School Reform Information Controlled by Funders and Think Tanks? What about the Public’s Right to Know?
In Philadelphia, the state-appointed School Reform Commission got the William Penn Foundation, a philanthropy, to pay the Boston Consulting Group, a contractor, to design the “portfolio school reform plan” that recommended closing public schools and opening charter schools.
Twenty-four public schools were eventually closed last spring. For the public, it has been hard to parse out which part of Philadelphia’s ongoing school catastrophe derives from Governor Corbett’s slashing $1 billion from the state’s public education budget and what part comes from an ideological, “portfolio” Philadelphia school reform plan that promotes privatization. (For more on the crisis in the Philadelphia schools this year, check out the three part series earlier this week from National Public Radio, here, here and here.)
This morning in her Washington Post column, Valerie Strauss republishes a piece by Helen Gym, a parent activist in Philadelphia. Gym writes about the struggles members of the public have experienced as they try to secure access to the list of 60 public schools the Boston Consulting Group recommended for closure. Gym speculates that these days, while information may be available to the philanthropies funding reform plans and the consultants and contractors designing the plans and other big givers who are trying to influence school reform, the public cannot get access to the information that is shaping public institutions.
Gym writes: “The closing of 24 schools in Philadelphia remains the single most important issue of the year. The closings affected more than 9,000 students and transformed school communities. They also had an impact on political and real estate dealings, with tens of millions of dollars at stake. Last week, city leaders guaranteed a $61 million swap to fast-track real estate deals for shuttered school buildings. News reports indicate that several, mostly
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School Reform Information Controlled by Funders and Think Tanks? What about the Public’s Right to Know?
In Philadelphia, the state-appointed School Reform Commission got the William Penn Foundation, a philanthropy, to pay the Boston Consulting Group, a contractor, to design the “portfolio school reform plan” that recommended closing public schools and opening charter schools. Twenty-four public schools were eventually closed last spring. For the public, it has been hard to parse out which part of Philadelphia’s ongoing school catastrophe derives from Governor Corbett’s slashing $1 billion from the state’s public education budget and what part comes from an ideological, “portfolio” Philadelphia
Wow: I Got the Chance to Visit our Community’s High School Yesterday
Yesterday through a lucky coincidence I spent the morning visiting Cleveland Heights High School. Ours is an inner-ring Cleveland suburb whose high school serves close to 2,000 students. I jumped at the opportunity, because it is difficult these days to visit classes at a school. Security is an issue and, as we know, ideological attacks on public schools and their teachers tend to make everybody feel very protective. Here was my chance, however, and at 8:00 AM, I presented myself and my photo ID at the security desk. The guard cheerfully cajoled the hundreds of students who entered when I
Privatization of Education Won’t Erase Savage Inequalities
For generations our society has committed itself to the provision of public education—publicly funded, universally available, and accountable to the public—as the best institution for balancing the needs of each particular child and family with the need to crate a system that secures the rights and addresses the needs of all children. New articles published this week trace two specific ways we are veering from these ideals. In the New York Times, Eduardo Porter reports that In Public Education, Edge Still Goes to Rich. Porter quotes Andreas Schleicher, who manages international educational as
YESTERDAY
Expanding Accountability through Rating and Ranking of Colleges: A Bad Idea
In Silly Season at the U.S. Department of Education, Dr. Patricia McGuire, president of Trinity Washington University, explores serious concerns about President Obama’s recent proposal that the federal government bring the kind of accountability that has been imposed on K-12 public education to colleges and universities. The President and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have proposed that the
NOV 21
We Like to Believe Our Story About a Generous Society, But the Plot Has Shifted
Let’s just suppose you are watching one of those TV movies for the holidays. Or maybe you are reading an old novel by Charles Dickens or going to the theater to see A Christmas Carol. Generosity of spirit is a theme you will encounter especially in this season. Throw an extra crust of bread to Tom-all-Alone living in the street; help Tiny Tim. What if our society were to try out that idea on a
NOV 20
Sean Reardon Confirms Further Widening of Segregation by Income
Near the end of their new book, Public Education Under Siege, educator Mike Rose and historian Michael B. Katz describe what they believe is the toughest problem for public education in America: “Throughout American history, inequality—refracted most notably through poverty and race—has impinged on the ability of children to learn and of teachers to do their jobs.” (p. 228) Today the United State
NOV 19
New Report Shows How Test-and-Punish Texas Miracle Damaged Lives of 3 El Paso Teens
In the early years after the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, we were told the law was going to bring the Texas Miracle to the whole country. Supposedly, through the imposition of standardized testing—with serious consequences for schools and educators who failed quickly to raise scores—schools across the United States would raise expectations for students, thereby improving acade
NOV 18
Do We Really Care about the Education of Other People’s Children?
You may have noticed the hot debate about the Common Core Standards (and tests) being rolled out across the states. The Common Core is the latest chapter in the test-based accountability movement. The idea is that if we set the standards much higher and make the tests harder, our children will improve and their test scores on international tests will become competitive with the scores of the chi
NOV 15
Stunning New Report and Website Expose Connected State-by-State Web of Privatizers
As an advocate for public policy, I believe it is more important to know more about what I am for than about what I am against. Let me begin by naming what I am for: public schools—universally available, publicly funded, and accountable to the public. I also believe that our most important priority in the United States, as far as public education goes, is to improve—not punish—the public schools
