources, conflicts of interest, ethical lapses, procurement code violations, dismissiveness of minority education, including state laws, significant communication problems including refusing to meet with stakeholders, and an administration bent on concealing information.
The weight of these factors combined with the constitutional and policy concerns present a very clear picture that Ms. Skandera should not be confirmed.
MISUSE OF PUBLIC RESOURCES AND FUNDS:
1) Directed the entire PED IT Department to spend two full work-days combing through non-PED held information in order to “create lists” and a “new public record” for use by Governor Susana Martinez’s “key advisor” to use on a political attack against teachers’ unions opposed to the governor’s agenda. Misuse of government resources for political purposes may be a violation of the governmental conduct act.
Item # 1- Email string showing the actions were directed by Ms. Skandera.
Item # 2- Email response from PED that it does not create lists or create a new public record pursuant to an IPRA request except for the governor’s political benefit.
Item #3- SF New Mexican article on possible violation of law and secrecy. Item #4- ABQ Journal article on PED already having info in its own system.
2) Misused almost $2,000,000 in voter approved (by over 60%) GO Bond funds to reward A/B schools after the legislature rejected request for funds to reward “A” rated schools. Under SB 1 the “2010 Capital Projects General Obligation Bond Act” the legislature designated “two million dollars ($2,000,000) to purchase books and instructional material statewide.” (Emphasis added).
Ms. Amador-Guzman reported in an LESC meeting on 11/13-16/2012 that PED issued a memo announcing that it would give awards to purchase books and instructional materials to schools that received a letter grade of “A” or to “Top Growth” schools. “The funding source of the awards for those schools, Ms. Amador-Guzman said, was a general obligation (GO) bond authorized in 2010. Members of the LESC noted that the wording in the legislation for the bond was to provide funds to schools statewide. The chair of the LESC questioned the legality of using GO bonds for rewarding ”A” schools.
According to LESC minutes dated 6/18-20/2012, “Mr. Craig also noted that the 2012 Legislature did not appropriate $1.25 million that the executive had requested for monetary rewards for A-grade schools.”
PED may have broken the law, and clearly violated the voters trust, because the administration was denied funds to reward schools the way they do in Florida.
Legislation pushed by the administration to financially reward “A” schools was originated in draft legislation by Christy Hovanetz, a full-time salaried employee of the Foundation for Excellence in Education (“FEE”) on January 24, 2011. See below about contract payments made to Ms. Hovanetz by PED while she was still receiving her salary from FEE.
Item #5- LESC Minutes 11/13-16/2012
Item #6- LESC Minutes 6/18-20/2012
Item #7- Email w/ attachment from Christy Hovanetz to Hanna Skandera 1/24/11
3) Altered the job qualifications of the fully federally funded with Title I funds “Education Administrator-Advanced NAEP Coordinator” (A contractor position for the US Department of Education) in order to ensure that the position went to the wife of Keith Gardner, Governor Martinez’s chief of staff. A string of emails show that Gardner was kept in the loop for the hiring of his wife—a direct financial benefit — a conflict of interest under federal procurement rules.
The job qualifications for this advanced administrator position were altered to require classroom teaching experience within the previous 12 months and eliminated an educational requirements for course work in statistics or assessment. Requiring recent classroom experience eliminated anyone who worked as an administrator within the last year including the acting administrator, who had extensive administration experience. Despite several very qualified applicants only Ms. Gardner was deemed qualified.
Item #8- Email (Gardner/Skandera)- Skandera Request Letter for Position Item #9A-D- Job Descriptions changes 2011 vs. 2010, 2007,2006.
Item # 10- Federal contracting conflict of interest definition.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST/ETHICS ISSUES:
1) Paid Christy Hovanetz over $86,000 as a contract consultant. Hovanetz was at the same time a full-time paid senior fellow at Foundation for Excellence in Education (“FEE”) who lives in Minnesota. Hovanetz used boilerplate legislation from FEE (below) to draft all of the Martinez admin education reform bills. FEE paid for Skandera’s travel during the contract with Hovanetz while Skandera used its services to prepare the reform bill.
FEE was formed by Jeb Bush, Zachariah P. Zachariah and Brian Yablonski. Zachariah was sued by the SEC for fraudulent insider trading and sued in a class action lawsuit for refusing to pay legally required overtime to his employees. Yablonski was a long-term board member of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission—which a Florida grand jury found rife with “massive fraud and abuse”, which was “so prevalent that it had to be common knowledge within and outside the agency”. Yablonski was also a vice-president at the St. Joe Company, which is under investigation for fraud by the SEC.
Item # 11- Contract between Skandera and Hovanetz/invoices/purchase orders. Item # 12- Reuters article “Writing Bills, Finding Funds.”
Item # 13- Emails from Hovanetz to Skandera (and lobbyists for FEE including
John Bailey) with accompanying draft bills/revisions for A-F (see virtual academy below), 3rd-grade retention (with email that says Florida has not conducted any studies on effectiveness of retention), graduation exam, and teacher effectiveness. Also, emails of list of funders of conference Skandera helped put on for FEE.
Item # 14- SEC documents on Zachariah fraud/ Lawsuit coversheet on overtime. Item # 15- Florida grand jury report on fraud/ St. Joe Company doc on fraud.
2) Forced the taxpayers to pay tens of millions of dollars for new technology by changing from Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, who New Mexico had partnered with to transition to the new common core standards to PARCC. Skandera switched consortiums because FEE (Chiefs for Change) pushes PARCC over SBAC.
APS, while the largest is just one district. Other districts will have to spend money too. SBAC is set up to work with new and old technology. PARCC requires districts buy the latest equipment.
According to minutes of the LESC meeting 11/13-16/2012- APS may have to purchase as many as 36,492 new devices because 56% of APS’ computers do not meet PARCC’s requirements. The existing equipment owned by APS and other districts worked fine for SBAC. The estimated cost to the taxpayers for this upgrade is up to $17 Million.
One of the other out of state consultants that Skandera hired along with Hovanetz and Bailey, Chad Colby, is the director of communications for Achieve Inc. the parent company for PARCC. PARCC rewarded Skandera by appointing her to its board of directors.
In March of 2012, Skandera contracted with Achieve Inc. paying them $39,660 for a three- month contract. Skandera also has her travel paid for by this state contractor. (Gift ban issue). Colby became the director of communications for Achieve five months before Skandera contracted with Achieve. (Not even a one year cooling off period).
Item # 16- NMPED 2010 Annual Report on partnering with SBAC
Item # 17- LESC Meeting Minutes 11/15/2012.
Item # 18- FEE’s (Chiefs for Change) communication in support of PARCC. Item # 19- Achieve Inc. Contract/ Colby Achieve info.
Item # 20- Skandera travel paid for by PARCC and FEE.
3) Yet another state contractor pays her travel. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers provides services to New Mexico. Skandera has increased NASCA’s role in New Mexico. They rewarded her by naming her to NASCA’s board of directors. NASCA now pays Skandera’s travel too.
Item # 21- NASCA website showing NM/Skandera bio.
4) Virtual online charter pay to play hand in hand with clear cut PED staff conflicts of interest. K12, Inc. the worlds largest for-profit virtual charter school management company gave Susana Martinez $5,000. K12, Inc. is a big financial sponsor of FEE including the Chiefs for Change education summit in San Francisco that Skandera was heavily engaged in as an officer of Chiefs for Change.
When Christy Hovanetz drafted the A-F school grading bill for Skandera, it included the wording, “In addition to any rights a parent may have pursuant to federal law, the parent of a student enrolled in a public school rated F for two of the last four years has the right to transfer the student in the same grade to any public school in the state not rated F or the right to have the student continue schooling by means of distance learning offered through the statewide cyber academy or a cyber academy approved in any other state.”
This verbiage made it into SB 427 submitted by Vernon Asbill during the 2011 session. At the time there was no cyber academy in New Mexico. K12, Inc. had tried to open in New Mexico as the Sandia Academy, but was blocked by the New Mexico Public Education Commission. Veronica Garcia, then the education secretary upheld the denial. Sandia Academy, represented by attorney Patricia A. Matthews of the law firm Matthews Fox, filed a lawsuit in Santa Fe District Court. The court upheld Garcia’s rejection of Sandia’s appeal.
K12, Inc. lost for a variety of reasons. Unlike IDEAL-NM, the state run online education program that served students and online training for state employees for free was at that time one of the best in the country. K12, Inc. would have been a sole-source procurement ($700,000 a year) with an out of state vendor. K12, Inc. was also a for-profit management company, which is illegal under the Charter School Act.
In June 2011, Skandera contracted with Matthews Fox, and hired Patricia Matthews fulltime in July 2011 to run her charter school program. Matthews helped Skandera RIF 33 PED employees including the director of charter schools, who had rejected K12, Inc. Matthews same client that has tried to bring K12, Inc. in during Richardson, has since opened the New Mexico Virtual Academy.
According to LESC Meeting Minutes on 6/18-20/2012, K12, Inc. and New Mexico Virtual Academy have a MOU, which “provides that K12, Inc. will hire administrative personnel-perhaps including a “school director”- to deliver the educational services; and will be involved in recruiting, interviewing, and recommending certain administrative positions at the school: head administrator, business manager, and special education coordinator, and enumerates a number of other general and administrative services that K12 Inc. will perform.” (Clearly for-profit management). The special assistance to Matthews Fox’s charter school clients did not end with that. Matthews as head of NMPED-Options for Parents (formerly the charter school division) interceded on behalf of New Mexico Virtual Academy after it missed a deadline to apply for federal funding through the state. The lawyer for NMVA—Matthews law partner (until two months prior) Susan Fox. (More on these two below).
Item # 21- K12, Inc. contribution to Martinez.
Item # 22- SB 427 allowing students at F schools to go to virtual academy. Item # 23- Emails between Skandera and FEE on A-F bill rollout
Item # 24- PEC Denial/ Sandia Lawsuit Docket
Item # 25- LESC Meeting Minutes 8/18-20/2012/ Emails Matthews, Fox, K12.
5) Numerous procurement code violations involving PED. PED has been found to have violated the state procurement code on at least seven times from November 2011 to July 2012. Violations can be charged criminally as well as require a fine. There are numerous occasions in addition to these findings were PED did not follow the state procurement code.
Item # 26- Procurement code violation findings.
6) Skandera reversed additional PEC denials of charters involving Matthews Fox clients. Hanna Skandera hired Matthews Fox on a contract on 6/9/11. The contract was to “review the current proposed staffing levels and roles of staff members within the Charter Schools Division.” One day after the contract date Susan Fox appeared before the PEC at a hearing where the PEC had to revisit its denial of the charter for Matthews Fox client Ralph J. Bunche Charter School after Skandera reversed the PEC’s ruling. The denial of Matthews Fox’s clients’ charter was recommended by Matthews’ predecessor at the Charter School Division, who was then RIFd by Skandera on the same day that Fox appeared in front of the PEC on behalf of Matthews Fox.
Matthews appeared at the December 2010 hearing when the PEC denied the charter.
In late May 2011, Skandera announced that she was reversing the PEC’s denial of a charter to Matthews Fox clients calling the PEC’s ruling “arbitrary and capricious”. The PEC’s denial of the charters had been upon specific factors under the charter school act.
Skandera also recently reversed the PEC’s denial of a charter for New Mexico Connections Academy. Connections was represented by Susan Fox. Connections is also managed by a for-profit management company, Connections Inc. New Mexico Connections Academy filed a Notice of Intent with Skandera’s office that including a “Management Contract” with Connections for “comprehensive management services”. Skandera reversed the PEC despite NMSA 22-8-4R, which states, “the governing body shall not contract with a for-profit entity for the management of the charter school.”
Item # 27- Documents on reversal of charters 2011 and 2013.
MINORITY EDUCATION/COMMUNICATION ISSUE WITH STAKE HOLDERS
1) Attempt to end run New Mexico law allowing Spanish and Native American languages in alternate demonstration of competency. In an email to Leighann Lenti, Skandera’s director of policy, one of Lenti’s employees sought legal advice from PED general counsel, to determine if PED “can require the majority of the portfolio to be in English due to the rule which allows submissions in Spanish or Native languages. Darn. We could say that submissions demonstrating competency in reading must be in English.” (Email from Vanderbilt to Lenti).
NMAC 6.19.7.10 D4 specifically states, “students may submit a portfolio in English, Spanish, or in a Native American language of an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo located in New Mexico.”
2) The US Office of Civil Rights expressed concern over PED’s lack of a bilingual reading model. LESC Meeting Minutes 11/13/16/12.
3) Lack of communication with Tribal leaders and Hispanic Education leaders. Skandera was accused by both Indian Education leaders and Hispanic Education leaders of not communicating with them. (Santa Fe New Mexican article 12/15/11).
Mandatory retention conflicts with both the Indian Education Act and Hispanic Education Act that call for increasing parental involvement in education.
4) Long term vacancies in key positions in the Indian Education Division and also the Bilingual Education Division left the divisions non-functioning. Failing to fill the positions ran counter to the Indian Education Act and the Hispanic Education Act.
5) NCLB Waiver initially rejected over lack of addressing minority education gap, “the system did not address achievement gaps among racial and ethnic groups” and “a lack of attention to subgroups of students-such as ethnic groups and students learning English-was of particular concern.”
6) Failed to attend Hispanic Education Summit while in San Francisco where she spoke at the Chiefs for Change (FEE) education summit and spent time with K12, Inc, Connections and other donors.
Item # 28- Minority education issue docs.
7) Sole-source contracts with Teach for America instead of using the Native American Teacher Training Program through the Indian Education Division and UNM/CNM. Teach for America was paid $800,000 to recruit and train Native American educators and provide culturally sensitive training to non-Native American teachers. Only about 1% of that money went to recruiting and training Native American educators. 80% of teachers trained through TFA leave the profession after 3 years. Over 50% leave after only 2 years. TFA was caught double billing the taxpayers for the same services and had to return the funds over charged.
Item # 29- Teach for America contract, expenditure and study on effectiveness.
8) Accused school districts of “gaming the system” by inflating special education numbers through a high profile media campaign. Skandera launched a high profile audit of 34 school districts accusing many of them of skewing special education figures to make more money. Superintendents countered back that Skandera did not communicate with the districts and that the vast majority of alleged issues could have been resolved in one sitting. The head of the superintendents association opined that “the purpose of the audit was to discredit the districts, contenting that there was no urgency, no need to rush, and no findings of fraudulent behavior.”
Item # 30- Press release, LESC Meetings, news articles.
9) RIF of key PED staff left no one available to aid with E-rate application process for Federal grant money for technology in rural and poor school districts. Skandera eliminated the jobs of the Educational Technologies Bureau putting every district in New Mexico at risk of losing technology funds.
Skandera’s office refused to communicate with the NM Council for Technology in Education who stepped in to fill the void left by Skandera’s RIF. “However, the PED has not made any effort to replace the lost reviewers. Nor do they have a single person on staff who can sit down with a school district and help them to develop an acceptable plan.” Further, “the PED and the Secretary-Designate (and her staff) have seen fit to avoid communications with the CTE while we are doing the work free of charge.”
E-rate money collected in New Mexico dropped significantly in 2011 from over $47,000,000 to $34,000,000.
Item # 31- Emails, press release, E-rate Central state information.
10) Superintendents Association accused Skandera in a letter dated 9/21/2012 of
“on going and systematic exclusion of Superintendents Council input.” Skandera did not notify the council of changes to the A-F school grading system, and failed to respond to requests for information from the council.
Item # 32- Letter from the president of the New Mexico Schools Superintendent Association.
POLICY AND FITNESS ISSUES
1)Failure to analyze serious issues created by third-grade retention as documented in key studies. To date Florida has not assessed the effectiveness of retention, and one study conducted through Harvard found no benefits to retaining kids by the time the reach 8th grade. The rush to push through unproven policy is not reform. Mandatory retention has been proven to increase dropout rates, not reduce them.
Item # 33- National Academy of Science study/ National Assoc of School Psychologists:
2) Failure to assess actual effectiveness of virtual academies. Significant high turn-over rates and increased drop out rates. According to K12, Inc.’s annual report, these schools a profitable for companies, but their students do not perform any better than brick and mortar students. According to an investigation in Colorado, online schools lead to higher rates of permanent dropouts.
3) Bypassing New Mexico institutions for out of state corporations. Ms. Skandera has let IDEAL-NM wither on the vine, while allowing both K12,Inc and Connections siphon off state funds. The result here will be devastating to NM jobs, meaning fewer people here can afford groceries, cars, houses while those living in Virginia will be able to buy more.
Through her conduct in office, Ms. Skandera has demonstrated that she should not be confirmed.
Thank you.
A good question, no?
Both have had trouble getting confirmed.
Both are members of Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change.
Both are committed to privatization.
Read here to see what else.
Not many people in the U.S. are as enthusiastic about the Common Core as Jeb Bush and his far-right Chiefs for Change.
One of his chiefs is Tony Bennett, who lost his superintendency in Indiana because of a popular revolt against the Common Core.
No problem, Bennett landed on his feet in Florida (thanks, Jeb!) where he could continue the battle for Common Core. Why is Jeb Bush so excited about Comon Core? He told business leaders last year hat he expects the new standards and tests will show just how dreadful public schools are. This opens new opportunities for new products, charters, and vouchers.
But Florida has a problem. It doesn’t have the money to pay what the Comon Core will cost. What to do?
Education leaders worry schools won’t be ready for new standards
By Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel
6:00 PM EST, February 18, 2013
Florida schools are scrambling to be ready for new Common Core academic
standards – and the new computer-based tests that go with them – by 2015.
At their meeting Monday in Orlando, some members of the State Board of
Education questioned if schools had made enough progress training teachers
on the language arts and math standards and on preparing for a new batch of
online tests.
“It’s now February. We have be ready to roll the next calendar year,” said
board member Kathleen Shanahan.
The state’s new “readiness gauge” shows more progress on the standards than
the technology, as many schools still don’t have the computers, bandwidth or
high-speed Internet access needed for the tests and the state’s overall
“digital learning” push.
The State Board requested more than $400 million for new school technology
in the next year, but Gov. Rick Scott has proposed a smaller hike of $100
million.
“One hundred million won’t get done everything we need to get done,” Barbara
Jenkins, superintendent of Orange County schools, told the board.
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett praised the new standards, which 45
states have adopted, as academic guidelines that “will transform the way our
students learn.” The new tests, he said, were key to making sure they are
well taught.
But he said there are “complexities” to implementing both, among them the
“technology readiness” of the 22 states, Florida included, that plan to use
the new tests from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College
and Career. They are to replace FCAT math, reading and writing exams.
He said within the next few months his staff will devise a “Plan B” in case
implementation cannot proceed as planned by 2015.
orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-schools-common-core-technology-201
30218,0,5142892.story=
Coach Bob Sikes in Florida knows how phony that state’s A-F grading system is. (This was confirmed recently by Matt Di Carlo of the Shanker Institute, who pointed out that the state changed the system to improve the results.)
Now he finds that Oklahoma State Superintendent Janet Barresi is copying the Jeb Bush playbook.
This is hardly surprising because she is a member of the Jeb Bush group of rightwing state superintendents called “Chiefs for Change.”
Barresi wants Oklahoma to grade its schools with a simple-minded A-F grade, just like Jeb Bush did. If Jeb did it, it must be right. Remember the “Florida miracle”?
Unfortunately a group of Oklahoma researchers examined her proposal and sharply criticized it.
No problem for Barresi. She has been going around the state telling people that the researchers have recanted their views. Except they haven’t.
Before Barresi was elected superintendent, she was a speech pathologist. In 1984, she became a dentist. Later, she opened Oklahoma City’s first charter school and served on the board of another charter school. She is a big supporter of privatization.
Tony Bennett, the defeated state superintendent from Indiana, has landed the job as state commissioner in Florida.
Bennett is the hero to the rightwing “reform” sector, a champion of privatization, vouchers, charters, online for-profit schools, and the Common Core. His last action in Indiana was to lower standards for new trackers and principals, so that no preparation was needed to become a teacher and anyone could become a principal with only two years of experience as a teacher, even in higher education.
Jeb Bush is mad for Bennett, who serves as head of Bush’s Chiefs for Change.
In case you have time on November 28, you might want to listen in to the summit convened by Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education. It will be live streamed at http://www.ExcelinEd.org/Everywhere.
Jeb Bush is now a key figure in the reform movement. He is a strong supporter of charters and vouchers. He wants all teachers and all schools to get a grade based on the test scores of students. His foundation is supported by many foundations; see the list below (including Gates), and by technology companies and charter chains. Bush is a cheerleader for the digitization of classrooms. He foresees the day when there are fewer teachers and more online learning.
What a cool summit this will be!
So many superstars of reform in one place!
You will get to hear David Coleman, president of the College Board and architect of the Common Core standards.
You will notice that one of the keynote speakers at this conservative event is Arne Duncan. Another is John Podesta of the Center for American Progress, who headed Obama’s transition team in 2008. You might wonder why Duncan and Podesta are there, especially there are rumors that Bush will pursue the presidency in 2016. Just think of it as a testament to bipartisan comity around a shared agenda.
Recently defeated Indiana Superintendent Tony Bennett will appear, as will Kevin Huffman of Tennessee, now serving one of the nation’s most conservative governors and legislatures.
You will get to hear Condoleeza Rice and Joel Klein explain why our public schools are “a very grave threat to national security,” and why we need charters and vouchers.
Another really cool thing is that they are showing “Won’t Back Down.” It was released on September 28 and a month later it had almost disappeared from the nation’s theaters. Last weekend it was showing in only 24 theaters in the entire USA. This will be one of the few places in America where you can still see it.
Here is the press release; the agenda follows.
WASHINGTON – The Foundation for Excellence in Education today announced its final general and strategy sessions for the fifth annual Excellence in Action National Summit on Education Reform at the JW Marriott in Washington, DC, Nov. 27-28.
During the general session “Won’t Back Down Movie and Parent Trigger,” attendees will hear the story behind the film that premiered in September. Reporter and education reform supporter Campbell Brown will discuss with Shirley Ford of Parent Revolution and Dr. Gloria Romero, California director of Democrats for Education Reform and former California State Senator, how this powerful, parent-driven movement is inspiring change across the nation.
Don’t miss “Common Core State Standards,” as Governor Jeb Bush joins David Coleman, President and CEO of the College Board; Bob Corcoran, President and Chairman of the GE Foundation; and Dr. William Schmidt, University Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the Education Policy Center at Michigan State University, to discuss implementing these new standards and ensuring today’s students are equipped with a world-class education.
Strategy sessions will include “Charter Schools: Accountability and Funding,” “The Florida Formula for Student Achievement,” “Implementing Bold Teacher-Effectiveness Reform,” “Recruiting and Retaining Great Principals” and many more. Click here to view all strategy sessions and the complete event agenda.
Unfortunately, we have reached maximum capacity for the Summit, and registration is closed. However, you can enjoy this exciting event from the comfort of your own computer. All keynote speeches and general sessions will be streamed live at http://www.ExcelinEd.org/Everywhere, and all strategy sessions will be filmed and available after the event. Click here to view this year’s agenda.
Members of the press are welcome to cover the conference, including keynote and strategy sessions; however, participation in Q & A times is reserved for attendees. For more details and to apply for credentials for this event, please click here.
The Excellence in Action National Summit on Education Reform annually immerses lawmakers and policymakers in two days of in-depth discussions on proven policies and innovative strategies to improve student achievement. For all things related to the Summit, check out the #EIA12 app at http://bit.ly/W6wubM. This mobile app puts the event agenda and information about speakers, strategy sessions and our partners at your fingertips.
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For media inquiries, contact Jaryn Emhof, Communications Director, at 850-391-4090 or Jaryn@ExcelinEd.org.
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The Foundation for Excellence in Education thanks the following donors for their generous support of the 2012 National Summit on Education Reform: Visionary: GE Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Broad Foundation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, Robertson Foundation, The Kovner Foundation, Achiever: Amplify, Doris & Donald Fisher Fund, GlobalScholar, The Kern Family Foundation, Microsoft, The Paul E. Singer Foundation, Susan & Bill Oberndorf, Pearson, Target, Reformer: Challenge Foundation, The Charles & Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, The Dick & Betsy DeVos Family Foundation, George Kaiser Family Foundation, K12, Intel, The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, McGraw-Hill Education, Scholastic, Scholar: Academica, Alvarez & Marsal, Apex Learning, Charter Schools USA, e2020, ETS, Morgridge Family Foundation, SAS, SMART Technologies, State Farm Insurance, VSCHOOLZ, William E. Simon Foundation.
The Foundation for Excellence in Education is igniting a movement of reform, state by state, to transform education for the 21st century economy. Excellence in Action, the organization’s flagship initiative, is working with lawmakers and policymakers to advance education reform across America. Learn more at http://www.ExcelinEd.org.
AGENDA:
Home
JW Marriott – Washington, DC
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
8:00-8:45 am Breakfast Buffet
8:45-9:30 am Opening Keynote:
Jeb Bush, Chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education
9:45-11:00 am Strategy Sessions:
Strategy Session 1: Reaching More Students with Vouchers and Tax-Credit Scholarships
Whether you are an advocate of education vouchers for all or believe special scholarships should be reserved for students in failing schools, the debate on school choice is one that matters. States across the country are enacting new reforms and expanding those that already exist to ensure vouchers and tax-credit scholarships reach the kids who need them the most. Join these state lawmakers as they discuss strategies to keep up with the growing demand from families for quality school choice options.
Moderator: John Kirtley, Chairman of Step Up for Students and vice chairman of the Alliance for School Choice and the American Federation for Children
Panelists:
Conrad Appel, Louisiana State Senator
Algie Howell, Virginia State Delegate
Jason Nelson, Oklahoma State Representative
Bill O’Brien, New Hampshire State Representative
Strategy Session 2: Implementing Bold Teacher-Effectiveness Reform
Over the past few years, states across the country have passed reforms linking student-learning data to teacher evaluations. Now, leaders have entered the critical phase of putting the reforms into practice at the local level. Learn how these education chiefs are developing assessments and evaluation systems in their respective states to measure hard-to-test areas and elevate educators’ professional development.
Moderator: Hanna Skandera, New Mexico Secretary-Designate of Public Education and Vice-Chair of Chiefs for Change
Panelists:
Kevin Huffman, Tennessee Commissioner of Education
Jill Hawley, Colorado Associate Commissioner for Achievement and Strategy
Dr. Diane Ullman, Chief Talent Officer for the Connecticut State Department of Education
Strategy Session 3: Accountability-Based Flexibility for School Districts
Across the nation, crisis situations are giving birth to new, student-centered learning models. In the midst of challenging economic times and a national focus on improving the quality of education, a new kind of school district is emerging – one with both autonomy and performance-based accountability. Learn how some of our nation’s most troubled school districts are challenging a conventional structure to change the futures of their students, schools and cities.
Moderator: Dr. Paul Hill, Founder of the Center on Reinventing Public Education
Panelists:
David Harris, Founder and CEO of The Mind Trust
John White, Louisiana Superintendent of Education
Tyrone Winfrey, Chief of Staff of the Michigan Education Achievement Authority
11:30 am-12:45 pm Lunch Keynote:
John Podesta, Chair and Counselor of the Center for American Progress, with Dr. Chester E. Finn, Jr., President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
1:00-2:15 pm Strategy Sessions:
Strategy Session 4: How to Prepare for Common Core Assessments
The state-led transition to Common Core State Standards will change the expectation of what students need to be learning and is aligned with what they’ll need for success after high school in our changing world. The pressure is on for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium to deliver new online assessments and for schools to build the technology infrastructure they’ll need to use those assessments. The Common Core transition brings individual opportunities for states but also challenges. Meanwhile, many state leaders are preparing parents, teachers and communities for the initial results which will likely follow new standards and assessments. Join this panel to discuss specific strategies states and districts can take to ensure everyone and everything is prepared to transition to these new assessments.
Moderator: Governor Bob Wise, President of Alliance for Excellent Education
Panelists:
Dr. Tony Bennett, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction and Chairman of Chiefs for Change
Steve Bowen, Maine Commissioner of Education
Laura McGiffert Slover, Senior Vice President of Achieve
Dr. Joe Willhoft, Executive Director of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
Strategy Session 5: Transforming Colleges of Education
Nine out of every ten teachers graduate from traditional teacher prep programs at colleges of education. Should these colleges be held accountable for the caliber of students they admit into their programs and the teachers they send into the classroom? Don’t miss this discussion on what can be done to ensure new teachers entering the profession are fully equipped to help each of their students succeed.
Moderator: Kate Walsh, President of the National Council on Teacher Quality
Panelists:
Dr. John Chubb, CEO of Education Sector and member of the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education
Paul Pastorek, former Louisiana Superintendent of Education
Strategy Session 6: Charter Schools: Accountability and Funding
With over 40 states now authorizing charter schools, the potential for innovation continues to grow. Each state serves as a testing site for diverse approaches to approving, funding and maintaining the accountability of these unique public schools. Learn the best policies states are using to shape high-quality charter schools across the nation.
Moderator: Jeanne Allen, President of the Center for Education Reform
Panelists:
Todd Huston, Indiana State Representative
Peggy Lehner, Ohio State Senator
Nina Rees, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
James H. Shelton III, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education
2:45-4:00 pm General Session: Won’t Back Down Movie and Parent Trigger
Shirley Ford, Parent Revolution, and Dr. Gloria Romero, California Director of Democrats for Education Reform and former California State Senator, with Campbell Brown, author and journalist
4:15-5:30 pm Strategy Sessions:
Strategy Session 7: Thinking Outside the School-Zone Box
From coast to coast, states are proving there is more than one way to provide families with school choice options. Many are developing new strategies to empower parents with the ability to choose the public school that is best for their child. Listen to these battle-proven leaders share lessons learned and strategies to expand public school choice programs and remove barriers limiting students’ education options.
Moderator: Mike Petrilli, Executive Vice President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Panelists:
Matthew Barnes, Executive Director of Families Empowered
John Huppenthal, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction
Luther Olsen, Wisconsin State Senator
Strategy Session 8: College & Career Readiness
State leaders are facing a desperate call to action: just one-third of America’s high school students graduate with the knowledge and skills they’ll need to succeed in college. This tragic reality calls for rigorous standards and innovative policies, ones that incentivize acceleration and launch students into college or gainful employment. It’s time to give students the opportunity to advance to college or careers as soon as they are ready, even if that’s earlier that the traditional K-12 calendar allows. Get the details on what methods states are using to prepare our youngest generation to thrive in today’s competitive global economy.
Moderator: Laysha Ward, President of Community Relations and the Target Foundation
Panelists:
David Abbott, Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel at the Rhode Island Department of Education
Russell Armstrong, Education and Workforce Policy Advisor to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
Joe Pickens, President of St. Johns River State College
Kelli Stargel, Florida State Senator
Strategy Session 9: Developing and Retaining Teachers We Can’t Afford to Lose
A teacher’s influence – good or bad – can have life-long effects on the students in his or her classroom. Hear new research on the teacher-retention crisis, and join the ensuing discussion on what can be done to develop and retain the high-quality educators our states need to reverse student decline and elevate the status of the teaching profession.
