Arizona Charter School Officials Are Enriching Themselves With Public Funds | The New Republic

Arizona Charter School Officials Are Enriching Themselves With Public Funds | The New Republic:

How Charter Schools Fleece Taxpayers

• Timothy Noah

• November 20, 2012 | 2:10 pm
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The Two Americas

Small Business Sells John Boehner Out

Fred Barnes: Fine, We’re The Party Of Whitey

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

In government, if I help myself to taxpayer dollars, we call that embezzlement and I go to jail. In the private sector, if I help myself to taxpayer dollars, we call that innovation and I get hailed as a visionary exponent of public-private partnership. That’s the lesson of a Nov. 17 investigation by Anne Ryman of the Arizona Republic into the state’s charter schools.

In her examination of Arizona’s 50 largest nonprofit charter schools and all of Arizona's nonprofit charter schools with assets exceeding $10 million, Ryman found “at least 17 contracts or arrangements, totaling more than $70 million over five years and involving about 40 school sites, in which money from the non-profit charter school went to for-profit or non-profit companies run by board members, executives or their relatives.” That says to me that in Arizona, at least, charter-school corruption isn’t the exception. It’s the rule. And that’s just in the nonprofit charter schools. Documentation for the for-profit schools is not publicly available. What are the odds that charter-school proprietors operating in the 

Pa. charter schools have no accountability - The Mercury

Pa. charter schools have no accountability - The Mercury:

Pa. charter schools have no accountability

• Posted: 11/21/12 12:01 am

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The Pennsylvania General Assembly has failed again in its attempt to provide financial and academic accountability to charter schools. The 11th hour attempt to pass charter school reform failed on June 30 and the General Assembly struck out again on October 17 as both chambers adjourned without passing legislation. The June 30 failure was due to a controversial portion that would have excluded charter school management and vendors from the Right-To-Know Law, which would have allowed charter schools to conceal their expenditures from the public that funds them.

Fixing the flawed funding formula for charters was a top priority for the reform process. The state auditor general has emphasized that charter schools are costing taxpayers an additional million dollars a day. Pennsylvania spends an average of $13,411 per student to attend a brick-and-mortar charter school, about $3,400 above the national average of $10,000.

Cyber charters, with no school buildings and fewer teachers, educate students at a substantially 

Schools Matter: Houston, You've Got a Problem: It's Called EVAAS

Schools Matter: Houston, You've Got a Problem: It's Called EVAAS:

Houston, You've Got a Problem: It's Called EVAAS

by Jim Horn

Never really understood what value-added test scores mean, and how they affect teachers and kids?  Ever wondered why the National Academy of Sciences sent a a 14-page letter to Arne Duncan warning him against high stakes use of value-added in RTTT.

That's okay, you're not alone--many of us are puzzled.  One thing is for sure, however--when teachers band together and get a couple of good lawyers to shine a penetrating light on this Oz-inspired scheme and the wreckage it is causing, that's when this house of cards will come tumbling down.

Take a few minutes to have a look at this video, which is based on a peer-reviewed study by Armrein-Beardsley and Collins.  Abstract and link to the study under the video.

Popout

Abstract

The SAS Educational Value-Added Assessment System (SAS^® EVAAS^®) is the most widely used value-added system in the country. It is also self-proclaimed as “the most robust and 

Teachers and Parents: Natural Allies in Defending Our Schools - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Teachers and Parents: Natural Allies in Defending Our Schools - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:

Teachers and Parents: Natural Allies in Defending Our Schools

by Anthony Cody

I have been thinking a bit more about the strategies at work in the battle over our schools that I describedyesterday. Michael Petrilli's op-ed makes division the key weapon that reformers will be using in the years to come.

Division 1: Middle class suburban schools vs. high poverty urban schools. 
Mr. Petrilli wrote:

Top-down, one-size-fits-all efforts such as formulaic teacher evaluations tend to overemphasize the high-stakes testing that can take the joy out of learning. Parents and teachers in richer areas typically hate this pressure. Reformers can't put together winning political coalitions if they lose the suburbs. When it comes to middle-class schools, reformers should follow the doctors' dictum: First, do no harm.

Since the middle class parents are joining with teachers to oppose high stakes tests that are taking the joy out of learning, split them off by letting their schools off the hook. Only focus "accountability" systems on the urban schools where the parents are not capable of resisting. The "winning political coalition" must pit suburban 

Five Levers to Improve Student Learning — Whole Child Education

Five Levers to Improve Student Learning — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Five Levers to Improve Student Learning

November 21, 2012 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

Educators constantly look for new tools and programs to stimulate and motivate learners, enhance student performance, or change the role of the teacher. Recent trends include flipped teaching, red-shirting (postponing kindergarten entrance so that a child is one year older than his peers), merit pay, year-round school, and a longer school day.

Which strategies or innovations are likely to have the greatest effect on student learning? According to Tony Frontier, assistant professor of doctoral leadership studies at Cardinal Stritch University, most education innovations and policies can be placed in one of five categories, some of which provide more powerful leverage than others. Frontier presented these ideas during his ASCD 2012 Conference on Teaching and Learning session, "Five Levers to Improve Student Learning."

The categories, or levers, are

• Sample
• Strategy
• Standard
• Structure
• Self

Sample changes include identifying students who need additional rigor, additional support, or to be grouped with students who have similar academic needs. Unfortunately, Frontier says that research tells us that 

I Am A Citizen of A Country That Does Not Yet Exist | The IDEA Blog

I Am A Citizen of A Country That Does Not Yet Exist | The IDEA Blog:

I Am A Citizen of A Country That Does Not Yet Exist

Posted by Kirsten Olson on Nov 21, 2012 - 07:10 AM

The great Dr. Vincent Harding, whose words and moral presence has inspired me and my colleagues at IDEA for years, has never been more powerful here.  Speaking at the Children’s Defense Fund Annual Convention in Cincinnati, OH in July 2012, at a town hall on national and racial healing, Dr. Harding proclaims a vision for activism--of world that is emmanent--that calls out to me at a nearly bodily level.  He asks us to believe into being that which does not yet exist.

As activists in education, when the obstacles to real reform and profound, sustained transformation sometimes seem impossibly great, Dr. Harding’s message touches me, at a deep, soul level.

We are all citizens of a country that does not yet exist.  “A just country, a compassionate country, a forgiving country, a multi-racial country, a joyful country that cares about its children and about its elders. That cares about what the earth needs.  I am you are a citizen of a country that does not yet exist, and that badly needs to exist.” 

The necessity of keeping on with the work, and proclaiming what is at the moral center of the work–both in action and in end–feels more and more like the project I am now behind--and that IDEA is behind.  “After the final no there comes a yes, and on that yes the future world depends.”  (Wallace Stevens)

How are we standing up together, and proclaiming the world that does not yet exist, in our work as educational activists?  Can we join together to do so?

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm's 'reform' agenda takes a beating

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm's 'reform' agenda takes a beating:

Rahm's 'reform' agenda takes a beating

by Mike Klonsky

At City Club luncheon: i don't know what Gov. Quinn is saying, but Karen Lewis doesn't seem too impressed .

Rahm's school reform agenda of school closings and charter schools, was taken to the woodshed yesterday. First and foremost by CTU Prez Karen Lewis in her address to the City Club.

At one point, half the room gave Ms. Lewis a standing ovation. Among those who stayed seated: Beth Swanson, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's education point person during the contentious teachers strike held in September. “We usually walk a fine line at the City Club,” said Ed Mazur, a city club board member who stood up for Ms. Lewis. “She likes to cross it. She doesn't mince words.” --Crain's

Then by Diane Ravitch on Chicago Tonight.


Finally, Ald. Fiorretti continues to be the voice  for the growing resistance movement within the city council, to 

Review & Outlook: The Evil Empire Strikes Back - WSJ.com

Review & Outlook: The Evil Empire Strikes Back - WSJ.com:

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

Even when reform passes, teachers unions engage in massive resistance.

Those Nasty Evil Teachers Trying to Protect Students,
But I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too!

Education reformers had good news at the ballot box this month as voters in Washington and Georgia approved measures to create new charter schools. But as the reform movement gathers momentum, teachers unions are giving no quarter in their massive resistance against states trying to shake up failing public education.

In Georgia, 59% of voters approved a constitutional amendment that creates a new statewide commission to approve charter schools turned down by union-allied school boards. Instead of absorbing the message, charter opponents are planning to sue. The Georgia Legislative Black Caucus said last week it will join a lawsuit against Governor Nathan Deal to block the change. According to Caucus Chairman Emanuel Jones, because the ballot measure's text didn't discuss the details of how the schools were selected, "people didn't know what they were voting for."

This is the legal equivalent of sending back a hamburger because you didn't know it came with meat. Georgia voters rallied around the charters because they want something better for their children than the dismal status quo. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that as of April only 67.4% of the state's freshmen graduated from high school in four years. Last year a state investigation of Georgia schools found that 

Subverting the System | I was thinking…

Subverting the System | I was thinking…:

Subverting the System

Posted on November 12, 2012 by heidi

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When it comes to parents being included in educational discussions or decision making processes, I’ve repeatedly heard two themes emerge:

1) “We ASKED and no one responded!” Teachers/administrators send out emails, ask for feedback, send surveys, host parent ed or parent-teacher interview times – and few (if any) parents respond. So why do it? Why bother trying? The frustration during these conversations has been palpable. And this has come from educators that I know well – and I know they honestly WANT parent input.

2) “But parents don’t understand – uninformed voices don’t BELONG in these discussions. You need to earn your right to be involved in decision making…” I admit – I’ve seen parents or parent groups “demand” things that are short sighted or misguided. For example, parent groups in my Province demanded more information about how their kids are doing, and government responded by making it mandatory that Grade 4 & 7 

Early Math Teachers Celebrate ‘Critical Thinking, Not Correct Answers’ | ED.gov Blog

Early Math Teachers Celebrate ‘Critical Thinking, Not Correct Answers’ | ED.gov Blog:

Early Math Teachers Celebrate ‘Critical Thinking, Not Correct Answers’

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Julie Ewart

With math literacy a must for most jobs in our knowledge economy, Secretary Duncanhas called math teachers “our nation-builders of the future.” Yet, just 40 percent of 4^th-graders and 35 percent of 8^th-graders are proficient in math, according to the latestNational Assessment of Educational Progress.

Student Richard Mitchell III and his dad, Richard Mitchell Jr. enjoy a math game that uses the Candy Land board game with kindergarten teacher Heather Gustafson during a Family Game Evening at Jose de Diego Community Academy.

Aimed at increasing young students’ proficiency in math, Chicago’s Erikson Institute is transforming how teachers in pre-K through 3rd grade approach mathematics lessons through a research-based training funded by a five-year, $5 million Investing in Innovation (i3) Development grant awarded by ED in 2010.  i3 “Development” grants support new and high-potential practices to improve student learning, and pairs that support with funding to evaluate the impact of the practices.

Through Erikson’s Early Mathematics Education Project, teachers are trained to lead “classrooms that celebrate critical thinking, not correct answers,” according to Erikson Senior Instructor Rebeca Itzkowich. For this i3 grant, teachers at eight public elementary schools in Chicago are participating in the professional development, which will ultimately support more than 4,500 students each year.

The project’s professional development includes learning labs, individualized coaching, school-based learning groups, and classroom implementation. Erikson’s professional development model produced almost three additional months of mathematics learning during a school year, in comparison to a matched contrast group, and helped teachers 

What is ED’s Stance on Using Testing Data in Teacher Evaluation?

A recent letter to the Department of Education from a teacher in Cincinnati contained a quote that really struck me: “It is not at all that I am afraid of what my test scores might reveal.  I am more concerned about what my student’s test scores will not reveal.”

Unlocking Human Potential: The Cost of Conflating Potential and Performance

Assistant Deput

Celebrating International Education Week!

Each year in November, we pause to celebrate International Education Week (IEW). The U.S. Departments of Education and State started IEW in 2000, to recognize and reflect on our interconnectedness and the importance of education to all of us around the globe, and as I look at recent developments around the world I see that this focus is even more relevant and compelling today.

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, November 21, 2012

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Education Headlines

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Monterey Peninsula USD hires community relations firm to help its image

How the public views MPUSD is something administrators say the district has battled for years and tried to counteract by organizing community meetings, workshops and other activities to little or no avail.

Long Beach school board approves new contract with teachers

The Long Beach Unified School District and its teachers union have officially come to an agreement on a contract that compromises over health care benefits and saves the district's Head Start preschool program.

Drugs, guns, alcohol use down at Berkeley High, survey says

For the first time in years, fewer Berkeley High School students are bringing weapons to school and coming to school drunk and stoned, according to a new survey.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Bible club sues district over meeting fees

The Buena Park School District has been targeted in a lawsuit that says school officials acted improperly when they refused to let a religion-themed organization meet on district property for free last year.

Long Beach USD board expected to ratify new teachers contract

The Long Beach Unified School District today is expected to ratify a new contract with its teachers union after nearly two years of negotiations.

New policy allows dagger-like objects on campus

The Jurupa Unified School District board of education on Nov. 19 approved a new district policy that will allow Sikh students to wear a kirpan to school but with strict restrictions. Under the new policy, parents agree to sign a statement that requires the kirpan — a daggerlike object that is a sacred article of faith — to be worn under clothing, to have the blade dulled, to be soldered or sewn into its sheath so it cannot be removed and to have a blade that is 2 1/2 inches or less.

Federal grant means more counselors at area schools

Three area elementary school districts recently received grants from the U.S. Department of Education to increase their counseling departments. Arcata Elementary and Fortuna Elementary school districts pulled in about $1.2 million apiece over the next three years, while Eureka City Schools received $1.1 million.

Teachers worry about more testing under new Louisiana evaluations | Hechinger Report

Teachers worry about more testing under new Louisiana evaluations | Hechinger Report:

Teachers worry about more testing under new Louisiana evaluations

by Sarah Carr

When Scott Harris looked at recommended French tests he could use to measure his students’ progress this school year — and, by extension, his own success or failure as a teacher — he felt stymied by the lack of suitable options. For instance, the state’s suggested tests for Harris’ French I students at Louisiana State University Laboratory School featured sample questions ranging from basic vocabulary to asking students whether a passage from a 19th-century French novel represented commentary on the evolution of medicine.

Scott Steckler, principal at George Cox Elementary School in Gretna conducts a pre-observation interview with teacher Lora Johnson in his office Thursday, October 18, 2012. “…For the most part the teachers are accepting of those achievement goals that have been determined by the school district,” Steckler said.(Photo by Ted Jackson, Nola.com / The Times-Picayune)

“I thought, ‘I wouldn’t even do this to my older kids,’ ” Harris said.
For educators who teach subjects outside the state’s longstanding testing system, like foreign language, music, and art, the adjustment to the new teacher evaluation system has been particularly jarring. They are 

The future of D.C. public schools:

The future of D.C. public schools

Posted by Valerie Strauss on November 21, 2012 at 11:25 am

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D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson’s plan to close 20 traditional public schools in the nation’s capital is nothing if not an acknowledgement that the system over which she presides is inexorably dwindling and being transformed into a collection of independently run public charter schools.

The numbers tell a big part of this story: Henderson wants to close 20 under-enrolled schools in the system that now has about 45,000 students in 117 buildings. There are now about 35,000 students in 57 public charter schools, and three big charter-school operators have just applied for fast-track approval to run a total of 10 new campuses serving thousands of students. (You can read about that here.) Among them are the controversial Virginia-based K12 Inc., which is applying to open a 550-student school, and Rocketship Education, a California-based charter chain which wants to open eight campuses between 2015 and 2020 that would enroll more than 5,000 students.

The plan, naturally, has met with outrage from the community (as all school closing plans have in the District for decades). But the dissenters make some good points. Henderson argues that she must close under-enrolled schools to save money, and on it’s face, that logic makes sense.  But here’s the problem: Henderson has said that the closings will free up 

$100 Million to Address Perceptions of Inequity? « PWC Education Reform Blog

$100 Million to Address Perceptions of Inequity? « PWC Education Reform Blog:

$100 Million to Address Perceptions of Inequity?

November 21, 2012 — pwceducationreform

Last night the school board held an work session on the CIP to address school construction / renovation projects planned for the next 10 – 12 years.  The meeting was called by Gil Trenum, the representative from Brentsville District.  Mr Trenum, who more than earned his pay last night, stated that with increasingly tight budgets, any construction project not already begun was in jeopardy and that the school division needed to define it’s priorities for the next 10 years to ensure that taxpayer money is being spent to meet the greatest need.

Of particular concern to Mr Trenum was continued overcrowding in schools in his district.  Patriot High School, which only opened a year ago, is already overcapacity and is projected to be more than 900 students overcapacity in 2016 with students who already live in PWC and already attend schools in PWC.  Battlefield High School, located in Gainesville District, is also overcapacity and is projected to be more than 450 students overcapacity in 2016 with students who already live in PWC and already attend schools in PWC.

Mr Trenum’s concerns were met with what can only be described as disdain by several other school board members.  I would write the exact words they used, but they so sickened me that I can’t.  These school board members more or less stated that spending $100 million to build a school where there isn’t sufficient enrollment is perfectly acceptable