Archives for category: Privatization
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BAT Founder: Education “Reform” Is a Coup D’Etat

By dianeravitch
August 30, 2013 //
36

Mark Naison is one of the founders of BAT, the Badass Teachers Association. He says that what is happening to public education today is nothing less than a coup d’état, a stealthy takeover of public education by elites who know little or nothing about education. Some do it for the power; some for greed; some for ideology. Whatever their reason, it is time to resist.

Naison writes:

“There Has Been an Education Coup D’Etat In the US- Time to Organize Resistance”

“When a country has suffered a Coup D’Etat, as Chile did in the 1970’s, or a foreign invasion, as France did during the start of World War II, it takes a while for the population to figure out how to resist. Some collaborate, some passively conform, some pretend compliance and grimly go about their business, some move into active resistance, even at the risk of their lives

“While it would be foolish to pretend that what has happened to education in the US in the last ten years has had the same life threatening consequences, it does have many of the elements of a Coup D’Etat. A well financed and highly motivated elite with little or no background in teaching or school administration has seized control of Education Policy in the US, excluding teachers and parents voices, and has imposed a grim test regimen on the nation’s public schools that has driven joy and creativity out of our classrooms and made teachers hate their jobs. The Common Core Standards, imposed with lightning speed across the country through bribery and intimidation is but the latest example of how School Reformers borrow the ethos and strategy of dictators to impose their policies. Teachers, parents, and students who have had no chance to discuss the standards, much less see them in operation before deciding whether to support them, are presented with a fate d’accompli and told they are undermining national progress if they dare to ask questions, and if they are teachers or principals, told that opposition can cost them their jobs

“Well, despite the intimidation, a resistance has emerged, composed of parent opt out groups, anti- testing and anti-Common Core Coalitions, and this group, the Badass Teachers Association. With Common Core now part of professional development for teachers in most school districts, it is time to help the resistance spread. Just letting teachers know there is a group like BATS which thinks current policies are crazy is an important step. We now have a one page document in the files that you can print out and distribute to colleagues.

“Please discretely hand this out to your colleagues and friends. Most will probably not want to join, but knowing there is a resistance of this size and militancy will give them courage and make them feel empowered to resist covertly, in their own classrooms. And who knows, over time, they may join us

“But the important thing is to spread the word. Let people know that 26,000 teachers across the country have said “enough is enough” to top down Education Reform and are determined to fight back.

“It’s not only our jobs that are at stake, it is our students and our children’s education, and the future of democracy in this country that are on the line.”

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BadAssTeachers/

Categories Corporate Reformers, Privatization, Supporting public schools, Testing

Dallas: Mike Miles’ Asst. Runs for School Board

By dianeravitch
August 28, 2013 //
12

Broad-trained Dallas Superintendent Mike
Miles is in big trouble. He is under investigation for
interfering with bidding for contracts and with internal audits;
several of his top staff have quit; DISD teachers are quitting in
large numbers; Miles’ family moved away from Dallas. But he has
good news: Miles’ special assistant is running for a seat on the
school board. Miguel Solis is not only running for the board, where
he can protect his unpopular and tyrannical boss, he is the Dallas
director of Stand on Children. Stand is a national organization
that was once grassroots but now reflects the interests of wealthy
investors in privatization and high-stakes testing. It will be
interesting to see if he has a credible opponent who cares about
public education. Of course, Stand will provide ample campaign
funds to keep the board committed to its program.

Categories Broad Foundation, Charter Schools, Privatization, Stand for Children, Texas

Why I Endorse Bill de Blasio for Mayor of New York City

By dianeravitch
August 27, 2013 //
54

After much deliberation, I have decided to support Bill de Blasio for mayor of New York City.

I thought long and hard, because I know and respect some of the other candidates.

I issued the following statement to the de Blasio campaign.

