Archives for category: Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration
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Obama Is Out of Touch on Education

By dianeravitch
October 25, 2012 //
14

Yesterday I announced my intention to vote for President Obama, and given the choice confronting us, I will vote for President Obama.

I will vote for him despite his terrible education policy known as Race to the Top.

It is a disaster. It has all the faults of No Child Left Behind, and it is worse.

It is incentivizing the creation of more privately managed charter schools, which are more segregated than the public schools in the same district and which do not even get higher test scores. It is pushing more testing, more school closings, more destabilizing of communities, more labeling of children, more layoffs, more money spent for compliance with federal mandates.

Race to the Top is harmful to children, to teachers, to principals, and to the future of public education in America.

Education Week reporter Alyson Klein wrote an analysis of what lies ahead in a second Obama term, and it is more of the same. What is especially disgusting is that the President continues to believe that Race to the Top is a positive policy; he seems to think that it will improve public education. He has not heard anything that teachers and parents and principals across the nation have been shouting. Stop the high-stakes testing! Stop the evaluation of teachers by test scores! Stop the privatization!

Federal policy is supposed to be devoted to equity, to helping the neediest children, not to a race. What is the point of a “race” in education? Are we racing to get the highest test scores? How does that promote equality of educational opportunity?

What is even more disgusting is that your representatives in Congress are voting the funds to continue the advance of these toxic policies. Raise your voices. Let your Senator and member of Congress know that Race to the Top is racing for the edge of a cliff. Stop. Stop now.

Here is the article linked above:

What Would a Second Obama Term Look Like on Education?

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 11:28 AM PDT

President Barack Obama has talked a lot on the campaign trail about his education record—but not as much about what he would do in a potential second term.

Yesterday, the Obama campaign put out a big, glossy brochure with ideas for next steps, including:

• Cutting tuition growth in half over the next ten years; recruiting and preparing at least 100,000 new math and science teachers;
• A plan to “strengthen public schools in every community,” in part by expanding Race to the Top to school districts
• Offering states waivers from the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act;
• Using community colleges as economic development engines.

None of the ideas outlined in the brochure are brand new—and at least one of them, Race to the Top for districts—is going to happen whether or not Obama wins a second term. But it makes sense for Obama to highlight some of the proposals still on his to-do list, to give voters an idea of where he wants to take education policy.

As districts struggling to finalize their applications know, Congress has already provided $400 million for the district competition, and the U.S. Department of Education has already crafted the rules. The dollars are scheduled to go out the door by the end of the year, no matter what happens on election day. Still, if Obama is re-elected, there could be additional rounds of Race to the Top, which could conceivably go to school districts.

And granting states waivers from parts of the No Child Left Behind Act isn’t a second-term idea, it’s already well way underway. Waivers for districts in states that didn’t apply are a whole other matter.

When it comes to slowing the growth of college tuition, the Obama administration already has a bunch of ideas on the table—in fact there’s even a proposal to create yet another iteration of the administration’s signature Race to the Top franchise, this time to reward states for their efforts on higher education. So far, Congress has yet to bite, in part, I’m guessing, because of the program’s $1 billion price tag.

The proposed competition would reward states that maintain their own spending on higher education, improve alignment between K-12 graduation requirements and higher education entrance standards, and seek new ways to curb costs without sacrificing educational quality.

Mr. Obama has also floated the idea of tying some federal college aid—specifically campus-based aid programs, such as Perkins loans—to college outcomes, including graduation rates for at-risk populations, such as disadvantaged students, and the ability to keep tuition in check.

As for the math and science teacher proposal, anyone paying attention to the campaign has probably heard it—the president mentioned it in his speech accepting the Democratic nomination this summer. So that’s not a new idea either, although, so far, Congress hasn’t acted on the proposal.

The community college idea isn’t new either—it was part of a recent budget proposal. But it too, has not made it very far in a Congress bent on curbing costs. More here.

What else might be in the hopper for Obama’s second term, if it happens? Comments section is open.

– Alyson Klein

   
Categories Obama, Privatization, Race to the Top, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration

Vouchers for Tennessee?

By dianeravitch
October 25, 2012 //
6

An article in a Nashville paper describes the discussions about vouchers in Tennessee and generally quotes voucher supporters.

Given that the Governor is a conservative Republican, given that the Legislature is Republican, given that the Legislature often passes ALEC legislation without changing a word, and given that the state has a TFA Commissioner of Education, it seems likely that Tennessee will endorse vouchers for low-income students. In time, as we saw in Wisconsin, the income limits will be lifted.

There is only one important fact missing from the discussion of vouchers in this article: Vouchers have no record of improving test scores wherever they have been tried. Not in Milwaukee, not in the District of Columbia, and not in Cleveland.

It is simply choice for the sake of choice, choice for the sake of privatization.

Categories ALEC, Privatization, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration, Tennessee, Vouchers

Should Vouchers Take Money Away from Desegregation?

By dianeravitch
October 23, 2012 //
3

A federal judge in Louisiana called on TFA State Commissioner of Education John White to explain why his voucher program should be allowed to take public funds from a school district that is using its funding to comply with desegregation orders. The judge wants to know why he should not enjoin the implementation of the voucher program.

As we have seen in other states, vouchers and charters intensify segregation, but that is not a concern to Governor Bobby Jindal and Commissioner White.

This should be interesting.

Categories Jindal, Bobby, Louisiana, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration, Vouchers

Feel Good About America: A Public School in Mississippi

By dianeravitch
October 17, 2012 //
2

Michael Vandveckhoven is a proud parent of a student in the public schools of Meridian, Mississippi.

This is a video that shows his son’s school. The school is half white, half black, about 40% low-income.

For someone like me, who grew up in the age of legal segregation, this is a heartwarming sight.

This is American public education at its finest. It’s not about test scores, it is about building a better society for our future.

Michael is a businessman. He is strongly opposed to charters because he worries that they will restore segregation and ruin his son’s good public school.

Categories Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration, Students, US Education

James Meredith on Saving Public Education

By dianeravitch
October 17, 2012 //
5

James Meredith bravely integrated the University of Mississippi fifty years ago. It is hard to imagine now, but at the time it took nerves of steel and a willingness to die. Mississippi was the most racist state in the nation (others were close contenders), and black people put their life at risk by speaking too boldly. Meredith put his life on the line to enroll in the university.

He has published a memoir. I have not read it yet, so I am not reviewing it here. Next time the Wall Street hedge fund managers or Condoleeza Rice or Mitt Romney or Joel Klein say they are leading the “civil rights movement of our time,” think about this man who was willing to give his life to integrate the most segregated state in the nation.

This is a press release about the book:

CIVIL RIGHTS HERO BLASTS OBAMA AND ROMNEY FOR DESTROYING AMERICAN EDUCATION

On the Eve of 50th Anniversary of his Historic Desegregation of the University of Mississippi on September 30, James Meredith Urges Citizens to “Storm the Schools”

September 21, 2012: Civil rights giant James Meredith, author of the provocative, just-released book A MISSION FROM GOD: A MEMOIR AND CHALLENGE FOR AMERICA (Simon & Schuster), charged today that both President Obama and Governor Romney are contributing to the destruction of American K-through-8 public education by proposing failed or unproven policies, supporting the continued waste of billions of dollars of taxpayer funds on education, and neglecting America’s children, especially the poor.

“There is no real difference between the two candidates and parties when it comes to the most critical domestic issue of our age, public education,” Meredith says. “Both Obama and Romney are in favor of multi-billion-dollar boondoggles and money-grabs that have little or no evidence of widespread benefit to K-through-8 children or the community at large, like over-reliance on high-stakes standardised testing; over-reliance on charter schools and cyber-charters; and the funding and installation of staggering amounts of unproven computer products in schools.”

According to Meredith, “Education is much too important to be left to politicians. They have failed. They came up with No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, both of which are largely failures. It is time for parents, families and teachers to take back control, and to step up to their responsibilities to take charge of education.”

His solution? “Storm the schools,” says Meredith, echoing the challenge he issues in his book A MISSION FROM GOD, which has been compared by one reviewer to a work by Dostoyevsky and hailed by Publishers Weekly as “lively and compelling.” He says, “I call on every American citizen to commit right now to help children in the public schools in their community, especially those schools with disadvantaged students.” He also suggests that citizens flood the schools with offers to volunteer to read to young children, and flood every school board and political meeting to demand that politicians and bureaucrats justify, with concrete evidence, every proposal made and every dollar being spent on public education, line by line.

