Seattle Schools Community Forum: Reading Between the Lines on McCleary

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Reading Between the Lines on McCleary:

Reading Between the Lines on McCleary

I had a bit of a dust-up with reporter Melissa Santos at The News Tribune over her story on what teachers and students get from the McCleary-driven budget and her picks for quotes from public education groups.  (I'll note I generally like Ms. Santos' reporting.)

Who did she quote?

Someone from LEV and someone from Stand for Children. 

Now there is WSPTSA or Washington's Paramount Duty or Parents Across America but no, she picked two ed reform groups, both funded by Gates.  If the News Tribune and the Seattle Times want to go to the same Gates-driven well for quotes on public education, that's their call. 

But then, no fair being whiny when you get called out for it.  I consider it a public service to let people know because the Times and the Tribune certainly aren't telling their readers who these groups are and who funds them.

Oh and speaking of LEV, here's a few tidbits at their website:

On McCleary - "But in short, it means that our state may be moving on to the next stage of education advocacy in this state — from Does this satisfy McCleary? to What do we need to do to address the growing gaps in our system between historically underserved students and their college-bound peers?"

Is LEV saying that all students on the other end of the achievement gap are all going to college? I hadn't seen that data and that kind of statement would Seattle Schools Community Forum: Reading Between the Lines on McCleary:

Betsy DeVos’ Education Tax Credits Will Take Money Away from the States | Seattle Education

Betsy DeVos’ Education Tax Credits Will Take Money Away from the States | Seattle Education:

Betsy DeVos’ Education Tax Credits Will Take Money Away from the States

This article was originally posted on The Progressive and titled:

Four Things Betsy DeVos Doesn’t Want You to Know about Education Tax Credits

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is a big fan of educational tax credits.  In a speech at the American Federation of Children’s Policy Summit on May 22, she showcased Denisha Merriweather, who used a tax-credit scholarship to attend a church-affiliated private school in Florida. (The American Federation for Children,  a group that pushes school privatization, is a group created by Betsy DeVos and her husband Dick.)

Merriweather is the same student President Trump introduced during his address to the Joint Session of Congress when he promoted “school choice”for students in public schools.

The DeVoses, through the American Federation for Children, also happen to be major contributors to the American Legislative Exchange Council, which drafts corporate-friendly model legislation for Republican state lawmakers. ALEC wrote model legislation titled The Great Schools Tax Credit Program Act.

Education tax credits are similar to school vouchers. A voucher is money paid by the state to cover private school tuition for a student. Voucher money comes straight out of public school funds.

Vouchers are unconstitutional in eighteen states and one of the reasons is that the money can go to a religious school, crossing the line between church and state.

School vouchers have also yielded poor results. Research shows that low-income voucher students take losses academically and most don’t recover over a two-year period.

In a “scholarship tax credit program,” the money bypasses the state and instead goes through a go-between, a “scholarship granting organization” to a private school to pay a student’s tuition in full or in part. Typically, these organizations keep 10 percent of the Betsy DeVos’ Education Tax Credits Will Take Money Away from the States | Seattle Education:

The deep irony in Betsy DeVos’s first speech on special education - The Washington Post

The deep irony in Betsy DeVos’s first speech on special education - The Washington Post:

The deep irony in Betsy DeVos’s first speech on special education

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos just gave her first major speech about special education — and it raised new questions about her understanding of the issues that students with disabilities face. Again, exactly six months after the first ones.

DeVos, a Michigan billionaire who has called traditional public schools a “dead end,” has had something of a troubled past in talking about this issue. At her confirmation hearing on Jan. 17, before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, she answered a question about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), indicating that she didn’t know it was a federal law that all states had to enforce.

IDEA requires public schools to provide a free and appropriate education to all students with disabilities, and in her response, she said that she thought it was up to the states to decide on IDEA enforcement. She was later asked if she was unaware that IDEA was a federal law, and she conceded, “I may have confused it.”

Then in a letter to supposedly clarify her perplexing comment at that hearing, she said she knows IDEA is a federal law and said she wants to provide students with disabilities more educational opportunities, which is in line with her antiabortion agenda.  But in that letter, rather than talk about how traditional public school districts can improve their offerings for these children, she praised a voucher program in Ohio that allows eligible families of special needs students to use public funds to attend a private school. What she didn’t mention, however, was that the program — as well as most other voucher programs  — requires participating families to agree to give up special education due-process rights they are given under IDEA.

[The telling letter Betsy DeVos wrote to clarify her position on U.S. disabilities law]

At that time, Denise Marshall, executive director of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) issued a statement that said in part:

It’s clear that Betsy DeVos is not, nor has ever been an advocate for children with disabilities. The fact that she didn’t understand the basics about education concepts or the three essential federal education laws is embarrassing and her lack of knowledge on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is appalling. We are alarmingly concerned. Furthermore, she advocates for vouchers writ large — as if they can solve every family’s dilemma.

On Monday, DeVos gave a speechThe deep irony in Betsy DeVos’s first speech on special education - The Washington Post:

Torlakson Visits Local Summer Learning Program - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education)

Torlakson Visits Local Summer Learning Program - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Visits Summer Learning Program in Danger of Losing Critical Federal Funding

SACRAMENTO— State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today toured the Summer Learning program at Robla Elementary School in the Robla School District to voice his opposition to proposed federal budget cuts that would harm this program and many others in California and the nation.

President Trump has proposed eliminating all funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers. These centers run After School, Summer Learning, and other Expanded Learning programs.

Nationally, his proposed cuts would remove $1.2 billion in funding. In California, the proposed cuts would take away $137 million of the total of $730 million spent on Expanded Learning programs, or about 18 percent of the total budget.

“Today we are shining a light on the wonderful Summer Learning and After School programs that engage, teach, and inspire 860,000 students in California each year,” Torlakson said. “President Trump’s proposed budget cuts could devastate Summer Learning and After School programs. These proposed cuts are short-sighted, counterproductive, and just wrong. As leaders, we should be searching for ways to help our students thrive, rather than blocking proven paths to success.”

Torlakson urged all members of the public to join him in fighting against the proposed cuts by contacting members of Congress.

“Expanded Learning programs are effective,” Torlakson said. “They help improve student attendance, cut dropout rates, reduce juvenile crime, and boost academic success. For every dollar we spend on these programs, we save $9 in societal costs.”

Furthermore, they are especially helpful to students who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. In California, 81 percent of students in these programs are eligible for free and reduced price lunches.

In addition, these programs are highly popular among parents.

The Summer Learning program at Robla Elementary School serves about 100 students. Students participate in a variety of activities such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) projects, geography, music, art, and physical fitness. Eighty-seven percent of the students qualify for free and reduced meals.

If the Trump budget were to pass, Robla School District would lose about 44 percent of its budget, $96,000 out of a total of $218,498, forcing destructive program reductions.

Torlakson, a former a high school science teacher and coach, knows first-hand the benefits of high-quality after school and summer programs that combine academics, recreation, art, music, drama, and homework assistance. As a state legislator, he authored bills beginning in 1998 to create, expand, and increase standards for Expanded Learning programs in California.

Expanded Learning is just one educational area targeted by Trump for cuts. His proposed budget also would slash teacher training, mental health, advanced coursework, and nutrition programs for students from poor families.

His proposed health insurance legislation would take away health insurance for millions of children from low-income families, making it more difficult for them to be healthy and ready for school.

Torlakson applauded California for boosting state funding for After School Education and Safety Programs by $50 million in the recently passed state budget, but said that federal money is still critical for California programs.

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

 Torlakson Visits Local Summer Learning Program - Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education):

More charges filed over charter school fraud claims

More charges filed over charter school fraud claims:

More charges filed over charter school fraud claims

Newpoint indicted on fraud charges related to theft, money laundering

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Following the filing of racketeering and fraud charges against two Ohio men accused of siphoning public money from charter schools in six Florida counties, the charter school management company itself has been indicted on several charges.

Newpoint Education Partners, LLC (“Newpoint”), which formerly managed charter schools in Escambia, Bay, Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Pinellas Counties; and School Warehouse and Red Ignition, which were vendors used by Newpoint, have been charged in Escambia County with thefts of hundreds of thousands of dollars of public funds in connection with fraudulently billing charter schools for computers, furniture, equipment, and curriculum services and then laundering the proceeds of the thefts through multiple bank accounts to conceal the alleged crimes. 

More News Headlines

• Charter schools must take out loan to sever ties with management company
• Charter schools want to sever ties with management company
• Charter schools paying interest on loans that don't exist?

Marcus May, owner of Newpoint, is facing fraud and racketeering charges as a result of an investigation into the misuse of millions of dollars in state grants given to his company to run charter schools.

Prosecutors say May obtained millions of dollars in state grants from 2008 to 2015 through “grossly over-estimated enrollment figures” at charter schools, and over-inflated the cost of educational equipment to be purchased.

The money was spent on a down payment on a home, homeowners association fees, the lease of a car, country club dues, credit card payments and other personal expenses.

According to the charging affidavit, May obtained a $350,000 grant to run a charter school in Duval County, where he said there were 225 students. In fact, there were only 54. May is not yet in custody.

The owner of a business that sold equipment to Newpoint Education Partners is also charged in the scheme.

Last year, a grand jury indicted Newpoint Education Partners, as well as three other vendors.

State Attorney Bill Eddins alleged in a release that May obtained more than $1 million in public money More charges filed over charter school fraud claims:

Big Education Ape: Florida files criminal charges against Akron-area Newpoint charter school founder - News 5 Cleveland - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2017/06/florida-files-criminal-charges-against.html

Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education!

Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education!:

Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education!

While parents wonder what will happen to their children with disabilities and their schooling due to the possibility of cuts to Medicaid, we’ve wondered, where’s Betsy?

As families try to make sense of the information provided online by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, it would be nice to see DeVos speak out in support of children on this issue.

Never fear. Betsy has been getting some lessons in her Special Education 101 class at Trump University. O.K. I made that  up. I don’t know who’s coaching Betsy.

It couldn’t be Jason Botel, Acting Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education. Botel came from Teach for America and KIPP.

I also don’t think DeVos ever appointed an Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education!:

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Third Grade Readers Lose

CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Third Grade Readers Lose:

FL: Third Grade Readers Lose

And another sad chapter in the Floridian assault on education comes to a sad close.

We've been following this story for a while. Florida has a third grade reading test requirement-- Florida's third graders must show they can score high enough on the state Big Standardized Test, no matter what else they've done. Florida's "Just Read, Florida" (because the way to get students to read is to just insist they do it) is like many versions of this bad idea, and last May, a handful of families put it to the test (with the stubborn assistance of their county school systems-- not all Florida counties chose to be part of this exercise in idiocy). 

Some children opted out of the Big Standardized Test, so their school district declared that despite the fact that some of those children had exemplary report cards, they would be denied advancement to fourth grade. By the end of the summer, the whole sorry mess as in court. That case was gobsmacking in its wrongheadedness, including the moment in which the state argued that teacher-issued grades were meaningless.

But by the end of the summer, sense and decency had prevailed and the state's rule was not only set aside, but subject to some scolding. The parent goals were commendable:

The goal is to have the statute, which allows third grade retention, found unconstitutional and unenforceable. The implications of a positive outcome from this case are significant and far-reaching. 

It didn't matter. In September some of the school districts chose to ignore the court ruling, and CURMUDGUCATION: FL: Third Grade Readers Lose:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: DeVos has turned her Office of Civil Rights into its opposite

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: DeVos has turned her Office of Civil Rights into its opposite:

DeVos has turned her Office of Civil Rights into its opposite

Under the direction of Betsy DeVos, the DOE has become little more than an engine for driving school privatization, religious fundamentalism, racism and gender discrimination. Trump's appointment of DeVos to oversee this country's public education system threatens a roll-back of every hard-won gain by the Civil Rights Movement in the past 70 years.

DeVos in turn, has named Candice Jackson to head the Office of Civil Rights and turned that office into its opposite. It should be renamed, the Office of Maintaining White Male Supremacy. Jackson's recent comments normalizing campus rape are but the latest indicators of the direction the DOE has taken in regards to civil rights enforcement. DeVos has also slashed OCR budget, basically neutering the office when it comes to enforcement.

DeVos claims she wants to focus on civil rights claims "individually" rather than on institutional racism and discrimination, thereby ignoring this country's legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial segregation and their impact on public education.

What this means in practice is often giving equal weight to or favoring the complaints of individual white men who feel discriminated against by race-based affirmative actions; to Christian fundamentalists who feel that civil rights laws impinge on their religious practices; and to men's rights groups who feel oppressed by feminists or by women who have accused them of rape.

All has brought DeVos into direct conflict with Sen. Patty Murray, ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. who's among 34 Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: DeVos has turned her Office of Civil Rights into its opposite:

RANDI SAID: Campus-Rape Remarks By Education Official Spur Furor, Apology | Open Articles | thechiefleader.com

Campus-Rape Remarks By Education Official Spur Furor, Apology | Open Articles | thechiefleader.com:
Campus-Rape Remarks By Education Official Spur Furor, Apology

Already under scrutiny for meeting with students who had been falsely accused of rape, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had the situation escalate when the head of her department’s Office of Civil Rights made troubling generalizations about campus sexual assaults.

On July 13, Ms. DeVos met with survivors of sexual assault, as well as students who had been falsely accused of sexual assault and disciplined under Title IX, the 1972 law that protects students from discrimination based upon gender, as part of an effort to re-evaluate President Obama’s expansion of the law to include colleges’ investigations of sexual assault complaints.

Questioned Probes’ Balance

The announcement July 11 that Ms. DeVos would meet with men’s-rights group National Coalition for Men Carolinas created a stir, and the controversy snowballed when an interview of Candice Jack­son, head of the Office for Civil Rights at the Education Department, was published the same day by the New York Times in which she said she believed that campus-rape investigations have not been “fairly balanced between the accusing victim and the accused student,” and then suggested that most sexual-assault investigations did not include claims that the blamed student “overrode the will of a young woman.”

“Rather, the accusations—90 percent of them—fall into the category of ‘we were both drunk,’ ‘we broke up, and six months later I found myself under a Title IX investigation because she just decided that our last sleeping together was not quite right,’” she said.

Ms. Jackson apologized for her words.

“As a survivor of rape myself, I would never seek to diminish anyone’s experience. My words in the New York Times poorly characterized the conversations I’ve had with countless groups of advocates,” she said in a statement. “What I said was flippant, and I am sorry. All sexual harassment and sexual assault must be taken serious­ly—which has always been my position and will always be the position of this department.”

But for education leaders and advocates for sexual-assault survivors, the damage was done.

‘A Pit in My Stomach’

“That statement put a pit in my stomach when I read it,” Jess Davidson, the managing Campus-Rape Remarks By Education Official Spur Furor, Apology | Open Articles | thechiefleader.com:

Here's Looking at You, Kid Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Here's Looking at You, Kid Diane Ravitch's blog

A site to discuss better education for all

Florida: State Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Challenge to Third Grade Reading Test: Kids Lose, Stupidity Wins

1by dianeravitch / 1h

Peter Greene writes here about the latest setback to Florida parents challenging the state’s law requiring that students take and pass the third grade test or be flunked. Peter explains why this law is useless, although it does have the result 

Why Are These People Allowed to Tell Schools What to Do?

4by dianeravitch / 1h

Politico discusses the state plans to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act and raises the question: Why are these uninformed, distant, unqualified people allowed to tell schools what to do? Betsy DeVos and everyone she has appointed 

Do You Want to Host a Community Screening of “Backpack Full of Cash”?

5by dianeravitch / 24min

Sarah Mondale, Vera Aronow, and Stone Lantern Films have created an excellent professional documentary about the fight to save our public schools from corporate reformers. It is called “Backpack Full of Cash.” They have been 

Arizona: Advocates for Public Schools Collecting Signatures to Block Voucher Expansion

4by dianeravitch / 35min

Good news from Arizona. Supporters of the state’s underfunded public schools say they are on track to collect enough signatures to block the expansion of vouchers and force a referendum. “Save Our Schools spokeswoman Dawn 

Mississippi: The Only Majority-Black District That Earned an A

2by dianeravitch / 24min

A reader who grew up in Clinton, Mississippi, shared this story, which appeared in the Hechinger Report. She was in third grade when the district integrated its schools and made the fateful decision to pursue equity for all students. In 2016, half of all black students in Mississippi attended school in a district rated D or F; 86 percent of the students in those districts were black. In districts

Jan Resseger: The Sordid Story of ECOT and Its Ripoff of Taxpayers in Ohio

4by dianeravitch / 1h

Jan Resseger writes in The Progressive about the biggest charter scam in Ohio . When a charter operator gets a lot of money from the state, and selfsame charter operator gives generously to legislators, how can said charter operator ever be held accountable? In Ohio, the press got fed up with ECOT and started paying attention to charter frauds. Politicians cannot tolerate constant negative press.

Florida Editorial: Will the Fight to Save Public Education Spread?

6by dianeravitch / 2h

Congratulations to the editorial board Of the the Sun-Sentinel in Broward County, Florida, which published a strong editorial lambasting the Legislature for passing HB 7069. Several school districts are planning a lawsuit to stop the law from being implemented. The law will do massive harm to the state’s public schools while diverting millions to the charter industry. Several key legislators have

Diane Ravitch and Carol Burris: A Critical Review of the PBS Special “Schools, Inc.”

32by dianeravitch / 3h

Between April and June of this year, PBS distributed a three-hour documentary called “Schools Inc.” to its member stations. I was invited to comment on the program by WNET, the PBS station in New York City. It was a 10-minute interview , and not nearly enough time to respond to all the issues covered in a three-hour narrative. I was certainly grateful to WNET for inviting my response but thought

YESTERDAY

Texas: Special Session of Legislature Opens Tomorrow, to Restart Voucher Debate

7by dianeravitch / 22h

Governor Greg Abbott has called a special session of the Texas legislature, beginning tomorrow, which will consider a school finance reform bill and vouchers, among other things. The public schools of Texas are underfunded. In 2011, the legislature cut the public school budget by more than $5 billion. Despite a growth in enrollment, that money has never been restored. Sensible leaders recognize t

Betsy DeVos and ALEC in Denver This Week

23by dianeravitch / 23h

Betsy DeVos will be the keynote speaker at the ALEC annual meeting in Denver this week. Protestors will be there to greet her, although the U.S. Department of Education is keeping silent about which day she will appear. ALEC has been promoting deregulation and privatization since the early 1970s. It is funded by major corporations and has nearly 2,000 members who are state legislators. It writes

Trump and the Russian Mafia: A Cautionary Story

3by dianeravitch / 1d

Craig Unger, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, published an article about Donald Trump’s relations with the Russia mafia. It is called “Trump’s Russian Laundromat.” Remember when Trump said he had no connections to Russia? That’s not accurate. His connections go all the way back to 1987, when he first flew to Russia to discuss building a luxury hotel in Moscow. All expenses paid. The hotel wa

Betsy DeVos Tells Senators She Will “Return” Office for Civil Rights to a “Neutral” Role

62by dianeravitch / 1d

A group of Democratic Senators wrote a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to express their concern that she was abandoning civil rights enforcement. DeVos wrote back to say that she was “ returning” the Office for Civil Rights to its role as a “neutral” investigative agency. It is at a time like this that DeVos’s ignorance of education policy and history becomes embarrassing. OCR is the

Gary Rubinstein: Does KIPP Deserve to Expand in Philadelphia?

4by dianeravitch / 1d

Gary Rubinstein learned that KIPP plans to add more schools in Philadelphia and nearly triple its enrollment. So Gary did what he always did: he checked the public data for KIPP in Philadelphia. He found that KIPP has one high school in the city. “ That school got the lowest possible rating, essentially an F. Not only were their test scores low, but they also got the lowest possible rating in ‘gr

Philadelphia: KIPP Gets Whatever It Wants, Despite Poor Performance

30by dianeravitch / 1d

Despite lackluster results at some of its Philadelphia schools, KIPP plans to increase the number of itsschools in the city and more than double its enrollment, from 1,770 to 4,400 students. Current plans call the growth of K-12 networks of KIPP schools. Apparently, the KIPP Network will accept students in the early grades but not in middle school or high school. KIPP wants to create its “culture

New Jersey: Linda Weber, Candidate for Congress, Thanks You for Your Help!

4by dianeravitch / 1d

Linda Weber is running against a Republican incumbent in New Jersey. Hers is one of the districts that Democrats hope to flip, so as to gain control of the House in 2018 and stop ztrump’s plans to defund public schools, environmental 

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: