Governor's ties to charter schools driving Race to Top goals? - ContraCostaTimes.com

Governor's ties to charter schools driving Race to Top goals? - ContraCostaTimes.com

SACRAMENTO — Charter school advocates were livid. The Assembly's "Race to the Top" legislation was trying to "change the DNA of charters," as one charter school leader put it, by clamping down with "stifling" oversight provisions.

They had little doubt, however, that they'd have a potent weapon to beat back the proposed changes: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger's deep ties to the charter school movement haven't been a secret. He has taken at least $1 million in contributions from charter school advocates, stacked the State Board of Education with charter school educators, overseen since taking office in 2003 more than a doubling in the number of charter schools and steered hundreds of millions of construction bond money to charter schools.

Now, with a potential $700 million in federal cash dangling before lawmakers who have seen $17 billion drained from public schools over the past two years, some critics say Schwarzenegger has used the Race to the Top competition to further his long-term goal of cutting into the powers of traditional public schools while elevating his own sacred cow — the charter movement.

"One can say that the charter school lobby has defined how the governor tries to craft school reform," said Bruce Fuller, director of the Policy Analysis for California Education at UC Berkeley. "Because he's got well-heeled donors that remain very supportive of charter schools, it's a no-brainer for the

governor, given his affection for market remedies."

Schwarzenegger has blasted the Assembly's Race to the Top plan for tightening oversight measures for charter schools, calling it a "poison pill" that makes it "impossible for charter schools to survive." He has repeatedly vowed to veto the bill, ABX5-8, if it came to his desk.

Supported by most public school educators, the Assembly legislation includes tighter auditing requirements on charter schools than current law, stronger tools for measuring academic progress, and prohibitions against renewing continually failing charter schools.

"We believe charters should be held to the same accountability standards as public schools since they're on the public dime," said Dean Vogel, vice president of the California Teachers Association. "If I believe my charter school is high-performing, I should have a measure to prove it. You've got to demonstrate that high achievement and they don't want to do that."

Schwarzenegger's own plan, SBX5-1, shepherded through the Senate last month by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, seeks to streamline the authorizing or renewal of charter schools, bolster their ability to obtain state funding, and codify their own standards of auditing.

Supporters don't deny that Schwarzenegger has been an unapologetic ally of charter schools.

"It's fair to say that Gov. Schwarzenegger has been the most important champion California has ever had for charter schools," said Jed Wallace, president and CEO of the California Charter Schools Association. "He understands and is focused on making sure nothing comes forward that would compromise charter schools."

Under Schwarzenegger, the number of charter schools operating in California has more than doubled — from 382 in 2003-04 to the current total of 809. Though the state is nowhere near its maximum of 1,350 charter schools, he wants to lift the cap — a provision in both the Senate and Assembly bills.

Schwarzenegger has packed the nine-member State Board of Education with five leaders of the charter school movement, including board President Ted Mitchell, who is president and CEO of the NewSchools Venture fund, a national San Francisco-based firm that provides startup money for charter schools.

Other state board members with ties to the charter school movement are Yvonne Chan, a principal of the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, which focuses on "conversion" charter schools; Jonathan Williams, founder and co-director of the Accelerated School; Jorge Lopez, executive director of the Oakland Charter Academy; and Rae Belisle, president and CEO of EdVoice, a school reform lobbying group with strong ties to the charter school movement. Belisle defended the constitutionality of charter schools while serving as chief counsel to the State Board of Education.

EdVoice board members have rewarded Schwarzenegger, contributing at least $1 million to his various campaign committees.

Eli Broad, a co-founder of EdVoice and billionaire Los Angeles developer who has run a Superintendent Academy, which trains CEOs how to run schools, has contributed $430,000 to Schwarzenegger.

Don Fisher, the late Gap founder and a co-founder of EdVoice, and his family have donated $245,000 to Schwarzenegger, and Netflix founder Reed Hastings, also a co-founder of EdVoice, gave $251,491 in stock to the Proposition 1A-1E campaign pushed by Schwarzenegger this year.

Many of the same donors are beginning to bring Romero, the Los Angeles senator who is pushing Schwarzenegger-backed Race to the Top legislation, into their orbit. Romero, who is running for state superintendent of public instruction, has received at least $72,000 from various members of the EdVoice board, including $13,000 from Broad's wife, Edyth, and $6,500 from Hastings.

The Fisher family, deeply involved in school reform causes, has contributed $45,500 to her campaign.

EdVoice is likely to dig deep into their political treasury to finance Romero's campaign through unlimited independent expenditures against state Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, who will likely have the backing of public school teacher unions.

"We haven't determined to what degree we'll support her," said Bill Lucia, EdVoice's policy director and Chief Operating Officer, "but Gloria Romero is clearly the strongest candidate for education reform and promising parental choice and not continuing to be apologetic for persistent failure."

Education Schools Project Educating School Leaders

Education Schools Project

Report #1 Educating School Leaders March 2005 This report—the first in a series of policy papers on the education of educators—offers a candid, no-holds-barred analysis of the university-based programs that educate the vast majority of the nation's school principals and superintendents. Of the roughly 250,000 school administrators currently employed in the United States, nearly all were trained at schools of education, mostly in programs devoted to educational administration. Over the last 15 years, however, those programs—currently numbering more than 600—have faced a steady stream of criticism, their reputations have plummeted, and their hold over the licensure of administrators has begun to loosen, as districts and states explore alternative forms of recruitment and training. Drawing from a four-year study of leadership programs at schools of education across the country, this report provides new insights into the ways in which those programs operate, the incentives that drive them, and the steps that must be taken if they are to improve. Executive Summary (PDF) Full Report (PDF) Methods and Survey Manuals Educating School Leaders Powerpoint (PPT) Tables and Graphs Colleges & Universities with School Leadership Programs (HTML) Press Release (PDF)

National Standards for Family-School Partnerships | PTA

National Standards for Family-School Partnerships | PTA

Family-School Partnerships: National Standards for Family-School Partnerships

PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Standard 1: Welcoming all families into the school community—Families are active participants in the life of the school, and feel welcomed, valued, and connected to each other, to school staff, and to what students are learning and doing in class. Standard 2: Communicating effectively—Families and school staff engage in regular, two-way, meaningful communication about student learning. Standard 3: Supporting student success—Families and school staff continuously collaborate to support students’ learning and healthy development both at home and at school, and have regular opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and skills to do so effectively. Standard 4: Speaking up for every child—Families are empowered to be advocates for their own and other children, to ensure that students are treated fairly and have access to learning opportunities that will support their success. Standard 5: Sharing power—Families and school staff are equal partners in decisions that affect children and families and together inform, influence, and create policies, practices, and programs. Standard 6: Collaborating with community—Families and school staff collaborate with community members to connect students, families, and staff to expanded learning opportunities, community services, and civic participation. See below for more information and resources to build family-school partnerships.

L.A.'s Inner City Schools Struggle With Layoffs : NPR

L.A.'s Inner City Schools Struggle With Layoffs : NPR

L.A.'s Inner City Schools Struggle With Layoffs

by INA JAFFE

Listen to the Story

Morning Edition

[3 min 57 sec]

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March 11, 2010

Teacher layoff's in the Los Angeles school system have hit inner city schools especially hard, and more layoff notices are being sent out this week. Markham Middle School in Watts has lost at least half its faculty since the last round of layoffs. In many cases, school officials haven't been able to find new full-time teachers and have to rely on subs.

On the Same Page Summit

On the Same Page Summit

WATCH the EPIC and NYS PIRC Documentary

 "On the Same Page - Families and Schools as Partners" 

Click here to watch the full video 

A Collaborative of:

The New York State PIRC - Parental Information and Resource Centers EPIC - Every Person Influences Children, Inc. New York State PTA - Parent Teacher Association

Purpose:

On the Same Page is a summit to support systemic change in the New York State Educational System through strategic dialogue and action on family engagement as a catalyst for closing the achievement gap in Title I schools. EPIC – Every Person Influences Children, the New York State Parent Teacher Association, and the New York State Parental Information & Resource Centers (PIRC) have partnered to host this second annual summit. (For more information visit the Purpose page)

Family Engagement Definition:

Our definition of Family Engagement is as follows:

First, family engagement is a shared responsibility in which schools and other community agencies and organizations are committed to reaching out to engage families in meaningful ways and in which families are committed to actively supporting their children's learning and development.

Second, family engagement is continuous across a child's life and entails enduring commitment but changing parent roles as children mature into young adulthood.

Third, effective family engagement cuts across and reinforces learning in the multiple settings where children learn- at home, in prekindergarten programs, in school, in after school programs, in faith-based institutions, and in the community.

This definition comes from Dr. Heather Weiss in a November article on the Harvard Family Research Project website. It is the most concise, broad based statement that supports our efforts at systemic change covering all Action Team goals. This expanded definition of family engagement, which has already been adopted by the Family, School, and Community National Working Group, reflects research showing that families play significant roles in supporting their children's learning, in guiding their children successfully through a complex school system, and in strongly advocating for their children and for effective public schools.

Family Engagement Standards:

As a means to measure Family Engagement in Education, we will use as reference the National PTA Standards, Goals, and Indicators For Family-School Partnerships click here to view the document

2,000 grades boosted at CPS' Hyde Park Academy :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education

2,000 grades boosted at CPS' Hyde Park Academy :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education

2,000 grades raised at Chicago Public Schools' Hyde Park Academy

SUN-TIMES SPECIAL REPORT | Hyde Park Academy, which also lowered 1,100 scores, among many schools being audited

Comments

March 10, 2010

BY ROSALIND ROSSI AND ART GOLAB Staff Reporters

Last school year at struggling Hyde Park Academy High, more than 2,000 grades were boosted at least one notch — including more than 870 F’s that were changed to passing marks, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis shows.
And this school year, blanket A’s were ordered issued to all students of five new Hyde Park teachers after the students suffered through a string of substitute teachers for most of the first quarter, a letter obtained by the Sun-Times shows.


“I would say it’s shocking that all those students got automatic A’s,’’ said former Hyde Park teacher John Kugler, who served as the school’s union delegate last school year. “There’s other things that could have been done.’’
Hyde Park is one of several schools Chicago Public School officials say they are auditing for what appears to be excessive grade changes entered into a new electronic grading system, called GradeBook, after the close of each marking period last school year.
However, Hyde Park’s numbers jump out from high school data obtained under a Freedom of Information request. Last school year, it:
• Had nearly three times more grade changes — 3,162 — than the next highest school, Farragut Career Academy.
• Had more than twice as many F’s upgraded to passing grades — 873 — as any other high school.
• Saw the equivalent of nearly one grade changed upward per student, or 2,031 boosted grades.
To be fair, an additional 1,129 Hyde Park grades were changed downward, raising questions about whether some or all of the grade changes were based on mechanical problems teachers encountered as

GothamSchools - Breaking News and Analysis of the NYC Public Schools

GothamSchools - Breaking News and Analysis of the NYC Public Schools

Who will New York’s Race to the Top dream team be?

by Maura Walz

The names of the five people who will make the final pitch to federal officials in New York’s bid for coveted Race to the Top funds are due at noon tomorrow. But state education officials are still finalizing who will take the field trip to D.C.

It’s an important decision. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said that the competition’s judges are looking to see whether states’ representatives are capable of carrying out the reforms they’re promising. Thatcould make all the difference in determining the winners, he has said.

Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch will be appointing members of the team, she told GothamSchools today, but she said she was still in conversations with possible representatives.

States can bring up to five people “with a deep knowledge” of the application and may not bring consultants, according to the rules USDOE officials sent to finalists. “State teams may include elected officials, State

Really, UC Regents? Really? � Student Activism

Really, UC Regents? Really? � Student Activism

Really, UC Regents? Really?

March 11, 2010 in Students

Tuition policy for professional schools in the University of California currently requires that fee increases raise tuition no higher than those at similar public universities’ programs. The UC Regents have the power to grant exceptions to this policy, like they did last November when they raised fees at 44 programs, 24 of them to levels above the permitted averages.

But now the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Regents are thinking about going further, much further, with an astoundingly ill-considered plan.

Currently the professional school tuition policy requires that any proposed increase conform to “the total tuition and/or fees charged by comparable degree programs at other comparable public institutions.” But according to the Chronicle, the Regents are going to be voting later this month on a proposal to drop the word “public” from that passage.

Yes, you read that right.

The UC Regents want to use private universities as their

Schools Matter: Broad Academy Alum, John Covington ('08), Shuts Half of Kansas City Schools

Schools Matter: Broad Academy Alum, John Covington ('08), Shuts Half of Kansas City Schools

Broad Academy Alum, John Covington ('08), Shuts Half of Kansas City Schools

The Kansas City School Board was enthused when they hired John Covington (Broad Class of '08) as Superintendent. So was the Kansas City Star's Editorial Board:

Covington earned good reviews for his work as superintendent of Pueblo City Schools in Colorado over the last three years. He also is a 2008 graduate of the Los Angeles-based Broad Superintendents Academy, a program aimed at improving education in urban school districts.

School Board President Marilyn Simmons said the Broad experience, which includes continuing support and advice, was a plus for Covington.

Yes, that continuing support and advice from Eli and the Boys. Now with half the schools empty by this coming Fall, they will be ripe pickings for the property-hungry corporate welfare charters that will likely kill off most of the remaining public schools. The Board voted 5-4 to support the Broad plan to pull the Kansas City Public Schools into the bath tub for drowning. From the AP:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City's school superintendent said Thursday the plan to shutter nearly half the district's schools, while "painful," will move forward quickly so that all the closures will be complete by fall.

GothamSchools - Breaking News and Analysis of the NYC Public Schools

GothamSchools - Breaking News and Analysis of the NYC Public Schools

When Race to the Top collides with states’ rights, debate follows

by Anna Phillips

Teachers unions, school district officials, and lawmakers have all weighed in on New York State’s Race to the Top application with varying degrees of skepticism and enthusiasm, but few have given any thought to the legal issues behind the experiment.

Last night, students at Columbia Law School held a panel discussion on Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s competitive grant program that, in its first round, will award several states hundreds of thousands of dollars to adopt the Obama administration’s education policies. The question put before the panel is one any federal initiative like Race to the Top is apt to bring up: Is this experiment stepping too heavily on states’ policy toes?

The panelists included Marcus Winters, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Deborah Meier, a columnist for Education Week, James Liebman, a law school professor and the NYC Department of Education’s former accountability chief, Richard Iannuzzi, president of the state teachers union, and Dan Weisberg, a vice president at The New Teacher Project. (more…)

Democratic Leaders Want to Twin Student Loan Bill With Health Care - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Democratic Leaders Want to Twin Student Loan Bill With Health Care - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Democratic Leaders Want to Twin Student Loan Bill With Health Care

By Alyson Klein on March 11, 2010 2:16 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Remember we told you that the student-loan bill might hitch a ride with the health-care bill through that wonky procedural mechanism known as budget reconciliation?

Well, it looks like the administration and the chairmen of both the House and Senate education committees officially want that happen. But it's unclear whether the rest of Congress will go along with that plan or what the final loans package will look like, including whether some new education programs that would be created under the House version of the bill will be in the mix.

Some background: Last year, the Congressional Budget Office (Congress' resident, non-partisan numbers crunchers) estimated that the administration's proposed change to the student lending system would save $87 billion over ten years. The House passed legislation implementing the change. The bill would call for students to borrow right from the U.S. Treasury (through a program called Direct Lending) rather than relying on subsidized lenders to do the job (essentially scrapping the Federal Family Education Loan Program).

With the savings, House lawmakers would create a bunch of new programs, including grants to help states improve early childhood, bolster community colleges (including dual enrollment and early-college high school programs) and money for school facilities. Read all about it in this story.

And, in an important move for college access, the bill also sought to shift Pell Grants, which help low-income students pay for college, from the discretionary side of the ledger to the mandatory side, where it wouldn't be subject to the whims of the appropriations process (becoming mandatory is the best thing that could happen to a federal program). It would also index them to the Consumer Price Index, plus 1 percent, to keep up with rapidly-rising college costs.

NEA Co-Opts AFT's "Collaboration" Mantra - Teacher Beat - Education Week

NEA Co-Opts AFT's "Collaboration" Mantra - Teacher Beat - Education Week

NEA Co-Opts AFT's "Collaboration" Mantra

By Stephen Sawchuk on March 11, 2010 1:28 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

So is it just me, or has the National Education Association been banging the labor-management "collaboration" drum a lot these days? After all, that's Randi Weingarten's line! Or at least, it's been one of the AFT president's most consistent themes over the last year and half of her tenure at the helm of the national union.

Now take a look at this recent NEA press release:

"Educators must have a say in what it takes to improve low-performing schools. ... When all education stakeholders are involved in the decisionmaking process, it spells success for students. This combination of collective responsibility and collaborative thinking has a track record for yielding results that are positive for students and their schools."

Or this string from a recent conversation with NEA head Dennis Van Roekel, when he was talking about school improvement:

"In schools that I visit where they're changing what happens to kids, collaboration is the common thread. It works together. Competition destroys it all. It takes a group of people with collective goals, the support of management and the board to do it."

Now I'm sure on the one hand this must be heartening for Weingarten. After all, as the saying goes, imitation + sincerity = flattery. And the NEA, of course, is an important partner when it comes to things like lobbying for education funding (orfacing off with Rep. George Miller, natch), so it no doubt helps to speak the same language.

But I have to wonder if an eensy-weensy part of Weingarten is a bit peeved. After all, the NEA hasn't exactly followed AFT's lead on other hot-button issues,

The Educated Reporter: A review is not the book.

The Educated Reporter: A review is not the book.

A review is not the book.

Yes, I am overdue in saying something about Diane Ravitch's book, and I intend to. But in the meantime I will just say this: The reviews of a book are not the book. Especially when I wrote Tested, I was amazed at how people misinterpreted what I wrote; later I would learn they did not read the book but only reviews of it. So an offhand comment by Sandy Kress in National Journal's conversation about how the feds would hold states accountable on RtTT hit a raw nerve for me.

Kress was disappointed with Ravitch's opposition to RtTT. He wrote, "I searched through all the reviews I could find of her new book. My goal was to climb the mountain of all the

Live Theater Returns to Mitchell Middle School — The Rancho Cordova Post

Live Theater Returns to Mitchell Middle School — The Rancho Cordova Post

Live Theater Returns to Mitchell Middle School

by SHERYL LONGSWORTH on MARCH 11, 2010 · 0 COMMENTS

in VIEWPOINTS

Mitchell Middle School’s first Drama Club production, “Shakespeare Unshackled,” a musical tribute to the life and works of William Shakespeare, will be held on Friday, March 12th in Mitchell’s gym at 2100 Zinfandel Dr, Rancho Cordova. Mitchell’s outstanding band will provide live musical accompaniment under the direction of band and chorus teacher, Dan McCrossen.

This musical tribute to Shakespeare is approximately 45 minutes long and the setting is 16th Century England. The cast consists of over two-dozen extremely talented students and the production promises to be filled with wit and humor. This will truly be a fun evening for the entire family!

Amy Bergsten, one of Mitchell’s exceptional English teachers and Drama Club co-advisor said, “We are hopeful that by creating this after school club, students will explore the fantastic and creative realm of Performing Arts. Students are given the opportunity to be involved both behind the scenes of a production as well as on stage. I’m especially thrilled that we are going to be able to take students to a professional production. This club has been able to bring the performing arts back into our school and words cannot express my gratitude!”

Admission is free. Doors open at 6pm and the show will start at 6:30pm. Snacks and beverages will be available for $1 each to raise money for next year’s Drama Club. This 

Lessons on Teacher Evaluation From Charter Schools - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Lessons on Teacher Evaluation From Charter Schools - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Lessons on Teacher Evaluation From Charter Schools

By Stephen Sawchuk on March 11, 2010 12:52 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The Center on American Progress released three papers yesterday on different aspects of teacher effectiveness. I'll be writing a bit about them over the course of this week (We Read So You Don't Have To!), but they're all worth checking out.

First up is a fascinating look at charter school evaluation policies, written by Heather Peske, formerly of the Education Trust and now at Teach Plus, a group that works to connect teachers to education policymaking, and Morgaen Donaldson, an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut's Neag School of Education.

Charter schools typically have fewer rules and constraints and stronger "corporate cultures," so they should have more opportunities to innovate on evaluation policies, the theory goes.

So, in interviews with teachers, principals, and CMO staff, the authors took a look at three charter-management organizations, deemed "Northern," "National," and "Western." All three use a set of performance-based standards, and a series of structured observations coupled with detailed feedback, as the basis of teacher evaluations. None of the CMOs uses a "value added" methodology just yet for formal teacher reviews. And only one, the "Western" CMO, had unionized teachers.

Among the researchers' findings:

• The schools rely much more heavily on evaluations as a formative tool for improvement, through observation, coaching, and discussion of practices, rather than assigning a summative year-end rating. (I wrote about this tension in a few earlier items, here and here.)
• In the North and National CMOs, evaluation is directly tied to individual and collective professional development.
• The evaluations generally contributed to a much more collaborative enterprise that encouraged self-reflection, continuous improvement, and more transparent teaching practices.
• In schools in the nonunionized CMOs, unlike in most public schools, observations were not "formal" or "informal," "scheduled" or "unscheduled."