Archives for category: Class size
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Leonie Haimson: The Expansion of Pre-K in New York City Has Worsened Overcrowding, with No Relief in Sight

By dianeravitch
December 21, 2018 //
19

Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters has released a report on the unintended consequences of Mayor De Blasio’s rapid expansion of Pre-K, his proudest achievement in education. The plan was rushed ahead with little forethought.

Her report begins:

School overcrowding in NYC has been worsened by the expansion of pre-K and 3-K classes, as detailed in a new report, “The Impact of PreK on School Overcrowding: Lack of Planning, Lack of Space.”

About 575,000 students, more than half of all students, attended schools that were at or above 100 percent capacity in 2016-2017, according to data from the NYC Department of Education. In recent years, overcrowding has worsened significantly, especially at the elementary school level. Nearly 60 percent of elementary schools are at 100 percent or more and 67 percent of elementary grade students attend these schools. This is due in part to the fact that enrollment in these grades has increased faster than new school construction.

The report’s analysis finds that 14,220, or more than half of the pre-K students enrolled in public elementary schools in 2016-2017, were placed in 352 schools that were at 100% utilization or more, thus contributing to worse overcrowding at these schools for about 236,000 students.

In about one quarter (22 percent) of these schools, the expansion of pre-K actually pushed the school to 100 percent or more. As of 2016-2017, 76 elementary schools, with a total of 45,124 students, became overutilized, according to the DOE’s data, because of the additional number of pre-K students at their schools.

In addition, thirty schools with pre-K classes had waitlists for Kindergarten, necessitating that these children to be sent to schools outside their zone and sometimes far from home.

District 20 in southwestern Brooklyn is the most overcrowded district in New York City with a critical shortage of elementary school seats.

The average utilization of elementary schools is 130 percent. Yet the DOE continued to place pre-K classes in already overcrowded District 20 schools, despite the presence of an under-enrolled pre-K center nearby.

Laurie Windsor, the former President of the Community Education Council in District 20 said: “It is appalling how the DOE insists on keeping pre-K classes in elementary schools when there is such severe overcrowding and families are forced to travel for Kindergarten, sometimes quite far away, without available public transportation. Especially egregious is that there are pre-K centers nearby which could absorb these classes easily. This practice has put unnecessary hardships on families and is insensitive to the needs of the community.”

Categories Childhood, Pre-K, K, Class size, New York City

CTU Celebrates Successful Strike Against UNO/Acero Charter Chain

By dianeravitch
December 16, 2018 //
5

The billionaire backers of charter schools must be furious. The teachers at one of Chicago’s biggest charter chains organized a union and negotiated successfully for higher pay, smaller classes, and protection of their students from ICE. The main reason the billionaires support charter schools is to snuff out unions and their demands. “How outrageous!,” they are surely thinking, as the butler pours their morning coffee.

Chicago Teachers Union

NEWS RELEASE:

For Immediate Release| ctulocal1.org
CONTACT: Chris Geovanis, 312-329-6250, 312-446-4939 (m), ChrisGeovanis@ctulocal1.org
CTU members overwhelmingly ratify UNO/Acero tentative agreement

CTU rank and file at 15 charter schools vote overwhelmingly to approve contract in wake of first strike of charter operator in U.S. history.

CHICAGO—CTU teachers and paraprofessionals in the Acero/Uno charter network have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new contract that will dramatically improve teaching and learning conditions in the charter network’s 15 campuses across Chicago. The wins were achieved after a historic five-day strike that saw hundreds of union educators and para-professionals take to the streets to demand a fair contract, joined by parents, students and allies calling for change at schools run by Acero. Growing numbers of elected officials joined in the call for a fair contract and accountability from charter executives.

CTU members employed by Acero approved the agreement Friday, with 98 percent voting in favor. Of 485 votes cast, 474 union members voted yes. Voting took place by secret ballot in Acero’s 15 schools. The new contract mandates equal pay for equal work by matching CPS teacher salaries, class size reductions, new special education safeguards and sanctuary school protections for the charter’s majority Latinx student population.

As the first strike of a charter operator in the nation, the walkout is a warning call to other charter companies in Chicago and across the country: teachers will take to the streets to stop the shortchanging of their students and ensure that public dollars are directed to classrooms, not board rooms.

“We said from day one that this strike was about educational justice for our students and their families, and the contract our members overwhelmingly approved advances that cause,” said CTU President Jesse Sharkey. “But we’ve also shown Chicago and the nation that the collective power of teachers, paraprofessionals, students and communities can transform not just our classrooms but an entire industry.”

The contract ratified by Acero/CTU educators and paraprofessionals includes:

Enforceable class size reductions and management penalties for class size violations.
Management commitments to comply with special ed laws and staffing levels, which have been a chronic problem in both CPS charter and district schools, protecting resources for the schools’ most vulnerable students.

Equal pay for equal work with CPS educators, who teach the same students but whose compensation has been significantly higher than those working for private charter operators.

Sanctuary school protections, including language enshrined in the contract that bars schools from asking students about their family’s immigration status, and that bans ICE from school property or access to student records without a legal mandate.

“I’m so proud of our teachers and paraprofessionals and all the parents and students who walked the picket lines with us in the cold each morning,” said Martha Baumgarten, a 5th grade teacher and member of the bargaining team. “This is what democracy and community looks like. This is what a movement looks like. ”

The strike drew national attention from educators and labor leaders who recognized the historic significance of challenging the influential business interests and corporate elites who promote charters as a cornerstone of their school privatization agenda. It also comes as Chicago’s charter industry is losing one of its biggest backers, outgoing Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel.

“This is a victory for every educator who sees children getting short-changed by privatization and charter operators putting their business models over the needs of our students,” said Chris Baehrend, Chair of the CTU Charter Division. “With this strike, CTU members have demonstrated their resolve to do what it takes to hold the charter industry accountable and put public dollars where they belong—into the classrooms and educations of our students.”

Acero’s board of directors is expected to ratify the contract in the coming days. CTU members are currently bargaining for new contracts with ten other charter operators, and educators at four CICS charter schools have voted to authorize a strike. CTU members at CPS district schools expect to begin bargaining a new contract in January.

###

The Chicago Teachers Union represents nearly 25,000 teachers and educational support personnel working in schools funded by City of Chicago School District 299, and by extension, the nearly 400,000 students and families they serve. The CTU is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers and is the third-largest teachers local in the United States. For more information please visit the CTU website at http://www.ctunet.com.

Categories Chicago, Class size, Teacher Pay

I Support the UTLA March for Education Tomorrow at 10 AM PST!

By dianeravitch
December 14, 2018 //
7

Teachers in Los Angeles will be marching on Saturday December 15 at 10 a.m. PST at Grant Park in downtown Los Angeles.

Teachers are negotiating with LAUSD and its banker superintendent for a fair contract that includes reduced class sizes; improving school safety by adding more school counselors and social workers. Fully funding schools so that all schools have librarians and other support staff. Less testing and more teaching. Ending the drain of privatization, which removes $600 million annually from the public schools.

UTLA is prepared to strike if necessary.

Please go to Twitter to see the gorgeous banners that L.A. teachers have made in case there is a strike. Teachers have the best artwork and the best songs.

I stand with UTLA and the teachers of Los Angeles.

To understand why teachers are ready to go out on strike, please read this article about “the looting of public education in Los Angeles by the 1% and their corporate shills.”

It begins:

LA PROGRESSIVE
Smart Content for Smart People

HOME

ABOUT US
ABOUT US / COPYRIGHT INFO
PRIVACY POLICY

TOPICS
ANIMAL RIGHTS
CLIMATE CHANGE
ECONOMIC JUSTICE
EDUCATION REFORM
ELECTIONS AND CAMPAIGNS
ENVIRONMENT
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
HEALTHCARE REFORM
IMMIGRATION REFORM
LABOR
LAW AND JUSTICE
LGBTQ
PROGRESSIVE ISSUES
SOCIAL JUSTICE / RACISM
THE MEDIA
THE MIDDLE EAST
WAR AND PEACE

AUTHORS
ALL AUTHORS
STEVE HOCHSTADT
CHARLES D. HAYES
DAVID A. LOVE
DIANE LEFER
DICK PRICE
JERRY DRUCKER
JOHN PEELER
JOSEPH PALERMO
TOM HALL
SHARON KYLE
SIKIVU HUTCHINSON

SCORECARDS
CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY CRIMINAL JUSTICE SCORECARD
CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SCORECARD

EVENTS
LEFT COAST FORUM
EVENT CALENDAR

SUBSCRIBE


When the pro-charter LAUSD school board majority appointed investment banker Austin Beutner to superintendent earlier this year it effectively declared war on schools of color and communities of color. Nationwide, public schools have been gutted by the rising tide of charterization, privatization, high stakes testing, union-busting, civil rights rollbacks engineered by the Trump/DeVos Department of Education. Teacher walkouts have reverberated across the country as states slash public education funding and schools re-segregate to pre-Brown v. Board levels.

The cynical appointment of the grossly underqualified Beutner (a one percenter white male with no prior public school teaching or administrative experience) signified that the board was essentially handing over the District to these forces on a silver platter in a swaggering f-you to parents, teachers, and students who’ve seen their schools reduced to detention centers.

Resist!

Categories Accountability, Class size, Funding, Los Angeles, Privatization, Teacher Pay, Teachers, Testing, Unions

Los Angeles: Protesters Shut Down LAUSD Meeting

By dianeravitch
December 12, 2018 //
7

Parents and teachers shut down a meeting of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board, complaining about businessman Austin Beutner’s leadership, large class sizes, and the conditions likely to produce a teachers’ strike in January.

“These days, two major possibilities color just about everything in Los Angeles Unified — the growing prospect of a teachers strike and Supt. Austin Beutner’s still largely confidential plan for a massive district reorganization….

“The protesters echoed the contention of United Teachers Los Angeles that the district — whose general fund budget this year is about $7.5 billion — is hoarding a massive reserve that could be used to pay teachers more and improve conditions for students. They point to last year’s ending balance of nearly $2 billion…

“A senior at King/Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science, who identified herself only as Cheyanne because she said she felt at risk for speaking out, talked of the need for smaller class sizes and better staffing. She said she’d had 52 students in her 10th-grade chemistry lab.”

Categories Accountability, Class size, Los Angeles, Teachers, Unions

Steven Singer: The Silence of the Reformers and the Chicago Charter Strike

By dianeravitch
December 9, 2018 //
15

Steven Singer notices a deafening silence from Reformers, who say nothing in response to the nation’s first charter chain strike in Chicago. Come to think of it, the Reformers were silent last spring, during the historic Teacher Revolt in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Co,orado, Noth Carolina, and Arizona.

Are the Reformers on the side of teachers who want smaller classes and a decent salary? No se.

Singer writes:

Charter school teachers in Chicago are in their fourth day of a strike.

Yet I wonder why the leaders of the charter movement are quiet.

Where is Peter Cunningham of the Education Post?

Where is Shaver Jeffries of Democrats for Education Reform?

Not a word from Campbell Brown or Michelle Rhee?

Nothing from Bill Gates, Cory Booker, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton?

Not a peep from Betsy DeVos or Donald Trump?

This is a historic moment. Teachers at various charter schools have unionized before, but it has never come to an outright strike – not once since the federal charter school law was established in 1994.

You’d think the charter cheerleaders – the folks who lobby for this type of school above every other type – would have something to say.

But no.

They are conspicuously silent.

I wonder why.

Could it be that this is not what they imagined when they pushed for schools to be privately run but publicly financed?

Could it be that they never intended workers at these schools to have any rights?

Could it be that small class size – one of the main demands of teachers at the 15 Acero schools – was never something these policymakers intended?

It certainly seems so.

Here is the answer, Steven. Charters were funded to kill unions. You guessed it. Now you know it.

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Class size, Corporate Reform, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Privatization, Teacher Pay, Unions

Chicago: Charter Strikers and Parents Rally on Sunday at 1

By dianeravitch
December 8, 2018 //
1


NEWS ADVISORY:

For Immediate Release| ctulocal1.org
CONTACT: Chris Geovanis, 312-329-6250, 312-446-4939 (m), ChrisGeovanis@ctulocal1.org
1 PM, Sunday, Dec. 9: Rally with Acero strikers, parents, allies. CTU HQ, 1901 W. Carroll, Chicago
CTU charter strikers to rally with parents, allies as strike could move to week 2

No deal yet as clouted charter CEO continues to dodge negotiations, while management balks at smaller class sizes/better treatment for low-wage paraprofessionals and parents join strike pickets.

CHICAGO—Since Tuesday, CTU educators at UNO/Acero schools have held the picket lines with parents and protested for more classroom resources, smaller class sizes, sanctuary protections for their immigrant students and fair wages—particularly for low-wage paraprofessionals.

Strikers will rally with parents, neighborhood residents and labor allies on Sunday at 1PM at their CTU union hall at 1901 W. Carroll Ave.—steeling their forces for either a celebration that an agreement has been reached or a fifth school day on the picket lines Monday.

The strike is the first of a charter operator in the nation. It began almost five years to the day after the charter operator’s previous CEO was forced to resign for doling out insider contracts and living large on public dollars that should have bankrolled schoolbooks and student supports. Those distorted priorities persist under Rangel’s replacement, clouted CEO Richard Rodriguez, say strikers, some of whose paraprofessionals earn barely a tenth of Rodriguez’ $260,000 per year salary.

Friday, UNO/Acero management filed unfair labor practice charges—a ULP—against the CTU, based on bogus allegations that even the charter operator’s lawyers described as ‘hearsay’ and the union described as a desperate press stunt. On Saturday, Latinx elected officials publicly blasted Rodriguez, telling him to either reach a fair agreement with strikers or resign.

Rodriguez has yet to attend a bargaining session, despite seven months of contract negotiations and almost around-the-clock bargaining since the strike began on December 4. For a time on Friday according to a local alderman, his voicemail said he was ‘out of the country’.

Educators’ demands are simple and reasonable: lower class sizes for students, sanctuary for students and other members of our school community, and fair compensation for educators, especially teacher assistants and other low-wage support staff.

Management admitted in their ULP that the strike pushed them to agree to CTU demands for sanctuary schools, culturally relevant curriculum, and restorative justice practices—all issues that management called non-starters before CTU members hit the picket lines.

Rodriguez has run the charter network since 2015, as it has rebranded to distance itself from a 2013 scandal that forced out its founder, political powerhouse Juan Rangel. As a Rangel protege, Rodriguez has held some of the city’s most coveted patronage positions over the last twenty years—including as head of the Chicago Transit Authority. He has no education background.

Rodriguez is paid more to run 15 Acero schools than CPS CEO Janice Jackson earns to run more than 500 public schools. Wages for UNO/Acero paraprofessionals can be as low as barely ten percent of Rodriguez $260,000 annual salary.

# # #

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Chicago, Class size, Education Industry, Education Reform, Fraud, Funding, Parents, Privatization, Teachers, Unions

Chicago: CTU Charter Strike Enters Second Day

By dianeravitch
December 4, 2018 //
11

A news bulletin:

NEWS ADVISORY:

For Immediate Release| ctulocal1.org
CONTACT: Chris Geovanis, 312-329-6250, 312-446-4939 (m), ChrisGeovanis@ctulocal1.org
Wednesday, 6:30 a.m., Dec. 5: Picket lines continue at Acero campuses
Wednesday, 10:00 a.m., Dec. 5: Press conference and rally at Chicago Board of Education, 42 W. Madison. St.
CTU charter educator strike against UNO/Acero enters second day

Picketing continues at 15 UNO/Acero sites, culminating in a rally downtown at the Chicago Board of Education.

