Archives for category: North Carolina
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How ALEC Is Changing the Face of Charters

By dianeravitch
April 2, 2013 //
33

When the charter school movement began in the early 1990s, the promise of advocates was that charters would be held accountable for results. There were two promises, really: one was that there would be accountability; the other was that there would be results. If the results didn’t happen, the schools would close.

Now there is a new approach to charters, sponsored by ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). To learn more about ALEC and to see its model legislation for education and other issues, look here.

It is a tenet of ALEC that charter schools should be completely unregulated, unsupervised, and unaccountable. The goal is choice, not accountability or results.

ALEC pretends to be conservative but pushes model legislation to give the governor and sometimes his allies the power to appoint a commission to override local school boards.

You see, ALEC doesn’t like local school boards. It likes bigtime corporate power. It likes the free market. Those pesky local school boards are so close to the people in their district that sometimes they actually want to protect the local public schools and refuse to authorize more charters to take away students and funding.

I posted recently about radical ALEC legislation in North Carolina, which would not only create an ALEC-style state commission to override local school boards, but would exempt the charters from the necessity of having ANY certified teachers. They would also be exempt from criminal background checks. They would be exempt from conflict of interest laws. The members of the state charter commission would also be exempt from conflict of interest laws so they could vote themselves a few more charters if they choose.

If you read my post and the link therein, you will see that one of the strong supporters of the proposed law is currently collecting $3 million a year in management and rental fees from the charters he oversees. Why shouldn’t he want more? Maybe he will be appointed to serve on the state commission that authorizes and doesn’t regulate charters.

Valerie Strauss here reports that half the states have ALEC-style charter laws allowing the governor to override local control.

No accountability, no oversight, no transparency, no laws, no regulations. Just money for the taking.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, North Carolina, Privatization

Response to Absurd N.C. Charter Proposal

By dianeravitch
March 28, 2013 //
14

A reader comments on the post this morning about a Republican proposal to give a new state charter board authority over charter schools, to low charters to hire as many uncertified teachers as they wish, to eliminate criminal background checks for charter staff and operators, etc.:

He writes:

So let’s get this straight…the same GOP who wants tougher standards, tougher evaluation systems for public school teachers, a school grading (rating) system using an A-F model based on standardized test scores, etc…now want to circumvent state law requiring that at least half of the staff at a charter school hold teaching licenses, as well as remove background checks as a requirement for school personnel. Oh, and only be accountable to a “board” made up of members who are handpicked by the owner of the charter school. UNBELIEVABLE!!! Folks, you can’t make this stuff up! I don’t know who is more stupid…the guys making the laws to fix education, or the citizens who believe their solutions will work. I solved our public education woes well over a decade ago. Want something that will actually work? Just ask me.

“Republican state Sen. Jerry Tillman, the sponsor and committee co-chairman, gave a gruff assessment of the state board’s view on charters since lawmakers eliminated a cap on the number of schools in 2011. He said charter schools are too restrained to be successful.”

“Tillman cited an example of a pharmacist who wasn’t able to teach chemistry because he wasn’t a licensed teacher, saying the pharmacist had more experience than most teachers. “Any time you’ve got a piece of bologna that has two sides to it, I don’t care how thin you slice it, you’ve got to look beyond what might appear on the paper,” he said.

*Laughs* Oh Tillman, you foolish, foolish little man. Just because someone is an expert in a field does not make them a good teacher. Case in point: Some years ago, in a Charlotte high school, a former Duke University professor decided she wanted to “make a difference” and work with minority, at-risk kids and “share her vast knowledge of the field in which she was an expert.” She lasted one year. The kids ate her up and spit her out. Duke. One of the most prestigious Universities on the planet. Expert in her field. Lasted ONE year.

Am I the only one tired of the lawmakers, educrats, and faux-reformers who write the laws and make decisions on education, while not having a degree in the field? It would be like me telling a physician how to treat his patients, and I don’t have a background in the medical field.

I think some of these guys think just because they went to school makes them knowledgable on how to fix a school. Remember, just because you know how to drive a car does not make you a mechanic.

Categories Charter Schools, North Carolina

North Carolina Republicans Want Unregulated, Unsupervised Charter$

By dianeravitch
March 28, 2013 //
32

North Carolina Republican State Senators have filed legislation that would remove oversight of charters by the State Education Board and turn it over to a new board hand picked by the governor.

Charter schools would no longer be required to submit applications to local school boards. All meaningful supervision and oversight would be eliminated.

Local school boards would be required to lease available space to charters for $1 a year. Charters would be accountable to the new state charter board, not the local board.

This legislation appears to be based on ALEC model legislation, which is intended to allow charters to flourish while gutting local control.

And here is where it gets scary.

The charters would no longer be required to assure that at least half the teachers are certified.

Charter schools would no longer be required by law to conduct criminal background checks of their staff.

The law would have no provisions barring conflicts of interest for members of the new charter board, implying that charter operators might be appointed to the board to advance their self-interest.

In the public comment period, Baker Mitchell, the incoming chairman of the NC Alliance for Public Charter Schools testified in favor of the bill. He “owns The Roger Bacon Academy, which is contracted to run two public charter schools in Brunswick County. In the 2009-10 fiscal year, Mitchell received more than $3 million from the two charter schools for management fees and the cost of renting the buildings from another company Mitchell owns….”

He is just the kind of person likely to be appointed to serve on the state’s new charter board.

The only thing public about these charters is the money they take from unsuspecting taxpayers.

Categories Charter Schools, North Carolina

A Wonderful Editorial Supporting Teachers: Please Read It

By dianeravitch
March 24, 2013 //
7

When I was in North Carolina last week, I spoke in Raleigh at an event pulled together on short notice by NC Policy Watch, a state watchdog for the public interest. As it happened, I spoke just a few days after State Senator Phil Berger introduced a horrendous piece of legislation that he claimed would produce “excellence,” by removing all job protections (i.e., due process) for teachers), by tying teacher pay to test scores (aka merit pay), and by removing any salary increments for those who earn a master’s degree or have additional years of experience. Everything tied to test scores. (The video is here.)

While there I learned that it takes a teacher in North Carolina fourteen years of teaching to reach a salary of $40,000 a year.

When I hear stats like this, I grind my teeth thinking of the pundits and think tank gurus who collect six-figure salaries advocating that teachers should be cut down to size and have their benefits reduced and their salaries tied to student test scores.

I loved my time in Raleigh. The cherry blossoms were in bloom (it was snowing in New York), the audience was enthusiastic, and the best gift of all was this wonderful editorial that I received in my email today. When there are editorial writers like this one, a man who clearly understands the futility of what is now called “reform,” and the damage that the so-called “reformers” are doing to the education profession and to our nation, my faith is renewed that the privatizers and teacher-bashers won’t win. At some point and it will not be long, the public will get it too.

Categories Corporate Reformers, North Carolina, Teacher Evaluations, Teacher Tenure, Teachers and Teaching

Raleigh, NC, Editorial Opposes Anti-Teacher Proposal

By dianeravitch
March 21, 2013 //
8

North Carolina is one of the red states with a super-majority of Republicans in control of he legislature.

So Republicans can do anything they want, as they control state government.

The editorial today in the Raleigh News Observer defends teachers. The editorialist sharply rebukes Phil Berger’s punitive, mean-spirited education “reforms.” That’s welcome news.

The editorialist points out that the predictable consequence of letter grades will be to stigmatize schools, not improve them.

What’s more, he defends teachers. Picking on teachers is a favorite ploy of the state’s politicians. Given that North Carolina is a right to work state and teacher pay is nearly the worst in the nation, this ploy looks like bullying.

Bullying is bad when kids do it in school, why is it okay for the president pro tem of the state senate to bully teachers? Phil Berger seems to think that the schools will improve if teachers have no right to due process, if they can be fired for any reason at all. He confuses tenure for university professors (which is close to an ironclad guarantee of lifetime job protection) with due process rights for teachers, which guarantees nothing more than the right to a hearing before they can fire you.

Berger wants to eliminate due process. He wants teachers to be fired if their students get low test scores. Teachers of kids with disabilities and teachers of English language learners will be axed. Students can withhold effort and fire their teachers. Does Berger have a plan to recruit teachers to work in a state where teachers are public enemy #1?

Categories Merit pay, North Carolina, Teacher Evaluations, Teacher Tenure

My Trip to North Carolina

By dianeravitch
March 20, 2013 //
4

I am speaking later today at UNC in Charlotte. I will be speaking at 7 pm at the
Cone McKnight Auditorium – UNCC campus
320 East Ninth St

Tomorrow in Raleigh. Details here.

Categories North Carolina

Anti-Teacher Legislation Introduced in North Carolina Legislature

By dianeravitch
March 19, 2013 //
78

No more career teachers in North Carolina. That’s the goal of legislation introduced by Phil Berger, the President Pro Tem of the State Senate in North Carolina.

The experienced, high-performing teachers would get a four-year contract.

Others would get shorter contracts.

No tenure for any teachers.

Lots of performance pay built in.

Bonuses would be tied to new teacher evaluation programs now under development.

Apparently, Senator Berger has no idea that merit pay has never worked anywhere.

Nor does he know that there is no successful teacher evaluation program anywhere, despite the hundreds of millions expended on creating one.

His goal seems to be to make North Carolina teachers teach to the test at every possible moment of the school day.

North Carolina was once a progressive state.

No more.

Teacher salaries in North Carolina now rank 46th in the nation.

School spending has fallen to 48th.

This is sad. Sad for the children. Sad for the teachers.

 

Categories Merit pay, North Carolina, Teacher Evaluations, Teacher Tenure

Great News: NC Rallies Against Privatization

By dianeravitch
February 4, 2013 //
2

New North Carolina Champions Investment in Public Education

Raleigh, NC—February 4, 2013—Public Schools First NC, a new statewide, non-partisan, grassroots advocacy group committed to high-quality public schools for North Carolina, has formed out of deep concern about the growing threat to privatize and weaken North Carolina’s public schools.  Despite the fact that most North Carolinians regard public education as the foundation of North Carolina’s economic future and our best investment, public school funding has declined year after year and our children are bearing the brunt.

“We believe that North Carolina’s families deserve a public education system that is inclusive, innovative, responsive, and flexible—a system that operates within a framework of fairness, sound planning and local public accountability for tax dollars,” said Nick Rhodes, Public Schools First NC Board of Directors. “Adequate and equitable funding for all schools, effective teacher and principal recruitment, retention and support, and rich educational experiences will allow North Carolina to keep its rightful place as a state that leads the nation in excellent schools.”

Public Schools First NC supports:

  • Adequate, equitable funding reflecting at least the national average for each of North Carolina’s 115 school districts.
  • Increased funding for pre-school, because research demonstrates that high quality, early childhood education is a wise investment for communities and has lifelong, positive results for children.
  •  Excellent educational environments that are partnerships between schools, families, teachers and the community.
  •  Programs that encourage the retention of professional experienced teachers.
  •  A limited number of truly innovative charter schools designed to work with local school districts, managed with careful local and state oversight.
  •  A broad education—including literature, mathematics, the arts, history, civics, science, foreign languages, physical education, vocational education and new technological innovations—that allows students to thrive in a challenging, changing, and competitive global economy.

Public Schools First NC opposes:

  • Vouchers, tax credits, education savings accounts or other similar plans that take resources from our public schools—with little public oversight and even less evidence of success for students.
  •  Overuse and misuse of high stakes testing. Time and resources should be spent on hands on learning, creative problem solving, and a holistic curriculum. Test scores should not be used to punitively grade schools or evaluate teachers but as one of many tools that inform instruction.
  •  Educational “strategies” that ignore the impact of poverty on student success and blame teachers and schools.  We will hold our elected officials accountable f or addressing the growing rates of childhood poverty in North Carolina.

As our history shows, North Carolinians understand that education is the “great equalizer” for our citizens, and each child’s right to an excellent public education is guaranteed in our state constitution.

Public Schools First NC will be a voice to remind us all that our public schools are our first and best investment for North Carolina’s future.

###

About Public Schools First NC:

Public Schools First NC (PSFNC) is a group of citizens, parents, teachers, businesses and organizations joining together to advocate for a first-rate public education system for all North Carolinians. To learn more or to join our organization, please visit: www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org

 

Categories North Carolina, Parent Groups, Support for public schools

Resegregation by Charters in North Carolina?

By dianeravitch
January 27, 2013 //
12

A new study of racial segregation in North Carolina shows that 30% of regular public schools are racially imbalanced, but 60% of charter schools are.

These findings echo the work of the UCLA Civil Rights Project, which has found that charter schools are frequently even more segregated than their surrounding district.

In Georgia, there are charter schools that are overwhelmingly white in districts where there are hardly any white students in the public schools. The Pataula Charter in Calhoun County is 75% white, but the local schools are only 2% white.

The first question is whether charter schools will become the new name for segregation academies?

The second question is why our society has turned its back on racial integration?

Categories Charter Schools, North Carolina, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration

N.C. State Board Caves to Online Lobbyists, with Restrictions

By dianeravitch
January 10, 2013 //
1

North Carolina is a plum market for the online for-profit charter industry.

Today, the state board of education agreed to allow them to open in the state but set some limits.

Here is a link to a report on the decision by North Carolina Policy Watch:

“Virtual charter schools will face restrictions if they want to open up in North Carolina.
The N.C. State Board of Education voted today to adopt a policy that would require the online-based schools to adhere to a significantly lower funding formula ($3504 per student) than brick-and-mortar charter schools, maintain high graduation rates and low withdrawal rates of students. Schools will also need to keep a ratio of one teacher for every 50 students and keep graduation rates within 10 percent of the state average (80 percent), and can’t have withdrawal rates higher than 15 percent in two out of three years.”
Some legislators were unhappy that the state board of education imposed restrictions on the industry. Online charters get dismal results, but they are heavily favored by Jeb Bush and Bob Wise, and of course, the technology industry. They are also a favorite cause of the far-right organization ALEC, which counts some N.C. legislators among its members.
Two for-profit online corporations have already sent letters of intent to the state board of education: Connections, which is owned by Pearson; and K12, which is owned by the Milken brothers and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Both have hired lobbyists to help them in the legislature, which may eliminate the restrictions imposed by the state board of education.
The bottom line: ALEC and for-profit corporations win, kids in N.C. lose.
Categories Corporate Reformers, For-Profit, North Carolina, On-Line Education, Privatization
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