While Meredith does not endorse either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney, and does not endorse most individual education policy proposals, he is announcing a 4-point Manifesto to Rescue American Education, that calls for America to:

• Suspend billions of dollars of public spending on unproven high-stakes standardized testing and unproven computer products in schools, and redirect those and other necessary funds to;
• Support sharply boosting teacher quality, qualifications and pay, especially in the poorest neighborhoods,
• Expand early childhood education and community schools, especially in the poorest neighborhoods, and,
• Strengthen the back-to-basics fundamentals of K-8 education, including play-based learning for youngest students; add or restore history, civics, the arts, music and physical education to the core subjects of math, science and English; and provide proper nutrition, medical and social support services for poor children through the schools.

“The outrageous, unjust public shaming and scapegoating of teachers by politicians and self-appointed pundits must end, our problems are mostly not their fault,” says Meredith. “Teachers should be respected, revered, compensated, empowered, loved and supported to give our children the education they desperately need. And that will only happen when we, as a people, take back control of our schools.”

About James Meredith: Meredith’s one-man crusade to desegregate the University of Mississippi at Oxford exactly 50 years ago, on September 30, 1962, is considered one of the great turning points and triumphs of the civil rights era, and led the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. to place Meredith at the top of his own list of heroes in his Letter From a Birmingham Jail. In 1966, Meredith was shot while leading a “March Against Fear,” a campaign that helped open the floodgates of voter registration in the South.

Written with award-winning author William Doyle, A MISSION FROM GOD: A MEMOIR AND CHALLENGE FOR AMERICA is published to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the “Battle of Oxford” and reveals the inside story of James Meredith’s epic American journey and his challenge for Americans to save their education system.

Categories NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Race to the Top, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration, US Education

New Jersey Civil Rights Groups Appeal to Secretary Duncan

By dianeravitch
October 15, 2012 //
2

Some 45 organizations in New Jersey, from parent groups to civil rights groups have appealed to Secretary Duncan to halt the damage that will be imposed on poor children and children of color as a result of the NCLB waiver to the state.

Because of the waiver, state officials will inflict even more high-stakes testing on the neediest children and their schools will be targeted not for help but for privatization.

The statement says:

To replace the NCLB framework, the State has adopted a new classification system that will reinforce racial and economic segregation and inequity in New Jersey’s public schools. The classification system uses state standardized tests, graduation rates, and gaps in achievement, to target a group of 75 “Priority” schools and 183 “Focus” schools for dramatic State-mandated intervention, including possible closings and conversions to charter schools. These Priority and Focus Schools serve overwhelmingly Black and Latino, very poor communities, and educate many students who do not speak English as a first language. The Priority schools are concentrated in some of the most distressed communities in the state and have a staggering 24% student mobility rate.

In contrast, the State has classified a group of 122 schools as “Reward” schools, based on high achievement or high levels of growth on state tests. These schools, which are targeted to receive financial bonuses, are located in the highest wealth districts in the state, serve a small percentage of Black and Latino students, have low poverty rates, few English language learners, and little student mobility. Many of these schools are magnet high schools and vocational schools, with highly selective admissions.

The blatant economic and racial inequity built into this classification system harks back to the days when such segregation and inequity were policy objectives for our State.

Categories Duncan, Arne, Education Reform, Federal Waiver, New Jersey, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration

Why Does the U.S. Department of Education Support Privatization?

By dianeravitch
October 14, 2012 //
19

A reader points out that the U.S. Department of Education has the following program information on its website:

“The U.S. Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program (CSP) has invested more than $255 million in charter schools this year. The purpose of the program is to increase financial support for the startup and expansion of these public schools, build a better national understanding of the public charter school model, and increase the number of high-quality public charter schools across the nation. More information about the Charter Schools Program is available from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement here.”

Why is the DOE spending $255 million on privately managed charters that are free to exclude low-performing students or students with high needs? Why does it support a sector that is more racially segregated than community schools in the same district?

Charter schools are not public schools. Charter schools are run by private management. Most charter schools do not have a parent association. Charter schools do not get better test scores than public schools, on average.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Reform, Privatization, Race to the Top, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration, U.S. Department of Education

Joel Klein’s False History, by Richard Rothstein

By dianeravitch
October 12, 2012 //
21

In a stunning article, Richard Rothstein has dissected Joel Klein’s claim to have grown up in poverty, living in a public housing project, saved by a “great” teacher.

This story is used cynically by Klein and other advocates of privatization to attack public education, teachers and unions. (Wasn’t that great teacher a member of the union in NYC?).

Rothstein says that Klein was not poor, that he actually lived in a public housing project built for white middle-class families. Rothstein further argues that these projects were part of a larger pattern of government subsidy for racial segregation. Klein’s story, he concludes, does not prove what Klein so often claims about the irrelevance of poverty.

This is a must-read.

Categories Education Reform, Klein, Joel, Poverty, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration

What Charter Schools Do Best

By dianeravitch
September 30, 2012 //
39

A reader in Los Altos, California, comments on an earlier post:

The REAL carrot here is allowing middle-class parents to engage in segregation. This is the “dirty little secret” of charter schools and of education reform in general: that they are a sustained political force ONLY because rich or semi-rich parents want their children in schools without “undesirables”.

Hence Obama is making a calculated political move here by saying he supports charters. That statement alone is probably worth a million or two votes in terms of direct votes, activism on his behalf, and donations. Parents in segregated schools (segregated, these days, more along socioeconomic lines than racial lines) will do anything to keep their scam going.

This will change as charters dig deeper into suburban America and disrupt and divide more communities like our own has been divided in Los Altos, CA. The community filled with the executives who run companies like Google and Facebook are now rapidly (forcibly) becoming education policy experts and we’re not happy with what we’re seeing at all.

Please keep fighting the good fight, Ms. Ravitch–your students are learning.

Categories Charter Schools, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration

What’s at Stake in Nashville Charter Fight

By dianeravitch
September 24, 2012 //
14

Readers of this blog know we have been following the story of Great Hearts Charter School and its effort to locate in an affluent section of Nashville. Here is a good and objective summary in a Nashville newspaper.

State Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman–whose only prior experience in education was working for Teach for America (he taught for two years, went to work for TFA, was never a principal or a superintendent)– wants this particular charter very badly. He has been monitoring the actions of the Metro Nashville school board, and he warned them there would be bad consequences if they did not approve this charter. Huffman made it clear: he wanted this charter approved.

The local board thought that the school would not be diverse, would not reflect the district, and they turned it down. They turned it down three times. The state board ordered them to approve the charter, and the local board said no again.

Maybe the local board was aware of research showing again and again that charters don’t get better results than public schools unless they exclude low-performing students.

Huffman and the Governor were furious that the school board said no. They announced that they would punish the democratically elected Metro Nashville school board by withholding $3.4 million in “administrative” funds. These are funds for student transportation, utilities, and maintenance.

In their vindictiveness, Governor Haslam and Commissioner Huffman are prepared to deny transportation funds for the children of Nashville and shut off the lights and electricity.

All for a charter that expects parents to pony up $1,200 as a “voluntary” contribution to the school. No wonder there are people who think this is a ploy to open a private school with public dollars, located conveniently in an area where upper-income parents want a free public education, inaccessible to children from the other side of Nashville.

Haslam and Huffman are likely to go the ALEC route. The rightwing organization ALEC has model legislation that allows the governor to appoint a commission to authorize charter schools over the objections of local school boards.

A measure of this kind is on the ballot in Georgia this November.

What this demonstrates is that privatization means more to these conservatives than local control. With a governor-appointed commission, they can hand over public dollars to fat cats and cronies.

Nothing conservative about that. A conservative member of the Alabama state board of education writes me offline, and points out that the privatization movement is about greed, not education. It violates every conservative principle.

Remember when local school boards in the South used their powers to defend segregation. Here is one that is using its powers to defend desegregation.

Governor Haslam and Commissioner Huffman can’t tolerate the school board’s defiance. they are ready to wipe out the authority of local school boards to advance the privatization of public education and to hasten the return of a dual school system..

Categories ALEC, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration, Teach for America TFA, Tennessee
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