Archives for category: Corporate Reform
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Chalkbeat Colorado Criticizes Pro-Public School Candidate for Using My Words: I Say, It’s OK with Me!

By dianeravitch
October 17, 2015 //
11

This morning, I got a Google alert about a story mentioning me that appeared in Chalkbeat Colorado (funded by Gates and other generous foundations). The story criticized a candidate running for school board because her questionnaire included phrases from me and other anti-corporate reform writers without attributing the quotations.

I thought it odd to single out one candidate for condemnation, when she is running against a well-funded corporate machine that finances its candidates with hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Denver currently has a school board in which all but one member (Arturo Jimenez) was elected to support corporate reform, i.e., high-stakes testing and charters. As Jeannie Kaplan has written on this blog (see here and here), ten years of these “reform” policies have not improved the performance of the District’s neediest students.

I sent a message to the reporter, and he advised me to post it as a comment on the Chalkbeat website. Every time I tried to post, the website said I had already signed up and couldn’t sign up again. No matter how I tried, having signed up without knowing about it, I could not post my comment. So I am sharing it here, and hope that it gets to readers in Denver.

Eric,

I saw your post about Kristi Butkovich this morning.

If she used my words in her campaign for school board, I am very pleased she did. Please tell your readers that I freely grant my permission to quote what I have written, so long as the purpose is to help the people of Denver regain control of their school board from the hedge fund managers and billionaires who have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into recent school board elections. I condemn this attempt to smear Kristi Butkovich with flimsy accusations. She is not writing a book or a doctoral dissertation; if she used my words to explain the hoax that is called “reform,” I thank her and urge her to do it more often. That is the purpose of my blog.

Please quote my words here in full. This is written for publication.

Categories Corporate Reform, Denver

Campbell Brown Calls for Elimination of All Public Schools

By dianeravitch
October 17, 2015 //
127

In a column in the Daily Beast, ex-TV journalist Campbell Brown praised David Cameron of the United Kingdom for his proposal to eliminate all traditional public schools and replace them with private academies. The column was reprinted on her website “The 74.”‘

She writes:

The vision and courage needed to take on the crisis of failing schools has surfaced during our presidential campaign—just not in this country.

Last week, addressing his party for the first time since re-election in May, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron called for an end to the country’s traditional public school system, endorsing instead a nationwide conversion to academies, which are essentially the British equivalent of charter schools—publicly funded, but with greater freedom over what they teach and how they are run.

He also urged current and would-be educators across the U.K.—parents, community groups, social service organizations—to create small new academies known as free schools.

“So my next ambition is this,” Cameron told a nationally televised audience, “five hundred new free schools. Every school an academy…and yes—local authorities running schools a thing of the past.”

She complains that the Presidential candidates in the U.S. have failed to be equally bold in calling for the privatization of all schools.

Americans are being disserved when the campaigns ignore a school system that leaves three-quarters of students unprepared for college in writing, reading, math, and science. The United States soared for most of a century because its schools produced the world’s best labor force, ensuring the dominance of American industry in everything from soap to missiles. In the past few decades, lagging school achievement—especially among our most disadvantaged young people—has led to economic slowdown. By failing to educate these children we threaten our collective livelihood.

Campbell Brown knows nothing about public education. She attended the elite Madeira School. Yet she despises public education and considers herself an expert.

I previously wrote a post with some advice for her, but she ignored it.

She needs to understand that the schools with the highest test scores are the ones that select their students, like the private school her own children attend (which does not administer standardized tests or use the Common Core).

Scores on standardized tests are a reflection of family income and education, as well as the schools’ resources and opportunities.

The lowest test scores are found where there is high poverty and racial segregation.

What she should know, but doesn’t, is that on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the scores of white students, black students, Hispanic students, and Asian students are at their highest point in history.

What she should know, but doesn’t, is that none of the world’s top-performing nations on international tests have privatized their schools. They have instead strived to make them equitable for all children.

What she should know, but doesn’t, is that privatization does not decrease inequality, it increases inequality and segregation.

Note to Campbell Brown: Our public schools are not failing.

Our society is failing to address the root causes of school performance, which are the conditions in which children and families are living, such as their access to good jobs, medical care, food security, and decent housing.

Categories Corporate Reform, Education Reform

Denis Ian: Are We the Dumbest Nation in the World?

By dianeravitch
October 17, 2015 //
36

A reader, Denis Ian, left the following comment, which is a thought that has often occurred to me. If our public schools are as terrible as the reformers say, how did we get to be a great world power? If our kids are as dumb as Arne Duncan says, why does our nation produce so many Nobel Prize winners? Why do reformers sound like they live in a failed state? Why don’t they move to France or Bermuda?

Denis Ian writes:

“If some lonesome alien just floated into this nation … and had only the Common Core pronouncements as a guide … they’d immediately assume that they were now stuck in some bottom-of-the-barrel country populated by a species that was about an inch beyond bacteria on the evolutionary scale.

“This is their tiresome ploy. Failure is all around … and we’re all too, too oblivious to see all of this with our very own eyes … because near-bacteria hasn’t that sort of sophistication. If all of this were true, we’d all be packing our trunks and marching off to blissful lives in Guatemala or Mali or Nepal. I guess we’re too stupid to even move. That must be it, right?

“What’s so stunning to me is the fact that so many of us are still here … and that our miserable, failing nation is the most desired destination on the planet. All of which begs certain questions that are never, ever addressed by the Common Core corps.

“Here’s the real mystery … How has America maintained its premier economic circumstances when we are populated by such uneducated dolts? How is that this nation is ground zero for all sorts of medical innovations … and that people from the Arab world and Asia and Europe zoom here for medical treatment? Oh! And why are our universities the most desired in the world? And can they explain the happy accident why we have the best standard of living the world has ever experienced? Help me out here, will ya?

“How is it that our military is the most technologically advanced? And what explains the fact that we produce enough food-stuffs to feed ourselves … and vast portions of the world? I’m stumped why we’re the first to offer emergency services when disaster strikes around the globe … and folks seem numb to the USA insignia on replacement equipment, food, and supplies. Did I fail to mention the doctors, engineers, and EMT professionals we send as well?

“That’s a lot of very dumb folks doing some miraculous things.

“Now, to our schools. Something’s wrong, alright. Our schools don’t behave according to the Common Core observations. Our public school faculties are some of the most credentialed on the planet.These public schools lay the foundation that has made America the most recognized Nobel prize producing nation of all-time. No country has ever been so inventive as America. None. We lead in medical inventions and innovations … the same for computer technologies … as well as for mechanical innovations of all sorts. Man, those dumb Americans are the luckiest folks the world’s ever seen!

“These failing public schools have produced world-renown playwrights, artists, actors, musicians, vocalists, and authors of all sorts. These dreadful public schools have given rise to admired engineers and architects and urban planners. They’ve yielded ship designers and astronauts … and the vessels they use to speed around space. We accidentally put men on the moon and recently bumped into Pluto. Ooops! Hope that mistake doesn’t happen again! … some folks will be very embarrassed.

“I hate to mention our political maturity, but I have to. I know we’re supposed to be extremely basic thinkers according to those gifted Common Core pushers, but what explains the relative historical, non-violent political experience in America? We don’t lop off the noggins of lousy rulers. We don’t have a coup every other full moon. And we have dozens of nations world-wide that have modeled themselves after our political foundations. We’d better call them with the bad news that we’re not worth emulating. We’re failures.

“Apologies for the over-the-top sarcasm, but lots and lots of very fine people have had their reputations battered by these frauds who premise that American schools are huge disasters. It’s time to get in their faces …

“It’s ironic that even these asinine Common Core critics cannot give credit to the very experience that allowed their fertile minds to crank out such a creative and embellishing litany of lies. What ungrateful failures!”

Categories Common Core, Corporate Reform, Education Industry, Scandals Fraud and Hoaxes

Jon Pelto: Governor Malloy’s Approval Ratings Plummet

By dianeravitch
October 16, 2015 //
9

Jonathan Pelto reports the results of the latest Quinnipiac poll of Connecticut voters. Governor Dannell Malloy’s approval rating has dropped to only 32%. Malloy is known to readers of this blog as a chum of the charter industry and the Connecticut hedge fund managers who love them. Not even the embarrassing implosion of the Jumoke charter chain dimmed his ardor for deregulated, privately managed schools.

From the Quinnipiac University Public Opinion Poll;
Connecticut voters disapprove 58 – 32 percent of the job Gov. Dannel Malloy is doing, his lowest approval rating ever and the lowest score for any governor in the nine states surveyed this year by the independent Quinnipiac University Poll. The governor gets 4-1 negative scores for the way he his handling taxes and the state budget.

“Gov. Dannel Malloy’s job approval rating has plummeted to 32 percent, close to the historic 24 percent low hit by disgraced former Gov. John Rowland in January 2004, and Gov. Malloy is not in the middle of a corruption scandal,” said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD.

“Only 36 percent of voters are satisfied with the way things are going in the state, one of the lowest scores since Quinnipiac University started asking this question in 1997.”

Connecticut is a state with many affluent, well-educated voters. They may remember that Governor Malloy campaigned last year with a promise not to raise taxes or to cut the budget of vital services. 

Pelto writes:

“But after being sworn back into office this past January, Malloy raised taxes, cut vital services and has turned his back on Connecticut’s state employees.

“Even after increasing taxes in the first year of his first term and the first year of his second term, when this present state budget cycle is over on June 30, 2017, Connecticut will be facing a two-year General Fund Budget Deficit of $1.6 Billion … YES, A DEFICIT OF $1.6 BILLION … [A deficit of $927 million in FY 2018 and $831 million in FY 2019.]”

Categories Charter Schools, Connecticut, Corporate Reform, Education Reform, Funding

Corporate Reform Summit in Denver: Critics Are Not Welcome

By dianeravitch
October 16, 2015 //
22

The Foundation for Excellence in Education, the privatization/testing advocacy group founded by Jeb Bush, will hold its national summit in Denver on October 22-23.

Since Jeb stepped down to run for President, Condi Rice is the new leader. You may recall that she became an education expert in 2012 when she led a task force with Joel Klein that declared that American public schools are so dreadful that they are a threat to national security. The cure, they said, was charters, vouchers, and the Common Core.

Please note that if you are a blogger, you must submit samples of your work to prove you love corporate reform: charters, vouchers, school closings, high-stakes testing, merit pay, etc., or you will not be admitted.

The most newsworthy portion of the summit will be the session on “proven strategies” to improve student achievement. Since none of the corporate reform strategies have any evidence to support them, this will be a challenge for those hoping for proof, not ideological blather.

The latest press release:

From: “Foundation for Excellence in Education”

To: gorlewsj@newpaltz.edu
Sent: Thursday, October 8, 2015 10:21:15 AM
Subject: MEDIA ADVISORY: 2015 National Summit on Education Reform hosted by Dr. Condoleezza Rice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 8, 2015 Contact: Press Office
850-391-4090
PressShop@excelined.org

MEDIA ADVISORY: 2015 National Summit on Education Reform hosted by Dr. Condoleezza Rice

On October 22-23, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, 66th U.S. Secretary of State and board chair of the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd) will host the organization’s eighth annual National Summit on Education Reform. Media registration is now open for media wishing to cover the two-day event. Credentials must be requested in advance of the start of the summit.

The nation’s premier annual education forum immerses policymakers in two days of in-depth discussions on proven and innovative strategies to improve student achievement.

The following event is OPEN PRESS:

2015 National Summit on Education Reform

Presented by the Foundation for Excellence in Education
October 22-23, 2015
Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center
650 15th Street
Denver, CO 80202

Credentialing:

All members of the media, including bloggers, who plan to cover the Summit must be credentialed by the Foundation for Excellence in Education. All media must apply for advance credentials online via the Media Registration Form by Monday October 19 COB. Advance registration is strongly encouraged as space is limited and onsite registration may be subject to delays.

To apply for media credentials, please complete the Media Registration Form.

As the Foundation is sensitive to the need to make travel plans, notification of credential approval will be made via email within one week of receiving the requested information.

Specific credentialing requirements exist for freelance writers and bloggers. In addition to completing the online form, as soon as possible please email the following information to

PressShop@ExcelinEd.org:

Freelance Writers: Freelance writers wishing to cover the Summit must submit a letter of assignment or letter of intent from the media outlet being represented.

Bloggers: Bloggers wishing to receive credentials must have regular posts about education and policy issues, and other related news, and have a significant following. Proof of coverage may be provided in the following form: a URL to your site’s main page as well as a link to a bylined article posted within the last few months.

Check-In:

For planning purposes, media check-in will open on Thursday, October 22 and Friday, October 23 at 7:00 a.m. and continue throughout the day, both days of the conference.

Upon check-in at the event, approved media will be asked to present a current year news media credential in conjunction with a government-issued photo ID, such as a valid state driver’s license or passport. If a current year news media credential is not available, a valid business card in conjunction with a government-issued photo ID, such as a valid state driver’s license or passport, may be accepted.

Previous accreditation to Foundation for Excellence in Education events does not guarantee the issuance of media or blogger credentials for the 2015 National Summit on Education Reform.

The Foundation for Excellence in Education, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to withhold press credentials from members of the news media, limit the number of credentials assigned to any news organization and revoke credentials from members of the news media before or during the event for any reason. Acceptance of press credentials constitutes agreement by the bearer and his/her organization to abide by any terms set forth by the Foundation for Excellence in Education.

Access:

As in years past, media credentials must be worn at all times in order to gain access to designated press areas to cover the conference sessions.

The Media Filing center will be available to all credentialed media on a first come, first serve basis, during operating hours for the entirety of the two-day Summit. Other designated press areas will be accessible based on Summit agenda.

Coverage:

Members of the media are welcome to cover the conference, including keynote, general and strategy sessions from designated press areas. Participation in Q&A segments is reserved for registered attendees of the event.

A live feed of the general and keynote sessions will be available in the Media Filing Center. Additionally, there will be closed-circuit televisions and mult boxes for access to clean audio feeds of the general and keynote sessions.

Technical Details:

Complimentary internet access will be provided in the Media Filing Center and ballroom. Please note that this network will be available to all members of the media, which may cause a high volume of traffic at times.

A live webcast of the general and keynote sessions will also be available. Details are forthcoming. News organizations may live stream the Summit in its entirety, upload video content to websites and/or archive footage.

Agenda & Speakers:

The week of the Summit, a full itinerary of the conference events, as well as technical and logistical specifications for media, will be distributed to registered and confirmed media outlets and bloggers.

In the meantime, a complete list of speakers featured during the 2015 summit and a full agenda for the two-day event may be found at ExcelinEd.org/National-Summit/2015-Agenda.

Confirmed media will receive access to the official #EIE15 app accessible via smartphone or tablet, offering real-time updates on speakers, the agenda and strategy sessions.

Join the Conversation:

Follow #EIE15 and @ExcelinEd on Twitter for the latest news and updates regarding the 2015 Summit.

Special Requests:

Once approved, credentialed media may alert us of any special coverage needs or requests, including but not limited to the following topics, and we will do our best to accommodate:

If you would like to pre-arrange an interview with one of the speakers in advance of or during the Summit;
If you need to request private interview space for a specific and consolidated time period;

If you are interested in covering the event live, plan to park a satellite truck onsite and/or have questions regarding cable runs; and

If you are a network or cable and wish to attend the technical walk-through;
In some cases, specific deadlines apply. Space is limited.

Thank you for your interest in covering the Foundation for Excellence in Education’s eighth annual National Summit on Education Reform. We hope to see you in Denver.

###

For more information visit http://www.ExcelinEd.org.

The Foundation for Excellence in Education is transforming education for the 21st century economy by working with lawmakers, policymakers, educators and parents to advance education reform across America. ExcelinEd is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. In 2014, ExcelinEd received more than 85 percent of its operating revenue from private family foundations. Learn more at ExcelinEd.org.

CONTACT US
P.O. Box 10691
Tallahassee, Florida
32302-2691
850-391-4090
info@excelined.org

Categories Charter Schools, Closing schools, Corporate Reform, Denver, Education Industry, For-Profit, Scandals Fraud and Hoaxes

Jeanne Kaplan: Charter Schools Are Not Public Schools

By dianeravitch
October 15, 2015 //
30

As you may or may not recall, I posted Jeannie Kaplan’s assertion that reform in Denver is failing, has failed, and is unwilling to change its course.

In response to her post, Mike Petrilli wrote an email to challenge Jeannie’s claims. I included Jeannie in my response, and the ensuing conversation was interesting enough, I thought, to share with all of you. Of course, I asked for and received the permission of both Mike and Jeannie.

Jeannie here reports what she learned at a meeting of the League of Women Voters, which reinforced her views.

“Reformers” are hypocrites because they have developed an educational system most would never subject their own children to;

“Charter schools (and there is little difference between for profit charters and charters run by private charter management organizations which include most of Denver’s charters) are not public schools and “reformers” who keep saying that are naive or misinformed or worse.”

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Denver, Equity

Detroit Now Scrutinizing Byrd-Bennett Contracts

By dianeravitch
October 14, 2015 //
8

The Detroit News reports that investigators are reviewing contracts made during Barbara Byrd-Bennett’s time as chief academic auditor for the Detroit public schools under Robert Bobb.

“Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who was the chief academic and accountability auditor for DPS from 2009-11, was convicted of one count of fraud in federal court. Federal authorities alleged that as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, she steered $23 million in no-bid contracts to two education firms in return for $2.3 million in bribes and kickbacks.

“One of those firms, Synesi Associates LLC, which trains principals and school administrators, was awarded contracts with DPS while Byrd-Bennett was working for the district, according to records posted on the DPS’ website….

“According to six-month expenditure reports from May and November 2011, DPS paid $1,487,654.08 to Synesi for “Consultant Services/Curriculum/Office of Accountability.”

“The report from November 2011 also lists an invoice of $128,698.77 to Synesi as “disapproved.”
In a statement Tuesday, a DPS spokeswoman said the district is cooperating with authorities.”

“

Categories Chicago, Corporate Reform, Detroit, For-Profit, Scandals Fraud and Hoaxes

Journalists: Ask The Candidates These Questions

By dianeravitch
October 13, 2015 //
9

The Network for Public Education created a list of questions that journalists should ask the candidates. In this post on Salon.com, I explained NPE’s agenda to improve our public schools and to repel the corporate assault on them.

K-12 education issues, of huge importance to the future of our nation, were almost completely ignored in 2012. They should not be overlooked in 2016 because the very existence of public education is under attack. Billionaires hope to privatize urban districts, then move into the suburbs and elsewhere.

For those of us who believe that public education is a public responsibility, the time to become active is now.

We oppose the status quo of testing and privatization. We seek far better schools, equitable and well-resourced, where creativity and imagination are prized, not test scores. We seek equality of educational opportunity, not competition for scarce dollars.

Please join the Network for Public Education and help us build a new vision of education for each child.

Categories Charter Schools, Closing schools, Corporate Reform, Data and Data Mining, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Politics, Privatization, Scandals Fraud and Hoaxes, School Choice, Standardized Testing, Vouchers

Chicago: More Barbara Byrd-Bennett Contracts Investigated

By dianeravitch
October 13, 2015 //
15

Barbara Byrd-Bennett, former CEO of the Chicago public schools, is expected to plead guilty to charges of taking a kickback from a $23 million contract to a company she once worked for. Now, other contracts are under scrutiny, including a contract to a company owned by Robert Bobb, former leader of the Educational Achievement Authority in Detroit.

““Chicago Tonight” has learned of a probe into another contract where a firm with ties to Byrd-Bennett received CPS business. This as Byrd-Bennett is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to charges that she steered $23 million in CPS money to SUPES Academy and Synesi Associates in exchange for bribes and kickbacks.

“The arrangement in question: a $31 million contract to help CPS manage the controversial closing and consolidation of 50 schools that took place two years ago. It’s under scrutiny, “Chicago Tonight” has learned, because of ties between former CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and one of the companies that received that business.

“A company called Global Workplace Solutions won the $30.9 million bid to help close the schools. The duties involved relocating records, removing contents, furnishings and equipment from the closed schools, and then securing the closed schools. A portion of the business was subcontracted to a company called The Robert Bobb Group, a company run by Robert Bobb, the former Emergency Financial Manager for Detroit Public Schools. Bobb hired Byrd-Bennett in Detroit in 2009 as Chief Academic Auditor and paid her a salary of $18,000 per month.”

Categories Chicago, Corporate Reform, Emanuel, Rahm, Scandals Fraud and Hoaxes

Schneider: When the Billionaires Bought the Louisiana State Board of Education

By dianeravitch
October 13, 2015 //
2

Mercedes Schneider, author, master blogger and high school teacher in Louisiana, writes here about a new video that will be screened across the state.

She writes:

“The 28-minute video near the end of this post, 2011: When the Billionaires Bought BESE, was produced by Louisiana journalist Mike Stagg.

“It is the edited-for-television version of his video research on the 2011 state board of education (BESE) elections in Louisiana– a BESE election in which an unprecedented amount of out-of-state cash flowed into Louisiana in order to advance a test-score-obsessed, corporate education reform agenda.”

She adds:

“It’s 2015, and the out-of-state money continues to flow, with California billionaire Eli Broad donating $250,000, and Arkansas billionaires, Alice and Jim Walton, contributing $400,000.

“The election is October 24, 2015, with early voting starting Saturday, October 10:”

Will the voters of Louisiana reject the out-of-state billionaires’ attempt to buy control of their public schools?

Categories Corporate Reform, Louisiana
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