Connecticut: Federal Grand Jury Issues Subpoenas in Connection to Charter Chain
A report from the Hartford Courant: “HARTFORD — City and state educators said Monday that they had been served with subpoenas by a federal grand jury examining the expenditure of millions of dollars in public money by the troubled charter school management company FUSE. “The subpoenas were issued Friday to the Hartford Public Schools and the state Department of Education, both of which have had e
How Fares the Common Core? Mercedes Schneider Updates the Story.
I kept hearing the same phrase used over and over again about the Common Core standards: don’t complain, the train is leaving the station, and you don’t want to be left behind. It is inevitable. Then one of the readers of the blog, noting this cliche, wrote, “I didn’t know the train was IN the station, how could it be leaving?” At some point, as the volume of complaints got louder, and as states
Gulen Charter Chain in Trouble in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Times reported a serious problem for the Gulen-related Magnolia charter chain. “The Los Angeles Unified school district is investigating a network of eight charter schools for misuse of public school funds. “An audit showed Magnolia Public Schools used classroom cash to help six non-employees with immigration costs. The schools had trouble justifying another $3 million expense. “T
Governor Tom Corbett ‘s Phony Pension Crisis
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has stormed the state with the message that public pensions are bankrupting the state. But Joe Markosek, Democratic chair of the House Appropriations Committee, says that Corbett is wrong. Corbett’s $3 billion in education cuts has hurt every district in the state, far more than pensions, forcing districts to raise property taxes to keep their local schools open
Rhee’s StudentsFirst Pulls Out of More States
Last week, I reported that StudentsFirst had departed from Minnesota and Florida. I assumed the pickings were slim in the former, and the “reform” camp had saturated the state of Florida. Well, there is more to the story, as I learned when I discovered a week-old politico.com in my spam box. StudentsFirst has also pulled out of Maine, Indiana, and Iowa. It has load off six staff members. As polit
South Carolina: State Vouchers Allow Profits at Expense of Public Schools
There is more than one way to harm public education. Several states have passed legislation to allow tax credits for scholarships to private and religious schools. This reduces the money available to support public schools. But it gets better! In South Carolina, smart investors can actually make a profit by making gifts to the tax credit (aka voucher) fund. David Slade writes in the S.C. “Post a
Rocketship Charter Chain Withdraws Application to Open 16 Schools in Texas
Without explanation, Rocketship Charters withdrew its application to open 8 schools each in San Antonio and Dallas. A group of wealthy philanthropists has put up a large fund to draw charter chains to San Antonio, with a goal of 80,000 students in charters by 2026. Once a charter has opened in Texas, it can expand without going through the entire application process by merely submitting an amendme
Georgia: Vote for Better Schools Tomorrow
Tomorrow is an important run-off to select the Democratic candidate for state superintendent of Georgia. The Network for Public Education has endorsed Valarie Wilson, who has worked as a member and president of the local school board in Decatur and has served as president of the Georgia School Boards Association. Fortunately one of the members of the board of directors of the Network is Bertis D
EduShyster Welcomes a Reformer to Her Blog
EduShyster has discovered a mole inside the reform movement in California. He or she plans to share insights into the wonderful world of school reform in the days ahead. Stay tuned.
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 7-20-14 Diane Ravitch's blog #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Arthur Goldstein: Why Good Teachers Need Tenure TooArthur Goldstein, a high school teacher of English as a Second Language in New York City, explains in this article that good teachers need tenure too. Goldstein gives examples of teachers who were denied tenure because they stood up for the rights of their students. When he made de