“I am proud to support Bill de Blasio for mayor of New York City. I support him because I believe he will be a great mayor with a fresh vision for the city, its families, and its children. It’s time for a change. Bill de Blasio knows that he must rebuild the city’s school system so that there is a good public school in every neighborhood. I endorse his plan to ask the wealthy to pay a little more in taxes so the city can provide universal pre-kindergarten for all four-year-olds and more after-school programs for middle-school students who need them. I am proud to stand with Bill de Blasio for a better New York City.”
Bill de Blasio understands that the mayor must stand up for all 1.1 million students in the New York City school system and make the system function well for all of them.
He knows that public education will suffer if the city continues on its present course of privatization, high-stakes testing, and closing of neighborhood schools. He understands that churn and disruption are bad for children, bad for families, bad for schools, and bad for communities.
Bill de Blasio recognizes that this is a time to build anew. It is time for fresh ideas, new thinking, a recognition that the life of every child is precious and that public education is a cornerstone of our democracy.
If he is elected mayor, I believe Bill de Blasio will use his position to strengthen public education, to listen to parents, and to give educators the respect they deserve for the work they do daily.
He realizes that schools can’t do the  job alone, which is why he has pledged to increase spending for early childhood education and after-school programs and to reduce class sizes.
These are research-based programs that the children of New York City need.
Is he an idealist, as some charge? Yes. Does he offer hope for a better future? Yes.
Bill de Blasio will work to provide equal opportunity for all of New York City’s children.
This is his goal, and it is mine too.
And that is why I endorse him for mayor.
Categories Education Reform, New York City, Privatization, Supporting public schools, Testing

Civil Rights Groups Call for Duncan’s Ouster

By dianeravitch
August 25, 2013 //
53

A large national alliance of civil rights organizations has joined under the umbrella heading of “Journey for Justice.”

This coalition has called for the resignation of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

To understand why, read the flyer it distributed.

Anyone who thinks that closing public schools and replacing them with privately managed charters and with vouchers is somehow part of the civil rights movement has no understanding of the purposes of the civil rights movement.

It was not to destroy the public sector but to assure access to good education, decent housing, and jobs without any racial discrimination.

It struggled for equality of educational opportunity, not privatization or a “race to the top.”.

It did not claim that poverty could be cured by “fixing” schools or privatizing them.

It demanded an end to poverty by creating jobs and justice.

It fought segregation in schools and housing.

That vision is not the vision of the corporate reform movement in education today.

It fights not for equality of opportunity but for a market-based system of winners and losers.

It accepts segregation as tolerable.

It is not a civil rights movement.

The Journey for Justice calls out these contradictions and speaks truth to power.

“A National Grassroots Education Alliance”
COORDINATING COMMITTEE:National

Alliance for Education Justice

Washington, DC

Empower DC

Chicago, IL

Kenwood Oakland Community Organization

Baltimore, MD

Baltimore Algebra Project

Detroit, MI

Keep the Vote, No Takeover

Black Parents for Quality Education

Newark, NJ

Parents United for Local School Education

New York, NY

Alliance for Quality Education

Urban Youth Collaborative

Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia Student Union

MEMBERS:

National

Leadership Center for the Common Good

Oakland, CA

Oakland Public Education Network

Los Angeles, CA

Labor Community Strategy Center

Hartford, CT

Parent Power

Atlanta, GA

Project South

Miami, FL

Power U

Chicago, IL

Action Now

Wichita, KS

Kansas Justice Advocates

New Orleans, LA

Concerned Conscious Citizens Controlling Community Changes

Coalition for Community Schools

Boston, MA

Boston Youth Organizing Project

Boston Parent Organizing Network

Detroit, MI

Detroit LIFE Coalition

Minneapolis, MN

Neighborhoods Organizing for Change

Eupora, MS

Fannie Lou Hamer Center for Change

Camden, NJ

Camden Education Association

Englewood, NJ

Citizens for Public Education

Jersey City, NJ

Parent Advocates for Children’s Education

Concerned Citizens Coalition

Paterson, NJ

Paterson Education Organizing Committee

Philadelphia, PA

Action United

Youth United for Change

ALLIED MEMBERS

National

Annenberg Institute for School Reform

Chicago, IL

Teachers for Social Justice

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Laurie R. Glenn

Phone: 773.704.7246

E-mail:lrglenn@thinkincstrategy.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2013

MEDIA ALERT 

25 CITIES KICK OFF NATIONAL CAMPAIGN CALLING FOR RESIGNATION OF U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION DUNCAN
Journey for Justice Demonstrations Spearhead Campaign To Restore United Nations’ Proclaimed Human Right To Education 

WHAT:   In light of a rash of school closings targeting low income communities of color in cities throughout the country, a national 25-city coalition is calling for U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s resignation. In the midst of the 50th anniversary for the March On Washington, which sought to end segregation and job discrimination, members of the Journey for Justice Alliance have banded together to fight the continued privatization of public schools under Secretary Duncan’s leadership.

Students, parents and advocacy representatives all over the country will come together in local actions to demand a stop to the destabilization of low-income communities of color and restore the human and civil right to a quality and safe education for all children.

National Journey for Justice Alliance demands include:

  • ·         Moratorium on school closings, turnarounds, phase-outs, and charter expansions.
  • ·         It’s proposal for sustainable school transformation to replace failed, market-driven interventions as support for struggling schools.
  • ·         Resignation of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

WHO/WHERE:   Journey for Justice members and groups will hold local actions in 25 cities across the country including: Oakland, Calif.; San Jose, Calif.; Los Angeles; Hartford, Conn.; District of Columbia; Atlanta; Miami; Chicago; Wichita, Kan.; New Orleans; Baltimore; Minneapolis; Camden, N.J.; Englewood, N.J.; Paterson, N.J.; Jersey City, N.J.; Newark; New York; North Carolina, Boston; Detroit; Eupora, Miss.; Jackson, Miss.; Philadelphia; South Carolina.

WHEN:   Events will be held Monday, August 27th – Thursday, August 29th, 2013

WHY:  A clear pattern of racial and economic discrimination documented by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform has demonstrated that while there have been advances in the nation, as shown by the election of the nation’s first black president, the federal administration’s policies have embodied education strategies that continue to perpetuate racial and class bias and support inequality in education.

Despite research showing that closing public schools does not improve test scores or graduation rates, the federal agenda has incentivized the privatization of schools with primary fall out on low-income communities of color. Explosive school closings resulting from this agenda violates the United Nations proclamation of 1948, Article 26 (http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml) establishing the inalienable human right of every child – regardless of race, income or community — to receive a quality education in a safe environment.

JOURNEY FOR JUSTICE ALLIANCE
Journey for Justice is a national grassroots alliance whose goal is to bring the voice of those directly impacted by discriminatory school actions into the debate about the direction for public education in the 21st century and to promote equality in education for all students and sustainable, community-driven school reform for all school districts across the country.

####
Categories Closing schools, Poverty, Privatization, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration, Supporting public schools

Anthony Cody: What Do Prisons, Post Offices, and Schools Have in Common?

By dianeravitch
August 24, 2013 //
14

Anthony Cody explains
here the sustained assault on the commons, the effort to
privatize institutions that were long considered public.

He considers what happens when prisons
are privatized, creating profits by reducing the quality of service
and care. He shows why the post office is being privatized and who stands to gain.

And he summarizes the ongoing effort to privatize public schools and turn them over to corporate control.

He writes:

“It has
been decided in the halls of power, governmental and corporate,
that the way to improve schools is to unleash the power of the
marketplace. We are undergoing a transformation of huge proportions
in order to allow this to occur. Through the Common Core State
(sic) Standards, we are creating a single national marketplace for
tests, technology and curriculum – all three of which are
increasingly intertwined and removed from the control of teachers
and local communities….

“Meanwhile, our leaders
have unleashed “austerity” on the public sector, schools included.
In Chicago, the bulldozers destroyed a community reading center
treasured by local parents, capping off the closing of more than 50
public schools by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. In Philadelphia, the mayor
has been working to abandon public schools in favor of charters,
and the underfunding of the city’s schools has clergy there calling
for a student boycott.”

He concludes:

“Our schools are part of a public
heritage passed down to us. They were built in our communities with
a vision of bringing all children under the same roof to learn
together. Privatization replaces this model of the commons with one
ruled by marketplace “choices.” As we know, some people always wind
up with many more choices than others. Interviews with parents
reveal that their first choice is almost always a high quality
local public school for their children. If we shifted our public
policies away from attempting to discredit and replace these
schools, and towards supporting and strengthening them, we would be
far better off.”

Categories Accountability, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Privatization

North Carolina: Moral Mondays Grow

By dianeravitch
August 22, 2013 //
6

Join the movement to stop the privatization of public education in North Carolina! Stand up to the extremists in the legislature and the extremist governor who are band onion public education and vilifying the teaching profession..

This just in:

Advocating for high-quality public schools for North Carolina.

August 22, 2013

On Monday, August 26th, please wear RED for public ed!

North Carolina is on fire! People all across the state have joined us to “sound the alarm” and help us get public education budget facts straight. Thousands have gathered for Moral Mondays. Other rallies are popping up all over the state; here are three rallies scheduled for this Saturday, August 24th:

Alamance-Burlington Association of Educators Rally

Concerned Citizens Rally for Education – Hendersonville

Cumberland County Association of Educators Rally – Fayetteville

On Monday, August 26th, many traditional calendar schools across the state are opening their doors to start the new school year. NCAE and Public Schools First NC are asking everyone in our state to wear red to show their support for public education. You can also tie red ribbons on your doors, trees, and fences!

The General Assembly may not be in session and the school year may be beginning–but we can’t take our eyes off the prize!

We ALL must educate our friends and neighbors so they understand how and why privatization efforts threaten to bring public education to its knees.
Budget impact: local school districts respond

The impact of the biennial budget is being felt around the state. “Doing more with less” has been the mantra of educators as each new school year begins. But this year’s devastating cuts wreak even more havoc. Here are just a few stories:

State budget Cuts Mean 100 Fewer Teacher Assistants in Cumberland County Classrooms, Officials Say

Impact of NC budget Hits Home: 2 School Districts Eliminate 9 Teacher Assistant Jobs (Perquimans County and Edenton-Chowan Schools)

Local Schools Shuffling Employees Hours After State Funding Cuts (Cleveland County)

Gaston Teacher Assistants May Lose Jobs
What’s the impact in your community?

Public Schools First NC is interested in hearing directly from parents, teachers, principals and superintendents. What is the impact of education budget cuts where you live? How have the cuts impacted you and your family? How much are you spending on school supplies? Teachers: what have you spent out of your own pockets for your classrooms?

Send us a note at info@publicschoolsfirstnc.org
(Photos welcomed too!)
Be an informed voter

Know what’s on the ballot in your voting district. There are several school board elections across the state, as well as education-related bond referendums.

Public Schools First NC – PO BOX 6484 Raleigh, NC 27628 (919) 576-0655
info@publicschoolsfirstnc.org
publicschoolsfirstnc.org

Public Schools First NC | PO BOX 6484 | Raleigh, NC 27628

Categories North Carolina, Privatization

Blood-Letting Kills the Patient

By dianeravitch
August 22, 2013 //
5

Bill Phillis, who was deputy superintendent of schools in Ohio, now spends his time advocating for public education in Ohio. He runs the Equity and Adequacy Coalition.

He writes:

“State policies supporting the privatization of public education are draining the life’s blood of the public common school

“8/22/13

“From the advent of the 1851 thorough and efficient clause in the Ohio Constitution until the early 1990s, state, county (ESC) and local school officials worked, often times diligently, to improve educational opportunities to all school children and to extend opportunities to the previously unserved and underserved students. One efficacious strategy was to assemble a sufficient number of students in a central location to efficiently and effectively provide comprehensive high quality educational opportunities. School district consolidation, area/regional service centers, joint vocational school districts, special education consortiums, Ohio State School for the Blind, Ohio School for the Deaf, each linked to the strategy to provide high quality educational opportunities for all students.

“By the early 1990s the Ohio public common school system was poised to take significant strides toward a world class system for all students. The DeRolph school funding case highlighted the need for adequate fiscal resources, equitably distributed to accomplish excellence for all.

“Unfortunately, the Voinovich-initiated choice movement was cleverly orchestrated in ways to undermine the advancement and enrichment of the public common school system. The reorganization of several thousands of school districts into 612 districts took a century and a half to accomplish. In two decades, Ohio school entities have increased by about 400 and voucher schools have added hundreds of school entities funded by public tax dollars.

“The traditional public school system is being dismantled. The new paradigm is proving to be less efficient, less effective and less productive, and is completely irrational. The current education scenario is antithetical to the traditional public school effectual model that was emerging in the early 1900s. It is hostile to the education clauses (Article VI, sections 2 and 3) of the Ohio Constitution.

“The traditional public school system, due primarily to inadequate and inequitable funding, has defects and deficiencies that can be cured. The “choice” remedy (privatization) is wrongheaded. It is like the outmoded bloodletting medical practice of bygone days. This “cure” was counterproductive. History indicates that George Washington asked for a heavy dose of bloodletting for a throat infection. About 3.7 liters of blood was drained from him in a ten hour period. The Permanente Journal, Volume 8 NO.2 page 79 indicates that that procedure contributed to his death.

“The traditional public school system is being bled to death. What the public common school system needed was the analysis of a blood sample, not an ongoing draining of its life’s blood-students and the necessary resources.”

William Phillis
Ohio E & A
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Categories Charter Schools, Ohio, Privatization, Vouchers

Breaking News: Cerf Appoints Inexperienced Ex-TFA to Run Camden, NJ, Schools

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2013 //
28

Jersey Jazzman reports that Chris Cerf has selected an inexperienced young man, age 32, formerly on Cerf’s staff in New York City, to take charge of the Camden, New Jersey, public schools.

Paymon Rouhaniford graduated from college ten years ago. He worked on Wall Street for Goldman Sachs. He worked for the New York City Department of Education, mainly in developing new charter schools.

For the past 10 months, he has been the “Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer” in Newark, which translated, means charters and privatization.

Notice that aside from his two years in TFA teaching sixth grade, he has never been a principal or a superintendent.

He probably has no licenses to teach or administer in the state of New Jersey, although Cerf may have abolished all such requirements by now.

This is truly innovative, selecting an inexperienced young man who has never run a school to run a district of very poor kids.

Here is what Chris Cerf said:

“Every child in New Jersey, regardless of zip code, deserves access to a high-quality education, and I’m confident Paymon Rouhanifard is the right person to make this goal a reality,” said Christie. “Paymon has a proven track record of improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of students in Newark and New York City, and brings innovative leadership that Camden needs moving forward. He has shown a deep commitment to working with parents and teachers to put students at the center of all decisions. Under his leadership, I know Camden’s schools will improve on the progress of these last few months.”

Cerf does not specify what he means by a “proven track record.”

 

 

Categories Administrators, superintendents, New Jersey, Privatization

Huffman’s Willing Collaborators

By dianeravitch
August 20, 2013 //
31

This retired district superintendent says that State Commissioner Kevin Huffman has not been alone in his assault on public education on Tennessee. Aside from the support if an extremist governor, he has been able to count on the silence and complicity of the education establishment.

He writes:

“I wish I could share your optimism that a grassroots groundswell will turn the tide against the privatization and corporate takeover of education in Tennessee. Unfortunately, Tennessee is the “perfect storm” for this risky experiment in greed against the children of the state. It goes beyond the culpability of the rubber stamp State Board of Education. Three organizations who should be the caretakers of reason and leaders of school improvement also share in the destruction of public schools here. Through their actions, or often inactions, they, too, should be held accountable at some point.

“First, there are the local school superintendents. I sat in meetings and watched as the cool and calculating Huffman and his TFA State Department ran roughshod over superintendents with their permission. TOSS, the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents (really a weak arm of the State Department rather than a real professional organization) looked very much like the Polish resistance to Germany at the onset of WWII. Better described as the “Kick Dirt and Spit Club”, this organization’s main work revolves around organizing golf tournaments and turkey shoots, rather than seriously vetting educational reforms in any serious manner. Over all, superintendents simply have not spoken out as they should against this onslaught. Frankly, I am no better in that I might have done more myself.

“Second, the Tennessee School Boards Association. This group’s leadership enjoys the thrill of hobnobbing with the powerful and elite of what passes for politics in this very red state. Since most School Boards are well meaning, but lack the knowledge and depth of analysis it takes to deal with reform, they follow the lead of TSBA, which is at best a paper tiger in the fight for public schools. A more vocal and stronger resistance is called for on this front.

“Last, there is TEA, of course- the state teachers’ union. For as long as I can remember, this organization’s main goal is keep the membership numbers up and protect ,through lengthy and costly court battles, the small minority of teachers who represent malpractice. They set the public relations stage for public opinion that the kind of reform being placed upon public schools now is needed and desired.

“This may seem harsh, but I believe this to be true. The victims, however, are the thousands of hard working educators and children who do their best each day. For their sake, I hope my pessimism is unfounded.”

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Privatization, Teacher Evaluations, Teacher Tenure, Tennessee

Philadelphia: Shame on Governor Corbett!

By dianeravitch
August 20, 2013 //
15

The public schools of Philadelphia are being slowly, surely strangled by Governor Tom Corbett and the Legislature of Pennsylvania.

Or, maybe, not so slowly.

The state has a constitutional responsibility to maintain a public school system in every district but the state leaders don’t believe in what the state constitution says.

Let it not be forgotten that the state has been in charge of the public schools of Philadelphia since 2001. Along the way, Paul Vallas was superintendent and tried the nation’s most sweeping privatization plan; it failed.

And now the governor has decided to let the district die.

Aaron Kase, writing in Salon, asks:

Want to see a public school system in its death throes? Look no further than Philadelphia. There, the school district is facing end times, with teachers, parents and students staring into the abyss created by a state intent on destroying public education.

On Thursday the city of Philadelphia announced that it would be borrowing $50 million to give the district, just so it can open schools as planned on Sept. 9, after Superintendent William Hite threatened to keep the doors closed without a cash infusion. The schools may open without counselors, administrative staff, noon aids, nurses, librarians or even pens and paper, but hey, kids will have a place to go and sit.

The $50 million fix is just the latest band-aid for a district that is beginning to resemble a rotting bike tube, covered in old patches applied to keep it functioning just a little while longer. At some point, the entire system fails.

Things have gotten so bad that at least one school has asked parents to chip in $613 per student just so they can open with adequate services, which, if it becomes the norm, effectively defeats the purpose of equitable public education, and is entirely unreasonable to expect from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

The needs of children are secondary, however, to a right-wing governor in Tom Corbett who remains fixated on breaking the district in order to crush the teachers union and divert money to unproven experiments like vouchers and privately run charters. If the city’s children are left uneducated and impoverished among the smoldering wreckage of a broken school system, so be it.

To be clear, the schools are in crisis because the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania refuses to fund them adequately. The state Constitution mandates that the Legislature “provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education,” but that language appears to be considered some kind of sick joke at the state capital in Harrisburg.

What is happening is outrageous.

Where is President Obama? Why hasn’t he spoken out?

Where is Secretary Arne Duncan?

Why is the federal government standing by in silence as the children of one of the nation’s premier cities are deprived of the education they need?

Oh, wait, they will get the Common Core!

Categories Philadelphia, Poverty, Privatization, Support for public schools
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