8-24-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks:

FINALLY Deasy is Toasted , Dropped Buttered Side Down Thanks to iPad a Fiasco

8-Article Newsletter Template

by Rene Diedrich / 14min 

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8-23-14 Hemlock on the Rocks

Hemlock on the Rocks: “Reframing” California Common Core for a Better Public SaleWordPress.com deutsch29 posted: "The Frameworks Institute is a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the images of other nonprofits with the goal of hooking the publicby Rene Diedrich / 3h L.A. Now Live: Charters pulling students from private schools | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles TimesL.A. Now Live: Charters pulling studen

by mike simpson / 21min 

empathyeducates – St. Louis Artists Respond To Ferguson With Chalk

empathyeducates – St. Louis Artists Respond To Ferguson With Chalk:

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St. Louis Artists Respond To Ferguson With Chalk

What have we done to our children? We express distress over their education. All those tests, a standardized curriculum. Our schools are “failing,” or so some say and charter schools are scamming in countless ways. We try to opt outkindergarten. Before High School dependant on where we live, as many as half of our youth dropout. Too many are off to prison. There are others whose lives end too quickly. Rarely do we speak about the children who left an impression; their bodies #chalked with their arms extended out. Perhaps it is time to talk about what is happening to our children inside of school and out.

St. Louis Artists Respond To Ferguson With Chalk

By Alex Heuer | Originally Published at St. Louis Radio. August 22, 2014 4:27 PM|The #ChalkedUnarmed team creates its artwork on the sidewalks outside of St. Louis Public Radio. | Credit Alex Heuer / St. Louis Public Radio

A group of artists are using chalk to inspire conversations about the shooting death of Michael Brown.

#ChalkedUnarmed draws chalk outlines of people on public sidewalks or plazas. The artist then adds the name of an unarmed black man who was killed by a police officer, with the date and location of his death

Derek Laney, an organizer with Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, and Mallory Nezam, director of STL Improv Anywhere and a public artist, joined us Friday to talk about #ChalkedUnarmed.

Listen | 8:51 “Cityscape”: #ChalkedUnarmed with Mallory Nezam and Derek Laney

“I’ve always been interested in using art to engage the public and get people involved in things that I think are important,” Nazem said.

Before the interview, a team of #ChalkedUnarmed enthusiasts tagged the sidewalk outside of St. Louis Public empathyeducates – St. Louis Artists Respond To Ferguson With Chalk:

8-24-14 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

Only State That Haven't Started Common Core Testing Are Eligible For Flexibility In Teacher Evaluations

Okay, here's an update on the late Friday post about New York not being eligible for the newly announced "flexibility" on teacher evaluations that Arne Duncan posted about on the USDOE website.First a recap. State of Politics linked to a Jessica Bakeman report at Capital NY on their Friday Extras round-up:New York is one of two states not eligible for new “flexibility” policies announced

by reality-based edu... / 33min 

Daily News: Cuomo Not Much National Stature For White House Run

From the Daily News: While Cuomo publicly dismisses talk of a candidacy, his people have hardly discouraged such speculation. A 2016 scenario goes like this: Hillary Clinton chooses not to run, blowing the Democratic field open. The problem for Cuomo, party activists and Democratic insiders say, is that he has done little to put himself in a position to be a national candidate, while other Democra

by reality-based edu... / 41min 

8-23-14 Perdido Street School Week

Perdido Street School: Perdido Street School WeekArne Duncan Says New York Is One Of Two States NOT Eligible For Testing "Flexibility"Yesterday I posted that it seemed ironic Arne Duncan was now giving states flexibility around testing and teacher evaluations since his DOE had just threatened New York State in June that de-linking teacher evaluations from student test scores would result

by mike simpson / 50min 

The Privatizing Agenda of Survey-producing Education Next | deutsch29

The Privatizing Agenda of Survey-producing Education Next | deutsch29:

The Privatizing Agenda of Survey-producing Education Next

August 23, 2014

In August 2014, Education Next released the results of its annual education poll.

In a post on August 20, 2014, I wrote briefly on the EdNext survey findings specific to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).  I plan to examine the entire survey more closely in a future post. However, in this post, I will examine the folks behind the survey:

I call them the EdNextians.

They are the privatization slant behind the EdNext post.

Education Next is a journal that promotes “choice,” and what that means is the privatization of public education, including the defunding of traditional public schools in the form of vouchers and charters. This defunding is accomplished via the grading of schools, and the grading of schools depends upon placing standardized testing as front and center in determining educational “value.” Many of the EdNextians also promotes CCSS, which have also been fused with high-stakes testing as far back as the planning stages. And let us not forget supplanting the teaching profession with teacher temps who are later fast-tracked into education leadership positions.

Published by the pro-privatizing Hoover Institute, EdNext presents its privatization priorities euphemistically in its mission statement:

In the stormy seas of school reform, this journal will steer a steady course, presenting the facts as best they can be determined, giving voice (without fear or favor) to worthy research, sound ideas, and responsible arguments. Bold change is needed in American K–12 education, but Education Next partakes of no program, campaign, or ideology. It goes where the evidence points. [Emphasis added.]

“EdNext goes where the evidence points”??

Baloney.

Consider some of the EdNext advisory board members and other leadership.

First is EdNextian Chester Finn. I wrote about Finn in chapter 12 of my education “reformer” whistle blower, A Chronicle of Echoes: Who’s Who In the Implosion of The Privatizing Agenda of Survey-producing Education Next | deutsch29:

UTLA Bilingual Education Committee PSA: LAU V. NICHOLS:

UTLA Bilingual Education Committee PSA: LAU V. NICHOLS

AUGUST 24, 2014 BY ROBERT D. SKEELS * RDSATHENE LEAVE A COMMENT

40th Anniversary of the Supreme Court Decision on Rights of Linguistic Minorities

40th Anniversary of the Supreme Court Decision on Rights of Linguistic Minorities

In 1974, the attorneys for Kenny Lau and 1800 Chinese speaking students sued the San Francisco School District on the grounds that these students were not receiving equal access to an education by virtue of their inability to comprehend English. The unanimous decision of the US Supreme Court – “Under state-imposed standards there is no equality of treatment merely by providing students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers, and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education. Basic English skills are at the very core of what these public schools teach. Imposition of a requirement that, before a child can effectively participate in the educational program, he must already have acquired those basic skills is to make a mockery of public education. We know that those who do not understand English are certain to find their classroom experiences wholly incomprehensible and in no way meaningful.”

The attorney for Kenny Lau and 1800 Chinese students in San Francisco successfully argued that “Taking people who are the same and treating them differently is one type of discrimination but taking people who are different and treating them the same, is subtler, but, is equally discriminating.”

Language Rights are Civil Rights protected by the 14th amendment to the US ConstitutionUTLA Bilingual Education Committee PSA: LAU V. NICHOLS:

Louisiana Educator: Should Teachers and Principals Join Professional Unions?

Louisiana Educator: Should Teachers and Principals Join Professional Unions?:

Should Teachers and Principals Join Professional Unions?

Most of the reformers of public education are very opposed to teacher unions. They blame teacher unions for being nothing more than obstructionists to what they consider to be needed school reform. Reformers believe that merit pay, no seniority, no tenure, zero input into policy, and at-will employment will make teachers more “professional”.

Teachers in Louisiana generally have a choice of joining either the Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE) or the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT). Both of these groups function as unions and as professional organizations. They actively advocate for teachers in the courts and at the legislature, yet they also support policies and laws that benefit students and public schools. Some teachers have chosen to belong to an organization called A+PEL which provides teachers a liability policy but which proudly proclaims that it is not a union. Are teachers better off joining A+PEL instead of joining real unions? What about school principals? Should school principals belong to a strong organization that advocates for the rights of principals?

Many years ago when I first started teaching it was generally expected that teachers and principals would join their professional/union organization. In those days teachers, principals and supervisors were often members of the same organization. In Louisiana it was the LTA and LEA, the white and black teacher organizations that were the predecessors of the present Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE). My readers may be interested to know that one of my first jobs as a young staff member for the newly formed LAE in the late 1970's was to merge all of the parish black and white teacher organizations in Louisiana into one integrated group. This effort was pretty successful with most of the newly combined groups forming active local professional associations that were very effective in lobbying the legislature and also their local school boards on important education issues.

When I was a young teacher in the “old days” it was generally accepted that teachers should have a very significant voice in curriculum, student discipline policy, health insurance decisions, the wording of local school tax proposals, and most state Louisiana Educator: Should Teachers and Principals Join Professional Unions?:

Parent portals allow families to check up on their children's schoolwork, but some people worry they may be overused by obsessive parents. | UTSanDiego.com

Parent portals allow families to check up on their children's schoolwork, but some people worry they may be overused by obsessive parents. | UTSanDiego.com:

Parent portals: helping or hovering?

Families love convenience of technology, but some wonder if it goes too far

Katie Anderson checks the grades of her son Michael (in desk photo)
by logging onto Oceanside Unified School District's parent portal.

SAN DIEGO — Parents who want to keep an eye on their children’s grades may also want to keep an ear tuned to their smartphones in the near future.

Online grading networks, called “parent portals,” that allow parents to check on homework, attendance and test scores are expanding in some school districts to include apps that will ping if a student’s grade drops.

The portals have been embraced in the last several years by districts across the country as a way to boost student performance by increasing parental oversight. But their growing reach has also sparked debate about how much monitoring is too much.

The phone app will be introduced next month as part of the Oceanside Unified School District’s parent portal.

“I think it’s invaluable,” said Katie Anderson, who has a 5th grader at Ivy Ranch Elementary and a 7th grader at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Oceanside.

Anderson’s enthusiasm is shared by many parents who have welcomed the portals over the past few years as a convenient, timely and unprecedented way of keeping track of their children’s schoolwork.

Detractors, however, question if the technology breeds “helicopter parents” who obsessively hover over their children, especially when it comes to academic performance. Critics say portals can stress out moms and dads and make children irresponsible and dependent on their parents to keep track of their assignments.

Colleen Hervey, a mother of five, is an enthusiastic supporter of the parent portal implemented several years ago by the Vista Unified School District. Originally, parents had to login to the site to view student information, but last year the district added a feature in which parents can receive weekly email alerts listing a child’s latest grades.

“Communications with teachers before was just emails or phone calls,” said Hervey, who receives the weekly alerts for her two children at Rancho Buena Vista High. “… It’s a lot easier for you to stay involved with your children’s education experience.”

The portals also have caught on with parents at Poway Unified.

“It’s the only time I’ve ever had parents call me and thank me for Parent portals allow families to check up on their children's schoolwork, but some people worry they may be overused by obsessive parents. | UTSanDiego.com:

Supporting Teacher Tenure

Supporting Teacher Tenure:

Teacher Tenure: Yes!

BY ROBIN LAKOFF

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In his New York Times op-ed of August 19, Frank Bruni has become only the latest in a long line of authoritative people to denounce teacher tenure. By so doing, Bruni enters the race to become my least favorite Times columnist, against the stiff competition of Maureen Dowd and David Brooks.

If you have been following this discussion, you may wonder what could possibly be said in favor of tenure for teachers (at all levels, K-12 and university). The arguments for ending tenure sound very persuasive.

In the first place, we are all in favor of having the best and the brightest teaching our most precious product, our kids. But so many teachers, perhaps even the majority, are bad teachers: incompetent, uncaring, bullying, indoctrinating with evil ideas – and so on. And despite clear evidence of their dreadfulness, after a short probationary period (usually three years), they are guaranteed lifetime employment, and the rules are such that no matter how much evidence is presented about the incompetence or worse of a teacher, it is almost impossible to get rid of her or him. The arguments against tenure always are packed with anecdotes about especially and luridly bad cases, so that after you’ve encountered a few, you are ready to believe that just about all teachers are monsters before whom we, the people, are helpless.

But I think there are some strong arguments on the other side. And we should understand why so many Americans want to cut teachers down to size. It may not have all that much to do with their competence or lack of it.

Teaching is, and should be understood to be, the most important job a society can offer its members. Education at all levels, but especially at the earliest, is the great civilizing force. What is taught in schools is the glue that binds us together as a nation and as human beings, what we share and what we expect one another to know. Therefore it is of the utmost importance that the people entrusted to transmit this body of knowledge to the next generation should be the best and the brightest.

How does a society ensure that the most important jobs will be given to the best and the brightest? By ensuring that those jobs are the most rewarding – whether because they pay the most, are the most Supporting Teacher Tenure:

solidaridad - Marshall Tuck's staunchest supporters are unabashed Ayn Rand votaries

solidaridad:

UTLA Bilingual Education Committee PSA: LAU V. NICHOLS

40th Anniversary of the Supreme Court Decision on Rights of Linguistic Minorities by Robert D. Skeels 40th Anniversary of the Supreme Court Decision on Rights of Linguistic Minorities In 1974, the attorneys for Kenny Lau and 1800 Chinese speaking students sued the San Francisco School District on the grounds that these students were not receiving equal access to an education by virtue of their in

1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 6h hide  //  save

K12NN Wire: Marshall Tuck run schools SAT scores remained flat, some even declined

First published on K12NN Wire on August 22, 2014 “The lowest-performing, based on test scores, is the large Green Dot chain.” — Los Angeles Times Marshall Tuck's campaign literature claims "Marshall has run two of California's most innovative school systems, improving… student achievement levels in tough neighborhoods" However, achievement data from the schools he ran at both Green Dot

1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 11h 

K12NN Wire: John Deasy’s MiSiS cRiSiS shocks LAUSD’s conscience

First published on K12NN Wire on August 17, 2014 "I was interested in the fact that the scandal over Deasy's PhD hit the headlines at the same time he was hired by Gates. His financial connections with Robert Felner date back to his Santa Monica days" — Susan Ohanian Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) Superintendent John Deasy's job was to insure that the My Integrated Stud

1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 12h 

Schools Matter: Marshall Tuck's staunchest supporters are unabashed Ayn Rand votaries

First published on LA Schools Matter on August 23, 2014 "There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, i

1 by Robert D. Skeels ... / 12h 

The Public Eye: Schools pay search firms to find superintendent candidates - Our Region - The Sacramento Bee

The Public Eye: Schools pay search firms to find superintendent candidates - Our Region - The Sacramento Bee:

The Public Eye: Schools pay search firms to find superintendent candidates

By Diana Lambert
dlambert@sacbee.com

Published: Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014 - 9:54 pm

Last Modified: Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014 - 12:03 am

Finding a new school district superintendent can be an arduous and expensive process.

Districts host public meetings, advertise in national publications and sift through dozens of résumés before conducting interviews for the position. Once trustees select finalists, they sometimes travel to glean additional information from colleagues of the job candidates.

In many cases, districts are paying tens of thousands of dollars to executive search firms to find potential superintendents.

The area’s largest school district, Elk Grove Unified, is in the midst of an effort to replace Superintendent Steven Ladd, who is retiring on Sept. 12. The 62,000-student district agreed to pay $29,000 to McPherson & Jacobson LLC to conduct the search, as well as cover expenses for travel, advertising, phone calls, background checks and office expenses.

Since Elk Grove Unified hired the firm on July 15, the company has led eight community meetings and 25 smaller gatherings with teachers, students and other stakeholders to help determine the characteristics that community members want in a superintendent. The district also has set up an online survey at www.egusd.net.

Though Ladd has been at the helm for more than nine years, the average superintendent tenure is only 41/2 years nationwide, 31/2years in metropolitan areas, according to Thomas Jacobson, CEO of McPherson & Jacobson. The short terms are due to a number of factors such as the highly political nature of the job and the fact that their bosses on the school board are constantly changing, he said.

Besides attracting candidates and soliciting ideas from the community, executive search companies generally evaluate applications, check references and develop interview questions to be used by the board. Consultants usually arrange interviews and sit in on them.

Sacramento City Unified’s school board spent six months conducting a search prior to hiring Superintendent José L. Banda, who started in July. The district paid $39,500 to LeadershipThe Public Eye: Schools pay search firms to find superintendent candidates - Our Region - The Sacramento Bee:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/23/6649555/schools-pay-search-firms-to-find.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

NYC Educator: UFT Unity Caucus Adopts New Slogan, Aims to Rival Starbucks for World Domination

NYC Educator: UFT Unity Caucus Adopts New Slogan, Aims to Rival Starbucks for World Domination:

UFT Unity Caucus Adopts New Slogan, Aims to Rival Starbucks for World Domination

BREAKING--Since UFT President Mike Mulgrew's momentous speech at the AFT convention, UFT-Unity has been reinvigorated and is looking to expand. For fifty years it has dominated the UFT, controlling every office and insisting all members vote in a bloc no matter what.

When an opposition caucus member won VP high schools, they changed the rules so it would never happen again. When another took over the high school exec. board seats, they made a deal with another caucus to give them a few seats to keep the real opposition out.

UFT Unity Caucus controls every vote in NYSUT and AFT, and broaches no opposition whatsoever. At Delegate Assemblies they do whatever they like, prevent the other side from even speaking,  and claim they're following Robert's Rules.

But nothing stays the same, and ever since Mike Mulgrew suggested the way to preserve Common Core was to punch opponents in the face and push them in the dirt, there's been a new spirit at UFT Unity. It turns out when you punch people in the face and push them in the dirt, they offer less resistance than they might otherwise. Thus there's a new movement in UFT-Unity.

Previously, only the elite few who signed up for the Unity Caucus have been able to publicly evince enthusiasm for things that clearly hurt teachers and students. A great example is Common Core, currently failing 65% of New York's children. Yet Mulgrew wants to punch anyone in the face who tries to take it away from him. So why not extend it to things like VAM, mayoral control, two-tier due process, and supporting politicians who hate us and everything we stand for?

That's why all UFT-Unity chapter leaders will now be taking boxing lessons at 52 Broadway. While UFT can't afford to make all members sign loyalty oaths, since there are lavish privileges and trips that come along with the promise to vote how you're told, a single chapter leader can punch out dozens of people in a typical day. Each chapter leader will be issued sky blue UFT boxing gloves so as to cause minimal physical damage during year one of intimidation. There will be a two-year moratorium on high-stakes results, and then NYC Educator: UFT Unity Caucus Adopts New Slogan, Aims to Rival Starbucks for World Domination:

Are Common Core Standards Actually Data Tags? | Peter Greene

Are Common Core Standards Actually Data Tags? | Peter Greene:

Are Common Core Standards Actually Data Tags?

Posted: 05/18/2014 6:13 pm EDT Updated: 07/18/2014 5:59 am EDT

 Don't think of them as standards. Think of them as tags.

Think of them as the pedagogical equivalent of people's names on Facebook, the tags you attach to each and every photo that you upload.

We know from our friends at Knewton what the Grand Design is -- a system in which student progress is mapped down to the atomic level. Atomic level (a term that Knewton lervs deeply) means test by test, assignment by assignment, sentence by sentence, item by item. We want to enter every single thing a student does into the Big Data Bank.

But that will only work if we're all using the same set of tags.

We've been saying that CCSS are limited because the standards were written around what can be tested. That's not exactly correct. The standards have been written around what can be tracked.

The standards aren't just about defining what should be taught. They're about cataloging what students have done.

Remember when Facebook introduced emoticons? This was not a public service. Facebook wanted to up its data gathering capabilities by tracking the emotional states of users. If users just defined their own emotions, the data would be too noisy, too hard to crunch. But if the user had to pick from the Facebook standard set of user emotions -- then Facebook would have manageable data.

Ditto for CCSS. If we all just taught to our own local standards, the data noise would be too great. The Data Overlords need us all to be standardized, to be using the same set of tags. That is also why no deviation can be allowed. Okay, we'll let you have 15 percent over and above the standards. The system can probably tolerate that much noise. But under no circumstances can you change the standards -- because that would be changing the national student data tagging system, and THAT we can't tolerate.

This is why the "aligning" process inevitably involves all that marking of standards onto everything we do. It's not instructional. It's not even about accountability.

It's about having us sit and tag every instructional thing we do so that student results can be entered and tracked in the Big Data Bank.

If you are in a state that "dropped" the Core, here's one simple test -- look at your "new" standards and ask just how hard it would be to convert your standards/tags to the CCSS standards/tags. If it's as simple as switching some numbers and letters, Are Common Core Standards Actually Data Tags? | Peter Greene:

NYS Common Core Tests Expect More From Students Than The Questions Require | lacetothetop

NYS Common Core Tests Expect More From Students Than The Questions Require | lacetothetop:



NYS Common Core Tests Expect More From Students Than The Questions Require

 If you ask 8 year olds how two things are similar and different, most will respond in a few sentences.  When NYS asks 8 year olds how two things are similar and different they expect students to respond with a well constructed essay that includes an introduction & conclusion (among several other criteria).  

Teachers are all for teaching essay structure in their writing workshops.  When it is time for students to demonstrate their writing skills, it is the responsibility of the teacher to clearly define the expectations of the essay- especially for an 8 year old.  Teachers wouldn’t penalize students for not including something in their essay if it wasn’t in the criteria  to begin with.  Yet, that is exactly what NYS does.    

Here is the question NYSED asked third graders.  After reading the passage, most third graders could answer this question in a few sentences:

The author provides many details about how sea turtles are similar to and different

from each other. How is a leatherback sea turtle similar to aNYS Common Core Tests Expect More From Students Than The Questions Require | lacetothetop:

Calling all White People! | Bill Ayers

Calling all White People! | Bill Ayers:



Calling all White People!

Hello White People!


Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager, was killed by a cop in Ferguson, MO—the serial killing of Black people goes mostly unreported or is deemed worthy only of a second section mention in a local paper, but it’s as steady and real as lynching was 100 years ago—and Black people overwhelmingly responded everywhere with sadness and outrage, while white people wondered if the police killing might just have been justified. Demonstrations and vigils and uprisings of love and rage filled the air—Black people would not let this murder go unnoticed.
And what about white people? According to opinion polls, most whites think the protests in the aftermath “Have gone too far,” proving James Baldwin’s observation that the only time white people speak out in favor of non-violence is when Black people are rising up angry.
What is wrong with you, white people?
Wake the fuck up!
“I’m not a bigot,” you may say to yourself after a quicky self-survey. “I’m not Donald Sterling or Cliven Bundy.”
Well, good for you—those guys are idiots.
Maybe you’ve conflated bigotry with white supremacy, and giving yourself a gold star for “color-blindness”—a self-serving invention that assumes that if anyone notes the racial realty right in front of our Calling all White People! | Bill Ayers:

Focus On The Children – What We Do for Them And to Them:

Focus On The Children – What We Do for Them And to Them

by EDWARDBERGER on AUGUST 23, 2014

Many communities are fighting to save their public schools. When the administrators and elected board members interface with their communities to pass bond issues or stop the drain of students pulled away by partial schools, they assume everyone knows they are fighting for kids. That must be the reason they don’t focus on education issues. They focus on the things they deal with and understand. Years ago I heard an administrator observe, “We focus on buildings and permanent things. The kids? They’re just passing through.”

Specific information from teachers about the strengths and the needs of the educational programs are too often left out of the messages given to the community. When a bond issue fails, or enrollment drops, there is great concern that the community does not support its schools. Yes, in difficult economic times folks are reluctant to vote for new bonds. Voters need to know that student needs will be met by their vote. Districts need to counter the claims of partial schools and be very clear about what they offer.

The reality is that the public will not support district schools that fail to communicate the education benefits they provide, and the needs teachers identify. Partial (alternative) schools succeed where the district schools do not explain the wealth of advantages they deliver for every child.

Voters will support necessary services for children when they understand how this extra burden of taxation helps kids. Not kids five years from now, but kids in school now. In my book, Unscrewed, The Education of Annie, I shared one of the most devastating replies a superintendent made to parents concerned about the lack of an effective math program. The Superintendent, filled with righteous indignation, replied, “For your information we are working on that. In five years we will have one of the best math programs in the state.” The parents replied, “But our children are in school now. They won’t be here in five years.” That exchange broke the bond between parents and the district school. Almost all of those parents found partial schools as alternatives.

When a partial school can suck students away from a district school, something is very wrong. District schools have elected school boards, certified teachers and administrators, the ability to raise capital dollars through Focus On The Children – What We Do for Them And to Them: