NPE News Briefs ← from The Network for Public Education:
NPE News Briefs
from The Network for Public Education
Don’t Cry for Me Arizona | EduShyster
Cry for what’s left of your public schools… By Sharon Hill Arizona schools chief John Huppenthal is sorry. How sorry? Really, really, really, really sorry. That was the message at the press conference that Huppenthal called last week, where he issued a tearful apology for anonymously offensive tweets and comments he’s made since 2011. And ...read more
Miami-Dade’s Charters Don’t Serve the Same Students | Jersey Jazzman
The series from the SunSentinel on Florida’s charter schools is well worth the read: it’s the Wild West down there, with some of the craziest stories of charter school malfeasance, corruption, and incompetence you could imagine. What’s missing, however, is some hard data on student population characteristics and academic results. I want to try to fill ...read more
Jack Hassard: NCTQ Ratings Are “Junk Science” | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Jack Hassard, professor emeritus of science education at Georgia State University, here reviews the ratings of the National Council on Teacher Quality and declares them to be “junk science.” He looks at the Georgia institutions of teacher preparation and finds that the ratings are haphazard, spotty, and inaccurate. The he gathers some of the major ...read more
Who Are We? We Are the Resistance | the becoming radical
Diane Ravitch’s post about the debate over the Gates moratorium includes a comment from John Thompson that deserves close attention: In a note to me, John Thompson pointed out that our side, which doesn’t have a name, cherishes the clash of ideas. The “reformers” march in lockstep (my words, not Thompson’s) in support of test-based accountability ...read more
Photo Essay: Chinese School is Lesson for US Policymakers | Cloaking Inequity
The Chinese are serious about vocational (aka career and technical education). The United States is not. Vocational education in the United States has a long history of being used as holding bin for African American students by purposefully providing inferior education relative to traditional academic and college preparatory education. Here is a quick background on ...read more
Connecticut: Charter Organization, Under Scrutiny Refuses to Release Information to Press | Diane Ravitch’s blog
The FUSE (Family Urban Schools of Excellence) charter organization was shaken by two high-level resignations, following the departure of its CEO Michael Sharpe. Sharpe quit after the press revealed that he had served time in prison and had used the title “Dr.” Though he had never earned a doctorate. The Hartford Courant asked for information ...read more
Cami insults top Newark high school principal and he says he is leaving | Bob Braun’s Ledger
Late Wednesday afternoon, Lamont Thomas politely excused himself from a meeting with central office administrators and returned to his inner office at the ultra-modern Science Park High School building on Norfolk Street. He picked up the microphone he used to make school-wide announcements and then said something that shocked the faculty and staff and a ...read more
Florida: Weak Charter Laws Permit Self-Dealing, Waste of Public Dollars | Diane Ravitch’s blog
The Sun-Sentinel in Florida published a scathing series about charter school scandals, made possible by lax laws and almost no supervision. “Unchecked charter-school operators are exploiting South Florida’s public school system, collecting taxpayer dollars for schools that quickly shut down. “A recent spate of charter-school closings illustrates weaknesses in state law: virtually anyone can open .
Finally, a viable opponent for Mayor One-Percent? | Mike Klonsky’s SmallTalk Blog
“I’m a little sick of the mayor and I don’t see anyone stepping up,” Lewis told the Chicago Sun-Times by telephone Thursday evening. “I am seriously thinking about it.” “Do we want ‘Star Wars’ museums or public, neighborhood schools? Do we want presidential libraries or librarians for every child?” With the polls showing that, like ...read more
JUN 26
Politico Reports: John White Blasts Governor Jindal | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Stephanie Simon interviewed State Superintendent John White, who blasted Governor Bobby Jindal for dropping Common Core and PARCC testing. White said that Jindal was denying children their “civil rights.” Isn’t it weird how these privatizers like to use “civil rights” as a rhetorical weapon without any meaning? It used to refer to the right to ...read more
Standard & Poor’s rates outlook for charter school sector as ‘negative’ – The Washington Post
Standard & Poor’s has issued a new report that extends its “negative” outlook for the charter school sector. Of 214 public charter school ratings done by the agency, 41, or 19 percent, are negative while only 4 — or 2 percent — are positive. Furthermore, it says, funding has not generally “returned to pre-recessionary levels, and some schools are ...read more
D.C. Insiders Monetize Experience, Join Ex-CNN Anchor to Attack School Teachers | janresseger
Not quite two years ago, the NY Times published what seemed to me a strange story. Former CNN anchor, Campbell Brown had begun tweeting mean things about school teachers and attacking the unions who, she said, protect lewd behavior. What did Campbell Brown have against school teachers and the NEA and AFT? The NY Times ...read more
Seven Trends in the Teacher Work Force | CURMUDGUCATION
In April, the Consortium for Policy Research in Education released a paper entitled “Seven Trends: the Transformation of the Teaching Force.” What the title lacks in sass and flash it makes up for in accuracy, and although the most recent data are from 2012, it still makes for interesting reading. Let’s look at the seven ...read more
Obama Education Agenda and the Tone-Deaf Follies | the becoming radical
Early and often, the Obama administration’s education agenda, headed by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, has driven the public narrative about public schools, teachers, and students with a relentless claim that everything wrong with education rests in a single problem: Expectations are too low. Impoverished children have low achievement in the U.S. Why? Low expectations! ...read more
The Troubling Realities of School Segregation | @ THE CHALK FACE
BY DENISHA JONES I read this story twice and also read this blog to learn more about the situation and it has left me with many unanswered questions. But first let me see if I have the facts right regarding this troubling story: Two years ago the Normandy school district that is 97% black and poor ...read more
The Shame of Philadelphia: The Slow Extinction of Public Education | Diane Ravitch’s blog
The state-operated school district of Philadelphia bluntly admitted it could not afford to provide a sound basic education to the children of the district. It sought court approval for continuing to short-change the children of Philadelphia. The Education Law Center reports: “In March, Philadelphia’s state-operated school district filed an extraordinary legal complaint with the Pennsylvania ...rea
JUN 25
Education Reform: A National Delusion | Steve Nelson
As I watch the education “debate” in America I wonder if we have simply lost our minds. In the cacophony of reform chatter — online programs, charter schools, vouchers, testing, more testing, accountability, Common Core, value-added assessments, blaming teachers, blaming tenure, blaming unions, blaming parents — one can barely hear the children crying out: “Pay ...read more
The Dirty, Little Secret in America’s Education Wars? Money Matters | Alternet
June 25, 2014 | An interesting twist in the ever-fascinating narrative of Republican politics unfolded in Mississippi this month when political operatives in the campaign to reelect U.S. Senator Thad Cochran to another term attacked their primary challenger for wanting to “deeply cut federal education dollars on which Mississippi schools rely.” Wait a sec – ...read more
Further Investigations of LDOE and John White are Warranted and Long Overdue | Crazy Crawfish’s Blog
Now that some investigations are underway by the Jindal Administration into John White and his Department of Education and how they allocated and spent funds on PARCC test and Common Core promotion and training I thought it would be a good idea to advise folks about some ongoing and perpetual financial mismanagement and malfeasance in ...read more
Obama alums join anti teachers union case | Stephanie Simon – POLITICO.com
By STEPHANIE SIMON | 6/24/14 1:32 PM EDT Updated: 6/24/14 8:14 PM EDT Teachers unions are girding for a tough fight to defend tenure laws against a coming blitz of lawsuits — and an all-out public relations campaign led by former aides to President Barack Obama. The Incite Agency, founded by former White House press ...read more
Michelle Gunderson: Teacher Union Conventions to Debate Common Core | Living in Dialogue
By Anthony Cody on June 24, 2014 5:34 PM Guest post by Michelle Gunderson. Sitting around the table in our teachers’ lunchroom a teacher said to me, “I didn’t go into teaching to be political.” I find this an amazing statement because no other human act is more political than teaching. As teachers we are ...read more
CURMUDGUCATION: Quite Possibly the Stupidest Thing To Come Out of the US DOE
In announcing a new emphasis and “major shift,” the US Department of Education will now demand that states show educational progress for students with disabilities. Arne Duncan announced that, shockingly, students with disabilities do poorly in school. They perform below level in both English and math. No, there aren’t any qualifiers attached to that. Arne ...read more
Stunning Upset in Colorado: Educator Beats DFER Candidate | Diane Ravitchs blog
Valentina Val Flores, a career educator, won a surprising and decisive victory for a seat on the state board of education in Colorado.Flores won by a margin of 59-41, beating a candidate who was supported by the hedge funders’ Democrats for Education Reform, Stand for Children, and Education Reform Now. Her opponent had two years ...read more
JUN 24
D.C. halting key Michelle Rhee reform | Salon.com
Washington, D.C., chancellor Kaya Henderson announced on Thursday that the city’s public schools would at least temporarily stop evaluating teachers based off of student test scores, a move Henderson described as necessary in order to allow students to acclimate themselves to new tests built around the standards established by the Common Core. The decision represents ...read more
Weak Michigan charter school laws enable scams, insider dealing | Detroit Free Press
In September 2005, Emma Street Holdings bought property on Sibley Road in Huron Township for $375,000. Six days later, Emma Street sold the parcel to Summit Academy North, a charter school, for $425,000. Who made the quick $50,000 at the school’s expense? The founders of Emma Street, two men with close ties to the school ...read more
How Arne Duncan talked about Common Core without mentioning ‘Common Core’ | The Washington Post
BY VALERIE STRAUSS June 24 at 6:00 AM Education Secretary Arne Duncan (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images) Here’s how Education Secretary Arne Duncan just gave a speech that discussed the Common Core State Standards without actually mentioning the words “Common Core.” Duncan was in Texas on a trip that included an appearance in Austin at the ...read more
Belleville, N.J.: Why Teachers Need Tenure | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Belleville, New Jersey, is the scene of a major battle between a heavy-handed supervisor and the district’s teachers. Although the district has a financial deficit, and many classes lack up-to-date technology and textbooks, the administration spent $2 million to install a state-of-the-art surveillance system for students and teachers. Jersey Jazzman writes: “Perhaps the worst decision ...read more
JUN 23
California students sue state – want more learning time | SFGate
Students from seven low-performing schools across California, including two in Oakland, filed an unusual class-action lawsuit against the state and its top education officials Thursday, claiming they have received far less learning time than other, more affluent kids across the state. While other state education lawsuits have focused on ensuring that all students have equal access ...read more
As Detroit Free Press does week-long exposé of charter schools, National Heritage Academies buys up all its ad space | Eclectablog
The Detroit Free Press is running a spectacular, week-long series on charter schools in Michigan and the woeful lack of oversight and accountability our state exercises when it comes to charters. While some states have outright bans on for-profit schools, 61% of Michigan charter schools are run by for-profit corporations and over a third are ...read more
U.S. Department of Education Bails Out Failing For-Profit College Chain | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Peter Greene comments here on the U. S. Department of Education’s decision to bail out Corinthian Colleges, Inc., a for-profit chain. Not so long ago, the U.S. DOE pledged to monitor predatory for-profit colleges. Not so, it seems. Not now. Greene writes: “Corinthian has a somewhat checkered past. Okay, checkered might be generous. They have ...read more
Will Bridgeport learn from the Michael Sharpe and Jumoke/FUSE disaster? – Wait What?
As more and more facts come out about Michael Sharpe, the CEO of the Jumoke/FUSE Charter School Management, parents, public school advocates and the taxpayers of Bridgeport and Connecticut are turning their attention to the decision by Paul Vallas and former Bridgeport Board of Education, Chairman Kenneth Moales, Jr. to hand over Bridgeport’s Dunbar School, ...read more
How Much Leverage Does Arne Duncan Still Have Over Race to the Top States? | Politics K-12 – Education Week
By Alyson Klein on June 23, 2014 11:04 AM For the past four years, the U.S. Department of Education has been able to withhold—or threaten to withhold—a piece of a winning state’s Race to the Top grant if officials weren’t following through on their promises. This happened in Hawaii, which eventually righted the ship, and ...read more
The Catch in Starbucks’ Offer of Free College Education for Workers | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Starbucks received wonderful publicity for its offer to pay the tuition of thousands of workers who took online courses at Arizona State University. But there is a catch. “Any Starbucks employee who works at least 20 hours per week will soon be able to complete his/her junior and senior years of college at Arizona State ...read more
Anthony Cody: Is Gates’ Moratorium Real or a Tactic to Defuse Opposition? | Diane Ravitch’s blog
When the Gates Foundation issued a press release calling for a two-year moratorium on the use of test scores to evaluate teachers, its position met a mixed reception. Some saw it as a victory for the critics of high-stakes testing; others as an attempt to weaken the critics by deferring the high stakes. Anthony Cody ...read more
Refusing to Educate Other People’s Children: Woes Continue in Philadelphia | janresseger
What does it mean when, in June, the leaders of a school district that serves over 131,000 students are working with city and state governments to locate enough money to open school in August? In the United States—where provision of K-12 education has for nearly two centuries been provided publicly, where it has been believed ...read more
In surprise move, key legislator allows state testing moratorium to pass | The Washington Post
BY VALERIE STRAUSS June 23 at 4:00 AM This actually happened: A key legislator listened to his constituents and changed his mind about an important piece of legislation, which changed the fate of the bill. It just happened in Rhode Island, where House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello first opposed a three-year moratorium on using a standardized test ...read more
JUN 22
A Common Core of Corporate Profit | Diann Woodard – Huffington Post
June is always a jubilant time for school leaders as they preside over promotion ceremonies and high school graduations. We swell with pride over the accomplishments of our students as they leave for summer vacations, first jobs or college. When the last student crosses the stage, planning begins for the next year and today that ...read more
Transcript of Gates’ March 2014 Washington Post Interview | deutsch29
On June 7, 2014, Washington Post reporter Lyndsey Layton published a blockbuster article largely based on a 28-minute interview she had with Gates following his keynote speech at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ (NBPTS) Teaching and Learning Conference in Washington, DC, on March 14, 2014. I am writing my second book, this one on the origins of ...read more
A teacher’s plea to bosses: Give us ‘time and autonomy to create solutions’ | The Washington Post
If you talk to teachers about their jobs, one of the things you will hear most consistently is that they don’t have enough time to plan, collaborate and learn from each other. Here is an open letter from a teacher to superintendents and administrators everywhere explaining why this is so important. It was written by ...read more
Tulane Professor: New Orleans Choice Experiment Failed | Diane Ravitch’s blog
J. Celeste Lay, a professor of political science at Tulane University, reviewed the results of the Recovery School District—which replaced all public schools with privately-managed charter schools—and concluded that the story of “the Néw Orleans miracle” is a Big Lie. She writes: “The Louisiana Department of Education’s recent release of the results of the LEAP ...read more
Finally, an opportunity to speak to union members | Wait What?
After being shut out from speaking to the members of the American Federation of Teachers’ endorsing committee and the AFL-CIO delegates charged with selecting a candidate for endorsement, the Connecticut Working Families Party was kind enough to adhere to the fundamental principle of democracy and fairness and allow me to address their meeting yesterday, June ...read more
Connecticut: Charter School CEO Resigns | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Michael Sharpe resigned as CEO of The Jumoke Academy, which runs charter schools in Connecticut and plans to expand to Baton Rouge, after revelations that he had been convicted of felonies many years ago and that he did not have a doctorate degree, as he had claimed. One of the schools managed by Jumoke, the ...read more
Superintendent: The greatest ‘crime’ committed against the teaching profession – The Washington Post
Thomas Scarice, the superintendent of Madison Public Schools in Connecticut, has been a vocal critic of high-stakes test-based school reform. Earlier this year he sent a letter to state legislators explaining why these “reforms will not result in improved conditions since they are not grounded in research.” In the following piece, he looks at what he ...read more
JUN 21
Why Kentucky Dropped the PARCC Test | Diane Ravitch’s blog
When Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced he was withdrawing the state from the PARCC tests, he expressed concern about competitive bidding, among other things. He was not the only one to have this issue. At the beginning of 2014, Kentucky decided to withdraw from the PARCC testing consortium. PARCC is one of two federally funded ...read more
Is It Time for a Truce | CURMUDGUCATION
As guest blogger over at Anthony Cody’s Living in Dialogue, John Thompson asks the question, “Is it time for a truce.” He’s responding specifically to the Gates Foundation call for a two-year testing moratorium. Now that they’ve put down that particular club, do we point down our pointy sticks and try to have a chat? ...read more