The Charter School Profiteers | Jacobin

The Charter School Profiteers | Jacobin:

The Charter School Profiteers

by Allie Gross

In Detroit charter schools, mismanagement and opportunistic “education entrepreneurs” thrive.

(Beth Fertig / SchoolBook)

This is the second installment in our two-part series looking at charter schools in New Orleans and Detroit. The juxtaposition is no accident — these two cities have the highest percentage of charters in the country.

In New Orleans, charters have almost entirely replacedtraditional public schools; in Detroit, about half the schools are charters. Both cases show the perils of privatization and the way in which elites manipulate crises to transform social goods.

Similar themes are explored in Class Action: An Activist Teacher’s Handbook, a joint project of Jacobin and the Chicago Teachers Union’s CORE. The booklet can be downloaded for free, and print copies are still available.

Jenay* crouches on the carpet, her spine curved into a lowercase “c” as she concentrates on the flimsy picture book in her lap. Every few minutes her fingers slide off the page, tapping the floor until she locates a bottle of purple soda. She never breaks eye contact with the book.

It’s 4 p.m. on a Monday in Detroit, and the fifth grader is staying after school to work on her reading. Jenay is reading at a second-grade level. She has been placed in summer school each June since the third grade, and every September she is promoted to the next grade. It is the unspoken truth all students know: Getting held back is an idle threat. It could lead to families The Charter School Profiteers | Jacobin:

Teachers Occupy the US Department of Education in Washington, DC | M. Shannon Hernandez

Teachers Occupy the US Department of Education in Washington, DC | M. Shannon Hernandez:

Teachers Occupy the US Department of Education in Washington, DC

I boarded the Amtrak early Sunday morning in New York City and headed into Washington, DC. The weekend had finally arrived where teachers from across this nation were going to show our solidarity and use our voices to fight for public education. Educators, parents and students from 35 states occupied the U.S. Department of Education on Monday, July 28th -- and our efforts paid off. Four delegates from our group, the Badass Teacher Association (BATs) were invited into Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's office to explain to him what we stand for and why public education is so important to our nation's children.

Teaching is an issue near and dear to my heart. It was my dream when I was younger -- I would line-up my stuffed animals, and my little sister, and teach to them for hours. Even at the age of seven, I understood what it meant to engage my students -- creating lessons that my sister, and her stuffed-animal peers, would find completely captivating and inspiring.

Acting on that childhood dream, I went to college, earning both a bachelors and masters degree in education. I have had the privilege of teaching elementary and middle school students in Charlotte, North Carolina, and middle school students in Spanish Harlem and Upper Manhattan. Teaching was my truth, it was my life.

But last June, I turned in my official resignation as a 15-year veteran public school teacher. You see, I was tired and beaten down by the many politicians who value test scores over authentic learning. The worst days of my career were the ones where I left the building wondering if I was able to make a personal connection with each student who walked through my classroom door -- because budgets had been cut and my class sizes had reached 32 students. There were nights I laid awake, never falling asleep, because my end of the year evaluation depended on factors that were completely out my control, such as if Johnny could make it to school tomorrow after taking care of his three siblings while his parents worked two jobs to make ends meet.

The decision to leave my life-long dream was not an easy one. I took time to consider all angles -- especially my emotions of how it would feel to leave something I loved so dearly. On May 1, 2013, I opened up a notebook and stared at the blank pages. I was sitting at my desk, and I had 40 days remaining before I walked out of that classroom for the last time. I decided I would capture my feelings on paper, as they unfolded, and also record the stories from my students and their learnings and lessons during those last days of my career. I wanted to have a record of why I loved Teachers Occupy the US Department of Education in Washington, DC | M. Shannon Hernandez:

7-29-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

Teachers union leaders updating members on strike potential

Teachers union leaders updating members on strike potential UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl speaking to union members No matter the state of contract negotiations between LA Unified and the teachers union, UTLA, instructors are becoming more familiar with the possibility of a strike. Alex Caputo-Pearl, the union president, said in an interview today union officials are busy organizing parents, se

3 by Vanessa Romo / 1h 

Lawsuit filed in New York takes after Vergara ruling

Lawsuit filed in New York takes after Vergara ruling Via Edweek | by Stephen Sawchuck A second lawsuit challenging New York laws governing teacher tenure, layoffs, and dismissals has been filed on behalf of seven schoolchildren in the state. The suit, modeled on the successful Vergara v. California lawsuit in California, argues that those protections are depriving pupils of their constitutional ri

2 37min hide  //  save

Zimmer, Kayser back McKenna; Villaraigosa in for Johnson

Zimmer, Kayser back McKenna; Villaraigosa in for Johnson Steve Zimmer, with George McKenna to his right. Endorsements in the District 1 school board race continued to pile up today as two LA Unified board members jumped on the George McKenna bandwagon, and former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa weighed in for Alex Johnson. Steve Zimmer and Bennett Kayser appeared at a news conference outside City Hall

by Vanessa Romo / 0min 

Morning Read: LAUSD, teachers at odds over contract talks

Morning Read: LAUSD, teachers at odds over contract talks Teachers union, LAUSD at odds over bargaining tactics With just two weeks before school starts, union leaders representing 35,000 teachers have declined Los Angeles Unified’s offer to conduct contract talks on a daily basis. The two sides are divided by about $280 million per year in pay increases and other issues. LA Daily News Report say

4 34min 

7-28-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Morning Read: Lawsuit looms over California PE classesMorning Read: Lawsuit looms over California PE classes California schools face lawsuit over physical education classes Thousands of elementary school teachers have been asked this summer to hold on to their lesson plans as 37 school districts throughou

by mike simpson / 22h 

Teachers’ due process rights are not the problem | Edwize

Teachers’ due process rights are not the problem | Edwize:



Teachers’ due process rights are not the problem

Read the full post here.

Common-sense school reform in a post-Vergara world: Guest commentary:

Common-sense school reform in a post-Vergara world: Guest commentary

 If you are of a certain age, as we are, you will recall the days when your buddies all wanted to put “headers” on their V-8 Chevy, Dodge, or Ford. The effect was a loud, thumping rumble that turned heads in the school parking lot or at the drive-in theater. Headers didn’t add much performance, but they sure sounded great.

The current school reform debate reminds us of those thumping V-8s. All of the attention is focused on firing or laying off teachers, and tenure, thanks to a recent court ruling in the Vergara v. California lawsuit. This lawsuit isn’t over and the case will be appealed. But are we discussing the policy changes that will improve our schools?

We firmly believe that all students deserve a highly qualified teacher. And revisiting the parameters of teacher tenure could be helpful, as long as we keep things in perspective. The focus on removing ineffective teachers will affect a relatively miniscule number of employees, no matter what system is devised, and these processes are a very small part of what makes for a great school system. And building a great school system in California is where the dialogue around school reform belongs.

For example, we need funding equity in our schools. The recent change to the Local Control Funding Formula is real reform. We need to institutionalize it and adequately fund it. We also need stable funding that doesn’t result in teacher layoffs every decade or so. School districts can’t effectively plan for the future because they can’t depend on stable state revenue.

Also troubling is the number of teachers who voluntarily leave the profession — about 30 percent within the first five years, and more than half in many urban assignments. This suggests that the focus on teacher tenure, dismissal and layoffs is misdirected. Recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers and providing them with adequate support would have significantly more impact on school improvement.

There’s evidence to show that successful schools worldwide are those where teachers and school leaders receive the resources and support Common-sense school reform in a post-Vergara world: Guest commentary:

7-29-14 The Whole Child Blog — ED Pulse Poll Results: Should Cellphones Be Allowed at School?

The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education:

Making a Difference through Student Advocacy Programs

The students needed me to make a difference, and they couldn't wait another year for me to figure it out. The disciplinary referrals were piling up in the manila folder on my desk. Their pink, yellow, and white triplicate forms were complete and signed by parents and guardians and entered into the school system's data management system. Even though I had already dealt with these behavior documents

by Dru Tomlin / 1h 

ED Pulse Poll Results: Should Cellphones Be Allowed at School?

ASCD continually seeks to provide solutions to the challenges that face educators of all levels. A recent ASCD SmartBrief ED Pulse poll asked readers if they believe students should be allowed to bring and use their cellphones at school. While families struggle with the right age for a child to have a cellphone, schools continue to struggle with whether or not cellphones should (and how) be used

by Kit Harris, ASCD ... / 0min 

7-28-14 The Whole Child Blog — ICYMI: Principals Share Advice on Whole Child Podcast

The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education: ICYMI: Principals Share Advice on Whole Child PodcastPrincipals are the key players in developing the climate, culture, and processes in their schools. They are critical to implementing meaningful and lasting school change and in the ongoing school-improvement process. There is also no doubt that the role—or roles—of a principal has changed dramaticall

by mike simpson / 18h 

Testing scandal | Deborah Meier on Education

Testing scandal | Deborah Meier on Education:

Testing scandal

Posted on July 29, 2014 by debmeier

Dear readers,

I have been silent since June fourth because my car, without my consent, left the road and crashed into a field—totaling it, but fortunately not me. I’m very lucky to have escaped with minor damage, but enough to “lay me low” for the past month plus. But, when I read Rachel Aviv’s marvelous article about cheating to boost scores in Atlanta (July 2lst New Yorker) I felt propelled to respond. It is time to return.

What a perceptive and clear account of an old wound. And done with a rare sympathy for the “villains”—teachers and administrators. Especially those far down the hierarchy. It is a subject about which I too have been unwisely silent for too long.

Aviv tracks math teacher Damany Lewis and his principal Christopher Waller and the life inside their middle school—starting in 2006 during Beverly Hall’s superintendency. She does not condone the many teachers who followed Lewis and Waller’s lead. But she describes the relentless, not quite inevitable path they each took to protect their students, the school and, of course, their own jobs too. They lost on all counts. But they are, I believe, only the tip of an iceberg that has been around for a very long time—and which the media has deliberately refused to take into account—and has in fact aided and abetted

I know personally.

In the 1970s—when I was the teacher-director of the newly formed Central Park East elementary school in East Harlem‑I faced a similar dilemma. Because we were an “alternative” school located in larger neighborhood school, our scores were not Testing scandal | Deborah Meier on Education:

Moms winning the Common Core war - Stephanie Simon - POLITICO.com

Moms winning the Common Core war - Stephanie Simon - POLITICO.com:

Moms winning the Common Core warmillions have proved no match for the moms. | AP Photo

Supporters of the Common Core academic standards have spent big this past year to persuade wavering state legislators to stick with the new guidelines for math and language arts instruction. Given the firestorm of opposition that took them by surprise, they consider it a victory that just five states, so far, have taken steps to back out.

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But in a series of strategy sessions in recent months, top promoters of the standards have concluded they’re losing the broader public debate — and need to devise better PR.

(Also on POLITICO: Undocumented immigrants call for W.H. boycott)

Consider: Conservative commentators Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin held a crackling town hall meeting last week describing the Common Core as a threat to local control of education. The two-hour event was simulcast in 700 movie theaters nationwide and will be rebroadcast Tuesday night in more than 500.

About 10,000 aspiring activists have since downloaded Beck’s “action plan” for defeating the standards. Beck’s slogan, “We will not conform,” is still echoing on Twitter. FreedomWorks, the tea party group that co-sponsored the event, is planning Skype chats to hash out tactics with local activists inspired by the evening.

The response from Common Core backers?

A pair of sedate videos featuring three former Republican governors — one of whom has been out of office for 11 years — sitting in front of a gray backdrop, eyes fixed on a point slightly off camera as they cycled through familiar talking points. And a news release offering quotes from standards supporters, including a fifth-grade teacher in rural Colorado and a Pentecostal preacher from Virginia.

(Also on POLITICO: GOP rejects tax crackdown)

Neither seemed likely to set social media ablaze.

So, backed with fresh funding from philanthropic supporters, including a $10.3 million grant awarded in May from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, supporters are gearing up for a

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/the-common-core-pr-war-109460.html#ixzz38sHW5Kxp

Ohio is the "Wild, Wild West" of charter schools, says national group promoting charter standards | cleveland.com

Ohio is the "Wild, Wild West" of charter schools, says national group promoting charter standards | cleveland.com:

Ohio is the "Wild, Wild West" of charter schools, says national group promoting charter standards

 CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio is taking good steps to rein in its "Wild, Wild West" of charter schools, but time will tell if the state has the backbone to make its rules stick.

Alex Medler of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), said that national observers look at Ohio as having a free-for-all in who is allowed to "authorize" new charter schools – help create them, oversee them, help them improve and (rarely) close them when needed.

NACSA  promotes charter schools and the school choice movement, while also wanting authorizing agencies  – like school districts, state or city panels, colleges and non-profits – to do a better job of making sure schools provide solid educations to children.

The Plain Dealer had a chance to hear Medler single out Ohio - without prompting - at a conference in Nashville, Tenn., this spring. We talked with him further after his panel and then by phone later for more of his organization's view on charter schools here.

Ohio has recently used NACSA's model standards for charter authorizers in setting its own standards for authorizers – called "sponsors" here. But Medler said that Ohio has gone so long without strong standards that it will take time to raise the bar.

 "Ohio has a real quality control problem," Medler said. "Ohio's more broken than the Wild West."

Why is that?

Ohio has too many authorizers, for a start, Medler said.

Ohio had 69 separate agencies authorizing schools in 2012-13, making it a national Ohio is the "Wild, Wild West" of charter schools, says national group promoting charter standards | cleveland.com:

National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) Group: 1 in 5 charter schools not doing well enough to stay open

A group that oversees more than half of the nation's 5,600 charter schools said
 as many as one in five U.S. charter schools should be shut down because of 
poor academic performance. 
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019784379_charterschools29.html

Badass Teachers #HereToStay #BATsDC | Continuing Change

Badass Teachers #HereToStay #BATsDC | Continuing Change:

Badass Teachers #HereToStay #BATsDC

July 29, 2014Education

 

 

 

 

 

 

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When we started,  people laughed at the name and joined. When we got active,  people worried about the name and hesitated. When we started caucuses in our unions and fought for change,  people objected to our name and attacked. When we went to the Dept of Ed and convinced the Secretary of Education,  Arne Duncan, to meet with us,  people realized….

Badass Teachers. #HereToStay

Badass Teacher (BAT) Association

WELCOME TO THE BAT CAVE

Badass Teacher Association Web Site

7-29-14 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

“Students Today…”: On Writing, Plagiarism, and Teaching

Posted at Maureen Downey’s Get Schooled, college instructor Rick Diguette offers a grim picture of first year college writing: Once upon a time I taught college English at a local community college, but not any more.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m still on faculty and scheduled to cover three sections of freshman composition this fall.  But it has become obvious to me that I am no longer teaching “colle

by plthomasedd / 1min 

7-26-14 the becoming radical EMPATHYEDUCATES! | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by P. L. Thomas, EdD

THE BECOMING RADICALEMPATHYEDUCATES!the becoming radical  A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness by Kristof, How Much Inequity Is the Right Balance?I started simply to ignore Nicholas Kristof’s An Idiot’s Guide to Inequality, but I was pulled back into it by Russ Walsh’s Hope, Poverty, and Grit. First, the rush to celebrate Kristof’s acknowledgement of Thomas Picketty, inequality, and (gasp) the impli

by mike simpson / 56min 

Marie Corfield: Saving New Jersey's children three zip codes at a time

Marie Corfield: Saving New Jersey's children three zip codes at a time:

Saving New Jersey's children three zip codes at a time

Yesterday the mayors of New Jersey's three largest cities, Ras Baraka of Newark, Jose Torres of Paterson and Steven Fulop of Jersey City, announced a bold move to collaborate on reducing violent crime in all three cities. 

The proposal evolved from the Passaic River Corridor Initiative along Route 21, which has involved as many as 80 municipalities sharing police intelligence, according to Tom O’Reilly, the head of the Police Institute at Rutgers University. State authorities have said the program has led to hundreds of arrests. 

But sharing police officers among three large cities that are not adjacent to one another while also combining social services is “sort of a first,” O’Reilly said. “They are challenging the traditional ways of thinking,” he said of the mayors. “The idea that three mayors have cut across bureaucratic lines is the first step.”

...

O’Reilly said the mayors’ proposal may include expanding a Newark violence reduction program in which Rutgers is taking part, and which he said was beefed up this year, leading to two months without a gang-related homicide in the city’s Fourth Police Precinct. The program calls for paroled gang members to meet relatives of gun violence victims and to be connected with social workers. It also has a dedicated law enforcement contingent that includes state, county and federal authorities. 

... 

[Mayor] Baraka said that “we are also talking about reentry” programs to aid people coming out of prison. And he mentioned the possible inclusion of Marie Corfield: Saving New Jersey's children three zip codes at a time:

Rigor: A horrible word for schools? | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

Rigor: A horrible word for schools? | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com:

Rigor: A horrible word for schools?

I thought this Oregon parent made a good case for abandoning the use of "rigor" in discussing school reform:

Op-Ed: Education Official Who Left Under Ethical Cloud Returns to Washington | CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Op-Ed: Education Official Who Left Under Ethical Cloud Returns to Washington | CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington:

Op-Ed: Education Official Who Left Under Ethical Cloud Returns to Washington

By Melanie SloanEducation, For-Profit Education, Federal Agencies, Department of Education, FOIA, News, Roll Call, Wall Street, Melanie Sloan, Robert Shireman, CREW v. Department of Education (Shireman)

Originally appeared in Roll Call, July 14, 2014

My organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, recently requested information from the Department of Education and the University of California system about the role former Education official Robert Shireman — and the organization he heads, California Competes — are playing in the development of education policy. CREW believes Shireman’s coziness with Wall Street short sellers, and his overall indifference to playing by the rules, should make government officials wary of working with him.

Shireman served as deputy undersecretary of the Department of Education and as a consultant to the department from 2009 to 2011. During this time, he spearheaded the department’s efforts to increase regulation of for-profit colleges to ensure that students had a fair chance of finding “gainful employment” after graduation. This subject became controversial, in part because of Wall Street’s efforts to influence education policy.

After well-known short seller Steve Eisman testified before the Senate regarding for-profit colleges, CREW began investigating whether Wall Street investors were attempting to influence Education’s regulatory process to drive down the stock price of for-profit colleges, allowing them to reap financial gains. Using the Freedom of Information Act, CREW uncovered incriminating emails revealing that Education officials, including Shireman, were in contact with short sellers about the proposed regulation. Based on these records, CREW asked the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2011 to investigate possible market manipulation and twice asked Education Secretary Arne Duncan to examine the improper influence on Education’s regulatory process. We also asked the department’s inspector general investigate Shireman.

More than three years after he left Washington, Shireman remains the subject of a long-running inspector general inquiry into whether he violated ethics laws by discussing sensitive government information with The Institute for College Access and Success, an organization Shireman founded and led before joining the Obama administration. TICAS refused to comply with an OIG subpoena for records regarding its interaction with Shireman, forcing the Department of Justice to file legal action. In March, a federal court ordered TICAS to turn over documents. Why would TICAS have fought so Op-Ed: Education Official Who Left Under Ethical Cloud Returns to Washington | CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington: