Archives for category: Corporate Reformers
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VICTORY in Nashville! Pro-Charter Candidates Defeated, Despite “Reformer” $$$

By dianeravitch
August 5, 2016 //
22

Great news from Nashville!

All four incumbents on the Metro Nashville school board won re-election. They were opposed by well-funded charter advocates.

The corporate reform group Stand for Children funneled $200,000 into the Nashville contest to try to defeat the pro-public school incumbents.

Across Tennessee, the corporate reform candidates fared poorly, despite SFC’s $700,000 of dark money.

“More than $750,000 buys plenty of campaign mailers and advertisements. But it doesn’t necessarily buy election wins.

“Stand For Children, an education advocacy organization, found that out the hard way Thursday night. After spending a small fortune, all four candidates it backed in the Metro Nashville school board election and a handful of state GOP primary challengers lost their races.

“I think Nashville has become a model of how you defeat an obscene amount of dark money in local school board elections. At the end of the day, there’s a certain sanctity between public school parents and their locally elected school board. And it’s not for sale to the highest bidder,” said Jamie Hollin, a former Metro councilman and political operative.

“Noting he’s a proud public school parent, Hollin added, “I am particularly proud to put the nail in the coffin of the charter school movement in Nashville.”

“Stand for Children, which advocates for charter schools as well as prekindergarten programming and other education issues, financially supported 10 school board or statehouse candidates in the primary, specifically spending more than $200,000 on school board races. Only one who faced an incumbent won: Sam Whitson easily defeated embattled Rep. Jeremy Durham, who had suspended his re-election campaign after an attorney general investigation detailed allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct by Durham against 22 women.

“Metro school board incumbents Will Pinkston, Amy Frogge and Jill Speering defeated their Stand for Children-backed opponents, Jackson Miller, Thom Druffel and Jane Grimes Meneely, respectively. Only the Pinkston-Miller race was close, with Pinkston winning by 36 votes. Miranda Christy, the Stand for Children-supported candidate in the race to replace retiring board member Elisa Kim, lost by more than 30 percentage points to newcomer Christina Buggs.”

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Nashville, Privatization, Stand for Children

Delaware: Funny Business in State Auditor’s Office re Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
August 5, 2016 //
7

Blogger Exceptional Delaware smells a rat in the State Auditor’s office. An employee named Kathleen Davies was a tad too eager to audit the charter schools’ finances, especially their petty cash. Davies mysteriously was placed on administrative leave. This is the audit you will never see.

It seems Davies was too diligent. She discovered too much. She had to stop. And she was given an extended vacation to stop her investigations of charter school spending. The deal seems to have backfired since her removal is not exactly a secret.

Bear in mind that Delaware is a very reformy state. It won Race to the Top money and is Gung-ho about all Arne Duncan’s bad ideas. Governor Jack Merkell is one of those governors like Cuomo (NY) and Malloy (CT) who embrace corporate reform. He loves the Common Core and charters.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Common Core, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization

Tennessee Civic Group Seeks Investigation of “Stand for Children” as Conduit for Dark Money

By dianeravitch
August 5, 2016 //
18

The local press in Nashville reported recently that the pro-privatization political outfit called “Stand for Children” had amassed a war chest of $200,000 to fund the campaigns of charter advocates for the Metro Nashville school board. Across the state of Tennessee, the Oregon-based SFC was spending $700,000 in state and local races, apparently to assure Continued Republican dominance of the state.

Yesterday a liberal advocacy group and a Metro Nasville parent asked for an investigation of the ties between SFC and the candidates it supports:

“Consumer rights group Tennessee Citizen Action and a Metro Schools parent plan to file a petition requesting an investigation into potential campaign finance violations involving Stand for Children after questions emerged over whether the group illegally coordinated with pro-charter school candidates.”

SFC is now a money-laundering operation for the plutocrats who hope to eliminate public schools. The hedge fund managers, billionaires, and equity investors are pouring money into key school board races across the country, hoping to undermine democracy–since locals who are committed to public schools are vastly outspent–and to promote privatization.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Nashville, Privatization, Stand for Children, Tennessee

Tom Ultican: Now THIS Is What a Gates-Funded Teacher Conference Looks Like!

By dianeravitch
August 4, 2016 //
20

Since I posted this without the link yesterday, I am re-posting so readers have the opportunity to read Tom’s post in full.

Tom Ultican, a teacher of high school math and physics in San Diego, accepted an invitation to attend a Gates-funded conference for teachers last week. Having attended the bare-bones Network for Public Education, Ultican immediately spotted the differences in meals, facilities, staff, and other provisions.

He writes:

“On Friday, July 29, National University hosted the San Diego “Better Together California Teacher’s Summit.” I like National University and have nothing but praise for the wonderful job Dr. Judy Mantel and her excellent staff did. However, the conference underwriter was the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. That gave the proceedings a darker hue.

“During the 2016 NPE conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, Diane Ravitch mentioned how much easier it would be if we got a deep pocket sponsor for our movement, but she jokingly lamented that Anthony Cody would not stand for it. When I arrived at the Town and Country Convention Center in San Diego’s hotel circle, I saw what she meant. They had breakfast prepared for all 700 of us. The ballroom was plushly appointed and there appeared to be hotel staff everywhere. Twenty event staff were already on duty when I arrived.”

“Unfortunately, I had not read the agenda closely enough and had already eaten. I was only hoping for free coffee.”

Actually, I would be very happy to find a non-conformist billionaire or two to help NPE fight for public education and the public interest. Where Anthony and I disagreed publicly was on the wisdom of accepting corporate sponsorship. I would gladly take money from corporations to help us out and sponsor our conference. Anthony would not. Since we operate by consensus, NPE has no corporate sponsors and a tiny budget.

Not so with the conference, Tom Ultican attended. Common Core and testing were mentioned often and positively.

“Better TogetherVideo link connected us with a simultaneous event being held at California State University, Fullerton. Three massive screens projected keynote speaker, Ernie Hudson who was in Fullerton. Besides being a popular actor, Hudson is a wonderful speaker. His speech was moving and entertaining.

“However, I wondered if an accomplished professional educator speaking would have been more appropriate. For example, I will never forget the address Professor Yong Zhao gave at NPE Chicago but then he didn’t blame teachers for his son’s problems and he doesn’t support standards based testing. Hard to imagine Gates’ money being spent on a speaker that does not support Gates’ ideology.

“The Sponsors

“The money came mainly from the Gates Foundation, however, the official sponsors were AICCU, the California State University and the New Teacher Center. The sponsors page of the Better Together California web presence lists many corporate supports including: TFA, The S.D. Bechtel Foundation, the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the California Charter Schools Association, Chevron….

“The New Teachers Center seemed to be the key organization overall in charge. Their funders page lists the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as $10,000,000 plus patrons. Thirty listed entities are credited with donating between $1,000,000 and $9,999,999 including: Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Joyce Foundation; The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; SeaChange Capital Partners; The Goldman Sachs Foundation; Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust; National Education Association; and NewSchools Venture Fund.

“In addition to New Teacher’s Foundation, Edcamp was another major force present at the summit. Started by the George Lucas Foundation Edcamp has a small presence in communities across the country. There are two Edcamp groups in San Diego County according to the Edcamp representative from Baltimore.

“On his Edutopia internet page Lucas is quoted, “When I was in high school, I felt like I was in a vacuum, biding time. I was curious, but bored. It was not an atmosphere conducive to learning. Once I had the means to effect change in this arena, it became my passion to do so.” Sounds like another rich guy education “expert” with no training or experience, but he has a boat load of money so his opinion is important.

“On the good side, Edutopia and George Lucas do not appear to have a pecuniary interests in privatizing public education.

“I realize many people may wonder why I am not pleased that all of these rich people love kids so much. There is an insidious side. For example, instead of questioning the idea of adding engineering standards to basic science education, the conversation is shaped so all we discuss is how to best implement engineering principles into science education.

“Before students reach approximately their junior year in college, they are not ready to study engineering. I am for shop class, cooking and pottery projects, but these are not engineering. There is no useful purpose in confusing teachers and students by larding a bunch of inappropriate engineering standers onto seventh graders. Unfortunately, there appears to be no room for dialog that does not support the philosophy of the wealthy CEO that demanded engineering standards.”

You will enjoy Tom’s reflections on this high-powered gathering. I would love to know what the budget was.

Categories Common Core, Corporate Reformers, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Privatization, Testing

Dark Money in Massachusetts Promotes Privatization of Public Schools

By dianeravitch
August 4, 2016 //
12

If you have ever wondered why so many elected officials support the privatization of public schools, there is a simple answer: Follow the money.

In state after state, hedge fund managers and other elites have decided that public schools must be privatized, and they have millions to back up their whims and hobbies.

Maurice Cunningham, professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, has researched the dark money flowing into the school privatization movement in Massachusetts. It is an appalling story of a wealthy elite using their money to undermine democracy and to steal public Schools from the community that paid for them.

Millions of dollars have been funneled to Teach for America, Stand for Children, Education Reform Now (the political action arm of Democrats for Education Reform), Families for Excellent Schools, and other corporate reformers whose goal is privatization.

Watch the wealthy try to buy democracy. Watch to see if the public wakes up and fights back.

Categories Billionaires, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Massachusetts, Privatization

EduShyster: A Close Reading of Doug Lemov’s “Teach Like a Champion”

By dianeravitch
August 4, 2016 //
11

EduShyster hosts a guest blogger, Layla Treuhaft-Ali, who demonstrates the results of a close reading of Doug Lemov’s “Teach Like a Champion,” which is required reading in no-excuses charter schools. EduShyster calls it “Teach like It’s 1895.”

She writes:

“The book, and its teaching techniques, looms large for any teacher who works in an urban school. Not only has the TLC model of teaching become a fixture of most *high-performing* charter school networks, but it is increasingly making its way into urban school districts as well. And that’s just the start. Teach Like a Champion’s approach also underlies broad efforts to transform the way teachers are educated, forming the *backbone of instruction* at an expanding number of charter-school-owned teacher education centers like Relay Graduate School of Education and Match’s Sposato School of Education.

”
Teach Like A Champion advertises 49 discrete techniques that teachers can master to raise student achievement and help increase their students’ college readiness, with a strong emphasis on classroom culture and shaping student behavior, down to the most minute actions. As I was reading Teach Like A Champion, I observed something that shocked me. The pedagogical model espoused by Lemov is disturbingly similar to one that was established almost a century ago for the express purpose of maintaining racial hierarchy. Like Teach Like a Champion, this initiative was implemented largely through teacher education and funded and directed entirely by wealthy white businessmen and industrial philanthropists.”

She discovered that Lemov’s teaching philosophy was strikingly similar to the pedagogy of places like the Hampton Institute, where black students were taught to be docile and obedient in preparation for their subservient lives.

“Today, largely white philanthropists pour money into charter schools that place a high value on order, efficiency and discipline, serving children who are almost entirely Black and Latino/a. These wealthy elites are increasingly invested in teacher-training and pedagogy as a means of enacting their vision for minority children. Most disturbingly, this vision heavily emphasizes behavioral norms that are eerily similar to those used a century ago to preserve social hierarchy and prevent students from challenging injustices done to them by the powerful. Every detail of students’ behavior is scrutinized and corrected, even that which would seem to have little to do with children’s academic performance.”

Conformity, docility, obedience. Teach like it’s 1895.

Categories Billionaires, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Privatization

Andrea Gabor: Will Massachusetts Learn from Michigan’s Disaster with Charters?

By dianeravitch
August 3, 2016 //
20

https://andreagabor.com/remote-login.php?login=99995c3631b250a1e88a2a361708c854&id=17217480&u=4b02cca4a9dd7cab56c5a57171d726e0&h=

Massachusetts is considering lifting the cap on charter schools. This move is being pressed by Republican Governor Charlie Baker and the usual gang of hedge fund managers, entrepreneurs, and free-market ideologues.

Public school parents are rightfully alarmed. Massachusetts is renowned for having the best schools in the nation. It is the birthplace of public education. This is where Horace Mann, as the state’s first Secretary of Education, persuaded his fellow citizens that the entire community would benefit by supporting the education of the young in common schools.

Now, almost 200 years later, a coterie of faux reformers want to destroy the great public school system that Horace Mann built and that millions of taxpayers have sustained. These so-called reformers believe that Horace Mann was wrong. They want taxpayers to fund privately managed schools, chain schools run by corporate entities.

Andrea Gabor, professor of business journalism at Baruch College of the City University of New York, writes here that Massachusetts should learn from the “calamity” caused by charter school expansion in Michigan.

She analyzes a study by David Arsen of Michigan State University that shows how the growth of charters affects the remaining public schools. (Jennifer Berkshire, who blogs as EduShyster, interviewed Arsen about his study, which is cited by Gabor.)

The charter landscape in Detroit is so bad it makes New Orleans, which has the largest concentration of charters in the country and, a decade after Hurricane Katrina, more than a few growing pains—see here and here and here and here look like a well oiled machine. While there is little transparency or regulation in either city, Detroit has so many charter authorizers that when a school’s charter is revoked for poor quality—as has often happened—they need only go shopping for a new authorizer; New Orleans, by contrast, has had only two main authorizers.

Arsen’s study, which looked at every school district in Michigan with at least 100 students and followed them for nearly two decades, found “that 80 percent of the explained variation in district fiscal stress is due to changes in districts’ state funding, to enrollment changes including those associated with school choice policies, and to the enrollment of high-cost, special education students.”

To put it simply, Arsen told Berkshire: We found that, overwhelmingly, the biggest financial impact on school districts was the result of declining enrollment and revenue loss, especially where school choice and charters are most prevalent.”

Arsen points out that Michigan has one of the most “highly centralized school finance systems” in the country. “[T]he state sets per pupil funding levels for each district, and most operating revenues follow students when they move among districts or charter schools. Districts have very limited authority to raise additional tax revenues for school operations from local sources.” Consequently, when enrollments decline, either because families move out of the district or put their children in charter schools, local authorities have little choice but to reduce spending.

Arsens study….shows that the impact of this funding formula hits the mostly African-American central cities the hardest, with a 46 percent drop in inflation-adjusted school funding revenue between 2002 and 2013.

Bottom line: as charters grow, they suck the resources and the life out of nearby public schools. They are like a parasite that kills its host unless it is contained or removed.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Detroit, Education Industry, Education Reform, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Orleans, Privatization

BREAKING NEWS: ACLU in California Finds Many Charter Schools Break State and Federal Laws

By dianeravitch
August 1, 2016 //
20

Julian Vasquez Heilig reports on his blog that the ACLU in Southern California has released a report finding that 20% or more of the state’s charter schools are breaking state and federal laws.

This is very likely the tip of the iceberg and signals that the state should launch a full investigation of illegal activities in charter schools.

Here is the full report.

Will the state dare to investigate privately managed schools that operate with little or no supervision? Will they dare to cross the state’s most powerful lobby, the California Charter Schools Association?

Categories Accountability, California, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, English Language Learners, Fraud, Privatization, Special Education

St. Louis: An Important Democratic Primary Tomorrow: Vote for Congressman Clay

By dianeravitch
August 1, 2016 //
2

Tomorrow, the people of Missouri will go to the polls in the primary. One important election will take place in St. Louis, where a forceful advocate for privatization is trying to unseat Congressman Lacy Clay.

Pay attention to this race. Read below to learn about his opponent, who has never lost a chance to harm public schools.


St. Louis Schools Watch

Watching the Primary Election

By Susan Turk

July 30, 2016—St. Louis– As you know, there is a well-orchestrated national effort to undermine traditional public schools, school districts and the teaching profession using state legislatures. Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D-University City)is a participant. She describes herself as supporting quality school choice, which is coded speech meaning charter schools and vouchers. She has filed and/or supported legislation for several years now that would harm public education.

During the 2016 session of the legislature Chappelle-Nadal filed SB 764, a bill that would have expanded charter school operation to every provisionally accredited district in the state and in every district in St. Louis and Jackson (Kansas City) counties even fully accredited districts. It also would have expanded the operation of virtual schools. Students in an unaccredited school in any district, even an accredited district could attend virtual schools and students in every district in Jackson County, St. Louis County and St. Louis City could also attend virtual schools whether or not their district was accredited. It allowed students in unaccredited districts and also unaccredited schools in accredited districts to cross district boundaries to attend charter and virtual schools. There is little monitoring of virtual schools. The quality of education they provide is frequently sub par. They offer a choice that can be harmful to children.

The charters could cherry pick the districts in which they would open and require the tuition the state allows that district to charge to out of district students, financially damaging the home district. There are county districts where tuition and revenue per student varies by as much $12,000 per student. Charter school operators do not want to open in Normandy. They know there isn’t enough of a market there to enable a charter school to be financially viable. But if they could open in Clayton or Ladue and import students from other districts, that would be another matter.

The bill also would have required provisionally and unaccredited districts to hold a fire sale of all vacant school buildings in September of 2016 and to auction any that did not sell during that month. That would have stripped districts of their fiduciary responsibility and their ability to sell real estate at the highest prices, maximizing revenue for their students. It also would have stripped districts of capacity to deal with a potential future enrollment increase or need to repurpose buildings due to a fire or other catastrophe. Fortunately, the bill did not get a hearing nor were its provisions amended to other bills. Governor Nixon vetoed bills sponsored by Chappelle-Nadal dealing with inter-district transfer issues 2 years in a row, so the Republican leadership of the legislature has decided to stop sending him legislation on this topic.

In the past Chappelle-Nadal has filed or supported bills that made it easier for students in unaccredited districts to transfer out. The majority of students, approximately three quarters of the students in Normandy and Riverview Gardens, chose to remain in their districts. Those who chose to remain have been robbed of resources by the tuition required from receiving districts which in many cases is higher than the revenue per student received for them. Chappelle-Nadal was fine with that, penalizing the majority of students who chose to remain. The DESE tried to moderate the damaging effects of the transfer law. Chappelle-Nadal, working with Rex Singuefield’s Children’s Education Alliance, encouraged parents to sue school districts if they followed DESE recommendations and barred children from enrolling because of overcrowding. Chappelle-Nadal does not appear to have any concern for those students who have chosen to remain in Riverview and Normandy. She has not advocated for increased resources for them. She appears to think that everyone should leave, not respecting those who choose to remain.

This year she was the only Democrat to vote with Republicans to override the governor’s veto of SB 586. The bill lowered the adequacy target for the foundation formula, the amount of funding required to provide for basic educational needs in our public schools, from $6.700 to $6,100 per student. They did not need her vote for the override. The bill originally passed the senate with all democrats voting for it. There was a carrot in the bill that would fund pre-k for the first time if the legislature ever fully funded the formula, but that was just put there to give legislators cover for voting for it. The other Democrats voted to sustain the governor’s veto, but Chappelle-Nadal has a strict policy of never reversing the way she votes, so she voted with the Republicans to override the veto.

Lowering the adequacy target harms every public school student in the state. The legislature lowered the target because they never fully funded the foundation formula and were tired of having their underfunding of public education pointed out each year. But because of the income tax cut they passed last year it is unlikely they will ever be able to even meet the lowered target. The Republican dominated legislature has shown no interest in improving public education and certainly not in adequately and equitably funding public education.

Chappelle-Nadal has 2 years left in her state senate term but she is challenging 1st district Congressman Lacy Clay in the August 2nd democratic primary. St. Louis Public Schools AFT Local 420 has endorsed Congressman Clay for re-election by the way. The 1st district encompasses the city of St. Louis and most of north St. Louis County.

Oh and last week the 2016 NAACP delegates at the national convention in Cincinnati approved a moratorium on the proliferation of privately managed charter schools.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Missouri, Privatization, St. Louis

Peter Greene: What is “$tand for Children”?

By dianeravitch
August 1, 2016 //
23

Yesterday we learned that billionaires have assembled a fund of $725,000 (so far) to defeat Washington state Supreme Court justice Barbara Madsen. The money is being funneled mostly through a group called “Stand for Children.”

Why are the billionaires eager to oust Judge Madsen? She wrote the 6-3 decision in 2015 that declared that charter schools are not public schools under the Washington state constitution and are not eligible to receive public funding devoted solely to democratically governed public schools. For daring to thwart their insistence on charter schools, the billionaires decided that Judge Madsen had to go.

But what is this group “Stand for Children” that is a willing handmaiden to the whims of billionaires who hate public schools?

Peter Greene explains its origins as a social justice organization some 20 years ago, founded by Jonah Edelman, the son of civil rights icon Marian Wright Edelman and equity advocate Peter Edelman. Josh’s pedigree was impeccable, and Stand for Children started as a new and promising civil rights organization.

But somewhere along the way, SFC took a radical change of course. It began receiving buckets of money from the Gates Foundation and the Walton Foundation. By 2010, Oregon SFC was advocating charters, cybercharters, and a reduction in the capital gains tax. Flush with reformer cash, it became active in many states, opposing unions, supporting charters, removing teacher job security.

Strange.

The apple has fallen very far from the tree.

SFC endorsed the anti-public school, anti-union propaganda film “Waiting for Superman.”

SFC crowed about pushing legislation in Illinois that would cripple the Chicago Teachers Union. It opened a campaign in Massachusetts to reduce teacher tenure and seniority rules, threatening a referendum unless the unions gave concessions. Jonah Edelman boasted at the Aspen Ideas Festival in 2011 about his role in spending millions, hiring the best lobbyists, and defeating the unions.

Be sure to read the 2011 article by Ken Libby and Adam Sanchez called “For or Against Children? The Problematic History of Stand for Children.” They captured the beginning of the transition of the organization to a full-fledged partner of the billionaire reformers.

Old friends, now disillusioned, call Stand for Children “Stand ON Children.”

Greene lists the members of the current board. All corporate reformers and corporatists, not a single educator.

Greed is the root of a lot of evil. It turns good people bad if they can’t resist its lure.

Categories Accountability, Billionaires, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Illinois, Massachusetts, Stand for Children, Teacher Tenure, Unions
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