Archives for category: Tennessee
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Tennessee: How Dark Money, DeVos, and Governor Lee Conspired to Pass a Voucher Bill—and Questions about Crime and Punishment

By dianeravitch
July 23, 2019 //
13

 

Andy Spears, publisher of the Tennessee Education Report, explains how voucher forces finally passed a bill in Tennessee.

The FBI is investigating how one vote flipped at the last minute.

But no matter the outcome of these investigations, backers of school privatization can claim public policy victory. It took a new governor, an unscrupulous house speaker, and untold dark money dollars, but after six attempts, Tennessee now has a school voucher plan—one that could shift more than $300 million away from public schools in the state.

The lesson from Tennessee is clear: Advocates for public education face privatization forces with vast resources and patience. The fight is going to be a long one.

Funny thing about these FBI investigations. Years ago, the FBI swooped into Gulen offices in Ohio, carted away many boxes, and nothing more was heard from them.

And then there’s Ben Chavis of the Oakland (CA) American Indian Model Schools, the darling of conservatives, the guy who replaced all the American Indian students with Asians and got the state’s highest scores. He was arrested after a state audit found that he had diverted nearly $4 million to his and his wife’s bank account, much of it federal money. He recently got off with one year of probation, no punishment for his theft, because he had done such good work in education. Vielka MacFarlane, head of the Celerity charter chain in California, admitted embezzling $3.2 million and was sentenced to 30 months in jail. She dealt with state authorities, not federal ones. Maybe she was sentenced, and Chavis got off with only probation because his schools had higher test scores?

Categories Accountability, California, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Fraud, Privatization, Tennessee, Vouchers

Mercedes Schneider:Corey Booker’s Brother Was Surprised When Tennessee Expected His Charters to be Accountable

By dianeravitch
July 12, 2019 //
15

 

Mercedes Schneider wrote a post about Cory Booker’s brother, Cary, who opened two charter schools in Tennessee with an ally. His application had lofty goals. He pledged that 95% of his students would score proficient on state tests. He and his partner were astonished when the state took their promise seriously. Apparently they were just engaging in marketing by making a promise they had no intention of fulfilling.

Their charters were closed.

But no worry. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy creates a sinecure for Cary Booker, again in education. The moral of the story: Deformers fail upwards.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Failure, Memphis, New Jersey, Privatization, Tennessee

Gary Rubinstein: This Article is Propaganda for TFA and Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
July 2, 2019 //
22

 

Gary Rubinstein writes here about an article he was surprised to read in  Chalkbeat. 

He was surprised because he expects more of Chalkbeat.

The article lauds a young TFA teacher who has just finished her first year.

He writes:

The basic premise is that Angelique Hines a first year TFA teacher placed in a brand new charter school in Tennessee is featured in a series of interviews by Chalkbeat called “How I Teach.”  The premise of the interview series, according to Chalkbeat is “Here, in a feature we call How I Teach, we ask educators who’ve been recognized for their work how they approach their jobs.”  So already there’s an issue of whether Hines is really an educator who has been recognized for her work.  She has been teaching for 9 months in a brand new charter school that has no track record at all.

One thing we do know is that her students can sit with their hands folded in front of them in a very obedient way.

So the article explains its title.  Hines speaks about how a student said he misses his old school because that school was much more fun.  One example of how the old school was more fun, he says, is that in the old school they watched more movies.

Gary writes that the article assumes that the old school was “bad,” but provides no evidence. The article assumes that students can’t learn and have fun at the same time. The article assumes that the first year teacher “has been recognized” for her work as a teacher but who recognized her and for what? How many teachers are recognized as exemplary at the end of their first year in the classroom?

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization, Teach for America, Teaching, Tennessee

Tennessee Outsources State Testing to Pearson

By dianeravitch
June 2, 2019 //
31

 

Tennessee has had endless problems with its state tests. They are called TNReady, but they are NeverReady.

The state just chose Pearson to manage its testing program, despite Pearson’s long history of problem-plagued tests. 

The British publishing house has been dropped by other states, but Tennessee is placing its bet on Pearson.

New York dropped Pearson after the #pineapplegate affair. See here and here.

Pearson’s PARCC Test encouraged 200,000 students to opt out of state testing in New York.

Texas dropped Pearson, perhaps when it realized that $500 million a year was excessive.

Good luck, Tennessee!

On the other hand, why not try a radical experiment and trust teachers to judge the progress of their students? They know what they taught and they know their students. Think of the savings!

Categories Accountability, Education Industry, Pearson, Tennessee, Testing

Gary Rubinstein: The All-New, Rebranded Achievement School District

By dianeravitch
May 14, 2019 //
18

 

Gary Rubinstein has been following the progress—or lack thereof—of Tennessee’s Achievement School District. Funded with $100 million from Race to the Top money, led by a top-drawer charter school operator from YES Prep, it was supposed to take the lowest-performing schools in the state and catapult them into the top performing, in only five years. The secret ingredient for their promised success wasturning them over to charters operators.

Sadly, it didn’t work.

Gary Rubinstein writes here about the latest gambit. Rebrand the failed ASD!

Legerdemain!

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Privatization, Race to the Top, Tennessee

Tennessee: The FBI Is Investigating to See Whether Voucher Vote Was Bought

By dianeravitch
May 11, 2019 //
33

Tennessee passed Governor Bill Lee’s voucher bill by one vote, and the FBI is investigating whether the change of that vote at the last minute was the result of an illegal bribe. 

At the time, it appeared that the incentive for the one lawmaker was a promise not to offer vouchers in HIS district.

FBI agents have begun interviewing Tennessee lawmakers about whether any improper incentives were offered to pass Gov. Bill Lee’s school vouchers bill in the state House, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has learned.

That vouchers legislation narrowly passed the state House last month on a 50-48 vote. The vote was initially deadlocked 49-49, and House Speaker Glen Casada kept the vote open for 40 minutes until he convinced Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, to switch his vote.

NewsChannel 5 has learned that agents are interested in discovering whether anything of value – such as campaign contributions – were offered by anyone in return for votes.

I must confess that my first reaction to this story was ho-hum; I couldn’t believe that the FBI is investigating whether state legislators vote because of incentives, since we often see them doing it in the open. And then there was the FBI raid on Gulen offices in Ohio, where they carried away boxes of papers. And nothing more was heard of it. And then there was the federal indictment of Ben Chavis of the American Indian Model Charter Schools in Oakland, who was alleged to have diverted $3.8 million from the schools’ bank account to his own businesses, as well as using federal charter funding to pay himself rent; and those charges were recently dropped on grounds that there was no material damage.

Categories Accountability, Tennessee, Vouchers

Nashville: City’s Lobbyist Also Lobbied for Vouchers

By dianeravitch
May 6, 2019 //
7

 

Nashville leaders were surprised to learn that its own lobbyists were working to push vouchers at a time when the votes in the legislature for vouchers were very close. 

The voucher bill targets only Nashville and Shelby County (Memphis).

Nashville’s lobbying firm is coming under fire from the Metro Council because it also advocates for school vouchers — an issue one councilman says puts the lobbyists at odds with the city’s interests.

According to state records, Adams & Reese managing partner Gif Thornton and three other firm employees are registered to represent both Nashville city government and a prominent pro-voucher group TennesseeCAN, once known as StudentsFirst Tennessee.

Councilman Dave Rosenberg said the city hamstrung itself by hiring lobbyists that can’t represent the city’s opposition to vouchers, particularly because the issue has dominated the legislative session this year.

“That’s something that they should be lobbying against on our behalf,” Rosenberg said. “At least they should not be lobbying in direct opposition to the city.”

TennesseeCAN is funded by the usual billionaires, but was launched by opioid king Jonathan Sackler. Michelle Rhee started StudentsFirst.

Nashville got taken to the cleaners with the help of its own lobbyists.

Categories Nashville, Tennessee, Voucher

Mercedes Schneider on the Tennessee Voucher Legislation and Public Reaction to It

By dianeravitch
April 26, 2019 //
12

 

Mercedes Schneider conducted a search to find the voucher legislation just passed by both houses of the Tennessee Legislature. You will not be surprised to learn that the legislation was written by ALEC (the rightwing bill mill funded by DeVos, the Koch brothers, and corporations).

I had a hard time plowing through the dreary legislative language, but if you skip to the end of that section, you will find vitriolic comments directed at the bill’s co-sponsor, Brian Kelsey, by his constituents on his Facebook page. They express outrage and a sense of betrayal.

Let’s hope they remember when Kelsey runs again.

Categories ALEC, Betsy DeVos, Koch Brothers, Tennessee, Vouchers

Matt Barnum: New Research Shows Vouchers Do Lasting Damage to Student Achievement in Math

By dianeravitch
April 26, 2019 //
11

 

Matt Barnum reports that new research from Louisiana shows that the negative effects of vouchers persist over time. 

There used to be a belief that the negative effects were temporary, but apparently the voucher students do not bounce back, as voucher proponents hoped.

New research on a closely watched school voucher program finds that it hurts students’ math test scores — and that those scores don’t bounce back, even years later.

That’s the grim conclusion of the latest study, released Tuesday, looking at Louisiana students who used a voucher to attend a private school. It echoes research out of Indiana, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. showing that vouchers reduce students’ math test scores and keep them down for two years or more.

Together, they rebut some initial research suggesting that the declines in test scores would be short-lived, diminishing a common talking point for voucher proponents.

“While the early research was somewhat mixed … it is striking how consistent these recent results are,” said Joe Waddington, a University of Kentucky professor who has studied Indiana’s voucher program. “We’ve started to see persistent negative effects of receiving a voucher on student math achievement.”

The state’s voucher program also didn’t improve students’ chances of enrolling in college.

The results may influence local and national debates. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is working to drum up support for a proposed federal tax credit program that could help parents pay private-school tuition, and Tennessee lawmakers are debating whether to create a voucher-like program of their own.

If past history is a guide, Betsy DeVos will dismiss the research, as will Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. They want vouchers regardless of their impact on students.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Research, Tennessee, Vouchers

Tennessee: Legal Challenge Expected if Senate Passes Voucher Bill

By dianeravitch
April 25, 2019 //
10

 

Chalkbeat reports the likelihood of a legal challenge to any voucher bill in Tennessee if State Senate passes one as House did yesterday in a contentious proceeding.

Read the details here.

Categories Privatization, Religion, Separation of church and state, Tennessee, Vouchers
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