Geaux Teacher!: CHARTER ACCOUNTABILITY - AN OXYMORON

Geaux Teacher!: CHARTER ACCOUNTABILITY - AN OXYMORON:

CHARTER ACCOUNTABILITY - AN OXYMORON

by noreply@blogger.com (Lee Barrios, M.Ed., NBCT)

I'm re-posting this blog by Dr. Diane Ravitch because the story is an example of the real-life problem with TOO MANY charters. The charter movement - which is simply a movement toward privatization of our public school system - has grown with such zeal and unregulated speed that AUTONOMY, touted as one of the major components of charters that allowed them to be "innovative," has become a negative rather than a positive.

I have sat through too many BESE meetings where charters, mostly new unproven start-ups, have been given rubber stamp approval based on NACSA (National Association of Charter School Authorizers)highly questionable recommendations. Nevermind that a simple google search would inform the public that a great deal of caution should be exercised in relying on this pro-charter organization that is paid so well by LDOE with taxpayer money to pass on the advisability of allowing these companies to be put in charge of the welfare of our children. 

Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee Pays for Survey that said She is Right (I'm Shocked))

Poll finds support for school reform:

An educational survey, along with a new report on national high school graduation figures, is bound to have an effect on how residents throughout the commonwealth look at public education — both its funding and academic achievements.

The poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies on request by StudentsFirst — a nationwide non-partisan, non-profit education reform think-tank founded in 2010 by former Washington, D.C., Education Chancellor Michelle Rhee — netted interesting results from its more than 800 calls to residents statewide.
Overall, the survey found that Pennsylvanians supported reform to teacher evaluations by a large margin, with 72 percent of the callers supporting it, while only 15 percent of the callers opposed; those polled also opposed the general “last in, first out” method of targeted layoffs (34 percent supported the notion, while 23 percent opposed it). Public Opinion Strategies also found that Pennsylvanians supported teacher effectiveness 

One Courageous Teacher Says No to Test Madness « Diane Ravitch's blog

One Courageous Teacher Says No to Test Madness « Diane Ravitch's blog:

One Courageous Teacher Says No to Test Madness

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 hours ago

Yesterday I heard from a teacher in New Jersey, who read my blog about giving tests in the arts and physical education. I said in no uncertain terms that giving state tests in the arts is wrong. It diminishes teacher professionalism. It has nothing to do with improving education. It’s just the mindless need to test [...]

A Major Charter School Scandal

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 hours ago

Over the past few years, the American Indian Charter School in Oakland, California, was celebrated again and again for its achievements. Journalists, pundits, and television commentators fawned over its founder Ben Chavis. His school (he actually has three schools, but the middle school is the one that gets the plaudits) became the poster school for [...]

Questions for the Candidates

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 2 hours ago

As I watch President Obama and Mitt Romney compete, I am appalled by the absence of any substantive analysis of education issues. When Romney released his education agenda, it was reported with impartiality, as it should have been. But no one asked questions about his claims. I reviewed his proposals in the New York Review of [...]

How Reformers Dumb Down Education

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 hours ago

It’s hard to count all the ways that reformers dumb down education, but here is a good example of catching them in the act. State Superintendent Tony Bennett is a celebrated reformer. He won the Thomas B. Fordham award as the “reformiest” reformer of them all. That means he loves vouchers and charters, he promotes [...]

Miracle Watch: Harlem Village Academy

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 3 hours ago

A year ago, I wrote an article about “miracle schools” in the New York Times. My beef was with politicians who pointed to a school and said that it had achieved dramatic test score gains and amazing graduation rates despite the poverty in which the children live. The usual “remedy” was to fire the teachers, [...]

Oh, No! Yet Another Arts Assessment

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 20 hours ago

Oh, no! Dana Goldstein visited Memphis, where she found that arts teachers are using portfolio assessments. I suppose that is a step up from online standardized tests and the old-fashioned machine-scored computerized tests, but it is still a very bad idea. The whole premise of testing is that teachers cannot be trusted to reach responsible [...]

Defunding Public Education in Texas

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 23 hours ago

In recent years, the governor and legislature in Texas have cut billions of dollars from the budget for public education. They have shown their priorities. By keeping taxes low, they can grow new jobs, or so they say. But at the same time, they are destroying the public schools that prepare the next generation for [...]

Why Test the Arts and PE?

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago

As I read Dana Goldstein’s article about the advance of standardized testing into subjects like the arts and physical education, I began to get a queasy feeling. “This isn’t right,” I mumbled to myself. I thought of my grandchildren taking standardized tests in music and gym, and I shook my head. This isn’t right. Race [...]

I’m Convinced

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago

Dear Readers, Thank you for your instant feedback. Some readers say they like having my blogs early in the morning, before they leave for work. A few said they liked the spacing. Some said do what works for you. What resonated with me was my preference for plain vanilla. Post them as you write them. [...]

The Joys of Blogging

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago

I have written a lot of articles for publication in newspapers and magazines. If I publish in the New York Times or the Washington Post or the New York Daily News, my writing will reach hundreds of thousands of readers. Of course, many of their readers will pass right over your article, will not read it. [...]

Stand for Children Does Not Stand for Public Education

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago

Stand for Children has moved its campaign for privatization and against experienced teachers to Massachusetts. Stand’s politically savvy, well-connected, and well-funded leader Jonah Edelman threatened an anti-teacher ballot initiative unless the unions negotiated away their seniority and tenure. Governor Deval Patrick agreed with Stand for Children that teacher evaluation (based to some extent on standardized [...]

A Note to Readers of This Blog

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago

Dear Friends, One of the readers of this blog told me that I should space the entries. Typically, my cat wakes me at 5 am and I start writing and posting, sometimes four or five blogs. The reader said that his tendency was to read the last one first, missing some of the earlier ones. [...]

Welcome to Readers Overseas

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago

I don’t know if the term “overseas” is factually accurate, since some of the people reading this blog are part of the same continent as New York City, where I live. But I wanted to express my appreciation to readers in other countries who are logging on to read the blog: Most readers, of course, [...]

What If the Chicago Teachers Union Loses?

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago

A reader asked an important question in response to my blog about the Chicago Teachers Union decision to authorize a strike: What if they strike and they lose? What if Mayor Emanuel fires them all and replaces them with TFA? Won’t it prove that striking is futile? Won’t unions everywhere lose heart? I responded that [...]

Brookings Responds to My Blog about Being Terminated

dianerav at Diane Ravitch's blog - 1 day ago

On Monday, I posted a blog called “The Day I Was Terminated.” In that blog, I recounted that I received an email on June 5 from Grover (Russ) Whitehurst of Brookings telling me that I was being terminated–after a 19-year association with Brookings–because I was “inactive.” That’s a pretty abrupt way to finish off a [...]

Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics

Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics:

The Bridgeport Takeover: The Level of Deceit is Shocking…

by jonpelto

Earlier this week, the Connecticut’s governor and legislature agreed to give Bridgeport a “forgivable loan” of $3.4 million dollars in return for giving up the right to choose their own superintendent.

Bridgeport’s schools are facing a deficit of less than 1.5 percent.

There were numerous options, yet the Democrats who lead the state and Bridgeport chose the one that takes away the democratic rights of the citizens of Bridgeport.

Can you imagine the state of Connecticut giving up its sovereign democratic rights for a loan to cover a 1.5 percent revenue shortfall?  Connecticut didn’t do that when it had a 30 percent budget shortfall.

Now, new evidence, some of which was published in an article in yesterday’s CT Post 

To Morning Joe: About that charter school segment - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

To Morning Joe: About that charter school segment - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Has Title IX, now 40 years old, harmed male athletics?

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 25 minutes ago

A new report on Title IX, the landmark civil rights law passed 40 years ago that barred gender discrimination in education for all students, says that a great deal of progress in improving educational opportunities for girls has been made, but more work needs to be done. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

To Morning Joe: About that charter school segment

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 3 hours ago

This is just a quick note to Morning Joe and his crew to tell them something they may not have realized when talking this week to Deborah Kenny, the founder of the charter schools called the Harlem Village Academies. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

How to improve college student aid disclosure

Valerie Strauss at The Answer Sheet - 4 hours ago

This* was written by Robert Massa, vice president for communications at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the college.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]

What if the "Skilled Worker Shortage" is a Myth? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

What if the "Skilled Worker Shortage" is a Myth? - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

What if the "Skilled Worker Shortage" is a Myth?

by Anthony Cody

Follow me on Twitter at @AnthonyCody
One of the fundamental precepts of the school "reform" movement is that the students of today are not ready for college or the workplace. This then is one of the reasons the US has lost its competitive edge, and even is to blame for unemployment rates, because our "job creators" have millions of jobs that are unfilled, and our graduates are simply unprepared for these positions. People like David Brooks call this a "structural issue."
Maybe not.
This week there are two separate reports, one from the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago, and the other from a professor at the Wharton School of Business, that raise some big questions about the idea that we have a shortage of skilled workers.

Matthew O'Brien at The Atlantic reviewed a study by the Fed in Chicago, and notes that data tracking labor 

Daily Kos: Read Krugman today

Daily Kos: Read Krugman today:

Read Krugman today

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

as usual, it his column is a must-read.  Today's is titled We Don't Need No Education, words derived from Romney's criticism of the President for wanting more teachers, fireman, and police.
Republicans including Romney argue that

our disappointing economic performance has somehow been caused by excessive government spending, which crowds out private job creation. But the reality is that private-sector job growth has more or less matched the recoveries from the last two recessions; the big difference this time is an unprecedented fall in public employment, which is now about 1.4 million jobs less than it would be if it had grown as fast as it did under President George W. Bush.

 Krugman points out not having those jobs is the difference between our current unemployment rate of 8.2% and what would be 7.3% -  which as a side note would mean that the President would have fulfilled his commitment to lower unemployment below 8%.  But there is so much more.

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Koch Bros. summits dominate the right-wing movement

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Koch Bros. summits dominate the right-wing movement:

Koch Bros. summits dominate the right-wing movement

by Mike Klonsky

Koch summits are regarded as a holy grail of sorts for conservatives seeking cash for their initiatives, blogsKenneth Vogel at Politico. The Koch Bros. raise hundreds of millions for right-wing groups and individuals at these summits and the money is leveraged to take over existing organizations like the libertarian Cato Institute.Writes Vogel:

Koch Industries, the brothers’ privately owned oil, chemical and household products company, has sponsored the summits twice a year since 2003 and they are where it all comes together in Koch World. The donors, like regulars Foster Friess and Rich DeVos and first-timers like Sheldon Adelson, are gently pressured to give while the invited operatives jockey to impress the Kochs and their donors with presentations on campaign and legislative strategy.

There’s also a collection of A-list dignitaries that has in recent years included rising political stars like Eric Cantor, Chris Christie, Bob McDonnell and Rick Perry, talkers like Rush Limbaugh, 

Schools Matter: Once more Alex Russo afflicts the afflicted and comforts the comfortable

Schools Matter: Once more Alex Russo afflicts the afflicted and comforts the comfortable:

Once more Alex Russo afflicts the afflicted and comforts the comfortable

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

"I want to work with people who have relevant experience in our neighborhoods, whose kids go to the same schools mine do, and who believe in the self-determination of all communities. I do not appreciate the dominant-culture control of the 'reformers' who parachute in, a la Peace Corps style, to show us Brown and Black folks how to be like them." — Andrea Merida

Photo courtesy of LS4C1.

It seems Alexander Russo just can't stand when ordinary working class people stand up to the plutocrats he serves with such aplomb. Wasn't it just yesterday when we discussed him excoriating "activists, community members, and educators standing up to the corporate education reform juggernaut" in The trouble with Alexander Russo?
On the first of June, he wrote a paean to right-wing school privatization veteran Linda Serrato. In the piece Russo makes abundantly clear his heartfelt desire that he wants to see the administration be supportive of "Charter Trigger" laws. Since this administration is responsible for educational malpractices including Race to the Trough and Corporate Core Curriculum, it wouldn't be surprising if they did express support for Ben Austin's American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) template legislation.
Yet it's not Russo's love for all things profitable and corporate that is of note in the above article. What's 

