Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Eva Moskowitz will have tough time running for mayor - NY Daily News

Eva Moskowitz will have tough time running for mayor - NY Daily News:

Charter school big Eva Moskowitz may have to switch parties if she wants to run for mayor




Charter school phenom Eva Moskowitz would have to switch her party registration to run for mayor in 2017 because she is persona non grata to the city Democratic establishment.
Moskowitz has violated orthodoxy by building a non-union network, and attacking Bill de Blasio in bitter tone and terms along the way.
In a Democratic primary, the party’s liberal wing and labor would crush her. Her only hope of knocking off de Blasio requires jumping the Democratic ship.
Then, in a general election, the going would get tough.
Her strengths? She’s driven by missionary zeal. The kids in her schools post undeniably impressive test results. She’d have a message on education that is as focused as Rudy Giuliani had on crime.
De Blasio may be polling well among blacks and Latinos, but he’s struggling mightily among whites.
She can offer herself as a competent executive of a large organization — a selling point to voters who doubt de Blasio’s management chops.
Moskowitz could also command the support of the same wealthy donors who back Success, not to mention Bloombergian school reform offshoot groups, Families for Excellent Schools and Students First.
But that has a downside: In a city that leans really liberal, it’s one thing to be a self-made billionaire and philanthropist. It’s another to be seen as doing the bidding of a super-wealthy cabal of “hedge-fund reformers.”Eva Moskowitz will have tough time running for mayor - NY Daily News:




Stand Up for Public Education in LA’s Superintendent Search Process

Los Angeles Superintendent Search:

Stand Up for Public Education in LA’s Superintendent Search Process




This evening I received an email from my friend and fellow education activist Roberta Eidman. It started like this:
We can’t continue to sit back and watch LAUSD get swallowed up—school by school—by privatizers and charter CEOs. Finally, incompetent John Deasy was ousted; interim head Ramon Cortines wants to be out by year end. A search firm has been engaged.
Local education activists pushed long and hard to get the Board to incorporate community input into its criteria. It worked. Recruiters Hazard, Young & Attea released an online surveyfor anyone in the community to complete. It asks several straightforward questions about characteristics and so forth. But the most valuable section is the free form comments at the end.
Inspired, I filled out the survey and wrote the following in the comments section:
“I think the next superintendent should have a lot of experience as a teacher and an administrator. I would not want this person to be a business person or someone who has been trained at the Broad Superintendent Academy.

Education is not a business. It is a public institution which must not be privatized like so many other public institutions, services and resources have been in the neoliberal society we live in today.

I am very concerned about the billionaire- and corporate-funded “education reform” movement embraced by Republicans and Democrats alike. Race to the Top is no better than No Child Left Behind. This has created an emphasis on standardized testing to the detriment of any other type of instruction. This has also led to the proliferation of publicly funded, privately run charter schools that all the meta-analyses show do not perform any better than public schools.
There is nothing wrong with public schools and unionized teachers. In wealthy neighborhoods, the students perform excellently on standardized tests. Poor tests scores are a result of poverty not bad teachers. When kids do not have prenatal care, when they do not have good nutrition, when their parents don’t read to them at night, when they have to walk through gang infested neighborhoods—these factors are what makes it hard for kids to learn and perform well on tests.
I see nothing wrong with certain reforms like breaking up the school district into smaller districts. Often, it is large bureaucracies that create problems. I see nothing wrong with LAUSD affiliated charters, where the teachers are unionized and credentialed. My own son went to one of them. I see nothing wrong with pilot schools.
I do see something wrong with letting billionaires—who can get a 39% tax credit for investing in charter schools in a low income neighborhood thus doubling their money in seven years—have an outsized influence over education policy in this city. I think Eli Broad’s plan to turn Los Angeles Superintendent Search:

Washington State Legislature Inflicts a Triple Whammy on Low Income Students

State Legislature Inflicts a Triple Whammy on Low Income Students:

State Legislature Inflicts a Triple Whammy on Low Income Students






In previous articles, we explained that Washington State is facing a school construction crisis – with a need to build more than $50 billion in new public schools. In this article, we will look at the impact on a particular school district when the State legislature refuses to honor their constitutional obligation to build urgently needed schools. The school district we have chosen is the Highline School District. The impact on these students from the failure of our state legislature to build urgently needed schools has been devastating. We begin with a brief explanation of our State Constitution. 

In 1889, the drafters of our Washington State Constitution understood the importance of education to the future of our economy and the future of our democracy. They therefore made the funding of public schools the “paramount” or most important duty of the State legislature. These same wise people had seen how school districts in other states had turned into a system of “rich schools in rich communities and poor schools in poor communities.” They therefore added a second lesser known clause to our State Constitution calling for a “uniform system of public schools.” In recent Supreme Court rulings, the Court has criticized the legislature not only for failing to comply with the full funding of public schools, but also for relying on local levies – which are unconstitutional precisely because they lead to a system of rich schools that can pass local levies and school construction bonds versus poor school districts that cannot pass local levies and school construction bonds. 

All of which brings us to the subject of Highline High School. Highline High School is located south of Seattle - just 3 miles from Seatac Airport. It opened in 1924. So it is now about 91 years old and in need of replacement. As was reported in the local news lately, Highline High School now suffers from problems with rats, mold and a host of other health problems. It does not comply with the health code or the earthquake code. In the event of a major earthquake, most of its 1,300 students and their teachers would be killed or injured. 

Here is a sign posted on one of the doors at Highline High School:


01

Recognizing these problems, the Highline School Board attempted to pass a school construction bond to replace the high school in November 2014. When this was defeated, they put it back on the ballot for February 2015 – when it was defeated for a second time. No one opposed to the school bond argued that the high school was not in need of replacement. Instead, they argued that they could not afford it. This fact is supported by the OSPI Property Tax Report which shows that school related property taxes in the Highline School District more than double school related property taxes in the Seattle School District. ($5.66 per thousand versus $2.55 per thousand). This means that for a $400,000 home, the annual school related property tax in Highline is $2,264 versus only $1,020 in Seattle). This is on top of all the other property taxes that are also higher in the Highline School District. http://www.k12.wa.us/safs/PUB/LEV/1415/2010r.pdf


02

The cause of this huge and unfair difference in school related property taxes is that the Highline School District is a “bedroom” community without a lot of commercial property. Therefore, there is much less property to tax in Highline than there is in Seattle. As a consequence, the amount of property per student is much less in Highline than in Seattle. To be precise, according to OSPI report 1061, Seattle has a per 
State Legislature Inflicts a Triple Whammy on Low Income Students:

Paramount Charter School: A Chaotic “Free for All” That Cannot be Immediately Shut Down | deutsch29

Paramount Charter School: A Chaotic “Free for All” That Cannot be Immediately Shut Down | deutsch29:

Paramount Charter School: A Chaotic “Free for All” That Cannot be Immediately Shut Down






In August 2013, the Paramount Charter School submitted an impressive-reading, 344-page application to Broward County Public Schools (Florida). The school is run by an impressively-named nonprofit, The Advancement of Education In Scholars Corporation. The document reveals what would surely be a marvel of a school, one expecting to enroll 1,088 students in grades K-6 in its first year and anticipating 1,594 students in grades K through 8 in its fifth year.
Among its promises, the Paramount application included the following:
 Be a college preparatory school that provides an extended day with performing arts and sports and fitness program with enrichment classes along with single sex core classes.
 Provide learning opportunities for all students with an emphasis on low performing students and reading.
 Provide an environment that promotes each student‟s personal and intellectual growth along with a commitment to educational success.
 Educate students uniquely different from a traditional public school and establish bold new innovative ideas to change the way children are educated.
 Provide parents with sufficient information on whether their child is reading at grade level and whether the child gains at least a year‟s worth of learning for every year spent in the charter school.
The School’s education will encourage students to take intellectual risks in an atmosphere that is both challenging and supportive. With the careful guidance of experienced teachers, students will discover their individual passions while learning to value multiple perspectives and work with people who have diverse points of view.
At the School, students will be problem solvers: they will learn to evaluate what they hear, read, or see and in doing so they will take control of the 
Paramount Charter School: A Chaotic “Free for All” That Cannot be Immediately Shut Down | deutsch29:

The REAL Accountability Issue: Incompetent Leadership | Creative by Nature

The REAL Accountability Issue: Incompetent Leadership | Creative by Nature:

The REAL Accountability Issue: Incompetent Leadership



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“Effective leaders in education apply strategies of democracy, they listen to and collaborate creatively with the people in their community. They engage and inspire others to take on leadership positions. They include all members of a community in the development of a shared vision and well-designed plan, grounded in research, unique to each school, adapting also to the individual needs of children.” ~Christopher Chase


In December, the U.S. Department of Education’s leadership will be handed over from Arne Duncan to John King, Jr. Most teachers and parents who have suffered under the Duncan administration are not expecting anything to change.
I’m not as pessimistic, I think progress and a radical shift in policy is possible. But it would have to begin with two fundamental changes:
First, President Obama and John King must do something that Sec. Duncan never did, look VERY closely at the actual research on effective education reforms, and see what that tells us.
They will find that a rigorous curriculum, strong leadership, data collection and higher standards are indeed part of the “recipe” of successful schools, and lead to improved academic learning, as can be measured by standardized tests. See: “The Essential Supports for School Improvement” – a landmark research study completed in The REAL Accountability Issue: Incompetent Leadership | Creative by Nature:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/7/15




CORPORATE ED REFORM




CURMUDGUCATION: Gates Says Some Stuff
CURMUDGUCATION: Gates Says Some Stuff: Gates Says Some StuffLike many teachers, I could not tune in to Bill and Melinda Gates' trip down Ed Reform Memory Lane because I was busy doing my actual job. This seems metaphorically perfect-- Gates talks about schools while meanwhile, teachers are in schools doing actual work. However, I've scanned someaccounts of the speech from this afternoon, and I thi
The Education Reform Oligarchy: How They Used Us - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice
The Education Reform Oligarchy: How They Used Us - The Crucial VoiceThe Crucial Voice: The Education Reform Oligarchy: How They Used UsThe education reform oligarchy set an agenda, carefully selected their mode of operations, and agreed upon the bait. They developed a vision, knew what they needed to do, how to do it, and they had the monetary and political support to move a nation to do their bid
The Ugly Charter School Scandal Arne Duncan Is Leaving Behind
The Ugly Charter School Scandal Arne Duncan Is Leaving Behind: The Ugly Charter School Scandal Arne Duncan Is Leaving BehindUS Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s surprise announcement to leave his position in December is making headlines and driving lots of commentary, but an important story lost in the media clutter happened three days before he gave notice.On that day, Duncan rattled the educa
Improving U.S. schools tougher than global health, Gates says - The Washington Post
Improving U.S. schools tougher than global health, Gates says - The Washington Post: Improving U.S. schools tougher than global health, Gates saysBill Gates, whose foundation has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into K-12 education and influenced state and federal policy to embrace charter schools, teacher evaluation and the Common Core academic standards, said Thursday that trying to improv
L.A. charter school expansion could mean huge drop in unionized teaching jobs - LA Times
L.A. charter school expansion could mean huge drop in unionized teaching jobs - LA Times: L.A. charter school expansion could mean huge drop in unionized teaching jobs If a proposal for a massive expansion of charter schools in Los Angeles moves forward, the casualties would likely include the jobs of thousands of teachers who currently work in the city’s traditional public schools.As new charters
Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association : SCOTUSblog
Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association : SCOTUSblog: Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association Friedrichs v. California Teachers AssociationDocket No.Op. BelowArgumentOpinionVoteAuthorTerm14-9159th Cir.TBDTBDTBDTBDOT 2015Issue: (1) Whether Abood v. Detroit Board of Education should be overruled and public-sector “agency shop” arrangements invalidated under the First Amendment; and (2) w
CURMUDGUCATION: Common Schools vs. Diversity
CURMUDGUCATION: Common Schools vs. Diversity: Common Schools vs. DiversityOver at redefinED, a reliable source of reformy pro-school choice arguments, Patrick Gibbons (also a reliable source of pro-school choice arguments) has posted a pretty thoughtful response to the can of worms opened by the Washington state smackdown of charter schools.In "Common schools and the feat of diversity,"
NYC Public School Parents: Video Interview: Leonie Haimson on why she started Class Size Matters
NYC Public School Parents: Video Interview: Leonie Haimson on why she started Class Size Matters: Video Interview: Leonie Haimson on why she started Class Size MattersCheck out the short video below, filmed by Bob Greenburg, about how I got involved in the issue of class size, and why class size matters!NYC Public School Parents: Video Interview: Leonie Haimson on why she started Class Size Matter
Student Privacy Not Just About Identity Theft » Missouri Education Watchdog
Student Privacy Not Just About Identity Theft » Missouri Education Watchdog: Student Privacy Not Just About Identity TheftAt the National Student Privacy Symposium two weeks ago in DC, (written about on MEW  here), Bill Fitzgerald of Common Sense Media, who writes the blog FunnyMonkey, was a panelist for the discussion of Potential Risks of Student Data Collection and Use. Up until that point in t
When Neighborhoods Gentrify, Why Aren't Their Public Schools Improving? - The Atlantic
When Neighborhoods Gentrify, Why Aren't Their Public Schools Improving? - The Atlantic: When Neighborhoods Gentrify, Why Aren't Their Public Schools Improving?“Gentrification, it turns out, usually stops at the schoolhouse door,” the reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones has argued.The ups and downs of gentrification have been chronicled thoroughly, but one of its consequences hasn’t been widely addressed:
The national Academe Blog asks – Is Dannel Malloy - A Democratic Scott Walker? - Wait What?
The national Academe Blog asks – Is Dannel Malloy - A Democratic Scott Walker? - Wait What?: The national Academe Blog asks – Is Dannel Malloy – A Democratic Scott Walker?A special thanks to Hank Reichman, the first vice-president and chair of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, and the nationally respected Academe Blog, the blog of Academe Magazine, for reposting my Wait, What?
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Black aldermen mutiny. Rahm rushes to McCarthy's defense.
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Black aldermen mutiny. Rahm rushes to McCarthy's defense.: Black aldermen mutiny. Rahm rushes to McCarthy's defense.Supt. McCarthy goes all Che Guevara on us."I know what needs to happen. It's clear to me as anything on earth. It's a systematic failure and the system has to change." -- ABC 7 Yesterday's City Council budget hearings were like none I've seen
Fine Press Reporting Leads to Long Overdue Regulation of Ohio Charter Schools | janresseger
Fine Press Reporting Leads to Long Overdue Regulation of Ohio Charter Schools | janresseger: Fine Press Reporting Leads to Long Overdue Regulation of Ohio Charter SchoolsYesterday afternoon, a House-Senate conference committee of Ohio’s legislature met to work out a compromise to regulate Ohio’s notorious charter school sector.  In Ohio, Republicans dominate both houses of the legislature, occupy
New Mexico’s Teacher Evaluation Lawsuit: Day Four | VAMboozled!
New Mexico’s Teacher Evaluation Lawsuit: Day Four | VAMboozled!: New Mexico’s Teacher Evaluation Lawsuit: Day FourUnfortunately I could not attend “Day Four” of the New Mexico’s Teacher Evaluation Lawsuit yesterday (Tuesday, October 6th) in Santa Fe, but for those of you following, tomorrow (Thursday, October 8th) closing remarks are scheduled. Originally, only two days of testimony were scheduled
CURMUDGUCATION: Recess Consultants. Seriously.
CURMUDGUCATION: Recess Consultants. Seriously.: GA: SmilesThis post is not a rant, and I've set aside the snark for the moment. We don't have cable, so I miss some things until I stumble across them on line. This one in particular struck me somewhere around the left ventricle. I know these are often heavily massaged and we don't get the whole story, but this seems pretty straightforward to me.It s
Teachers' Unions Look to Clinton to Save Them? - US News
Teachers' Unions Look to Clinton to Save Them - US News: Teachers' Unions Look to Clinton to Save Them To say the relationship between the Obama administration and the national teachers unions is strained would be an understatement.Democrats and unions have historically enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with Democrats backing pro-union policies, such as protecting bargaining rights, and unions usin
There Are Way More Homeless Students Than There Used To Be | FiveThirtyEight
There Are Way More Homeless Students Than There Used To Be | FiveThirtyEight: There Are Way More Homeless Students Than There Used To BeBut that’s partly because states are better at finding them.The number of homeless students in the country’s classrooms has more than doubled since before the recession, according to recently released federal data. That’s an alarming trend, but a new report offers
Teacher: Testing is supposed to provide ‘rich’ student data — but here’s why it’s actually worthless - The Washington Post
Teacher: Testing is supposed to provide ‘rich’ student data — but here’s why it’s actually worthless - The Washington Post: Teacher: Testing is supposed to provide ‘rich’ student data — but here’s why it’s actually worthlessOne of the big ideas driving school reform today is that data is king, and the more the better for teachers who can use it to improve and tailor instruction to their students.
Charter school reform bill tackles controversies over White Hat property, sponsor evaluations, new school rating measure | cleveland.com
Charter school reform bill tackles controversies over White Hat property, sponsor evaluations, new school rating measure | cleveland.com: Charter school reform bill tackles controversies over White Hat property, sponsor evaluations, new school rating measureCOLUMBUS, Ohio -- There's no clear magic bullet in Ohio's new charter school reform bill that will go up for final approval from the state Hou
Chicago Teachers Union president running for re-election - Chicago Tribune
Chicago Teachers Union president running for re-election - Chicago Tribune: Chicago Teachers Union president running for re-electionKaren Lewis, whose bid to challenge Mayor Rahm Emanuel was derailed by a cancer diagnosis a year ago, will run for re-election as president of the Chicago Teachers Union in May, a CTU spokeswoman confirmed.Lewis, 62, has been the union's president since winning a runo
Thousands gather at Brooklyn charter schools rally - US News
Thousands gather at Brooklyn charter schools rally - US News: Thousands of charter school supporters gather at Brooklyn rally featuring Jennifer HudsonNEW YORK (AP) — Grammy- and Oscar-winning star Jennifer Hudson is the headliner at a rally of charter school supporters in Brooklyn.Thousands of people in red T-shirts filled Cadman Plaza on Wednesday as the event got under way with a performance by
Will federal funding spawn more suburban charter schools? - DailyHerald.com
Will federal funding spawn more suburban charter schools? - DailyHerald.com: Will federal funding spawn more suburban charter schools?Could a proposal to create a charter school in Elgin, defeated last year, be revived with the injection of federal funding?Illinois is among eight states selected to receive a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The five-year, $42 million grant will provide
Tell the New Education Secretary: Charter Schools Flunk Out in New Orleans | Black Agenda Report
Tell the New Education Secretary: Charter Schools Flunk Out in New Orleans | Black Agenda Report: Tell the New Education Secretary: Charter Schools Flunk Out in New OrleansA Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen FordArne Duncan said Katrina was the best thing to happen to New Orleans schools, and his successor, John B. King, doubtless feels the same. But “it’s all propaganda and p
Test Scores Under Common Core Show That ‘Proficient’ Varies by State - The New York Times
Test Scores Under Common Core Show That ‘Proficient’ Varies by State - The New York Times: Test Scores Under Common Core Show That ‘Proficient’ Varies by StateCOLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio seems to have taken a page from Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average.Last month, state officials releasing an early batch of test scores declared that two-thirds of students at most grade levels were p
Congress in Chaos: Don't Leave Our Students Behind! | Heather Hiles | LinkedIn
Congress in Chaos: Don't Leave Our Students Behind! | Heather Hiles | LinkedIn: Congress in Chaos: Don't Leave Our Students Behind!“If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that.” - Michelle ObamaThe No Child Left Behind Act, the sixth and most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), was des
Dan Walters: Does early education truly help? | The Sacramento Bee
Dan Walters: Does early education truly help? | The Sacramento Bee: Dan Walters: Does early education truly help?The New America Foundation urges California in a new report to spend more on training and paying pre-kindergarten teachers.“Our bottom line is that California is not doing enough to educate early childhood educators so that kids don’t fall way behind in school,” the report’s author, Sar

YESTERDAY

Jersey City schools could gain full local control today | Bob Braun's Ledger
Jersey City schools could gain full local control today | Bob Braun's Ledger: Jersey City schools could gain full local control todayNJ Education Commissioner David HespeThe state Board of Education could return full control over the Jersey City public schools to its local school board today  (Wednesday, Oct. 7)–exactly 26 years and three days after New Jersey officials, citing mismanagement and s
Peter Cunningham’s $12-Million-Dollar EdPost Cannot Purchase Readers | deutsch29
Peter Cunningham’s $12-Million-Dollar EdPost Cannot Purchase Readers | deutsch29: Peter Cunningham’s $12-Million-Dollar EdPost Cannot Purchase ReadersOn September 03, 2014, I wrote a post about Education Post, a nonprofit set up to pretty much just operate a pro-corporate-reform-promoting blog. Upon start-up, EdPost scraped together $12 million.Now that’s one expensive blog.It turns out that billi
Insights on teacher evaluation in DC | @ THE CHALKFACE
Insights on teacher evaluation in DC | @ THE CHALKFACE: Insights on teacher evaluation in DCI know at some point I’ve mentioned DC’s teacher evaluation system, IMPACT. As always, there is a lot being written and researched on the subject, including this recent call from the Network for Public Education to assist with a research project.Cool beans.I’m not going to add any redundant critique about I
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/6/15
CORPORATE ED REFORMDarling-Hammond: California reforms ‘will begin to level the playing field’ | EdSourceDarling-Hammond: California reforms ‘will begin to level the playing field’ | EdSource: Darling-Hammond: California reforms ‘will begin to level the playing field’The results on the Smarter Balanced assessments, the centerpiece of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, o