CHICAGO—CTU teachers, paraprofessionals and support staff at 15 charter schools run by the Acero charter network formerly known as UNO will enter the second day of their historic strike—the first against a charter operator in U.S. history—starting with 6:30 a.m. picket lines outside of their schools.

Educators will then rally and hold a press conference at the board of education at 10AM to update the press and public on the status of bargaining, in advance of the Chicago Board of Education’s monthly meeting. CTU President Jesse Sharkey will raise strikers’ issues at the CPS board meeting at 10:30 a.m. Those issues include why CPS has allowed the charter operator to stockpile tens of millions of public dollars designated for students’ education instead of investing those funds in classrooms.

Management and the CTU bargaining team remain far apart on critical issues that include: class size, sanctuary school community language in the contract, fair compensation for paraprofessionals, and lower class sizes, which are currently set at 32 students per class—four more than what Chicago Public Schools seeks to meet at district-run schools. CTU members have called those class sizes both outrageous and unsafe for students, particularly children in kindergarten through second grade, where one adult simply does not have the capacity to safely supervise, let alone educate, 32 young children.

Management continues to refuse to include language in the contract that would provide assurances that Acero would follow federal law in providing special education services to students, and refuses to include a commitment in the contract to ensure that its schools operate as sanctuary schools, a virtually no-cost commitment that would provide protection for UNO/Acero’s overwhelmingly Latinx student population.

# # #

The Chicago Teachers Union represents nearly 25,000 teachers and educational support personnel working in schools funded by City of Chicago School District 299, and by extension, the nearly 400,000 students and families they serve. The CTU is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers and is the third-largest teachers local in the United States. For more information, please visit the CTU website at http://www.ctunet.com.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Chicago, Class size, Education Industry, Privatization, Teacher Pay, Teachers, Unions

CEO of UNO/Acero Lashes Out at Strikers and “Outside” Interests

By dianeravitch
December 4, 2018 //
8

The CEO of UNO/Acero Charter Schools, Robert Rodriguez, is angry that his teachers went out on strike. He blames the union and “outside” interests who are anti-charter. Apparently, he does not take seriously his teachers’ demands for higher pay and smaller class sizes. He disrespects them by not hearing their voices.

He released this letter.

This is a video of him reading his letter.

In his letter and statement, he describes Acero as “one of the best performing charter networks in Chicago.”

Dana Goldstein wrote in the New York Times, however, that “At Acero schools, a quarter of students met standards on state exams in 2016, the same percentage who met standards in the Chicago district schools, according to a report from the Illinois State Board of Education.”

If that is what it means to be “one of the best performing charter networks in Chicago,” that speaks poorly of the entire charter sector.

Categories Accountability, Chicago, Class size, Education Industry, Privatization, Teacher Pay, Unions

Dana Goldstein on the Chicago Charter Teachers’ Strike

By dianeravitch
December 4, 2018 //
1

Veteran journalist Dana Goldstein now covers education for the New York Times.

She writes here about the Chicago charter teachers’ strike:

Over 500 educators in Chicago began the nation’s first strike at a charter school network on Tuesday, shutting down 15 schools serving more than 7,000 children. Teachers for the Acero Schools network rallied at local schools to call for higher pay and smaller class sizes, among other demands.

The action is the latest mass teacher protest in a year when educators have closed ranks in places where organized labor has historically been weak — first in six conservative or swing states where teachers walked out of classrooms, and now in the charter school sector, where unionization is sparse.

All of the picket lines have formed out of a dispute over public dollars — whether education funding is adequate, and what percentage of the money should go toward educator pay and classroom resources versus other costs.

“Everyone is feeding off each other and hearing this rallying cry,” said Martha Baumgarten, a fifth-grade teacher at Carlos Fuentes Elementary School in the Acero network and a member of her union’s bargaining committee. “A lot of this comes down to lack of funding. But teachers across the country are seeing each other stand up and say that’s not O.K. We’re not going to support budgets and politics as usual.”

Charters are funded by taxpayers but independently managed by nonprofit organizations, like Acero, or by for-profit companies. Educators at Acero earn up to $13,000 less than their counterparts at traditional public schools in Chicago and cannot afford to live comfortably in an increasingly expensive city, according to the Chicago Teachers Union, which represents the striking workers.

The chief executive of Acero, Richard L. Rodriguez, earns about $260,000 annually to manage 15 schools, a similar salary to that of Janice K. Jackson, the chief executive of the Chicago Public Schools system, which includes over 500 schools.

In addition to higher pay for teachers and support staff, the union is asking that more money be spent on special education services for students and on a program that allows classroom assistants to continue their education and become lead teachers. The union also argues that Acero’s class sizes — up to 32 students at every grade level — are too high.

Acero says the comparatively large class sizes allow it to serve more families, noting that many of the network’s schools have wait lists. It acknowledges that its teachers, who earn an average salary of $65,000 per year, are making less than their peers in traditional schools, but says that is because of inadequate funding from the state. Mr. Rodriguez earns a salary that is competitive given his duties managing the network’s facilities and real estate, it added.

Helena Stangle, a spokeswoman for Acero, said that after the network’s teachers unionized in 2013, management has repeatedly agreed to reduce hours and shorten the work year for teachers, but that to do so any further would erode what makes the schools attractive to parents.

“The focus of the discussion today is maintaining our own identity as a network of schools,” she said. The promise of an extended school day and year is “a real differentiator and important to our families.”

The strike comes shortly after a midterm election in which a burst of progressive Democratic energy led to defeats for charter school advocates in Illinois and other states.

That teachers in a charter network were able to organize, let alone walk out of their classrooms en masse, is notable given the history and aims of charter schools.

Only about 11 percent of the nation’s 7,000 charter schools are unionized, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Although the union leader Al Shanker helped popularize the concept of charter schools in the 1980s, intending them as laboratories for educational innovation, he became a fierce critic when reformers began using charter laws to open nonunion schools. The reformers hoped that student performance would improve outside the bureaucratic constraints of contract work rules, and that underperforming teachers could be fired more easily. Results in the charter sector have been mixed. At Acero schools, a quarter of students met standards on state exams in 2016, the same percentage who met standards in the Chicago district schools, according to a report from the Illinois State Board of Education.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Chicago, Class size, Education Industry, Privatization, Teacher Pay, Unions

Arthur Goldstein: Jeff Bezos Gets a Landing Pad for His Helicopter While My Students Are Packed in Like Sardines!

By dianeravitch
November 29, 2018 //
23

Arthur Goldstein is pretty damned angry at Mayor DeBlasio. The city just loaded billions of dollars of tax breaks onto Amazon and multibillionaire Jeff Bezos, even giving Amazon one of the Department of Education’s buildings in Queens. But Goldstein’s students are crammed into crowded classrooms.

Where are the city’s priorities?

I’m shocked that the city has space to turn over to Amazon but can barely find any for schools. I suppose it’s an extraordinary privilege to be able to provide Jeff Bezos a new helipad, while rolling out the red carpet for thousands of high-paid workers, who may or may not even live here. From my perspective, teaching 34 students in half a classroom, I’m not particularly concerned about where the world’s richest man parks his business, let alone his helicopter.

I’ve been working at Francis Lewis High School in central Queens since 1993, and I can’t recall a time when we’ve been so pressed for space. While I bemoan my half room, some of my colleagues are teaching in windowless converted book storage rooms. After years of complaints, admin found a way to air-condition them. Despite this, the air quality is still sub-standard, according to recent tests conducted by UFT….

It’s all about priorities, and the city that so long claimed to place children first is failing spectacularly to do so. In three or four years our school will have an annex, but who’s to say the DOE won’t just dump another thousand kids on us so we’re as overcrowded as ever?
There might be a time to lavish billions in subsidies on Jeff Bezos, but that time is most certainly not now. Our schools and our kids are more important, by far, than bragging rights for Amazon.

Is this fair?

Categories Bill de Blasio, Billionaires, Class size, Funding, New York City
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »