2/11/2016 – State Leaders Need To Back Away From School Takeover Agencies

2/11/2016 – State Leaders Need To Back Away From School Takeover Agencies:

State Leaders Need To Back Away From School Takeover Agencies

 

February 11, 2016, 2016 Subscribe

THIS WEEK: Teacher Shortage Fight … How Many Kids Have Lead Poisoning … Republicans Hat School Boards … UN Experts Horrified By US Schools … Schools Suspensions Hurt Achievement

TOP STORY

Why State Leaders Need To Back Away From School Takeover Agencies

By Jeff Bryant

“Republican governors and legislators in at least eleven states are in various stages of seizing control of schools and school districts and overriding local governance of education … But if elected school boards are the problem, are state takeover agencies the answer? ‘No,’ says a new report.”
Read more …

NEWS AND VIEWS

Teacher Shortages Put Pressure On Governors, Legislators

Education Week

“In a number of states with dwindling supplies of new teachers, overcrowded classrooms, months-long substitute assignments, and droves of teachers quitting midyear … governors and legislators are floating a variety of approaches to address the challenge of recruiting and retaining teachers.”
Read more …

America Does A Terrible Job Tracking How Many Kids Have Lead Poisoning

Vox

“In the wake of Flint, Michigan’s lead poisoning crisis … it’s nearly impossible to know how much lead exposure kids in a certain zip code, neighborhood, or census tract might come in contact with … There are thousands of children in the United States with lead exposure above the federal threshold.”
Read more …

GOP-Led States Increasingly Taking Control From Local School Boards

The Washington Post

“Republican lawmakers in Illinois last month pitched a bold plan for the state to seize control of the Chicago public schools … Governors in Michigan, Arkansas, Nevada, Wisconsin, Georgia, Ohio, and elsewhere … say they are intervening in cases of chronic academic or financial failure … State takeovers were once a rarity, but they have become increasingly popular.”
Read more …

U.N. Experts Seem Horrified By How American Schools Treat Black Children

Huffington Post

“American schools are hotbeds for racial discrimination, according to a preliminary report from a group of United Nations experts … The U.N. experts also expressed concern about mass school closures, which typically target predominantly black neighborhoods.”
Read more …

How School Suspensions Push Black Students Behind

The Atlantic

“Racial disparities in school-discipline rates … contribute to the race-based achievement gap … The act of suspending a child who’s already at risk of underperforming academically could prove devastating.”
Read more …

2/11/2016 – State Leaders Need To Back Away From School Takeover Agencies:

Schools vs. Elections as Sites for Controversy - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Schools vs. Elections as Sites for Controversy - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Schools vs. Elections as Sites for Controversy

 Deborah Meier continues her conversation with Harry Boyte. To read their full exchange, please visit here.

Dear Harry and friends,

I'm writing this with the New Hampshire primary on TV and my trip to Texas in my foreground. Plus snow. Oh dear, what to pack.

The Texas trip is for the North Dakota Study Group's (NDSG) annual February meeting. It began in response to concerns by Head Start parents about the misuse of tests. I missed just once. It's been kept going—we haven't missed a year—by the democratic spirit of some hundred or so "regulars," who actually keep changing as some of us get older ... and older .... It's survived some tough debates—academics versus teachers, charges that progressive education has not confronted its own racism, and on and on. Some of the internal debates have even gotten nasty; but we survive. Going there once a year is both an emotionally and intellectually important event for some of us. This year's topic: second-language learners.

I'm intrigued, Harry, about the picture you paint of academic culture. I've spent so little time on college campuses that perhaps I am out of touch. Surely economics departments are not in the liberal camp. And most education schools are still preparing students to "fit in." I guess the data demonstrate that academic professionals mostly vote Democrat—which may translate to being liberal? As more and more are part-time temps it's harder to tell who's an academic. What I've noticed in the three institutions I've worked for part time is that they rarely live up to my imagined picture: centers of collegial but intense debate, conversation about ideas, etc. Instead, they seem mostly a collection of little fiefdoms—busy raising money to advance their particular line of research. And rarely exchanging views across fiefdoms.

Rarely, then, do students experience what it might be like to belong to a community of adults excited by their ideas, taking each other on in a civil but sometimes even ferocious manner. Even spending four to six years in college does not expose them to a community of lively and curious minds. Instead, except in some small colleges, they experience a faculty divided into particular disciplines or subdisciplines, plus, if lucky, individual professors whom they may like and/or who may advance their careers.

Controversy takes place in America—via radio and TV perhaps, and maybe over some dinner tables—but we don't see schools as sites for such controversy. As you note, we are understandably afraid that we'll be accused of trying to brainwash naive youths if we do. And for reasons that I understand, parents and politicians fear that teachers will, even inadvertently, present their own viewpoints in the best light, and hope that students leave their course on "their side." I love what Urban Academy—a small progressive high school in NYC—does to both prepare their students with argumentative skills and to encourage debate. They often bring in adult experts with different views to make it harder for the staff to unwittingly bias their curriculum. They thus show off the importance of having knowledge—the facts. As I often told kids, "Who'd care about your opinion on baseball if you don't know the difference between balls and strikes, what a double play is, etc.?"

How can we listen to those we disagree with long enough to even partially understand the strengths of their argument rather than focus on our own clever answers? I plead guilty.

Yes, unfortunately there are good reasons such discussion is harder in racially mixed settings. We are good at pushing each other's buttons—sometimes intentionally and sometimes not. I am uncomfortable with most "skin-privilege" discourse since I'm aware that a great many whites carry with them a long narrative of oppression and are simultaneously trying to shed that story while also clinging to it. It's far easier for economically and socially secure whites to say "mea culpa." Maybe too easy.

The Iowa and New Hampshire elections are encouraging and intriguing. I'm struck by the degree of trust involved in the caucus practices in Iowa, for example. How dare they? If we trusted teachers like that .... I wish, I wish ... I was up there in snowy New Hampshire today.

Read Harold Meyerson's recent piece in The American Prospect, entitled "Bernie and the New Left." Meyerson looks closely at the way the partisanship of the Sanders-Clinton camps may be leading to another, perhaps unnecessary, split that keeps us from hearing each other—much less hearing Republicans! Pulling apart the heart of the arguments on all sides and the fears the candidates are tapping into can be frustrating or fascinating.

The absence of excitement about "ideas" that the young demonstrate in school contrasts sharply with their excited reactions to Trump, Clinton and Sanders, etc.

DebSchools vs. Elections as Sites for Controversy - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

MA Charter School Fight Heats Up | Schott Foundation for Public Education

MA Charter School Fight Heats Up | Schott Foundation for Public Education:

MA Charter School Fight Heats Up

Massachusetts is facing a lawsuit that will likely lead to lifting the state’s cap on charter schools, further depriving traditional public schools of funding by allowing a potentially unlimited number of charter schools to develop. To combat this plan, education advocates are trying to demonstrate how lifting the cap will hurt students. The Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance (MEJA) is asking supporters to testify against the plan at a public hearing on Feb. 10th, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice intends to intervene on behalf of the students who would be most affected by this loss of funding: students learning English, students with disabilities, and students of color. These students are those charter schools typically “push out,” leaving traditional schools to unfairly teach the vast majority of students who require the most resources.

While those filing the lawsuit claim charter schools offer a higher quality of education that should be available to all students, they do so at the expense of pushing out students who require more resources and are funded by requiring school districts to pay per-pupil costs. However, as these costs cannot be taken out of large expenses like infrastructure upkeep and maintaining a required number of teachers, they can significantly reduce funding available to traditional schools. When these funding cuts are combined with a disproportionate number of high-needs students, the result is an inequitable educational model that sacrifices some students for others. As MEJA says:

The kids who do poorly are the ones who take more money to educate, and these groups of students get suspended and expelled from charter schools for this exact reason. In this way, charter schools can educate only the kids who already have the resources to do well, while leaving the kids who need education the most in a public school system that is underfunded because the money is going to charters.

The Massachusetts Teachers Association demonstrates the disproportionate number of high-needs students in a chart that shows how in the vast majority of Massachusetts districts, traditional schools retain higher percentages of these students. For instance, only one district’s charter schools have a higher percentage of students with disabilities. You can find the complete MA Charter School Fight Heats Up | Schott Foundation for Public Education:

Ed Notes Online: The Bernie/Hillary Battle: Commentary from the Left (New Politics) and Mainstream (Politico)

Ed Notes Online: The Bernie/Hillary Battle: Commentary from the Left (New Politics) and Mainstream (Politico):

The Bernie/Hillary Battle: Commentary from the Left (New Politics) and Mainstream (Politico)

I 'm finally getting revved up to watch the show on both sides of the aisle unfold. I'm starting to balance the still remote possibility Bernie will win the nomination with the electability of a Jewish socialist. But then again, how electable is Hillary at this point? Even the most rabid Bernie fans, face it. If given Hillary vs any one of the Republican candidates most will hold your nose and vote for her.


What is interesting to me is that Bernie is winning the young and the white working class which rejected Obama and will reject Hillary. Imagine a Bernie vs Trump or Cruz election. Can Bernie win? 

Yes, he has problems with people of color, in particular the black community. It is not just that he comes from a white state but there has also been issues between Jews and Blacks for decades, especially here in NYC going back to the 1968 teacher strike which was often framed as Jewish teachers opposing Black community control. As a teacher I often found that my own kids had certain attitudes toward Jews and they were surprised I was Jewish because they had a certain image of Jews - but then again that was in Hasidic Williamsburg.

This country brands itself as a Christian nation. Many Jews believe that it the Obama election was more likely than a Jew being president. I can remember as a young child being told we would never see a Jewish president, forcing me to give up my political career when I was 3.

But when people of color are faced with the stark choice what will they do?
And then again there is Michael Bloomberg jumping in if Bernie looks like he can win.
Imagine this: Bernie vs. billionaires Bloomberg and Trump.
How will that play out with the added factor of having 2 of the 3 being Jews? 
But reality bites. The Democratic Super delegates in a close race will hand it ti Hillary and even in not a close race.
No wonder I love 2 major things: sports and politics - better than any other entertainment you can get. 

Here is a selection of readings for this cold day from Politico and from New Politics.

New Politics, Winter 2016 Issue

http://www.newpol.org

A Discussion of the Sanders Campaign

Bernie Sanders and the Dilemma of the Democratic “Party,” Jason Schulman

Some months ago I responded to a piece that appeared on the New Politics blog by my longtime fellow NP editorial board member and friend Barry Finger.1 In my own blog, I argued that Barry had a better, more sophisticated understanding of the peculiarities of the Democratic Party and the U.S. electoral system than do many on the radical left who refuse to support any Democratic candidate regardless of that candidate’s personal political platform. However, I also made clear that I believed that Barry still suffered from certain misunderstandings regarding just how Ed Notes Online: The Bernie/Hillary Battle: Commentary from the Left (New Politics) and Mainstream (Politico):

The Ugly “Good Teacher” Discussion Few Are Confronting – the becoming radical

The Ugly “Good Teacher” Discussion Few Are Confronting – the becoming radical:

The Ugly “Good Teacher” Discussion Few Are Confronting

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'”

Matthew 25:40

The gold standard, I think, for thinking about education reform and more narrow concerns such as teacher quality is the complex and confrontational approach of Lisa Delpit, who anchors her perspective with how we teach and treat “other people’s children”—black and brown children, impoverished children.

And from that perspective we have the ugly “good teacher” discussion few are willing to confront: Vulnerable populations of children and their families are where and how we experiment with education, where and how we adopt policies and practices no affluent and white families would tolerate for their children: Teach For America, “no excuses,” zero tolerance.

High-poverty and majority-minority schools are burdened not just with social inequity hurdles but also with systemic and often unspoken practices that include having incredibly high teacher turn over because these “problem” schools are entry points for teachers to find “better” jobs (see Teachers at Low-Income Schools Deserve Respect).

Just as insidious is the systemic and often unspoken practice in all schools that “low-level” classes of students are assigned new teachers, who must endure those populations of students until they can have the “good” classes within that school.

These ugly practices grounded in racism and classism are at the root of why advocates for education reform who focus on race and class remain mostly dissatisfied with both sides of the mainstream education reform debate.

The edu-reformers are all-in on race and class tone-deaf practices—TFA, “no excuses,” zero tolerance—but the advocates for public education and progressive reform have failed to admit how the traditional public school system has historically failed “other people’s children”The Ugly “Good Teacher” Discussion Few Are Confronting – the becoming radical: 

Where Do Presidential Candidates Send Their Own Children to School? - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Where Do Presidential Candidates Send Their Own Children to School? - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Where Do Presidential Candidates Send Their Own Children to School?

 The presidential candidates may not be talking much about K-12 education these days—but they've all had experience with it. After all, every single one of the candidates, at one time or another attended some kind of school. And so have their own children.

So what was that experience like? Did the candidates go to public schools, religious schools, or private schools? Where did they decide to send their own kids? And how much does it any of it matter, when it comes to both politics and actual policymaking?

One big takeaway: In general, the leading candidates attended public school themselves, with a couple of notable exceptions. And in general, the candidates tended to send their own kids toprivate or religious schools.

Democrats: Both former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton andSen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont went to public schools. 

These Republicans attended public school for at least part of their K-12 careers: Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Rubio also briefly went to parochial school.

Who went to private school? Jeb Bush, the former Republican Florida governor, attended a mix of public schools and private schools (including the elite Phillips Andover Academy).  Donald Trump attended a private primary school and a private, military high school. And Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas went only to religious schools, as far as our research showed.  

But most of those folks sent at least one of their own children to private or parochial school for at least a portion of their K-12 schooling. Rubio's children attend parochial school, and so did Kasich's kids. At least two of Bush's three children and Trump's now-adult children went to private schools, including his daughter Ivanka, who attended the prestigious Choate-Rosemary Hall. 

Who sent their kids to public school? Sanders' kids went to public school. So did Chelsea Clinton,when her dad Bill was governor of Arkansas, but the family opted for the private Sidwell Friends School when her father became president. The Clintons caught some flak at the time for making the switch. They said security and privacy concerns factored into the decision. (The Obamas sent their daughters to Sidwell Friends, too.)

Now the big question: Does this sort of thing influence policy? And how much does any this matter to real, live voters?  

It's unclear that it has much of a policy impact, said Patrick McGuinn, a professor of education at Drew University. But politically it can reinforce the idea that traditional public schools, especially in urban areas, aren't up to snuff and that many parents may need other options, such as charters, vouchers, and tax credits.

"It would be hard for a president to fight against those things (especially charters) when existing options weren't good enough for their kids," he wrote in an email.

Do you agree? How much does it matter? Let us know in the comments section or tweet at us @politicsk12. We'll update this post with your views.

Some caveats: While we did our best research, there were some facts we couldn't track down, such as what school Bush's daughter attended, although both her brothers went to private schools. And we couldn't figure out where Cruz's daughter goes to school. (We never heard back from the campaign.)  We also couldn't account for the entirety of every candidate and every child's K-12 career, just at least one part of it. And we didn't consider Dr. Ben Carson, because he's a long-shot at this point. 

Library Interns Maya Riser-Kositsky and Rachel Edelstein contributed to this story.

---

Don't miss another Politics K-12 post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox.Where Do Presidential Candidates Send Their Own Children to School? - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Let's Teach Children That Politics Isn't Warfare

Putting the People Back in Politics:

Putting the People Back in Politics

FREDERIC J. BROWN VIA GETTY IMAGES

 In our recent Bridging Differences conversation in Education Week, Deborah Meier points out that schools are ideal places for people to learn how to engage in debate, especially if they are diverse in race and ethnic history.

I'd add partisanship. In much of education, Republicans are the "other." And for all the gestures toward weighing of evidence and the importance of diverse ideas, the politics of educators (especially in higher education) is often highly moralized, dividing the world between the righteous and the damned, the latter usually described as ignorant bigots. Of course this is part of a broader pattern as well.

Today people think "politics" is a kind of warfare, funded by the superrich, revolving around parties, politicians, and professionals as detached experts. Citizens need to reclaim politics as the way to negotiate differences to get something done and work out how to live together. This was politics descending from the Greeks, revolving around the people in their role as citizens. I like Wynton Marsalis' description of democracy as like jazz, in Ken Burn's "Jazz": "an argument with the intent to work something out." It is also a description of citizen-centered politics.

How can we introduce children to citizen politics and its skills in our divided and demonizing world? And how can schools and classrooms be free spaces, sites for political education that builds democratic habits and democracy as a way of life?

One method is teaching and spreading what are called "deliberative practices." There is a growing movement to teach deliberation and its political skills- learning to cool the heat, listen to other people with different perspectives, and incorporate different ideas in "public judgment" not only "private opinion." The Kettering Foundation and the National Issues Forums have been leaders here. A forthcoming study by Stacey Molnar Main has shown striking increases in both teacher and student civic interests and skills among those who use deliberation.

At the Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship at Augsburg College, Dennis Donovan and Elaine Eschenbacher have been training students to moderate deliberative discussions and also to organize such discussions in communities.

A third example: Diana Hess and Paula McAvoy have a new book, The Political Classroom, which shows that many teachers, even the most partisan, are eager for students to hear radically different viewpoints. Teachers also experience pressure to "scrub" any controversy from their curriculum, so they need support in enacting this. Diana Hess is chair of the College of Education at UW-Madison.

In my experience, low income and minority students often deliberate more effectively than upper middle class professionals. Two recent experiences illustrate.

The first was a forum on "the legacy of slavery" several weeks ago that involved about 40 people. Almost all were upper middle class professionals from Putting the People Back in Politics:

California initiative would shut down charter schools - Watchdog.org

California initiative would shut down charter schools - Watchdog.org:

California initiative would shut down charter schools

An organization called Voices Against Privatizing Education is working to shut down every charter school in California, calling them discriminatory and unconstitutional. Meanwhile, charters are so popular in the state that they have grown in number from 177 in 1998 to more than 1,230 in 2015.

The arguments being made against charter schools are the same arguments that have been made before: that they increase segregation and lack oversight. However, not only are these arguments incorrect, they are exactly the opposite of the truth of charter schools. Study after study has shown that school choice, including charter schools, isespecially beneficial to minority students. These options provide an education that is comparable to private school, but charge no tuition, so families from all walks of life send their children to these schools. School choice has also been much more successful than government initiatives when it comes to integration.

As for the argument that charter schools lack oversight, they actually have more than traditional public schools. “Charter schools get audited twice a year. We have a preliminary audit in May which looks at all our controls and how we run the school,” charter school principal Norman Hernandez told CBS Sacramento. “And then you have the financial audit that happens after the fiscal year closes.”

The organization would need to get more than 300,000 signatures for the question to California initiative would shut down charter schools - Watchdog.org:

Charter schools and private schools don’t work without public schools - Winston-Salem Journal: Columnists

Heather Delp: Charter schools and private schools don’t work without public schools - Winston-Salem Journal: Columnists:

Heather Delp: Charter schools and private schools don’t work without public schools

There is a lot of talk these days comparing charter and private schools to the public education system. That’s fair; everyone benefits from a little healthy competition, and sharing successes can also benefit all students. What is not fair is the General Assembly’s apparent desire to move North Carolina’s educational system toward all charter and private schools by undermining the foundation of our public schools.

The General Assembly is not playing fair because it is actively setting up public schools for failure. This year, for the first time, schools can be declared “low-performing” even if they meet their expected growth. Expected growth; it literally means how much growth the state expected that school’s students to make in a given year. How can a school fail for “only” meeting its expected growth? Simply put, when a school makes expected growth, its students (on average) have made one school year’s worth of academic growth that school year. But that is no longer good enough for the General Assembly. Schools are now expected to exceed expected growth. In order to do that, each school’s students (on average) must make more than a year’s worth of academic growth in one school year. When you combine this with the draconian spending cuts to public education in recent years, it seems that North Carolina’s lawmakers are actively working to make sure public schools fail in order to promote an all-charter and private-school alternative to or replacement of public education.

We do have some very good examples of private and charter schools in North Carolina, and in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system, but we also have some that are not so good. The same could also be said of public schools. However, it is not fair to compare public schools to private or even charter schools, because public schools must adhere to very different rules and expectations.

For one thing, private schools can pick and choose their students. If a child can’t meet the criteria for attending that school — money for tuition, acceptable grades, good behavior, etc. — then he or she can and likely will be rejected.

Charter schools are also allowed to reject students based on behavior, as long as certain criteria are met. North Carolina charter school laws states that, “The school is subject to and shall comply with Article 27 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes, except that a charter school may also exclude a student from the charter school and return that student to another school in the local school administrative unit in accordance with the terms of its charter after due process” (emphasis added). Basically, if a student doesn’t follow school rules, he/she can be expelled, as long as he/she is put through a system of due process (typically an appeals process).

Charter schools can also strongly suggest to parents that their child/children would be Heather Delp: Charter schools and private schools don’t work without public schools - Winston-Salem Journal: Columnists:

‘Steps to College’ draws thousands to Mexican Consulate in Sacramento | Vida en el Valle

‘Steps to College’ draws thousands to Mexican Consulate in Sacramento | Vida en el Valle:

‘Steps to College’ draws thousands to Mexican Consulate in Sacramento

Consul General of México in Sacramento, Alejandra García Williams, speaks to welcome the education fair/conference 'Steps To College 2016' at the mexican consulate on February 6. HÉCTOR NAVEJAS hnavejas@vidaenelvalle.com

SACRAMENTO 

Mayra Barbosa sat underneath the cool shade cast by a large white tent, while holding an array of college flyers in one hand and sipping a Starbucks coffee with the other. Her parents sat close to her as well as several of her college friends who are all students at Woodland Community College.

Listening intently to the motivational words of Lupita Cortez Alcalá, the recently appointed Executive Director of the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), Barbosa only paused to translate pieces of her story into Spanish for her parents.

“Her words were really inspiring and her story is so much like mine and that of my parents and so many others here,” said Barbosa.

Last Saturday, she was one of thousands of students who attended the 5th Annual ‘Steps to College’ (Pasos a la Universidad) at the Mexican Consulate in North Sacramento. Students arrived from across Northern California and parts of the Central Valley as early as 7AM to attend a day filled with motivational speakers, workshops aimed at teaching high school students about financial aid, how to transfer from a community college to a university, as well as an all-day college fair with recruiters and counselors from UC Davis to as far south as UCLA and every other California university campus in-between.

Counselors gave advice, answered questions ranging from academic rigor, to course offerings, and campus life with the end goal of luring students to apply to their university, while ensuring they take all of the necessary prerequisites.

There was also plenty of entertainment with a local Mariachi group playing throughout the morning and well over a dozen local food trucks selling everything from tostilocos to grilled corn on the cob to tacos al pastor.

Like every year before, the event is meant to educate middle to high school students about the opportunities in obtaining higher education, as well as helping their parents navigate the system in a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere.

Alcalá, the event’s Keynote Speaker, shared her personal story as a way to connect with the hundreds of students and parents who sat outside the Mexican Consulate steps to listen to her educational journey.

“Every story begins with our parents,” said Alcalá.

Her mother was born in Durango, México and lived in the small pueblo of Polvora in anejido and an adobe house.

“They were poor, but very happy. Some of my most fondest memories of my childhood were during those times we would visit my abuelos,” said Alcalá.

Her father was born in Mexicalí and had the rare opportunity of obtaining a university degree in México. He became a civil engineer, but when he married, the couple decided to move to California to be able to provide their children a fighting chance at the American Dream.

On American soil, Alcalá’s father’s civil engineering degree was not considered valid. So to make ends meet, he worked at a donut shop, then picked strawberry’s under the grueling hot summer sun in Fresno, the heart of the Central San Joaquin Valley.

Alcalá was just three years old by the time her father’s degree was accepted in the United States. It took passing a number of difficult exams to finally secure a stable job in San Diego, ‘Steps to College’ draws thousands to Mexican Consulate in Sacramento | Vida en el Valle:

A CPS funding pop quiz | Ben Joravsky on Politics | Chicago Reader

A CPS funding pop quiz | Ben Joravsky on Politics | Chicago Reader:

A CPS funding pop quiz 

Which politician did which of these dastardly things?

• SUE KWONG

With Mayor Rahm and Governor Rauner both swinging wrecking balls, it's hard to keep track of who's done what damage to Chicago's public schools over the past few days and weeks . . . and months and years. So much damage has already been done.

OK, we all know it was Emanuel who recently cut about $100 million in school spending because the teachers wouldn't fall to the ground and say "Thank you, boss" after seeing his recent contract offer.

Just as we know it's Rauner who's eager to bankrupt CPS so he can turn the system over to a consultant. Maybe the guy who ran Flint's waterworks is available.

But which politician showed his utter contempt for Chicago's schoolchildren, allegedly saying 25 percent of them wouldn't amount to anything, so why bother wasting money on them?

Got you with that one—didn't I?

On that note, I think it's time I give you a guide to who's said and done what to destroy public education in Chicago. Let's take a little quiz, shall we?

Who declared war on the Chicago Teachers Union by taking advantage of the fine print in their contract to snatch away a 4 percent wage hike—on the grounds that greedy teachers gave children "the shaft"?

That was Mayor Rahm, in one of his first interactions with the schools back in 2011.

If you got that one wrong, it might be you were thinking of Rauner, who accused CTU of "routinely bribing our politicians with their union dues to get themselves outrageously generous pensions."

Without of course mentioning that his private equity firm made millions managing teachers' pension funds.

And you wonder why so many teachers can't stand these two.

Next question . . .

Who ramped up the war with CTU by telling its president, "Fuck you, Lewis!"

That's easy. It was the mayor talking to Karen Lewis back in August 2011A CPS funding pop quiz | Ben Joravsky on Politics | Chicago Reader:

State Takeovers of Low-Performing Schools: A Record of Academic Failure, Financial Mismgmt & Student Harm

State Takeovers of Low-Performing Schools: A Record of Academic Failure, Financial Mismanagement & Student Harm | The Center for Popular Democracy:

State Takeovers of Low-Performing Schools: A Record of Academic Failure, Financial Mismanagement & Student Harm

Low-performing public schools have become a critical battleground between corporate-backed initiatives that remove local control of schools and favor the privatization of public education, and proponents of community schools who assert that parents, teachers and students—in short, the public—are the greatest asset in restoring strong educational outcomes.

State Takeovers of Low-Performing Schools: A Record of Academic Failure, Financial Mismanagement & Student Harm | The Center for Popular Democracy:

• Executive Summary
  • Findings

Executive Summary

Low-performing public schools have become a critical battleground between corporate-backed initiatives that remove local control of schools and favor the privatization of public education, and proponents of community schools who assert that parents, teachers and students—in short, the public—are the greatest asset in restoring strong educational outcomes.

In the past decade, the debate over school control has shifted to include “takeover districts” in which schools that are deemed “chronically failing” are removed from the local school district
and placed in a statewide district with a separate governance structure that is far less transpar- ent and accountable to the public. Three states, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Michigan, had already established districts of this kind by 2014. Another eight states have introduced legislation to create statewide takeover districts in the last year: Arkansas, Georgia, Nevada, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.1

Findings

The rapid proliferation of the takeover district as an educational panacea is alarming. In this report, we examine the record of the three existing takeover districts, and find that there is no clear evi- dence that takeover districts actually achieve their stated goals of radically improving performance at failing schools. We find that:

1. Children have seen negligible improvement—or even dramatic setbacks—in their education- al performance.
2. State takeover districts have created a breeding ground for fraud and mismanagement at the public’s expense.
3. Staff face high turnover and instability, creating a disrupted learning environment for children.
4. Students of color and those with special needs face harsh disciplinary measures and dis- criminatory practices that further entrench a two-tiered educational system. 

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As the the LAUSD charter schools conflict escalates, here’s what you need to know | 89.3 KPCC

As the the LAUSD charter schools conflict escalates, here’s what you need to know | 89.3 KPCC:

As the the LAUSD charter schools conflict escalates, here’s what you need to know

Tuesday’s L.A. Unified school board meeting was unusual. What made it out of the ordinary, charter school supporters said, is that school district staff is recommending the denial of charter school petitions much more often than now.

In 2013, the advocates said, school district staff recommended approval of nearly 90 percent of charter petitions. This year, that rate is half of what it was.

Both advocates and even some LAUSD officials say that the shift is a response to the plan, first floated by wealthy philanthropist Eli Broad, to rapidly expand the number of charter schools in Los Angeles, with the eventual goal of enrolling up to half of LAUSD's current students. What's at issue is whether or not that increased opposition to new charters is appropriate. 

Here's a look at why this week looks like an escalation in the conflict between the forces for and against charter schools in Los Angeles.

Here’s what was unusual about this week’s board meeting.

The board had seven charter petitions to consider at Tuesday's meeting. Staff recommended denial for three based on lackluster performance, faulty financing, and unsound academic plans.

Those recommendations for rejections prompted charter school supporters to cry foul. They said the school district is exercising unwarranted scrutiny because of their opposition to a plan by philanthropist Eli Broad to double the number of charters in LA.

Here’s how the plan unveiled last year by philanthropist Eli Broad to rapidly expand the number of charter schools in Los Angeles is shaping the struggle over charters.

School board president Steve Zimmer said that he is now scrutinizing charter applications more than he was before, but he said that's the right thing to do to protect the well-being of the school district. When the plan was unveiled, he said he became more concerned that if expansion continues at the current pace, L.A. Unified would cease to exist as we know it. 

“I didn’t put that plan on the landscape," he said. "I’m not the one who is continuing to open more and more charters in LAUSD when there are districts surrounding LAUSD with lower or comparable student outcomes where there are no charters."

At Tuesday’s meeting, Zimmer and his colleagues on the board eventually did go against one staff recommendation and gave the Excel Charter Academy in Los Angeles, run by Partnerships to Uplift Communities (PUC), another chance. As the the LAUSD charter schools conflict escalates, here’s what you need to know | 89.3 KPCC: