Archives for category: Discipline
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Students Walk Out at Sacramento Charter High School to Protest Teacher Firings and Arbitrary Policies

By dianeravitch
September 9, 2018 //
23

Students protested at Sacramento Charter High School, operated by St. Hope’s Charter chain, led by former mayor Kevin Johnson and his wife Michelle Rhee. They were angry about Teacher firings over the summer and arbitrary rules, like requiring students to wear long pants when the temperature reached 100.

Charter operators can’t push high school students around as easily as little kids.

Here’s some history about Sacramento Charter High School.

“Founded in 1856, Sacramento High School moved several times. In 1922, construction began at its current location on 34th Street. It opened at this location in 1924 and continuously served the growing neighborhoods of Downtown Sacramento, Midtown, East Sacramento, River Park, College Greens, Tahoe Park and Oak Park until 2003.

“The school was closed by the SCUSD School Board in June 2003, over the objections of many students, parents and teachers. The new charter high school, which opened in September 2003, kept the same school colors, purple and white, and the dragon mascot but not the Visual and Performing Arts Center (VAPAC) which had been one of the school’s unique features for many years. Sacramento Charter High School is governed by a private Board of Directors from St. Hope Public Schools.”

Categories Accountability, California, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Discipline, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization, Resistance, Rhee, Michelle, Students

Newark: Charter School Kicks Out Students for Dress Code Violations

By dianeravitch
September 2, 2018 //
16

The Marion P. Thomas Charter High School kicked out students for minor dress code violations.

Strangely, the story about the expulsions appeared in an Atlanta newspaper, not a New Jersey one.

The students are all African American, as is the staff. It is a segregated school.

“Video uploaded to Facebook shows several Marion P. Thomas Charter High School students hanging out at a public park in their school uniforms after they say they were booted from school over dress code violations. One teen explained he was kicked out simply for having white soles on his shoes…

“It wasn’t just the handful of students at the park who were kicked out, however. Students claim more than half the school was sent home for the alleged violations. Concerned, the man, who describes himself as a youth worker, marched over to the school to confront the staff about their so-called punishment.

“In video of the incident, the man is heard questioning school officials about why so many kids were kicked out into the streets for something so arbitrary as not having a belt or all-black sneakers. A front desk receptionist explains the students were told go home and get the items, and then return to school.

“This is crazy. … Get those things from where? What if they don’t have it?” the man asked. “I’m at the park working with kids, and I see like 50 children walk into the park saying they can’t get into school because they don’t have all-black shoes. I have a problem.”

“That’s saying that because they’re poor, you can treat them like this,” he said of the kids, whom he described as “his scholars.” “You will not do this.”

“Things quickly escalate as the man repeatedly demands to speak to the principal or someone else in charge. He then criticizes school staff, which is all Black, for willingly kicking African-American students out of class over simple dress code violations.

“Y’all are too calm!” he shouts. “It’s all Black people in here and y’all kick Black kids out into the street. What if one of them gets hurt in the park? It’s homeless people sleeping in there. Why are are all these kids in the street?! You are culpable!”

“The man, visibly frustrated, continues asking for who’s in charge of making the dress code policy. That’s when leaders ask him who his scholar is, suggesting he needs to have a child who attends the school in order to make a complaint.“

After the fallout from the video of the incident, the school said it was implementing a new process for dress code violations but did not say what it would be.

Categories Charter Schools, Discipline, Education Reform, New Jersey, Newark

Eva Moskowitz’ High School is “in Chaos”

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2018 //
30

Eva Moskowitz, the Queen of no-excuses charter schools in New York City, has a problem.

Her high school, according to Chalkbeat, is “in chaos.”

Someone leaked a tape recording of her speech to parents at the elaborate graduation ceremony for 16 students.

The school had a mass exodus of teachers and principals.

Eva’s obsession with rules, discipline, and obedience was upsetting everyone.

On a muggy morning in August, Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz stood before a group of parents inside the network’s first high school, trying to regain their trust.

Parents were angry that students were being told they could be held back a grade if they missed four assignments. They were concerned about teachers going too far to enforce the dress code. And they were fearful about an exodus of teachers — as well as an email that said if parents missed a June meeting, Success would “assume your scholar is withdrawing.”

Moskowitz, a fixture in New York City politics who talks about her network of 47 schools with an almost religious fervor, acknowledges that she never planned to run high schools. But Success did open one in 2014 and a second several years later. It hasn’t gone smoothly.

I knew that I was putting it together with bubble gum and Scotch tape,” Moskowitz told the parents, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by Chalkbeat. Of the Success Academy High School of the Liberal Arts in Manhattan, she added, “We’ve been at this for 13 years, and I have never seen a school in our network that has been this disorganized.”

Success Academy, New York City’s largest network of charter schools, graduated its first high school students in June to much fanfare. But behind the scenes, according to nearly two dozen parents, students, and current and former school officials, its first high school spent last year in crisis….

Success Academy is famous for rules.

That was true when the network launched with a kindergarten and first grade in 2006 and remains true now, as Success serves about 17,000 students — mostly students of color.

The schools deploy an at-times controversial “no excuses” approach, with strict discipline and high academic standards. As some other charter schools backed away from out-of-school suspensions in the last few years, Moskowitz has defended them with vigor.

Her schools are also known for their academic rigor, intense test prep, and sky-high state test scores. Their elementary and middle schools regularly blow past city averages on state tests and even beat much wealthier districts like Scarsdale and Chappaqua.

But how should Success’ trademark strictness be adapted for students who are older, more independent, perhaps less inclined to accept big consequences for small infractions? That question has dogged other no-excuses high schools, and Success appears to be struggling to find answers.

For the last three years, the task of figuring that out fell to Andy Malone, a well-liked former Success middle school principal who took over the high school in 2015. (The school’s first principal lasted one year.)

Malone didn’t last either.

Read the rest of the story.

Categories Accountability, Discipline, Harlem Success Academy

Eva Writes a Letter to Parents to Explain 70% Teacher Churn in Her High School

By dianeravitch
July 31, 2018 //
65

Chalkbeat reports that Eva Moskowitz wrote a letter to parents of students in her high school, explaining why 70% of the teachers left in one year.

High expectations are hard on everyone, she says. Draconian punishment is not easy.

But in the end, her methods pay off, she says. Only 33% of KIPP graduates persist to finish college. Of course, we have no idea how many of Eva’s 16 high school graduates will finish college because they graduated only a month ago.

Categories Discipline, Graduation rates, Harlem Success Academy, KIPP Charter Schools

Mercedes Schneider: 70% of Faculty at Eva’s Success Academy High School Leaves in One Year

By dianeravitch
July 26, 2018 //
29

Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy High School for the Liberal Arts may have set a record: 70% of its Faculty left in one year.

Mercedes Schneider cites a story in the Wall Street Journal that says only 20 of 67 staff members will return in the fall. Of course, it’s not yet August, so that number could get worse when school opens.

Some of those who left complained about the “punitive culture.” Or the “rigid discipline” or “harsh policies.” Some first-year teachers quit teaching altogether.

Schneider notes:

“In June 2018, Moskowitz’s high school graduated 16 students, or 22% of the original 73 first graders from 2007.

“Maybe some of the remaining 2007 first graders were moved back a grade midyear (can you imagine??), so maybe, like some of those exiting SA high school teachers, they are technically still tethered to Eva’s World.

“Bright spot, though: At least the percentage of returning SA high school teachers is higher than the percentage of students who made it all the way through from first grade to high school graduation in 2018.”

When you read this, you can see why Eva needs to train her own teachers. Her methods are different from that of other schools. And with this kind of turnover, she must face a perennial teacher shortage.

Categories Accountability, Discipline, Harlem Success Academy, Privatization, Teachers

Chicago: Charter Chain Does Not Permit Girls to Go to Bathroom for Menstrual Emergency

By dianeravitch
May 3, 2018 //
28

 

NPR Illinois has been covering the harsh disciplinary policies at the high-scoring Noble Network of charter schools.

After publishing one piece about “dehumanizing” discipline, NPR learned about another issue. Girls who are bleeding because of their menstrual period and need to go to the bathroom at once must wait for an “escort,” if the incident happens during class. If the escort is late, the girl bleeds on herself. Sometimes they are allowed to tie a sweater around their waist to hide the blood on their trousers, and they won’t get a demerit.

Two teachers persuaded the administration to let girls wear black trousers instead of khaki, to hide the bloodstains.

Would any public school do this to students? Is this inhumane discipline resreserved for low-income students of color in “no-excuses” charter schools?

Be sure to read the comments. Many were posted by people who say they are current or former teachers at the Noble Network.

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Discipline, Education Reform

Chicago’s Noble Network: Teachers Call “No-Excuses” Discipline “Dehumanizing”

By dianeravitch
April 24, 2018 //
28

 

Teachers who worked at Chicago’s leading charter chain spoke out to NPR and described their discomfort with the strict disciplinary code. Some called it “dehumanizing.” 

“The trend toward school choice has educators across the country looking at Chicago’s Noble Charter Schools — an award-winning network of mostly high schools that specializes in helping inner-city kids achieve the kind of SAT scores that propel them into four-year universities. But despite its prestigious reputation, Noble has a peculiarly high teacher turnover rate.

“And some of those teachers are speaking up about policies they describe as “dehumanizing.”

“Noble’s handbook lists more than 20 behaviors that can elicit demerits. The dress code, for example, requires students to wear light khakis, plain black leather belts,

“Kerease Epps, who taught at Noble’s Hansberry College Prep, made sure to arrive by seven o’clock every day to help students with curved lines in their hair avoid punishment.

”“Every morning, I would color in two of my boys’ parts,” she says. ”I had a hefty amount of eyeliner at my desk, so I’d just color in with black or brown eyeliner.”

“Ann Baltzer taught chemistry at Hansberry. When one of her female students showed up with braids that included strands of maroon — the school color — the girl was told she couldn’t attend class. So she asked Baltzer to use a black marker to obliterate the maroon in each braid. The teacher looks back on that as not only unnecessary, but racist.

“To have a system that results in a white woman having to color on a black woman’s hair, and if I don’t, she’s excluded from education, there’s something wrong with that,” Baltzer says…”

Some teachers like the strict discipline and the culture change it promotes.

But turnover among teachers is high, in part because of the culture of the schools.

“It’s a completely dehumanizing system, both for teachers and students,” Baltzer says.

“One of the policies that made her most uncomfortable was demanding “level zero,” or complete silence, in the hallways during passing period, which she says teachers could activate by yelling “hands up.”

“Teachers were applauded if you had the ability to shut down the hallway,” Baltzer says. “We had no awareness that it would be inappropriate to shout ‘hands up’ at a hallway full of black children. And so we had white teachers shouting ‘Hands up’ and kids putting their hands up and going silent. That is insane.”

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Discipline, Education Reform, Privatization

Does Puerto Rico Need “No Excuses” Charter Schools?

By dianeravitch
April 19, 2018 //
51

The link in this post will take you to a discussion that took place in Puerto Rico about the introduction of “no excuses” charter schools. The government has announced that it is closing and privatizing hundreds of public schools. The embedded post was translated from Spanish to English. Sarah Cohodes, a professor at Teachers College in New York, advocates for such charters because of their strict discipline, which she admires. Critics object to such charters because of the strict discipline.

You can read the report here.

My own view, for what it is worth, is that “no excuses” charters were created for poor children and children of color. They are designed to civilize children. They are the educational equivalent of neocolonialism.

Categories Charter Schools, Discipline, Education Reform, Privatization, Puerto Rico

Pennsylvania: Teacher Threatened with Termination for Making Pancakes During Testing

By dianeravitch
April 18, 2018 //
67

 

A middle school social studies teacher in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was threatened with disciplinary action, either suspension or even firing, because he made pancakes for his students while they were taking the state tests. He was suspended without pay for his infraction, although he said he never heard of a rule against cooking pancakes during testing.

But students rallied for the popular teacher, Kyle Byler, and the school board turned on a dime and said he was reinstated. No, no, they never intended to fire him, where did anyone get that crazy idea?

These days, kids seem to have the most finely tuned sense of justice and injustice. The kids are alright. The adults need counseling.

Categories Discipline, Testing

Trump Administration Trying to Blame School Discipline for Parkland Massacre

By dianeravitch
March 20, 2018 //
14

 

Daniel Losen of the UCLA Civil Rights Project warns that the Trump administration is trying to pin the blame for the Parkland massacre on the Obama era school discipline policies, which sought to reduce disparities between white and black students who were punished for misbehavior. Betsy DeVos is supposed to head a commission on school safety, and the Obama era guidelines are sure to be scapegoated, although it is difficult to see any connection between Nikolas Cruz and the controversial guidelines. This maneuver is a distraction, an effort to change the subject from gun control to school discipline.

Losen posted this comment last night:

“Tomorrow the House Judiciary committee will hear from Max Eden who recently joined his pal Michael Knowles in this podcast. https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/27958/ep-117-guns-dont-kill-people-schools-kill-people

“Folks need to realize that some masquerading as researchers are using every opportunity to mischaracterize the joint civil rights guidance on school discipline. The latest salvo distorts and lies about what actually happened in Broward County Florida to suggest is was leniency in school discipline, and a program intentionally trying to reduce the unnecessary arrests of Black youth for misdemeanors that lead to the murder of 17 children. Eden and his friend claim that the policy was for schools not to report such behaviors to the police. In fact the Promise Program never involved the shooter, but does require cooperation with the police and attorney general’s office so that when a non-violent misdemeanor is committed, there are alternatives beside locking up the children. Further, this program came on the heals of Broward county being the second highest in the state for school based arrests. In this interview Eden says he is trying to change the framework from being about guns to being about what he considers to be top down discipline policy. That is also a lie and is obvious to anyone who actually reads the guidance. Part of Eden’s argument is informed by his pro-charter position. He wants no part of civil rights protections for children if it means sacrificing charter autonomy. In this interview he also embraces “no excuses” approaches arguing that their communities “might not be able to give them values…” Eden’s agenda is deeper than the guidance. He is a staunch opponent of the civil rights regulations dating back to the 1960s that made unjust or unjustifiable policies and practices with a disparate impact potentially unlawful because they harmed protected subgroups of children more than others.

“I recently debated Eden before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv_GgG-igBE&t=10624s

“and more recently, debated Michael Petrilli on Education Next journal. Folks should weigh in against stripping children of the civil rights. http://educationnext.org/dont-walk-back-needed-discipline-reform-forum-losen/

“Tomorrow Kristen Harper will be on the panel with Max Eden. It will be life streamed at 10 a.m.”

Categories Betsy DeVos, Discipline, Guns in Schools
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