Big Education Ape

Friday, June 23, 2017

CURMUDGUCATION: What Choice Won't Do

CURMUDGUCATION: What Choice Won't Do:

What Choice Won't Do

When it comes to the advocates of school choice, there are many points with which I disagree. I disagree with many of their assessments of the public school situation ("a dead end for which we spend more money than God and get results lower than dirt"). I disagree with many of their policy goals (why exactly should parents-- and no other taxpayers-- have a say about how tax dollars are spent).

These are disagreements about policy and systems that can be debated and argued (when people on both sides of the discussion are speaking in good faith). But what I find frustrating in the choice debates is the pro-choice arguments that simply aren't so.

There are some things that school choice simply won't do.

Choice Will Not Save Money

Multiple duplicate school systems must cost more than one single system. When businesses want to save money, they consolidate operations. They don't open more branches and raise their costs.

School Choice Will Not Unleash Competition That Will Spur Excellence

This will not (and has not) happen. For one thing, it's a zero-sum system in which losing means CURMUDGUCATION: What Choice Won't Do:

Using Storytelling and Social Media to Change the Education Conversation | Schott Foundation for Public Education

Using Storytelling and Social Media to Change the Education Conversation | Schott Foundation for Public Education:

Using Storytelling and Social Media to Change the Education Conversation

A few weeks ago, I was honored to speak on a panel and workshop at the 70th Annual Education Writers Association National Seminar in Washington, DC, on social media and storytelling.

With me were Virginia Tech biologist Anne Hilborn, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation's Patrick Riccards (better known as EduFlack), and NPR Ed Team reporter Cory Turner. We were moderated by Virginia Tech’s Cathy Grimes and the Learning Policy Institute’s Barbara McKenna.

Public education policy has a reputation for being both contentious and wonky, which is why finding new ways to connect researchers, journalists, policymakers, advocates, and community members is key to moving from debate to action. We were lucky enough to secure a two-session block, so we were able to answer many questions from the more than fifty audience members in attendance and really dive deep into storytelling, social media strategy, and case studies of these ideas operating in the education space.

A lot was covered, so I’ll focus on a few key takeaways discussed:

1. Data is just a starting point.

Whether engaging in advocacy, informing an audience, or raising awareness of a new issue or problem, data alone won’t cut it. Not only has the general public grown (justifiably) more skeptical of purely data-driven claims, but in the days, weeks, and months that follow your audience won’t remember the percentages. They will, however, remember the story you tell and how it made them feel.

2. There are untapped social Using Storytelling and Social Media to Change the Education Conversation | Schott Foundation for Public Education:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: With Overlapping City/Public Education Issues, Here's What the Candidates Think

Seattle Schools Community Forum: With Overlapping City/Public Education Issues, Here's What the Candidates Think:

With Overlapping City/Public Education Issues, Here's What the Candidates Think

I've managed to interview six of the top eight candidates for mayor of Seattle. (I previously said seven, my error.) Those are:  Cary Moon, Mike McGinn, Bob Hasegawa, Jessyn Farrell, Casey Carlisle and Nikkita Oliver.

I reached out twice to Mary Martin (Socialist Workers Party) with no reply. I also reached out three times to Jenny Durkan's campaign (both in person and via email). They promised an interview but it never materialized. Given what Durkan said to the 36th Dems in her interview with them (see end of this post), I would not recommend her as the mayor to watch over public education in our city.

My Recommendations
The candidates I think have the best grasp of what is currently happening in Seattle Public Schools as well as good ideas about how the mayor can work with the district are Jessyn Farrell, Mike McGinn and Nikkita Oliver. Farrell and McGinn are current SPS parents and Ms. Oliver works in SPS schools.

In speaking with candidates about public education, I came away the most impressed with Farrell and Oliver.  Both spoke with knowledge and passion about the issues facing Seattle Schools.

The only candidate that addresses education at her campaign website is Nikkita Oliver.
She has a whole page of concerns and ideas.

Honorable mention for Farrell, Moon, and Hasegawa for mentioning education/child-related concerns at their websites.

All the candidates I spoke with understood the role of the City is not governance of schools and, to a person, were not for mayoral control of the schools.

Interviews

Here are the questions I asked of the candidates. As I did with school board candidates, I won't be printing all their answers but, for each candidate, ones that were particularly thoughtful or added dimension to understanding the candidate.

1. Where did you go for your K-12 schooling?

2. How many students are in Seattle Schools? What is the name of the superintendent?

3. What do you understand about Seattle Schools and/or what do you hear from other people you speak with about public education?

4. What do you think the role of the Mayor/city should be in public education in Seattle?

5. Would you consider mayoral control of the school board or district?

6. Do you support impact fees to support schools (as well as other issues)?

7. The HALA committee's report calls schools "amenities." Is that a term you would use for public schools?

8. Do you support charter schools?

9. Would you support changes in grants given to schools under the Families and Education levy to include more measures than test scores and attendance records?

10. The district has a neighborhood enrollment plan both to save transportation costs and encourage students to walk/bike to their school. However, many students don't have sidewalks in their neighborhoods. Do you support funding for more sidewalks?

11. In April 2016 at the City's Education Summit, Mayor Murray said he wanted to end homelessness for Seattle children by the end of the year. Do you believe that is a doable goal in terms of addressing homelessness in our city? (Editor's note: the Mayor says he meant the end of 2017 but his office's own transcript reflects "end of the year" and the year in question was 2016.)

12. Do you believe the city needs downtown schools and what have you heard about this topic?

13. Candidate Jenny Durkan has suggested that there might consideration of housing subsidies for teachers; would you consider this idea?

Casey Carlisle
Mr. Carlisle is the libertarian candidate for mayor. He was educated in the Seattle Schools Community Forum: With Overlapping City/Public Education Issues, Here's What the Candidates Think:

Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers episode #21. | Fred Klonsky

Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers episode #21. | Fred Klonsky:

Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers episode #21.

Here is the podcast for listening or downloading.

I’m back with my brother to co-host this week’s Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers, episode #21.

The guys at Bridgeport coffee noticed I was gone and it’s always nice to be noticed as missing.

We were joined on the show by intersex activist, educator and film maker, Pidgeon Pagonis.

Pidgeon’s own personal story brings to life the oppressive position of intersex folks who are as common in the general population as red heads.

They are born with a mix and a range of male and female components which has historically been treated as something to be fixed by the medical profession.

The fix consists of surgical interventions including genital mutilation.

But intersex requires no medical procedure and is nothing to fix.

While some may view the practice of genital mutilation as something done by others, in Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers episode #21. | Fred Klonsky:

Teachers, Stop Saying You Work During the Summer - Teacher Habits

Teachers, Stop Saying You Work During the Summer - Teacher Habits:

Teachers, Stop Saying You Work During the Summer

I know, I know. Some of you actually work. Some of you really do plan lessons, attend conferences, renovate your classrooms, teach summer school, or even work a part-time job. Some of you do all of the above.

But most of you don’t.

I’ve been teaching seventeen years now. I know a LOT of teachers. Most of my friends are teachers. Hardly any of them work much in the summer. One teaches summer school for three days a week for about six weeks. Most of us do some planning for next year (“vaguely thinking about” would be more accurate). We might read a teaching book or two this summer (might I recommend Happy Teacher?). Almost all of us will, at some point before the year starts, head into our classrooms a few times to get everything in order. But most of us aren’t doing much work. Don’t believe me? Check out the Facebook pages of the teachers you know.

So can we please stop pretending? Can we stop lying?

Stop Being Defensive

I was on Facebook earlier today when I came across a video a friend had shared. You’ve probably seen it or one like it. It was about how teachers get no respect and how there’s a shortage in teacher prep programs. It listed some of the reasons teachers feel disrespected.

The first comment under the video trotted out the very tired, “Teachers have three months off” argument. Evidently, the commenter missed the part about teachers quitting and young people avoiding the profession. That would seem to argue that those three months off Teachers, Stop Saying You Work During the Summer - Teacher Habits:

K.J.’s gift to the arts: ‘Pie-gate’ inspires sculpture as second trial approaches - Sacramento News & Review -

Sacramento News & Review - K.J.’s gift to the arts: ‘Pie-gate’ inspires sculpture as second trial approaches - Beats - Local Stories - June 22, 2017:

K.J.’s gift to the arts: ‘Pie-gate’ inspires sculpture as second trial approaches
Sculpture artist portrays activist Sean Thompson as a messianic figure

Six months after leaving office, former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is still helping local artists. Well, at least one.

Laura Harling recently completed a 15-by-19-inch sculpture that depicts Johnson and current Mayor Darrell Steinberg celebrating the completion of the Golden 1 Center as activist Sean Thompson approaches with a pie.

In the new sculpture “Let Them Eat Pie,” Harling opts for a straightforward rendering of Johnson and Steinberg, though her take on Thompson has some clear similarities to another longhaired protestor—a rabble-rousing icon descended from the Galilee. “There weren’t many photos of Sean Thompson to study,” she noted. “But I thought he looked kind of Christlike.”

The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office failed in its attempt to convict Thompson of felony assault in May, after a hung jury forced a mistrial. Prosecutors have announced they’ll retry Thompson on a lesser misdemeanor.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Harling said of the news that Thompson will go before a jury again. “It’s just Sacramento News & Review - K.J.’s gift to the arts: ‘Pie-gate’ inspires sculpture as second trial approaches - Beats - Local Stories - June 22, 2017:

State officials cool to school districts’ request to become ‘Innovation Zone’ | EdSource

State officials cool to school districts’ request to become ‘Innovation Zone’ | EdSource:

State officials cool to school districts’ request to become ‘Innovation Zone’

Four years ago, eight California schools districts that banded together in a nonprofit organization called CORE received federal permission under the No Child Left Behind Act to create their own school accountability system. Now the districts want the state’s permission to continue their experimentation with measurements of student growth, school climate and high school readiness. And CORE wants to let potentially dozens of other California districts participate in their work.

That may not happen, at least not anytime soon. In a letter last month, Karen Stapf Walters, the executive director of the State Board of Education, was skeptical of granting CORE’s request for special status as an “Innovation Zone” under the state’s accountability plan and called the idea “premature.” As a result, there is no plan to place CORE’s proposal on the agenda of the July meeting of the state board.

CORE includes the Los Angeles, Long Beach and Fresno unified districts, three of the state’s four largest districts, as well as San Francisco, Oakland, Garden Grove, Santa Ana and Sacramento City. Together they serve more than a million students. An additional 40 districts serving 800,000 students are part of the CORE Data Collaborative, in which they exchange data and use CORE’s school achievement measures.

CORE’s leaders disagree with Stapf Walters’ view of their plan and in a letter to state board President Michael Kirst, CORE requested a conference call with him and other board members to lay out their case for inclusion on the July agenda. There has not been a response, said Julie White, CORE’s director of external communications.

Timing is important. The July 12-13 meeting will be the last before the board adopts a state plan that meets the requirements of the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act. The state plan will explain how to identify and take steps to improve the lowest performing 5 percent of schools that enroll sizable numbers of low-income students. It will also detail how the state plans to spend about $2.6 billion in expected federal funding, starting in fall 2018.

The Every Student Succeeds Act allows states to grant waivers from their school State officials cool to school districts’ request to become ‘Innovation Zone’ | EdSource:

Informing Equity | GO Public Schools Oakland

Informing Equity | GO Public Schools Oakland:

Informing Equity

Education Resource Strategies and Oakland Achieves Release Report on Student Need, Spending and Resource Use

Informing Equity, an Education Resource Strategies (ERS) study commissioned by the Oakland Achieves Partnership, examines data for the 2014-15 school year from district-run and charter schools in Oakland across three key dimensions: student need, resource levels, and resource use. Guided by a Citywide Study Steering Committee of Oakland district leaders, charter leaders, and education advocates, the purpose of the study was to build a shared fact base as a first step in helping Oakland stakeholders explore new opportunities and solutions to challenges in the education sector. The report reflects a snapshot of financial and student-level data, and except where stated, does not speculate on intentions.

Access the full report and executive summary.

Also be sure to:

Please use and share this report as a tool to explore meaningful next steps, opportunities for learning, and solutions to ensure that all students have access to a high-quality public education, including Oakland’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged students.Informing Equity | GO Public Schools Oakland:

Key Findings of the Informing Equity Report

Image result for GO Public Schools Oakland

The Oakland Achieves Partnership and Education Resource Strategies released a new report, Informing Equity: Student Need, Spending, and Resource Use in Oakland’s Public Schools, taking the deepest look yet into the operations of public schools in Oakland, both district-run and charter. The report, based on data from the 2014-2015 school year, makes it clear that there are opportunities for improvement and mutual learning across the Oakland public education ecosystem.

The report examined district-run and charter schools in Oakland across three areas: (1) student need; (2) resource levels, and (3) resource use. The report reflects a snapshot of financial and student-level data from the school year 2014-2015, and except where stated, does not speculate on intentions.

Student Need

While district-run and charter schools enrolled similar numbers of English learner, low-income, and homeless students, the report found that:

District-run schools had a higher share of students receiving special education and provided special education services in more restrictive and costlier settings than charter schools and peer districts locally and nationally. Twelve percent of students in district-run schools received special education services, compared to only 7 percent in charter schools, though there was significant variation across the sector. Additionally, compared to peer districts in California and nationally, the Oakland Unified School District placed 30 percent more of its special needs students in restrictive environments.
At key transition points, there were significantly different academic need levels between district-run and charter schools. More high-performing students newly enrolled in charter schools at key grade levels– 6th and 9th grades–, while low-performing students disproportionately newly enrolled in district-run schools.
District-run schools served a larger share of “late-entry” students who enrolled after October 1. These students typically had greater needs and required additional support.

Resource Levels

The report also identified areas where funding could be better allocated and used across charter and district-run schools. Among both district-run and charter schools, there was variation in the amount schools spend per pupil compared with their student need profile, showing that there is an opportunity to allocate resources across schools more equitably.
Charter schools also were hampered by state law that caps the amount of need-based funding they could receive. This caused them to receive less funds to educate the English learners, foster youth, and low-income students they serve than their need would otherwise provide for.
OUSD spent $1,400 more per pupil than charter schools on operating expenses. This was after adjusting for the number of special education, low-income, and English learner students which district-run and charter schools serve.

Resource Use

Charter schools contracted teachers for about an additional hour per school day. Charter schools had 14 percent more teacher time per day on average, than did district-run schools.
Additionally, the report showed that better city-wide facility planning is needed to use funds more effectively. Oakland operates a portfolio of relatively small schools, and in cases where schools were unintentionally small, restructuring could save money. The city could also save through better facility planning for charter schools, which varied widely in the amount they spent on rent. For example, during the 2014-2015 school year, if Oakland’s charters, who spent above the median rent, paid the median amount, they would have spent $3.4 million less in rent.

The Oakland Achieves Partnership is hopeful that this data can support a community dialogue on how to address shared challenges facing Oakland’s public schools. Through this data and conversations with stakeholders from around the community, several actions for further exploration have emerged, including:

To ensure that school spending matches student need, explore opportunities for both the district and charter sectors to serve a more equitable percentage of students with higher needs, including needs related to special education, incoming proficiency and “late-entry” students. This includes increasing parent and student agency in choosing schools by increasing awareness of school options across Oakland, with a focus on families of students with greater needs.
Change the state law that caps the revenue charter schools can receive based on their home district’s limit.
Articulate a city-wide strategy on the number and mix of district-run and charter schools to allow schools to operate at a financially-sustainable size—including sharing facilities across schools, and creating service sharing opportunities across charter schools and between district and charter sectors as appropriate—so that as a community we are using our limited public education resources to best serve children in the classroom

By working together, district-run and charter schools can better serve all students in public education. This report should serve as a resource for leaders to work together and ensure that all students have access to a high-quality public education, including Oakland’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged students.Informing Equity | GO Public Schools Oakland:

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

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

Saturday Reads Diane Ravitch's blog

A site to discuss better education for all

This Is a Broadway Play You Should See

2by dianeravitch / 2h

A few nights ago, I went to see a Broadway play that was scheduled to close on June 25. The play is “Indecent,” and it is wonderful. It was written bu a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paula Vogel. It is about a play written for the Yiddish

Randy Rainbow Questions Comey and Sessions

by dianeravitch / 3min

Time for a laugh!

Jeff Bryant Wins “Project Censored” Award for His Article on the Walmart Takeover of Public Education

1by dianeravitch / 1h

Jeff Bryant has won one of the annual Project Censored awards for his brilliant article about the malign intrusion of Walmart into public education. We may differ about which person is “the worst in the World,” but if there were a

Emily Talmage: The Fight Against the Invasion of the EdTech Entrepreneurs

2by dianeravitch / 11min

Emily Talmage describes the fight against the edtech industry in New England. The resolutions passed by the Massachusetts Teachers Association are a landmark in teachers’ efforts to block privatization, data mining, and

Who is “the Worst Person in the World?” Ken Bernstein Knows.

2by dianeravitch / 39min

Who is the Worst Person in the World? Ken Bernstein knows, and he shares his reasons here. Right now, I would nominate the brutal dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un, who brutalizes his own people and recently sent home the near-lifeless body of Otto Warmbier, a college student who had foolishly attempted to bring home a propaganda poster as a souvenir of his five-day trip to North Korea. Otto d

PBS: A Moving Program about the Saving Power of Higher Education

4by dianeravitch / 1h

I have written a lot lately about the bad judgment of PBS in running a one-sided, partisan three-hour series attacking public education and advocating for running schools like businesses. I am happy to share with you a wonderful documentary about a higher education program that awards degrees to prisoners at the notorious Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York. The title is FIRST DEGREE. it enabl

New Jersey: Charter School Closing, Won’t Pay Teachers for last Two Months

9by dianeravitch / 2h

The Merit Preparatory Charter School in Newark has been ordered to close down at the end of June due to low test scores. The school’s teachers are paid on a 12-month schedule for ten months of work. That means they are owed salary for July and August. At present, the school does not plan to pay what it owes the teachers. The teachers have turned to the Newark Teachers Union for help, even though

Carol Burris: The Broken Promises and Scams of the Charter Industry

14by dianeravitch / 2h

Carol Burris notes in this article that the NAACP passed a resolution last year demanding a moratorium on new charters until charters cleaned up their actioms and policies. Instead of doing some self-examination and trying to right what was wrong, the charter apologists attacked the NAACP. Burris reviews some of the notable charter scams and corruption in the past year or so. Back in the 1990s, w

NYC: Little Public Support for Mayoral Control

6by dianeravitch / 2h

This issue deserves a longer post by me, since my first book in 1974 was a history of the New York City public schools. Mayors have always had a large measure of control over the city’s public schools, but only under Mayor Bloomberg did the mayor take control of appointing the superintendent/chancellor and direct every aspect of the system. Bloomberg used his power without checks/balances to clos

New York City: No Deal Yet on Renewal of Mayoral Control

6by dianeravitch / 3h

I was premature yesterday is reporting that a deal was near on renewing mayoral control. As of now, there is no deal. The State Senate, controlled by Republicans, wants more charters. The State Assembly, controlled by urban Democrats, does not. On June 30, mayoral control expires, and the previous board is revived, seven members, with only two appointed by the mayor. The Republicans in the Senate

YESTERDAY

New York: Legislature Close to a Deal on Renewing Mayoral Control

11by dianeravitch / 16h

The legislature in New York is close to a final deal to permit mayoral control of the public schools for another year. When Michael Bloomberg became Mayor of New York City, one of his first goals was to take control of the school system. He claimed he could get better results because of his experience as a businessman. The Board of Educationconsisted of seven members, one appointed by each of fiv

New York Times’ Columnist Gail Collins Names Betsy DeVos the Winner of Her Contest!

16by dianeravitch / 20h

Gail Collins used to be the editorial page editor of the New York Times. Now she writes a regular column for the Times, which is usually hilarious. Today, she names Betsy DeVos the winner of her informal reader poll as the Worst Member of Trump’s Cabinet. This was no easy contest. Remember, she was up against Jeff Sessions, who has total amnesia, and Scott Pruitt, the director of the Environmenta

Reed Hastings, Billionaire, Says that Elected School Boards Should be Eliminated

98by dianeravitch / 21h

Reed Hastings, billionaire owner of Netflix, says that democracy is the problem at the root of American education. Elected school boards are the cause of too much turmoil. Appointed boards are far better and allow innovative charter schools to grow. At the annual meeting of the National Alliance for “Public” Charter Schools, Hastings pointed to elected school boards as dysfunctional and lauded th

Newly Elected LAUSD Member Says He is not Going to Promote Charter Expansion

3by dianeravitch / 22h

Surely to the surprise of the California Charter School Association, Eli Broad, Reed Hastings and the other billionaires who funded his election campaign, Nick Melvoin told EdSource in California that his election was not about expanding the number of charter schools. No, what he is about is seeing public schools replicate the successes of charter schools. Melvoin was a TFA teacher for two years,

Lordy! Peter Greene Agrees with Checker Finn About a Few Things

9by dianeravitch / 23h

Peter Greene is kind of busy, what with having two-week-old twins in the House, with crying, diapers, and all that entails. But not too busy to read that Checker Finn describes parts of Jeanne Allen’s pro-choice book as “idiocy .” See, Jeanne agrees with Betsy DeVos that the government should hand out taxpayer dollars to families to use however they want. Checker recognizes that this is a dumb id

Do Corporations Care about American Workers?

50by dianeravitch / 1d

This is an excellent article about the nations’ major corporations and their abandonment of their fellow citizens. It was written by Gordon Later and Greg LeRoy and posted by the Economic Policy Institute. Gordon Later wrote the wonderful book “The One Percent Solution: How Corporations are Remaking America, One State at a Time, ” which I highly recommend, to understand how Dark Money has taken o

Jessica Tang Makes History in Boston

200+by dianeravitch / 1d

Congratulations, Jessica Tang, the newly elected leader of the Boston Teachers Union! What I admire about Jessica, in addition to all the firsts attached to her rise, is that she is determined to fight privatization. Despite the fact that Massachusetts is far and away the highest performing state on NAEP, the plutocrats have been trying to bust the public schools. She is a fighter. Between Tang a

DeVos Puts CEO of Student Loan Company in Charge of Policing Student Loans

12by dianeravitch / 1d

Can anyone spell “conflict of interest”? Has anyone at the Department of Education ever heard the term? Betsy Devos just selected the CEO of a corporation collecting student loans to police the collection of student loans.