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The Disgrace of East Ramapo, New York

By dianeravitch
November 30, 2017 //
40

The New York Civil Liberties Union recently filed a suit against East Ramapo, New York. The town school board has been almost completely captured by members of the Orthodox Jewish Community, whose children attend private religious schools. The school board uses its power to strip the budget for the students who attend public schools, who are overwhelmingly black and Hispanic.

Teacher Bianca Tanis, a member of the board of directors of New York State Allies for Public Education, here describes this shameful situation and calls on the Nee York State United Teachers to take action to protect the children of the East Ramapo District.

She writes:

“96% of public school students in the East Ramapo Central School District are Black and Latino while 98% of the students attending private schools are white with most attending private religious schools. Only one of the nine Board of Education seats is held by a public school parent. Needless to say, the Board of Education has NOT acted in the best interest of East Ramapo’s 8,500 public school students.

“The New York Civil Liberties union found that between 2009 and 2014 the East Ramapo Board of Education slashed funding to public schools and eliminated 200 teaching positions in addition to cutting numerous social workers and other key personnel.

“According the the NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman, “The East Ramapo school district has effectively disenfranchised the Black and Latino community and allowed white residents to hijack the school board in service of the lily-white private schools. The East Ramapo school board has brazenly diverted taxpayer funds to bankroll white private schools and destabilize public schools. Their policies have compromised the education and well-being of thousands of Black and Latino children. The disenfranchisement and degradation must end.”

“What is happening in East Ramapo is tragic. I have seen it with my own eyes…

“The NYCLU lawsuit demands that the board stop holding elections until a “ward” system is adopted. This would introduce voting on the basis of geographic districts; there would be nine individual districts, with one member elected to the board from each district.”

This situation did not develop overnight. The Regents and the legislature have allowed it to fester, while the children of East Ramapo are cheated.

Categories Budget Cuts, Civil Rights, New York

Arthur Goldstein: It Is Not Fair to Gut ESL instruction

By dianeravitch
November 20, 2017 //
10

Arthur Goldstein is a veteran high school teacher of English and English as a Second Language.

He warns here that New York State is harming students whose native language is not English by reducing the time allotted to teaching them English. He calls on the State Board of Regents to reverse this policy.

“High school can be rough. Our children and students are frequently insecure, uncertain, and grasping to find their way in a new and unfamiliar environment. Some students have to deal with not only that, but also the fact that they don’t speak English.

“For most English Language Learners (ELLs), one safe haven has been their English classroom, where a teacher understood their special needs and made sure no one made fun of their inevitable errors and struggles with a new language. But the most recent revision of Commissioner’s Regulation Part 154, which governs how English as a second language (ESL) instruction is distributed, has largely withdrawn that support system. For example, beginning ELLs who formerly took three classes daily in direct English instruction may now have as few as one.

“Instead of ESL classes, New York State purports to blend English instruction into other courses. For example, in the daily 40 minutes that an United States-born student has to study, say, the Civil War, ELLs are expected to study both the Civil War and English. So not only do they get less English instruction, but they also get less instruction in history than native speakers. Principals may see it as a win-win. They can dump ESL classes, add nothing, save money, and hope for the best.

“I don’t know about you, but if I went to China tomorrow, I’d want intense instruction in Mandarin or Cantonese before I ever attempted opening a history book. I want the best for my students, and that includes as much English instruction as possible. Expecting children to master history before being able to order a pizza or even introduce themselves is remarkably short-sighted, reflecting total ignorance of language acquisition.”

Categories English Language Learners, New York

Rochester, New York: L.A.-Based Charter School in Financial Trouble

By dianeravitch
November 3, 2017 //
4

Ref Rodriguez founded a charter chain. Most of the charters are in Los Angeles. One is in Rochester, New York.

Ref is in trouble with the law. Until recently, he was president of the LAUSD school board. Faced with felony indictments, he stepped down as chair, but remained on the board. More indictments came, but he refuses to leave the board. The salary for board members was recently raised and is substantial.

Joy Resmovits of the L.A. Times reports that the charter school in Rochester that is part of Ref’s former chain is in trouble.

Unlike Arizona, New York state officials don’t like conflicts of interest.

When the New York state comptroller’s office recently audited a charter school in Rochester, N.Y., investigators found a number of troubling financial practices, including inadequate oversight.

One issue auditors noted was that the local school contracted out its financial management to the national charter network it was part of — and membership on the Rochester school’s board and the school network’s board overlapped.

Rochester’s PUC Achieve is the only school outside California in the 18-school Partnership to Uplift Communities charter school network co-founded by L.A. school board member Ref Rodriguez. Rodriguez and his PUC Schools co-founder Jacqueline Elliot were flagged for being on both of the boards.

“While not prohibited by law, these situations create a conflict of interest,” Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli wrote when the audit was released in May.

Rodriguez has more pressing concerns in Los Angeles, where he faces three felony and 25 misdemeanor charges for alleged campaign money laundering.

But problems in Rochester broadly echo some questions recently raised in L.A. about Rodriguez’s conduct and PUC’s management practices.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Los Angeles, New York, Privatization

Education Law Center Wins Court Ruling on School Funding in New York

By dianeravitch
October 27, 2017 //
9

New York has had a long running court battle over equitable funding. The plaintiffs seeking additional funding have won in court, but the legislature and the Governor have ignored the rulings and owe the urban districts $5.5 billion.

Yesterday the Education Law Center won another judgment in court, this time on behalf of the state’s “small cities.” Will the legislature and Governor obey the court ruling?

IN SMALL CITIES FUNDING CASE NY APPELLATE DIVISION COURT UPHOLDS CAMPAIGN FOR FISCAL EQUITY

ORDERS TRIAL COURT TO MAKE DETERMINATION REGARDING FUNDING NEEDS OF SCHOOLS
October 26, 2017

New York’s Appellate Division Third Department issued a groundbreaking ruling today in Maisto v. State, a challenge to inadequate school funding for students in eight New York “Small Cities” school districts.

The Appeals Court unanimously reversed the trial judge’s ruling, which dismissed the case without examining the extensive evidence presented during the two-month trial in 2015. The Court reaffirmed the framework established in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) rulings for analyzing claims of violations of New York’s Education Article. The Court made clear that in school funding cases, the trial court must examine the evidence regarding deficiencies in essential education resources, or inputs, student performance, or outcomes, and whether a lack of funding is a causal factor in resource deficits and low outcomes.

The Appeals Court remanded the case to the trial court for specific findings on inputs and causation for each of the eight Maisto districts: Jamestown, Kingston, Mount Vernon, Newburgh, Niagara Falls, Port Jervis, Poughkeepsie and Utica.

Highlights of the Appellate Division ruling include the following:

1. The trial court erred by refusing to apply the CFE standards and failing to examine the extensive evidence presented for each district regarding inputs, outputs and causation;

2. On remand, the trial court must consider a broad range of inputs necessary for a sound basic education, including not only teachers and instrumentalities of learning, but also class size and supplemental services, such as academic intervention services, extended learning opportunities and social workers.

3. The proper standard for establishing causation on remand is whether the plaintiffs showed that increased funding can provide inputs that yield better student performance, evidence the State’s own experts conceded for every district.

“This is a great victory for the 55,000 children in the eight districts, and for children across New York State,” said Greg Little, Education Law Center’s Chief Trial Counsel and lead counsel in the Maisto trial. “The abundant evidence showed massive deficiencies in basic educational resources that deprived these needy students of their constitutional rights. We are confident that after considering the evidence on remand, the court will vindicate the rights of the students in these impoverished districts.”

Billy Easton, Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education, said, “Once again, a court has upheld the rights of students to a sound basic education. We hope the legislature and Governor will take heed of this decision, the second in two months, and finally make CFE’s decade-long promise a reality, without further delays or the need for further court cases. New York cannot sacrifice another generation of children to political or legal gamesmanship.”

In addition to ELC’s Greg Little, David Sciarra and Wendy Lecker, the Maisto school children are represented by Robert Biggerstaff and David Kunz in Albany, and Robert Reilly and Megan Mercy of the NYSUT General Counsel Office.

More information about the Maisto case is available here.

Press Contact:

Sharon Krengel
Policy and Outreach Director
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x 24

Categories Accountability, Equity, Funding, New York

Buffalo, New York, Requests Three Year Moratorium on Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
October 12, 2017 //
37

The elected school board of New York has asked state authorizers to grant a three year moratorium on new charters.

“Buffalo is losing resources, losing funding, and seeing its own efforts handicapped. The board also wants money refunded when charter students return to public schools.

“The new school year brought a new charter school to the city’s Willert Park neighborhood, while another Buffalo charter added a second location on Hertel Avenue.

“One broke ground for an elementary school on Great Arrow Avenue, while two more charters are scheduled to open next year, bringing the total in Buffalo to 18.

“At least three more are on the horizon.

“The flurry of local activity surrounding charters is refueling tensions with Buffalo Public Schools, which has petitioned the state to slow down the charter expansion across the city.

“Frustrated by the loss of more students and funding to new charters, the Buffalo Board of Education has requested that the State University of New York and the state Board of Regents – the two authorizing entities – issue a three-year moratorium on charters in Buffalo.

“It also asked that school boards be allowed to sign off on charter applications and recoup funds from charters whose students return to Buffalo schools.

“We just don’t want this to be seen as some symbolic gesture that doesn’t go anywhere,” said Barbara A. Seals Nevergold, School Board president. “We’d like to have some feedback, some dialogue.”

“Buffalo had more than 7,100 students enrolled in charter schools three years ago, but the district estimates that number is upwards of 9,000 this year.

“The district then pays the charters per pupil, a budgeted amount that has reached nearly $124 million and accounts for about 14 percent of the district’s general fund.

“In fact, district funding to charters is up by more than $14 million from last year, because of the new charters coming on board. And that doesn’t include other associated costs provided by the district, such as transportation and special education services, Nevergold said.

“More and more of the district funding is going to charter schools,” said Nevergold, who sponsored the charter resolution that passed in a 6-2 vote, “and yet, while that’s happening, we’re losing resources needed for schools in the district.”

“The proposed moratorium will be perceived as anti-charter – but so be it, she said.

“We’re not bashing charters, but charters aren’t the saving grace for public education,” Nevergold said. “While certainly there are charter schools that are successful, they’re not uniformly better than the district schools – some do better, some do worse, some are on par.”

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Funding, New York, Privatization

Rochester: Mother Says Charter Teacher Knocked Her Son’s Tooth Out, While Slamming Him to the Ground

By dianeravitch
October 7, 2017 //
5

In Rochester, a six-year-old child had a tooth knocked out when his physical education teacher knocked him to the ground. The boy’s mother was called to the school. The teacher was put on leave. The mother returned the child to the Rochester City School District.

A physical education teacher at the newly opened Exploration Charter School in Rochester is on leave after allegedly knocking a 6-year-old’s front teeth out while slamming him to the ground.

The boy’s name is Marlon-K’Harii Williams. His mother, Kia Thompson-White, said she was at work Friday when she got a text message saying Marlon-K’Harii had been hurt.

When she went to the school, she said, the principal couldn’t tell her what happened.

“She didn’t even have half the story — it was a third of the story,” Thompson-White said. “She didn’t have any explanation; she just kept telling me about how my son was behaving. And I want him to take responsibility for his actions, but at the end of the day, he’s a 6-year-old boy.”

One of Marlon-K’Harii’s front teeth was knocked out immediately, and the other one was loose enough that a doctor said it had to be pulled as well, Thompson-White said. He also had a cut on the lip.

It could happen anywhere, but wherever it happens, it is intolerable for a teacher to physically abuse a student.

The story offers no information about the teacher, whether he was licensed, certified, or had any teacher education at all.

Next week, the State University of New York charter committee will vote on a proposal to let charters certify their own teachers, in effect, lowering standards for charter teachers.

Under the circumstances, this is not a good idea.

Categories Charter Schools, Discipline, New York

New York: Senator John Flanagan Hates Public Schools, Proposes Permanent Tax Cap

By dianeravitch
September 26, 2017 //
42

In 2011, with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s blessing, the New York State Legislature enacted a 2% property tax cap for spending on public schools. Expenses and inflation might be greater than 2%, but that doesn’t matter. The only way to raise the tax cap is for a district to pass a bill by a super-majority of 60%. This is blatantly undemocratic, since elections and referenda are typically adopted by a vote of 50% plus 1, not 60%.

Now, Senator John Flanagan–one of the state’s most virulent opponents of public schools–has proposed making the 2% tax cap permanent.

Flanagan loves charter schools but not in his district.

He represents an affluent district in Suffolk County on Long Island (including the beautiful town of Smithtown and portions of Huntington and Brookhaven), the epicenter of the opt out movement.

It is past time for the parents of his district to wake up and throw him out. Surely there is someone who can fairly represent the children and families of his district. He does not.

Categories Accountability, New York, Opt Out, Parents

New York: NYSAPE Blasts New Standards as a Pathetic Compromise

By dianeravitch
September 13, 2017 //
11

The New York State Allies for Public Education–the state’s leaders of the opt out movement–blasted the new standards adopted by the Board of Regents as nothing more than a rebranding of the hated Common Core standards.

A few changes were made in hopes of mollifying critics, but the standards are the same old test-based accountability system. A failed system survives.

“Parents are no longer content with crumbs, baby steps, and the lesser of evils. These are our children and they are running out of time. For many it is already too late. This was a huge opportunity to put New York on the right educational path and once again we chose the path of test-based accountability and standards written without grade-level practitioner expertise. We intend to hold the Regents to their promise that they will continue to revise the Next Generation Learning Standards and add more Opportunity to Learn factors to our accountability system. And we will continue to ensure that schools pay attention to these issues and focus on providing students with what matters: a quality education and a real chance to thrive.”

Go, NYSAPE!

Categories Common Core, Hoax, New York, Opt Out, Parent Groups, Parents

New York’s New Standards: Lipstick on a Pig, or a Silk Purse from a Sow’s Ear, or Common Core Rebranded

By dianeravitch
September 13, 2017 //
26

Bianca Tanis is a parent and teacher in New York, and a member of the board of the New York State Alliance for Parents and Educators.

She reviews the new new new brand-new Next Generation standards of New York State.

There are a few nice tweaks here and there, but overall it is the same old Common Core with a new name.

The most glaring issue is the State’s refusal to veer from the flawed Common Core Anchor Standards. Given what we now know of the Common Core–the lack of grade level practitioner input, the lack of a basis in research, and the lack of any pilots or studies–the commitment to these anchor standards reveals the State’s commitment to a failed reform agenda and a misguided adherence to the belief that “rigor” will ameliorate the impact of poverty, under-funded schools, and institutionalized racism.

For many months, parents and educators have been expressing concerns regarding the PreK-2 standards. These concerns were well-founded. The newly adopted prekindergarten standards require that 3 and 4 year-olds display “emergent reading behaviors with purpose and understanding.” The prekindergarten standards also require that preschoolers make “connections from read-alouds to writing.” I would imagine that nothing kills a 3 or 4 year old’s love being read to than being asked write a reading reflection.

Many young, vulnerable children are being set up for failure. May children will be considered “behind” on day one of kindergarten. These children are not lagging behind according to developmental norms. Rather, they have failed to live up to a standardized expectation that has nothing to do with their needs. Children are meant to move and explore, and sadly these standards ensure an increased focus on direct instruction and rug time.

Universal PreK programs will likely be obligated to adopt these standards, either by future regulation or by the need to meet expected outcomes. By creating a situation where only those who can afford private preschool programs will have a developmentally appropriate school experience, we are widening the opportunity gap and setting impoverished students up for failure and to be falsely identified as having “behavior issues.”

Don’t be fooled. It is the same rancid wine in the same old bottles.

It is the curse of David Coleman, who is determined to crush the joy of learning with standardized, lockstep inappropriate mandates.

Categories Childhood, Common Core, New York, Testing

Susan Ochshorn: New York Regents Just Threw the Young Children Under the Bus

By dianeravitch
September 13, 2017 //
24

Susan Ochshorn is an expert on early childhood education. She runs an organization called ECE Policy Works. She has been urging the New York Regents to throw out the Common Core standards for young children and replace them with developmentally appropriate standards. They ignored her advice.

She writes here.

We are violating everything that is known, which is considerable, about how children develop and learn best. We are stealing their childhood, robbing them of play, the primary engine of human development.

We have empirical evidence that kindergarten has become the new first grade, and preschool the new kindergarten. Across the country, and in New York, we have relegated play to an hour a day or less for five-year-olds, and a growing number of four-year-olds. One three-year-old I know recently brought home work sheets from her early childhood program.

Children are being assessed at younger and younger ages. We’re condemning them to the tread mill before they can even lace up their running shoes.

This is decidedly not how young children thrive. They learn through play, exploration, inquiry, and movement. It’s absurd to expect them to sit quietly, to passively receive information and regurgitate it back. We talk endlessly about producing critical thinkers, innovators, but we’re eliminating the kind of teaching and learning that nurtures them.

With New York’s Pre-K through 2nd grade standards, early childhood teachers are under massive pressure to get children to meet the benchmarks. Growing numbers are convinced that they’re committing malpractice, that they’re actually doing harm. Many have used the term child abuse.

In measuring young children by these standards, we deny their uniqueness, ignoring their strengths and vulnerabilities. We deny their human right to a rich, joyful educational experience.

New York policymakers are deluded in thinking that their efforts can close achievement gaps. Nor will they move us closer to eradicating inequity and inequality. Socioeconomic status has been proven to be one of the most significant factors in academic achievement. Of the 4.6 million children living in New York, a staggering 42 percent live in low-income families. Eleven percent of children under the age of six live in extreme poverty, where they’re severely deprived of basic human needs.

Toxic stress is rampant among these children, their cortisol levels soaring. This powerful neurophysiological process, akin to a 24/7 adrenaline rush, affects, among other things, the ability to focus and plan—executive functions that are critical to school readiness and academic performance. By preserving the Common Core—the attempt to rebrand has not changed its essence—we are condemning children to failure at a very early age, and turning them off to school.

Chancellor Betty Rosa and her colleagues on the Board of Regents have been given an opportunity to act in the best interests of the child. And they’ve squandered it.

Their moral compass is terribly out of whack.

Categories Childhood, Pre-K, K, Common Core, New York, Testing
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