Study: NYC Charters Lose 80% of Students with Disabilities by Third Grade
A study by the city’s Independent Budget Office finds that charter schools have incredibly high attrition for students with disabilities. Ben Chapman writes in the New York Daily News: “A whopping 80% of special-needs kids who enroll as kindergartners in city charter schools leave by the time they reach third grade, a report by the Independent Budget Office released Thursday shows.” He adds: “Cr
Evidence? Who Needs Evidence When You Have PR?
This was reported this morning by politico.com education: “ROCKETSHIP SPUTTERS: Rocketship Education has been one of the hottest charter networks for some time, hailed for a blended learning model that puts its K-5 students to work on computers for part of the day. But it’s recently hit a rough patch. This fall, the network failed to meet enrollment targets for its first school outside California
NC: Third-Graders Will Take 36 New Tests to Prepare for Fourth Grade
Last year, Louisiana led the nation in passing absurd laws about education. This year, that dubious distinction goes to North Carolina. Hardly a day goes by without more evidence of misinformed, specious, nonsensical meddling by the Legislature. The latest: the Legislature insists that all third graders learn to read, so they mandated 36 new mini-tests for the children. Could someone explain to
John Flavin: How to Improve Education
John Flavin teaches language arts in a rural high school in Oregon. He wrote this article for Oregonlive.com explaining what really matters in school reform. Time and resources for teachers to prepare for the flood of federal mandates. Class sizes of 22 or less. In his school, some classes have more than 40 students. A restoration of options and electives. He wrote: “All across America student
“Chicago Magazine” on the Rise and Fall of Juan Rangel
This remarkable article by Cassie Walker Burke with assistance from the Better Government Association details the story of Juan Rangel and the UNO charter school network, the biggest charter chain in Chicago. It is a gripping tale about the consequences of deregulation and privatization, of creating schools that are not subject to the same laws as public schools, and of the problematic nexus betwe
Bruce Baker’s Pet Peeve
A while back, we saluted Bruce Baker of Rutgers University as an extraordinary truth teller and demolisher of tall tales disguised as “research” In this post, he reveals his pet peeve: “Perhaps more than anything else, I hate it when pundits – who often have little clue what they are talking about to begin with, toss around big numbers with lots of zeros… or “illions” attached in order to make th
Putting Students Last: How Charter Leaders Stole (Allegedly) from Disabled Children
G.f. Brandenburg read the court documents in the case against officials at Options Charter School in D.C. The school was created to serve students with disabilities. Brandenburg points out that the charter was very profitable for its leaders. The court documents how charter officials–deregulated and lightly supervised by their collaborators in the D.C. charter School Board–allegedly transferred la
Teachers in Lee, MA, Return Merit Pay
The teachers in Lee, Massachusetts, received merit pay for higher scores, funded by the Gates Foundation. In a letter to the Berkshire Eagle, they explained why they rejected the money. http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_24675094/letter-no-merit-pay-lee-p-teachers Letter: No merit pay for Lee A.P. teachers To the editor of THE EAGLE: While we appreciate the article “Investing in students’ fut
NC: Baker Mitchell Charter School Under Federal Investigation
Yesterday the North Carolina State Board of Education voted to grant additional charters to Baker Mitchell, who has collected over $16 million in last five years to run three charters. Today, Lindsay Wagner of NC Policy Watch reports that Mitchell’s schools are under federal investigation. Mitchell is on the board of the John Locke Foundation, a libertarian foundation that advocates for charters
Max Brantley: Charters and the Erosion of Brown v. Board
Max Brantley is a fearless columnist in Arkansas who dares to disagree with the Waltons in their home state. Yes, there are such reporters who are unafraid to speak truth to the monied power that owns their state. In this column, Brantley describes the latest ploy by the charter industry: They are opening charters that implicitly will serve as havens for white families that do not want their child
Peter Greene: The Worst Part of “Reform” Is….?
Peter Greene is a veteran teacher in Pennsylvania. He has a blog called “Curmudgucation.” In this post, he explains that the worst part of the faux reform movement is standardization. Conformity. And what makes teachers vulnerable to it is that they are groomed to conform and to teach conformity. He writes: If I had to put my finger on the one most troubling aspect of the wave of reformy stuff tha
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-9-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Reactionary Legislature in NC Set for Big Charter ExpansionThe governor and legislature in North Carolina are determined to privatize as many public dollars as possible. They have approved vouchers for religious schools, private schools, and even home schools. But their main privatization strategy is charter schools. They are set t