Education Entrepreneurs Excited by New K-12 Opportunitities
Never doubt that the for-profit sector is ready to close a deal.
Here is the scenario: The results of Common Core assessments set off a panic, as passing rates on tests fall.
Entrepreneurs rush in, selling stuff to schools that have no money.
Schools lay off teachers, social workers, librarians, and guidance counselors, increase class sizes, and shutter programs to buy new stuff.
Works for everyone, no?
That is, except for kids and teachers and education.
Here is the scenario: The results of Common Core assessments set off a panic, as passing rates on tests fall.
Entrepreneurs rush in, selling stuff to schools that have no money.
Schools lay off teachers, social workers, librarians, and guidance counselors, increase class sizes, and shutter programs to buy new stuff.
Works for everyone, no?
That is, except for kids and teachers and education.
Texas: More Privatization on the Way
With vouchers stalled in the Texas legislature, the privatizers turned to another strategy to create new opportunities for entrepreneurs.
They want a state district for schools with low test scores, where the state can hand the schools over to private organizations.
There is not a shred of evidence that this improves education for the children in those schools.
The models are Michigan, where the state authority turned over to segregated, impoverished black districts to
They want a state district for schools with low test scores, where the state can hand the schools over to private organizations.
There is not a shred of evidence that this improves education for the children in those schools.
The models are Michigan, where the state authority turned over to segregated, impoverished black districts to
Teacher: I Hate What Is Happening to Our Schools
This comment from a teacher who read the post “For Shame, Commissioner King.” That post described how the state commissioner in New York requires special education students to take examinations they can’t read.
The teacher writes:
“I am often asked to proctor extended time testing on our all-too-frequent assessment days (quarterly interims, ACTs, PSAEs, practice for all of the above, etc.). I have been told it’s because I “get it” by our very talented, also very frustrated, special education team. By “get it,” they mean that, as a traditionally-certified teacher (in a charter network which favors TFAers) who attended an actual school of education, I have taken a few required classes on student learning differences and understand that not all kids can be lumped into a mediocre average
The teacher writes:
“I am often asked to proctor extended time testing on our all-too-frequent assessment days (quarterly interims, ACTs, PSAEs, practice for all of the above, etc.). I have been told it’s because I “get it” by our very talented, also very frustrated, special education team. By “get it,” they mean that, as a traditionally-certified teacher (in a charter network which favors TFAers) who attended an actual school of education, I have taken a few required classes on student learning differences and understand that not all kids can be lumped into a mediocre average
Cleveland Charter Officials Accused of Stealing $1.8 Million
The scandals at charter schools keep happening, and no one seems to care.
Here is the latest: officials at a Cleveland charter accused of stealing $1.8 million.
It happens because charters are deregulated and unsupervised. Deregulation invites plunder and fraud.
Isn’t that what we learned when Wall Street nearly collapsed the economy in 2008? Isn’t that what we learned from the Madoff scandal?
Charter defenders will send an article about a principal who pocketed $2,000 in loose change.
But I defy them to find an example of a public school where the people in charge wrote themselves checks for nearly $2 million.
Here is the latest: officials at a Cleveland charter accused of stealing $1.8 million.
It happens because charters are deregulated and unsupervised. Deregulation invites plunder and fraud.
Isn’t that what we learned when Wall Street nearly collapsed the economy in 2008? Isn’t that what we learned from the Madoff scandal?
Charter defenders will send an article about a principal who pocketed $2,000 in loose change.
But I defy them to find an example of a public school where the people in charge wrote themselves checks for nearly $2 million.
As Reforms Fail, Will Duncan Make Mid-course Correction?
Norm Scott, retired New York City teacher and inveterate blogger, notes the mid-course corrections of some of the corporate reform cheerleaders. He is especially impressed by John Merrow’s change of views about Rhee. He wonders whether Duncan too will change course, though he doubts that he can do so.
Scott, by the way, refers to the present misguided education movement not as corporate reform but as education deform. Scott was the film-maker for the film made by teachers and parents called “The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman.”
Scott, by the way, refers to the present misguided education movement not as corporate reform but as education deform. Scott was the film-maker for the film made by teachers and parents called “The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman.”
Help the Providence Student Union Organize Other Youth Activists
I am a huge fan of the Providence Student Union.
I just donated to them to help them continue their movement and to encourage students in other cities and states to organize against high-stakes testing. Please consider going to their web page and supporting them.
I love their energy, their idealism, their wit, and their creativity.
I share their belief that education should be engaging, exciting, and a source of inspiration and joy.
They have energetically protested the soul-deadening emphasis on high-stakes testing in Rhode Island. And they have expressed their own vision for real education.
Best of all, they have mastered the art of political theater to publicize their work.
First, they held a zombie protest in front of the Rhode Island Department of Education building, protesting the
I just donated to them to help them continue their movement and to encourage students in other cities and states to organize against high-stakes testing. Please consider going to their web page and supporting them.
I love their energy, their idealism, their wit, and their creativity.
I share their belief that education should be engaging, exciting, and a source of inspiration and joy.
They have energetically protested the soul-deadening emphasis on high-stakes testing in Rhode Island. And they have expressed their own vision for real education.
Best of all, they have mastered the art of political theater to publicize their work.
First, they held a zombie protest in front of the Rhode Island Department of Education building, protesting the
Top 10 Reasons to Rally for Public Education in Albany, New York, on June 8
Testing in New York has turned into the Monster that Ate the Children.
Teachers plan to rally at the state capitol in Albany on June 8 to support public education and protest the deluge of high-stakes testing.
This was written by the leader of the teachers’ union in the Averill Park school district in upstate New York.
TOP TEN reasons to March on Albany in the Rally for Public Education:
10. You have realized public education is being hi-jacked by for profit organizations.
9. You are tired of reading about how ineffective you are at your own profession by people who know nothing about education.
8. You believe high stakes testing is out of control in NY.
7. You believe you have not had enough time to learn the Common Core yourself, let alone have your students tested on it!
6. You believe your students’ personal information, including their state assessment results and their IEPs and other personal data should be kept confidential.
5. You believe your effectiveness rating should be kept confidential, and don’t want a link on the district web page to this information or directions given to get this information.
4. You believe that NYS should report to the public the amount of tax payer money spent on developing, administering, grading and reviewing state assessments.
3. The word PEARSON makes your skin crawl.
2. You work in Averill Park (Insert your own school district.)and have lost about a quarter of your faculty due to unfair state budget cuts!
AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON….
1. You are a caring professional who wants the BEST public education for your own students, children, and grandchildren and you know this isn’t it!
Michelle Smead
Averill Park Teachers’ Association
Teachers plan to rally at the state capitol in Albany on June 8 to support public education and protest the deluge of high-stakes testing.
This was written by the leader of the teachers’ union in the Averill Park school district in upstate New York.
TOP TEN reasons to March on Albany in the Rally for Public Education:
10. You have realized public education is being hi-jacked by for profit organizations.
9. You are tired of reading about how ineffective you are at your own profession by people who know nothing about education.
8. You believe high stakes testing is out of control in NY.
7. You believe you have not had enough time to learn the Common Core yourself, let alone have your students tested on it!
6. You believe your students’ personal information, including their state assessment results and their IEPs and other personal data should be kept confidential.
5. You believe your effectiveness rating should be kept confidential, and don’t want a link on the district web page to this information or directions given to get this information.
4. You believe that NYS should report to the public the amount of tax payer money spent on developing, administering, grading and reviewing state assessments.
3. The word PEARSON makes your skin crawl.
2. You work in Averill Park (Insert your own school district.)and have lost about a quarter of your faculty due to unfair state budget cuts!
AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON….
1. You are a caring professional who wants the BEST public education for your own students, children, and grandchildren and you know this isn’t it!
Michelle Smead
Averill Park Teachers’ Association
We Cannot “Measure What We Treasure”
On several occasions, I have heard high-level education officials defend standardized testing with the phrase “we measure what we treasure.”
I heard it first from an Assistant Secretary of Education who worked for Arne Duncan. Just recently, Texas State Commissioner of Education Michael Williams said it. Williams, it should be noted, is not an educator; before Governor Perry named him to his post, he was in charge of regulating the very lightly regulated energy industry in Texas.
But is it true that we measure what we treasure?
No. Absolutely no.
What do most people treasure? Family. Friends. Home. Pets.
How do you measure your love for your spouse or your children? Do you give your children standardized tests to
I heard it first from an Assistant Secretary of Education who worked for Arne Duncan. Just recently, Texas State Commissioner of Education Michael Williams said it. Williams, it should be noted, is not an educator; before Governor Perry named him to his post, he was in charge of regulating the very lightly regulated energy industry in Texas.
But is it true that we measure what we treasure?
No. Absolutely no.
What do most people treasure? Family. Friends. Home. Pets.
How do you measure your love for your spouse or your children? Do you give your children standardized tests to
Di Carlo: Assessing Ourselves to Death
This is Matt Di Carlo’s best post ever.
Matt is a brilliant and careful social scientist who has more faith in quantification than I do.
But I read what he writes because I almost always learn something.
In this post, he explains that tests are not a cause of success in life, they are a signal.
Our policymakers think that if they can just get scores higher and higher, everyone will succeed, but this has led
Matt is a brilliant and careful social scientist who has more faith in quantification than I do.
But I read what he writes because I almost always learn something.
In this post, he explains that tests are not a cause of success in life, they are a signal.
Our policymakers think that if they can just get scores higher and higher, everyone will succeed, but this has led
Why Invest in Early Childhood Education?
Here is a stunning infographic that demonstrates the value of early childhood education.
It appears on Julian Vasquez Heilig’s website called “Cloaking Inequity.”
We know how busy our elected officials are. They don’t have time to read research papers. Just show them this simple yet profound illustration of the benefits of early childhood education.
It appears on Julian Vasquez Heilig’s website called “Cloaking Inequity.”
We know how busy our elected officials are. They don’t have time to read research papers. Just show them this simple yet profound illustration of the benefits of early childhood education.
Diane in the Evening 5-1-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Teachers, Staff in UNO Charters Vote to Unionize by dianerav From an AFT press release: CHICAGO—Teachers and staff in the one of city’s largest charter school networks overwhelmingly have chosen the Chicago Alliance of Charter School Teachers and Staff (Chicago ACTS), an affiliate of the 1.5 million-member American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, as their bargaining agent. The decision involves more than 400 teachers and staff in 13 schools operated by the United Neighborhood ... more »