Archives for category: Education Reform
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Sadness and Tears on Memorial Day

By dianeravitch
May 27, 2019 //
49

Let us pause and remember the men and women who lost their lives while serving in the military.

The older I get, the more I hate war.

I despise those who see war as a political tactic, those who stir up war talk to get votes.

Those who drop bombs and fire missiles to raise their poll numbers are contemptible.

There is evil in the world, for sure.

I saw it when I visited the “killing fields” in Cambodia last year.

There is a high school in Pnomh Penh that was turned into a torture camp by the Pol Pot forces.

The walls of the school are lined with photographs of hundreds and hundreds of men, women, and children, taken just before they were killed. Horrifying.

It is our challenge to be on the side of kindness, justice, charity, love, and forgiveness.

That may be hard. But in a time when so many nations have weapons of mass destruction, we have no choice.

“We must love one another or die.” (W.H. Auden).

He also wrote, in another version of the same poem, “We must love one another and die.”

Both statements are true.

 

 

Categories Education Reform, Evil, Love, Personal

Joe Batory: The American Dream is Alive and Well in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania

By dianeravitch
May 26, 2019 //
23

 

Joe Batory was Superintendent of schools in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. In this article, which is part of his new memoir, he tells about the arrival of a large number of Vietnamese in Upper Darby in the mid-1980s, speaking no English. What they brought with them were strong family values, a deep respect for education, and a keen work ethic.

It was amazing to him to see how quickly they learned English and how well they did in public schools and how eager they were to become productive citizens.

In one story he talks about Minh and her progress.

“Minh was a delicate Vietnamese flower who arrived in Upper Darby as an 8th grader. She spoke no English when she entered the Beverly Hills Middle School. Five years later, in 1995, she was graduated from Upper Darby High School No. 1 in the class academically.

“At that point, Minh had completed more college-level Advanced Placement courses at Upper Darby High School than any previous student in the school’s history. As a result, she was granted status as a junior when she started Penn State University in the pre-med program. Minh graduated magna cum laude from Penn State with a pre-med bachelor’s degree in two years.

“At Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson Medical School, despite being much younger than her peers, Minh ranked near the top academically among all medical students. But she was not No. 1. Minh apologized to me for “her failing” in writing.

“Imagine feeling badly because even though you were an outstanding medical student, you were not No. 1. Minh was truly one of the best achievers and most caring persons I have ever met. She is now a successful doctor.”

For millions of students, the American public school remains the pathto a productive life.

I know that from my own family. My mother arrived from Bessarabia after World War 1 with her mother and sister. She didn’t speak any English. She was nine years old. The family settled in Houston. My mother and her sister went to Houston public schools. Her proudest accomplishment was learning perfect English and her high school diploma. She never went to college. Her family could not afford it. But she always was proud that she was a high school graduate, and she evouraged her children to go to college.

 

Categories Education Reform, Houston, Supporting public schools

Bill Phillis: Our Great American Public Schools Will Prevail

By dianeravitch
May 26, 2019 //
4

A couple of weeks ago, Bill Phillis and I had a public dialogue in Columbus, Ohio. Bill has devoted his life to improving public education for all children. He has fought for equitable and adequate funding. Someone asked him, he said, when he would retire. He said, “When I’m finished. The job is not yet done.” Like me, he believes that the recent and current efforts to privatize public schools is floundering and will fail.

 

School Bus
Privatizers cannot destroy the great public common school system
Super rich folks and foundations have poured billions into the subsidization and promotion of charters, vouchers, education savings accounts, tuition tax credits, state takeover mechanisms and portfolio districts. Federal and state governments, contrary to education provisions in state constitutions, have poured hundreds of billions of dollars into these private ventures that undermine the fiscal and civic integrity of school districts. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has churned out hundreds of anti-public school model bills copied by state legislatures throughout the nation.
But, like Old Glory (our flag), the great American public common school system is surviving and thriving in spite of the bombardment from powers foreign to it. An overwhelming majority of the American people love the common school.
Americans are awakening to the reality that the private alternatives are parasitic on the public system. Citizens are finally pushing back. At the same time, privatizers are ramping up their efforts. They see their cash cows and the subsidization of their private agendas melting away and thus are in a panic mode.
The privatizers can’t win the battle. Most Americans love the great American public common school system.
William L. Phillis | Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding | 614.228.6540| ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net| www.ohiocoalition.org
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Categories Education Reform

Sonoma County Creates Charter to Stop White Flight

By dianeravitch
May 25, 2019 //
36

 

Capitol & Main reports that the Healdsburg school district in Sonoma County in wine country was worried about white flight, so it opened a charter school and put it in the same building with the public school. That’s called co-location.

However, the two schools in the same building have very different demographics.

Taking advantage of California’s co-location rules regarding charters, 266 charter school students share the same campus with the public elementary school’s 323 kids. The two student bodies aren’t exactly similar, however. The public school is 89 percent Latino, while Latinos only account for 36 percent of the charter’s enrollment. The divide vividly extends to learning achievement…

Last year only 23 percent of the public elementary school’s students in grades three to five met or exceeded state math standards, while the figure was 55 percent for Healdsburg Charter kids in the same grades. A full 88.5 percent of the public school students were socioeconomically disadvantaged, compared to just 33.5 percent of the charter school students. And 70.6 percent of public school students were English-language learners, while only 13.7 percent of charter school students were ELLs.

One school mostly for white kids, another mostly for Latino kids. One for the middle-class and affluent, the other for the farmworkers’ children.

Categories Accountability, California, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Inequity, Privatization

Derrick Johnson, President of the NAACP, Responds to the Wall Street Journal About Charters

By dianeravitch
May 25, 2019 //
27

 

The Wall Street Journal is a fierce, unrelenting advocate of privatization. It loves vouchers and charters. It despises public schools and teachers’ unions. It is contemptuous of teachers. It recently published an editorial claiming that members of the NAACP were “in revolt” against the national organization, which has called for a moratorium on charters. The resolution, passed in 2016, was not passed frivolously. It was preceded by the work of a task force that held hearings in seven cities, listening to parents.

Black Lives Matter Organization also called for a charter moratorium at the same time as the NAACP. I mention this because a charter advocate on Twitter belittled the NAACP by saying its members were aging and out of touch. He could not say the same about BLM. Frankly, the fact that the far-right libertarian Wall Street Journal supports charters is reason enough to question the motives behind the charter “movement.” Unlike the civil rights movement, which had a broad base among people of color, the drive for charters is financed by hedge fund managers, equity investors, entrepreneurs, and major corporations. These are not bastions of progressivism. Nor is Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal.

Derrick Johnson, president of the National NAACP, answered the editorial.

He wrote:

Regarding your May 7 editorial “An NAACP Revolt on Charters”: Let us be clear—a quality education should be provided to all children. As we commemorate the 65th anniversary of the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision, we continue to face a legacy problem that can only be fixed if our nation commits to prioritizing education and reforming inadequate and unequal operations that only continue to harm students.

In 2016 the NAACP called for a moratorium on charter-school expansion and for the strengthening of oversight in governance and practice. The charter-school system lacks necessary transparencies and clear accountability, as it siphons off funds from already underresourced school districts. As for public schools, they lack the required support from policy makers to acquire well-paid, quality teachers for students who are most in need, without unnecessary bureaucracy and over-testing.

The NAACP has been a strong supporter of public education and has denounced movements toward privatization that divert public funds to support nonpublic school choices. We have demanded that children and teachers in charter schools have the same civil rights and protections as children and teachers in traditional public schools. We have also demanded that levels of oversight and transparency in charter schools, at a minimum, be comparable to traditional public schools.

Because of this, it is clear that the information in your editorial is not representative of the findings of the LA School Report and policy decisions agreed upon during our annual convention in 2016. The unit resolutions were considered by our national committee and did not pass, therefore our national position is the only position of the association.

It is unconscionable to have children attend any schools—public or private charter—that are inadequately and inequitably equipped to prepare them for the innovative and competitive environment they will face as adults. The U.S. has one of the most unequal school-funding systems of any country in the industrialized world, and education funding has been inadequate and unequal for students of color for decades.

As our nation continues to struggle to fully invest in the quality education, we must remember that this fight is far from over because separate can never be equal.

Derrick Johnson

President, NAACP

Baltimore

Categories Education Reform

Mercedes Schneider: Disillusionment with TFA, In the U.S. and Brazil

By dianeravitch
May 23, 2019 //
2

 

 

Mercedes Schneider discovered an article by a former TFA recruit, Rolf Straubhaar, who now teaches at Texas State University. 

Straubhaar compares the experience of Teach for America in the U.S. and the experience of those who joined the TFA offshoot, called a Teach for All, in Brazil.

The program in Brazil didn’t last long. It folded.

His studies persuaded him that many of the participants in these programs became skeptical of its market orientation.

He wrote:

And yet, perhaps the most interesting legacy of being trained as a teacher through TFA and Ensina!, at least for participants in these two studies, is the effect that training has had on the career plans and ideological perspectives of these teachers. Around half of the TFA teachers interviewed and the vast majority of interviewed Ensina! teachers had come to question the efficacy of the Teach For All model, both as a teacher education program and an education reform initiative intended to address educational inequality. …

The most interesting and thoughtful alums of TFA are those who reject it.

Categories Education Reform, International, Teach for America

Journey For Justice Had a Busy Day

By dianeravitch
May 22, 2019 //
18

Don’t believe the right wingers who claim that  charter schools are supported by Black and Brown people.

Not only did the NAACP, the nation’s most venerable civil rights group, call for a moratorium on charter schools but so did Black Lives Matter.

The Journey for Justice Alliance is a true grassroots civil rights organization. It led demonstrations across the nation today. One of its demands: No more public funds for charter schools, which are a tool of gentrification. J4J knows what matters most: full funding of Title 1 and special education, not privatization and charter schools.

 

May 22 PRESS RELEASE FOR NATIONAL ACTIONS:
We Choose Equity So Fund Our Future! National Day of Action
May 22, 2019

Thousands rally nationwide for education justice on May 22, 2019!

On May 22nd coalitions from 20 cities are uniting forces to hold 11 powerful actions to demand equity and end racial injustice in schools nationwide. As we commemorate the landmark Brown V. Board Decision we will renew our call for an end to the egregious disparities in resources allocated schools serving Black and Brown youth. We will also demand for full funding of Title I and IDEA. The Journey for Justice Alliance will also hold Equity Bus Tours and Forums throughout the country. Many city and statewide coalitions are organizing large rallies with bold actions connected to their local demands for fair funding, sustainable community schools and progressive revenue. Our May 22nd Day of Action will galvanize our communities as we create the momentum to make education a pivotal issue in the 2020 Presidential elections.

May 22nd Calendar

WASHINGTON DC Coalitions: Journey for Justice Alliance (New York, Baltimore, Newark, Camden, Patterson and Pittsburgh), the Alliance for Educational Justice, and the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools

• Actions:

1) Rally at Supreme Court with parents and youth from 6 cities, President Randi Weingarten (AFT) and Sen Chris Van Hollen to commemorate Brown V. Board and a renewed demand for equity
2) Equity Bus Tour in DC’s Wards 7 and 8 to highlight resource disparities in local schools
3) Press Conference at Hart Middle School with US Rep. Susie Lee, Liz Davis and President of the Washington Teachers Union

BIRMINGHAM. Coalition/Organization Name: Citizens for Better Schools and Sustainable Communities
• Action: We Choose Equity Bus Tour
• Demand: Fully Fund, IDEA, Title I and call on federal legislations to implement policies that honor mandate of Brown v. Board

CINCINNATI. Coalition: Cincinnati Educational Justice Coalition
• Action: Protest/Rally in front of campus of new charter school “Regeneration Schools” set to open in August, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Demand: No more public $$ to charter schools. Demand for equity in school funding, including local campaign demands for tax abatement policy changes. ( The proposed charter school is pushed by local deep pockets organized as the Cincinnati Accelerator started as an offshoot of MindTrust in Indianapolis. These people talk about high-quality seats–a dead give away thet the are using test scores and the absurd Ohio report card as a reason to push for a charter. Key players here are a retired banker and the family that owns CINTAS.)

CHICAGO. Coalition: The Grassroots Education Movement and Chicago Teachers Union
• Action: Fair Contract Rally–Keep the Promise: Equity & Funding for our Schools, Students & Community Thompson Center (110 W. Randolph, downtown Chicago)
• Demand: Call for new mayor to agree to a fair contract that improves educator pay & benefits, reduces class sizes and increasing critical staffing needs (ELL and SPED teachers, paraprofessionals, librarians, nurses, counselors, social workers, restorative justice coordinators) Demands include expanding sustainable community schools and increasing affordable housing.

DENVER. Coalition/Organization Name: Breaking Our Chains
• Action: We Choose Equity Bus Tour
• Demand: Fully Fund, IDEA, Title I and call on federal legislations to implement policies that honor mandate of Brown v. Board

DALLAS. Coalition/Organization Name: Texas Organizing Project
• Action: We Choose Equity Bus Tour
• Demand: Fully Fund, IDEA, Title I and call on federal legislations to implement policies that honor mandate of Brown v. Board

BATON ROUGE. Coalition/Organization Name: Step Up Louisiana, LAE
• Action: Rally and Press Conference regarding harm done by charters and their lack of accountability (due to ‘autonomy’ given by state laws)
• Demands: Stop the proliferation of charters and a fair plan to address budget deficit

HOUSTON. Coalition/Organization Name: Save Our School Houston and Texas Organizing Project
• Action: Rally and Protest
• Demand: End Punitive dress code policies that police parents of color and prevent their engagement in school activities

JACKSON. Coalition/Organization Name: IDEA and One Voice
• Action: Forum on School to Prison Pipeline and Education Equity
• Demand: End Punitive tactics to police our children

PEORIA. Coalition: Peoria’s People Project
• Action: Organizing for Racial Equity in Education Training co-sponsored by the NAACP
• Demand: Full funding of Title I and IDEA

SACRAMENTO + (Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and Sacramento) Coalitions: Oakland Public Education Network, Reclaim Our Schools LA, Close the Gap, Oakland Education Association, UTLA, United Educators of San Francisco, San Francisco Families Union, Coleman Advocates, California Teachers Association and California Federation of Teachers
• Action: We Choose Equity Bus Tour & Coalitions will unite at a rally of 1,000 people in Sacramento (Rotunda of State Capitol)
• Demand: The statewide coalition is calling on legislators to support legislation for fair school funding and bills aimed at ending school privatization. They are also demanding full funding of Title I and IDEA and the fulfillment of the mandate to honor Brown V. Board decision.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Civil Rights, Education Industry, Education Reform, Funding, Privatization, Resistance

Los Angeles: At First Meeting, Jackie Goldberg Changes Board Dynamics by Challenging Co-Location of Charters

By dianeravitch
May 22, 2019 //
16

 

Jackie Goldberg was sworn in to her new office as representative for District 5 on the Los Angeles school board, and she hit the ground running. 

She criticized co-locations, when charters take space in an existing public school, especially when charters are given preferential treatment.

Goldberg’s concerns arose minutes after the board began moving through its agenda. The item was $16 million to prepare space for charters operating on up to 79 district campuses. In all, about 11% of campuses host charters, according to the California Charter Schools Assn. Charters enroll nearly one in five district students.

Goldberg noticed that some of the money would pay for computers and wanted to know if the host school would have comparable technology.

“I have a school that lost its computer lab and the charter school went in there and put in a computer lab,” which it used to recruit students, Goldberg said during the meeting. “That’s crazy.”

Goldberg declined to name the school.

Another board member, George McKenna, raised similar points. And board member Richard Vladovic asserted that this sharing of campuses is “real bad for kids.”

More surprising were comments from two board members elected with substantial support from charter backers.

Nick Melvoin said it was difficult for staff and families at a district-run school to see a charter move in with fresh paint and new furniture on only the charter portion of the campus. He suggested that both parts of the campus should get upgrades…

Goldberg also raised questions about district bond funds being used to help build new facilities for charter schools when declining enrollment was already resulting in empty seats at both traditional and charter schools…

Even before Goldberg could get to it, staff withdrew a third charter school grant from consideration — at least for Tuesday.

Her supporters were thrilled.

“OMG,” texted parent activist Sara Roos. “It’s electric in here.”

The public schools, which enroll 80% of the district’s children, have a forceful advocate on the board.

Categories Accountability, Education Industry, Education Reform, Funding, Los Angeles, Privatization

Nikhil Goyal: Bernie’s Plan for Public Schools

By dianeravitch
May 22, 2019 //
23

 

Nikhil Goyal, a graduate student and veteran activist for public schools, is deeply impressed by Senator Bernie Sanders’ ambitious and sweeping plan to pour billions into the schools and to protect public schools from privatization pirates. 

Writing in “The Nation,” Goyal describes Sanders’ plan as “the most progressive education platform in modern American history.”

As a historian, I would drop the adjective “modern.”  No President or Presidential candidate has offered a proposal so bold and sweeping, which directly addresses the fiscal starving of American public education at the same time that the federal government  got into the business of regulating, mandating, and controlling the nation’s schools and classrooms.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Reform, For-Profit, Funding, Privatization

Jennifer Berkshire: When Cory Booker Helped DeVos’s Voucher Referendum in Michigan

By dianeravitch
May 22, 2019 //
6

This is a stunner.

Jennifer Berkshire writes in The New Republic that Cory Booker flew to Michigan in 2000 to help promote vouchers, at the request of Betsy and Dick DeVos. They put a referendum on the state ballot to change the Constitution to allow vouchers. They asked for Booker’s help, and they got it.

Booker was a young Newark city councilor when Dick and Betsy DeVos brought him to Michigan to play pitchman for Proposal 1, a 2000 ballot question that would have made private school vouchers a right enshrined in the state constitution and competency testing mandatory for Michigan’s teachers.

The referendum went down to a crushing defeat, by a vote of 69-31.

When DeVos was nominated by Trump to be Secretary of Education, Booker feigned outrage and voted against her.

Berkshire, in her inimitable style, reviews Booker’s role as a champion of school choice and an ally of Betsy DeVos.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Education Reform, Michigan, Vouchers
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