Moderator: Dr. Stefanie Sanford, Director of Policy & Advocacy, United States Program, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Panelists:
Tim Daly, President of the New Teacher Project
Christopher Cerf, New Jersey Commissioner of Education
Gary Holder-Winfield, Connecticut State Representative
6:00-7:00 pm General Reception
7:30-9:00 pm Dinner Keynote:
Dr. Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State, and Joel Klein, former chancellor of New York City’s public schools, with Dr. Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
7:30-8:15am Breakfast Buffet
8:30-9:00 am Breakfast Keynote:
Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education
9:30-10:45am General Session: Common Core State Standards
Moderator: Governor Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida from 1999-2007 and Chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education
Panelists:
David Coleman, President and CEO of the College Board
Bob Corcoran, President and Chairman of the GE Foundation
Dr. William Schmidt, University Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the Education Policy Center at Michigan State University, Minnesota State Representative
11:00-12:15pm Strategy Sessions:
Strategy Session 10: The Florida Formula for Student Achievement
More than a dozen years ago, Florida embarked on a path to reverse a generation of decline in its public schools by forcing the system to focus on the student instead of the adult. Since then, Florida’s formula of high expectations for students, accountability for schools, choices for families and rewards for progress has yielded incredible gains in student learning. In the eight-year period prior to the reforms, graduation rates had declined by nearly seven percent, but since the reforms were put in place, graduation rates have increased by 20 percent. Education in the Sunshine State is now a model for the nation, inspiring leaders to strategically and boldly transform public education. Learn how Florida’s formula can transform student achievement for any state.
Moderator: Julia Johnson, President of Net Communications and former member of Florida’s Board of Education
Panelists:
Dr. Christy Hovanetz, Senior Policy Fellow at the Foundation for Excellence in Education
Dr. Matthew Ladner, Senior Advisor on Policy and Research to the Foundation for Excellence in Education
Strategy Session 11: Transforming Education for the Digital Age
Last year, Digital Learning Now! released “The Roadmap for Reform: Digital Learning,” a guide providing governors, lawmakers and policymakers with the nuts-and-bolts policies to transition to student-centered education. Now, states are changing the face of education by introducing blended learning models that combine the best of face-to-face instruction with the best of online learning. Hear state and school leaders share what they are doing – and what is yet to be done – to harness the power of technology and provide students with rigorous, high-quality, customized education.
Moderator: John Bailey, Executive Director of Digital Learning Now!
Panelists:
Dr. Janet Barresi, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction
Dr. Mark Edwards, Superintendent of Mooresville Graded School District
Pam Myhra, Minnesota State Representative
Governor Bev Perdue, North Carolina
Chip Rogers, Majority Leader of the Georgia State Senate
Strategy Session 12: Recruiting and Retaining Great Principals
How can districts attract the best principals to their schools? Once found, can schools keep their great leaders by offering increased authority over personnel decisions and their school’s budget? Learn new, proven approaches to recruit and retain the committed principals our nation needs to prioritize students and lead our schools.
Moderator: Dr. Frederick M. Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute
Panelists:
Dr. Andrés Alonso, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools
Christine Campbell, Senior Research Analyst and Policy Director at the Center on Reinventing Public Education
Anitere Flores, Florida State Senator
12:302:00 pm Lunch Keynote:
Mitch Daniels, Indiana Governor
What is America’s favorite parlour game?
If you are talking about the average American, I don’t know though I would guess that parlour games have been replaced by watching TV.
However, if you are talking about the wonks in conservative think tanks, a rare breed to be sure, I will share their secret: they are obsessed with trying to understand how their idol, Tony Bennett, got beat at the polls.
He had everything going for him: the nation’s leading advocate of privatization. Chair of Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change. Plenty of money. And he lost.
Some attribute it to the massive power of those evil unions (Mike Petrilli at Fordham).
Some say he lost his base by embracing Obama’s Common Core standards (Rick Hess at AEI).
This Hoosier says he lost because he became a willing servant of the federal Department of Education and forgot the people of Indiana.
Remember federalism? An old idea, to be sure, but a good one.
Conservatives can’t believe their hero Tony Bennett lost.
Bennett had the support of the national conservative establishment.
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute had crowned him the American Education Idol.
He had nearly $1.5 million to spend.
Republicans loved his attacks on unions.
The Obama administration loved his support for the Common Core standards.
He is president of Jeb’s group of rightwing superintendents called Chiefs for Change.
He is on the board of directors of the Council of Chief State School Officers (its president is Tony Luna of Idaho, whose teacher-bashing laws were repealed by the voters).
Education Week invited Bennett to lead a forum on “Road Maps to Success” in implementing the Common Core in March 2013 (that should be a hoot, especially since one of the session will be held in Indianapolis!).
And he got shellacked in the election by a political novice.
Glenda Ritz received 100,000 votes more than Mike Pence, who was elected Governor.
The pondering goes on and on.
How did David beat Goliath?
Here is one effort to explain it.
Let’s see: teachers, principals and superintendents were angry, but that would not be enough to beat him.
The unions were angry, but that would not be enough to beat him.
Parents were angry at the avalanche of testing. There are lots and lots of parents. That would matter.
Hoosiers who graduated from public schools, who loved their teachers, who respect the importance of public education figured out that he was doing his best to turn it over to entrepreneurs.
Maybe that’s what did it.
Diane Ravitch's blog 