Archives for category: Pennsylvania

What Do Philadelphia Students Want?

November 2, 2013 //

A high school student wrote this letter to Mark NAISON of the BATS, who sent it to me:

Mr Naison:

Hello, my name is Madeline Clapier. I am a senior at Constitution High School which is a school in Philadelphia that focuses on law and history. Currently, we as a school are facing massive budget cuts and our student government is attempting to rally against the cuts. We have put together seven points that we believe are necessary to the “efficient education” due to us by the state constitution. I’m reaching out to you because you have been apart of working for the restoration of schools. I would like to know how to effectively rally for the education we believe is necessary for the future of our city. So, if you have any tips on how we should go forward with our mission that would be greatly appreciated.

Our seven expectations for our city’s schools are attached.

Thank you,
Madeline Clapier

Expectations for Philadelphia Public Schools

“The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth.” -PA Constitution

A counselor should be a reality for all Philadelphia School District students. The counselors should be around for all school days, not just once or twice a month. They are necessary for not only emotional support, but a plethora of other things including (but not limited to) college help, peer mediation, working papers, SAT/ACT waivers, and college recommendations.

We should not be dealing with class sizes where students have to share desks or bring in chairs. It should not be a daily dilemma to find a seat in any classroom. Each and every classroom should be able to fit the expected amount of students and that number should not exceed 33 students.

If a school is a college prep school then students should be able to choose SAT prep classes or other college prep classes to help prepare the student body for their future. Likewise if the school is advertised as a science, history, or art school they should be able to afford their equipment.

After school activities are something that each college looks for on any application. They teach students to critically think, work together and much more.

There is something sickening about the fact that there is not a nurse in every school. It is very clear that students are only expected to get sick on certain days. What about the other days of the week?

Electives are an essential piece of every high school experience. Students should be given the opportunity to pick and choose some things that interest them. This way students have the classes like Spanish and Art History that colleges expect them to have learned.

Most of all we believe the state of Pennsylvania and the School District of Philadelphia need to follow their social responsibility of creating a proper learning environment for Philadelphia students.

Categories Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Students

Reader: Governor Corbett Should Be Prosecuted

By dianeravitch

October 7, 2013 //

This letter comes in response to a post by TeacherBiz, aka
Ani McHugh.

Dr. Ravitch, I worked for 29 years for NJEA and six for PSEA. I worked with local teacher associations in some
of the poorest cities in both those states (NJ and PA), including
Chester-Upland.

What is happening in CU is nothing short of a criminal assault on the poorest of the poor, led by politicians who have allowed the state to have a funding formula which penalizes
poor districts and then criticizes them for “failing.”

Corbett, a
former prosecutor, should himself be prosecuted for failing to
enforce the state constitution, which calls for a “thorough and
efficient” system of public schools. By contrast, New Jersey’s
Supreme Court forced the cowards in the legislature to fund poor
districts at the same level as the wealthy districts, with some
impressive results.

I love your work. And oh,
by the way, Ani McHugh is my daughter, of whom I am inordinately
proud. Robert P. Broderick
Beverly, NJ

Categories Accountability, Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Pennsylvania

TeacherBiz Reviews “Reign of Error”

By dianeravitch

October 4, 2013 //

Ani McHugh, who blogs as TeacherBiz, wrote about the book after she heard me speak in Philadelphia on September 16. She was impressed that despite my age, I still spoke with “the energy and passion of a much younger woman.” She doesn’t realize that 75 is the new 55.

She brings to her review the unique perspective of Philadelphia, a city under siege, trying to maintain a semblance of education despite massive budget cuts by the state, which takes no responsibility despite the clear language of the state constitution.

Philadelphia and Pennsylvania are home to many of the misdeeds described in the book. The collapse of public education in Chester-Upland, where the governor’s biggest campaign contributor opened a thriving charter. The proliferation of virtual charters. The failure of a privatization under Paul Vallas.

Philadelphia is in extremis. The state’s willingness to preserve free public education in that city will be a test of our society a test of our commitment to equality of educational opportunity.

Categories Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Reign of Error

Rhee Vs. Ravitch in Philadelphia

By dianeravitch

September 27, 2013 //

As it happened, Michelle Rhee and I nearly crossed paths in
Philadelphia. This
article describes our contrasting visions for the public
schools of Philadelphia. She spoke on September 16, in a panel that
included George Parker, the former head of the Washington Teachers
Union, who now works for Rhee, and Steve Perry, ex-CNN commentator.

Governor Tom Corbett cut $1 billion from the schools in 2011, while cutting corporate taxes. He later added back a small part of the cut, but he left many districts in terrible fiscal trouble.

Philadelphia public schools have a deficit of $300 million, and
thousands of staff have been laid off, including teachers, guidance
counselors, social workers, librarians, and many others. Bear in mind that the Philadelphia public schools have been under state control for more than a decade. During that time, Superintendent Paul Vallas launched the nation’s most sweeping privatization experiment, which failed, according to independent evaluations.

According to this article (and in an op-ed published in the Philadelphia
Inquirer), Rhee saw the fiscal crisis as an opportunity to
introduce performance pay. How that would close the budget deficit
was unclear.

In my presentation at the Philadelphia Free Library, I read the language of the state
constitution, which unequivocally assigns responsibility to the
state of Pennsylvania to support a thorough and efficient education
for every child. That is not the case today. Governor Tom Corbett
expects the state-controlled School Reform Commission to squeeze
savings out of the teachers’ contracts, cutting salaries, benefits,
and laying off more teachers. That is not the way to go.

Someday the children of Philadelphia will be the voters of Pennsylvania or
some other state. They must be educated to choose their leaders
wisely. Someday these children may sit on a jury where YOU will be
judged. Just hope that they have the wisdom, knowledge, and
compassion to judge you fairly. My view: The children of
Philadelphia are as worthy of a good education as the children in
the nearby suburbs. They need small classes, experienced teachers,
arts programs, well-maintained facilities, guidance counselors,
libraries staffed by librarians, up-to-date technology. They need
what the parents in the suburbans want for their children. And they
deserve nothing less.

Categories Education Reform, Merit pay, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Rhee, Michelle

Yinzercation: Our Pep Rally in Pittsburgh

By dianeravitch

September 19, 2013 //

Jessie Ramey, who writes Yinzercation, and Kipp Dawson, a union activist and teacher in the Pittsburgh public schools, invited me to come to their city. I had my first event there, and it was sensational! I will let Jessie describe it.

Let me add that I especially wanted to meet Kipp, because I learned that she worked as a coal miner for more than a decade. I imagined a burly woman, but she turned out to be tiny, but with a steely determination. The kind that enables a woman who is 5’1″ to carry a 50-pound pack on her back and persist, the kind that will fight for kids today.

Categories Pennsylvania, Reign of Error

Lessons from Pittsburgh

By dianeravitch

September 17, 2013 //

I had a wonderful inaugural event in my book tour in Pittsburgh. It was organized by parent activist Jessie Ramey, who writes the blog Yinzercation, and union activist Kipp Dawson. It was co-sponsored by seven local universities, the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, and a galaxy of educational justice groups, including GPS (Great Pittsburgh Schools).

The audience included many elected officials, including the newly elected mayor, school board members, and Superintendent Linda Lane.

The event began with a long and fabulous set played on African drums by about 20 students, who seemed to range in age from 9-13 or so. They were great!

I spoke, then was followed by the Westinghouse high school marching band. They arrived with great vivacity, but their story was heartbreaking. This school, which produced a number of legendary jazz greats, has been decimated by budget cuts. The school’s jazz program was shut down years ago. Now the marching band has no instruments, and their uniforms are hand-md-downs. A speaker, Reverend Thornton, pleaded with the crowd, to make donations to help the band that has neither instruments nor uniforms nor a stable band director.

Anyone want to see the “crisis in American education”? Come see how the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is denying a thorough and efficient education to the children of Pittsburgh. Especially the children of color.

Categories Budget Cuts, Pennsylvania

Breaking News: Founder of Pennsylvania Cyber Charter Indicted

By dianeravitch

August 24, 2013 //

Nicholas Trombetta, founder of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, has been indicted by federal authorities on 11 fraud and tax charges.

Trombetta’s school is the largest cyber charter in the state and possibly the nation, with 10,000 students and annual revenues in excess of $100 million.

Prosecutors said that Trombetta had stolen nearly $1 million. He “is accused of creating entity after entity, ultimately controlling what prosecutors said was an intricate web of interlocking businesses whose purpose was to enrich himself, his sister and various associates.”

Trombetta’s attorney said he will plead not guilty.

“The indictment alleges that the former wrestling coach and school superintendent formed businesses that billed for doing no work; masked his control of a corporation by naming straw owners; hid income from the IRS; took $550,000 in kickbacks on a laptop computer contract with Virginia-based NCS Technologies Inc.; and even “caused” employees to make $40,000 in individual payments to his favored political candidates before reimbursing them through one of his companies.

Although no such charges have been filed, there is a federal statute that prohibits making campaign contributions in the name of another person, or what are referred to as “conduit political contributions.”

Prosecutors insisted they were not making any judgments about cyber charters, just about Mr. Trombetta’s financial dealings.

As we have learned from studies like the one conducted by CREDO and another by NEPC, cyber charters provide an inferior quality of education–high attrition rates, low graduation rates, low test scores.

But the money is really good for those who run the schools, so long as they don’t break the law.

Categories Charter Schools, On-Line Education, Pennsylvania

Best Quote of the Day

By dianeravitch

August 16, 2013 //

In a front page story in the New York Times about the budget crisis in Philadelphia, parent leader Helen Gym said this:

“The concept is just jaw-dropping,” said Helen Gym, who has three children in the city’s public schools. “Nobody is talking about what it takes to get a child educated. It’s just about what the lowest number is needed to get the bare minimum. That’s what we’re talking about here: the deliberate starvation of one of the nation’s biggest school districts.”

The story says that Philadelphia does not have an elected board but fails to explain that the city has been under state control for more than a decade. During that decade, also unmentioned in the story, Paul Vallas “saved” the schools.

Maybe Pennsylvania doesn’t want to pay for schools anymore. Maybe it just wants ill-tended buildings, large classes, no arts, nothing else. But lots of prisons.

Categories Budget Cuts, Parents, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Why Is Pennsylvania Unable to Pay for Public Schools?

By dianeravitch

August 13, 2013 //

Pennsylvania has more cyber charters than any other state (16 at last count). It also has a large charter sector that performs no better than public schools. The Governor took $1 billion out of the public schools’ budget, and he is allowing the public schools of Philadelphia to die.

Here is a good explanation:

“We cannot afford four separate school systems

“Pennsylvanians must decide if we want to continue to support public education or if we will allow those who want to privatize education to prevail. Pennsylvania taxpayers are now supporting four separate school systems – our traditional community-based public schools, bricks and mortar charter schools, cyber-charter schools and private schools. We simply cannot afford it. The funding being diverted from our community-based public schools to charters and private schools is killing public education.

“Pennsylvania taxpayers are spending $946 million on bricks and mortar charter schools, 71 percent of which did not meet the federal Adequate Yearly Progress standard (AYP), $366 million on cyber-charters, none of which met AYP. The Education Improvement Tax Credit program is diverting another $200 million from public schools to support private schools.

“The Philadelphia public school crisis shows us the future for many public schools around the Commonwealth if we do not recommit to adequate funding for our school districts.”

http://www.hangerforgovernor.com/we_cannot_afford_four_separate_school_systems”

Categories Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, On-Line Education, Pennsylvania