Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 9/30/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

News Corp. Sells Amplify to Existing Leadership Team | EdSurge News

News Corp. Sells Amplify to Existing Leadership Team | EdSurge News: News Corp. Sells Amplify to Existing Leadership TeamYesterday Amplify laid off upwards of 500 employees. Today Amplify has new owners.Or does it? News Corporation announced today that it has “sold its Amplify Insight and Learning businesses to a management team supported by a group of private investors.” These buyers include fami

by mike simpson / 36min 

Taking from the Middle Class, Giving to the Rich - It's the Malloy Way - Wait What?

Taking from the Middle Class, Giving to the Rich - It's the Malloy Way - Wait What?: Taking from the Middle Class, Giving to the Rich — It’s the Malloy WayAt yesterday’s State Bond Commission meeting, Governor Dannel Malloy’s plan to give $1 million in taxpayer funds to the private equity company MC Credit Partners so they could move to Stamford sailed through despite the fact that days earlier Ma

by mike simpson / 1h 

Charters with Broad support show only a mixed return on investment - LA School Report

Charters with Broad support show only a mixed return on investment - LA School Report: Charters with Broad support show only a mixed return on investmentIn building a case for creating 260 charter schools within in LA Unified eight years at a cost of $490 million, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has cited “significant” gains by three charter organizations that have received $75 million from th

by mike simpson / 1h 

“Profiting from Those Least Able to Resist”: On the “Promise” of Charter Schools | EduSanity

“Profiting from Those Least Able to Resist”: On the “Promise” of Charter Schools | EduSanity: “Profiting from Those Least Able to Resist”: On the “Promise” of Charter SchoolsDr. Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell provided a guest lecture at the University of ArkansasDay five of CIED 694V: Progressive Education Policy welcomed a guest lecturer from Louisiana State University to talk about charter school

by mike simpson / 2h 

CURMUDGUCATION: RI: This Is Why Tenure Is Necessary, Part 32,871,299

CURMUDGUCATION: RI: This Is Why Tenure Is Necessary, Part 32,871,299: RI: This Is Why Tenure Is Necessary, Part 32,871,299William Ashton is in trouble again.Ashton is an English teacher in Rhode Island. If you remember his name, it's because last spring, the Jacqueline Walsh School for the Performing Arts suspended him for allegedly badmouthing the PARCC. The "badmouthing" was the proces

by mike simpson / 3h 

Crimes against the people of Newark and their children | Bob Braun's Ledger

Crimes against the people of Newark and their children | Bob Braun's Ledger: Crimes against the people of Newark and their childrenNo, this is not Montclair or MendhamThe woman at the heart of this story doesn’t want me to use her name or her picture–or the names and pictures of her children.  I can’t blame her for that. I don’t know anyone who wants to tell the world about her troubles, especiall

by mike simpson / 4h 

Ohio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools

Ohio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools - Break News - Ohio: Ohio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schoolsA top Ohio Department of Education official who resigned in July after manipulating data to boost charter schools also participated in a successful effort to obtain $71 milli

by mike simpson / 5h 

Fresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app | Fresno Bee

Fresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app | Fresno Bee: Fresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy appFresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson says he used a controversial privacy phone app to conduct school district business, but denies allegations that it was used to cover up his involvement in no-bid contracts that are now the s

by mike simpson / 5h 

Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system | | Dallas Morning News

Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system | | Dallas Morning News: Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation systemThe National Education Association-Dallas is planning to file a “class-action” grievance with Dallas ISD over its new teacher evaluation system.The evaluation system, called the Teacher Excellence I

by mike simpson / 5h 

College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource

College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource: College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachersThis survey by EdSource, in partnership with the California Teachers Association (CTA), provides new insights into teacher attitudes toward preparing students for college and careers, a principal goal of all major education reforms being implemented in Califo

by mike simpson / 5h 

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation: BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designationArizonans for Charter School Accountability is an amazing organization that is exposing malfeasance and fraud in one of the worst charter school states in the nation. We have opined here in the past that Arizona

by mike simpson / 5h 

¿COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY ROBOCALL? - 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: ¿COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY ROBOCALL?: L.A. Unified wants to know when parents want school to be in session (Redux): ¿COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY ROBOCALL?: L.A. Unified wants to know when parents want school to be in session (Redux)BY HOWARD BLUME | LA TIMES | HTTP://LAT.MS/1KLZR8Ralso see+hear:LAUSD SOLICITING FEEDBACK FROM PARENTS ON PROPOSED SCHOOL YEAR CH

by mike simpson / 5h 

New Maple Community Center Breathes New Life — Hmong Innovating Politics

New Maple Community Center Breathes New Life — Hmong Innovating Politics: New Maple Community Center Breathes New Life By Nancy Xiong, HIP OrganizerEarly this month, HIP joined La Familia Counseling Center for the 10th Anniversary of the Sacramento Hispanic/Latino Parade. On a street more known for its traffic, seeing families and children lined up along Franklin Boulevard was a welcomed change. T

by mike simpson / 7h 

Lawsuit says California budget violates school funding guarantee | The Sacramento Bee

Lawsuit says California budget violates school funding guarantee | The Sacramento Bee: Lawsuit says California budget violates school funding guaranteeStudents, administrators, teachers and board members participate a "listening circle" at Mesa Verde High School on Wednesday, March 25, 2015, in Citrus Heights, Calif. A recent lawsuit contends that the recent state budget improperly manip

by mike simpson / 7h 

NY Gov Cuomo creates a Common Core Commission that is too big to fail | lacetothetop

NY Gov Cuomo creates a Common Core Commission that is too big to fail | lacetothetop: NY Gov Cuomo creates a Common Core Commission that is too big to failGovernor Cuomo has once again tapped former Citigroup chairman Richard Parsons to lead his second Commission on education. The first one ended in a report ironically entitled “A Final Action Plan.”  I wonder if this means a teacher will be taske

by mike simpson / 8h 

Schools Matter: Common Core and the Incredible Shrinking Imagination

Schools Matter: Common Core and the Incredible Shrinking Imagination: Common Core and the Incredible Shrinking ImaginationOne of the many technocratic mandates of the Common Core Standards comes in the form of an insistent rationing of the kinds and amounts of reading materials that schoolchildren should be exposed to at different grade levels.   Below is the breakdown from the Common Core website

by mike simpson / 8h 

Co-opting the Movement? Get the inside story on the Education Town Hall BUS | Education Town Hall Forum: Weekly Broadcast Archives, Extended Discussion, plus Monthly BUS Ride

Co-opting the Movement? Get the inside story on the Education Town Hall BUS | Education Town Hall Forum: Weekly Broadcast Archives, Extended Discussion, plus Monthly BUS Ride: Co-opting the Movement? Get the inside story on the Education Town Hall BUSThis week on the Education Town: Organizing for Education Justice and Attempts to Co-Opt the Movement. The Education Town Hall BUS — BadAss Teachers,

by mike simpson / 8h 

National Education Association Says ‘Bernie Can’t Win’: We Will Endorse Hillary: Members Furious

National Education Association Says ‘Bernie Can’t Win’: We Will Endorse Hillary: Members Furious: National Education Association Says ‘Bernie Can’t Win’: We Will Endorse Hillary: Members FuriousAs the first Democratic debate approaches, members of the National Education Association – the largest labor organization in the US – is split over which candidate they should support in the upcoming presid

by mike simpson / 8h 

Federal grant boosts charters, management organizations too :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Federal grant boosts charters, management organizations too :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: Federal grant boosts charters, management organizations too(District of Columbia) As part of the federal government’s commitment to charter schools, the U.S. Department of Education announced this week an award of more than $157 million to states for

by mike simpson / 9h 

Exclusive: Bankruptcy Is a “Huge Opportunity” to Privatize Schools Says EdBuild | PR Watch

Exclusive: Bankruptcy Is a “Huge Opportunity” to Privatize Schools Says EdBuild | PR Watch: Exclusive: Bankruptcy Is a “Huge Opportunity” to Privatize Schools Says EdBuildThe school privatization movement has long sought to consign public schools and locally elected school boards to the dust heap of history to usher in a brave new world of “free market” schools instead of free and universal public

by mike simpson / 9h 

Education Research Report: Review of Report on the Effectiveness of Teacher Development Programs

Education Research Report: Review of Report on the Effectiveness of Teacher Development Programs: Review of Report on the Effectiveness of Teacher Development ProgramsA recent report from TNTP, formerly known as The New Teacher Project, argues for fundamental changes in the way public school districts think about teacher professional development (PD) and growth. But a new review of that report exp

by mike simpson / 9h 

Thousands of Charter Schools Close: Rip Off Taxpayers, Steal Students’ Future | janresseger

Thousands of Charter Schools Close: Rip Off Taxpayers, Steal Students’ Future | janresseger: Thousands of Charter Schools Close: Rip Off Taxpayers, Steal Students’ FutureLast week I received a press release about a new report: Center for Media and Democracy Publishes Full List of 2,500 Closed Charter Schools.  What to do with this information?  What does it really mean?  Isn’t the threat of possib

by mike simpson / 9h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: SpEd cuts delayed? If you don't hit it, it won't fall

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: SpEd cuts delayed? If you don't hit it, it won't fall: SpEd cuts delayed? If you don't hit it, it won't fallWinston jukes stats. Ignores CPS's own report on SpEd needs.At yesterday's board meeting... Parent Wendy Katten of Raise you hand says, "My son's school lost four positions, they have no change in their enrollment there. You are going to face lawsuits.&quo

by mike simpson / 9h 

A Bureaucrat Testifies to Where Student/Teacher Data is Sent & For What Purpose. Confirmed: It’s Cradle to Grave. » Missouri Education Watchdog

A Bureaucrat Testifies to Where Student/Teacher Data is Sent & For What Purpose. Confirmed: It’s Cradle to Grave. » Missouri Education Watchdog: A Bureaucrat Testifies to Where Student/Teacher Data is Sent & For What Purpose. Confirmed: It’s Cradle to Grave.The blueprint for data retrieval has been in plain view for quite some time now if legislators and citizens were curious to know how/w

by mike simpson / 9h 

How much do big education nonprofits pay their bosses? Quite a bit, it turns out. - The Washington Post

How much do big education nonprofits pay their bosses? Quite a bit, it turns out. - The Washington Post: How much do big education nonprofits pay their bosses? Quite a bit, it turns out.The Securities and Exchange Commission recently finalized a rule forcing businesses to share data with workers that expose how much more their chief executives make than they do.In that spirit, let’s take a look at

by mike simpson / 9h 

The Troubling Link Between School Funding and Race - The Atlantic

The Troubling Link Between School Funding and Race - The Atlantic: The Data Are Damning: How Race Influences School FundingResearch shows that in Pennsylvania’s public schools skin color, not economics, determines how much money districts get.PHILADELPHIA—In America, schools with a lot of minority students are chronically underfunded. Is that the case because these students are poor, and poor comm

by mike simpson / 9h 

Alfie Kohn: Do This and You'll Get That: A Bad Way to Defend Good Programs - Education Week

Do This and You'll Get That: A Bad Way to Defend Good Programs - Education Week: Do This and You'll Get That: A Bad Way to Defend Good ProgramsWhen we're not sure people will support our cause, it's tempting to link it to something more popular. Because an idea may be controversial or lack broad support, we hitch a ride on an outcome that reflects mainstream values. It's a strategy widely used in

by mike simpson / 10h 

"A People's History" of the Opt Out Movement - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform

"A People's History" of the Opt Out Movement - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform: “A People’s History” of the Opt Out MovementThe following post was written by Tim Slekar, one of the founders of United Opt Out National.Howard Zinn talked about the writing of history and the intentional omission of certain facts and the strategic use of other facts in composin

by mike simpson / 10h 

National Governors Association, Teachers Unions to Congress: Finish Work on NCLB - US News

National Governors Association, Teachers Unions to Congress: Finish Work on NCLB - US News: Governors, Teachers Unions to Congress: Fix NCLBThe push comes just days after Speaker John Boehner, an original architect of NCLB, said he plans to resign.Governors and major education groups urged Congress Tuesday to complete its work to overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – commonly known

by mike simpson / 10h 

How the Seattle Teachers’ Union Got Tough and Got Popular - Seattle Weekly

Seattle News and Events | How the Seattle Teachers’ Union Got Tough and: How the Seattle Teachers’ Union Got Tough and Got PopularThe Seattle teachers’ strike shifted the public image of teachers’ unions—both in Seattle and across the country.Three years ago, Jonathan Knapp took the helm of a Seattle Education Association that had taken its share of defeats. Teachers were dissatisfied with the con

by mike simpson / 10h 

Civil and Human Rights Groups Gearing Up for ESEA Conference

Civil and Human Rights Groups Gearing Up for ESEA Conference: Civil and Human Rights Groups Gearing Up for ESEA ConferenceWASHINGTON –– In the lead-up to the House and Senate conference on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, civil rights groups have continued to work with potential conferees to ensure that vulnerable students aren’t left out of the final legislation. The Leadership Confere

by mike simpson / 10h 

YESTERDAY

Illinois (Chiefly Chicago) Charter Schools: From the 2014 Biennial Report | deutsch29

Illinois (Chiefly Chicago) Charter Schools: From the 2014 Biennial Report | deutsch29: Illinois (Chiefly Chicago) Charter Schools: From the 2014 Biennial ReportI have been reading the 84-page Illinois Biennial Charter School Report (2011-12 and 2012-13), which was released in January 2014.Illinois has a charter school law that offers charters “significant flexibility” (pg. 3).Here are some notable

by mike simpson / 19h 

Rowe, Butkovich tackle testing during southeast Denver school board debate | Chalkbeat

Rowe, Butkovich tackle testing during southeast Denver school board debate | Chalkbeat: Rowe, Butkovich tackle testing during southeast Denver school board debateDenver school board candidate Kristi Butkovich and incumbent Anne Rowe wait for a televised debate to begin Tuesday. ( Photo by Nicholas Garcia )Denver school board member Anne Rowe and opponent Kristi Butkovich sparred in a debate Monday

by mike simpson / 20h 

Oregon Save Our Schools: New english-learners test rolled out, though not ready and harmful

Oregon Save Our Schools: New english-learners test rolled out, though not ready and harmful: New english-learners test rolled out, though not ready and harmfulOn September 24 at the Oregon Department of Education’s Title III Directors webinar, the directors heard about some changes in the ELPA21 test that could potentially discriminate against English Language Learners.This slide from the meeting

by mike simpson / 20h 

How to Combat Child Poverty in the U.S. | Bruce Lesley

How to Combat Child Poverty in the U.S. | Bruce Lesley: How to Combat Child Poverty in the U.S.Our nation's leaders must do better than simply accept or ignore that 14.7 million, or 20 percent, of our nation's children are living in poverty. The consequences of poverty and depravity to a child's health, their education, safety, nutrition, and overall well-being limits their opportunity and future.

by mike simpson / 22h 

NYC Public School Parents: Ghosts of NYC past return to haunt the news: the Rise and Fall of Amplify

NYC Public School Parents: Ghosts of NYC past return to haunt the news: the Rise and Fall of Amplify: Ghosts of NYC past return to haunt the news: the Rise and Fall of Amplifycredit; LindamarieUpdate 9/29/15: the Observer reports an estimated two thirds of the Amplify staff were just laid off.Many ghosts from Tweed and NYC’s education past have re-appeared in the news the past few weeks, some of t

by mike simpson / 22h 

Second Lawsuit Asserts Breach of Common Core Opt-out Rights - Pacific Justice Institute

Second Lawsuit Asserts Breach of Common Core Opt-out Rights - Pacific Justice Institute: Second Lawsuit Asserts Breach of Common Core Opt-out RightsVentura, CA--On the heels of a groundbreaking lawsuit challenging a school district in Los Angeles for failing to inform parents of their opt-out rights, a similar lawsuit has now been filed in neighboring Ventura County. Pacific Justice Institute file

by mike simpson / 22h 

The Impact of a Portfolio = Mission-Driven Investing in Education

The Impact of a Portfolio — Baltimore EdTech — Medium:The Impact of a PortfolioMission-Driven Investing in EducationImpact, mission-driven, or mission-related investing begins with discretesocial goals and aims to yield tangible, scalable social + financial returns. To me, it is focusing on what you know, what you love, and where you know you can make a measurable difference.“Impact investing is a

by mike simpson / 23h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 9/29/15

CORPORATE ED REFORMCalifornia denied renewal of federal funding for charter schools | EdSourceCalifornia denied renewal of federal funding for charter schools | EdSource: California denied renewal of federal funding for charter schoolsCalifornia, which received $250 million in federal money over the last five years to foster the growth of charter schools, will get none of the $125 million that wil

by mike simpson / 23h 

News Corp. Sells Amplify to Existing Leadership Team | EdSurge News

News Corp. Sells Amplify to Existing Leadership Team | EdSurge News:

News Corp. Sells Amplify to Existing Leadership Team

Yesterday Amplify laid off upwards of 500 employees. Today Amplify has new owners.

Or does it? News Corporation announced today that it has “sold its Amplify Insight and Learning businesses to a management team supported by a group of private investors.” These buyers include familiar faces from the company’s existing leadership, notably Larry Berger and Joel Klein, both of whom were the face of the Amplify. The deal is effective immediately.

The leadership team also includes many former executives from Amplify: Laurence Holt (Chief Product Officer), Leslie Kerner (General Manager at Amplify Insight), Kate Finnefrock (Senior Vice President of Product Development), Shannon Kete (Chief Operating Officer at Amplify Learning), Catherine Mackay (Senior Vice President of Digital English Language Arts curriculum team), Jim Mylen (Senior Vice President of Sales), Pat Smith (Chief Operating Officer) and Adam Zalisk (Chief of Staff, Amplify Learning)

The new company—which will retain the Amplify name—will be led by Larry Berger. He had previously co-founded Wireless Generation, the education data and analytics company that News Corp. purchased for $390 million in 2010. Wireless became one of the foundational elements for Amplify.

“I will lead the new Amplify,” Berger wrote in an email sent to the company—presumably, those employees who survived yesterday’s cuts. “I look forward to working with you to build great products and a great company. I am proud of the technology we’ve invented, the educational innovations we’ve pioneered, and the results we’ve delivered—and most importantly, of the team we’ve assembled.”

Joel Klein, former CEO of Amplify, is ceding the leadership role but “will play an important role in our future, including serving on our board of directors and providing critical strategic advice,” Berger said in his note.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

News Corp. Sells Amplify to Existing Leadership Team | EdSurge News:

Taking from the Middle Class, Giving to the Rich - It's the Malloy Way - Wait What?

Taking from the Middle Class, Giving to the Rich - It's the Malloy Way - Wait What?:

Taking from the Middle Class, Giving to the Rich — It’s the Malloy Way

At yesterday’s State Bond Commission meeting, Governor Dannel Malloy’s plan to give $1 million in taxpayer funds to the private equity company MC Credit Partners so they could move to Stamford sailed through despite the fact that days earlier Malloy announced more than $100 million in deep budget cuts to a variety of vital services as part of  his effort to knock down what will surely be a significant budget deficit before the year is out.

Adding insult to injury, Malloy continues to pay for his Corporate Give-A-Way Program with funds that he is charging to the state’s credit card, meaning, he is actually borrowing the money from Wall Street, which in turn, pushes up the long-term cost to taxpayers since we have to pay back the money plus the associated interest.

According to the Malloy administration, in return for the $1 million, MC Credit Partners [Yes, McCredit is their real name], will move their office, along with their 21 employees, from New York City to space in a building in downtown Stamford, Connecticut.

The office building is owned by one of the city’s biggest campaign contributors and is already the home of two other companies that received Corporate Welfare payments from the Malloy administration.

Malloy’s political spin about the whole arrangement takes a bit of hit when one learns, thanks to a quick search on Bloomberg.com, that MC Credit Partners is already located on the 5^th Floor of 2200 Atlantic Street in Stamford.

But then again, perhaps the “deal was done” long before the people of Connecticut were provided the opportunity, through the Bond Commission, to actually vote on the decision to give taxpayer funds to MC Credit Partners.

According to the language adopted by the State Bond Commission,

“These funds are requested to provide a loan to MC Credit Partners, LP to assist in Taking from the Middle Class, Giving to the Rich - It's the Malloy Way - Wait What?:

Charters with Broad support show only a mixed return on investment - LA School Report

Charters with Broad support show only a mixed return on investment - LA School Report:

Charters with Broad support show only a mixed return on investment

In building a case for creating 260 charter schools within in LA Unified eight years at a cost of $490 million, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has cited “significant” gains by three charter organizations that have received $75 million from the foundation.

But when all factors are considered, there is little conclusive evidence in the report outlining the expansion plans that shows big investments in charters always — or evenly routinely — achieve consistent academic improvements, raising an important question: Just what can Broad and other foundations promise for an investment of nearly half a billion dollars in an expansion effort that would dramatically change the nation’s second-largest school district?

The Broad plan points to three of LA Unified’s largest charter operators that have received Broad largess — Green Dot Public Schools, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools and KIPP Public Charter Schools — and says, “These organizations have turned our investments into significant academic gains for students.”

In some cases, the gains are clear, but in others they are not. One category shows a regression in test scores, and others that demonstrate only marginal gains.

The analysis looks at five years of “proficiency rates” for the organizations’ schools, spanning 2008-09 through 2012-13. Although the document does not explicitly say, it appears the data refers to scores on the old Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) exams, which were discontinued after 2012-13.

It’s also unclear what exactly “proficiency rates” refers to. For purposes of comparison with the new Smarted Balanced tests, the district and the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) combined the top two categories, “met” and” exceeded” standards. In the previous tests, the state broke down results into four levels of achievement, with one called “Proficiency” and a superior level called “Advanced.” But it’s not clear if the Broad report used one category or combined the higher two.

Swati Pandey, the Broad Foundation communications manager, did not respond to an email, seeking an explanation.

Over five years, proficiency rates for Green Dot students in English language arts Charters with Broad support show only a mixed return on investment - LA School Report:

“Profiting from Those Least Able to Resist”: On the “Promise” of Charter Schools | EduSanity

“Profiting from Those Least Able to Resist”: On the “Promise” of Charter Schools | EduSanity:

“Profiting from Those Least Able to Resist”: On the “Promise” of Charter Schools

Dr. Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell provided a guest lecture at the University of Arkansas

Day five of CIED 694V: Progressive Education Policy welcomed a guest lecturer from Louisiana State University to talk about charter schools, especially the charterization of the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas. Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell is associate professor of Literacy and Urban Education at LSU and coordinates the elementary grades teacher education programs. Beyond living through Hurricane Katrina in the area and bearing witness to what happened in New Orleans–the city is now 100% populated by charter schools–she recently co-edited a special issue of the journal Equity & Excellence in Education on “The Promises of Charter Schools.” The issue was built around a single question: “How is the promise of charter schooling, as a vehicle for social justice in public education, playing out? (Dowell & Bickmore)”

I’ve questioned the motives of charter schools for a host of reasons, including the concept that they are leading to increased segregation of our public school system and the notion that students should not, in any situation, be turned into a profit scheme. To me, charters are a smoke and mirrors attack on public education marauding around as “choices” for parents who might be disenfranchised with their local public school. When I invited Dr. Dowell to speak to our Progressive Education Policy course, I thought I might finally get some nuance to my stance.

In preparation for class and at the invitation of our guest, we read the introduction to the themed issue as well as a piece by Nancy Picard, a Louisiana attorney who penned Louisiana’s Great Education Giveaway, a lengthy blog post that captures the genesis and repercussions of the New Orleans takeover. Ms. Picard doesn’t hedge language in her opening paragraph:

Instead, [charters] create a separate and wholly unequal educational system masquerading as choice, which serves to destabilize and discredit public schools in the name of improvement and to make state funds accessible to a wide range of individuals and corporations with little or no oversight.

As Picard point by point explained what happened in New Orleans, the “Profiting from Those Least Able to Resist”: On the “Promise” of Charter Schools | EduSanity:

CURMUDGUCATION: RI: This Is Why Tenure Is Necessary, Part 32,871,299

CURMUDGUCATION: RI: This Is Why Tenure Is Necessary, Part 32,871,299:

RI: This Is Why Tenure Is Necessary, Part 32,871,299

William Ashton is in trouble again.

Ashton is an English teacher in Rhode Island. If you remember his name, it's because last spring, the Jacqueline Walsh School for the Performing Arts suspended him for allegedly badmouthing the PARCC. The "badmouthing" was the process of correcting student misconceptions about how an under-95% testing rate would affect the school; to put it another way, he contradicted the standard state-generated propaganda about why students "must" take the Big Standardized Test.

The suspension spurred student protests, including old-school (picketing) and new-school (facebook page). And ultimately, Ashton was back in his classroom. That was last March.

Now, Ashton is in trouble again.

This time, he appears to have answered a question about birth control in the time of the Pilgrims. And now the student is back out on the sidewalk, picketing and protesting that her teacher is in trouble for answering her question.

Pawtucket Superintendent Patti DiCenso has seized this teachable moment by dragging the students out of class to scold them, informing them that "they were being inappropriate and shouldn't be protesting." DiCenso, in what I can only assume is a bid to model how grown-up professionals deal with disagreement, has blocked one of the students from the superintendent's twitter page (@PawtuckSup, just in case you want to say hi). 

DiCenso told Norton and Roberts that they were being bullies because they were demanding the return of their teacher and threatening to peacefully protest if he wasn’t reinstated, they said.

Now, we are only getting the students' version of this meeting, so I'm going to hope that this is a big of hyperbole on their part and not their superintendent of schools saying foolish, foolish things. DiCenso's office CURMUDGUCATION: RI: This Is Why Tenure Is Necessary, Part 32,871,299:



Students Should Be Able To Show What They Know

Students should be able to show what they know.

Many folks take this as a self-evident truth. Arne Duncan has said it more than a few times, and heads nod as if this is one of those reasonable-sounding things that Duncan says from time to time.

But I think it demands closer examination.

Because possessing a skill or piece of knowledge is not the same thing as being able to demonstrate it. This problem lies at the heart of public education; it is one of our largest, most fundamental, and yet most commonly unexamined issues.

Ask your students. This is why many smart young people hate school. Understanding, figuring out, getting a handle on a piece of knowledge is really exciting-- but having to prove to somebody else that you understand is a big fat pain in the ass.

Finding proof of student learning is a huge part of the teacher's job, and whether it is done poorly or not makes all the difference in that teacher's effectiveness. The challenge starts from the very moment you formulate the problem. There is a huge difference between "How do I figure out of this student understands" and "How do I make this student prove to me he gets it." The first is a valuable Students Should Be Able To Show What They Know

Crimes against the people of Newark and their children | Bob Braun's Ledger

Crimes against the people of Newark and their children | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Crimes against the people of Newark and their children

No, this is not Montclair or Mendham

The woman at the heart of this story doesn’t want me to use her name or her picture–or the names and pictures of her children.  I can’t blame her for that. I don’t know anyone who wants to tell the world about her troubles, especially personal financial troubles.  The story would have more impact if she were willing to provide identifying details and you could see a picture of her and her children, but I understand why she wishes not to do that. The woman, however, is real and I have spoken to her at length. If someone in authority wants to help her, I will tell that person how to reach her.

I will call her Dolores because that means sad. I will call her 8-year-old son David because that is my son’s name. I will call her 4-year-old son Henry because that is my grandson’s name.  All children are our children, after all.

Dolores recently moved to Newark from another town in Essex County.  She is unemployed. She ran out of benefits and she is broke.  Although she and her children moved into the city before the school year began, she was unable to register her children in the school closest to her apartment, Belmont-Runyon.

Newark doesn’t really have neighborhood schools anymore. Rich white people who live in places like Montclair and Glen Ridge and Mendham have decided the residents of Newark must go to the schools they–the rich white people–say they should go to.  So Dolores’s two sons could not go to Belmont Runyon, just a short walk away.

It’s almost funny because those rich white people call this system “choice.”  No one I know can explain why. If Dolores could choose, she says, she would choose the school a block or so away. But strangers who can’t possibly  know how it is to live like Dolores chose to send Dolores’s 8-year-old son, David, to a school more than a mile away. It’s called the Hawthorne School.

To get David to school every morning, Dolores must get up about six when it is still dark and feed and dress her two sons. Then Dolores walks with her two young children to the bus stop and catches the bus that goes partly across town to the Hawthorne Avenue School.

Then Dolores gets back on the bus with Henry to go home. A few hours later, she Crimes against the people of Newark and their children | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Ohio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools

Ohio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools - Break News - Ohio:
Ohio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools

A top Ohio Department of Education official who resigned in July after manipulating data to boost charter schools also participated in a successful effort to obtain $71 million in federal money that could allow the wholesale takeover of urban school districts.

The U.S. Department of Education this week announced that it is providing $249 million to six states and the District of Columbia over the next five years for the expansion of charter schools.

The single-largest grant of $71 million goes to Ohio, which ranks near the bottom nationally for charter-school academic performance and has a history of financial failures.

Records show that David Hansen, a longtime advocate for charter schools hired by State Supt. Richard Ross to run his school-choice office, was involved in the grant application that will facilitate the takeover of Youngstown city schools and other targeted urban districts.

The takeover of so-called “recovery school districts” such as Youngstown was secretly negotiated by Ross, Kasich’s then chief of staff Beth Hansen and Youngstown business officials and approved by the legislature in June in a stunning last-minute maneuver.

David and Beth Hansen are husband and wife, and she left Kasich’s staff in July to run his presidential campaign.

Records released by the Ohio Department of Education Sept. 3 in response to newspaper investigations of Hansen’s role in the data manipulation also show that he assembled the supporting documents for the federal grant.

In those supporting documents, charter schools, charter-school advocates and members of the U.S. Congress painted a positive picture of Ohio.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in announcing the $71 million this week, cited a Stanford University report suggesting that charter schools nationwide are showing improvement.

He didn’t mention another Stanford report that says Ohio charter schools areOhio official who manipulated charter-school data helped win federal grant to take over public schools - Break News - Ohio: 

Fresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app | Fresno Bee

Fresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app | Fresno Bee:

Fresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app

Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson says he used a controversial privacy phone app to conduct school district business, but denies allegations that it was used to cover up his involvement in no-bid contracts that are now the subject of a federal investigation.

Hanson said Tuesday that he and a small group of senior staff used Cyber Dust – an app that automatically erases any record of text messages, leaving no digital footprint – in 2014 for less than a month. It was done as an experiment, he said.

“We used it as a trial run to see if it would help us do our work better and more effectively, and it didn’t,” Hanson said. “Nothing we used it for had anything to do with things that are now the topic of the grand jury investigation, and the use of this app will be fully disclosed when we turn over and disclose all of our documents.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office served the district with a grand jury subpoena last month, requesting a wide range of documents pertaining to Fresno Unified’s involvement in no-bid construction contracts – including district officials’ personal phone records.

“I think with respect to technology, normal is always changing,” Hanson said. “But let me be very, very clear: When we used it, we were totally within our district policy around electronic records in that we don’t retain instant or text messages of any type. It’s not something we archive.

“But that has all changed from the moment we got notified by the grand jury. We have been active in making sure we’re preserving everything they’ve asked for.”

NOTHING WE USED IT FOR HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THINGS THAT ARE NOW THE TOPIC OF THE GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION.

Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson on Cyber Dust

The use of Cyber Dust was discussed in a closed session school board meeting last week, but trustees were unsure Tuesday who actually had used the app.

Hanson would not name the other staffers who also used the Cyber Dust app, but he said no trustees were involved.

Chief Operations Officer Karin Temple said she did not use the app and was not aware it was being used. Chief Financial Officer Ruthie Quinto could not be reached.

Trustees Brooke Ashjian, Carol Mills, Luis Chavez, Janet Ryan and Christopher De La Cerda also said they have never used Cyber Dust. Trustees Cal Johnson and Valerie Davis did not return phone calls.

Ashjian said trustees were left in the dark about who used the app and why it was used.

“For a district official to have that on their phone and communicate with other districtFresno Unified Superintendent Hanson admits to using Cyber Dust privacy app | Fresno Bee:

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/education/article36993945.html#storylink=cpy

Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system | | Dallas Morning News

Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system | | Dallas Morning News:

Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system

The National Education Association-Dallas is planning to file a “class-action” grievance with Dallas ISD over its new teacher evaluation system.

The evaluation system, called the Teacher Excellence Initiative (TEI), bases teacher pay on performance, student surveys and test scores. The old system mainly tied teacher pay to tenure.

Under TEI, teachers receive points for each evaluation area that is used to determine their “effectiveness level.” Salaries for the nine different levels can range from $50,000 for new teachers to $90,000 for “master” teachers. The top five levels are for teachers who go through a “Distinguished Teacher Review.”

Angela Davis, president of NEA-Dallas, called the new system “unfair.” She said that some teachers who did well didn’t get raises because they were already at the salary cap for their assigned level.

Davis said that some teachers don’t know exactly how they were measured, and in some cases the principals that evaluated them have left the district. This school year, 1 in 3 campuses have new principals.

“It’s just not right,” Davis said.

Davis said the deadline to join her group’s grievance is 5 p.m. Thursday. She said that teachers who have already filed individual grievances can still have their grievance included. She added that if the matter can’t be settled at the district level, her group will consider other action.

Teachers found out their effectiveness level on Sept. 18 and the complaints have run the gamut. Some teachers have complained that while they did well on their evaluation, they won’t get raises because they are at the salary cap for their assigned level.

Other concerns center on teachers with several years of experience, who made in the $47,000 range last school year. They now earn around the same amount as beginning teachers, who received this year’s new starting salary of $50,000. The district capped raises at $5,000.

The evaluation system was briefly discussed at last week’s board meeting. A couple of trustees raised questions to interim Superintendent Michael Hinojosa about teachers who did well but didn’t get raises.

“Dr. Hinojosa that needs to be cleaned up, because that is not correct,” trustee Joyce Foreman said. “We have employees who will not receive an increase who did not have unsatisfactory performance.”

Trustee Dan Micciche asked Hinojosa if the district was considering making adjustments in the plan for teachers considered “distinguished” who did not get a raise because they are already above their compensation level.

Hinojosa said there were preliminary discussions but there are no specific recommendations at this time. He said that the district has to be careful with its budget Employee association plans “class-action” grievance against Dallas ISD evaluation system | | Dallas Morning News:

College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource

College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource:

College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers

This survey by EdSource, in partnership with the California Teachers Association (CTA), provides new insights into teacher attitudes toward preparing students for college and careers, a principal goal of all major education reforms being implemented in California, including the Common Core State Standards.

Of the 1,000 teachers surveyed, 95 percent support setting college and career readiness as the goal for the state’s students. The teachers surveyed also said they felt critical thinking skills are a more important indicator of college readiness than standardized test scores.

But while indicating a high level of support for the Common Core standards, teachers also expressed a need for a clearer definition of what constitutes “college and career readiness” and for greater professional development to support these goals. The survey also found that teachers’ confidence in the attainability of the career and college readiness goals varied based on the socioeconomic background of their students.

Even as the major focus is on preparing students for college, teachers ranked career academies, linked learning or other programs that tie the high school curriculum to a specific career pathway as the resource their school or district needed most.

The teachers surveyed generally responded positively when asked about their job satisfaction, with nearly three-fourths saying they are either “very satisfied” or “fairly satisfied.”

The survey was conducted in April 2015 by the public opinion research firm GBA Strategies on behalf of EdSource and the CTA. College and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource:

SURVEY DOCCollege and Career Readiness: An EdSource/CTA survey of teachers | EdSource:

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation

Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation:

BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation

Arizonans for Charter School Accountability is an amazing organization that is exposing malfeasance and fraud in one of the worst charter school states in the nation. We have opined here in the past that Arizona has no concept of a conflict of interest and allows the starkest, most absurd entanglements of financial interests one can imagine.

Now, Arizonans for Charter School Accountability has exposed a crass and cynical manipulation of the charter school financing system. Cynical and crass because it exploits money designated for special needs students to increase its already considerable profits. You can read the details at ACSC's website or jump to the story immediately that has been reproduced below:

Special Education Fraud II: BASIS Inc.BASIS Inc. does everything possible to game Arizona’s financial system. They received Federal start up funds, designed for new charter holders, to build their 12th school. They charter each school individually and claim they are “small” schools to receive additional funding, even though they have over 8000 total students. Now we find that in 2013-14 they claimed to have 19 severely handicapped students in eight schools. Hearing Impaired, Visually Impaired, Multiple Disabilities, Autism, Intellectual Disability - all students that require a great deal of support to achieve in school. These students generate four to six times the revenue per pupil of a regular education child to pay for the extensive services they require. These 19 students netted an additional $350,000 in state assistance for BASIS Inc. (Data is on the ADE Finance site: Charter Equalization Report (CHAR55-1) 2014)

The problem? According to their 2014 Annual Financial Report, BASIS expended ZERO dollars on special education in all of its 12 schools, except for $244,800 for “general administration” that went straight to BASIS Inc. Worse yet, every BASIS school claims to have spent an identical amount, exactly $20,400, for special education general administration, whether they had education students or not.

It is hard to image 19 severely handicapped students being able to navigate one of the most rigorous curriculums in the country without assistance. There are three possibilities:

• First is the possibility that BASIS is collecting $350,000 for special education students that don’t exist. That is fraud on both a state and federal level. Or maybe BASIS legitimately has 19 handicapped students and is not providing them appropriate services. That would Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: BASIS Charter Schools make fraudulent use of Special Education designation: