“I am embarrassed that there are any Board members on this Board of Education that do not take seriously that a man with three felony charges against him is still on this Board.”- Jackie Goldberg on Ref Rodriguez
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education candidate Jackie Goldberg taught for 16 years in the Compton Unified School District. In 1983, she was elected to the LAUSD Board of Education and served for two terms. She was then elected to serve two terms on the Los Angeles City Council and three terms in the California State Assembly where she chaired the Assembly Education Committee. In the 13 years since she left the Assembly, Goldberg has continued to engage in public service and was a frequent voice of opposition to former Board member Ref Rodriguez after he was charged with felonies related to his campaign. In the primary race to replace him, she secured 48.45% of the vote.
While Heather Repenning claims in her campaign material to be a “former teacher”, the state of California does not show that she ever held a teaching credential. She is a long time staffer of Mayor Eric Garcetti who was appointed to serve as the Vice President of the Board of Public works, a department which the LA Times has reported is under investigation by the FBI. During the primary, her supporters received a $100,000 donation from Eli Broad, who had also supported Ref Rodriguez. As the second place finisher in the primary, Repenning received 13.17% of the vote.
How charter school proponents alienated many Democrats who once backed their cause The politics of charter schools have changed, and bipartisan support for these publicly funded, privately controlled schools has reached a turning point. A sure sign of the change came from…
The politics of charter schools have changed, and bipartisan support for these publicly funded, privately controlled schools has reached a turning point. A sure sign of the change came from Democrats in the House Appropriations Committee who have proposed a deep cut in federal charter school grants that would lower funding to $400 million, $40 million below current levels and $100 million less than what the Trump administration has proposed. Democrats are also calling for better oversight of charter schools that got federal funding and then closed.
This is a startling turn of events, as for years, Democrats have enthusiastically joined Republicans in providing federal grants to create new charter schools and expand existing ones.
In explaining this change in the politics of charter schools, pundits and reporters will likely point to two factors: the unpopularity of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, an ardent charter school proponent, and teachers’ unions that can exert influence in the Democratic Party. But if the tide is truly turning on bipartisan support for charter schools, it is the charter industry itself that is most to blame.
Dems Divide on Charters
For years, support for charter schools has been the norm in the Democratic Party.
The Obama administration dramatically expanded federal support for charter schools with the avid support of Democrats in Congress. A slew of Democratic governors, from Andrew Cuomo in New York to former Governor of California Jerry Brown, have been charter champions.
On May 7, a group of four bills related to charter schools suddenly popped up, referred to the House education committee in the state capitol. Surprise! Let's take a look:
This bill is supposed to strengthen the "ethical requirements" for charter schools (including cybers). It sets requirements for annual independent financial audits and puts limits on how much money charters can hold in unassigned fund balances (just parked in the bank); public schools also have a limit on fund balances. And there are new requirements for some financial transparency between the charter and the local district.
There are also some advertising limits. For instance, charters can no longer advertise themselves as "free" but must acknowledge that they are paid with taxpayer dollars. There is some language tightening rules on self-dealing and nepotism and financial disclosures for charter bosses.
Other than a section that deliberately blurs the line between public and charter schools, this is a pretty good bill.
HB 356: This bill focuses on facilities. It gives charters the right of first refusal for purchase or lease of any unused district facilities. It requires public schools to provide testing locations for charters. And charters can use religious facilities if they keep the religious stuff covered up or out of sight.
Being snotty about Teacher Appreciation Week is bad form, however—a cheap shot. Exhausted teachers everywhere deserve recognition and our gratitude for making it most of the way through the ’18-’19 marathon. And one subset of educators—music teachers—merit an entire month of appreciation.
Music teachers do it all. They teach 250 students a day, often in groups of 65, with each student holding a noisemaker. Elementary music teachers might see 500 students in a week, struggling to learn all their names, and packing five or six skills into a dozen 30-minute lessons per day. Music teachers take their students out and about, singing for the nursing home or marching in community parades. They’re responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of fragile, finicky equipment—and often have to raise the money to replace what’s broken or worn out or keep the music library fresh.
They deal with childish egos and children’s artistry, then put the results of their practice out there for untrained, opinionated parents to judge in concerts, musicals, contests and Friday football shows. They often sacrifice their home and family lives for the good of their programs, knowing that those programs can easily be cut at the next Board meeting, because they’re not ‘essential.’
I enjoy seeing my former students in the hallways at school. When one of them came by my room to tell me she was moving to a new school, I asked her why. She replied, “My parents think I’m not being challenged enough.”
I wish I could say I was surprised, but this was not the first time I had heard this from a student. I sometimes hear this complaint from friends who are parents, too. When speaking with colleagues and other teacher friends, I found that this is something we have all heard more frequently as of late, as test scores, emphasis on STEM programs, and invitation letters for gifted programs are on many parents’ minds. While frustrated by these comments, I wanted to take a step back and evaluate my own classroom as well as find meaningful ways to have conversations with parents about this topic.
Ways to assess and enhance your own challenging environment:
Check in with students: This could be as simple as a walk around the room while students are doing independent work. Who is engaged? Are students clear about expectations? Do they need a lot of support? Are they aware of where to look for guidance and self-assessment?
Equally as important: carve out time for your higher-achieving students. We so often (myself included) can be guilty of assuming they can work independently and don’t need our help. Make sure they are CONTINUE READING: Challenging Classrooms - Teacher Habits
Weingarten to DeVos: raise teachers’ salaries with taxes on the rich
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten wants U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to practice what she preaches.
On Monday, May 6, at the annual Education Writers Association National Seminar, DeVos said that, “Great teachers should make at least half as much as Randi Weingarten makes at half a million dollars a year.” Weingarten’s been a vocal critic of DeVos, most recently calling her out for allegedly lying about a reduction in teachers’ union members since the Janus v. AFSCME decision.
In a 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018, Janus v. AFSCME turned public sector employment into a “right to work” venture ruling that non-public sector union members didn’t have to pay dues to the union that represents them at the bargaining table.
According to a 990 tax form the AFT filed in 2016, Weingarten’s compensation that year was $510, 390.
Weingarten said that she’s happy DeVos wants to raise teachers’ salaries and then spoke of her record as a union leader in New York.
“It’s great that Betsy finally thinks higher teacher salaries are important,” said Weingarten in a statement. “More than a decade ago, when I was president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City, we were able to bargain $100,000 for teachers who had a couple of decades of experience. While we disagreed on other things, Mayor Bloomberg and I worked hard to get that done.”
DeVos also suggested that teachers go on strike during “adult time” so kids aren’t hurt during school hours.
Michigan Shouldn’t Scrap Its Arts Requirement for High School Graduation
We are excited to share this guest post from Dr. Ryan Shaw, assistant professor of music education at Michigan State University.
Dr. Shaw received his Ph.D. in Music Education from Michigan State University and earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in music education from the University of Michigan. His scholarly interests include arts education policy and the ways that policy affects music teacher stress, planning, and instructional practices.
Dr. Shaw serves on the editorial board for the Music Educators Journal, Arts Education Policy Review, and Contributions to Music Education, and is the Government Relations Committee Coordinator for the Michigan Music Education Association.
Here, Dr. Shaw alerts us to two new bills making their way through the legislative process in Michigan that would pose grave danger to arts education in our state’s schools.
Courtesy of Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for American Education: Images of Teachers and Students in Action.
Two new bills introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives, HB 4269 and 4270, are set to scrap the one credit arts requirement for Michigan high school students. This should not happen. We should speak up and save the requirement, since Michigan already has weak arts education policy. This move would also be in direct opposition to the spirit of federal education law and the CONTINUE READING: Michigan Shouldn't Scrap Its Arts Requirement for High School Graduation | Eclectablog
‘Threatening the Future’: The High Stakes of Deepening School Segregation
The 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education approaches on May 17, but fights over school segregation, rather than decreasing, are becoming more common. Cities like New York and San Francisco are debating how to assign students to schools in ways that foster classroom diversity, and school secession movements — in which parents seek to form their own, majority-white districts — are accelerating.
A new report from U.C.L.A. and Penn State outlines the changes in school segregation since the landmark Supreme Court ruling named after Oliver Brown, a black father who sued to enroll his daughter, Linda, in an all-white elementary school blocks from their home in Topeka, Kan.
The court’s unanimous 1954 ruling declared separate educational facilities “inherently unequal.” But the case is one of several major civil rights rulings, alongside those on voting rights and housing discrimination, that have been substantially weakened by more recent decisions.
Today, the decreasing white share of the public school population across the country may lead some to believe that schools are becoming more integrated. But the reverse is true, according to the report. The percentage of intensely segregated schools, defined as those where less than 10 percent of the student body is white, tripled between 1988 and 2016, from 6 to 18 percent.
In “a heightened period of racial conflict in our public life,” the report warns, deepening school segregation by race and class “are very high stakes trends threatening the future.”
Liberal States Suffer Some of the Most Severe Segregation
White students now account for less than half of the nation’s public school students, and Latinos are the most deeply segregated racial group in schools, according to the researchers.
While segregation was once most severe in the former states of the Confederacy, in 2016 it was in four liberal states — New York, California, Maryland and Illinois — that black children were most likely to attend intensely segregated schools. Latinos were most likely to attend intensely segregated schools in California, New York, Texas and New Jersey.
Nationwide, 42 percent of Latino students and 40 percent of black students attended schools where less than 10 percent of their peers were white in 2016. Those numbers have been rising since 1988.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — FBI agents have begun interviewing Tennessee lawmakers about whether any improper incentives were offered to pass Gov. Bill Lee's school vouchers bill in the state House, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has learned.
That vouchers legislation narrowly passed the state House last month on a 50-48 vote. The vote was initially deadlocked 49-49, and House Speaker Glen Casada kept the vote open for 40 minutes until he convinced Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, to switch his vote.
NewsChannel 5 has learned that agents are interested in discovering whether anything of value - such as campaign contributions - were offered by anyone in return for votes.
It is not known whether the inquiries reflect a preliminary investigation or something more serious.
A spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment.
"As a standard rule, the FBI does not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation," said Elizabeth Clement Webb, public affairs officer for the FBI Memphis Division.
NewsChannel 5 reached out to Casada for comment, but the House Speaker has not responded.
The vouchers bill was the subject of intense negotiations throughout the 2019 legislative session. It was ultimately amended to apply only to Davidson and Shelby counties, as well as the state-run Achievement School District.
Zachary told reporters that Casada finally got his vote by agreeing to exempt Knox County from the bill.
Rep. David Hawk, a Greeneville Republican, told NewsChannel 5 Investigates that Casada's chief of staff, Cade Cothren, came to him the morning of the vote, telling him "the Speaker and I need your vote on the voucher bill. What do you want?"
"I told Cade, 'You and the Speaker have nothing that I want,'" Hawk said. "I don't play games like that."
Rep. Bob Ramsey, R-Maryville, said "the suggestion was that this could favorably affect revenue expectations in my district eventually," but no specific numbers were mentioned.
Both men said they had not been contacted by FBI agents.
On Wednesday, the House Democratic Caucus asked the U.S. Attorney in Nashville to investigate allegations that Casada's team may have engaged in illegal eavesdropping on private meetings using the system that's intended to broadcast committee meetings.
A U.S. Attorney spokesperson said that request had been forwarded to the FBI.
The legislature's Black Caucus has also asked the TBI to investigate whether Casada's office altered an email to try to frame a black activist.
Charter Schools Have a Big Problem, and Rebranding Won’t Help Charters promised all sorts of miraculous educational achievements at low, low prices. But those achievements haven’t appeared. More people are understanding that what we’re really talking about is the privatization of our public school system.
U.S. News recently reported that “school choice” has a branding problem. In that piece, reporter Lauren Camera quotes Senator Ted Cruz, who is carrying the Trump Administration’s water for a $5 billion school choice tax credit proposal, as saying, “We need to expand our coalition.”
Ignoring for a moment the unlikely image of Cruz building a bipartisan coalition, even with his new facial hair, we’re looking at old news.
Camera says that the school choice tent has been a large one, and in some ways she’s correct. School choice has its roots most firmly in conservative free market ideology, folding in both those who sincerely believe that the free market is the best way to raise educational quality and those who sincerely believe that a free market approach to education would give them a chance to get their hands on a ton of taxpayer dollars.
The leftward wing of the coalition included those who sincerely believed that an alternative was needed to a public school system that was not serving minority students, as well as those who sincerely believed that school choice would give them a chance to get their hands on a ton of taxpayer money. The Democratic wing of the coalition also brought in the neoliberals, who believed that education could be better provided by private businesses. CONTINUE READING: Charter Schools Have a Big Problem, and Rebranding Won’t Help - Progressive.org
Today at the end of Teacher Appreciation Week, we owe special thanks to school teachers this year, thanks that goes beyond our gratitude for teachers’ primary contribution—their daily work to support and inspire our children. In their strikes and walkouts this year, teachers have taught all of us about the the meaning for their students of years of tax cuts and the accompanying drop in state funding for public schools. And they have taught us to be increasingly skeptical of the diversion of paltry school budgets to an expanding charter school sector.
In #RedforEd walkouts and strikes from West Virginia to Oklahoma to Arizona to Kentucky to North Carolina to Virginia to Los Angeles to Oakland to Denver, teachers showed us how far teachers’ salaries have fallen relative to what people earn in comparable professions. In cities with a high cost of living, we have learned about 35-year-old teachers doubled up in tiny apartments because they can no longer afford the rent for a one bedroom apartment. This means that school districts are finding it harder and harder to recruit new teachers and retain experienced teachers. Not only do teachers themselves struggle during budget shortfalls, but this year they have also exposed what it means for their students when there are more than 40 students in a class in schools without enough counselors, social workers, nurses, and librarians.
The education budget crisis is widespread and deep. But teachers have been willing to keep up the fight even when the gains are modest or slow to come.
CNN reported this week that on Wednesday, teachers walked out in at least 25 school districts across Oregon including Portland, the state’s largest school district, which closed schools. Governor Kate Brown has expressed support for teachers and pledged to sign the Student Success Act, which will increase the state’s K-12 education by 18 percent if the legislature passes it. Here are the teachers’ demands in addition to enough money for much smaller classes: “More school counselors. Oregon has half the school counselors that national experts suggest… More school librarians. Currently, there are only 158 school librarians in Oregon—less than one librarian per district. More school nurses. There’s only one nurse for every CONTINUE READING: Thanking #RedforEd In Teacher Appreciation Week | janresseger
On our show on Thursday May 9, we had a wide-ranging discussion about the role of advisory neighborhood commissions (ANCs) in our publicly funded schools, including in school openings, closings, and resourcing. ANCs represent the most local level of elected government in the District of Columbia, with each ANC commissioner elected to represent about 2,000 people, all on a voluntary basis.
For our show, we were joined by the following ANC commissioners from wards 4, 6, 7 & 8:
Sheila Carson Carr, ANC commissioner for Ward 7F and DCPS mom (and grandmother) and community activist
Darrell Gaston, ANC commissioner for Ward 8B, in his 4th term and is a Ward 8 native and resident who has been active in advocating for DCPS’s Stanton, Turner, and Moten elementaries
Sondra Phillips-Gilbert, ANC commissioner for Ward 6A and DC social services representative and community activist
Evan Yeats, ANC commissioner for Ward 4B and DCPS parent and co-plaintiff on the lawsuit to ensure the mayor followed the law regarding the chancellor selection panel
The first three guests above were in studio, with Evan Yeats joining us by phone.
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Praises Largest-Ever Support of K–12 Education in Governor Newsom’s Budget Update
SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today praised Governor Gavin Newsom’s revised budget for fiscal year 2019–20. “Our Governor just announced the largest-ever investment in K–12 schools, with 45 percent of all proposed increased spending to benefit our schools. We applaud this commitment to public education, especially by adding funding to assist students with the greatest needs. The revision also makes significant investments in the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers, and supporting the financial burdens they face,” he said.
Governor Newsom proposed increasing K–12 education by $4.4 billion in non-Proposition 98 spending for the benefit of our schools, while Prop 98 funding is at $81.1 billion, the most it has been in years.
“I am pleased that Governor Newsom is placing a top priority on education and look forward to a strong, productive partnership with him, the Legislature, and all stakeholders in the next few years that will lift up all of our students by improving our education system and increasing the resources that go to our schools—today’s announcements prove his commitment to increasing funding for public education,” he said.
Other highlights include:
$696.2 million ongoing money for special education. This is $119.2 million more than was proposed in the Governor’s Budget, and is a 21 percent year-over-year increase.
$150 million in one-time non-Proposition 98 General Funds.
$89.8 million one-time non-Proposition 98 General Fund money to help recruit and retain qualified teachers, especially in rural communities, and/or in the areas of special education, STEM, and bilingual assignments.
$44.8 million one-time non-Proposition 98 General Fund to provide training and resources for classroom educators, including teachers and paraprofessionals, to build capacity around inclusive practices, social emotional learning, computer science, and restorative practices.
$15 million in broadband infrastructure and updates to ensure all students have access with the growing bandwidth needs of digital learning.
Several new investments to increase access to subsidized child care for low-income families.
Specific charter school proposals to prevent families from being wrongfully turned away from the public school of their choice based on academic performance, student characteristic, or special education status.
Reduction to employer contributions to CalSTRS to provide some immediate fiscal relief to school districts for the rising cost of teacher pensions.
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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
There are also some advertising limits. For instance, charters can no longer advertise themselves as "free" but must acknowledge that they are paid with taxpayer dollars. There is some language tightening rules on self-dealing and nepotism and financial disclosures for charter bosses.
