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Saturday, June 1, 2019

KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG 

A site to discuss better education for all

Big Education Ape: My New Book Was Just Announced! | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2019/05/my-new-book-was-just-announced-diane.html





Pennsylvania: Charter Lobby Pushes to Remove All Quality Controls and Allow Unlimited Expansion
by dianeravitch / 1h
Two officials of the Philadelphia school system wrote an opinion piece warning that proposals for “charter reform” are actually a blank check for unlimited charter expansion with no regulation at all. Dr. William R. Hite is superintendent of the Philadelphia public schools. Joyce Wilkerson is president of the Philadelphia school board. They point out that the State Auditor said that Pennsylvania’

YESTERDAY

Who Benefits from Unlimited Expansion of Charter Schools?
by dianeravitch / 19h
Whenever there is a battle over the expansion of charter schools, we read in the papers that “charter parents” prevailed and the teachers’ union lost. Why don’t the stories say “charter lobbyists prevail,” and public schools and their students lost? Why do reporters always assume that only the unions oppose charter expansion. Why are “charter parents” seeking more charter schools? Don’t their chi
California: Charter Reform Fails, Charter Lobbyists Celebrate Victory for Privatization and Non-Regulation
by dianeravitch / 20h
The California Legislature failed to take action on bills to impose a moratorium on new charter schools, and charter lobbyists were exultant. Despite the ongoing scandals in the charter industry, the Legislature was unable to act. Only this week, eleven charter leaders were indicted for misappropriating millions of dollars that ended up in their personal bank accounts. Only last week, the founder
California Teacher: Charters Are Wreaking Havoc on Communities of Color
by dianeravitch / 21h
Erika Jones is an experienced teacher in California. In this post, she responds forcefully to the claim by charter advocates that privately managed charter schools “save” children of color. They don’t. I urge all charter advocacy groups and individuals to read her eloquent article and consider her words carefully. She begins: As a public-school educator who is African-American, I am keenly aware
Pennsylvania: Finance Experts Warn that Charter Costs May Bankrupt 500 School Districts
by dianeravitch / 22h
Finance experts in Pennsylvania warned that the costs of charter schools and cyber charters threaten to bankrupt as many as 500 school districts. Finance experts with the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) said lawmakers must change the way charter costs are assessed to local school districts or accept that some school districts are not going to be able to continue to b
NYC: Class Size Champion Strikes Again, in Court
by dianeravitch / 23h
Leonie Haimson is a force of nature. She and her! Student Privacy allies beat Bill Gates’ $100 Million inBloom data-collection project. She and her parent allies forced the NYC Department of Education to back down and keep open high-performing low-enrollment PS 25 in Brooklyn. Now she and her allies are going back to court to fight State Commissioner MaryEllen Elia over the matter of class size i
Gary Rubinstein: U.S. News Changes Ranking Formula for High Schools—Charters Tank
by dianeravitch / 1d
Gary Rubinstein reports that U.S. News & World Report altered the way it measures “the best high schools,” and charters suffered. Many got top rankings in the past despite their high attrition rates and demographics towards whites and Asians. The new formula is harder to game. Gary knows that the annual exercise in ranking the best high schools is inherently fraudulent. What matters most can’t be

MAY 30

Pastors for Texas Children: Great News for Public Schools in the Lone Star State!
by dianeravitch / 1d
Our good friends who lead Pastors for Texas Children—the Revs. Charles Foster Johnson and Charles Luke—have great news to report from the Lone Star State. It was a bipartisan victory for five million children, their teachers, and their public schools! The 86 th Session of the Texas Legislature, just completed on Monday, May 27, was the most productive on behalf of our 5.4 million schoolchildren i
Jan Resseger: Ohio, Don’t Be Fooled! Replacement for HB 70 Is Still a State Takeover!
by dianeravitch / 1d
Ohio enacted a dreadful state takeover bill in the dead of night called HB 70. It has placed Youngstown and Lotain City Public Schools under the control of a dictator. In response to public outrage, the Legislature is writing a new law. Jan Resseger warns: Don’t Be Fooled! It is old wine in new bottles. She writes: Make no mistake, the Ohio School Transformation Plan is still a state takeover.
Los Angeles: Turn Out and Vote for Measure EE on Tuesday, June 4!
by dianeravitch / 1d
Thousands of public school teachers in Los Angeles went on strike in February, demanding basic services for their students: smaller class sizes (many classes have more than 40 students), classes in the arts and music, a librarian and nurse and other support staff in every school. The strike won broad public support. The teachers won an agreement from the school board. Now comes the hard part: Pay
San Diego: Eleven People Indicted in Connection to Online Charter Fraud
by dianeravitch / 1d
The California Legislature is considering four bills to reform the state’s massive charter school industry (1,300 schools, mostly unregulated and unsupervised). One of the bills would prohibit school districts from authorizing charters in other districts. The following story is a classic example of rural school districts authorizing online charters in San Diego and Los Angeles, solely to get the
My New Book Was Just Announced!
by dianeravitch / 2d
I am very excited! My new book was just announced! The title is: SLAYING GOLIATH: The Impassioned Fight to Defeat the Privatization Movement and to Save America’s Public Schools. It will be published on January 14, 2020, by Knopf, the most prestigious publisher in America. The editor is the brilliant Victoria Wilson, who is also an author, having written the definitive biography of Barbara Stanwy

MAY 29

NPE Grassroots Education Network: News for May 2019
by dianeravitch / 2d
Marla Kilfoyle reports on news from the NPE Grassroots Education Network. More than 125 independent organizations from across the country are working to improve and strengthen public schools. News item #1: NPE Action National Conference – Save the Date – March 28-29 in Philadelphia, PA. The window is now open for workshop proposals for the Network for Public Education conference, March 28-29, 202
San Diego School Board Endorses Charter School Reforms
by dianeravitch / 2d
Last night, the elected Board of Education of the San Diego Unified School District passed a strong resolution endorsing four bills in the State Legislature that would impose discipline on the Wild West unregulated charter industry. The bills are described in the resolution. They would impose a moratorium on charter school expansion, revive local control, and increase oversight of charters. This
National Education Policy Center on Virtual Charter Schools: Annual Report
by dianeravitch / 2d
Today the National Education Policy Center released its annual review of research on virtual charter schools. The bottom line was not good. The title of the report is “Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2019.” It was double blind peer-reviewed. The authors write: The number of virtual schools in the U.S. continues to grow. In 2017-18, 501 full-time virtual schools enrolled 297,712 students, and 300 blen
Joe Biden’s Education Plan
by dianeravitch / 2d
Former Vice President Joe Biden released his education plan yesterday. He pledges a dramatic increase in federal funding for education. The plan is notable for what it does not say. It does not say anything about the failed strategies of Race to the Top. It does not say anything about charter schools, which was a major focus for the Obama-Duncan program. Will he repeal the failed federal Charter
The “New York Times” vs. Senator Bernie Sanders
by dianeravitch / 3d
I have not endorsed a candidate in the primaries. I have not chosen a favorite. I will vote for any Democrat who runs against Trump. That said, I’m very concerned about the New York Times’ consistently negative coverage of Senator Bernie Sanders. We expect the newspaper of record to be unbiased. But when it comes to Sen. Sanders, the Times goes after him in snide ways. First, there was an article

MAY 28

Michigan: Time for Governor Whitmer to Keep Her Promises!
by dianeravitch / 3d
Thomas Pedroni of Wayne State University sent the following urgent message for readersof this blog. Professor Pedroni writes: “In 2016, seven Detroit school children and their parents joined together as plaintiffs to sue the State of Michigan for depriving them of what they deemed to be their basic right— the right to access literacy in minimally sufficient learning conditions. The plaintiffs, al
Michigan: Students and Board Members Fight to Save Benton Harbor High School
by dianeravitch / 3d
Governor Gretchen Whitmer was elected in Michigan last fall as a progressive Democrat. She promised to reverse the destructive anti-public school policies of her predecessor Republican Rick Snyder. But Governor Whitmer announced plans to close Benton Harbor High School, over the objections of school board members and students. They say that Governor Whitmer made her decision without listening to
Audrey Amrein-Beardsley: Do School Grades Affect Student Performance on NAEP?
by dianeravitch / 3d
Audrey Amrein-Beardsley is an education scholar who specializes in smoking out quack reforms, like the “value-added” accountability measures used to judge teacher quality. In this post, She investigates whether the 13 states that grade states with a single letter grade of A-F achieve higher scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress after implementing this strategy. Jeb Bush initia
Peter Greene: Who Is Behind the Effort to Woo Teachers Away from Their Unions?
by dianeravitch / 3d
Peter Greene lives in Pennsylvania. He is a retired teacher who spent nearly 40 years in the classroom. He has received postcards urging him to abandon his union. He decided to identify the organizations behind this activity. You may not be surprised. Those postcards, he writes, are the product of the same old network of anti-union far-right folks who have been constantly looking for ways to slap
Steven Singer: Charters Are Gobbling Up My Public School District
by dianeravitch / 4d
Steven Singer doesn’t research or data to describe what is happening to his school district. He sees it. It is being gobbled up outsiders intent on turning public schools into charter schools and voucher schools. The state auditor of Pennsylvania said a few years ago that the Pennsylvania charter law is”the worst in the nation.” Singer shows why. Our middle school-high school complex is located a
Shawgi Tell: The Untold History of Charter School Failure
by dianeravitch / 4d
Shawgi Tell, a Professor in upstate New York, thinks the public needs that charter school failure is widespread, commonplace, and underreported. Even now, mainstream publications like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal treat charter schools reverentially, as if they know how to perform education miracles. Professor Tell assembles research showing the frequent failure of charters. Open

MAY 27

Coincidence? Washington Post Editorial and Jeb Bush Agree that They Don’t Like Bernie on Charters
by dianeravitch / 4d
The Washington Post Editorial Board is made about charter schools. They were also over the moon for Michelle Rhee’s authoritarian rule of the D.C. schools, which launched a short career as an outspoken proponent of charters and vouchers. Rhee became closely allied with Jeb Bush, who was also Betsy DeVos’s friend and mentor. This we should not be surprised to discover that the Washington Post publ
Julian Vasquez Heilig: “Did You See the Numbers?” “Yes, I Did.”
by dianeravitch / 4d
Julian Vasquez Heilig is a leading authority on the subjects of equity and social justice. His blog is one of the brightest spots on the Internet because of his scholarship and creative use of graphics. He has been a prominent member in the California chapter of the NAACP. In this post , he refutes the claim that charter schools in California produce results better than public schools. Despite th
Rachel Cohen: The Untold History of Charter Schools
by dianeravitch / 4d
Thanks to Los Angeles blogger Sara Roos for calling my attention to this very interesting article by journalist Rachel Cohen . We have had an extended exchange about the article. Cohen says that the typical origin story of charter schools credits the idea to AFT President Al Shanker. She shows that the idea was percolating long before Shanker began promoting charters in 1988. The idea of public-p
Ohio: Teacher Reports “Nightmare” in the Lorain City Schools
by dianeravitch / 5d
Bill Phillis forwarded the email below to me. It comes from a teacher in the Lorain City public schools, which were the target of a state takeover under HB 70, a law that was hurriedly passed without debate. The schools were placed under the autocratic control of one man with unlimited powers. Bill Phillis knows the teacher’s name, as do I. She remains anonymous, for obvious reasons. She writes.
Sadness and Tears on Memorial Day
by dianeravitch / 5d
Let us pause and remember the men and women who lost their lives while serving in the military. The older I get, the more I hate war. I despise those who see war as a political tactic, those who stir up war talk to get votes. Those who drop bombs and fire missiles to raise their poll numbers are contemptible. There is evil in the world, for sure. I saw it when I visited the “killing fields” in Ca

MAY 26

Michigan: President of State Board Explains Why It Declined to Spend $47 Million for New Charters
by dianeravitch / 5d
Casandra E. Ulbrich, president of the Michigan State Board of Education, responded to an editorial in the Detroit News complaining that the State Board rejected $47 million for new charter schools. She explains why the Board declined to spend the money awarded to the state by the federal Charter Schools Program. It doesn’t need new schools or new charters. About 80% of the charters operating in t
Texas: Good News on School Funding!
by dianeravitch / 5d
Our friends, Pastors for Texas Children, have been strong allies in the fight to improve public schools. They daily remind us that support for good public schools is bipartisan. Both chambers of the Texas Legislature are controlled by Republicans, and many of them support their community public schools. Working with members of both parties, PTC and many parent groups repeatedly defeated vouchers
Joe Batory: The American Dream is Alive and Well in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania
by dianeravitch / 6d
Joe Batory was Superintendent of schools in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. I n this article , which is part of his new memoir, he tells about the arrival of a large number of Vietnamese in Upper Darby in the mid-1980s, speaking no English. What they brought with them were strong family values, a deep respect for education, and a keen work ethic. It was amazing to him to see how quickly they learned E
Bill Phillis: Our Great American Public Schools Will Prevail
by dianeravitch / 6d
A couple of weeks ago, Bill Phillis and I had a public dialogue in Columbus, Ohio. Bill has devoted his life to improving public education for all children. He has fought for equitable and adequate funding. Someone asked him, he said, when he would retire. He said, “When I’m finished. The job is not yet done.” Like me, he believes that the recent and current efforts to privatize public schools is

MAY 25

Corps. That Pay No Federal Taxes
by dianeravitch / 6d
Most of us pay our taxes. Most of us are amazed to learn that some very profitable corporations pay no federal taxes. Some corporations move to states where they pay little or no state taxes. Their tax avoidance strategies starve our schools and other vital public services. This article from the New York Times lists major corporations that make large profits and pay no federal taxes. It’s a topic
Sonoma County Creates Charter to Stop White Flight
by dianeravitch / 6d
Capitol & Main reports that the Healdsburg school district in Sonoma County in wine country was worried about white flight, so it opened a charter school and put it in the same building with the public school. That’s called co-location. However, the two schools in the same building have very different demographics. Taking advantage of California’s co-location rules regarding charters, 266 charter
Derrick Johnson, President of the NAACP, Responds to the Wall Street Journal About Charters
by dianeravitch / 6d
The Wall Street Journal is a fierce, unrelenting advocate of privatization. It loves vouchers and charters. It despises public schools and teachers’ unions. It is contemptuous of teachers. It recently published an editorial claiming that members of the NAACP were “in revolt” against the national organization, which has called for a moratorium on charters. The resolution, passed in 2016, was not p
Pennsylvania: Those Disgraceful, Failing CyberCharters
by dianeravitch / 7d
I recommend that you get on the email list of the Keystone State Education Coalition if you want to know what is happening in Pennsylvania. Lawrence Feinberg posts informative articles about the schools of that state. You can contact him at lawrenceafeinberg@gmail.com. One ongoing scandal in Pennsylvania is the story of cyber charters. Pennsylvania has 14 cyber charter schools, and 13 of them are

MAY 24

Matt Barnum: Summit Learning Misleads About Percent of Schools That Quit Every Year
by dianeravitch / 7d
Matt Barnum of Chalkbeat reports that the Chan-Zuckerberg tech-based schools called Summit have been underreporting the percent of schools that quit their program every year. After multiple news reports of high school students walking out in protest against the Summit tech platform, Summit responded by saying that only 10% of schools leave every year. That figure, writes Barnum, was widely report
Samuel Abrams on the Coming Charter Expansion in Puerto Rico
by dianeravitch / 7d
Samuel Abrams, director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, writes here about the likely effects of the influx of charter schools in Puerto Rico. This is the abstract . With the passage of the Education Reform Act in March 2018, Puerto Rico joined states across the mainland in authorizing charter schools as privately managed government-funded alternatives to conven
In the Public Interest: The Real Cost of Charters=Budget Cuts for Public Schools
by dianeravitch / 8d
Last year, In the Public Interest, a nonpartisan advocacy group in California published Professor Gordon Lafer’s seminal study of the fiscal impact of charters on three school districts in California. Oakland alone lost $67 million in “stranded costs” because of the flooding of the district with charter schools. Stranded costs are the costs beyond the per-pupil tuition that leaves the district, l
Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh School Board Rejects Charter School, But State Overrules Decision
by dianeravitch / 8d
The elected School Board of Pittsburgh unanimously rejected a charter school called Catalyst Academy because of concern about its proposed disciplinary policy and its ability to meet the needs of students with disabilities. The School 


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