By Any Dreams Necessary, Malcolm X and the Problem of High Stakes Testing | Yohuru Williams

By Any Dreams Necessary, Malcolm X and the Problem of High Stakes Testing | Yohuru Williams:

By Any Dreams Necessary, Malcolm X and the Problem of High Stakes Testing

Imagine a child whose father is no longer in the home. His mother's debilitating illness forces him and his siblings into foster care. Imagine that same child, coming from abject poverty; exposed to violence and the juvenile justice system early, he enters a world socially and culturally foreign to him. He becomes the target of daily aggressions and micro aggressions and deals with the oppressiveness of low expectations. He is denied the one, best opportunity for success available to him - a good education.

While this describes the experience of scores of black and brown youth, both native and immigrant in inner cities across the United States today, it was also the experience of Malcolm X.

February 21, 2015 will mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the fiery orator and icon of the Black Power Movement. His early life mirrors that of many young people now. Although the parental absenteeism he suffered did not come as a result of the high rate of incarceration among Black and Latino fathers or the social and economic alienation often experienced by women of color, there are profound similarities that make his life a cautionary tale about the dangers of corporate education reform and high stakes testing. Malcolm's entire life was a repudiation of the underlying tenets of corporate education reform and the testocracy that threatens a whole generation of American youth.

Violence and racism punctuated Malcolm's early life. Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1925, he reported that the Ku Klux Klan murdered his father. Later, his mother, struggling to maintain a household of seven children, was committed to a mental institution. As a result, Malcolm and his siblings entered the foster care system. In the seventh grade, Malcolm earned an expulsion from school for a minor prank that in today's highly punitive school culture would likely have resulted in a similar penalty. As punishment, authorities transported him to a juvenile home in the nearly all-white community of Mason, Michigan to await a transfer to reform school. Malcolm was given a second chance when the family in charge of the detention home allowed him to stay with them and enrolled him at nearly all-white Mason Junior High School. In this well-funded institution with lots of attention from his teachers, Malcolm thrived, not only earning straight A's but also winning election as the president of his class.

This touch of academic success inspired Malcolm to think big. In his autobiography, he recalls his encounter with his English teacher Mr. Ostrowski who had been one of his biggest supporters. "I had gotten some of my best marks under him," Malcolm recalled, "and he had always made me feel that he liked me." Although Ostrowski clearly recognized Malcolm's talent, he nevertheless discouraged him from aspiring to anything beyond the rigid bounds determined by his racial caste.

Thus, when young Malcolm confided his desire to be an attorney, Ostrowski was firm. "Malcolm, one of life's first needs," he soberly advised, "is for us to be realistic. Don't misunderstand me now," he continued. "We all here like you, you know that. But By Any Dreams Necessary, Malcolm X and the Problem of High Stakes Testing | Yohuru Williams:

Helen Gym announces run for Phila. City Council

Helen Gym announces run for Phila. City Council:


Helen Gym announces run for Phila. City Council

JULIA TERRUSO, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

LAST UPDATED: Monday, February 9, 2015, 6:28 PM
POSTED: Monday, February 9, 2015, 4:44 PM

Helen Gym is no stranger to speaking before elected officials - sometimes rather loudly. Now she's vying for a seat at their table.


Gym, a Democrat, announced her candidacy for a City Council at-large seat at a lively rally Monday at the Ethical Society Building on Rittenhouse Square in which she mostly focused on education.

A former elementary schoolteacher, she has become a fiery advocate for public education funding and a frequent critic of city policies surrounding it.

Gym, 47, the mother of three children in Philadelphia public magnet schools, entered the race with the endorsement of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, who have also pledged to donate the maximum $11,500.

"We will support her campaign with the same energy and commitment that she has shown when it comes to high-quality education in Philadelphia," the union's president Jerry Jordan said at Monday's announcement.

Gym's three children introduced her to a cheering crowd of about 200 following comments from Rev. Mark Tyler of Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal church. In a city where there is no elected school board, "the next best thing is putting Helen Gym on City Council," Tyler said.

Gym joined a growing list of Democratic at-large candidates hoping to take one of five seats up for grabs, including the one vacated by former Councilman James Kenney.

The Democratic incumbents are Blondell Reynolds Brown, William K. Greenlee, W. Wilson Goode Jr. and Ed Neilson. Republican at-large Councilmen David Oh and Dennis O'Brien are also running for reelection.

In addition to Gym, the roster of nonincumbent Democratic candidates so far includes: Paul Steinke, former manager of Reading Terminal Market; former Councilman Frank Rizzo Jr.; George Matysik, the director of government affairs at Philabundance; Isaiah Thomas, professor and former candidate; Sherrie Cohen, an attorney with the Tenant Union Representative Network; Tom Wyatt, a partner at Dilworth Paxson law firm; and Jenne Ayers, a Yale law student and daughter of former Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers.

Gym, a University of Pennsylvania grad, was named one of the 75 most influential people in the city by Philadelphia magazine in 2014. She founded Parents United for Public Education, which seeks more funding and resources for

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20150210_Helen_Gym_announces_run_for_Phila__City_Council.html#z7Udf2VJrwyW2zcS.99

Education advocate and fellow education blogger Helen Gym Is Running for City Council! | EduBloggers

Education advocate and fellow education blogger Helen Gym Is Running for City Council! | EduBloggers:

Education advocate and fellow education blogger Helen Gym Is Running for City Council!

jonpelto / 19 mins ago

Great news from Philadelphia…. Philadelphia: Helen Gym Is Running for City Council

More information as it becomes available.  Diane Ravitch ported the following earlier today;

Helen Gym, the articulate and tireless parent advocate for Philadelphia public schools, is running for City Council.

Here is a 30-second video of Helen.

She has already been endorsed by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

Here is the speech she delivered at 5 pm today.

Helen Gym: Campaign Announcement
February 9, 2015

I stand here filled with gratitude to see so many of you here. I have given a lot of speeches over the years but it is a lot easier to give a speech about an injustice that must be fought, or students who need to be supported than it is to talk about… myself. But standing here, seeing so many friends and so many people that I respect, calms my nerves a little a bit, and makes me realize how lucky I am, and how lucky we all are, to live in a city with communities like this one.

Although I have lived here for almost thirty years, I wasn’t born in Philadelphia. I grew up in Ohio, the daughter of Korean immigrants. We didn’t have much, but I was fortunate enough to grow up in a neighborhood that had public parks where I could play, a public library where I could read, a public rec center where I could swim, and most importantly, public schools where I got a great education. That education formed me, like it formed so many of you. It unlocked the possibilities of the world. It was a social contract, and it influenced how I think about the possibilities, not just the limitations, of government throughout my life.

I moved to Philadelphia for college, met and married a wonderful man, and immersed myself in this city. I taught at Lowell Elementary School in Olney. I joined amazing organizations in this city – like Asian Americans United. I became a mother and started raising my three children in this city, and I worked alongside so many amazing mothers and fathers dedicated to re-envisioning our public schools.

I helped found the Philadelphia Public School Notebook, to raise up their voices as well as those of teachers, school staff and students. I helped found a school that breathed life into culture and practices that value multilingualism, community and served many immigrant families. I founded Parents United for Education advocate and fellow education blogger Helen Gym Is Running for City Council! | EduBloggers:

No two fingerprints are alike. Children have more individual differences than their fingerprints do. | Reclaim Reform

No two fingerprints are alike. Children have more individual differences than their fingerprints do. | Reclaim Reform:

No two fingerprints are alike. Children have more individual differences than their fingerprints do.

Posted on February 9, 2015by Ken Previti

You are the parent. Be the parent you want to be.

No two fingerprints are alike.

Your child is forced to comply with state mandated, high stakes tests that label each one for life in order to profit a few multinational corporate investors and the legislators they finance.

Children have more individual differences than their fingerprints do.

REFUSE. OPT OUT. PROTECT YOUR CHILD. #defendchildren

How? Go to United Opt Out for state-by-state letters and directions.

Dov Rosenberg for President of the Durham Association of Educators!

Dov Rosenberg

for President of the Durham Association of Educators!

Yes! I am running for President of the Durham Association of Educators! Let's focus on how local assessments & performance tasks are created, more support for the arts and literacy, technology implementation that supports instruction, better communication from our association, and sustainable energy practices that will save our district money.

Click here to Follow Dov Rosenberg on Facebook

Learning from Failure | John Thompson

Learning from Failure | John Thompson:

Learning from Failure

 Most innovations fail. And like NPR Planet Money's Adam Davidson explains, "life span of innovations has never shorter, meaning that failure happens more quickly." So, it is not too soon to start to contemplate of the obituaries of the contemporary school reform movement.

Professor Emeritus Larry Cuban's first draft of the history of "thirty years of market-driven and donor-supported school reform," is particularly prescient. Although vestiges of reform "will be quietly incorporated into public schooling," Cuban guesses that "contemporary policymakers and philanthropists who have invested much time, energy, and monies into these market-driven reforms ... will not break out the champagne for these remnants."

He concludes reforms such as "evaluating teachers on the basis of test scores, ending tenure and seniority, calling principals CEOs, and children learning to code will be like tissue-paper reforms of the past (e.g., zero-based budgeting, right- and left-brain teaching) that have been crumpled up and tossed away."

I read Cuban as saying that 1990s-type reforms were not doomed. Standards-based reforms produced incremental gains and, back then, charters had potential as laboratories for experimentation. Reformers were too impatient, however, demanding "transformational" change. They doubled down on standardized test-driven, competition-driven policies that are deserving of their place in the ash can of history.

Reformers should have listened to Cuban and other historians of education. Now, they have a second chance to reflect on where they went wrong. The New York Times Magazine special edition, Failure, (and its contribution by Davidson) could help accountability-driven reformers transition from their simplistic test, sort, and punish mandates to a science-based, humanistic reform era.

Failure is not shameful. For instance, the most-heralded innovations of the 1990s have largely failed to live up to their hype. Big Data did not put an end to the ups and downs of business cycles. The Human Genome Project has not yet yielded the health benefits it promised. As Kemia Malekvilibro explains, DNA sequencing's promise of a "golden road to pharmaceutical riches as target-based drug discovery has often proved to be more of a garden path."

So, data-driven school reformers were not alone in discovering that the world is far more complex than they believed. But, they have followed a path that is very different Learning from Failure | John Thompson:

Finding the Keys to School Funding in your Pocket | Cloaking Inequity

Finding the Keys to School Funding in your Pocket | Cloaking Inequity:

Finding the Keys to School Funding in your Pocket

Have you ever lost your keys? I did recently. I searched everywhere. I looked in the cushions of the sofa (always the most likely spot). I looked in yesterdays jeans (second most likely spot). I thought perhaps they might even be in my dirty laundry— so shirts— and other things— began flying through the air as I went through the hamper (I have history of finding them here too). I thought maybe they might have been lost in the bed covers so I tossed them aside (guilty). I thought maybe I might have left them in the car in the ignition (have done this many times before). Suffice to say that I tore the house apart. Misplacing your keys also happens at the most inconvenient times, the morning when you really urgently need to be somewhere to get something done or have an appointment. After an hour of looking high and low for my keys, and silly and stupid as this sounds, I found my keys in the pocket of the suit jacket I was wearing. Which was insane! All this time I had been looking everywhere, and the keys were in a very obvious place. It occurred to me this morning that this experience is an allegory for school funding.

I travelled to San Antonio Texas last week to serve as a panelist for the Intercultural Development Research Association’sJose A. Cardenas School Finance symposium held at Our Lady of the Lake University. The specific topic of the symposium was the weighted funding approach utilized in many state school finance systems and to “examine the amount of supplemental funding that is required to effectively implement appropriate services for English Language Learners at the secondary level.”

I understand if ELLs are not typically on your radar, but stay with me because there is a broader, more general argument to be made here about school funding. First, there is this:

It’s very clear from the data that states are unequally provisioning education. It’s on purpose because policymakers are determined that some children will be provisioned with a high quality education and then at the same time ration that opportunity for the poor. They say that money doesn’t matter for a high quality education, but what they actually mean is that money only matters for the education of the wealthy and not for the poor. In other words, throwing money at education for wealthy kids is okay, but not poor kids. Have you ever wondered what the funding situation looks like for high performing versus low performing schools? Since money “doesn’t matter” there should be no Finding the Keys to School Funding in your Pocket | Cloaking Inequity:

‘You have made us the enemy. This is personal.’ — 7 N.Y. Teachers of the Year blast Cuomo - The Washington Post

‘You have made us the enemy. This is personal.’ — 7 N.Y. Teachers of the Year blast Cuomo - The Washington Post:

‘You have made us the enemy. This is personal.’ — 7 N.Y. Teachers of the Year blast Cuomo

Seven New York State Teachers of the Year have written an open letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, blasting his new proposed education reforms that, among other things, link half of a teacher’s evaluation to student standardized test scores. Rich Ognibene, 2008 New York State Teacher of the Year, said in an e-mail that he wrote the first draft and six others contributed to the effort because “we were deeply hurt by the governor’s proposed education reforms.”

Writing and signing the letter along with Ognibene are Ashli Dreher, 2014 New York State Teacher of the Year; Katie Ferguson, 2012 New York State Teacher of the Year; Jeff Peneston, 2011 New York State Teacher of the Year; Marguerite Izzo, 2007 New York State Teacher of the Year; Steve Bongiovi, 2006 New York State Teacher of the Year; and Liz Day, 2005 New York State Teacher of the Year. The letter has been published in theAlbany Times Union and, with permission from the authors, I am publishing it here.

Dear Governor Cuomo:

We are teachers. We have given our hearts and souls to this noble profession. We have pursued intellectual rigor. We have fed students who were hungry. We have celebrated at student weddings and wept at student funerals. Education is our life. For this, you have made us the enemy. This is personal.

Under your leadership, schools have endured the Gap Elimination Adjustment and the tax cap, which have caused layoffs and draconian budget cuts across the state. Classes are larger and support services are fewer, particularly for our neediest students.

We have also endured a difficult rollout of the Common Core Standards. A reasonable implementation would have started the new standards in kindergarten and advanced those standards one grade at a time. Instead, the new standards were rushed into all grades at once, without any time to see if they were ‘You have made us the enemy. This is personal.’ — 7 N.Y. Teachers of the Year blast Cuomo - The Washington Post:

Reckhow and Tomkins-Stange Document How Gates and Broad Money Got Everyone "Singing from the Same Hymnbook" - Living in Dialogue

Reckhow and Tomkins-Stange Document How Gates and Broad Money Got Everyone "Singing from the Same Hymnbook" - Living in Dialogue:



Reckhow and Tomkins-Stange Document How Gates and Broad Money Got Everyone "Singing from the Same Hymnbook"

 By Anthony Cody. 

Researchers Sarah Reckhow and Megan Tomkins-Stange have released a paper titled “Singing from the Same Hymnbook”: Education Policy Advocacy at Gates and Broad.

The paper was shared last Thursday at a fascinating event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute. The event was a forum, called “Is the ‘new’ education philanthropy good for schools? Examining foundation-funded school reform.” While the panels were a bit weighted with inside players, and did not include a single actual educator, there is some useful information here, starting with the research by Reckhow and Tomkins-Stange.

I have been writing about the widening influence of the Gates Foundation since it became apparent around 2010. But Gates officials have been reluctant to acknowledge their influence, pointing out that their grants are a small fraction of the total amount spent on K12 education in the US. This paper should clear up this confusion for once and for all.

The authors use several different methods to investigate Gates and Broad influence, as they explain:

First, we collected data on grant distributions at each foundation. Second, we analyzed the testimony of foundation-funded witnesses in Congressional hearings. Third, we drew upon an original set of interviews with foundation officials, conducted between 2010 and 2012, to contextualize and extend our analysis.

Here is what they discovered:

 We find that after 2008, Gates and Broad deliberately pursued funding strategies that prioritized federal policy and advocacy initiatives, sometimes in partnership with one another through purposeful convergence.i Specifically, we find that since 2008, Gates and Broad shifted funds from local education groups to national advocacy organizations and from discrete project-based initiatives to systemic reform efforts. We also show that Congressional testimony on teacher quality by Gates-funded and Broad-funded grantees has increased over time, indicating that these foundations have identified this strategy as a source of significant policy influence.

Finally, we demonstrate that the foundations utilized two distinct strategies within their advocacy funding efforts. First, the foundations closely aligned themselves with high-level officials at the federal Department of Education. Second, they funded a broad range of education interest groups that provided testimony to policymakers, disseminated research, and promoted a common set of policy goals. We argue that these targeted strategies led to a dominant narrative emerging within policy debates regarding teacher quality, specifically the concept of “value-added” teacher evaluation.

I first wrote about this strategy back in 2011, in an essay entitled “Bill Gates’ Big Play: How Much Can Reckhow and Tomkins-Stange Document How Gates and Broad Money Got Everyone "Singing from the Same Hymnbook" - Living in Dialogue:

Inside Training Document Reveals How Test-Supporters Want to Talk About Testing - Living in Dialogue

Inside Training Document Reveals How Test-Supporters Want to Talk About Testing - Living in Dialogue:



Inside Training Document Reveals How Test-Supporters Want to Talk About Testing

By Anthony Cody.

I have received a training document from a recent conclave of corporate reformers that reveals in great detail how they would like to shape public discourse around the issue of testing.

In recent years the ways in which complex issues are framed has become a central task for those seeking to communicate with the public. George Lakoff’s book, Don’t Think of an Elephant, taught us how important it is to use language and conceptual frameworks to get our messages across. The creators of this document have taken his message to heart, and put a lot of thought into the framing of the issues surrounding testing and the Common Core.

With this in mind, it is informative to see how supporters of test-driven reform are seeking to shore up their eroding position in the public debate. The document I received is presented in bright colors with cartoon illustrations. I will share some of the main messages here, and you can download the whole thing here:HowToTalkAboutTesting. There is no author, source or sponsor listed.

The six page document is titled “How to talk about testing,” and each page tackles a different issue.

Page One: “The argument: There’s Too Much Testing. What’s at the heart of it? Parents want their children to get the maximum benefit from their education, and some fear that testing takes away from classroom learning.”

Advice:

FIRST: Find Common Ground:

Whether or not it’s true, you’re fighting a losing battle. It’s best to agree.

“You’re probably right, and there are a lot of reasons for that. The new Common Core tests are meant to improve the situation.”

THEN: Pivot to higher emotion: Peace of Mind

While their may be too much testing in some schools, we sure wouldn’t want to have no way of measuring progress. Parents want to know how their kids are doing, and they need an objective measuring stick. These new tests provide parents with the information they want and need.

DOs:

Do position new tests as a solution, not the problem. Distinguish between adding more tests and replacing old tests.

We know there are a lot of problems with tests. These tests were designed to address some of them. Many of the old tests being used today don’t provide parents and teachers with useful information. The new Common Core tests do. This isn’t about adding another test. It’s about replacing existing tests with something better.

Do suggest the simple act of talking to the teacher. “Challenging the district” Get Involved” can overwhelm parents.

DON’Ts:

Don’t overpromise. Don’t position new tests as the end all be all.

Are they perfect? No. But they’re better. Will the problem of overtesting go away overnight? No. But these tests will help.

Don’t overwhelm parents. This isn’t a call to action.

[this section has a “do not” symbol on top of it] “Get involved! Challenge your district! Educate yourself on all the many different kinds of tests your kids are taking and take action!”

Here are some other quotes from subsequent pages:

Page #3: The Argument: It’s more than just teaching to the test. What’s at the 

Inside Training Document Reveals How Test-Supporters Want to Talk About Testing - Living in Dialogue:

Guest: Resist federal pressure to consider test scores in teacher evaluations | Opinion | The Seattle Times

Guest: Resist federal pressure to consider test scores in teacher evaluations | Opinion | The Seattle Times:

Guest: Resist federal pressure to consider test scores in teacher evaluations

Linking teacher evaluations to test scores undermines quality education in our schools and demoralizes our teachers, writes guest columnist Robert Cruickshank.

AS Washington’s state legislators return to session, they are faced with a demand from the U.S. Department of Education to make high-stakes standardized tests a required part of teacher evaluations. If they do not make the change, the department is threatening to take back more than $40 million in federal funding and to withdraw our exemption from the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law.

It is an empty threat that the Legislature should refuse. Linking teacher evaluations to test scores undermines quality education in our schools and demoralizes our teachers. The Legislature should instead follow the lead of two dozen other states that have pushed back against federal education policy threats and should craft better solutions.

Washington’s teacher-evaluation system was developed after much public debate and reflects a balanced approach that emphasizes quality instruction, rather than a narrow focus on test scores.

Under the current system, districts can include test scores as part of a holistic evaluation process, but they are not required to do so. The Department of Education insists that test scores be included as part of all teacher evaluations in Washington, overriding the sensible compromise that has worked well in our state.

In states that have linked all teacher evaluations to test scores, the results are troubling. The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing reported last year that more teachers have been forced to narrow their curriculum to teach to the test. Teachers are becoming demoralized as they see their students missing out on important lessons, particularly in subjects such as art and music that cannot be subjected to standardized tests.

Parents are expressing frustration that their children are not getting a comprehensive education. Concerns regarding standardized tests already have produced resistance in Washington state, including the successful boycott of the Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP assessment, in several Seattle schools last year.

Rather than cave to federal threats, Gov. Jay Inslee and legislators ought to follow the lead of their colleagues in state houses across the country who have refused these demands without losing federal dollars or waivers.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan threatened to withhold federal dollars from California schools if the state delayed the implementation of certain standardized tests by a year. California Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature called Duncan’s bluff last fall. Federal education funds continue to flow to California.

Other states have begun to resist federal education mandates, spurred by parent anger over excessive testing. Leaders in the New York state Legislature recently announced plans to delay implementation of the Common Core standards after an outcry about overtesting from parents on Long Island.

Massachusetts already halted implementation of the Common Core standards in order to protect its own widely praised state assessment system. Twenty-three states, spanning the political spectrum, have begun to push back against test-heavy federal requirements.

None of these states have lost federal funding as a result of their actions, suggesting Washington state has nothing to fear if it refuses the Department of Education’s demand.

Inslee and the Legislature should reach out to these states and work together to craft a better set of Guest: Resist federal pressure to consider test scores in teacher evaluations | Opinion | The Seattle Times:

Using Student Test Scores to Fire Teachers: No More Reliable Than a Coin Toss - Living in Dialogue

Using Student Test Scores to Fire Teachers: No More Reliable Than a Coin Toss - Living in Dialogue:



Using Student Test Scores to Fire Teachers: No More Reliable Than a Coin Toss

 By Elizabeth Hanson M. Ed. And David Spring M. Ed.

In this report, we will explain why Washington State legislators should protect fair evaluations of our teachers and principals by opposing the use of unreliable student test scores to make decisions about teachers and principals. We therefore should oppose Senate Bill 5748 and House Bill 2019 which would unfairly require the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers and principals.

Public school teachers and principals deserve fair treatment on important decisions about who should be retained and who should be fired. They should not be fired based on student test scores because the variation in student test scores is random. It is no more reliable than a coin toss. How wise would it be to fire doctors or lawyers based on a coin toss? Heads they stay. Tails they go. Imagine what this would do the moral of staff who had also most no control over whether they stayed or were fired. In this report, we will look at the scientific research (or lack of it) on using student test scores to evaluate teachers.

What is Value Added Modeling (VAM)?The idea behind value added modeling is that you add up all of the high stakes test scores of a teachers students and compare them to their previous year’s test scores. Teachers whose students gained the most are rated as good teachers (they added value to their students). Teachers whose students gained the least are rated bad teachers and are fired.

There are numerous flaws with the using VAM to fire teachers.

First, VAM scores are unfair to teachers working with students from lower income families. Students from higher income homes gain the most on high stakes tests because they did not have to deal with outside problems like living in a homeless shelter. So VAM results in firing teachers in high poverty schools.

Second, VAM scores are not reliable. Because students assigned to any given teacher have backgrounds that vary greatly from year to year, the value added number assigned to a teacher varies greatly from year to year. A teacher rated as one of the best one year under VAM is likely to be rated one of the worst teachers the next year.

Third, VAM scores are not an accurate measure of student learning. High stakes multiple choice tests only Using Student Test Scores to Fire Teachers: No More Reliable Than a Coin Toss - Living in Dialogue:

With A Brooklyn Accent: Why School Reform is an Irresistible Strategy of Urban Development for Economic Elites

With A Brooklyn Accent: Why School Reform is an Irresistible Strategy of Urban Development for Economic Elites:

Why School Reform is an Irresistible Strategy of Urban Development for Economic Elites

In virtually every urban center in the nation, there is a concerted effort, supported by a cross section of the business community, to dismantle urban public schools and replace them with charter schools. A full court press of this kind is taking place in Buffalo New York, Memphis Tennessee, Camden New Jersey, Little Rock Arkansas and literally scores of other small and medium size cities.

Why is this taking place, often accompanied by a campaign of demonization directed at teachers and teachers unions?

The answer is actually simple. Money. There are huge profits to be made, in the short run and long run, by dismantling urban public schools, and replacing them with charters Here is a summary of the ways elites gain from privatizing urban public school systems

1, Tax credits gained from investing in charter schools Federal tax codes allow a 39% tax credit for investing in a new charter school, allowing investors to recoup their initial investment in 7 years and begin registering profits.

2. Real estate speculation. Closing long established public schools destabilizes poor and working class neighborhoods and pushes residents into suburbs or the outskirts of cities, allowing real estate investors to buy up existing properties at bargain rates and build market level units that attract a far wealthier clientele. You can see this kind of investment in several New York, Chicago and Washington neighborhoods where public schools have been replaced by charters and it it starting to occur in small cities as well

3.Creating of consulting firms which get lucrative state contracts to "turn around" failing schools and school districts, or provide professional development services to newly created charters. There are actually now programs in "Educational Entrepreneurship" at major universities which train you how to do just that.

4. Creation of for profit charter schools or on line schools to With A Brooklyn Accent: Why School Reform is an Irresistible Strategy of Urban Development for Economic Elites:

You made it personal: We are not the enemy - Times Union

You made it personal: We are not the enemy - Times Union:

You made it personal: We are not the enemy

Seven state-honored teachers protest Gov. Cuomo's educational leadership

Published 3:12 pm, Saturday, February 7, 2015

The following article was written by seven New York state Teachers of the Year: Ashli Dreher(2014, Buffalo); Katie Ferguson (2012, Schenectady); Jeff Peneston (2011, Syracuse); Rich Ognibene (2008, Rochester); Marguerite Izzo (2007, Malverne); Steve Bongiovi (2006, Seaford); and Liz Day (2005, Mechanicville)

Dear Governor Cuomo: We are teachers. We have given our hearts and souls to this noble profession. We have pursued intellectual rigor. We have fed students who were hungry. We have celebrated at student weddings and wept at student funerals. Education is our life. For this, you have made us the enemy. This is personal.

Under your leadership, schools have endured the Gap Elimination Adjustment and the tax cap, which have caused layoffs and draconian budget cuts across the state. Classes are larger and support services are fewer, particularly for our neediest students.

We have also endured a difficult rollout of the Common Core Standards. A reasonable implementation would have started the new standards in kindergarten and advanced those standards one grade at a time. Instead, the new standards were rushed into all grades at once, without any time to see if they were developmentally appropriate or useful.

Then our students were given new tests — of questionable validity — before they had a chance to develop the skills necessary to be successful. These flawed tests reinforced the false narrative that all public schools — and therefore all teachers — are in drastic need of reform. In our many years of teaching, we've never found that denigrating others is a useful strategy for improvement.

Now you are doubling down on test scores as a proxy for teacher effectiveness. The state has focused on test scores for years and this approach has proven to be fraught with peril. Testing scandals erupted. Teachers who questioned the validity of tests were given gag orders. Parents in wealthier districts hired test-prep tutors, which exacerbated the achievement gap between rich and poor.

Beyond those concerns, if the state places this much emphasis on test scores who will want to teach our neediest students? Will you assume that the teachers in wealthier districts are highly effective and the teachers in poorer districts are ineffective, simply based on test scores?

Most of us have failed an exam or two along life's path. From those results, can we conclude that our teachers were ineffective? We understand the value of collecting data, but it must be interpreted wisely. Using test scores as 50 percent of a teacher's evaluation does not meet this criterion.

Your other proposals are also unlikely to succeed. Merit pay, charter schools and increased scrutiny of teachers won't work because they fundamentally misdiagnose the problem. It's not that teachers or schools are horrible. Rather, the problem is that students with an achievement gap also have an income gap, a health-care gap, a housing gap, a family gap and a safety gap, just to name a few. If we truly want to improve educational outcomes, these are the real issues that must be addressed.

Much is right in public education today. We invite you to visit our classrooms and see for You made it personal: We are not the enemy - Times Union: