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Indiana: Schools Chief Blasts Republican Plan to Eliminate Local Control of Schools

By dianeravitch
April 24, 2019 //
18

Jennifer McCormick, Indiana’s last elected state superintendent, has 20 months left in her term. She is a Republican, but she is different from the state leadership: She actually cares about students and democratic control of public education.

The Governor and the Legislature have decided that in the future, all power over education will be concentrated in one office: the Governor’s.

The state’s last elected superintendent of public instruction is not leaving office quietly. With just more than 20 months left in her four-year term, Jennifer McCormick is on a mission to warn Indiana voters of the immense power over education legislators just handed off to the governor’s office.

In a presentation to more than 100 parents and educators at Ivy Tech Community College’s Coliseum campus Thursday, the schools chief described the state’s current system of school governance, what it will become in 2021 and why Hoosiers should begin paying closer attention. 

“What we’re going to have is not the norm,” McCormick said, describing oversight of preschool education through higher education. “In most states, somewhere in here, beyond the governor’s office – is your voice. In most states, it’s either the state board (of education) is elected, or the state superintendent goes through confirmation by those who are elected, maybe in the state senate. Indiana will be very, very, very top-heavy in one office, with a lot of control.”

McCormick, a Republican, spent more than an hour highlighting policy differences between the Department of Education she now oversees and the governor’s office and like-minded education leaders in the General Assembly, beginning with views on school finance.

“I know it’s not all about the money, but it’s hard to operate school systems without adequate and equitable resources,” she said, citing numerous examples of funding proposals that shortchange public schools and a growing system of “haves and have-nots.”

She has a singular focus: What is in the best interest of the student.

She pointed out the disconnect between different leaders’ objectives. Gov. Mitch Daniel pushed to get every Indiana student prepared for a four-year college track, she said. Now, under the Holcomb administration, the push is for workforce certifications and two-year college programs… 

“We need to start saying our customer is not the workforce,” McCormick said to loud applause. “Our customer in K-12 is the child. You have to consider their ability, their passion.”

This is a very unusual point of view in Indiana, where the business leaders make the decision and the Governor expresses them. Educators are supposed to remain silent and do what they are told. Communities are supposed to relinquish local control and take orders from the Governor.

This is not democracy. This is not the way public schools are supposed to operate. The Hoosier state is turning into an autocracy where children are useful only as lon as they meet the needs of the workforce.

Categories Corporate Reformers, Democracy, Indiana

Indianapolis: The Purpose of School Choice is to Destroy Communities, Which Endangers Us All

By dianeravitch
April 20, 2019 //
28

 

Jim Scheurich is a professor at Indiana University and a public education activist. He writes here about how School Choice is intended to destroy community.

 

Folks, the philosophy that charter and innovation schools are built on is that your children’s school should be individualized parental choice.  This means parents individually search across the Indy area as to where to send their children, which often means leaving their neighborhood community.  Each family or individual parent is thus on her, his, or their own and not engaged with their neighborhood community.  Also, each family or individual parent is pitted against or in competition with other similar families and parents for the so-called “better” schools.

This individualistic orientation of charters and innovation schools undermines neighborhood communities and even the possibility of neighborhood communities.   Undermining neighborhood communities, according to sociological research, increases violence, including murder.  Other research shows that building community decreases violence, including murder.

This, therefore, means that charter and innovation schools are likely one of the causes of our high murder rate in Indianapolis as the individualized school choice model is broadly undermining neighborhood communities across our city. 

Of course, building community in low income areas is not easy, but not impossible.  However, many such communities have created positive community spaces.  Given the difficulty of creating such communities, we certainly do not need more policies, like charter and innovation schools, that are threats to community and community building.

If you study the neoliberal political and economic “philosophy” behind the choice school movement, you will find a strong focus on individualism over community.  If you want to understand this movement, which is driving the creation of individualistic “choice” schools, read Democracy in chains by Nancy MacLean, a Duke historian, and then read the award winningDark money by Jane Mayer, which analyzes who the Koch brothers are as they are primary supporters of neoliberalism.  Indeed, overwhelmingly, the financial supporters of neoliberalism, the people behind the curtain, the people funding Stand for Children and the Mind Trust, are conservative to rightwing billionaires.

If you don’t believe me or think I am just some conspiracy nut, I dare you to read Democracy in chainsby the highly respected Duke historian, Nancy MacLean. I dare you.

My point is that charter and innovation schools help destroy community, which according to sociological research can lead to increased violence.

 

Jim Scheurich, Indianapolis Public Schools Community Coalition, a multi-racial, multi-class, citywide group of Indianapolis citizens working to reverse the takeover of our school district by those funded by white, conservative or rightwing, billionaire neoliberals. Also, an activist professor of Urban Education Studies at Indiana University – Indianapolis

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Disruption, Education Industry, Indiana, Indianapolis, Injustice, Innovation, Privatization, Safety, School Choice, Vouchers

Bill Phillis: Ohio and Indiana Race to the Bottom to Waste Money on Cybercharters

By dianeravitch
April 11, 2019 //
2

 

Bill Phillis, retired deputy superintendent of the Ohio Department of Education, writes here about a sector with a reputation for providing a lossy Education but high profits, this ripping off taxpayers:

 

 

Indiana and Ohio are in a tight race to the bottom in the online charter industry
 
Whether in Ohio or Indiana, the online charter fraud seems to continue unabated.
 
Some entrepreneurs can smell a dollar a mile away. Online charters have an enticing fiscal aroma. The fact is that the online charters have a guaranteed income based on all students whether or not they participate in the program.
 
These privately-operated charters should be shut down. School districts have the capacity to provide online services to the students who need such programs. Let the online entrepreneurs switch to growing earthworms.
 
 
 
 
 
William L. Phillis | Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding | 614.228.6540| ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net| www.ohiocoalition.org
Categories Accountability, For-Profit, Fraud, Indiana, Ohio, Virtual Charter Schools

Indiana: Virtual School Scams Taxpayers and Students

By dianeravitch
April 4, 2019 //
13

 

In every state that has authorized virtual charter schools, these  schools are marked by two characteristics:

1. They are very profitable.

2. The “education” they provide is abysmal.

Typically, they have high attrition, low graduation rates, and low scores on state tests. The state fails to monitor them for quality. Students and taxpayers are fleeced.

The latest example is the Indiana Virtual School. The Republicans who control the legislature ignore failure so long as students are making choices. They happily waste taxpayer dollars so long as an entrepreneur is making money.

A former employee told the state Education Department two years ago that the Indiana Virtual Dchoolwas collecting millions of dollars for students who never enrolled or who enrolled but withdrew. The whistle blower was ignored. Of course. The employee was fired.

”Enrollment quickly swelled at the schools, thanks to the state’s favorable laws and lack of regulation about how fast they could grow. School leaders also had an incentive: Indiana’s funding system that gives schools more money for each student they bring in. Today, Indiana Virtual School and its sister school, Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy, enroll more than 6,000 students and could get more than $40 million from the state this year.

“But staffing didn’t appear to keep pace with that expansion. The schools have already received scrutiny for their tiny teaching staffs — with Indiana Virtual School at one time having more than 200 students for every teacher. And the schools have posted dismal academic results, with graduation rates in the single digits in recent years and a fraction of students passing state exams. Indiana Virtual School received its third F grade in a row from the state last year…

”The high student-to-teacher ratios, lack of student engagement, and high student mobility are often blamed for the schools’ academic shortcomings. Students at most virtual schools, in Indiana and other states, perform far below average on metrics like state tests and graduation rate. Last year, Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy graduated just 2 percent of its 1,009 seniors, and 5.7 percent of 10th-graders passed both state English and math exams.

“At Indiana Virtual School, about 24 percent of seniors graduated in 2018, the same year the school received its third F grade from the state. About 19 percent of elementary and middle school students passed both tests, and 4 percent of high-schoolers did.”

The School insists its students have high needs, blaming them for the dismal rates of completion and achievement.

But it still has not explained why it collected millions of dollars for phantom students.

Betsy DeVos strongly endorses Virtual Charter schools because they offer “choice.” Results and quality don’t matter.

 

 

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Failure, Indiana, Privatization, Virtual Charter Schools

Muncie, Indiana: Voucher School for 6 Students Condemned, Deplorable Conditions

By dianeravitch
March 27, 2019 //
14

 

Fire and building inspectors condemned the Delaware Christian Academy after entering the building and finding its six students huddled around a heater for warmth. Betsy DeVos always says that parents always know best, but why did these parents send their children to school in an unsafe building?

”Fire and building inspectors say they found six students at the private Delaware Christian Academy “huddled around a kerosene heater in blankets trying to stay warm” one morning last week.

“Authorities ordered the building — the former Riley Elementary School on North Walnut Street — to be vacated. The children’s teacher took them home.

“Meanwhile, the city building commissioner on Wednesday condemned the structure, finding it unsafe for occupancy.

“The school, whose enrollment has declined to just six students, was using only one classroom in the 28,282-square-feet building.

“The school superintendent acknowledged in an interview Thursday that the building has deficiencies but denied the children were cold — “some kids just like to have blankets” — and said the plan is to reopen.”

A school of six students? Six vouchers do not produce enough revenue for one teacher. Not to mention enough revenue to heat and maintain the building.

Categories Accountability, Indiana, School Choice, Vouchers

Indiana Pays Millions to Virtual Charters that Educate No One

By dianeravitch
March 5, 2019 //
19

 

What a Business!

The stateof Indiana shells out millions of dollars to virtual charter schools that educate no one.

Even Republican legislators thank this this could be a waste of taxpayers’ dollars.

“Top state education leaders called it a “scandal” and “serious” that two Indiana virtual charter schools are accused of counting toward their enrollment thousands of students who either never signed up for or completed classes.

“This should be a massive alarm bell that outright fraud has been committed against Hoosier taxpayers to the tune of millions of dollars,” said Gordon Hendry, a state board of education member who led a committee last year to review virtual schools. “If this isn’t a scandal, I don’t know what is.”

“The harsh words came a day after Indiana Virtual School and its sister school, Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy, were put on notice that their charter agreements could be revoked by their oversight agency, the small rural Daleville public school district. The virtual schools, which purported to educate about 6,000 students, could close if they do not find another authorizer to oversee them….

“The state data paint the scope of the issues at the schools as vast. Last spring, none of the 1,563 students reported as attending Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy for the full year were enrolled in any classes, according to the data analyzed by the district. That year, the school received $17 million from the state.

“In fall 2016, none of the 2,372 students reported as attending Indiana Virtual School for the full year earned any credits, according to the district’s analysis. That year, one out of five students enrolled all year were never signed up for any classes. In each semester of the 2017-18 school year, the majority of students reported as attending the school for the full year did not earn any credits. Nearly 60 percent earned zero credits at the end of the year — a year in which the school received $20 million in state funding.”

Despite the waste of state dollars, some choice advocates defended the fraud, because the virtual schools are a choice that parents make even if their children don’t get an education.

Categories Failure, Fraud, Indiana, School Choice, Virtual Charter Schools

Indiana: Just How Corrupt Are Our Elected Officials?

By dianeravitch
February 18, 2019 //
17

 

John Stoffel, a teacher in Indiana, is disgusted with the politicians who are intent on undermining public schools in his state. He wanted you to know how bad things are.

 

“Just how corrupt is Indiana’s Republican-controlled state leadership? Look to the position of State Superintendent of Education this decade for the answer.

“In 2012, Republican State Superintendent Tony Bennett is ousted despite millions of dollars of out-of-state edu-business support, becoming the only Republican to lose this statewide office in 40 years.

“In order to circumvent Glenda Ritz, the new Democrat superintendent, Indiana Republicans create a duplicitous education department and change the leadership structure of the state board of education to remove her as leader.

“In 2016, Republican Jennifer McCormick is elected. Republicans in Indiana pass a law to make the position appointed in 2024. When McCormick cites she will not run for re-election due to being “naive”, thinking she could help kids in this state, Republicans move quickly to make the position appointed in 2020.

“McCormick,a Republican, blasts Indiana Republican lawmakers by saying they aren’t about helping kids or schools, they’re about making deals with edu-businesses at the expense of our children.

“A Republican in the driver’s seat of education is bearing witness to the corruption in Indiana’s education system. Hopefully voters will listen.

“The Republican party in Indiana is no longer about “small government”   or “family values,” they are about backroom deals and crony capitalism.”

John Stoffel

Elementary Teacher
Huntington, IN

http://via.cbs4indy.com/a37Hb?fbclid=IwAR2wYQ5X_pEzM6fJY-UhKCk0PDxQA9W71UKuLjrdvHXAVUWws4sgCreU730

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20181001/WEB/181009999

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-education-teacher-strikes-pay-st-20180413-story.html?fbclid=IwAR0SCMcXsk7m2aXZaelz8dDf7kHHnri6nnVo2i_dCWWYH4x5y2mcQnrsucE
Categories Administrators, superintendents, Corruption, Indiana

Corrupt Cybercharters: Ban Them All!

By dianeravitch
January 4, 2019 //
32

Shaina Cavazos of Chalkbeat in Indiana reports on the startling graduation rate of Indiana’s publicly funded virtual charter school: 2%. Two percent.

“About 2 percent of Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy’s 1,009 seniors graduated, putting the school’s graduation rate below just two others — a school that caters to students with significant intellectual and behavioral disabilities and an adult high school that enrolls only a couple dozen students each and graduated no students last year. Across the state, the vast majority of schools graduate at least three-quarters of their senior students.”

Do you remember when charter advocates promised that charters would be more successful, more innovative, and more accountable than public schools? They are not. For-profit Virtual Charter Schools are scams. They are a waste of money. They are a public embarrassment. Why are they allowed to open?

Peter Greene explains here about this Indiana cybercharter, which buys its existence by paying legislators, then collects public money to not educate anyone. This is not unusual. As you will see from the graph he reproduces, lobbying and campaign contributions area part of their business.

For-profit cybercharters, whether K12 Inc. or Connections Academy, should be illegal. They take public money, lobby legislators, get abysmal results, and are never held accountable. ECOT in Ohio was the darling of Republican politicians, who were happy to give its graduation speech, even though ECOT has the lowest graduation rate in the nation.

At the Indiana cybercharter that Greene writes about, only 10% of the money collected is spent on instruction!

These cybercharters are not schools. They are corporate honey pots that wastepublic money and children’s time.

If a state has children who require homebound instruction, the state should provide the online instruction, using certified teachers, with no profits, no lobbyists.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, For-Profit, Fraud, Indiana, Ohio, Virtual Charter Schools

The Spice Girls Get Married!

By dianeravitch
December 13, 2018 //
14

As readers of this blog know, Phyllis Bush writes regularly about her ongoing battle with cancer, which she derisively calls “cancer schmanzer.” In recent months, she got a colostomy bag (“Sherlock”), and she has had some rough bouts but kept her determination and humor.

Today, she has an announcement to make. She and her best friend Donna Roof got married. Since this happened on the spur of the moment, they relied on former students (an attorney and judge) to set the wheels in motion, fast.

Blessings and congratulations to the happy couple!

They live in Indiana.

Hey, Mike Pence, eat your heart out!

Categories Indiana, Personal

Indiana: Researchers Question Gains from State’s Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
December 11, 2018 //
12

A study of charter schools in Indiana found that the test scores of students who transferred from public schools to charter schools lagged and later rebounded. But it also found very high attrition as students left charter schools and returned to public schools.

A recently released study raises questions about whether charter schools improve academic achievement for students in Indiana more than traditional public schools.

Researchers from the Indiana University School of Education-Indianapolis examined four years of English and math ISTEP scores for 1,609 Indiana elementary and middle school students who were in a traditional public school in 2011 and transferred to a charter school in 2012. The main findings were that students who transferred had lower math and English score gains during the first year or two in their new school than if they had stayed in a district school.

The researchers were able to draw the conclusion by using a type of statistical analysis that enabled them to compare students’ actual score gains at the charter school to potential gains had they not transferred from a traditional school.

But for the students who stayed in charter schools for three years or more, some of those gaps disappeared, and students caught up with where they would have been if they hadn’t transferred. Both of these results — the dip in score gains after transferring and the increase over time — are consistent with other studies, researchers said…

The researchers also found that of the original number of students who transferred to a charter school in 2012, 47 percent returned to a traditional public school by 2016. Only about a third of students remained enrolled in charter schools long enough to see their scores catch back up. The study called the mobility “problematic,” and suggested other researchers look into it further.

Well, that’s curious. Only about a third of students remained enrolled in charter schools long enough to see their scores catch back up to what they would have been if they had stayed enrolled in a public school.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Indiana, Privatization
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