Archives for category: Corporate Reform
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Marion Brady: A Primer on Privatization

By dianeravitch
January 27, 2016 //
45

Veteran educator Marion Brady has written a concise guide to the privatization movement.

 

He begins with an overview of the talking points and tactics of the privatizers:

 

“The pitch

 

“Talking Points: (a) Standardized testing proves America’s schools are poor. (b) Other countries are eating our lunch. (c) Teachers deserve most of the blame. (d) The lazy ones need to be forced out by performance evaluations. (e) The dumb ones need scripts to read or “canned standards” telling them exactly what to teach. (f) The experienced ones are too set in their ways to change and should be replaced by fresh Five-Week-Wonders from Teach for America. (Bonus: Replacing experienced teachers saves a ton of money.) (g) Public (“government”) schools are a step down the slippery slope to socialism.

 

“Tactics

 

“Education establishment resistance to privatization is inevitable, so (a) avoid it as long as possible by blurring the lines between “public” and “private.” (b) Push school choice, vouchers, tax write-offs, tax credits, school-business partnerships, profit-driven charter chains. (c) When resistance comes, crank up fear with the, “They’re eating our lunch!” message. (d) Contribute generously to all potential resisters—academic publications, professional organizations, unions, and school support groups such as PTA. (e) Create fake “think tanks,” give them impressive names, and have them do “research” supporting privatization. (f) Encourage investment in teacher-replacer technology—internet access, iPads, virtual schooling, MOOCS, etc. (e) Pressure state legislators to make life easier for profit-seeking charter chains by taking approval decisions away from local boards and giving them to easier-to-lobby state-level bureaucrats. (g) Elect the “right” people at all levels of government. (When they’re campaigning, have them keep their privatizing agenda quiet.)”

 

The key weapon in the privatization campaign is standardized tests. Privatizers use tests to “prove” that public schools are failing.

 

Here is a great line:

 

“If challenged, test fans often quote the late Dr. W. Edward Deming, the world-famous quality guru who showed Japanese companies how to build better stuff than anybody else. In his book, “The New Economics,” Deming wrote, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

 

“Here’s the whole sentence as he wrote it: “It is wrong to suppose that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it — a costly myth.”

 

And here’s the clincher:

 

“Notwithstanding their serious problems, America’s public schools were once the envy of the world. Now, educators around that world shake their heads in disbelief (or maybe cheer?) as we spend billions of dollars to standardize what once made America great—un-standardized thought.”

 

 

 

 

 

Categories Corporate Reform, Education Reform, Privatization, Standardized Testing, Vouchers

“Schools Aren’t Start-Ups and Kids Aren’t Consumers”

By dianeravitch
January 26, 2016 //
18

Karen Quartz wrote a powerful article explaining why Eli Broad’s plan to grab control of half the students in Los Angeles is a huge mistake. Quartz is the director of research at the UCLA Community School, a K-12 university-supported neighborhood public school in Pico Union/Koreatown.

She wrote:

“In September, a proposal from Great Public Schools Now, an initiative led by billionaire Eli Broad, unleashed ferocious debate. Rife with business-speak, it suggested LAUSD could be fixed by attracting edupreneurs to launch 260 new charter schools that would capture 50% of the district’s “market share” by 2023. Within weeks, battle lines were drawn. Rallying anti-charter-school activists, former school board president Jackie Goldberg declared “This is war!” On its website, the teacher’s union posted “Hit the Road, Broad.”

“Another coalition of local foundation leaders then weighed in with its own open letter in November and offered to mediate. Without taking sides, they cautioned that “intended reforms often fall short if they are done to communities rather than with communities.”

“Then, in an abrupt turn, Great Public Schools Now announced in December that it would channel its resources not just into adding more charter schools, but into replicating models of success at traditional schools as well. It released a list of 49 schools that were models of success, 42 of them magnets and charter schools. Both types of schools rely on competitive admissions policies that are based on lotteries or criteria such as giftedness.

“The list’s near-exclusive focus on charters and magnets rather than neighborhood schools sends a powerful message about how these private reformers want Angelenos to think about education — as savvy consumers competing for scarce resources needed to help their children get ahead.

“What does this process of edupreneurship and innovation look like on the ground? Magnets and charters use aggressive recruitment campaigns to draw families with more social capital away from their neighborhood public schools. The most vulnerable children, then, are left behind in quickly emptying buildings, which sit waiting for a Proposition 39 takeover bid, which allows new charter schools to open in the unused classroom space.”

Quartz explains why Broad’s proposal is harmful to the democratic concept of public education.

“My point is not that one method of reform trumps all others. Rather, it’s that to ensure high-quality schools for all children requires recognizing that public education is both an individual good that helps people get ahead — “the great equalizer,” as Horace Mann put it in 1848 — and a collective good that defines how we together determine our shared fate.

“Edupreneurship is designed to unleash creative energy into conservative school systems and disrupt longstanding patterns of underachievement. But if that comes at the expense of our common good, it threatens the very foundation of public schooling.”

Of course, there is no guarantee that the edupreneuers will succeed. Based on their spotty record, they are likely to fail and move on, leaving communities in shambles. For the Broad team, the little people are pawns on their chess board.

Categories Corporate Reform, Education Industry, Los Angeles

Michigan: The Pathetic Failure of the Education Achievement Authority

By dianeravitch
January 24, 2016 //
7

Chris Savage at Eclectablog has been following the fortunes and misfortunes of the Michigan Education Achievement Authority since its inception in 2011.

 

Savage was thinking of writing a summary of the serial scandals, corruption, incompetence, and educational disaster, but decided the best way to show it was to post a list of the headlines of the stories he has written about the EAA.

 

This was Governor Rick Snyder’s pet program for “saving” the poor children of Detroit from their failing public schools. Instead of helping the public schools, Snyder decided to create this special district, in which all the lowest-performing schools were clustered. There, they would be under the control of a single administrator, selected by the Governor. The first EAA leader was John Covington, a graduate of the unaccredited Broad Superintendents Academy. He swiftly left his job in Kansas City (which lost its accreditation after he departed) to take the higher-paying job in Detroit. He left the EAA under a cloud.

 

This should be a documentary about the failure of corporate reform. Maybe someone who sees Chris Savage’s stories will start thinking of making that documentary. It is a very sad story, because the children of Detroit need a good education, and they are not getting it under Governor Snyder’s rule.

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents, Corporate Reform, Detroit, Education Reform, Michigan, Scandals Fraud and Hoaxes

Jean Haverhill on the Enemies of Public Education in Massachusetts

By dianeravitch
January 23, 2016 //
23

So, what should business leaders and think tanks do when their state’s public schools are first in the nation? Disrupt them, of course. Demand more privately managed charters, more competition. Just make sure there is no praise for accomplishments. Complain, complain, complain, so the public thinks ill of the best schools in the nation.

Jean Haverhill writes about what is happening:

“http://www.endcommoncorema.com I need to offer more time to this group. The MA Business Alliance brings in Sir Michael Barber with a phony study on “PARCC” superiority to MCAS. Measured Progress in NH (formerly a research firm) conveys the Sir Michael Barber infiltrating through MA Business Alliance directly to the Board of Ed. Fordham Institute is actively pursuing this avenue. David Driscoll, of NAEP, is going to be testing our kids on “grit”. The MA Business Alliance is tying up the grass roots effort of parents (in the courts) who have diligently gathered signatures to put common core/testing onto the November ballot. People in Worcester County, Essex County, Hampshire County may not be aware of all of the intricacies/ circumstances of groups in Boston but in particular, I prefer to spend my time on calling out (a) Fordham Institute and Education Next (Michael Petrilli, Andy Smarick, Education Next) for their constant pushing on vouchers/charters and tests (b) NAEP measurement of “grit” (thanks, David Driscoll) © Measured Progress ( a “research” firm tied up with West Ed and Pearson) and the (d) MA Business Alliance trying to defeat the grass roots efforts of parents. These are some pretty powerful foes or public education as I know it. If we fight amongst ourselves, these major elements will proceed with their own agenda and their own special interests.”

Warning: wherever Michael Barber goes, testing, ranking, and privatization follows.

Categories Common Core, Corporate Reform, Massachusetts

Jeb Bush Cronies Harass School Board Members

By dianeravitch
January 22, 2016 //
18

This is a shocking development. Associates of Jeb Bush have filed public records requests about elected local school board members. Behind this tactic is a growing anti-charter sentiment. Floridians have become aware of the numerous financial scandals connected to charters. Because of Bush, Florida is one of the friendliest environments in the nation for the charter industry.

 

 

“Folio Weekly has learned that three of Duval County’s seven sitting board members have been targeted for public records requests by Robert H. Fernandez, a litigation attorney who once served as Deputy General Counsel to Gov. Jeb Bush.

 

 

“Fernandez, a partner in the Coral Gables-based Zumpano Castro Law Firm, has issued two separate public records requests to Duval County School Board members Becki Couch, Dr. Connie Hall, and Paula Wright.

 

 

“Who is Robert H. Fernandez?

 
“As Deputy General Counsel in the then-Governor’s office, Fernandez served as a top lieutenant in Bush-brand education reform, particularly on school privatization efforts. Fernandez and one other attorney represented Jeb Bush in Florida’s landmark school voucher case, Bush v. Holmes. The Holmes case ended Bush’s plan for tax dollars to be used for private school vouchers. (Now, pre-treasury, “tax-credit” dollars are used for private school vouchers through the 501c3 organization, Step Up For Students.)

 

 

“According to his firm’s website, Fernandez “… is considered one of the leading lawyers in South Florida on representation of elected officials and candidates on election and ethics law issues.”

 

 

“Fernandez also once served as a reference for the cousin of charter school lobbyist Ralph Arza.

 

 

“Hugo Arza listed Fernandez and one other Bush-affiliated attorney when he applied to serve on the Florida Schools of Excellence Commission in 2007. The commission, which was designed to take charter school decisions out of the hands of local school districts, became defunct in 2008, when the First District Court of Appeals found it unconstitutional. Folio Weekly left a message for Fernandez on his office voicemail, but the call was not returned in time for our publication deadline.

 

 

“Who is Ralph Arza?

 

 

“Ralph Arza, a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, turned himself into the police for witness tampering charges in 2006. He admitted to leaving an obscenity-laced voicemail message for fellow lawmaker Gus Barreiro, and to using a racial slur in that recording. Barreiro had previously filed a complaint against Arza for calling a sitting schools superintendent a racial slur. Arza pled guilty in the criminal matter, served probation and community service, enrolled in anger management classes, and apologized publicly for his actions. He also withdrew his name from consideration for re-election to the House.

 

 

“Prior to the scandal, Arza was regarded as an important point-person in the Florida House for implementing Bush’s education reform initiatives. Arza, quoted often in the media as a longtime friend and adviser to presidential candidate Marco Rubio, now lobbies for the Florida Charter School Alliance. FSCA is one of several school-privatization advocacy organizations that are organized under the umbrella “Florida Alliance for Choice in Education,” or FACE.

 

 

“A vocal champion of school privatization, Arza told CBS affiliate WPEC-TV Channel 12 in South Florida, “The parents decide where the money goes, not the school district.”

 

 

“Charter schools have become more controversial in Palm Beach County recently, where, on Nov. 9, the school board voted 6-0 against opening a new CharterSchoolsUSA operation, citing a lack of innovative programming, which state statutes require. Charter schools are privately run, publicly funded organizations. Charter schools operate in privately held real estate assets, which receive public dollars for capital improvements.”

 

 

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Education Industry, Education Reform, Florida

Tennessee: Legislators Propose Closing “Achievement School District”

By dianeravitch
January 21, 2016 //
30

One of the celebrated feats of the corporate reform movement is Tennessee’s Achievement School District. It was launched by then-State Commissioner Kevin Huffman as the way to increase the performance of the state’s lowest performing schools. Huffman recruited Chris Barbic, founder of the Yes Prep charter chain to run ASD. Barbic said that ASD would take the 5% of the state’s lowest performing schools, and in five years, these schools would be in the state’s top 25%.

 

It didn’t happen. Barbic resigned. Gary Rubinstein reviewed state data and learned that the six original schools in the ASD made no improvement. A Vanderbilt study said the same.

 

Now state legislators are introducing legislation  to close the ASD.

 

A number of other states, such as Georgia, are opening their own ASD. What sensible person would use failure as a model?

 

ASD is another setback for corporate reform. None of the reform ideas has succeeded. Their only “achievement ” is to introduce disruption. Nothing good comes of it.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Education Reform, Tennessee

Today the Blog Passed 25 Million Page Views

By dianeravitch
January 20, 2016 //
30

Today the blog passed 25 million page views.
This is a testament to you, the readers. You send me links to news stories in your communities. Sometimes the blog has breaking news and scoops the national media, not because I have great prescience but because you alert me to what is happening in your state or city or community. For example, this blog reported the Flint water scandal at least a week before the national media, and with more context and background. For that news, I thank our Michigan connections, especially Tom Pedroni of Eclectblog. 

