Archives for category: Privatization
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Will 2014 Be “The Year of Action”?

By dianeravitch
February 26, 2014 //
21

Jeff Bryant here describes the unprecedented wave of activism that is ready to launch in spring 2014.

This is the year that parents, teachers, students, and concerned citizens mobilize to stop the juggernaut of high-stakes testing and privatization.

This is the year we demand that Race to the Top go away, to be replaced by genuine concern for education, children, and equity for purr neediest children.

This is the year to stop attacking our nation’s dedicated educators. Stop closing schools. Stop squandering money on for-profits and useless consultants.

This is the year to stop the beatings and to begin to develop genuine changes that help instead of punishing our schools.

We begin this weekend in Austin, Texas, when the Network for Public Education convenes hundreds of activists. And we grow from there into a movement to reclaim our public schools.

Categories Charter Schools, Closing schools, Privatization, Resistance, Supporting public schools, Testing

Breaking News: New Data Show High Expulsion Rates from Charter Schools in Chicago

By dianeravitch
February 26, 2014 //
34

Mayor Rahm Emanuel once praised the Noble network of charter schools in Chicago as having a “secret sauce” for success. Part of its “secret sauce” was fining students $5 for every disciplinary infraction. Some families owed the school hundreds or even thousands of dollars. That was one way of pushing out difficult students. It works. But that’s not all.

A new report from Chicago Public Schools shows that one important ingredient of the secret sauce is expulsions. It makes perfect sense. If a school can kick out the kids with low scores, the school will have higher scores and the public school that gets the low-scoring kids will have lower scores. How simple! Charter advocates like to say that public schools should copy the successful strategies of the charter schools. Now, if the Chicago public schools learn from the charters, who will take those kids? Ideas?

As it continues to modify strict disciplinary policies in an effort to keep students in the classroom, Chicago Public Schools on Tuesday released data showing privately run charter schools expel students at a vastly higher rate than the rest of the district.

The data reveal that during the last school year, 307 students were kicked out of charter schools, which have a total enrollment of about 50,000. In district-run schools, there were 182 kids expelled out of a student body of more than 353,000.

That means charters expelled 61 of every 10,000 students while the district-run schools expelled just 5 of every 10,000 students.

It’s the first time the district has released student suspension data for every school and also the first time it has released data on expulsions for charters. For charter critics, the numbers will buttress long-standing complaints that the privately run operations push out troubled students, allowing their schools to record stronger academic performances.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Privatization

Eva Moskowitz Plans to Fight Mayor de Blasio in Albany

By dianeravitch
February 25, 2014 //
136

Eva Moskowitz, the combative CEO of the Success Academy charter school chain (previously called Harlem Success Academy), anticipates that new Mayor Bill de Blasio may charge rent for her use of public space or may deny some of the co-locations offered in the waning days of the Bloomberg administration. Moskowitz enjoyed preferential treatment when Michael Bloomberg was mayor and had immediate access to Chancellor Joel Klein. Those days are over, as de Blasio has pledged to review all future co-locations and to consult with local communities.

Moskowitz issued a statement promising to take her battle for more schools and more funding to Albany, where she has friends in the Legislature and in Governor Cuomo. According to a report by Geoffrey Decker in Chalkbeat, charter advocates–some of whom are on the board of Eva’s chain–have contributed more than $800,000 to Cuomo. Eva will bring busloads of students to Albany with her to impress the Legislature, something that no public school would be permitted to do. In addition, a charter advocacy group called Families for Excellent Schools will mount a multi-million dollar TV campaign to block de Blasio’s efforts to rein in the charter movement.

Charters in New York City enroll 6% of the pupil population. Many have smaller proportions of students with disabilities and English language learners than public schools, and some charters are known for suspending or expelling students they don’t want, then not accepting new students to take their places.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, New York City, Privatization

Another Anti-Charter Petition in New Jersey: Will Chris Cerf Do the Right Thing as He Leaves?

By dianeravitch
February 24, 2014 //
8

A group of superintendents in New Jersey drafted a petition to Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf, asking him to block the expansion of the Hatikvah Charter School.

The charter school has consistently been underenrolled. It plans to expand by drawing students and funds from their districts, impoverishing their already struggling public schools.

A decision is likely by Friday.

Will State Commissioner Chris Cerf do the right thing?

 

 

To:

Commissioner Christopher Cerf

New Jersey Department of Education

Judge Robert L. Carter Building

100 Riverview Plaza

PO Box 500

Trenton, NJ 08625-0500

February 21, 2014

We, the below signed Superintendents, write to request that you deny the expansion request submitted to your office on October 15, 2013 as part of the Hatikvah International Academy Charter School Application for Charter School Renewal.

Hatikvah has proposed not only the creation of a grade 6-8 Middle School, but also an increase from the current two to a proposed three classes of 25 students per grade in grades K-5. If approved, the Middle School would add an additional 150 students, and the additional class in grades K-5 would add yet another 150 students. This would double Hatikvah’s maximum 2013-14 enrollment of 273 students, to a maximum 2018-19 enrollment of 600 students. An expansion request in their 2018 Renewal Application for an additional 75 seats in grades 6-8 is also likely, which would bring Hatikvah’s ultimate enrollment projection to 675 students.

Since opening in 2010, Hatikvah has failed to fill their seats with students from East Brunswick, the only district they are approved to serve. As demonstrated in the October 15, 2013 Enrollment Count, they currently serve 263 students from 21 districts in 6 counties. In essence, due to a lack of sufficient interest in East Brunswick to fill enrollment, Hatikvah has become a de-facto statewide charter school.

It should be noted that, as of the October 15, 2013 Enrollment Count, Hatikvah was under enrolled, and had filled only 263 out of the 273 seats their charter allows. How can an expansion be justified when Hatikvah is unable to fill seats in all grades, even with the inclusion of students from 21 districts?

In fact, Hatikvah’s enrollment shows that a mere 57% of Hatikvah’s students reside in East Brunswick. This puts 43% of the funding burden on the other 20 districts across the state, that according to current statute and regulation, received no formal notice of Hatikvah’s expansion request, and have no legal standing in the deliberations or final decision that could adversely effect their budgets.

Hatikvah’s under enrollment, despite recruitment efforts in 21 districts in 6 counties, seems to indicate that the charter has failed to tap into an unmet need, not only in East Brunswick, but the state of New Jersey.

In many of our districts the majority of funding, in some cases close to 90%, comes from local tax dollars. The diversion of these funds, by state mandate, with no input from the local taxpayers, remains an issue of contention. This diversion of funds, coupled with 2% budget caps and continued state underfunding, is particularly challenging.

Also a challenge is the fact that the State Charter School Aid Projected Enrollment Count, used for budget purposes, often varies significantly from the actual October 15 Enrollment Count, forcing districts to either set aside too much money for charter tuition payments, or not enough, but in either case restricting much needed funds from tight budgets.

Finally, we wish to call your attention to the fact that Hatikvah’s student demographics are unlike any of our districts. According to the most recent available state data, Hatikvah is serving significantly fewer minorities, fewer children in poverty, fewer Limited English Proficient children and fewer Special Education children. In fact, Hatikvah serves no LEP students and only 1% of their students are reported as Special Education.

Hatikvah’s 2012-2013 Annual Report addresses the need for more diversity in their charter by stating that their “plan is to increase our recruitment efforts in New Brunswick in order to increase student diversity and the free/reduced lunch population.” In addition, the Hatikvah 2011-12 annual report states that they do not have a lunch program, but that free/reduced lunch students are “provided with a complimentary nutritious entrée by our PTO, 3 days a week.”

We submit for your consideration that Hatikvah has demonstrated an inability to enroll a diverse student population from the diverse districts they already serve, and very well may not be meeting many of the significant needs of some of the students they have enrolled.

Charter regulations clearly state that annually “the Commissioner shall assess the student composition of a charter school and the segregative effect that the loss of the students may have on its district of residence” and that the “annual assessments of student composition of the charter school” will be factored into the renewal of a charter. We respectfully submit that the demographic disparities between our districts and Hatikvah be given significant consideration in your decision.

We are in absolute agreement that the approval of the Hatikvah expansion would be contrary to N.J.S.A. 18A:36A-16(e)(3), as it would have an overall negative impact on the students, staff, parents, educational programs and finances of our districts.

 

Dr. Patrick Piegari

East Brunswick Superintendent

Mr. Timothy Capone

Highland Park Superintendent

Mr. Richard Kaplan

New Brunswick Superintendent

Dr. Brian Zychowski

North Brunswick Superintendent

Dr. Richard O’Malley

Edison Superintendent

Mr. Michael Pfister

South River Superintendent

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, New Jersey, Privatization

NC Charter is Living Proof of Need for Regulation and Oversight

By dianeravitch
February 22, 2014 //
17

Charter school advocates predict the great benefits that flow from deregulation, freedom from oversight.

For more than 20 years, they have boasted that great education benefits would flow from the removal of state supervision: The deal, they said, was give us freedom and hold us accountable.

While the charter industry boasts of its successes, no one has kept track of the number of charter schools that have failed or been engaged in fraud, nepotism, and corruption; it is not a small number.

Here is another sad story, where millions of public funds were lavished on a charter, and things turned out poorly.

Two women in Charlotte, North Carolina, had a dream of turning their small private school into a charter school.

And this is what happened:

For years they’d been trying to turn their small private school, StudentFirst Academy, into a charter that would reach more students. It had won praise from such leaders as then-Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory and then-Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Cannon, and recently earned state approval for a $3 million startup budget to become a public school.

Handford and Moss talked about a school where impoverished children would flourish in small classes led by master teachers. There would be arts and athletics, healthy meals and Latin classes.

“It is all about opening our doors to an academic wonderland that’s being funded by the government,” Handford said.

Less than four months after StudentFirst charter school opened, those dreams collapsed amid allegations of mismanagement, nepotism and financial irregularities. Overdue bills had the school on the brink of bankruptcy. Students were going without textbooks, losing teachers and taking long naps during the day, consultants reported.

The school’s board of directors fired Handford and Moss, who are now suing the board they once recruited.

It is not clear who is right and who is wrong.

What is clear is that this idea needed regulation, supervision, and oversight, like public schools.

Deregulation has its down side.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/02/08/4674732/charter-school-dreams-fade-in.html#.Uvu-0hZEDap#storylink=cpy

 

 

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, North Carolina, Privatization

Ohio: Do Legislators Really Want the Best Education for Children? Or…

By dianeravitch
February 20, 2014 //
7

A reader asked the question:

 

Money for Education Misplaced
If Ohio legislators truly want the best education for all children then why are most public school students from third to tenth graders required to take 17 standardized tests, written by a variety of educational vendors, while private school students take one, the OGT?

Why is the state of Ohio giving tax credit scholarships for some students to attend one of at least 20 private schools that teach creationism and the age of the Earth to be between 6-10,000 years old?

Why are legislators defunding public schools to handover nearly a billion dollars annually to for profit businesses to manage charter schools?

The Columbus Dispatch reported in September 2013 that nearly 84,000 Ohio students, or roughly 87 percent of the state’s charter-school students, attend a charter ranked D or F by the state. For comparison, 75% of public schools were rated C or better. Since 1997, roughly 30% of the charter schools have closed and their median life is 4 years. Furthermore, charter schools now receive $5,745 per student from money that is deducted from the state aid going to the student’s home district.

So the state is taking money out of a system that could use it and spending it in a system in which 87% of their schools are rated poorly and 3 in ten 10 have closed over the last 15 years.

Charter schools also are exempt from hundreds of references in Ohio Revised Code. For example, charter schools do not have to follow the detailed prescribed curriculum like math, science, and reading that are required in public schools nor do they have to annually report the names, salaries, college experience, degrees earned, or type of teaching license held by their staff; hard to believe.
The irony to all of this is lawmakers must feel certain regulations would hurt charter schools, which is why they are exempted, yet legislators have no problem using these laws to regulate public schools and their students.
Ohio does have tough laws to close charter schools but loopholes in the law keeps these failing schools open under a new name and new management. It is time to let charter schools fund themselves and to keep public dollars in public schools.

 

Matt Bistritz
Twinsburg
216-990-3630

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

Who Are America’s Highest Paid Government Workers?

By dianeravitch
February 20, 2014 //
10

According to Education Week, the Center for Media and Democracy and Education has released a report on America’s highest paid government workers, and they are not whom you would think of.

In education, it is Ron Packard, who until recently was CEO of K12 Inc., which manages virtual charter schools. Packard, formerly of McKinsey, was paid handsomely. The company insists its schools are public schools,” as it sucks tuition dollars away from community public schools:

“The center says Packard earned more than $19 million in compensation between 2009 and 2013, and notes that that compensation rolled in as K12 achieved a lackluster academic showing in various states. As a company, the report says that K12 took in $848 million in 2013, with $731 million derived from its “managed public schools” operations.”

Packard announced in January that he was stepping down to head a new company but will remain on the K12 board.

And you wondered why we spend so much on education? Check out the burgeoning industry of for-profits and consultants and others who tell schools what to do and how to do it but never enter a classroom.

Categories Privatization

Advice for Robert Reich About K-12 Education

By dianeravitch
February 19, 2014 //
47

A reader whose tag is “Not a Public School Teacher” reacts to the news that Robert Reich has come out in opposition to the overuse of standardized testing:

“I was very grateful to see Reich’s stance in “Inequality for All”, but frankly, I think it’s about time he took a stand on K-12 public education. HIgh-stakes standardized testing is not a new issue. We’re talking about 12 years of standardized tests under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), longer in many locations, as well as ever increasing numbers of tests now, with the roll out of Race to the Top (RttT) and the Common Core national standards.

“If you look at the “Inequality for All” website, Reich was curiously silent on K-12 education, so this is a good start. However, Reich does not go far enough. For example, Reich made no mention of the ongoing national assault on public school teachers, the primary aim of which is to break unions and deprofessionalize the field, replacing unionized career educators with low paid non-union workers, such as the five week trained “teachers” from Teach for America.

“Reich also said nothing about the scheme to privatize public education. Does he not realize that, under the guise of “school choice,” neighborhood schools are being closed and replaced with unregulated or minimally regulated charters that have no elected boards or PTAs, which effectively eliminate community participation and democracy in education? That benefits no one more than corporate and entrepreneurial profiteers, such as the 16 charter school CEOs in NY who earn $500K per year –more than Obama is paid?

“On his “Inequality for All” website, Reich indicates strong support for Obama’s new policy plan for higher education. As a college professor, Reich should know about the fiscal issues of colleges, because their funds are certainly not going to the majority of college faculty, 70% of whom across this nation are non-union, low paid contingency workers with no benefits. He should also know better than to support the plan for higher education without very carefully scrutinizing it, because it is as much a TROJAN HORSE as K-12 policies are under NCLB and RttT.

“If Reich does not fully understand what’s happening in education, then he should read Diane’s book, “Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools”

Categories Privatization, Teachers, Testing

The Perils of Privatization: Good News

By dianeravitch
February 19, 2014 //
1

A report from “In the Public Interest,” an organization that tracks privatization.
The outlook for the profiteers is not so bright. That is good news. So is the news from Alaska and Maine.

“National: As U.S. revenues of for-profit education companies slump, they look overseas for greener pastures. “Outside the U.S., it’s a wide-open area to run in without as much scrutiny,” says Michael Moe, chief executive officer of GSV Capital Corp. There is speculation that as part of a reshuffle of the Washington Post’s parent company, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway may acquire Kaplan. Kaplan International teachers will be rallying this Thursday at Kaplan’s New York office to demand a fair contract. “A year-and-a-half after voting overwhelmingly for Guild representation, Teachers at Kaplans International Colleges are still fighting for a contract that provides basic benefits for the 90% of the workforce that is part-time. Management refuses to budge. Kaplan ESL instructors, backed by their students, say enough is enough.”

I was also happy to learn from this site that school voucher legislation is stalled in Alaska because two Republican senators are worried about how vouchers will affect public schools. I testified by telephone to the Slaska legislative committee, and I am pleased to see that the committee is thinking through the consequences of this reckless proposal. Many realize it has nothing to do with education.

In Maine, a state legislative committee voted 11-2 to impose a moratorium on virtual charter schools, which is a priority of Governor Paul LePage, a disciple of Jeb Bush. There is interest in a virtual charter controlled by the state, not by external for-profit corporations. Legislators may have been thinking of the 2012 award-winning news story about the political and financial interests–the profit motive–behind the push for virtual charters in Maine.

About once or twice a month, In the Public Interest sends out an email newsletter highlighting major issues and the latest news on privatization and responsible contracting. We keep you informed on new resources and efforts around the country to protect democratic control of public services and assets. *We never ask for donations.*

http://www.facebook.com/InThePublicInterest

Categories Education Industry, For-Profit, On-Line Education, Privatization, Vouchers

NJ Legislators Plan Hearings into Christie Plan to Privatize Newark Public Schools

By dianeravitch
February 19, 2014 //
4

State Senator Ronald Rice promised hearings into the Christie plan called “One Newark,” which would turn over 1/3 of the city’s umbilical schools to charter operators. Ironic name for Balkanization, no?

“Let me assure you I will be calling for an investigation into the operation of the Newark district,” Rice said at the close of a two-hour hearing in Newark City Hall about the so-called “One Newark” plan that would close, transfer to charters, redesign or otherwise “repurpose” more than a third of the schools in the state’s largest city. He predicted state education officials and Cami Anderson, the state-appointed superintendent, would probably not show up to answer questions. “If they continue to refuse to respond, then we will have to begin to demand they give us answers. We will ask for subpoena power.”

“Many of the complaints have been heard before but the hearing was significant because it brought out organizations that have been relatively silent on the growing concern about the privatization of public schools, especially through the vast expansion of charter schools.

“The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), which has said little about the growing privatization movement, sent a vice president, Marie Blistan, to the hearing. She told the legislators, “It is clear that what the Christie Administration and the Departmentof Education are attempting to impose on Newark is just the beginning of an assault on the very principles of public education across the entire state of New Jersey.”

“Joyce McCree, the president of the NJEA’s small affiliate in Newark, used ever stronger words, contending the Christie administration was “engaged in a systematic campaign to undermine, demonize and ultimately privatize schools.”

Categories New Jersey, Privatization
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