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Matt Damon takes on Philly schools in new documentary — NewsWorks
Monday, October 24, 2016
How charter schools are dodging Colorado laws | The Colorado Independent
How charter schools are dodging Colorado laws | The Colorado Independent:
How charter schools are dodging Colorado laws
Charter schools have been using waivers to get out of teaching comprehensive sexual health classes, state mandated hiring and firing practices, substitute teacher policies and many other rules. Who’s watching? Nobody.
How charter schools are dodging Colorado laws
Charter schools have been using waivers to get out of teaching comprehensive sexual health classes, state mandated hiring and firing practices, substitute teacher policies and many other rules. Who’s watching? Nobody.
Educators say people without college degrees, including high schoolers, are teaching in Pre-K through fifth grade classes at the Community Leadership Academy, a publicly funded charter school in Commerce City.
At the Golden View Classical Academy, in Golden, students are learning that real marriages are just between men and women, and that condoms are ineffective in preventing sexually transmitted diseases.
Though these educational practices seem to defy Colorado law, charter schools have found a legal workaround, and many Democratic and Republican lawmakers are looking the other way. After all, charters have been the darlings of education reformers from both parties for more than 20 years.
In 1993, Colorado’s first two charter schools enrolled just 187 students. Now 226 charter schools educate more than 108,000 students statewide, making up roughly 12 percent of the total K-12 public school enrollment.
Though hundreds of laws govern public schools, many of those rules are being waived for charters both by school districts and the state Board of Education.
Currently, the Board of Education automatically grants 18 waivers involving laws related to benefits, hiring and firing at charter schools. The state makes this process easy because nearly every charter school requests these exceptions.
Golden View Classical Academy.
Photo by Derec Shuler
Photo by Derec Shuler
The Board also grants non-automatic waivers, which require charter schools to explain why they should be given a pass on rules that apply to all other schools. That’s how Golden View Classical Academy dodged state sex-ed requirements.
Individual school districts set additional policies for how charter schools obtain waivers. Jefferson County, for example, offers 42 automatic waivers and dozens more non-automatic ones. Non-automatic waivers must include a replacement plan explaining the rationale for the exception and how it is tied to the school’s mission, how the school will meet the law’s intent and how the waiver’s impact will be evaluated.
In JeffCo, replacement plans must be submitted when charters turn in contract applications.
But seven JeffCo charter schools’ waiver applications reviewed by The Colorado Independent included incomplete replacement plans, and in 10 cases, blank sheets of paper with nothing but the title of the district policy where the plan should be. All but one of the applications were for five-year contract renewals with the district.
Montessori Peaks in Littleton submitted blank sheets of paper instead of replacement plans for some district waivers.
In Golden, Free Horizon Academy – which applied for dozens of waivers — merely referred to its employee handbook or school policy manual in its replacement plans. Yet the word “waiver” never appears in the manual as it applies to district policies, and there is no justification or plan for evaluating waivers, as the district requires.
Charter schools claim to educate students better than traditional schools. One reason cited: They have more flexibility in dealing with state and How charter schools are dodging Colorado laws | The Colorado Independent:
Big Education Ape: Remembering Tom Hayden
Big Education Ape: Remembering Tom Hayden
Big Education Ape: Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/10/mike-klonskys-smalltalk-blog-weekend.html
tomhayden.com - The Democracy Journal - http://tomhayden.com/
Big Education Ape: tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - An Interview with The Washington Post - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2012/07/tomhaydencom-peace-exchange-bulletin.html
Big Education Ape: Archived Wednesday speeches from Democracy Convention: Ben Manski, Tom Hayden, Paul Soglin, Cheri Honkala | - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2011/08/archived-wednesday-speeches-from.html
Big Education Ape: tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - 'The fight is on': Hayden, Ross lead talk on engagement and citizenry #OWS - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2011/11/tomhaydencom-peace-exchange-bulletin.html
Big Education Ape: tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - SDS Founder, Veteran Activist Tom Hayden on Participatory Democracy From Port Huron to Occupy Wall Street - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2012/04/tomhaydencom-peace-exchange-bulletin.html
Big Education Ape: tomhayden.com - TOM HAYDEN FROM THE PEOPLE'S CLIMATE MARCH - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2014/09/tomhaydencom-tom-hayden-from-peoples.html
Big Education Ape: Tom Hayden, counterculture icon, invites public to dig into his archives | Al Jazeera America - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2014/09/tom-hayden-counterculture-icon-invites.html
Big Education Ape: tomhayden.com - Peace Exchange Bulletin - NATO Occupies Chicago, Key Moment for Afghanistan - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2012/04/tomhaydencom-peace-exchange-bulletin_20.html
We are here to make a better world.
No amount of rationalization or blaming can preempt the
moment of choice each of us brings to our situation here on this planet. The
lesson of the 60's is that people who cared enough to do right could change
history.
We didn't end racism but we ended legal segregation.
We ended the idea that you could send half-a-million
soldiers around the world to fight a war that people do not support.
We ended the idea that women are second-class citizens.
We made the environment an issue that couldn't be avoided.
The big battles that we won cannot be reversed. We were
young, self-righteous, reckless, hypocritical, brave,silly, headstrong and
scared half to death.
And we were right.
Abbie Hoffman
CURMUDGUCATION: NY: Commissioner Struggles with Teacher Shortage
CURMUDGUCATION: NY: Commissioner Struggles with Teacher Shortage:
NY: Commissioner Struggles with Teacher Shortage
Maryellen Elia was brought in to the Empire State to help clean up the mess that former education honcho John King left behind.
Her results have been mixed. She invested a lot of energy in defending the Big Standardized Test,even issuing a handy propaganda kit to help push down those opt out numbers. It didn't work.
Last Friday, Elia talked to the NYS Association of Teacher Educators and the NY Association of Colleges for Teacher Education about some of the issues tied to the looming (or possibly not, or possibly already here, depending on who's talking) teacher shortage. As reported by the Times-Union, some of what she had to say was on point, and some of it indicates that she still doesn't understand the situation.
On the plus side, Elia is one policy leader who understands that more than decade of beating up on teachers and the teaching profession has not exactly made the field attractive to folks.
But folks at the meting also talked about a side-effect of test-driven accountability that has been long-predicted and now visibly concerning. Placing student teachers is becoming increasingly difficult in a world where high stakes testing season runs the schools. How can I possibly turn my class over to a pre-rookie when so much about the future of my school and my own professional career is riding on what's happening in my classroom. And the focus at this meeting was on student teachers who are hard to place at al-- that's before we even get to student teachers who get a placement, but who are not allowed to do much of anything because of concerns about the BS Tests.
Elia said that the department is working on "several efforts to boost district cooperation." But the CURMUDGUCATION: NY: Commissioner Struggles with Teacher Shortage:
Big Education Ape: CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Reading in the Seattle Dew (10/23) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/10/curmudgucation-icymi-reading-in-seattle.html
NY: Commissioner Struggles with Teacher Shortage
Maryellen Elia was brought in to the Empire State to help clean up the mess that former education honcho John King left behind.
Her results have been mixed. She invested a lot of energy in defending the Big Standardized Test,even issuing a handy propaganda kit to help push down those opt out numbers. It didn't work.
On the plus side, Elia is one policy leader who understands that more than decade of beating up on teachers and the teaching profession has not exactly made the field attractive to folks.
But folks at the meting also talked about a side-effect of test-driven accountability that has been long-predicted and now visibly concerning. Placing student teachers is becoming increasingly difficult in a world where high stakes testing season runs the schools. How can I possibly turn my class over to a pre-rookie when so much about the future of my school and my own professional career is riding on what's happening in my classroom. And the focus at this meeting was on student teachers who are hard to place at al-- that's before we even get to student teachers who get a placement, but who are not allowed to do much of anything because of concerns about the BS Tests.
Elia said that the department is working on "several efforts to boost district cooperation." But the CURMUDGUCATION: NY: Commissioner Struggles with Teacher Shortage:
Big Education Ape: CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Reading in the Seattle Dew (10/23) - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/10/curmudgucation-icymi-reading-in-seattle.html
Segregation, race, and charter schools: What do we know? | Brookings Institution
Segregation, race, and charter schools: What do we know? | Brookings Institution:
Segregation, race, and charter schools: What do we know?
Segregation, race, and charter schools: What do we know? | Brookings Institution:
Segregation, race, and charter schools: What do we know?
“Segregation, race, and charter schools: What do we know?” Brookings Senior Fellows Grover J. “Russ” Whitehurst and Richard Reeves, along with Senior Research Assistant Edward Rodrigue, find that poverty—not race—is the real challenge for segregated schools, and that improving school quality is key to closing racial achievement gaps.
Examining empirical research that measures the effect of interventions to provide low-income and minority students with access to higher-performing and more racially heterogeneous schools, the authors conclude that positive impacts on student achievement are driven by school quality.
Looking at trends in racial segregation over time, the authors find that changes in schools’ racial makeup in recent decades have been driven largely by the increase in the Hispanic and Asian American populations. While black and white students have become much more likely to share classrooms with Hispanics, blacks and whites are not more likely to share classrooms with each other than they were decades ago—the original intent of the Brown v. Board of Education landmark Supreme Court ruling that desegregated schools 60 years ago.
But while many school districts are less racially segregated, school segregation by family income has increased since 1990 both within and between school districts. The authors note that race and economic status are of course highly correlated, with black students four times as likely to be in a high-poverty school as a low-poverty one; for whites the ratio is the other way round.
The authors also focus on how charter school systems influence segregation, finding that while national averages show that charters serve almost equal numbers of white, black, and Hispanic students, individual charter schools are generally more racially segregated than traditional public schools that serve the same geographical area. In urban areas, the charter schools into which black students transfer from traditional public schools are substantially more segregated racially than the traditional public schools from which they exit. Despite that segregation, studies of urban charter schools present compelling evidence that high quality urban charters can overcome the effects of school segregation on student achievement.
The authors conclude, “The U.S. is an increasingly diverse nation, but remains a highly segregated one. Our schools reflect both our separateness and our inequality…The desire for more integrated schools is understandable. But it is helpful to be as clear as possible about what lies behind that desire. If the main objective is to narrow racial achievement gaps, we need to understand to what extent, and in what way, segregation influences those gaps. The weight of evidence suggests that, at least in the context of the education system, the worse educational outcomes for minority students are the result not of the racial composition of their schools, but the economic backgrounds of their fellow students, and the quality of the school itself—both of which are strongly correlated with race.”
To learn more, read the full paper here.
Segregation, race, and charter schools: What do we know? | Brookings Institution:
Matt Damon takes on Philly schools in new documentary — NewsWorks
Matt Damon takes on Philly schools in new documentary — NewsWorks:
Matt Damon takes on Philly schools in new documentary
Matt Damon takes on Philly schools in new documentary
The School District of Philadelphia’s money struggles are well documented. And now they have their own documentary.
A film opening this weekend focuses on education reforms in the Philly schools, positing that they’ve bankrupted the district.
"Backpack Full of Cash" premieres at the Philadelphia Film Festival Saturday with a 5:10 p.m. showing at the Prince Theater. A second showing is set for Oct. 29.
Narrated by Oscar winner Matt Damon, the film wastes little time revealing its point of view. Damon, a well-documented skeptic of what critics call “corporate” education reform, begins the documentary with an dark warning:
“A battle is underway over who should control public education,” he says. “Parents, teachers and activists are up against a well-organized coalition headed by business leaders and conservatives.”
It’s clear the filmmakers favor the former, arguing the proliferation of charters has infected traditional public schools and brought them to the brink of collapse.
The film serves as a rebuttal to "Waiting for Superman," the popular documentary that lionized school choice advocates. And, indeed, director and co-producer Sarah Mondale conceived the project after she saw the 2010 film.
“It was a very unbalanced, unfair characterization, and it’s kind of what got me motivated to do this film,” said Mondale. "I wanted to switch the perspective."
"Backpack Full of Cash" is set in Philadelphia during the 2013-14 school year, which began with major cutbacks and a severe budget shortfall. It features interviews with plenty of familiar faces, including Otis Hackney, head of the mayor’s office of education; district superintendent William Hite; and Councilwoman Helen Gym.
The filmmakers picked Philadelphia over other large urban school districts because they felt it best exemplified the negative consequences of education reform.
It should be noted Philadelphia is now in much better financial shape, and even had a small surplus this year. The district, does, however, anticipate long-term money woes driven by rising charter and pensions costs.Matt Damon takes on Philly schools in new documentary — NewsWorks:
Big Education Ape: BACKPACK FULL OF CASH: a new film, narrated by Matt Damon - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/10/backpack-full-of-cash-new-film-narrated.html
America’s Public Education for All and America’s Foreign Wars | Reclaim Reform
America’s Public Education for All and America’s Foreign Wars | Reclaim Reform:
America’s Public Education for All and America’s Foreign Wars
America’s Public Education for All and America’s Foreign Wars
While the USA rebuilds war torn foreign countries with the aim of helping them flourish independently, the establishment of decent public schools for all is deemed a necessity.
What are our taxes paying for in the foreign countries we have bombed?
Not expensive and unproven high stakes testing of various brand names, not profitable privatization via charter schools, not a labor pool of cheap and uncertified replaceable instructors called teachers, not substituting online learning for actual human and humane teaching, not pretending that data is both knowledge and wisdom, not allowing billionaire’s with so-called philanthropic foundations and propaganda laden think tanks that actually make billions of dollars of tax free money to decide what children must do.
Decent public education for all is a mainstay for peace and prosperity, and everybody knows it. American tax money pays for this – in the foreign countries we bomb.
The September 2016 issue of Harper’s Magazine has a superb and lengthy account of a panel forum titled Tearing Up the Map. Its focus is on international relations. Of necessity America’s war endgames and rebuilding policies include decent public education for all. Access for all.
“Look at northern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War, which was a hugelyAmerica’s Public Education for All and America’s Foreign Wars | Reclaim Reform:
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