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OUTRAGE: State Plans to Take Control of Houston District Due to 1 “Failing” School

By dianeravitch
November 7, 2019 //
5

Jacob Carpenter, reporter for the Houston Chronicle, tweeted that the state education department plans to strip the Houston school board of its authority because of the persistently low scores of one school.

@ChronJacob

BREAKING: Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath has notified Houston ISD that he plans to strip power from the district’s elected board and appoint a new governance team, the result of Wheatley High School’s chronically low performance and findings of trustee misconduct.

Morath previously served on the Dallas school board. He was a software developer, never an educator.

Categories Democracy, Education Reform, Houston, Texas

Texas: Don’t Take Over Houston’s Public Schools

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2019 //
10

 

State takeovers of struggling school districts have a very poor track record. Two education leaders in Houston call on state officials to support the Houston Independent School District,  not to dissolve local control.

Ruth Kravetz is co-founder of Community Voices for Public Education and Zeph Capo is President of the Texas AFT. They speak out for democracy.

I have a stake in HISD. I attended public school there from kindergarten through high school graduation. The Houston public schools prepared me to enter a selective college. My mother, fresh off the boat in 1919, having fled war-torn Europe, enrolled in Houston public schools and learned to speak English. Her high school diploma was one of her proudest possessions.

They write:

The Texas Education Agency should heed evidence from around the country that state takeovers of schools harm students and communities. The public needs to know that the rules for assessing school performance, and rating them by letter grade, are capricious and biased, and are archetypal examples of grandfathering at their worst.

They give numerous examples of failed state takeovers. In Tennessee, Ohio, and elsewhere. They could have added Michigan, where state takeovers have been a disaster.

Categories Houston, Texas

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

Houston: Why the HISD Did Not Renew TFA’s Contract

By dianeravitch
May 11, 2019 //
7

 

The Houston Independent School District Board did not renew its contract to hire Teach for America recruits. 

TFA profits handsomely on each person it places, collecting $3,000-$5,000 per person. Is it a rental fee or a finders’ fee? The organization has accumulated more than $300 million in assets and has created an international operation called Teach for All, which undermines teachers’ unions around the world. It also has a political operation called Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE), which trains its members to run for office and finances their campaigns. In some districts, like Atlanta, TFA controls the school board and uses its power to promote charter schools and privatization. Many charter schools rely on TFA to supply their teachers.

Houston ISD trustees voted Thursday to end the district’s contract with Teach For America, an organization that places high-performing college graduates from non-traditional teaching backgrounds in classrooms.

In recent years, about 35 Teach For America corps members joined the district annually, committing to a two-year program. Corps members are HISD employees and earn salaries paid by the district, though they cost HISD an additional $3,000 to $5,000 in fees related to recruitment and support.

Board members voted 4-4 on a motion to continue the contract, with a majority vote needed to support its renewal. Trustees approved the contract in 2018 by a 4-3 vote, but the outcome swung this year with Board President Diana Dávila flipping from “yes” to “no” on Thursday.

Opponents of renewing Teach For America’s contract noted corps members are less likely to remain in the district long-term than educators certified through more traditional methods. Some trustees also quibbled with the fees paid to Teach For America at a time when educators across the district are receiving modest salary increases.

“TFA is an organization that is problematic,” HISD Trustee Elizabeth Santos said. “It deprofessionalizes teaching, increases turnover and undermines union organization. We should not subsidize TFA with extra dollars. They should not have special privileges over alternative certification paths.”

 

Categories Education Reform, Houston, Teach for America

Houston: Charter School Superintendent and IT Specialist Charged with Embezzlement

By dianeravitch
April 7, 2019 //
3

 

The superintendent of a Houston charter school and a school employee have been charged with embezzling more than $250,000 from the school’s bank account. 

The head of a Houston-area charter school and another school employee have been indicted on federal embezzlement charges, accused of siphoning more than $250,000 from the school for themselves and using some of the money to buy a car and condominium.
A grand jury in the U.S. District Court’s Southern District of Texas handed up charges this week against Houston Gateway Academy Superintendent Richard Garza, including one count of conspiracy, two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, three counts of wire fraud and two counts of engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally acquired property. Ahmad Bokaiyan, a technology support specialist at the school, was charged with conspiracy and three counts of wire fraud. They are now considered fugitives, according to a federal court records…
According to the indictment, Garza awarded a $280,841.85 no-bid contract in 2014 to a group called Hot Rod Systems to build an IT infrastructure at the new school, even though construction on the school had not yet begun. Hot Rod Systems was owned by Bokaiyan. Prosecutors say the two Houston Gateway Academy employees agreed that Bokaiyan would wire some of that contract money into one of Garza’s personal bank accounts. Within days of receiving the contract money from Garza, Bokaiyan wired the superintendent $164,381.
The indictment alleges Garza used more than $50,000 of those funds to buy a new Nissan Armada sport utility vehicle, more than $86,500 to help purchase a condominium, and nearly $26,000 to help make payments on a house loan in Cypress.
Garza’s school enrolls 2,400 students. He had plans to expand to nearly 10,000. He took over the school when it had low scores.
He began an aggressive plan to improve academics on state-mandated standardized tests, placing countdown clocks to test days in all classrooms and requiring even the youngest students to complete three-ring binders filled with practice tests and worksheets. As a result, their Coral middle school campus shot up the nonprofit Children at Risk’s annual school report card rankings, rising to the ranking’s number three spot. All of its 110 fifth and sixth grade students passed the math portion of the STAAR, an exceedingly rare feat for any school, let alone one that serves predominately low-income students. 
One wonders whether he worked the same magic with the test scores that he did with the finances.
Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Fraud, Houston, Privatization, Texas

Houston: Charter Founder Pays Her Companies $17 Million a Year

By dianeravitch
April 3, 2019 //
7

 

The board of Houston Independent School District is reviewing three charter networks founded by one woman, who is both the highest ranking employee and pays her “related companies” $17 million dollars.

Lois Bullock runs the networks and pays rent to companies she owns.

“Over the past half-decade, Bullock’s company has served as the landlord for Energized For Excellence Academy, taking in $10.8 million in lease payments, and received a $4.2 million loan from the organization, records show. Bullock’s company also earned about $2 million over five years for her “labor and job benefits,” an annual amount roughly equivalent to the compensation of HISD’s superintendent. The three charter networks enroll about 4,000 students at eight campuses, while HISD serves nearly 210,000 students.

“HISD trustees are scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to authorize the renewal of contracts with the three charter networks, as well as five other in-district charter operators. The vote will determine whether the eight networks, which have a combined enrollment of about 11,000 students, can remain open past the 2018-19 school year.”

Remember, this is taxpayers’ money, intended for classrooms and instruction.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Houston, Privatization

Trustees of Houston Independent School District Protest State’s Hostile Privatization Plan

By dianeravitch
January 16, 2019 //
3

Two trustees of the Houston Independent School District strenuously object to the state’s plan to disrupt and takeover the district. It is no accident, they say, that such takeovers target predominantly black-and-brown districts. The state’s goal is to resegregate the district, while enriching charter chains that will swoop in to grab public schools.

The article was written by Board President Rhonda Skillern-Jones and Elizabeth Santos.


“Last month the Houston Independent School District Board of Trustees made a difficult decision. At risk of losing the elected positions for which we all campaigned passionately, we rejected an ultimatum created by state law: Privatize four historically black and brown schools or face a hostile state takeover of the entire district. We were elected to see to it that our public schools thrive, not facilitate their transfer to charter managers who can make money off our students.

Now the state is in a position to remove us from office because four schools have been on the “improvement required” list for at least five years.

Some of us reasonably felt that turning these four schools — Wheatley High School, Kashmere High School, Henry Middle School and Highland Heights Elementary — into charter schools would prevent even worse sanctions from the state. While that may have been true for this year, there was no guarantee that we would not face the same dilemma next year and each year after that for different campuses until our district became segregated into two different communities — those that have direct electoral control over their school leaders and those that do not. Such a system of haves and have-nots is simply unacceptable.

The charter vultures are circling.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Houston, Inequity, Injustice, Privatization, Resistance, Texas

Houston: Governor Wants to Take Over Houston Public Schools, Although No State Takeover Has Ever Succeeded

By dianeravitch
January 7, 2019 //
7

Governor Greg Abbott, not known for his educational credentials, tweeted insults at the school board of the Houston Independent School District. The privatization buzzards are circling. The governor wants to take over the entire district, even though no one at the state government or the Texas Education Agency knows how to turn around a district or even a school. As a graduate of the HISD, I take these insults personally. Since when did a Republican governor decide that local control was a terrible idea? Is Governor Abbott a socialist?

Thankfully, Jitu Brown of the Journey for Justice is in Houston, warning about what happened in Chicago and other cities.

Be it noted that no state takeover has ever succeeded. The bureaucrats know only one trick: give the public schools to charter operators, who kick out the kids with disabilities and English learners. Some reform.

The threat of a state takeover stems from a state law, known as HB 1842 and passed in 2015. It requires the state’s Education Commissioner to close schools or replace the entire elected school board if even one public school has failed state standards for five or more years. A separate law, known as SB 1882 and passed in 2017, gives a school board a two-year pause on those sanctions if they temporarily give financial and administrative control of the struggling schools to an outside group, such as a charter school network or nonprofit.

Last year, HISD had 10 schools that could trigger the state takeover. This year, four are on the watch list: Highland Heights Elementary School, Henry Middle School and Kashmere and Wheatley high schools.

In December, the Houston school board considered requesting proposals from outside groups to temporarily manage those schools. A nonprofit organized by Mayor Sylvester Turner’s office wanted to partner with the district and manage them, similar to a partnership model used in Los Angeles. The board decided 5-4 not to request any proposals — though it has until Feb. 4 to send any partnership proposal to the state.

That timeline was already creating pressure.

But Abbott’s tweet has intensified the debate. The governor said that the board’s “self-centered ineptitude has failed the children they are supposed to educate. If ever there was a school board that needs to be taken over and reformed it’s HISD. Their students & parents deserve change.”

HISD board members have pushed back against that criticism.

Categories Education Reform, Houston

Houston: Chaos as Parents Fight County Treasurer’s Call for a State Takeover of District

By dianeravitch
December 30, 2018 //
7

Houston parents heckled the County Treasurer, Orlando Sanchez, as he tried to hold a press conference where he called for the state to take over the district. One parent even dumped a bottle of water on his head.

Why he thinks the Texas State Education Department is qualified to run the public schools of Houston is a mystery.

Only a few years ago, Houston won the Broad Prize as the most improved school district in the nation. Actually, Houston won it twice, in 2002 and 2013, probably because it pleased Eli Broad by opening many charter schools. Shows you the value of the Broad Prize. About the same as Broad superintendents.

“I’m calling on the governor, and imploring our governor and the Texas Education Agency to step in and take over HISD,“ said Sanchez.

“HISD has had ample opportunity to provide a quality education for the children and the taxpayers and they have failed,” added Sanchez.

That was the message that took almost two hours to deliver. As soon as Sanchez tried to speak, he was drowned out by more than a dozen protesters chanting, “Go away TEA!,” “Whose house? Our house!,” and “Shame!”

“We fight and fight and fight because every child deserves an education,” said Kandice Webber, one of the protesting parents. “They do not deserve what Orlando Sanchez is trying to do two communities that he has never even spoken to.”

The situation quickly escalated when someone in the crowd dumped a bottle of water over Sanchez’s head. The crowd then claimed that a member of Sanchez’s staff had assaulted them.

Categories Accountability, Broad Foundation, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Houston, Privatization, Texas

Dan Rather: My Love for Public Schools

By dianeravitch
October 25, 2018 //
39

Dan Rather, superstar broadcast journalist, recently made a trip home to Houston to visit his elementary school, Love Elementary School.

He was deeply moved and reminded why he loves public schools.

Please leave a comment.

He writes:

I am a product of public schools, and proudly so. Even in the midst of so many crises in our national moment, I hope that the plight of public education is not overlooked. Our classrooms can serve, must serve, as incubators: for our common decency, for our sense of fairness, for our bonds of citizenship and for the foundation of a more just nation.

I was reminded of all this in an emotional return last week to Love Elementary in Houston, where I first set foot more than 80 years ago (to write the sentence is to catch my breath in wonder at this span of time). The neighborhood has changed greatly since my youth. It is much more ethnically diverse, much like the larger city around it and the United States itself. But as I walked the hallways and met the children, I found so much in common with when I went there. There were the committed teachers and an inspiring principal – Melba Heredia Johnson. There was the spirit of optimism and the strong sense of community from the students and their families, many of which, as in my time, is positioned at the lower rungs of the ladder of the American Dream.

I knew I had come to Love to plant a tree, alongside trees I planted with my classmates so many decades ago. But this visit turned out to be so much more. I spent time in the classrooms, where the eager young faces filled me with hope. God bless them, but these children apparently had spent some class time learning about this ancient alumnus, and their questions and work on the bulletin boards touched my heart with humility and thankfulness. Over the course of my career, I have been fortunate to receive some tributes and acknowledgments, many more than I deserve. But this one was one of the most special.

I just wish this was where we as Americans were training our focus. If people could just come to places like Love, learn about its bilingual education, meet the inspiring staff, hear from the engaged parents, and appreciate how schools like this are so vital to building a better America. This is about community, and fairness, and justice, and hope. It’s about the belief that public education must be part of the great national spirit of equal opportunity. Educating our children – all of our children – must be part of what unites us!

As I left, my eyes a bit more misty than I would like to admit, I couldn’t help thinking that this world would be doing a lot better if there was a bit more Love.

Categories Houston, Supporting public schools
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