CURMUDGUCATION: MO: Longtime Charter Sponsor Leaves the Biz (And Parents)

CURMUDGUCATION: MO: Longtime Charter Sponsor Leaves the Biz (And Parents)

MO: Longtime Charter Sponsor Leaves the Biz (And Parents)

The University of Central Missouri has been sponsoring charter schools since 1999, serving as the major sponsor of charters in Kansas City (in Missouri, the rule used to be that only St. Louis and Kansas City could house charter schools).

St. Louis schools have been a mess, with both public and charter schools having their share of legislatively-inflicted woes. And some legislators have continued to try hard to expand charter reach in the state, right up through this year.

But one notable feature of Missouri charter school law is that it allows institutions of higher education to circumvent taxpayers and sponsor charter schools. That's the biz that UCM got into.

From UCM's point of view, that makes some sense. UCM was founded as a Normal School, aka 19th century teacher training college, and they continue to educate teachers. UCM has used its charter schools as part of the teacher training program, placing their student teachers in charter classrooms. 

But in Missouri, as in the rest of the country, the teacher pipeline is drying up, as fewer and fewer young folks find the conditions and compensation with which they would work particularly attractive. The state is trying to CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: MO: Longtime Charter Sponsor Leaves the Biz (And Parents)

Kansas City: “Never Seen This Kind of Money” in School Board Races | Diane Ravitch's blog

Kansas City: “Never Seen This Kind of Money” in School Board Races | Diane Ravitch's blog

Kansas City: “Never Seen This Kind of Money” in School Board Races

The Kansas City Star reported on an unprecedented injection of money into the city’s local school board races. An unknown group with unknown donors has given more than $100,000 to pro-charter candidates. This concealment is known as Dark Money.

A newly formed nonprofit has already pumped tens of thousands of dollars into two contested races for the Kansas City Public Schools board, raising suspicions about the group and the candidates vying for seats in Tuesday’s election. 

Blaque KC, short for Black Leaders Advancing Quality Urban Education, has spent more than $100,000 on political consultants, mailed advertisements, radio spots, digital advertising and newspaper ads, according to reports filed this week with the Missouri Ethics Commission. That eclipses the combined fundraising haul of about $42,400 reported by campaign committees for the four candidates — including the two candidates backed by Blaque — running for contested seats on the board. 

While campaign committees regularly report individual CONTINUE READING: Kansas City: “Never Seen This Kind of Money” in School Board Races | Diane Ravitch's blog

Missouri Times: Stop the Demolition of Public Schools: They Belong to the Public | Diane Ravitch's blog

Missouri Times: Stop the Demolition of Public Schools: They Belong to the Public | Diane Ravitch's blog

Missouri Times: Stop the Demolition of Public Schools: They Belong to the Public

The Misssouri Times is a generally right of center newspaper, But it believes in the promise of public schools and recognizes that the latest push for charters and vouchers is rank privatization funded by wealthy elites. After thirty years of pouring billions into charters and vouchers, there is no reason to believe that privatized schools produce better outcomes. We know they don’t.

Opinion: Public Schools are Public Goods

BY TERESA MITHEN DANIELEY ON APRIL 26, 2021

As the parent of three children enrolled in St. LouisPublic Schools, I am deeply dismayed that so many in the Missouri House — including some Democrats — voted in favor of HB 137, which will shift up to $17 million dollars a year from traditional public schools (specifically SLPS) to charter schools, which will not be required to provide the same services as public schools. We must make sure that HB 137 dies in the Senate.

I am also deeply concerned about the statewide ramifications of SB 55, an omnibus bill with many different privatizing provisions — including the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program (aka vouchers), Charter School Funding modifications, establishing a Charter School Revolving Commission Fund to fund new charters, and changing provisions CONTINUE READING: Missouri Times: Stop the Demolition of Public Schools: They Belong to the Public | Diane Ravitch's blog

Huge cash influx pouring into Kansas City school board races | The Kansas City Star

Huge cash influx pouring into Kansas City school board races | The Kansas City Star

‘Never seen this kind of money’: Big spending raises concern in KC school board races

A newly formed nonprofit has already pumped thousands of dollars into two contested races for the Kansas City Public Schools board, raising suspicions about the group and the candidates vying for seats in Tuesday’s election.

Blaque KC, short for Black Leaders Advancing Quality Urban Education, has spent $65,298 on political consultants, mailed advertisements, radio spots and newspaper ads, according to a report filed this week with the Missouri Ethics Commission. That eclipses the combined fundraising haul of about $42,400 reported by campaign committees for the four candidates — including the two candidates backed by Blaque — running for contested seats on the board.

The group isn’t saying where the money originated — leading to questions about Blaque KC’s motives. Some believe its ultimate goal is to disrupt the district’s center of power and usher in even more charter schools in Kansas City.

Blaque KC is backing Tanesha Ford, who is vying for the at-large seat of incumbent board chair Pattie Mansur, as well as Kandace Buckner, who is running against Bruce Beatty for an open seat representing Sub-district 5.

Blaque KC was formed last year by Cokethea Hill, who has worked for years in the nonprofit and educational space. She said the group’s aim is simple: to improve the academic performance of Black public school students who have long lagged behind their white peers. CONTINUE READING: Huge cash influx pouring into Kansas City school board races | The Kansas City Star

ALERT: MISSOURI PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN PERIL! | Diane Ravitch's blog

ALERT: MISSOURI PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN PERIL! | Diane Ravitch's blog

ALERT: MISSOURI PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN PERIL!

If you live in Missouri, get active to stop this dangerous effort to destroy your public schools!

Dear Friend,

If you love your public schools you need to drop what you are doing and get to work.

There is only one intent of Senate Bill 55–to destroy public education in Missouri. It was pushed through the Senate Education Committee early this morning and may go to the Senate floor for a vote as early as next week. 

1. Call your state senators NOW and ask them to support public schools by OPPOSING Senate Bill 55. You can find your Senator and their phone number by going here. 

2. Click here and send an email in opposition to Senate Bill 55 NOW.

3. Share this link with friends and family who live in the state. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/oppose-senate-bill-55/

Below is the notice we just received from the Missouri School Boards Association information that provides background on the bill.

“The Senate Education Committee jammed through a mega bill on Thursday that will be heard on the Senate floor soon. Senate Bills 23 and 25 started out creating voucher schemes and expanding charter schools but were loaded up on SB 55 at the last minute with a long list of provisions hostile to public education that have never even had a public hearing. The bill now includes:

• School Board Member Recall: Requires an election to recall a school board member if a petition is submitted signed by at least 25% of the number of voters in the last school board election.
• Education Scholarship Account/Vouchers:Creates up to $100 million in tax credits for donations to an organization that gives out scholarships for students to attend a home school or private school – including for-profit virtual schools.
• Charter School Expansion: Authorizes charter schools to be opened in an additional 61 school districts located in Jackson, Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Louis counties or in cities of 30,000 or more and allows charters opened in provisionally and unaccredited districts to remain open even after the school district regains accreditation.
• Turning MOCAP into Virtual Charter Schools: Allows students enrolling in MOCAP full time to apply directly to the vendor and cuts the resident school district and professional educators out of the process.
• Home school students allowed to participate in MSHSAA activities. Districts are prohibited from belonging to MSHSAA unless home schooled students are allowed to participate in district athletics and activities governed by MSHSAA.
• Limiting State Board of Education: Restricts members of the state board of education to serve only one full term.”

Read more on these issues here.

Please send your email, make your calls and thank you for all you do. 

Carol Burris Executive Director Network for Public Education

ALERT: MISSOURI PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN PERIL! | Diane Ravitch's blog

CURMUDGUCATION: MO: GOP Rep Tells Teachers To Take A Hike

CURMUDGUCATION: MO: GOP Rep Tells Teachers To Take A Hike

MO: GOP Rep Tells Teachers To Take A Hike

So here's a jolly exchange from Twitter on Saturday.

That's Justin Hill, a Missouri GOP rep from the 108th district, showing his love and support for teachers in his state. He was a cop before running for office, so you'd think he'd know something about public service, but maybe not so much.

He's had a few ideas to offer before. While the Missouri legislature was working on some Covid relief, Hill decided to complain about feeding school students:

“Our school districts have become glorified lunch rooms,” said Rep. Justin Hill, R-St. Charles. “They’re not educating children, but they certainly are going to get money to hand out free food.”

The bill would give $75 million for the School Nutrition Services Program to reimburse schools for school food programs.

“This is an embarrassment,” Hill continued. “This is such an embarrassment; I am ashamed to even be having a vote for $75 million in food. When we have children sitting at home and their parents are at work, the children are playing, frickin’ CURMUDGUCATION: MO: GOP Rep Tells Teachers To Take A Hike

St. Louis Public Education Theft Accelerates | tultican

St. Louis Public Education Theft Accelerates | tultican

St. Louis Public Education Theft Accelerates

By Thomas Ultican 12/30/2020

A proposal to close 11 more public schools in St. Louis came before the school board on December 15. Based on Superintendent Kelvin Adams’ recommendation the final decision was postponed until January. It is not clear why Adams pulled back his own recommendation, but it is clear that public education in St. Louis is being dismantled.

In 1967, St. Louis’s school population peaked at 115,543. It was by far the largest school district in the state of Missouri. In 2020, total enrollment sank below 20,000 to for the first time to 19,222 and St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) is no longer the state’s largest K-12 district.

From 1967 to 2000 there was an enrollment decline of over 71,000 students. In a 2017 article, Journalist Jeff Bryant took an in depth look at the forces undermining St. Louis and its schools. He noted three defining events that turned St. Louis into the World’s most incredible shrinking city.

An 1876 home rule law enacted by city business leaders to keep control of the city’s economic engines created and locked in city boundaries. Today, there are over 90 municipalities surrounding St. Louis. After World War II, federal housing policies and racists lending practices created white flight to the burgeoning adjacent communities. Finally Bryant explains,

“Legislation passed in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s deregulating a number of key industries – including airlines and banking – put large St. Louis employers at a disadvantage. Then, new laws lifting anti-trust enforcement, passed during the Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton presidential administrations, subjected St. Louis’s leading industries to corporate takeover or rendered them uncompetitive.

“Consequently, St. Louis went from hosting 23 Fortune 500 headquarters in 1980 to hosting just nine in 2015.”

The Attack on Public Schools CONTINUE READING: St. Louis Public Education Theft Accelerates | tultican

Missouri Grants First Charter Outside Two Biggest Districts | Diane Ravitch's blog

Missouri Grants First Charter Outside Two Biggest Districts | Diane Ravitch's blog

Missouri Grants First Charter Outside Two Biggest Districts

Up until now, the only districts with charters in Missouri were St. Louis and Kansas City, the state’s two biggest districts. But the state board just granted a charter for a new school in the Normandy district, one of the state’s poorest and lowest performing.

The state board of education approved the charter with six votes in favor, one against, and one abstention.

Normandy lost its state accreditation in 2012, triggering a student transfer law that bled it of funding and students. The state school board bumped the district up to provisional accreditation in 2017. Academics have improved in recent years but the district still struggles. Less than half of third-graders passed state math and reading assessments in 2019. Its high school graduation rate in May was 69%.

Because of the district’s obstacles, state board member Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge, who previously served on Normandy’s governing board, voted against the charter.

“You can’t morally advance options and choice for one group by taking away the rights and choice of another,” CONTINUE READING: Missouri Grants First Charter Outside Two Biggest Districts | Diane Ravitch's blog