John Thompson: The Hit and Miss of Education Reforms - TulsaKids Magazine

The Hit and Miss of Education Reforms - TulsaKids Magazine

The Hit and Miss of Education Reforms

Occasionally, I post pieces on my blog written by others. The blog I’m posting today was written by John Thompson, a retired Oklahoma City educator and writer. Thompson, who has a Ph.D. in American History from Rutgers University, has been honored with several teaching awards, is a Fulbright Scholar, and is a regular contributor to many of the nation’s most influential educational policy blogs, including pro-reform blogs, as well as the Huffington Post, the Washington Post and The Progressive Magazine.

Mr. Thompson’s observations offer historical context to many of the current reforms happening in public education in Tulsa.

The Hit and Miss of Education Reforms

TTulsans don’t need a retired Oklahoma City Public Schools teacher to remind them that since 2015 the Tulsa Public Schools have cut $22 million from its budget, even dipping into its reserve fund to balance the books. Now it must cut another $20 million. As the Tulsa World noted, the budget is due in February, but only 15% of the proposed cuts have been revealed.

Despite the assistance of the outcome-driven “Billionaires Boys Club,” the TPS has lost 5,000 students in recent years, especially to the suburbs and online charters. But urban educators need to engage in a dialogue about why Chief for Change Superintendent Deborah Gist and her staff of Broad Academy administrators have produced such awful outcomes.

I know from three decades of experience that when the underfunded Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) is presented with contradictory “good cop, bad cop” mandates, district leaders say nice CONTINUE READING: The Hit and Miss of Education Reforms - TulsaKids Magazine

An Upcoming Supreme Court Ruling Could Starve Public Schools—In Favor of Religious Ones

An Upcoming Supreme Court Ruling Could Starve Public Schools—In Favor of Religious Ones

An Upcoming Supreme Court Ruling Could Starve Public Schools—In Favor of Religious Ones

On January 22, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, a case that could result in the massive expansion of public funding for private religious schools. The petitioners in the case—which will be litigated by the conservative law group, Institute for Justice—are asking that the court rule unconstitutional the denial of "public funds' to religious schools, invoking the First Amendment "freedom of exercise" clause to defend the position. In the event that the court rules in favor of the petitioner, the result, argue its detractors, would be tantamount to a mandate for religious voucher programs in every state.

Through voucher programs and tax relief for private school donors, more than 20 states are already redirecting public funds into private education. Public schools, already strapped for resources, face increasingly limited budgets when public money is diverted to private schools. In Illinois, a so-called “school choice” state, public school teachers and staff went on strike for 11 days beginning on October 17  to demand support staff in every school and smaller class sizes. The Chicago Teachers Union has identified voucher programs as a cause of underfunding in the city’s public schools. Michelle Gunderson, an activist in the Chicago Teachers Union, says that in her school—where she teaches first grade—persistent underfunding, exacerbated by CONTINUE READING: An Upcoming Supreme Court Ruling Could Starve Public Schools—In Favor of Religious Ones

Ed Notes Online: Gayle Lakin Reviews Ravitch New Book, Slaying Goliath

Ed Notes Online: Gayle Lakin Reviews Ravitch New Book, Slaying Goliath

Gayle Lakin Reviews Ravitch New Book, Slaying Goliath

Ravitch explains myriad ways that charter school operators have earned extraordinary salaries at tax payer expense!     Gayle Lakin 

I'm really looking forward to reading Diane's new book. Here Gayle gives us lots of reasons to do so. Since I believe I created the term "ed deform" I'm so happy to see Diane use it instead of the misleading "ed reform" even when put in quotes. Just look at how Bloomberg/Klein deformed education here in NYC.

Gayle Lakin Review
Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America’s Public Schools.

No words can possibly convey the degree of spin, erroneous data and persistent support of outright fabrications that became “truths” under a relentless “ed reform” mantra; say it enough, spin it enough, publish it enough, work the system enough and it will become “true” enough. But “enough is enough”! Ravitch heroically and successfully wades through this complicated decades-long haze in her book, Slaying Goliath with her trademark attention to detail. She brings clarity as to how “ed reform” (she prefers “ed deform”) birthed charter schools with the intention of privatizing our national education system and how and why this “grand scheme” is currently and fortunately starting to burn out!

What might a reader’s first reaction be? There isn’t a rock big enough for “ed deformers” to crawl under to escape the raw truths exposed in this book. Ravitch names people and companies (and there are many). She thoroughly explains the tactics of those ultra-wealthy hedge-fund managers, philanthropists, CEO’s, big CONTINUE READING: Ed Notes Online: Gayle Lakin Reviews Ravitch New Book, Slaying Goliath

House rebukes DeVos plan to protect predatory for-profit colleges - Education Votes

House rebukes DeVos plan to protect predatory for-profit colleges - Education Votes

House rebukes DeVos plan to protect predatory for-profit colleges

By Mary Ellen Flannery

Betsy DeVos’ attempts to protect predatory for-profit colleges that have defrauded students—and to sabotage students’ ability to get debt relief from the federal government—hit a major roadblock in the U.S. House on Thursday.

By a 231 to 180 vote, the House passed a resolution to block DeVos’ efforts to gut protections for student borrowers and taxpayers in the nearly 30-year-old “borrower defense rule.”

“By passing this resolution, the House made clear that we care more about defending defrauded students than enriching predatory schools,” said U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV). “We told Betsy DeVos that we’re not going to sit on the sidelines while these institutions scam our families, our friends, our neighbors, and our veterans while they’re trying to get an education.”

The borrower defense rule dates to 1992, when Congress reauthorized the Higher Education Act. It was strengthened during the Obama administration after the abrupt collapse of the massive, for-profit Corinthian College chain in 2014, which left tens of thousands of students CONTINUE READING: House rebukes DeVos plan to protect predatory for-profit colleges - Education Votes

Ohio’s Budget Bill Multiplies School Vouchers, Leaves Local School Districts in Crisis | janresseger

Ohio’s Budget Bill Multiplies School Vouchers, Leaves Local School Districts in Crisis | janresseger

Ohio’s Budget Bill Multiplies School Vouchers, Leaves Local School Districts in Crisis

On Tuesday afternoon, I went to a meeting of my monthly book discussion group—all of us retired and over 70.  But as we sat down with our coffee and before we discussed the book we had all been reading for the month, we found ourselves distracted by the topic that is tearing our community apart: the changes the Ohio Legislature made last summer in the fine print of the FY 20-21 state budget—changes that exploded the size of the state’s EdChoice school voucher program.

I wonder whether legislators have any real understanding of the collateral damage for particular communities from policies enacted without debate. Maybe, because our community has worked for fifty years to be a stable, racially and economically diverse community with emphasis on fair housing enforcement and integrated schools, legislators just write us off as another failed urban school district. After all, Ohio’s education policy emphasizes state takeover and privatization instead of equitable school funding. The state punishes instead of helping all but its most affluent, outer ring, exurban, “A”-rated school districts, where property values are high enough that state funding is not a worry.

What this year’s EdChoice voucher expansion means for the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school district where the members of my book discussion group all live is that—just to pay for the new vouchers—our school district has been forced to put a property tax levy on the March 17 primary election ballot. Ohio’s school finance expert, Howard Fleeter explains that in our school district, EdChoice voucher use has grown by 478 percent in a single year.  CONTINUE READING: Ohio’s Budget Bill Multiplies School Vouchers, Leaves Local School Districts in Crisis | janresseger

Lawmakers Demand Accountability for Funds Earmarked for Disadvantaged Students | Ogo Okoye-Johnson

Lawmakers Demand Accountability for Funds Earmarked for Disadvantaged Students | Ogo Okoye-Johnson

Lawmakers Demand Accountability for Funds Earmarked for Disadvantaged Students

On January 6, 2020, Assemblywomen Shirley Weber of San Diego and Sharon Quirk-Silva of Fullerton introduced Assembly Bills 1834 and 1835 as a result of the California State Audit that revealed that the funds earmarked for disadvantaged students for the purpose of closing the achievement gap under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) are not being used for these students as intended. Both bills will correct two deficiencies of the LCFF recommended by the audit.

Assembly Bill 1834 “would require the State Department of Education to develop, on or before January 1, 2021, a tracking mechanism for school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to use to report the types of services on which they spend their supplemental and concentration grant funds. The bill would require each local educational agency, commencing July 1, 2021, to annually report to the department the types of services on which it spends its supplemental and concentration grant funds using the tracking mechanism developed by the department.”

Assembly Bill 1835 would require each school district, county office of education, and charter school to identify unspent supplemental and concentration grant funds by annually reconciling and reporting to the department its estimated and actual CONTINUE READING: Lawmakers Demand Accountability for Funds Earmarked for Disadvantaged Students | Ogo Okoye-Johnson

CARL J. PETERSEN: LAUSD Candidate Profile: Lydia Gutierrez + Tanya Franklin

LAUSD Candidate Profile: Lydia Gutierrez

LAUSD Candidate Profile: Lydia Gutierrez

I am a strong supporter of meeting the needs of Special Needs students and finding the best environment for their educational success.”– Lydia Gutierrez

The last time Lydia Gutierrez ran for this seat, she unexpectedly forced incumbent Vladovic into a runoff. In the general election, the fiercely independent candidate earned the distinction of being opposed by both the charter school industry and UTLA. She still managed to win 43.7% of the vote. She is an underdog who should not be underestimated.

Gutierrez is a 2nd-grade teacher in Long Beach Unified School District and serves as the California Teachers Association co-chair of the State Legislative Committee for Adult, Alternative, and Career Technical Education. She also served for seven years as an elected member of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council.

Since she is running as “a strong advocate for parent voices to be CONTINUE READING: LAUSD Candidate Profile: Lydia Gutierrez

LAUSD Candidate Profile: Tanya Franklin

The current board meeting time prevents the board, Superintendent and their staff to observe and learn with school staff during the most common adult learning time across our district.”
– Tanya Franklin

Like current Board Member Nick Melvoin, Tanya Franklin was displaced from the classroom as a result of the Great Recession and ended up in law school. It was during this time that she became associated with the Partnership for LA Schools, an organization that was “the brainchild of former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa”. Two-time State Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate, Marshall Tuck, was its first CEO. Franklin still works for the partnership, focusing “on restorative justice, social-emotional learning and teacher CONTINUE READING: LAUSD Candidate Profile: Tanya Franklin

BESE Special Meeting Includes Process for Selecting La.’s Next Superintendent | deutsch29

BESE Special Meeting Includes Process for Selecting La.’s Next Superintendent | deutsch29

BESE Special Meeting Includes Process for Selecting La.’s Next Superintendent

On January 16, 2020, Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) held a special meeting, which included the swearing in of the 2020 BESE members; election of officers, and discussion of how to proceed with hiring Louisiana’s next state superintendent. (See video below.)

The BESE president is Sandy Holloway; vice president is Tony Davis, and secretary-treasurer is Kira Orange-Jones (which might prompt her to address her chronic absence from 38 percent of BESE meetings last term).

Regarding the process for selecting the next superintendent, Holloway proposed the following:

The Board president will establish a work group made up of four BESE members, including a work group chair, which shall serve as the nominating and screening committee, regarding the minimum qualifications and process relevant to the appointment of the state superintendent and will inform the BESE executive director of the nominees no later than January 27th. The work group will meet to develop a process for the selection of an appointment of the state superintendent. The process will be presented to the Board at the January 28th or 29th meeting for the Board’s consideration.

So, the governor apparently will not be submitting his recommendation for BESE to vote on. Instead, BESE will form a committee to nominate, offer info on minimum qualifications (which I hope includes at least five years as a classroom teacher; experience as a district superintendent, and a preference for in-state CONTINUE READING: BESE Special Meeting Includes Process for Selecting La.’s Next Superintendent | deutsch29

The Life And Death Of The Terrible Education Reform Movement | Gary Rubinstein's Blog

The Life And Death Of The Terrible Education Reform Movement | Gary Rubinstein's Blog

The Life And Death Of The Terrible Education Reform Movement

I’ve often thought, over these past eight years of following the politics of education, that one day this saga will make a great book.  What I didn’t expect was that that one day would be today.

In ‘Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America’s Public Schools’ (Knopf 2020, $27.95), education historian Diane Ravitch does the thing that she is best in the country at — taking a complex period of history in education and finding a way to turn it into a story with twists and turns worthy of great literature.

This book is like a sequel not to ‘Reign Of Error’ (2013) or even ‘The Death And Life Of The Great American School System’ (2010), but instead to the first book I had ever read by her, ‘Left Back: A Century Of Failed School Reforms’ (2000).  In that book, as she does in this one, Ravitch methodically weaves her way through the people and events that shaped the conflicts of education policy.  She is a master of brevity and I, as a pretty verbose blogger, marvel at how she can tell the story of such complex issues like the opt-out movement or the Massachusetts charter school ballot issue in just a few pages each.  It’s like watching one of those artists who with a few simple seeming strokes of a pencil captures the essence CONTINUE READING: The Life And Death Of The Terrible Education Reform Movement | Gary Rubinstein's Blog

NYC Public School Parents: Rally for smaller classes at City Hall on Wed. Jan. 29 at 12 noon!

NYC Public School Parents: Rally for smaller classes at City Hall on Wed. Jan. 29 at 12 noon!

Rally for smaller classes at City Hall on Wed. Jan. 29 at 12 noon!

Please join Class Size Matters and NYC Kids Pac to rally for smaller classes on Wed. January 29 in front of City Hall at noon; with City Council hearings focused on the class size issue to follow, starting at 1 PM.

The rally and hearings are an ideal opportunity for parents and teachers let the Mayor and the Council know that there can be no equity or excellence for NYC kids until the city lowers class sizes, which are 15-30% larger in our public schools than in the rest of the state.

We will be urging them to provide dedicated funding in next year's budget specifically to hire extra teachers to reduce class size, starting first in the lower grades and in struggling schools.
Class sizes have risen sharply since 2007 in every part of the city, and this year there were more than 275,000 students in classes of 30 or more.

Please come to our rally and stay for the hearings afterwards to show your support. If you'd like to testify and would like talking points, we have posted them here.   We also have more information about class size trends citywide, as well as data specific to your district here.

Email us info@classsizematters.org if you'd like to speak at the rally or testify at the hearings. 

NYC Public School Parents: Rally for smaller classes at City Hall on Wed. Jan. 29 at 12 noon!