The purpose of the blog is to provide a platform where friends of public schools can get informed, make their views known, and discover that they are not alone. Sometimes when I read about the latest assault on public education or teachers, I think our country has gone mad. But I couldn’t keep up the blogging if I thought things were hopeless. I believe that common sense will return to replace the current punitive environment. It will happen because we won’t give up. We will encourage each other, we will discuss and debate tactics and strategy with allies. We will resist. We will not give up.

Diane

Categories Corporate Reform, Education Reform

Emily Talmadge Warns that Gates is Infiltrating Opt Out

By dianeravitch
January 20, 2016 //
22

Emily Talmadge, teacher-blogger in Maine, warns that the long tentacles of Bill Gates are infiltrating the Opt Out movement.

 

 

Why would America’s leading test autocrat join arms with test opponents? Well, it turns out that Gates and his buddies see the end game for the Big Standardized Test. What they are now planning is embedded assessment, where students work online and the instruction and assessments are intertwined and embedded. Testing is no longer a single event but a daily, continuous process.

 

So it makes sense for the technocrats to bury the stand-alone test and usher in the insidious embedded assessment. All-time, nonstop testing, adjusted to every student. Personalized, standardized, individualized, customized, mechanized.

Categories Corporate Reform, Education Reform, Technology, Computers, Testing

Charles Kerchner: Interpreting the LAUSD Vote Against the Broad Takeover

By dianeravitch
January 17, 2016 //
24

Charles Kerchner, a scholar at the Claremont Graduate School in California, has some interesting reflections on the LAUSD vote against the Eli Broad plan to take over half the students in the district. 
He writes to contradict the reformers’ claims that they are above politics. Quoting a paper by pro-reform Paul Hill of the University of Washington and an associate, Kershnernotes that reformers are just as political as unions and others who push back. Although they don’t like to admit it, reformers are an interest group. (I add: their power derives not from numbers but from money.)
He writes:
“The rhetoric of school reform treats portfolio creators as free of political interests in contrast to rapacious teacher unions and self-protecting school administrators. Because they, and the schools they create, are free from politics, they can innovate and adapt rapidly, outpacing the sluggish pace of incremental reforms within traditional school districts…..
“The foundations, philanthropists, and civic elites that Hill and Jochim call “the reformers” want something. They want dominance over public education. They want to rebrand the word public as something other than the delivery of schooling by a government agency called a school district.
“In order to do this, they need to take away resources controlled by that system: jobs held by teachers, access to school building and property, control over the means of training and hiring.
“Placing school reform in this context invites bare-knuckle politics. And that’s what has resulted.
“It’s not about who has the best idea; it’s about who can gather and sustain the most power. As the authors note at the end of the paper, politics is the strong and slow boring of hard boards. It takes time and involves setbacks.
“So, when someone comes to your town with the promise that they can change your failed urban schools, do it quickly, and make an end run around urban politics, don’t believe them.”

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Education Reform

Chiara: Do Reformers Know that Public Schools Exist?

By dianeravitch
January 7, 2016 //
1

Our reader Chiara has often observed that when the charter industry decided to expand in a state or district, the subject of charters dominates public discourse. Even though only 5% of a state’s children are enrolled in charters, the legislature and the media become obsessed with charters. The 95% of children enrolled in public schools disappear. It is as though public schools no longer exist.

In the corporate reform echo chamber, she notes, public schools do not exist, except as places for testing,’z

She wrote recently:

“In “today in the ed reform echo chamber” news, here’s The 74:

Home

“Charters, charter politics, teacher union politics and testing.

“The only time actual, existing public schools are even included is when they’re promoting testing public school students.

“The consistent omission of anything positive or even substantive regarding public schools except for 1. denigration of unions or 2. promotion of testing is really pretty remarkable when you think about it, and it’s like that on all the ed reform sites.

“If you arrived from another country and read only ed reform sites you would believe all US schools are charter schools and the number one priority of US lawmakers is testing.

“It would be okay if this were just a bunch of lobbyists or some fringe political group, but ed reformers dominate DC and most state governments. This echo chamber IS the status quo.”

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Education Reform, Privatization
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