CURMUDGUCATION: DFER Tries To Swing A Primary

CURMUDGUCATION: DFER Tries To Swing A Primary

DFER Tries To Swing A Primary

We live in interesting times. So many folks are sure they know what "most people" think or "most people" want, but it's hard for anybody to have a clue because the great American industry is the business of trying to sell a particular opinion. Even when the Russians mess with us, their disinformation campaigns focus not on lies about policy (free college will make your hair fall out) so much as on creating impressions of what certain people think (Miners for Trump, faking angry Blackinternet commenters).

This is also the nature of our elections, where people are (or at least are perceived to be) less interested in who has the best policies and more interested in knowing who's winning.

So if you have a policy that you want to plug, you could try to argue the merits of that policy with a candidate or their staff. But if you want to do something other than just argue the merits, then you argue that the policy is hugely popular and a political winner. And a good tool for that is a poll.

Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) is definitely for reformster ideas, but not all that Democraty. They are one of those groups that is interconnected with many other reform outfits, and who operates on the theory that they should have a seat at the education table because they say they should. Education Reform Now is the advocacy side of the group. And since the advent of Trump, and really, since the groundswell of insistence that the Democratic Party stop backing the privatization of public education, they've been working hard to maintain their clout.

How About A PR Poll?

All of this brings us to DFER/ERN's newly released polling data. Right now all we get is this slick pamphlet of results, put together by Charles Barrone, Dana Laurens, and Nicholas Munyan-Penney. Between the three of them, we find connections to 50CAN, Fordham Institute, Teach for America, and assorted consulting and government jobs.

The poll focuses on Presidential voters and Democratic primary voters, because the target audience CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: DFER Tries To Swing A Primary

Basis charter school's rapid growth among affluent families in Baton Rouge prompts scrutiny | Education | theadvocate.com

Basis charter school's rapid growth among affluent families in Baton Rouge prompts scrutiny | Education | theadvocate.com

Basis charter school's rapid growth among affluent families in Baton Rouge prompts scrutiny

Just nine months after opening its first school, BASIS.ed has won approval to open a second campus in Louisiana’s Capital City.

The new school will allow the Arizona-based charter school organization to meet some of its already high demand and shrink its huge waiting list, which is nearing 600 kids. The new school is set to open in August 2020 at a location still to be determined.

But in narrowly approving the expansion plans of this nationally celebrated school network Thursday night, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board made clear that it’s not done scrutinizing BASIS, particularly its lack of socioeconomic diversity.

Just 33 percent of Basis Baton Rouge’s current students qualify for free-and-reduced price lunches, an indicator of poverty. It’s one of the lowest rates for a public school in the Capitol Region. Most of the 27 schools in the BASIS network, some of them perennials on national best-of school lists, don’t even offer federally subsidized meals.

Charter schools are public schools run privately via charters, or contracts.

The final vote Thursday night on BASIS’ expansion was 5-3, with board member David Tatman absent.

Of 10 charter school applications submitted this year, BASIS’s was the highest rated by an outside evaluator. School system officials who have visited the school so far have been complimentary of the BASIS’ operations. A parade of parents on Thursday sang the praises of the young school.

In opening its first Baton Rouge school, BASIS formed a corporate partnership with Woman’s Hospital, which is next door to where the school is located. BASIS says it is open to a corporate partnership for its newly approved second school.

The partnership with Woman’s allows the hospital to claim as many as half the seats at the first BASIS school for the children of CONTINUE READING: Basis charter school's rapid growth among affluent families in Baton Rouge prompts scrutiny | Education | theadvocate.com

California: A Time for Action!!!! | Diane Ravitch's blog

California: A Time for Action!!!! | Diane Ravitch's blog

California: A Time for Action!!!! 

There are three important California assembly bills AB 1505, AB 1506, and AB 1507 designed to help clean up the charter school mess.  1507 will be going up for a vote by the full assembly TODAY, Monday, May 13.  This bill would forbid charters from being placed in school districts that do not want them by other districts as a moneymaking scheme. NPE has reported on the fiscal malfeasance, online schools and storefront schools that have resulted. Please read here. Call your assembly member and ask them to vote yes on AB 1507 today, Monday 13. Call your Assembly member. You can find the phone number here. If you are unsure who represents you, go here to find out. Here is a script you can use: ” I am asking that (name) vote yes today AB 1507. We need Charter accountability. Charter schools should only allowed to open in the district that authorized them, not anywhere else. One district should not solve their budget shortfalls by allowing charter schools to set up in another district. We need local control and oversight of charters to end corruption and fraud. Will the Asm vote yes?”There are also a number of Democrats in the assembly who have been identified as “on the fence” for today’s vote on AB 1507. We must put maximum pressure on these Assembly Members, so if you or anyone you know lives in these districts please help us push them to vote yes. — Aguiar Curry AD4 Lake, Napa, Yolo (not W Sacto), parts of Sonoma, Solano 916-319-2004, 530-757-1034 Fax 916-319-2104 — Carrillo AD51 East LA, Eagle Rock 916-319-2051, 213-483-5151 Fax 926-319-2151 — Cervantes AD60 Corona, El Cerrito 916-319-2060, 951-371-6860 Fax 916-319-2160 — Cooper AD9 Elk Grove, Lodi 916-319-2009, 916-670-7888 Fax 916-319-2109 — Daly AD69 Anaheim, Santa Ana 916-319-2069, 714-939-8569 Fax 916-319-2169 — Gloria AD78 San Diego 916-319-2078, 619-645-3090 Fax 916-319-2178 — Gray AD21 Modesto, Merced 916-319-2021, 209-726-5465 Fax 916-319-2121 — Grayson AD14 Vallejo, Pleasant Hill 916-319-2014, 925-521-1511 Fax 916-319-2114 — Kamlager Dove AD54 Crenshaw, Culver City, Westwood, Inglewood 916-319-2054, 310-641-5410 Fax 916-319-2154, 310-641-5415 — Limon AD37 Santa Barbara, Ventura 916-319-2037, 805-564-1649 Fax 916-319-2137, 805-564-1651 — Low AD28 Silicon Valley Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Gatos 916-319-2028, 408-446-2810 Fax 916-319-2128, 408-446-2815 — Rubio AD48 Azusa, El Monte, Covina/W Covina 916-319-2048, 626-960-4457 Fax 916-319-2048, 626-960-1310 If you have a resistant Asm, add the following: “Charter accountability and ending abuse of public funds is how we get to racial and socioeconomic equity and fully funded public schools. Rare natural disasters that might force charter relocations are a red herring. School boards from other districts should not be allowed to grant charters that will open in our communities”

Thanks for all that you do.

The Danger Private School Voucher Programs Pose to Civil Rights - Center for American Progress

The Danger Private School Voucher Programs Pose to Civil Rights - Center for American Progress

The Danger Private School Voucher Programs Pose to Civil Rights

Download the PDF here.

Since Betsy DeVos became the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, she has continued to push for a federally funded private school voucher program. These programs currently exist in 29 states and provide state support—through direct payments or tax credits—for students to attend private schools. (see text box) Voucher supporters such as Secretary DeVos describe vouchers as providing parents with freedom of choice in education. However, some states have historically used private school voucher programs as a means to avoid racially integrating schools, as occurred during the 1950s and 1960s.1 More recently, evidence has shown that these programs are not effective at improving educational achievement.2 Recent evaluations of certain voucher programs have shown no improvement in achievement or a decline in achievement for students who use them. For example, a Center for American Progress analysis found that the overall effect of the D.C. voucher program on students’ math achievement is equivalent to missing 68 days of school.3 Voucher programs are also not a viable solution in many rural areas of the country because these programs can strain funding resources in communities that already have lower densities of students and schools.4 Public funding should be used to ensure that all students have access to a quality public education, but voucher programs divert funding away from public schools. There have been a number of reports detailing how voucher programs provide public funding to schools that can legally remove or refuse to serve certain students altogether.5 This issue brief provides a comprehensive analysis of the various ways that voucher programs fail to provide the civil rights protections that students have in public schools.

In August 2018, a viral video showed a young child trying to enter a private school while a teacher repeatedly refused entrance to him and his father.6 In the video, the child looks on in pure confusion as a teacher explains that his loc’d hair violates the school’s dress code. The dress code allegedly required that boys have hair no longer than their chin. Clinton Stanley Sr. and his son, Clinton Stanley Jr., were not informed of this rule when CONTINUE READING: The Danger Private School Voucher Programs Pose to Civil Rights - Center for American Progress

‘It’s Like the Wild West’: Sexual Assault Victims Struggle in K-12 Schools - The New York Times

‘It’s Like the Wild West’: Sexual Assault Victims Struggle in K-12 Schools - The New York Times

‘It’s Like the Wild West’: Sexual Assault Victims Struggle in K-12 Schools

WINCHESTER, Va. — Nausea had consumed her as her attacker pinned her arms down at a park, forced her first kiss upon her, and tried to take off her pants at the tender age of 14, and nausea resurfaced every time she saw him in the hallways of her high school.

For a year, the girl had tried to convey the lingering trauma of the attack to disbelieving school officials as they investigated her claims. Then over the summer, they brought her to a conference room at the Winchester Public Schools building to watch a surveillance tape in which she was seen zigzagging in and out of hallways trying to avoid him and seek help. She thought she had made a breakthrough.

Weeks later, the district issued its final report. Among its findings: She could not possibly be in distress because in one segment, she had smiled minutes after she saw her attacker.

“That’s when I realized that instead of investigating my complaint, they were investigating me,” the girl, now 15, said in an interview.

Efforts by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to overhaul federal rules on sexual misconduct have focused public attention on college campuses, where assault, rape and harassment have made headlines for years. But her efforts to change those rules, put into place more protections for the accused and offer relief for educational institutions have prompted concerns from elementary and secondary school leaders, public school superintendents and other educators that highlight how schools grapple with sexual misconduct involving much younger students.

The new rules would apply to any elementary and secondary school district that receives government funding, hundreds of which — like Winchester — are already under investigation by the department’s Office for Civil Rights over claims of violating Title IX, the 47-year CONTINUE READING: ‘It’s Like the Wild West’: Sexual Assault Victims Struggle in K-12 Schools - The New York Times

Gov’s revised budget aims even more at special education :: K-12 Daily :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Gov’s revised budget aims even more at special education :: K-12 Daily :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Gov’s revised budget aims even more at special education

(Calif.) Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised May budget doubled down on his proposal to improve special education by providing schools millions more in state support.

In his January spending plan, Newsom earmarked $576 million in new money to improve services to students with disabilities—especially early learners.

Last week, the governor added $119 million more, bringing the total to nearly $700 million.

The problem, as pointed out already by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst, is that the new money would be distributed to districts as a grant that could be used for any purpose within the special education program.

The LAO has also already recommended that lawmakers reject Newsom’s special education plan.

The special education spending is just one of a handful of alterations in the governor’s education budget—starting with an increase of nearly $400 million in the Proposition 98 funding guarantee to $81.1 billion, which would be a new all-time high.

Overall, Newsom’s would spend $214 billion next year, which is also a big jump—$4.5 billion—from January.

Consistent with his prior budget, Newsom would be cautious in the use of the windfall by setting aside $4.5 billion to eliminate budgetary debts; $5.7 billion to reserves; and $4.8 billion to help with unfunded pension liabilities.

 “This budget fortifies California’s fiscal position while making long-sighted investments to increase affordability for California families.” Newsom said in a statement. “The affordability crisis families face in this state is very real, and that’s why this budget tackles those challenges head-on by focusing on housing, health care, early childhood and higher education.”

Today, the state serves about 41,000 infants and toddlers with special needs at a cost of about $370 million, with an additional $50 million coming from a federal grant.

A main provider of support comes from a network of regional centers overseen by the state’s Department of Development Services with almost 100 schools managing their own local programs.

The system, which has remained virtually unchanged for decades, is drawing new attention as more CONTINUE READING: Gov’s revised budget aims even more at special education :: K-12 Daily :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Two elections affecting L.A. schools make for strange bedfellows - Los Angeles Times

Two elections affecting L.A. schools make for strange bedfellows - Los Angeles Times

Two elections affecting L.A. schools make for strange bedfellows

Two pivotal, looming elections are a study in contradictions for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

In one contest, two powerful unions have become heated rivals; in the other, they’ve remained best of friends.

In one election, philanthropist Eli Broad remains the quintessential enemy of the teachers union; in the other, he’s become an ally.

The two elections are a Tuesday runoff for a school-board seat, followed hard by a June 4 vote for a property tax to benefit local public schools.

The atypical alignments have been accompanied by the spending of millions of dollars.

For the most part, there’s an underlying logic to the shifting alliances, said UCLA education professor John Rogers.

Parties warring over the board seat agree, Rogers said, that “Los Angeles schools are underfunded relative to the nation and relative to what L.A. students need.” They are finding “common cause” over Measure EE.

The two unions at war — and in alliance — are Local 99 of Service Employees International and United Teachers Los Angeles. Local 99 represents about 30,000 mostly lower-salaried non-teaching employees in L.A. Unified. UTLA represents a comparable number of teachers, nurses, librarians and counselors.

For the Board of Education seat, the teachers are supporting Jackie Goldberg, a former school board member and longtime elected official. Union leaders see her as the best choice to end a series of recent losses by candidates they have endorsed in school-board elections. CONTINUE READING: Two elections affecting L.A. schools make for strange bedfellows - Los Angeles Times

Texas Taxpayers Pay Teach For America $22M from 2018 – 2021, None of Which Is for TFA Teacher Salaries | deutsch29

Texas Taxpayers Pay Teach For America $22M from 2018 – 2021, None of Which Is for TFA Teacher Salaries | deutsch29

Texas Taxpayers Pay Teach For America $22M from 2018 – 2021, None of Which Is for TFA Teacher Salaries

On May 11, 2019, Teach for America (TFA) alum and New York math teacher, Gary Rubinstein, posted a piece about the money Texas taxpayers spend to keep TFA in their state. Rubinstein entitled his post, “Texas Pays TFA $5.5 Million a Year for 400 Recruits.”

Included in Rubinstein’s post is this Texas Education Agency (TEA) FY2020 and 2021 Proposed Budget, which denotes TEA’s $11M, biennial request for funding TFA statewide. The $11M is to come from “funds appropriated for Educator Quality and Leadership.”

It seems that paying multiple millions to ensure a revolving door of seat-of-pants-trained, temp teachers sorely misses “educator quality and leadership,” but let’s continue.

TEA wanted another $1.1M for TFA for FY2020 and 2021 (which would have increased TFA biennial funding to $12.1M for FY2020 and 2021), but TEA chose to adhere to $11M, the same amount provided for FY2018 and 2019. (According to the FY2020 and 2021 budget approved by the Texas legislature, it seems that the $11M was approved.)

Thus, from 2018 to 2021, Texas taxpayers will have paid TFA $22M for temp teachers. That’s the beauty of the multi-million-dollar pricetag for TFA: A market that is perpetuated by the transience of its recruits.

According to the TEA proposed budget document, TFA’s next $11M comes with CONTINUE READING: Texas Taxpayers Pay Teach For America $22M from 2018 – 2021, None of Which Is for TFA Teacher Salaries | deutsch29

Parent-empowerment voucher could irreparably harm public schools | | The Edvocate Blog

Parent-empowerment voucher could irreparably harm public schools | | The Edvocate Blog

Parent-empowerment voucher could irreparably harm public schools 

The new “parent empowerment” voucher, passed during Florida’s 2019 legislative session, is a calculated gateway to universal vouchers which are often linked by reformers to the end of brick and mortar public education as we know it. The victory laps being taken by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran, House and Senate leadership and former Gov. Jeb Bush ring hollow when you consider that we are in our 21st year of GOP dominance. Where’s the “victory” when despite enormous public outcry, there is zero possibility of a different policy outcome?

Predictably, op-eds have cropped up across the state featuring Bush assuring everyone that, “public schools will not be harmed by private school tuition vouchers,” and Senate Education Chair Manny Diaz proclaiming in the Sentinel that the “new voucher is good for students and the state” (May 7). While public schools stand to lose funding and bear the responsibility of bringing returning voucher students back on track academically, it’s the children using this newest “choice” voucher to attend unregulated schools who run the greatest risk.

The very use of the word “choice” conjures up a different meaning for everyone. When a parent chooses to give up their child’s right to a free and appropriate public education, take a voucher and attend a private religious school there are consequences. Private schools reserve the right to discriminate against any child CONTINUE READING: Parent-empowerment voucher could irreparably harm public schools | | The Edvocate Blog