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Jamaal Bowman: The Mis-Education of Shavar Jeffries and DFER

By dianeravitch
May 12, 2016 //
8

 

Jamaal A. Bowman is principal of a middle school in the Bronx in New York City. He knows the needs of his students, and he knows that none of their needs is addressed by annual testing. Thus he takes issue with Shavar Jeffries, the executive director of the pro-charter, pro-testing group called Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) and Education Reform Now (ERN).

 

Bowman notes that Jeffries is sure about what to do to reform education but he never taught school.

 

“What is most damaging about our test and punish system and why Jefferies’ support is baffling, is our continued overemphasis on English Language Arts and Mathematics. As a result, Science, the arts, project based learning, and Montessori classrooms have all been reduced or removed from the public school curriculum. Consequently, aesthetic learning, and other essential skills needed to truly compete in a “21st century global economy” have been greatly compromised.

 

“Again, Mr. Jeffries has never taught a day in his life. If he had he might argue for the importance of early childhood programs in low-income communities. He would know that proficiency on standardized tests in grades 3-8 does not contribute to nor correlate with college success. He might also argue for portfolio-based assessments that facilitate deeper learning and better align with the collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking skills required for college and career success. In the future, I would encourage Mr. Jeffries to speak with real educators on the ground in district public schools. We work with children every day. We can tell him what needs to be done for our children and communities. Annual testing is not even on the list.

 

“We must have real conversations about the most important factor to learning in our schools —teachers and teaching. Let us design a school system anchored in multiple intelligences that nurture the innate brilliance and joy for learning in every child. Let us work together to advocate for a truly individualized, Whole Child approach to schooling. Our goal must be to ensure the health, prosperity, and happiness of every single child, so that we can fulfill the promise of our democracy. Mr. Jefferies and his colleagues at DFER, if they truly want what’s best for our public schools, must expand their thinking about life, learning, and most of all, children.”

Categories Civil Rights, Democrats for Education Reform, Education Reform, Testing

Don’t Believe the New York Times’ Editorial about Remediation

By dianeravitch
May 12, 2016 //
71

Yesterday the New York Times published a bizarre editorial about remedial classes in college.

 

The editorial says that former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was right when he said that the students who opt out are poorly educated, and their parents are “white suburban moms” who were disappointed to discover that their children aren’t so smart after all. Duncan always liked to say that America’s children had been “dummied down,” and no one was willing to tell the unpleasant truth but him.

 

The Times‘ editorial said that large numbers of suburban students need remediation when they get to college. This conclusion, it said, was based on a study by an advocacy group called Education Reform Now.

 

The editorial referred to Education Reform Now as a “nonprofit think tank.” ERN is nonprofit but it is certainly not a think tank. ERN is the nonprofit (c3) arm of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), the organization of hedge fund managers that loves charter schools, high-stakes testing, and Common Core. It has a vested interest in saying that American public schools are failing, failing, failing so as to spur its campaign to privatize public education.

 

ERN sponsors “Camp Philos,” an annual affair where important political figures meet in the woods with hedge fund managers to figure out how to reform public schools that none of them ever sent their own children to. In 2014, its star education reformer was Governor Cuomo. At its 2015 meeting on Martha’s Vineyard, Mayor Rahm Emanuel was a keynote speaker, sharing his knowledge of how to reform public education by closing public schools en masse.

 

The staff director of ERN is Shavar Jeffries, who ran for mayor of Newark and lost to Ras Baraka. Jeffries was supported by DFER, which hired him after his loss.

 

Consider the board of directors. Every one of them is from Wall Street.

 

The authors of the report are staff members at ERN who come from public policy backgrounds.

 

Curiously, the editorial has a link to the words “Education Department,” but no link to the ERN policy brief.

 

The New York Times‘ editorial board has been a tireless advocate for the Common Core and for high-stakes testing. It has been a reliable cheerleader for the corporate reform. Its editorials show little understanding of the opt out movement or of the opposition to the Common Core standards. It is sad that the nation’s most prestigious newspaper so consistently distorts important education issues. It must be very distressing to the Times’ editorial board that the New York Board of Regents is now led by an experienced educator who does not share their zeal to tear down the nation’s public schools and abet privatization.

 

 

 

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Common Core, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Opt Out, Parents, Privatization, Testing

Pennsylvania: Most Inequitable Funding in the Nation

By dianeravitch
May 11, 2016 //
10

After nine months of feuding over the state budget, the Pennsylvania legislature–dominated by Republicans–and Democratic Governor Tom Wolf finally reached a deal. Wolf wanted a $400 million increase for education, mostly targeted to help the beleaguered cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The final deal included only half that amount. Pennsylvania will remain the state with the most inequitable funding for the foreseeable future.

 

Pennsylvania has a long way to go to make up for the heavy cuts that former Governor Tom Corbett imposed on the schools.

 

To keep up with the news from Pennsylvania, read the Keystone State Education Coalition’s daily briefings.

Categories Education Reform, Funding, Pennsylvania

Denis Smith: David Brooks Says that Individual Choice is Destroying Community but Wants More of It

By dianeravitch
May 11, 2016 //
57

Denis Smith, who served in the Ohio Department Olof Education, monitoring charter schools, has often reflected on the incoherence of the basic idea of chartering schools to compete with public schools. He reminds us here of the deep divide between traditional conservatives, who try to preserve community institutions and the new market-based “conservatives,” who love disruption and count themselves successful to the extent they destroy traditional institutions, icons, and brands.

 

In this post, he analyzes a column by David Brooks about how excessive individualism is tearing apart our social fabric. Smith wonders why conservatives don’t recognize that their own ideas contribute to the attack on social cohesion.

 

He writes:

 

 

“It’s not often that some of us can find common ground with the conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks, but his recent piece warning about “four big forces coursing through modern societies” struck a chord. On the other hand, while many might agree with him on some of the causal factors of massive societal change, Brooks and his fellow conservatives may in fact be enabling or even accelerating some of this change as a result of one of their public policy positions.

 

“The column and commentary by Brooks arose from his analysis of a new book, Commonwealth and Covenant, where the author, Marcia Pally, writes about the tendency in modern life to both explore as well as be “situated” – i.e., having a sense of community.

 

“Leave it to others to dissect the long-term impact of global migration, globalization, and the Internet to transform both individuals and those political entities called nation-states. But Brooks’ exploration of the fourth big force, individual choice, should make us want to further examine his identification of choice as one of the keys to social change and instability.

 

“All of these forces have liberated the individual … but they have been bad for national cohesion and the social fabric,” he observes. Nevertheless, he continues, “The emphasis on individual choice challenges community cohesion and settled social bonds.”

 

“Brooks is concerned about a now weakened social fabric that, as a result of global migration, globalization and the Internet, might appeal to alienated youth and, as one example, make ISIS attractive for those who might opt for that fourth force – individual choice. He then asks his readers: “In a globalizing, diversifying world, how do we preserve individual freedom while strengthening social solidarity”?

 

“Pally’s individualism, or “separability,” inevitably results in undesirable outcomes, including greed and control of scarce resources, but it is not clear if Brooks clearly discerns the consequences of this in our society caused by his party’s promotion of educational choice, and how such a policy further adds stress to scarce public resources while also impairing the process of community-building.

 

“His question about how we preserve freedom serves to illustrate the certainty of unintended consequences for conservatives, viz., how can you promote the concept of choice, particularly educational choice, as a desired public policy outcome, while also warning about weakened community cohesion and a frayed, tattered, strained social fabric?

 

“Can conservatives have it both ways? Nope.

 

“If Brooks is correct when he says “We’re not going to roll back the four big forces coursing through modern societies,” why would he and his fellow Republicans nevertheless encourage further weakening community cohesion and place additional stress on our social fabric by developing a parallel system of “public” education through charters, let alone vouchers?”

 

 

Categories Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization, Vouchers

Paul Krugman: Donald Trump is an Ignoramus

By dianeravitch
May 11, 2016 //
85

Paul Krugman puts the matter directly: Donald Trump is an ignoramus. His ignorance is hopeless because he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. He likes to tell people that he is smart. Anyone who says that he is smart is insecure, not smart. His ignorance is dangerous to the economy and to our national security. When he was asked in an interview who influences him on foreign policy and defense, he said he watches television. That’s scary.

 

Krugman writes:

 

“Truly, Donald Trump knows nothing. He is more ignorant about policy than you can possibly imagine, even when you take into account the fact that he is more ignorant than you can possibly imagine. But his ignorance isn’t as unique as it may seem: In many ways, he’s just doing a clumsy job of channeling nonsense widely popular in his party, and to some extent in the chattering classes more generally.
“Last week the presumptive Republican presidential nominee — hard to believe, but there it is — finally revealed his plan to make America great again. Basically, it involves running the country like a failing casino: he could, he asserted, “make a deal” with creditors that would reduce the debt burden if his outlandish promises of economic growth don’t work out.
“The reaction from everyone who knows anything about finance or economics was a mix of amazed horror and horrified amazement. One does not casually suggest throwing away America’s carefully cultivated reputation as the world’s most scrupulous debtor — a reputation that dates all the way back to Alexander Hamilton.”

 

Let’s bring the discussion to education. Trump has said very little about education. I watched the debates and some of his many speeches. This is all I heard. He says he will get rid of the Common Core, but the fact is that there is not much the federal government can do to roll it back. It is out there, propped up by the SAT, the ACT, Pearson, and Gates. He says he loves charters. He says he believes in local control.

 

I don’t believe he knows what Common Core is. I don’t believe he knows what charters are. I don’t think anyone has explained to him what public education is. I don’t think he has said anything about higher education or how to relieve the crushing student debt. I don’t think he has spent ten minutes thinking about education. Nothing he has said would lead you to think he is informed about the issues that concern readers of this blog or me.

 

Most of what he says seems to be off the cuff, drawn from his personal experience or observations. I don’t believe he knows anyone who went to public school or anyone who had to borrow to pay for college. I can’t be sure but his total silence on these subjects makes me think he has no views because he has never met anyone who talked about these matters. Certainly they are not part of his own privileged upbringing.

 

I ask myself why so many people voted in the primaries for a man who is boastful, a man who makes our-in-the-sky promises, a man who ridicules his opponents, a man who accused Ted Cruz’s father of involvement in the JFK assassination because he read it in the National Enquirer, a man who wants to make the 2016 election a referendum on Bill Clinton’s infidelities.

 

Trump is vulgar, crude, and childish. I recall when Anderson Cooper asked in a forum why he posted an unflattering picture of Cruz’s wife on Twitter. Trump’s response? “He did it first!” Cooper, to his credit, said, “With all due respect, sir, that’s the kind of answer I would expect to hear from a five-year-old on the playground.”

 

Trump lacks dignity and gravitas. He is like a carnival barker, imploring voters to buy a ticket and go inside to see impossible, unbelievable, wonderful, horrible sights. And people vote for him.

 

Why?

 

I wonder if they vote for a charlatan for the same reason they rush to sign up for charter schools. I wonder why legislators continue to pour hundreds of millions into an industry that does not produce the results that were promised. The public, the media, and the legislators are easily hoodwinked. They want to believe. They swallow empty promises. Even when presented with evidence that charters are no better and often worse than public schools, even when they learn of scandals and frauds, they believe.

 

Why the gullibility? Why the willingness to play three-card monte with a card shark? Why are so many so willing to be duped by a con man? Is there something in our national character that sets us up to be duped by a snake oil salesman?

 

Gullibility. That is why a businessman who has declared bankruptcy four times, a man who insults and ridicules anyone who challenges him, a man who will descend into the gutter whenever he wishes, is soon to be the Republican nominee for President of the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories Charter Schools, Common Core, Education Reform, Fraud, Hoax

BREAKING NEWS! Judge Rules in Favor of Teacher Challenging Rating!

By dianeravitch
May 10, 2016 //
40

Attorney Bruce Lederman represented his wife Sheri Lederman in a lawsuit challenging New York’s teacher rating system. Sheri teaches elementary school on Long Island is considered an exemplary teacher by her principal, parents, and former students.

 

The Ledermans won. The decision is posted here, on the NYC Parents’ blog.

 

Bruce Lederman writes:

 

“I am very pleased to attach a 13 page decision by Judge Roger McDonough which concludes that Sheri has “met her high burden and established that Petitioner’s growth score and rating for the school year 2013-2014 are arbitrary and capricious.” The Court declined to make an overall ruling on the rating system in general because of new regulations in effect. However, decision makes (at page 11) important observations that VAM is biased against teachers at both ends of the spectrum, disproportionate effects of small class size, wholly unexplained swings in growths scores, strict use of curve. It is clear that the Judge has serious problems with the Value Added Model (“VAM”) system even though he did not set aside the entire system on account of changes in regulations.

 

“To my knowledge, this is the first decision to overturn a teacher’s rating system which was based upon the system championed by John King, Jr., when he was chancellor of the New York Board of Regents. Mr. King is now Secretary of Education for the United States, and never wavered from his support of VAM as Chancellor. Indeed the Department of Education never backed down from fighting Sheri’s score, even when confronted with overwhelming evidence of its irrationality.

 

“The decision should qualify as persuasive authority for other teachers challenging growth scores throughout the County. Court carefully recites all our expert affidavits, and discusses at some length affidavits from Professors Darling-Hammond, Pallas, Amrein-Beardsley, Sean Corcoran and Jesse Rothstein as well as Drs. Burris and Lindell . It is clear that the evidence all of these amazing experts presented was a key factor in winning this case since the Judge repeatedly said both in Court and in the decision that we have a “high burden” to meet in this case. The Court wrote that the court “does not lightly enter into a critical analysis of this matter … [and] is constrained on this record, to conclude that petitioner has met her high burden.”

 

“I want to particularly thank the experts who contributed their time and expertise.

 

Bruce H. Lederman, Esq.
D’Agostino, Levine, Landesman & Lederman, LLP
345 Seventh Avenue, 23rd Floor
New York, New York 10001

 

Direct Tel: (212) 564-1430

Office Tel: (212) 564-9800, ext. 419
Office Fax: (212) 564-9802; Direct Fax: (646) 224-7246

 

 

blederman@dagll.com
http://www.dagll.com

 

 

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Categories Education Reform, New York, Teacher Evaluations

New York: Regents Leader Calls Standardized Testing “Abusive” for Some

By dianeravitch
May 10, 2016 //
19

Do not underestimate the effectiveness of the Opt Out movement in New York.

 

Governor Cuomo, who made education policy his big issue last year, has gone off on other issues.

 

The Board of Regents is now led by an experienced educator who has the support of the Opt Out parents.

 

And Dr. Betty Rosa has not disappointed.

 

At a recent forum, she said that standardized testing was “abusive” for some students with disabilities and English language learners.

 

This is a new tone coming from New York State’s highest education official.

 

It conflicts rather sharply with the pro-testing, pro-Common Core, anti-opt out policies of the state commissioner MaryEllen Elia. This should be interesting.

 

 

 

Categories Accountability, Education Reform, English Language Learners, New York, Special Education, Standardized Testing

Help! Is There a Teacher on the Plane? Teacher to the Rescue!

By dianeravitch
May 10, 2016 //
17

This is a wonderful story that was broadcast on NPR about an emergency situation in an airplane bound for Melbourne, Australia.

 

A young man with Down Syndrome was physically ill, lying in the middle of the aisle, and wouldn’t get up.

 

And he was really upset. He was feeling itchy. He was feeling scared, and no one could move him at that time.

 

The plane couldn’t land until he was in his seat and belted in.

 

The call went out from the cockpit, “Is there a teacher on the plane?”

 

Sophie Murphy, who teaches children with special needs, responded. She lay down on the floor next to the boy and talked to him. Eventually, she talked him into getting up and returning to his seat. Everyone was very quiet and listened closely as she used her skills to calm the boy. When he started vomiting, they rushed to offer sick bags, tissues, and wipes. A doctor sitting close by took notes.

 

Nothing fazed Sophie. She handled the situation with professionalism and kindness.

 

She said afterwards:

 

This was what teachers do. This is what they do in their classrooms every day. They problem solve, and they connect with children on a daily basis. And any one of my colleagues and friends who are teachers would have done exactly the same.

 

Categories Education Reform, Special Education, Teachers

Mercedes Schneider: How Could a Report on Corporate Reform Omit the Billionaire Funders?

By dianeravitch
May 10, 2016 //
62

Mercedes Schneider received a copy of the Media Matters report on the corporate rightwing assault on public education, as did I and many others. She had the same reaction that I did. How can you list the rightwing think tanks, corporate groups, and foundations that are promoting privatization and forget to mention the three biggest funders of rightwing attacks on public education: Gates, Walton, and Broad?

 

There were some other glaring omissions. Stand for Children and Parent Revolution were there, but not Democrats for Education Reform, which funds candidates who support the rightwing agenda.

 

It seemed fishy. Mercedes did some digging and learned that Media Matters is led by journalist David Brock. Brock is active in the Clinton campaign. It must have been a political decision to omit the three biggest funders of privatization and anti-union policies. More than 90% of the nation’s 7,000 or so charter schools are non-union. The expansion of charters is an effective way to break the nation’s largest public unions. The funders know that.

 

After more digging, Mercedes concluded that the omissions were not accidental. I decided to trash the post I had written. But I was glad to see some acknowledgement–even if partial–for the struggle we are engaged in to save public education.

 

 

Categories Billionaires, Broad Foundation, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, DFER, Education Industry, Education Reform, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Unions, Walton Foundation

Governor Bill Haslam of TN Mysteriously Disappears from Harvard Graduate School of Education Program

By dianeravitch
May 9, 2016 //
18

The original announcement of the event at Harvard Graduate School of Education on May 17 featured Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam as the luncheon speaker. Governor Haslam just signed anti-gay legislation. He is no longer the luncheon speaker. Louisiana State Superintendent John White is. Well, at least that’s keeping it inside the corporate reform family of voucher-loving, charter-loving privatizers. Notice that Campbell Brown, noted education scholar, is now moderating only one panel, not two. A distinguished academic gathering, to be sure.

 

 

 

Poverty Matters: Making the Case for a System Overhaul

 

 
Tuesday, May 17th
9:15a.m.-5:00p.m.
Agenda

 

Registration and Coffee (8:30a.m.-9:15a.m.)

 

Welcome Remarks (Askwith Hall)
Harvard Graduate School of Education Dean James Ryan

 

Opening Address (Askwith Hall)
Introductory Remarks – Harvard University President Drew Faust
Opening Keynote Remarks – Hon. Deval Patrick, former Massachusetts Governor

 

Demography and Destiny (Askwith Hall)
Paul Reville, Professor – Harvard Graduate School of Education & Founder – Education Redesign Lab

 

Break

 

Panel of By All Means Consortium City Mayors (Askwith Hall)
Mayor Joseph Curtatone, Mayor Kimberly Driscoll, Mayor Jorge Elorza,
Mayor Greg Fischer, Mayor Libby Schaaf, & Mayor Setti Warren

 

Break

 

Lunch Speaker (Radcliffe Institute)
John White, Louisiana School Superintendent of Education

 

Break

 

Can schools alone overcome the challenges of poverty? (Askwith Hall)
Moderator: Campbell Brown, Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, The 74
Panelists: Roland Fryer, Henry Lee Professor of Economics – Harvard University,
Richard Barth, CEO – KIPP Foundation, Dr. Pam Cantor, CEO – Turnaround for Children

 

Break

 

Best Investments to Ensure Student Success (Askwith Hall)
Panelists: Nicholas Donohue, President and CEO – Nellie Mae Foundation,
Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey, President – Say Yes to Education, along with other invited panelists

 

Closing (Askwith Hall)
Paul Reville, Professor – Harvard Graduate School of Education & Founder – Education Redesign Lab

Categories Education Reform
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