Day in the Life of Greg Schwanbeck, Physics teacher (Leonard Medlock, EdSurge) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Day in the Life of Greg Schwanbeck, Physics teacher (Leonard Medlock, EdSurge) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Day in the Life of Greg Schwanbeck, Physics teacher (Leonard Medlock, EdSurge)

by larrycuban

Greg Schwanbeck teaches at Westwood high school in Westwood, a suburb of Boston. This was posted in EdSurge, June 12, 2012. EdSurge is an advocacy organization promoting greater use of new technologies in classrooms.
Mr. Greg Schwanbeck, a 9th grade physics teacher at Westwood High School in Mass., likes to let his students fiddle with electrical circuits. He hasn’t bought wires or transistors, however. Instead he turns to something called the DC Circuit Construction Kit PhET. Short for Physics Education Technology, these interactive simulations were created at the University of Colorado – Boulder.
PhETs run Java applets from a browser. Mr. Schwanbeck loves the fact that you can visualize hidden forces like resistance (in the aforementioned PhET) — something not easily accomplished in a physical HS science lab — to  introduce new topics, reinforce students’ understanding of a concept, offer extra credit assignments or 

Special Podcast: Weighted Pupil Funding & California's Budget Process, 2012 — Call to Action | K-12 News Network

Special Podcast: Weighted Pupil Funding & California's Budget Process, 2012 — Call to Action | K-12 News Network:

Special Podcast: Weighted Pupil Funding & California’s Budget Process, 2012 — Call to Action

by admin

 Yvonne Condes  Sarah Auerswald  Donna Schwartz Mills  Kimberley Beatty  Deb McCurdymentioned.

I just spoke with two impassioned and well-informed high school student leaders and a community coordinator at Californians for Justice about an emergency action to support public schools that they’re conducting in the next 18 hours, ending Friday, June 15, 2012.
You can listen to the podcast here:

Listen to internet radio with MOMocrats on Blog Talk Radio

California’s budget must be passed by June 30, 2012, which means any legislative manuevers must be completed by end of day, Friday, June 15, 2012.
What Governor Brown proposed as part of his overall budget was to rework the state funding formula for K-12 education so it follows the student, is simpler to understand, and is more equitable. He was not able to come to 

Jersey Jazzman: Reformy Maniac Ben Chavis is in BIG Trouble!

Jersey Jazzman: Reformy Maniac Ben Chavis is in BIG Trouble!:

Reformy Maniac Ben Chavis is in BIG Trouble!

by Duke

Right after I posted a quick blurb about the reformy, profane and quite possibly unbalanced Ben Chavis, thePerimeter Primate points me to some unbelievable news:

Chavis could soon find himself the subject of a criminal investigation. Jordan announced Wednesday she would forward the case to the District Attorney's office, as recommended by the audit team. Jordan said she also wrote a letter to Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith, asking the district to consider revoking the schools' charters.

"The lack of oversight by the AIMS board and the unethical practices by its founder are unacceptable and an abuse of the public trust," Jordan said.

Between mid-2007 and the end of 2011, the school paid Chavis, his wife, Marsha Amador, and their various real estate and consulting businesses about $3.8 million, the auditors found. Many of 

Tenure Debate Heating Up in NJ

by Duke

Yesterday was a turning point in the New Jersey tenure debate. The Assembly Education Committee passed the bill written by Assemblyman Diegnan. All the Republicans abstained; probably because they're waiting for Chris Christie to tell them whether or not they support the bill. Probably because he's meeting with his political cronies, weighing the political pros and cons of a veto.

On Monday, Senator Ruiz's bill comes before that chamber's Education Committee. I have yet to read the latest version, but the reports are she is not going after seniority, and she will call for putting tenure cases before third-parties, and not just school districts.

If that's the case, it's quite conceivable that the two bills could be reconciled, and also be acceptable to the NJEA. Bob Grundfest has been doing excellent work over at his blog on the bill, and opines:

I also welcome the provisions that speed the tenure charge process and move it to arbitration. That the New Jersey School Boards Association is concerned only with who gets to pick the arbitrators is a positive step that should be remedied easily.

My concerns center on who gets to decide if a teacher faces tenure charges after two 

The Educated Reporter: Criminalizing School Bullying: Do New Laws Go Too Far?

The Educated Reporter: Criminalizing School Bullying: Do New Laws Go Too Far?:

Criminalizing School Bullying: Do New Laws Go Too Far?

by Emily Richmond

When it comes to school bullies, are they misunderstood kids who just need to pointed on a better path? Or are they criminals who will only be curbed by the full weight of the law?

Earlier this week, USA Today's Greg Toppo looked at the sharp increase in states enacting anti-bullying initiative despite questions as to their effectiveness. And for anyone wondering if bullying takes a summer vacation, Toppo notes that students "might leave behind the face-to-face bullying that includes everything from simple taunts to brutal beatings, but too often they can't escape the digital world that gives the predators access to their prey day and night and well beyond the schoolyard gates."

There's no doubt that states are pushing through legislation that not only criminalizes bullying but also sets new accountability standards for educators who fail to take action to stop it. In some instances the onus is being put 

API has served its purpose (if it ever did) | Thoughts on Public Education

API has served its purpose (if it ever did) | Thoughts on Public Education:

API has served its purpose (if it ever did) - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

A court decision this week involving Los Angeles Unified has raised again the contentious issue of evaluating teachers using standardized test scores. But a recent report for the think tank Education Sector recommends adopting the same method developed by Los Angeles Unified to replace the Academic Performance Index as a statewide way of measuring schools’ progress.

Called Academic Growth over Time, AGT is a value-added model that compares students’ actual performance on state tests to their predicted performance based on demographic characteristics – family income, language, and ethnicity – as well as past test scores. The 

New report: Southern states should rethink raising class size in early grades | Get Schooled

New report: Southern states should rethink raising class size in early grades | Get Schooled:

New report: Southern states should rethink raising class size in early grades

by Maureen Downey

If every school in the country reduced class size by even one student, the annual cost would be $10 billion. (AJC file)

There is still a great deal of debate around whether smaller classes are worth the high cost. The Southern Regional Education Board takes on the topic in a new report, noting that it would cost more than $10 billion a year if schools nationwide reduced average class size by even one student.
The report, “Smart Class-Size Policies for Lean Times,” says that the public, when given a choice between “smaller classes with average-performing teachers” and “larger classes with better-than-average teachers,” 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: WEA Files Challenge to 1240 Charter Initiative

Seattle Schools Community Forum: WEA Files Challenge to 1240 Charter Initiative:

WEA Files Challenge to 1240 Charter Initiative

by Melissa Westbrook

The Washington Education Association has filed a challenge to the ballot title and summary for 1240, the charter school initiative. A hearing is set for tomorrow morning in Thurston County Superior Court. I don't know that the judge will actually rule on it tomorrow (Friday is the day the judge hears all motions so I don't know if there will be time.) The judge must rule within five days (and undoubtedly will be asked to hurry it as they need as much time as possible to get signatures). I will gently point out that if time was the issue, the supporters should have made the decision to get this filed much, much sooner. They have no one to blame for themselves for this short window of time. From the News Tribune: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/politics/2012/06/14/teachers-union-objects-to-ballot-title-on-proposed-charter-school-initiative/. (Sorry not so pretty - my iPad does not do Blogger well.) This is a funny story for me as yesterday, I traveled to Olympia to file a challenge as well. I was not successful. It is a Kafkaesque tale to be sure and a reminder that while we have laws, we may not always be 

ALPTF Recommendations Sent

by Charlie Mas

On Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 6:28pm. Dr. Robert Vaughan sent an email to Dr. Enfield with the recommendations from the Advanced Learning Programs Task Force regarding placement considerations for elementary students in north Seattle attending the Accelerated Progress Program.

Nothing has, as yet, appeared on the District web site about these recommendations. I'm not sure why the recommendations could not have been sent to Dr. Enfield within a day or two of the final task force meeting.

Nevertheless, it's done. Dr. Enfield now has 90 days to implement the recommendations or explain why she hasn't. Except, of course, Dr. Enfield doesn't work for the District any more. She is using her vacation days for the remaining days of her contract.

AL Taskforce Recommendations Announced Friday

by Melissa Westbrook

Okay, the latest is that the AL recommendations will be posted Friday sometime. They did go to Dr. Enfield. I will expand on this when I get to a computer that will actually blog but I can only say that this is part and parcel to the district at the end of the school year. Things get stretched out, quick decisions made with parents practically going out the door (that would be Bryant, more on that to come)and that it happens each and every year, well, sigh. Joe Paperman will officially start as Budget Manager on Monday.