Voucher Carnival Gets Even Wilder in Louisiana
This one takes the cake.
John White has approved the Light City Church School of the Prophets to get vouchers, nearly $700,000 a year.
The man who runs it describes himself as an apostle or a prophet.
Whatever. People can call themselves whatever they like.
Please read the linked article to see how low the bar is for getting taxpayer dollars from the state of Louisiana.
The state will have no standards for voucher schools. There will be no accountability for voucher schools.
John White has approved the Light City Church School of the Prophets to get vouchers, nearly $700,000 a year.
The man who runs it describes himself as an apostle or a prophet.
Whatever. People can call themselves whatever they like.
Please read the linked article to see how low the bar is for getting taxpayer dollars from the state of Louisiana.
The state will have no standards for voucher schools. There will be no accountability for voucher schools.
A Good Idea for StudentsFirst
This reader has some good ideas for StudentsFirst’s next campaign, now that the Olympics is over:
| It really disgusted me how Rhee compares education in the US to being in the Olympics and how we wouldn’t want countries like Luxembourg and Hungary to get more gold medals than us, yet they are beating us in education. I mean, seriously? Luxembourg?Luxembourg has a $80,119 GDP and is one of the most wealthy of countries. Their children learn 3 mandatory languages in school, and they only have a 4.5% child poverty rate. Of course, those students are going to be more successful. Hungary, on the other hand, only has a $19,591 GDP. However, when I looked at comparisons in literacy and
Why and How to End the Misuse of Testing
A reader comments, with more wisdom than anything now coming from the U.S. Department of Education. He also explains how to end the reign of error:
The flawed testing approach continues to be pushed without debate because open honest discussion, involving true experts in the fields of child development, education (and ed-research), and valid data gathering/application would reveal painful truths for those behind the brand of reform we are seeing. Truth1: Increasing the amount of tests as a means of finding and firing bad teachers is a perversion of assessment in education. Assessments are tools for teachers to use in shaping instruction for their students’ individual needs, which vary between students and can change year to year. Once well-funded and empowered,
Maybe Jindal Is Right
Here is proof that dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time.
This could help to support Louisiana’s voucher plan and could even be useful for revisions of the state curriculum. Be sure to send this to John White, Bobby Jindal and Mitt Romney.
The Gates Foundation Defends Its Agenda
Anthony Cody, the exemplary science teacher-mentor (NBCT), from Oakland, California, has engaged the Gates Foundation in a dialogue about its agenda.
Anthony was concerned that the foundation has propelled the frenzy to test more, to blame teachers for low scores, and to ignore poverty. Vicki Phillips of the foundation responded here to his challenge.
Read This, TNTP, and Learn Who is Really Irreplaceable
A principal sent this comment. TNTP used to be called The New Teacher Project; it was founded by Michelle Rhee. They released a report last week saying that the average first-year teacher is more effective than 40% of teachers with seven or more years of experience:
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About that Digital Learning Council
Coach Bob Sikes put together a blog about the corporate supporters of Jeb Bush’s crusade for digital learning.
If you go back and read the report of the “Ten Elements of Digital Learning,” I suggest you scan the acknowledgments and you will find a representative of almost every corporation trying to sell hardware or software to the schools.
The other thing you need to know about the report is that it is based on zero evidence. It cites a US Department of Education study of evidence-based policy for online instruction, and that is supposed to impress the casual reader and make him/her think there is evidence to put every child online as much as possible. But I read that
How Turnarounds Create Failure
If you go back and read the report of the “Ten Elements of Digital Learning,” I suggest you scan the acknowledgments and you will find a representative of almost every corporation trying to sell hardware or software to the schools.
The other thing you need to know about the report is that it is based on zero evidence. It cites a US Department of Education study of evidence-based policy for online instruction, and that is supposed to impress the casual reader and make him/her think there is evidence to put every child online as much as possible. But I read that
How Turnarounds Create Failure
Thanks to reader Linda for sending this important article:
| The Paradoxical Logic of School Turnarounds: A Catch-22by Tina Trujillo — June 14, 2012 In the 1955 classic novel Catch-22, Joseph Heller chronicles the absurdity of the bureaucratic rules and constraints to which a conflicted Air Force bombardier and others are subjected. Each character lives under the absolute, yet illogical, power of these policies. The Obama administration’s current school turnaround policy is a
Future Meetings of the Cuomo Commission
Educators of New York state. Make time to attend a meeting of the Cuomo Commission. As reported here, the meetings in New York City and Buffalo were stacked with charter school advocates, TFA, and StudentsFirst. But as principal Carol Burris notes below, it is important that you are there. Sign up to speak. Who knows, you might be called to testify. Be there to witness. The future of the education profession and public education in New York is on the table.
Carol Burris writes:
NYC Reformers Killing Another School
I recently wrote a post about how the NYC DOE kills schools. It does this because it wants their real estate. It wants to place four or five small schools or charter schools in its building or find another use for the building. So the DOE starts the killing process first by calling the school a “failing school,” which causes many students and families to avoid it. Then the DOE cuts back on resources and staffing and programs, because the school has fewer students, and it plunges the school into a death spiral. i have heard from many teachers who were immersed in this horrible scenario, but unable to stop it. Several from John Dewey High School and Jamaica High School have told me what is happening at these once estimable schools.
Here is another story from someone caught in the middle as the authorities seek ways to sink a school:
Good News and Bad News from Texas
First the good news. School boards in Texas continue to pass a resolution opposing high-stakes testing. As of this date, 610 school boards representing more than 3.6 million students have passed the Texas resolution. That 59% of all school boards in the state, representing 74% of all students in Texas public schools.
Texas, as we know from its role in originating No Child Left Behind, is a state that is test-obsessed and test-centric. Its leaders assumed that testing would solve all problems, raise everyone’s performance, close the gaps between races and income levels, and maybe do the dishes as well. No one figured out that a standardized test
What You Need to Know about For-Profit Online Schools
This is a stunning article. A real journalistic achievement.
It shows in remarkable detail how certain politicians and investors and entrepreneurs are working together to privatize public education and to generate huge profits for certain companies. Read this.
Another Way to Take a Stand
A group of principals in Long Island, New York, went to training sessions about the state’s evolving educator evaluation plan. When they realized that teachers would be graded on a curve and that half would be rated ineffective by design, they were horrified. When they realized that teachers who didn’t produce higher test scores would be rated ineffective no matter how highly they were rated by their principal, they were outraged.
And they wrote a petition to the State Education Department asking for a trial of this potentially injurious system.
Another Phony Cuomo Commission Hearing
The Cuomo Commission held a “hearing” in Buffalo too.
And once again, pride of place went to charter school leaders and their supporters. Charters enroll about 5% of the students in New York state.
Read This. Share My Rage.
This story is heartfelt and it makes me very sad. It also makes me angry. What are the politicians and policymakers doing? Why aren’t they giving teachers the support and respect they need to do their work? When I read this, I wonder if the Rhees and Kleins and Gates and Broads and Waltons and all their buddies can look at themselves in the mirror and feel good about what they are doing to education in this country.
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