Yes, this stuff is still happening in U.S. schools — and it’s wrong - The Washington Post

Yes, this stuff is still happening in U.S. schools — and it’s wrong - The Washington Post:

Yes, this stuff is still happening in U.S. schools — and it’s wrong

A high school in an impoverished community is ordered closed. It is doing an awful job with its students, the school board says, and the dwindling number of kids who attend deserve a better education somewhere else. But that “somewhere else”  becomes problematic. Two nearby school districts pass on the chance to take in the students. A third district finally agrees, but only in one of its poorest neighborhoods, in one of its worst-performing schools, which happens to have students who have long feuded with kids in the closed schools. Hardly a recipe for success.

When and where did this happen? This important story by my colleague Emma Brown tells the tale: Wilkinsburg High School in a poor suburb of Pittsburgh is being closed at the end of the school year, and the kids will move to the Pittsburgh School District. The story says:

“If you were to ask everyone honestly if this is the best academic solution for kids, they would tell you no,” said state Rep. Jake Wheatley (D-Allegheny), whose district includes much of Pittsburgh.

Unfortunately, this could be taking place in any number of places around the country, as school reformers continue to use school closures as a reform “tool” — even though there is no real evidence that most of the students who are forced to move into other schools wind up doing much if any better academically.

For example, a Chicago study in 2009, which was followed up in 2012, found that of all the students in city public schools that were closed for academic failure from 2001 to 2006, only 6 percent were sent to schools with better test scores than the one they had previously attended. A 2014 Michigan State University study of more than 200 closings of low-performing schools  in Michigan found that while the closings of “may generate some achievement gains for displaced students, part of these gains will likely be offset by spillover effects onto receiving schools.”

In her story, Brown quotes students who say they are desperate to learn. But Yes, this stuff is still happening in U.S. schools — and it’s wrong - The Washington Post:

CBE Online is Neither Personalized Nor Higher-Order Thinking!

CBE Online is Neither Personalized Nor Higher-Order Thinking!:

CBE Online is Neither Personalized Nor Higher-Order Thinking!

Competency-Based Education (CBE) is being promoted as the way to “personalize” education, but it is a cold impersonal method of teaching on the computer. It fails to teach to the whole child and merely provides fragmented drill. It will be coordinated with Common Core, and there are concerns about student private information being compromised.

Competency-Based Education (CBE) itself has been around for years. Teachers pretest, or figure out what a child doesn’t know or understand. They provide instruction that addresses what the student lacks. Then the teacher reassesses to see if their instruction made a difference. If the instruction works, the teacher moves on. If it doesn’t work, they rethink their teaching strategy and do something different.

Teachers might not think about CBE much because it is usually automatic. Special education teachers used to hear about CBE quite often because it is used with IEPs.

There is nothing wrong with CBE per se, but let’s be clear. Today’s online CBE is all CBE Online is Neither Personalized Nor Higher-Order Thinking!:

It Was a Bad Week for Education Reform at the End of an Awful Era of Corporate School Reform | John Thompson

It Was a Bad Week for Education Reform at the End of an Awful Era of Corporate School Reform | John Thompson:

It Was a Bad Week for Education Reform at the End of an Awful Era of Corporate School Reform

The title of Jeff Bryant's Education Opportunity Network piece says it best: Education Reform's Very Bad, God-Awful Week. Bryant reviews the resignation of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, President Obama's apology for contributing to over-testing, and the stagnation and even the decline of the reliable NAEP scores after decades of growth.

Bryant also surveys the national news on charters. A series of new stories in several states document how the lack of oversight opened the doors for financial irregularities by charter school operators, and the number of other reports documenting underperformance by charters continues to grow. Of course, the documentation of how Success Academy pushes out more-difficult-to-educate kids and Eva Moskowitz's arrogant response was a huge blow to reformers.

Bryant concludes his impressive catalogue of recent reform failures with the words of teacher/activist Jesse Hagopian:

It should be clear that this national uprising, this Education Spring, has forced the testocracy to retreat and is the reason that the Obama administration has come to its current understanding on testing in schools. However, the testocracy, having amassed so much power and wealth, won't just slink quietly into the night.

The first decade of school reform was an outgrowth of Reaganism. As Karl Rove explained, conservatives sought to destroy public sector unions in order to cut off funding for the Democratic Party. He endorsed NCLB in order to split Democratic constituencies in an effort not to defeat, but to outright destroy, the party.

Test-driven, market-driven reform became exceptionally destructive when conservatives were joined by liberals and neo-liberals. As contemporary reform movement morphed in corporate school reform, the big donors' public relations gurus spun it into a supposed "civil rights" issue. That unholy alliance is now unraveling, It Was a Bad Week for Education Reform at the End of an Awful Era of Corporate School Reform | John Thompson:

A Copernican Revolution Needed for Democratic School Reform | Harry Boyte

A Copernican Revolution Needed for Democratic School Reform | Harry Boyte:

A Copernican Revolution Needed for Democratic School Reform

In the last installment of our Education Week blog conversation on democracy and schools, Deborah Meier gave a remarkable account of school change efforts in the last two decades, "Democratic Experiments." She is worth quoting at length:

"In the early 1990s...some 100 plus K-12 schools in NYC proposed a large-scale experiment, serving about 50,000 students and representative of the city as a whole. Our aim: to demonstrate the value of greater school/community-based autonomy including show-casing alternative systems of accountability. Annenberg offered us 50 million dollars to try it out. The mayor, NYC chancellor, NYC board of education, the state superintendent of schools, and the American Federation of Teachers local chapter signed on. Two local universities agreed to study our work over five years both statistically and ethnographically. If we hadn't been stopped by a new chancellor and a new state superintendent we'd have learned a lot."

Meier also describes smaller but still significant efforts like "Boston's Pilot" schools and the "Consortium" of schools in New York City, both of which have used alternative assessments, have generally proven successful, and have been largely ignored by policy makers.

The question is how to respond.

It seems to me that the fact the chancellor and state superintendent could end of the "large scale experiment" in the early 1990s despite the broad coalition involved in planning it, shows why we need to rethink politics on a large scale.

Politics has become narrowly professionalized, detached from "civic roots" in the life of local communities. It now almost entirely revolves around politicians (and other public figures), their antics, promises, and positions. Like many other experts, they are detached, especially at state and national levels and in federal agencies. Citizens are reduced to consumer choices. This makes for dysfunctional politics and powerless and irresponsible citizens.

I had a different experience as a young man in the civil rights movement. Black beauty parlors and barber shops were places where people learned "everyday politics." As Sara Evans and I describe in our book, Free Spaces: The Sources of Democratic Change in America, I saw how this learning could be deepened. Highlander Folk School worked with beauticians across the south to teach organizing skills.

One story with parallels from our years at the Humphrey Institute is about the late A Copernican Revolution Needed for Democratic School Reform | Harry Boyte:

If Eva Moskowitz Weren’t Real, Charter School Opponents Would Have Had to Make Her Up

Eva Moskowitz defends Success Academy principal responsible for 'got to go' list.:

If Eva Moskowitz Weren’t Real, Charter School Opponents Would Have Had to Make Her Up

At a press conference Friday afternoon, Eva Moskowitz, former New York City Council member and the founder and CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools, announced that she would not fire the principal responsible for the now-notorious “got to go” list that the New York Times reported on the previous day. The Times story detailed one Success Academy’s efforts to push out 16 particularly challenging kids: “I felt I couldn’t turn the school around if these students remained,” the principal, Candido Brown, said in an email.

Without defending the actions of the principal, the ever-classy Moskowitz distributed emails she’d sent after discovering the “got to go” list and reprimanding Brown, who she called “stubborn and somewhat dense” in one missive.

“At Success, we simply don't believe in throwing people on the trash heap for the sake of public relations," Moskowitz said of her refusal to fire Brown. (Note: This is exactlywhat she is accused of doing to students who don’t meet Success’ rigorous disciplinary and academic expectations.) The short-lived list, in Moskowitz’s telling, was an outlier—the error of a single “dense” principal, not a systemic problem with how her schools are run.

Brown, the principal, also spoke, through tears: “As an educator I fell short of my commitment to all children and families at my school and for that I am deeply sorry.” He said he was “doing what I thought I needed to do to fix a school where I would not send my own child.”

Success is New York City’s largest charter network, with 11,000 students. The most that Moskowitz would acknowledge was that “Success may not be the absolute best setting for every child,” particularly children with special needs. This is not a new admission, or a new controversy—though the storm clouds seem to be thickening above Success’ CEO of late.

To think that just a month ago Moskowitz was considered a likely challenger—and aEva Moskowitz defends Success Academy principal responsible for 'got to go' list.:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The Tribune editorial board has found their 'Mussolini'. But IL crisis is a bi-partisan affair.

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The Tribune editorial board has found their 'Mussolini'. But IL crisis is a bi-partisan affair.:

The Tribune editorial board has found their 'Mussolini'. But IL crisis is a bi-partisan affair.

Rahm and Griffin

HILLARY'S IN TOWN TODAY raising lots of campaign dough. I would have attended this morning's brunch at the Gold Coast home of Tanya and Michael Polsky, the CEO of Invenergy, But my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.

I also missed the Rahm-hosted lunch event at noon. I couldn't come up with the $2,700-per-person tab (not including tip for the parking guy) let alone the $27,000, it would have taken to have my picture taken with Hil.

Interesting side-note here. Wing-nut Chicago billionaires Ken Griffin andTodd Ricketts are among the funders of the new super anti-Hillary PAC, Future45. Each gave $250,000 to help launch the super PAC.

Lynn Sweet writes that Griffin is the billionaire founder and CEO of the Chicago hedge fund Citadel and a jumbo donor to Republican candidates and causes. Ricketts, a Cubs board member who is the CEO of the conservative Ending Spending super PAC, was the co-national finance chair for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s short-lived presidential primary campaign.

Why these guys don't have Noble Charter Schools named after them is Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: The Tribune editorial board has found their 'Mussolini'. But IL crisis is a bi-partisan affair.:

Walton Foundation’s new education investment strategy: Scary or what? - The Washington Post

Walton Foundation’s new education investment strategy: Scary or what? - The Washington Post:

Walton Foundation’s new education investment strategy: Scary or what?

The Walton Foundation is one of the biggest players in the education philanthropy world, having poured some $1.3 billion in K-12 education over the last two decades largely to support charter schools and fuel the “school choice” movement. But foundation honchos aren’t exactly satisfied with the results of their work and now they are using a new investment strategy to make a broader impact. For people who like the foundation’s philosophy, that’s good news. For those who think the foundation works against public education, it’s scary.

[Why are out-of-state billionaires putting big money into Louisiana’s board of education elections?]

A paper recently released (see below) titled “Investing in Change: The Walton Family Foundation Charts a New Course” looks at what the foundation has — and hasn’t — accomplished in its effort to fulfill what foundation K-12 Program Director Marc Sternberg calls its “moral obligation” to provide families with high-quality school choices. It quotes Walton Family Foundation Executive Director Buddy Philpot, who wrote in the foundation’s 2014 annual report released this year:

We know that empowering parents and students with options works, but now we want to do more. We have learned that while choice is vital, it is not enough.

Choice isn’t enough? So what is? Apparently dismantling traditional public school systems and creating collections of charter schools across cities.  The report, written by Michelle Wisdom and published by Grantmakers for Education (a national network of hundreds of education philanthropies) says:

There are a lot of similarities between the Walton Family Foundation’s approach and what has come to be called a “Portfolio Strategy”—a concept researched and supported by the Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE). Portfolio Strategy identifies the entire city as the unit of change with respect to school reform, and tasks education and civic leaders with developing a citywide system of high-quality, diverse, autonomous public schools. These systems prioritize school autonomy, parental empowerment, and system leader oversight and responsibility for accountability.

Wisdom’s report points to Walton’s involvement in cities with big charter presences, including New Orleans, where nearly all of the schools are charters, and Washington D.C., where nearly half of students attend charters. These are hailed as successes in school reform. In the section about Walton Foundation’s new education investment strategy: Scary or what? - The Washington Post:

CURMUDGUCATION: NC: Queen of NCLB Takes Over University

CURMUDGUCATION: NC: Queen of NCLB Takes Over University:

NC: Queen of NCLB Takes Over University

North Carolina's conservative GOP leadership has been working hard to show the nation how aneducation system can be trashed quickly and thoroughly, and while we have focused lots of attention on how they are trying to gut their K-12 system, what dismantling of public education would be complete without going after the state's flagship university?

The writing (in big blocky letters carved out in crayon) has been on the wall for a while. Governor Patrick McCrory proposed a new funding formula for the university system just as soon as he took office in January of 2013.

It's not based on butts in seats but on how many of those butts can get jobs.

Stupid liberal arts. What universities need to be doing is providing high-level vocational training.

But the big shocker came when the state systems board of governors, led by Charlotte lawyer John Fennebresque, canned the well-respected university president Tom Ross. The firing was not well-received, and was even less well-received because Fennebresque and the board would not explain their action. Not political, they said. Doing a great job, they said. But still out of a job. The board is hand picked by the legislature, but Fennebresque swears "on a stack of Bibles" that nobody at the CURMUDGUCATION: NC: Queen of NCLB Takes Over University:

Most Likely 2 Succeed | EduShyster

Most Likely 2 Succeed | EduShyster:

Most Likely 2 Succeed

Venture capitalist-turned-documentary-producer Ted Dintersmith is a fierce critic of test and measure, and no excuses charter schools. And he offers a compelling vision of what schools could look like….

EduShyster: Your new film, Most Likely to Succeed, makes a convincing case that the obsession with standardized testing is leading us over a cliff—and not into a sea of innovation. Why? And keep in mind that there is only one correct answer and that I’m timing you.

Ted Dintersmith: Well, it all depends on how you see the goal of education. If the goal is to teach kids year after year to shut down their creative thinking and stop asking questions, we’re doing a great job. Is school about learning vocabulary and math through repetition and drilling  under time pressure? Or is it about doing complicated challenging things that you care about and learning to persevere and be creative and resourceful?

EduShyster: Full disclosure—I initially approached your film with a heavy heart (not to mention a full glass) as it belongs to a category I’ll just call *Our Schools Suck.* But it’s a surprisingly hopeful film, largely because you offer such a compelling vision of what schools could look like.

Dintersmith: When people say *is there any hope?* I say walk with me through kindergartens all over your state. Look at the the characteristics of every five year old. If we just didn’t screw that up there is every reason to be optimistic. If we could take those characteristics and develop them and make them more powerful through education, there’d be all sorts of reasons for optimism. What kids tell me in state after state—and I’ve now been in 25 out of 50 states with this film—is that when they have the chance to experience project-based learning, they thrive and blossom and develop confidence.

EduShyster: You’re also critical of the *no excuses* charter schools that are rapidly becoming the norm in cities across the country. We’ve reached the essay portion of the test, so I’ll give you a full paragraph on this one.

Dintersmith: I was at a school in Minneapolis recently that had a bunch of former Most Likely 2 Succeed | EduShyster:

Once again Connecticut elected officials are wrong to mandate the SAT for all 11th graders - Wait What?

Once again Connecticut elected officials are wrong to mandate the SAT for all 11th graders - Wait What?:

Once again Connecticut elected officials are wrong to mandate the SAT for all 11th graders

As the 2015 Session of the Connecticut General Assembly came careening to a close last spring, legislators overwhelmingly approved a bill that replaced the mandate that 11^thgraders take the unfair, inappropriate and discriminatory Common Core Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Test (SBAC) with a new requirement that all high school juniors take the unfair, inappropriate and discriminatory College Board SAT test.

Without remotely understanding the ramifications of their action, legislators and Governor Dannel Malloy congratulated themselves for a job well done.

The Connecticut Education Association heaped praise on the very elected officials who had undermined public education in Connecticut, taking credit for the move to the SAT and Once again Connecticut elected officials are wrong to mandate the SAT for all 11th graders - Wait What?:

Will City of Hartford take a stand on Bronins' ethics problem? - Wait What? http://bit.ly/1iygbS0

Moskowitz and Petrilli Push Education Model Designed to Serve Strivers and Shed the Rest | janresseger

Moskowitz and Petrilli Push Education Model Designed to Serve Strivers and Shed the Rest | janresseger:

Moskowitz and Petrilli Push Education Model Designed to Serve Strivers and Shed the Rest

It is amazing to watch Eva Moskowitz, New York City’s charter school diva, take on her arch political rival, Mayor Bill de Blasio in a charter school war she wages through histrionics and melodrama.  The two were rivals in New York’s city council, and only recently did Moskowitz decide not to challenge de Blasio for mayor in the next election.  She has amassed a powerful backing—from billionaire hedge fund managers to New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo, who has proven himself responsive to the money Moskowitz’s supporters have donated to underwrite his own political campaigns.

Moskowitz, who eschews the term “brand,” has spent lots of time and money creating one.  It has been documented here and here that she and her supporters have employed the Washington, D.C. communications firm, SKD Knickerbocker, whose managing partner is Anita Dunn, the former communications director for the Obama White House.  One problem Moskowitz may not see, due to her obsession with building the power of her own Success Academy Charters, is that she may be damaging the entire charter school “brand” by persistently demonstrating the ethical problem inherent in school choice: such programs favor the few who are most promising at the expense of children who are more vulnerable and less desirable.

First, a couple of weeks ago, the PBS NewsHour aired a piece filmed by John Merrow on the outrageous suspension rates for children in Kindergarten and first grade at Success Academy Charters.  (This blog covered Merrow’s report here.)  Eva responded, typically, by attacking PBS and John Merrow.  Then last Thursday, Kate Taylor reported in depth for the New York Times on a Success Academy charter school that singled out children for disciplinary action after the school had determined that some children should be on a “Got to Go” list.  Taylor explains, “Success Academy, which is run by Eva S. Moskowitz, a former New York City councilwoman, is the city’s largest charter school network.  It has 34 schools, and plans to Moskowitz and Petrilli Push Education Model Designed to Serve Strivers and Shed the Rest | janresseger:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES Rauner's a 'sociopath'. Does anyone still doubt it?

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES Rauner's a 'sociopath'. Does anyone still doubt it?:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES Rauner's a 'sociopath'. Does anyone still doubt it?

"Sociopath" Rauner sends Chicago a dead fish.

CTU Pres. Karen Lewis

"I do want to say something about that sociopath governor," Lewis said during her talk Friday before launching into a long story about an encounter with Rauner.

"He told me what he believed in, and then he told me what he didn't believe in," she said. "He said, 'I don't believe in collective anything. I don't believe in communal anything.'"

"But then he told me we had something in common," Lewis said. Rauner noted that they both attended Dartmouth College. "Worst two years of my life," Lewis said. -- Chicago Tribune

Alliance Charters spokeswoman Catherine Suitor

"Of course, we are going to comply with the order. It actually doesn't change much. It says no one will coerce or threaten [unionizing Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES Rauner's a 'sociopath'. Does anyone still doubt it?:

Hailed as a ‘bold vision,’ an innovative school plan hits roadblocks - The Hechinger Report

Hailed as a ‘bold vision,’ an innovative school plan hits roadblocks - The Hechinger Report:

Hailed as a ‘bold vision,’ an innovative school plan hits roadblocks

Controversy over a California community center that would unite a school district and a city shows how popular ideas can lose favor once they are executed

EMERYVILLE, Calif. — The Emeryville Center of Community Life was supposed to be a slick, 150,000-square-foot community schools complex that would assist this city’s neediest students and their families by providing dental, mental health, and tutoring services on the same site where they attended school. It was first proposed more than a decade ago just as the community schools model was becoming increasingly popular.

In 2013, the National League of Cities hailed the Emeryville plan as a “bold vision.” It was also touted in a Fast Company article titled “This Is What It Looks Like When a School Becomes a Community Hub.”

But for folks here in this quirky swath of tech-start-ups, shopping malls and renovated artist studios, the citywide plan has proven to be less of a solution and more of cautionary tale, a lesson in how hard it can be to take a community schools dream and turn it into a workable reality, even when almost everyone likes the idea.

Emeryville’s small size — only two schools and fewer than 800 students — may not be typical of districts experimenting with the community schools idea. Many are in larger, more urban areas. But with the growing interest around the country in community schools, Emeryville’s problems are an important cautionary tale.

When community schools succeed, the results can be impressive. Two years ago, Emeryville’s neighbor Oakland, a larger, more troubled school district, adopted the model, turning 27 neighborhood schools into community hubs by adding afterschool programs, asthma-mobiles, farmer’s markets, adult literacy classes and free Dad’s clubs. In Chicago, there are more than 200 community schools. Baltimore has 45. And New York City, the largest school district in the country, has an estimated 150.

The concept is based on the idea that schools in struggling communities should serve as social service hubs, helping to provide support for families before and after the regular school day. Some community schools offer literacy programs for mothers. Others provide regular check-ups to toddlers. All serve to limit the non-academic barriers that can hold students and their families back.

The plan for a community school in Emeryville first surfaced more than 10 years ago and was seen as a way for this small, economically diverse city to lure more families to the under-enrolled district, increase test scores and create more of a community feel.

But the plan has been plagued by political controversy, financial wrangling and practical roadblocks.

“Philosophically, I agree with a lot of the concepts,” said school board member Christian Patz, echoing the sentiment of many here. “But the execution has not been as promised.”

Twenty minutes outside of San Francisco, Emeryville has long been a unique place, attracting big-box retailers, artists and tech start-ups. But it also has a substantial number of low-income residents among its population of 11,227. According to census data, an estimated 10 Hailed as a ‘bold vision,’ an innovative school plan hits roadblocks - The Hechinger Report:

.@NAACP Now: Will we get more testing status quo from Presidential Candidates? | Cloaking Inequity

.@NAACP Now: Will we get more testing status quo from Presidential Candidates? | Cloaking Inequity:

@NAACP Now: Will we get more testing status quo from Presidential Candidates?

I recently wrote an article for the NAACP national office about the 2016 presidential race, high-stakes testing, Common Core and civil rights. I wrote the piece for NAACP Now, a forum that includes “voices of members, activists, partners and supporters who believe in our cause to bring about social change.”

Here is the article entitled Will we get more testing status quo from Presidential Candidates? (pdf version):

Many were recently disappointed by the lack of conversation about K-12 education in the recent Democratic debate in Las Vegas. The Progressive Magazine asked me to reflect on the dearth of coverage. I wrote.

The recent Democratic Party presidential debate in Las Vegas left many observers scratching their heads. Why did the candidates and their CNN hosts ignore K-12 education?

Is education not important enough to merit discussion as a top national priority in 2016? The public clearly cares about education. US News reports that education is the third ranked search term on Google. When Gallup asked an open-ended question on the most important issues to voters in the 2016 campaign, education came in sixth.

We know that education is important to the public. What issues do voters identify as most important? A recent poll found that “less testing” was tied with “parental involvement” for the most important issue.

High-stakes tests came to the nation with the passage of No Child Left Behind during the presidency of George W. Bush. The tests were framed .@NAACP Now: Will we get more testing status quo from Presidential Candidates? | Cloaking Inequity:

From 'Book Strap' To 'Burrito': A History Of The School Backpack : NPR Ed : NPR

From 'Book Strap' To 'Burrito': A History Of The School Backpack : NPR Ed : NPR:

From 'Book Strap' To 'Burrito': A History Of The School Backpack

Our Tools of the Trade series is exploring some of the icons of schools and education.

My editor, Steve Drummond, isn't that old of a guy. He's from Michigan — Wayne Memorial High School, class of '79.

But when he starts talking about backpacks, he dips into a "back in my day" tone that makes you think of a creaky rocking chair and suspenders: "You know, Lee, when I was in school, no one had a backpack!

"You just carried your books in your arms." He says it like he's talking about sending a telegram with Morse code. "No one really thought about it, that's just what you did."

And, like all good memories, he tops it off with some commentary about the younger generation.

"Nowadays, backpacks are everywhere. It's almost impossible for younger people to imagine a world without them."

Right about then, I started to tune him out. I think he went off about how our phones are practically glued to our hands or something like that.

But it's true. I'm one of those younger people, and I can't imagine going to school without my backpack.

Since my first day of kindergarten in 1995, my JanSport and I were inseparable. It was a fluorescent green SuperBreak model. My dad wrote my name on the front with a Sharpie (he did his best to match the JanSport font).

Me and millions of other kids. The school backpack is as essential to education these From 'Book Strap' To 'Burrito': A History Of The School Backpack : NPR Ed : NPR:

In Elizabeth, Christie and the NJEA, perfect together | Bob Braun's Ledger

In Elizabeth, Christie and the NJEA, perfect together | Bob Braun's Ledger:

In Elizabeth, Christie and the NJEA, perfect together

Christie and the teachers’ union–happy together in Elizabeth

The lawns in my neighborhood are predictably dotted with political signs promoting the two slates for three school board seats. One slate is backed by Elizabeth’s Democratic mayor, Chris Bollwage, and state Sen. Ray Lesniak who also is running (probably) for governor. The other is backed by an organization created years ago by the late Thomas Dunn, a former mayor; it has a majority on the school board now. Both sides claim to be Democrats because Republicans are rare in Elizabeth. The Dunn group, however, has consistently endorsed Republican politicians for statewide and national office, including, yes, Gov. Chris Christie.

It’s a long-standing feud. The oddest part of it this year is the open and aggressive position of the Elizabeth Education Association (EEA), a local of the New Jersey Education Association—in favor of the crypto-Republican slate.

Tour Elizabeth and, anywhere you see the green and black signs for what is generally called the “Continue the Progress Team” slate, you will also see political signs for the Elizabeth Education Association. Indeed, the EEA/NJEA sent out mailings promoting the candidates.

The connection goes back years. At one time, the late Dennis Giordano, then a former NJEA president and a paid organizer for other state unions, became principal of Elizabeth High School with the support, obviously of the school board, but also  of the EEA. He was the brother of Vincent Giordano, until recently, the NJEA’s executive director.

When I asked Vincent about the EEA’s love for Christie backers on the school In Elizabeth, Christie and the NJEA, perfect together | Bob Braun's Ledger:

Deterioration of public school arts programs has been particularly jarring in L.A. - LA Times

Deterioration of public school arts programs has been particularly jarring in L.A. - LA Times:

Deterioration of public school arts programs has been particularly jarring in L.A.

rmandie Avenue Elementary Principal Gustavo Ortiz worries that he can't provide arts classes for most of the 900 students at his South Los Angeles school.

Not a single art or music class was offered until this year at Curtiss Middle School in Carson.

At Carlos Santana Arts Academy in North Hills, a campus abuzz with visual and performing arts, the principal has gone outside the school district for help. A former professional dancer, she has tapped industry connections and persuaded friends to teach ballroom dancing and other classes without pay until she could reimburse them.

Budget cuts and a narrow focus on subjects that are measured on standardized tests have contributed to a vast reduction of public school arts programs across the country. The deterioration has been particularly jarring in Los Angeles, the epicenter of the entertainment industry.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is discovering the extent of those cuts as it seeks to regain the vibrancy that once made it a leader in arts education. For the first time, L.A. Unified in September completed a detailed accounting of arts programs at its campuses that shows stark disparities in class offerings, the number of teachers and help provided by outside groups.

Arts programs at a vast majority of schools are inadequate, according to district data. Classrooms lack basic supplies. Some orchestra classes don't have enough instruments. And thousands of elementary and middle school children are not getting any arts instruction.

A Los Angeles Times analysis that used L.A. Unified's data to assign letter grades to arts programs shows that only 35 out of more than 700 schools would get an "A." Those high-performing schools offered additional instruction through community donations, had more teachers and a greater variety of arts programs than most of the district's campuses.

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The Times' analysis shows that elementary school arts programs in poor neighborhoods have been the hardest hit despite the district's decades-long attempt to close the gap between low-income and more affluent students.

A key factor contributing to the disparities is the ability of schools in more affluent areas to tap foundations and community members for help as district funds dwindled. Elementary schools that supplemented arts education at their campuses with outside resources had an average poverty rate of 60%, well below the district average. On the other end, at Deterioration of public school arts programs has been particularly jarring in L.A. - LA Times: