Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/8/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

The Ongoing Destruction of Public Education

The Ongoing Destruction of Public Education: The Ongoing Destruction of Public EducationCampbell Brown is just the latest semi-famous rich person to parachute in and tell teachers they're doing it wrong.Campbell Brown used to be an anchor at CNN. Campbell Brown is now married to Dan Senor, the former official prevaricator for the Avignon Presidency's excellent Mesopotamian adventure and a mysterio

by mike simpson / 5min 

CURMUDGUCATION: The Central Liberal Reformster Fallacy

CURMUDGUCATION: The Central Liberal Reformster Fallacy: The Central Liberal Reformster FallacyIt crops up many places, but today it was front and center in Michael Grunwald's piece for Politico. In "Obama vs. Teacher Union: It's Still On" Grunwald lays out the ongoing beef between teachers unions and the administration, which is first in his display of lesser fallacies. Framing the confl

by mike simpson / 35min 

Ohio passes legislation aimed at cleaning up scandal-ridden charter school sector - The Washington Post

Ohio passes legislation aimed at cleaning up scandal-ridden charter school sector - The Washington Post: Ohio passes legislation aimed at cleaning up scandal-ridden charter school sectorThe Ohio legislature has passed legislation that attempts to clean up the state’s scandal-ridden $1 billion charter school sector. Meanwhile, both Republican and Democratic politicians in the state are expressing c

by mike simpson / 45min 

Democrats will squabble over charter schools

Democrats will squabble over charter schools: Democrats will squabble over charter schoolsIt would be easy to dismiss the thousands of students, parents and educators marching across the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday decked out in red “I fight to end inequality” T-shirts as bit players in a New York squabble over charter school funding.It’s way more than that.What you’re witnessing are yet more sig

by mike simpson / 2h 

Challenge to the Common Core King and Queen: Get Involved Really!

Challenge to the Common Core King and Queen: Get Involved Really!: Challenge to the Common Core King and Queen: Get Involved Really!Bill and Melinda Gates say “Working on reforming the U.S. education system is the hardest job they’ve ever tackled — even more difficult and complex than trying to find a cure for malaria.”Their hardest job? Are they kidding?Sitting in an ivory palace pulling school r

by mike simpson / 2h 

Arne Duncan's Legacy: Growing Influence of a Network of Private Actors on Public Education | The Conversation US

Arne Duncan's Legacy: Growing Influence of a Network of Private Actors on Public Education | The Conversation US: Arne Duncan's Legacy: Growing Influence of a Network of Private Actors on Public EducationSherman Dorn, Arizona State University and Amanda U. Potterton, Arizona State UniversityArne Duncan is leaving the US Department of Education in December. Reactions to his legacy have been mixed.

by mike simpson / 2h 

Former Chicago Public Schools chief to plead guilty to bribery scheme - Chicago Tribune

Former Chicago Public Schools chief to plead guilty to bribery scheme - Chicago Tribune: Former Chicago Public Schools chief to plead guilty to bribery schemermer Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett plans to plead guilty to charges she steered no-bid contracts worth more than $23 million to an education consulting firm where she once worked in return for promises of hundreds of thousan

by mike simpson / 2h 

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Harsh Truth About What Is Happening to Teachers, Students and Schools

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Harsh Truth About What Is Happening to Teachers, Students and Schools: The Harsh Truth About What Is Happening to Teachers, Students and SchoolsTeachers all over the country are shell shocked at the speed with which their jobs are being ruined, eliminated or destroyed. Whether it is scripted curriculum, demeaning observations, test based teacher evaluations, or the thre

by mike simpson / 2h 

FDA says Pearson is marketing ADHD product without proper approval - The Washington Post

FDA says Pearson is marketing ADHD product without proper approval - The Washington Post: FDA says Pearson is marketing ADHD product without proper approval(Update: Pearson response)Pearson, the giant education company, has been marketing a program called Quotient ADHD System, which, the Web site says, “is an innovative device that objectively measures three core symptoms of ADHD: hyperactivity, a

by mike simpson / 2h 

Former Chief Executive of Chicago Public Schools Indicted for Accepting Bribes and Kickbacks to Steer No-Bid Contracts | USAO-NDIL | Department of Justice

Former Chief Executive of Chicago Public Schools Indicted for Accepting Bribes and Kickbacks to Steer No-Bid Contracts | USAO-NDIL | Department of Justice: Former Chief Executive of Chicago Public Schools Indicted for Accepting Bribes and Kickbacks to Steer No-Bid ContractsCHICAGO — A federal indictment returned today charges BARBARA BYRD-BENNETT with using her position atop the Chicago Public Sch

by mike simpson / 4h 

Schooling in the Ownership Society: J.B. Pritzker and Goldman Sachs doing the special ed hustle

Schooling in the Ownership Society: J.B. Pritzker and Goldman Sachs doing the special ed hustle:  J.B. Pritzker and Goldman Sachs doing the special ed hustleJ.B. PritzkerGoldman Sachs and J.B. Pritzker may call it "philanthropy" but it's a profitable brand that includes their benefiting financially from cuts in special ed and from every child who's dropped from or pushed out of a SpEd pr

by mike simpson / 5h 

Malloy Admin- Drops $2 million on consulting firm to micro-manage Alliance Districts then blames districts for program's failures. - Wait What?

Malloy Admin- Drops $2 million on consulting firm to micro-manage Alliance Districts then blames districts for program's failures. - Wait What?: Malloy Admin- Drops $2 million on consulting firm to micro-manage Alliance Districts then blames districts for program’s failures.Here we go again…Rather than properly fund Connecticut’s public schools, Governor Malloy has turned his back on the majority

by mike simpson / 6h 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Mr. and Mrs. Gates

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Mr. and Mrs. Gates: Mr. and Mrs. GatesBill and Melinda Gates are having a two-day (kinda secret) Gates Foundation event in downtown Bellevue.  Yesterday, the first day of the event, Mr. and Mrs. Gates sat down to opine about their adventures in public education. The Gates' friends at the Times, which gets funding for education reporting from the Foundation, put out

by mike simpson / 6h 

Motoko Rich’s Fuzzy Thinking in NY Times Piece on Common Core Tests | janresseger

Motoko Rich’s Fuzzy Thinking in NY Times Piece on Common Core Tests | janresseger: Motoko Rich’s Fuzzy Thinking in NY Times Piece on Common Core TestsI am troubled by Motoko Rich’s NY Times piece earlier this week in which she worries thatTest Scores Under Common Core Show That “Proficient” Varies by State.  Does Rich believe that the push for uniform academic standards (the Common Core standards)

by mike simpson / 6h 

CURMUDGUCATION: Campbell Brown Snubbed Again

CURMUDGUCATION: Campbell Brown Snubbed Again: "Campbell Brown Snubbed Again"Campbell Brown Snubbed AgainCampbell Brown, journalist caterpillar transformed into reformster butterfly, has been snubbed again.When Brown set up her website, one of her stated goals was to help drive the political discussion of education. With an eye toward the 2016 Presidential race, she had set up two educati

by mike simpson / 6h 

A Veteran Teacher Asks: Why Does NEA Still Support Common Core? - Living in Dialogue

A Veteran Teacher Asks: Why Does NEA Still Support Common Core? - Living in Dialogue: A Veteran Teacher Asks: Why Does NEA Still Support Common Core? By Sergio Flores.My name is Sergio Flores, I have been a public school teacher for thirty-nine years. Ten years in Mexico and the rest in California in LAUSD and WCSD where I teach fifth grade now. I have been a member of NEA and CTA since 1991.Six e

by mike simpson / 6h 

Amplify and the Cost of Going Public for Private Education Companies - US News

Amplify and the Cost of Going Public for Private Education Companies - US News: Public Goals, Private OwnershipFor education companies, the costs of going public often outweigh the benefits.In the education world, "public" is the thing. We idealize public schools. People who work in public education but send their children to private schools are often quietly – or not so quietly – judged

by mike simpson / 7h 

Schools Matter: New Orleans Charter Caste System

Schools Matter: New Orleans Charter Caste System: New Orleans Charter Caste SystemWhen the profiteers and venture paternalists moved into New Orleans to patch together their corporate system of schooling in the wake of Katrina, they had an opportunity to break the mold and create a socioeconomically-integrated and diverse system, or to design a corporate welfare system that mirrors the long held h

by mike simpson / 7h 

A Few Reflections Upon Secretary Duncan's Departure :: Frederick M. Hess

A Few Reflections Upon Secretary Duncan's Departure :: Frederick M. Hess: A Few Reflections Upon Secretary Duncan's Departure Rather than once again address Arne Duncan's tenure as Secretary of Education, today I'm inclined to offer a couple of more personal musings. After all, while I've often been disappointed by Duncan's Department (and been a thorn in its side), there have been more rewarding

by mike simpson / 7h 

Suit: Halt state takeover of Little Rock School District

Suit: Halt state takeover of Little Rock School District: Suit: Halt state takeover of Little Rock School DistrictFiling calls for LR School Board’s return, claims racial biasA team of attorneys led by civil-rights attorney John Walker on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit to reverse the January state takeover of the Little Rock School District and stop the development of both traditional and chart

by mike simpson / 7h 

Schools in Transition: A Guide to Support Transgender Students in K-12 - NEA Today

Schools in Transition: A Guide to Support Transgender Students in K-12 - NEA Today: Schools in Transition: A Guide to Support Transgender Students in K-12Most students are on autopilot when it comes to the daily routine of high school. They file into first period, go from class to class, banter in the hallway, eat lunch, and take the occasional bathroom break. The transitions are processes that fo

by mike simpson / 7h 

Lou LaBrant and Teacher Education’s Enduring Legacy | the becoming radical

Lou LaBrant and Teacher Education’s Enduring Legacy | the becoming radical: Lou LaBrant and Teacher Education’s Enduring LegacyA colleague of Louise Rosenblatt at New York University, Lou LaBrant faced mandatory retirement when she turned 65 in 1953. Reflecting on her work at NYU as a teacher educator from 1942-1953, LaBrant wrote in 1988 “Public School 65, Down on the Lower East Side” as she turn

by mike simpson / 7h 

NEA hosts reception for United We Dream - Lily's Blackboard

NEA hosts reception for United We Dream - Lily's Blackboard: NEA hosts reception for United We DreamOn Friday, October 2, I welcomed United We Dream to NEA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. for a reception honoring their important work of organizing and advocating on behalf of immigrant youth and their families. NEA presented a donation of $11,384 to United We Dream Advocacy Director Greisa Marti

by mike simpson / 7h 

Bowing to unions, 2016 Dems skip Campbell Brown’s education forum

Bowing to unions, 2016 Dems skip Campbell Brown’s education forum: Bowing to unions, 2016 Dems skip Campbell Brown’s education forumDemocratic presidential candidates are blowing off an education forum that anchorwoman-turned-activist Campbell Brown was expected to host in Iowa this month, and Brown blames pressure from traditionally Democratic teachers unions eager to move the party away from Pre

by mike simpson / 7h 

Arne Duncan’s bipartisan legacy: Attracting vitriol from the right and the left | Brookings Institution

Arne Duncan’s bipartisan legacy: Attracting vitriol from the right and the left | Brookings Institution: Arne Duncan’s bipartisan legacy: Attracting vitriol from the right and the leftMore than Margaret Spellings or Rod Paige, Arne Duncan was a bipartisan institution—he attracted vitriol from the right and the left. Was he a conservative sell-out? Foes on the left like Fenwick English, Kenneth Sal

by mike simpson / 7h 

The Obama Education Legacy :: Frederick M. Hess

The Obama Education Legacy :: Frederick M. Hess: The Obama Education LegacyLast week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced his resignation. With Congress controlled by the Republicans and the administration having run out of stimulus cash, played its "waiver" card, and been rebuffed on plans to use its college scorecard to impose NCLB for higher ed, things are winding down. Thing

by mike simpson / 8h 

Despite NEA's Nod To Clinton, Vermont Teachers' Union Still Supports Sanders | Vermont Public Radio

Despite NEA's Nod To Clinton, Vermont Teachers' Union Still Supports Sanders | Vermont Public Radio: Despite NEA's Nod To Clinton, Vermont Teachers' Union Still Supports SandersVermont's teachers union plans to actively support Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign even though their national organization, the NEA, has endorsed Hillary Clinton.An effort by the Vermont NEA to postpone the endorsemen

by mike simpson / 8h 

D.C. charter schools serve fewer at-risk students than nearby neighborhood schools - The Washington Post

D.C. charter schools serve fewer at-risk students than nearby neighborhood schools - The Washington Post: D.C. charter schools serve fewer at-risk students than nearby neighborhood schoolsNearly 90 percent of charter elementary schools serve a smaller portion of students considered “at risk” than their neighboring traditional public schools, according to a new analysis by the District of Columbia’

by mike simpson / 8h 

A Key Part Of Common Core Isn't Working Out | The Daily Caller

A Key Part Of Common Core Isn't Working Out | The Daily Caller: A Key Part Of Common Core Isn't Working Out  A key advantage of Common Core over earlier educational standards has failed to appear, according to a new assessment by The New York Times.According to backers, Common Core was supposed to make it a lot easier to compare standardized test scores between participating states. Ohio, Illinois

by mike simpson / 8h 

Mayor Kevin Johnson rescinds request to delay City Council meeting for ESPN film | The Sacramento Bee

Mayor Kevin Johnson rescinds request to delay City Council meeting for ESPN film | The Sacramento Bee: Mayor Kevin Johnson rescinds request to delay City Council meeting for ESPN filmSacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson withdrew a request late Wednesday to postpone a City Council meeting later this month to accommodate the premiere of a documentary about the city’s fight to save the Kings.Johnson’s offi

by mike simpson / 8h 

How a billionaire is trying to control Los Angeles public schools - The Washington Post

How a billionaire is trying to control Los Angeles public schools - The Washington Post: How a billionaire is trying to control Los Angeles public schoolsEli Broad is a housing and insurance tycoon whose  California-based Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has poured hundreds of millions into “transforming” K-12 urban education by training administrators and supporting charter schools, merit pay and

by mike simpson / 8h 

Eli Broad and the End of Public Education as We Know It - CAPITAL & MAIN

Eli Broad and the End of Public Education as We Know It - CAPITAL & MAIN: Eli Broad and the End of Public Education as We Know ItIf there were still any doubt about Eli Broad’s desire to gut traditional public education, it has been erased by his much-discussed “Great Public Schools Now” initiative, a draft of whichLA Times reporter Howard Blume obtained last month.Broad’s 44-page proposal out

by mike simpson / 8h 

Charter School Queen Eva Moskowitz Completely PWNED By The Hedge Clippers

Charter School Queen Eva Moskowitz Completely PWNED By The Hedge Clippers: Charter School Queen Eva Moskowitz Completely PWNED By The Hedge ClippersCharter school queen Eva Moskowitz sent out a brief ALL CAPS email yesterday evening telling reporters that she would be making an announcement this morning about her future “political plans” on the steps of NYC City Hall. It is widely expected that sh

by mike simpson / 9h 

With A Brooklyn Accent: Some Historical Ironies Regarding Elite Support for Charter Schools in New York City

With A Brooklyn Accent: Some Historical Ironies Regarding Elite Support for Charter Schools in New York City: Some Historical Ironies Regarding Elite Support for Charter Schools in New York CityOne of the main reasons why many parents in low and moderate income communities send their children to charter schools- in spite of the scripting, intimidation, and rigid discipline many feature - is that m

by mike simpson / 9h 

Diane Ravitch calls out charter-school nonsense: “Let her bring the hedge fund billionaires and her secret sauce to save all the children” - Salon.com

Diane Ravitch calls out charter-school nonsense: “Let her bring the hedge fund billionaires and her secret sauce to save all the children” - Salon.com: Diane Ravitch calls out charter-school nonsense: “Let her bring the hedge fund billionaires and her secret sauce to save all the children”Salon exclusive: "This is a well-funded, professionally orchestrated demonstration of support for privati

by mike simpson / 9h 

‘Bring Your Bible To School Day’ Message From Folsom School District Causes Confusion « CBS Sacramento

‘Bring Your Bible To School Day’ Message From Folsom School District Causes Confusion « CBS Sacramento: ‘Bring Your Bible To School Day’ Message From Folsom School District Causes ConfusionOctober 7, 2015 10:50 PMFOLSOM (CBS13) — A flyer promoting a nationwide “Bring Your Bible To School Day” that was sent to thousands of parents by a local school district raised confusion with parents and student

by mike simpson / 16h 

YESTERDAY

Eva Moskowitz will have tough time running for mayor - NY Daily News

Eva Moskowitz will have tough time running for mayor - NY Daily News: Charter school big Eva Moskowitz may have to switch parties if she wants to run for mayorCharter school phenom Eva Moskowitz would have to switch her party registration to run for mayor in 2017 because she is persona non grata to the city Democratic establishment.Moskowitz has violated orthodoxy by building a non-union network,

by mike simpson / 17h 

Stand Up for Public Education in LA’s Superintendent Search Process

Los Angeles Superintendent Search: Stand Up for Public Education in LA’s Superintendent Search ProcessThis evening I received an email from my friend and fellow education activist Roberta Eidman. It started like this:We can’t continue to sit back and watch LAUSD get swallowed up—school by school—by privatizers and charter CEOs. Finally, incompetent John Deasy was ousted; interim head Ramon Cortine

by mike simpson / 18h 

Washington State Legislature Inflicts a Triple Whammy on Low Income Students

State Legislature Inflicts a Triple Whammy on Low Income Students: State Legislature Inflicts a Triple Whammy on Low Income StudentsIn previous articles, we explained that Washington State is facing a school construction crisis – with a need to build more than $50 billion in new public schools. In this article, we will look at the impact on a particular school district when the State legislature r

by mike simpson / 19h 

Paramount Charter School: A Chaotic “Free for All” That Cannot be Immediately Shut Down | deutsch29

Paramount Charter School: A Chaotic “Free for All” That Cannot be Immediately Shut Down | deutsch29: Paramount Charter School: A Chaotic “Free for All” That Cannot be Immediately Shut DownIn August 2013, the Paramount Charter School submitted an impressive-reading, 344-page application to Broward County Public Schools (Florida). The school is run by an impressively-named nonprofit, The Advancement

by mike simpson / 20h 

The REAL Accountability Issue: Incompetent Leadership | Creative by Nature

The REAL Accountability Issue: Incompetent Leadership | Creative by Nature: The REAL Accountability Issue: Incompetent Leadership“Effective leaders in education apply strategies of democracy, they listen to and collaborate creatively with the people in their community. They engage and inspire others to take on leadership positions. They include all members of a community in the development of a sh

by mike simpson / 22h 

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/7/15

CORPORATE ED REFORMCURMUDGUCATION: Gates Says Some StuffCURMUDGUCATION: Gates Says Some Stuff: Gates Says Some StuffLike many teachers, I could not tune in to Bill and Melinda Gates' trip down Ed Reform Memory Lane because I was busy doing my actual job. This seems metaphorically perfect-- Gates talks about schools while meanwhile, teachers are in schools doing actual work. However, I've scanned s

by mike simpson / 23h 

The Ongoing Destruction of Public Education

The Ongoing Destruction of Public Education:

The Ongoing Destruction of Public Education

Campbell Brown is just the latest semi-famous rich person to parachute in and tell teachers they're doing it wrong.

Campbell Brown used to be an anchor at CNN. Campbell Brown is now married to Dan Senor, the former official prevaricator for the Avignon Presidency's excellent Mesopotamian adventure and a mysteriously popular television commentator on events far out of his depth. Campbell Brown also has taken it upon herself to be the latest rich and (semi-) famous person to parachute in and destroy the idea of public education. (And when the history of the Obama Administration is written, its willingness to go along with charter-school grifters at the behest of Arne Duncan is going to be a very big debit on the ledger.) Campbell Brown would like the Democratic candidates to come to an event she's having and debate about education. So far, as Peter Greene reports via Diane Ravitch's most excellent blog, the Democratic candidates have told Campbell Brown that, sorry, we all have unbreakable oral surgery appointments that night. Brown blames the teachers unions, which is not a surprise. She blames a teachers union every time a cloud passes in front of the sun.​

Brown and some other reformster pilot fish will gladly claim they've been put upon by the union, because that makes them important. It's an old and venerable trick—hell, if I could get Campbell Brown to attack me in print, my bloggy street cred would go way up—but it doesn't always work. And to pretend that the Democratic party, which just fell all over itself lionizing the departing and union un-loved Arne Duncan—well, that party hasn't shown all that much concern about upsetting the teachers unions. At best, Brown is just a victim of the old internet adage "Don't Feed the Trolls." But it's just as likely that her Iowa shindig failed because she's just not that important or relevant.

​As my old Irish gran' would say, who the hell is she when she's at home?

By the way, John King, your new Secretary of Education, has a fine track record of getting results and an interesting method of achieving them—​kick out any student who might blow up the data set and turn the ones who stay into extras in a Pink Floyd video.

I've visited this school, and I noticed that children are not allowed to talk in the hall, and they get punished for the most minor infraction. And when I talked with John King afterwards, I said, "I've never seen a school that serves affluent children where they're not allowed to talk in the hall." And he said, "Well, that might be true, but this is the model that works for us, we've found that this is the model that our kids need."

So I asked him, "Are you preparing these kids to be leaders or followers? Because leaders get to 

The Ongoing Destruction of Public Education:

CURMUDGUCATION: The Central Liberal Reformster Fallacy

CURMUDGUCATION: The Central Liberal Reformster Fallacy:

The Central Liberal Reformster Fallacy

It crops up many places, but today it was front and center in Michael Grunwald's piece for Politico. In "Obama vs. Teacher Union: It's Still On" Grunwald lays out the ongoing beef between teachers unions and the administration, which is first in his display of lesser fallacies. Framing the conflict as one between unions and the administration isn't quite right, as the unions have been largely friendly and compliant with the administration, and most of their official squawks of disagreement have come only after considerable prodding from membership (NEA and AFT still officially think Common Core is Just Fine, Thanks).

Grunwald then goes on to posit that John King on paper looks like a great choice to bind the wounds, resorting to the John King Story, which seems to be how we're going to sell this exemplar of upward failure as a serious faux secretary of ed. Grunwald gives  a quick gloss to King's "former teacher" credential; King taught a grand total of three years, including two in a charter. The King story always includes a chapter about how his public school teachers saved him, but it never includes a thoughtful consideration of whether his favored reforms would support those kind of teachers today, or force them to stop focusing on what children need and devote more time to test scores.

Grunwald includes the story of King's charter-founding awesomeness. He skips over the secret of King's charter success-- sky high suspension rates and the push-out of countless students. And he skips over the huge disconnect in King's story-- the man who talks about how school was a safe, nurturing CURMUDGUCATION: The Central Liberal Reformster Fallacy:

Ohio passes legislation aimed at cleaning up scandal-ridden charter school sector - The Washington Post

Ohio passes legislation aimed at cleaning up scandal-ridden charter school sector - The Washington Post:

Ohio passes legislation aimed at cleaning up scandal-ridden charter school sector

The Ohio legislature has passed legislation that attempts to clean up the state’s scandal-ridden $1 billion charter school sector. Meanwhile, both Republican and Democratic politicians in the state are expressing concern about a $71 million grant that the federal government just gave to the Ohio Department of Education to build and expand charter schools.

The legislation, expected to be signed by Gov. John Kasich, who is running for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, includes a series of governance and financial controls on how charter operators run the schools. that would allow better oversight

A June 2015 story in the Akron Beacon Journal said that an investigation it had completed found that Ohio charter schools appeared to have misspent public money “nearly four times more often than any other type of taxpayer-funded agency.” It said that “since 2001, state auditors have uncovered $27.3 million improperly spent by charter schools, many run by for-profit companies, enrolling thousands of children and producing academic results that rival the worst in the nation” — and the misspending could be much higher.

There had been repeated attempts to get the legislature to pass reforms that would provide better oversight and sensible financial and other controls on charter school operations, but until now, they had all failed.

One of the reforms included in the legislation is meant to deal with a situation created last month, when the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in a lawsuit by 10 now-closed charter schools that the for-profit company that once operated them, White Hat Management, owns all of the equipment it purchased for the schools with public funds. Under the legislation, the schools would from here on out own the equipment.

Another reform, the Columbus Dispatch reported, changes the way state evaluations of charter school operators are done in an effort to speak to a situation that developed this past summer. In July, David Hansen, the Ohio Education Department official responsible for school choice and charter schools, resigned after it was learned that he given help to some charter schools by making student achievement look better in state evaluations than was actually earned.

Meanwhile, both Republicans and Democrats are expressing concern about a big grant the U.S. Education Department just gave to Ohio. The grant — $32.5 million for this year with a recommended multi-year total of $71 million — was the largest handed out last week to education departments and charter Ohio passes legislation aimed at cleaning up scandal-ridden charter school sector - The Washington Post:

Democrats will squabble over charter schools

Democrats will squabble over charter schools:

Democrats will squabble over charter schools

It would be easy to dismiss the thousands of students, parents and educators marching across the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday decked out in red “I fight to end inequality” T-shirts as bit players in a New York squabble over charter school funding.

It’s way more than that.

What you’re witnessing are yet more signs that the Democratic Party is headed toward a serious fissure over education issues, one that will pit the haves against the have-nots. The divide pits traditional liberals (think New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo) vs. progressives (think New York Mayor Bill de Blasio). The odd thing is that some Democrats don’t seem to see this one coming.

Real bad, as in serious conflicts erupting between white suburbanite parents and urban parents.

Another signal of this eruption came last week, when Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced both his resignation and his replacement: John King, a charter school co-founder who became New York state’s education chief. There, he pursued test-focused reforms designed to root out ineffective teachers.

The opposition in New York was intense. The unions hated King’s reforms, and superintendents didn’t want to deal with additional accountability. Both the unions and Democrats will squabble over charter schools:

Challenge to the Common Core King and Queen: Get Involved Really!

Challenge to the Common Core King and Queen: Get Involved Really!:

Challenge to the Common Core King and Queen: Get Involved Really!

Bill and Melinda Gates say “Working on reforming the U.S. education system is the hardest job they’ve ever tackled — even more difficult and complex than trying to find a cure for malaria.”

Their hardest job? Are they kidding?

Sitting in an ivory palace pulling school reform ideas off the top of your head is not what I would call hard, especially when you can make everyone else be accountable with their tax dollars for your mistakes (see recent Hillsborough County)!

Mr. and Mrs. Gates need to spend some serious time (not just occasional photo ops with the teachers who adore them) in poor public schools and see what the lives of real teachers and students are like.

Or they should spend time with the many moms of students with disabilities who homeschool not because they want to, but because schools have cut special education services partly due to the message that Individual Education Plans are less important Challenge to the Common Core King and Queen: Get Involved Really!:

Arne Duncan's Legacy: Growing Influence of a Network of Private Actors on Public Education | The Conversation US

Arne Duncan's Legacy: Growing Influence of a Network of Private Actors on Public Education | The Conversation US:

Arne Duncan's Legacy: Growing Influence of a Network of Private Actors on Public Education

Sherman Dorn, Arizona State University and Amanda U. Potterton, Arizona State University

Arne Duncan is leaving the US Department of Education in December. Reactions to his legacy have been mixed. Some see him as a heroic reformer, and others a well-intentioned but overreaching bureaucrat. He has been called the third secretary of education for George W Bush or the center of stormy education politics.

As researchers of education policy, we see him differently: the hub of a network of policy advocates. As the head of the federal Department of Education, he actively facilitated private actors' influence on public education policy.

Private actors and connections

From early 2009, Arne Duncan opened the federal agency's gates to a powerful network. He used the network, and was sometimes used by advocates for their own purposes.

Duncan was not just the cabinet secretary who played pickup basketball with the president. He was the head of the department with the highest number (five) of early political appointees who had personal connections to President Obama.

He was joined in 2009 by some of the most powerful members of a Democratic-leaning group of education reformers: among them were Deputy Secretary Jim Shelton, a former leader of education policy at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Joanne Weiss, the Chief Operating Officer at NewSchools Venture Fund who became Duncan's chief of staff. NewSchools Venture Fund is a venture philanthropy firm that sponsors the growth of charter school chains.

In 2009, both organizations were part of a growing network of advocates which Michigan State University political scientist Sarah Reckhow has called the Boardroom Progressives.

These reformers have largely consisted of private actors, including leaders of education nonprofits, charter school founders and other nontraditional school leaders whose essential resources for reform come from the private wealth of major foundations, an approach that Berkeley education professor Janelle Scott has termed"venture philanthropy."

Did those connections matter?

The network that swirled around Duncan gave him ideas that he promoted through the Obama stimulus, and also the skilled personnel to run those programs.

Members of Duncan's reform network were partly the genesis and potentially the beneficiary of a grant program, Race to the Top, that required applicants to expand opportunities for charter school creation, eliminate firewalls between student test scores and teacher evaluation, and commit to so-called "college and career-ready Arne Duncan's Legacy: Growing Influence of a Network of Private Actors on Public Education | The Conversation US:

Former Chicago Public Schools chief to plead guilty to bribery scheme - Chicago Tribune

Former Chicago Public Schools chief to plead guilty to bribery scheme - Chicago Tribune:

Former Chicago Public Schools chief to plead guilty to bribery scheme

rmer Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett plans to plead guilty to charges she steered no-bid contracts worth more than $23 million to an education consulting firm where she once worked in return for promises of hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks, other perks and a job, federal prosecutors revealed Thursday.

U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon made the disclosure at an afternoon news conference at which he said Byrd-Bennett has been cooperating with investigators.

The 23-count indictment alleges that almost immediately after Mayor Rahm Emanuel installed her as public schools chief in 2012, Byrd-Bennett began scheming with Gary Solomon and Thomas Vranas, co-owners of SUPES Academy, to secure the contracts to train principals and school administrators.

In return, Byrd-Bennett was promised a "signing bonus" of more than $250,000 and a job at SUPES once she stepped down as the public schools CEO, the indictment charges. She also was given meals and tickets to sporting events and expected to be reimbursed for a holiday party she hosted for CPS personnel, according to the charges.

The indictment also alleges that Solomon offered to arrange employment for friends of Byrd-Bennett's.

Solomon and Vranas also were criminally charged, as was their business itself and a subsidiary, Synesi Associates.

The long-awaited indictment comes six months after CPS revealed in mid-April that it had been served federal grand jury subpoenas seeking an array of documents related to the SUPES contract. Soon after Byrd-Bennett took a paid leave of absence, and she resigned in May.

Each of the five defendants was charged with 15 counts of mail fraud and five counts of wire fraud, except for Vranas, who was indicted on one fewer wire fraud count. Solomon, 47, of Wilmette, and Vranas, 34, of Glenview, were also charged with two counts of bribery Former Chicago Public Schools chief to plead guilty to bribery scheme - Chicago Tribune:

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Harsh Truth About What Is Happening to Teachers, Students and Schools

With A Brooklyn Accent: The Harsh Truth About What Is Happening to Teachers, Students and Schools:

The Harsh Truth About What Is Happening to Teachers, Students and Schools

Teachers all over the country are shell shocked at the speed with which their jobs are being ruined, eliminated or destroyed. Whether it is scripted curriculum, demeaning observations, test based teacher evaluations, or the threat of their schools being closed and replaced with charters, our best veteran teachers are being asked to commit professional malpractice as the price of losing their jobs. Some can't take it and quit. Others put themselves under a doctors care and need medication to get through the day. Others just suffer sleepless nights because they know what they are being asked to do in their classrooms is wrong
Unfortunately, none of this is unintentional. The powers that be in this country have decided that veteran teachers, especially unionized veteran teachers, are too expensive for our schools to afford. Their plan is to plan to replace them, in most of the country's schools, with teacher temps, and fresh out of school teachers, or TFA Corps members who work 12 hour days until they burn out and leave.
And if students suffer, what of it. Since over 70 percent of the new jobs in the country are going to be at or near minimum With A Brooklyn Accent: The Harsh Truth About What Is Happening to Teachers, Students and Schools:

FDA says Pearson is marketing ADHD product without proper approval - The Washington Post

FDA says Pearson is marketing ADHD product without proper approval - The Washington Post:

FDA says Pearson is marketing ADHD product without proper approval

(Update: Pearson response)

Pearson, the giant education company, has been marketing a program called Quotient ADHD System, which, the Web site says, “is an innovative device that objectively measures three core symptoms of ADHD: hyperactivity, attention and impulsivity.” It further says:

‘Based on research from the McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School Affiliate, this easy-to-administer tool uses advanced motion tracking technology to track a child or adult’s micromovements while they complete a 15-20 minute computerized test. After the test is completed, patterns of motion, accuracy of the responses, and fluctuations in attention state are quickly analyzed and scored using proprietary algorithms. Scores and test data from these analyses provide valuable insights into both the existence of ADHD and the severity of the disorder.Cleared by the FDA with the intended use: “to provide clinicians with objective measures of hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention to aid in the clinical assessment of ADHD”. [Bold-faced added]

It turns out the Federation Drug Administration isn’t as on board as all of that. A letter dated Aug. 20, 2015, from the FDA to Pearson says:

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has learned that your firm is marketing the Quotient ADHD System in the United States without marketing clearance or approval, in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act).

Pearson spokeswoman Laura Howe said in an e-mail:

“In August, Pearson received a letter from the FDA regarding marketing language for its Quotient program and has since taken steps to ensure all materials are in compliance with federal regulations.”

Here’s the full text of the letter:FDA says Pearson is marketing ADHD product without proper approval - The Washington Post:

Former Chief Executive of Chicago Public Schools Indicted for Accepting Bribes and Kickbacks to Steer No-Bid Contracts | USAO-NDIL | Department of Justice

Former Chief Executive of Chicago Public Schools Indicted for Accepting Bribes and Kickbacks to Steer No-Bid Contracts | USAO-NDIL | Department of Justice:

Former Chief Executive of Chicago Public Schools Indicted for Accepting Bribes and Kickbacks to Steer No-Bid Contracts

CHICAGO — A federal indictment returned today charges BARBARA BYRD-BENNETT with using her position atop the Chicago Public Schools to award lucrative no-bid contracts to her former employer in exchange for bribes and kickbacks.

The 23-count indictment alleges that Byrd-Bennett steered no-bid contracts worth more than $23 million to THE SUPES ACADEMY LLC, and SYNESI ASSOCIATES LLC, in exchange for an expectation of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.   The companies agreed to conceal the kickback money by funneling it into accounts set up in the names of two of Byrd-Bennett’s relatives, according to the indictment.  A later agreement called for the funds to be paid to Byrd-Bennett in the form of a “signing bonus” after her employment with CPS ended and the companies re-hired her as a consultant, according to the indictment.

The companies, which specialize in training principals and school administrators, provided Byrd-Bennett with numerous other benefits, including meals, an airplane ticket, and seats at basketball and baseball games, the indictment states.  Byrd-Bennett also expected to receive reimbursement from the companies for costs associated with a holiday party she hosted for CPS personnel, according to the charges.

The Wilmette-based SUPES and the Evanston-based Synesi are also charged in the indictment, along with their respective former owners, GARY SOLOMON and THOMAS VRANAS.  Byrd-Bennett had worked as a consultant for SUPES and Synesi before moving to CPS in May 2012.  She was appointed chief executive officer at CPS on Oct. 12, 2012.

The indictment charges Byrd-Bennett, 66, of Solon, Ohio, with 15 counts of mail fraud and five counts of wire fraud.  Solomon, 47, of Wilmette, is charged with 15 counts of mail fraud, five counts of wire fraud, two counts of bribery of a government official, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.  Vranas, 34, of Glenview, is charged with 15 counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud, two counts of bribery of a government official, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.  SUPES and Synesi are charged as corporate defendants with 15 counts of mail fraud and five counts of wire fraud apiece.

The indictment seeks forfeiture from defendants Solomon, Vranas, SUPES and Synesi of all money and property traceable to the violations, estimated at approximately $2 million.

An arraignment date in U.S. District Court in Chicago has not yet been set.

“Graft and corruption in our city’s public school system tears at the fabric of a vital resource for the children of Chicago,” said Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.  “School officials and city vendors who abuse the public trust will be held accountable.”

Mr. Fardon announced the indictment along with John A. Brown, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Nicholas J. Schuler, Inspector General for the Chicago Public Schools.

“The American people expect honest services from their government leaders, particularly those responsible for leading our teachers and caring for our children,” said Special Agent Brown.  “The FBI, in conjunction with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners, remains steadfast in its pursuit of those willing to trade the education of our children for their own prosperity.”

“The public education system is harmed when a high-level insider chooses to line their pockets with public funds," CPS Inspector General Schuler said.  "My office is committed to rooting out corruption at any level through joint investigations such as this one.”

The contracts referenced in the indictment were awarded by the Chicago Board of Education, which governs CPS, as part of a CBOE training program called the Chicago Executive Leadership Academy (CELA).  One such contract – worth $2.09 million for leadership training of school administrators – was awarded to SUPES within two weeks of Byrd-Bennett’s appointment as CEO, and then extended with an additional $225,000 allocation in 2013.   A larger no-bid contract – worth $20.5 million – was awarded to SUPES on June 26, 2013.

The indictment alleges that Byrd-Bennett used her position as CEO to lobby CBOE officials on behalf of SUPES and Synesi, and to actively seek funds from the CPS budget to expand the CELA program for the companies’ benefit.  Byrd-Bennett directed CPS employees to obtain the necessary approvals to eliminate competitive bidding from the procurement process, and to ensure that the contracts were awarded to SUPES, according to the indictment.

All the while, Byrd-Bennett falsely represented to CBOE officials that she received no financial compensation from the companies, the indictment contends.  In reality, Byrd-Bennett maintained an interest in SUPES and Synesi through a secret consulting agreement, which promised to pay her a percentage of the gross proceeds from the contracts she helped to procure, according to the indictment.

The indictment cites an email between Solomon and Vranas on or about Dec. 6, 2012, which contained a prior email discussion between Byrd-Bennett, Solomon and Vranas.  In that email, Solomon informed Byrd-Bennett, in part: “It is our assumption that the distribution will serve as a signing bonus upon your return to SUPES/Synesi.  If you only join for the day, you will be the highest paid person on the planet for that day.”

In the late summer or early fall of 2013, according to the indictment, Solomon informed Byrd-Bennett that the CBOE Inspector General wanted to review Solomon’s and Vranas’s emails.  Solomon said Vranas planned to use a computer program to delete the emails, and he told Byrd-Bennett to delete her emails as well, the indictment states.

Each count of mail and wire fraud is punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, mandatory restitution, and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greater.  Each count of bribery of a government official carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greater.  The charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greater.

If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.  The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Megan Cunniff Church and Lindsay Jenkins.

Indictment (175.45 KB)

Former Chief Executive of Chicago Public Schools Indicted for Accepting Bribes and Kickbacks to Steer No-Bid Contracts | USAO-NDIL | Department of Justice:

Schooling in the Ownership Society: J.B. Pritzker and Goldman Sachs doing the special ed hustle

Schooling in the Ownership Society: J.B. Pritzker and Goldman Sachs doing the special ed hustle:

 J.B. Pritzker and Goldman Sachs doing the special ed hustle

J.B. Pritzker

Goldman Sachs and J.B. Pritzker may call it "philanthropy" but it's a profitable brand that includes their benefiting financially from cuts in special ed and from every child who's dropped from or pushed out of a SpEd program.

It's all because of the latest corporate scheme in which private firms foot the initial bill for public services and then are repaid with interest if those services reduce the number of kids in special ed. They call it "social impact" investing.

In Utah for example, GS and J.B. have committed $7 million to area pay-for-success programs through the United Way, which will fund preschool services for five cohorts of children. Even at a 5% rate of return, they still receive 95% of any special-education savings to the state until the investments are repaid with interest. After that, the firms will receive 40% of ongoing cost savings until the participating students complete sixth grade.

If only companies like Goldman Sachs didn'toperate virtually fax-free, there would likely be adequate public funding for special ed and all other education funding. Instead schools are forced to operate on the largess of private investment firms who not only operate at a profit, but also influence important public ed policy issues -- like which child should be in SpEd and which one needn't be?

According to Crain's,

United Way of Salt Lake is betting that the savings from keeping kids Schooling in the Ownership Society: J.B. Pritzker and Goldman Sachs doing the special ed hustle:

Malloy Admin- Drops $2 million on consulting firm to micro-manage Alliance Districts then blames districts for program's failures. - Wait What?

Malloy Admin- Drops $2 million on consulting firm to micro-manage Alliance Districts then blames districts for program's failures. - Wait What?:

Malloy Admin- Drops $2 million on consulting firm to micro-manage Alliance Districts then blames districts for program’s failures.

Here we go again…

Rather than properly fund Connecticut’s public schools, Governor Malloy has turned his back on the majority of Connecticut’s public schools and local property tax payers by shifting almost all new state education funding to Connecticut’s so-called Alliance Districts.

Making matters far worse, rather than using the State Department of Education’s expert team of superintendents, principals and policy experts who had been working with Connecticut’s Priority Schools, when Malloy’s first Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor, took office he laid off and reassigned the Connecticut experts and handed their work over to Mass Insight, Inc., a politically connected, out-of-state Corporate Education Reform consulting company.  Mass Insight then sent in a team of consultants, with little to no education experience, to manage the day to day work associated with the Alliance District and Turnaround Program.

And heading up the overall operation, which has spent more than $300 million in public funds, Commissioner Stefan Pryor recruited a school principal from Achievement First, Inc. the large charter school management company that Pryor co-founded.

Lacking the certification necessary to teach or work in a Connecticut school, Morgan Barth had already spent eight years illegally teaching and working at Achievement First, Inc.  However, Barth’s claim to fame was that he was a close relative of Richard Barth, the CEO of the massive KIPP Charter School chain who, in turn, is married to the Wendy Koop, the founder of Teach for America.

When it comes to actually overseeing Malloy’s Alliance District program, Barth and Mass Insight’s track record has been abysmal, but that didn’t stop Mass Insight from collecting at least $1,957,960 in consulting fees and Barth finding the time to head out to UConn to Malloy Admin- Drops $2 million on consulting firm to micro-manage Alliance Districts then blames districts for program's failures. - Wait What?:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Mr. and Mrs. Gates

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Mr. and Mrs. Gates:

Mr. and Mrs. Gates

Bill and Melinda Gates are having a two-day (kinda secret) Gates Foundation event in downtown Bellevue.  Yesterday, the first day of the event, Mr. and Mrs. Gates sat down to opine about their adventures in public education. 

The Gates' friends at the Times, which gets funding for education reporting from the Foundation, put out one version of this story yesterday that I see that TODAY has now been edited.  A quote by Gates is altered and soft quotes from State Superintendent Randy Dorn and the head of the Road Map project are in.  (I really have to start taking screenshots of these stories since the Times feels compelled to rewrite them at will.) 

From the Times:

Working on reforming the U.S. education system is the hardest job they’ve ever tackled, Bill and Melinda Gates said Wednesday — even more difficult and complex than trying to find a cure for malaria.

And again, failure after failure and yet they just keep trying to see what might stick.  Using other people's children as their guinea pigs. 

“If we come up with a new malaria drug, a new malaria vaccine, nobody votes to uninvent our malaria vaccine,” said Gates, to laughter from the Seattle Schools Community Forum: Mr. and Mrs. Gates:





Washington State Charter School Updates

Some items I have mentioned before and some items are probably new to most readers.

- The Washington State Charter Schools Association asked the Supreme Court for an extension on their filing for reconsideration by the Court and was granted it.  They have until October 24th to file.

- Meanwhile, Attorney General Bob Ferguson met the 20-day deadline for his office's filing for reconsideration.

- Additionally, Ferguson is filing a friend of the court for the WSCSA's reconsideration.

- The Washington Education Association has launched a petition to ask Ferguson to reconsider his motion to the Court for reconsideration. It has over 1,000 signatures.

- Troubled First Place Scholars charter school is have a "radio-thon" this weekend in to raise money for the school.

- Remember how the head of the WSCASA, Tom Franta, had said, immediately after the ruling, that private donors would make sure that the current charter Washington State Charter School Updates

Motoko Rich’s Fuzzy Thinking in NY Times Piece on Common Core Tests | janresseger

Motoko Rich’s Fuzzy Thinking in NY Times Piece on Common Core Tests | janresseger:

Motoko Rich’s Fuzzy Thinking in NY Times Piece on Common Core Tests

I am troubled by Motoko Rich’s NY Times piece earlier this week in which she worries thatTest Scores Under Common Core Show That “Proficient” Varies by State.  Does Rich believe that the push for uniform academic standards (the Common Core standards) was really all about the tests? Does Rich really believe there is some kind of objective, universal, ideal test score standard—a model—to which we can compare all students and judge their academic standing?  Does she believe standardized tests are sufficiently comprehensive really to measure students’ accomplishments and compare them to each other?  Does she believe that cut scores derive from some kind of scientific principle?  Does Rich believe any of this matters?

Rich writes: “Ohio seems to have taken a page from Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average.  Last month, state officials releasing an early batch of test scores declared that two-thirds of students at most grade levels were proficient on reading and math tests given last spring under the new Common Core requirements.  Yet similar scores on the same tests meant something quite different in Illinois, where education officials said only about a third of students were on track.  And in Massachusetts, typically one of the strongest academic performers, the state said about half of the students who took the same tests as Ohio’s children met expectations.  It all came down to the different labels each state used to describe the exact same scores on the same tests.”

Whether we need consistent academic expectations from place to place (the Common Core Motoko Rich’s Fuzzy Thinking in NY Times Piece on Common Core Tests | janresseger: