Charter schools say L.A. Unified is unfairly scrutinizing their campuses - LA Times

Charter schools say L.A. Unified is unfairly scrutinizing their campuses - LA Times:
Charter schools say L.A. Unified is unfairly scrutinizing their campuses

 price Young thought the worst was behind her, that her group's charter schools would be free to grow after straightening out the poor financial record-keeping that prompted a recent state audit.

She was wrong.

The school district still found fault with her organization's petitions to open new campuses. District officials told her to expect rejection.

Young's group, Magnolia Public Schools, eventually abandoned the effort.

Her experience is becoming more common as the Los Angeles Unified School District's administrators and board of education become increasingly resistant to greenlighting new charter schools.

Charter supporters say the district is unfairly scrutinizing their independently run campuses because it sees them as a threat.

At Tuesday's board meeting, members are poised to reject two new charters — this in addition to the three charter petitions that Young withdrew from consideration.

Since July 1, L.A. Unified has denied six petitions and approved five others, according to figures from the California Charter Schools Assn.

That's less than a 50% approval rate. Two years ago it was 89% and last year it was 77%, according to the association.

In a letter emailed to the board Monday, leaders of charter groups accused the district of obstructing their efforts to improve public education:

"We are concerned that this district is looking for reasons to prevent new charter schools from opening, even those proposed by the most respected, successful charter operators. Issues that in the past were seen as minor or correctable are now elevated to significant issues that somehow warrant denial."

Twenty-one charter organizations, enrolling 56,000 students, signed the letter, which continued:

"Given the measurable drop in approvals for new petitions, the inconsistent and non-transparent review processes, and the backroom pressure to abandon our efforts to grow, we all feel it is appropriate to bring these concerns into the light of day."

The school district has not analyzed its approval rate, said Jose Cole-Gutierrez, head of the charter-school division, and he denied any wrongdoing or change in policy.

"The process has remained the same, and the findings are there for the board and the public to review," he said. "Our office continues to be focused on quality for students and putting students first."

Charters' rapid growth — to about 101,000 students in L.A. — is responsible for about half of a precipitous drop in district enrollment and the funding that comes with it.

Charter operators said that families who want to take advantage of charters should not be thwarted. The charter association also points to regulations indicating that charters can't be blocked because of harm to the district budget.

The issue with Magnolia included problems with signatures on the petition and under-enrollment at some ofCharter schools say L.A. Unified is unfairly scrutinizing their campuses - LA Times:

'Sunshine' questions loom over Philadelphia School Reform Commission resolution — NewsWorks

'Sunshine' questions loom over Philadelphia School Reform Commission resolution — NewsWorks:

'Sunshine' questions loom over Philadelphia School Reform Commission resolution

The School Reform Commission is under fire for its handling of a surprise resolution. (Bastiaan Slabbers

The Philadelphia School Reform Commission is facing widespread questions about whether it acted illegally when it quickly passed a new resolution during its January meeting.

Critics allege the body violated the state's government transparency laws.

Late into January's five hour SRC meeting, Commissioner Sylvia Simms introduced a surprise motion. The text of the resolution was not given to the public beforehand, and the body did not invite public comment on that specific resolution before voting.

Simms' resolution, which immediately passed, resuscitated the idea of converting Germantown's Wister Elementary to a charter school.  Technically, the resolution invited a full application from Mastery Charter Schools to take over Wister.

Superintendent William Hite had pitched conversion of Wister in October, butrescinded his recommendation in early January based on evidence of test score growth at the school.

Those who opposed the conversion felt blindsided by the surprise resolution. Many who otherwise would have come to testify against it say they stayed home because they were assured by the superintendent that conversion was no longer a possibility.

"I do wish I was there, so when she stood up and said what she said, I could have interrupted her and said, 'How dare you?'" said Wister parent Kenya Nation Holmes.

Was it legal?

Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act does not require governmental agencies to publish resolution agendas prior to meetings. The SRC typically does so anyway weeks in advance.

But the sunshine law does mandate that the public needs a chance to weigh in on an action before a vote, which Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke says did not happen in this case.

"I believe that is clearly a violation of the Sunshine Act, both in terms of law and in terms of the spirit of the law," said Clarke.

To Clarke, the move is more evidence that the unelected, state-controlled body should be dissolved. "It is clearly time for it to go away," he said.

Criticism does not end with Clarke. Mayor Jim Kenney said he was "shocked" by the board's course of action, and Councilwoman Helen Gym believes there should be a formal investigation.

The Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools says the circumstances of the vote should nullify its outcome. Co-founder Lisa Haver says this latest action continues a trend. In October 2014, the SRC voted to cancel its contract with the teachers union without first hearing public comment.

"It really tells people that the SRC does not play by the rules. There's no other governmental body which is allowed to introduce a bill and vote on it one minute later," said Haver.

School district general counsel Michael Davis disagrees with the criticism in this case. He argues that the SRC got plenty of public input on the idea — even if it came before the formal resolution was authored.

"There was abundant public comment from parents on both sides of that issue for weeks, maybe months before the meeting," he said.

That argument falls on deaf ears to parents like Holmes, who feel misdirected and railroaded by a move they say sets a worrisome precedent.

"An idea is just that: an idea. You still need a resolution. You still need something written down on paper. You still need to be official," said Holmes. "They change the rules as they go along, because they make them up. How can I keep up with your rules if everytime you change them to fit your ideas?"

Much of the criticism for the SRC in this case comes from those who tend to oppose the expansion of charter schools, but even outside, neutral observers question the SRC's action and the district's legal justification.

"As a matter of best practice, in this case if somebody had come to us and said, 'Here's the issue. What do you recommend?' We certainly would have recommended 'Sunshine' questions loom over Philadelphia School Reform Commission resolution — NewsWorks:

NAAPID: the day to welcome black parents to the table | MinnPost

NAAPID: the day to welcome black parents to the table | MinnPost:

NAAPID: the day to welcome black parents to the table

 Staff at Bridge View School celebrating National African American Parent Involvement Day in 2015.

I love National African American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID)! Each year when it comes near and I start to see the emails and invitations I mark it on calendar and get excited. Why?

Raising my 14-year-old alone is tricky. Malachi (my eighth-grader) is smart, funny, has charisma and simply owns who he is becoming as a brown person. NAAPID is my day each year to walk into his school environment, celebrate being a brown parent, and champion our educational goals.

This year NAAPID didn’t quite go as I expected. My son’s school officials decided to get more bang for their buck (they wanted as many parents to attend as possible) and hold it on Tuesday (Feb. 9), instead of today, its nationally recognized day. They also decided to call it National Parent Involvement Day (NPID). For the record, NPID is nationally recognized on the third Thursday of November, not on NAAPID.

Its purpose is important

It was a wake-up call to me to realize as a parent that schools across this state are scared of welcoming the day that is NAAPID and because of fear want to either reschedule the day and/or call it NPID. This erases both the importance of welcoming black parents to educational institutions that have historically and traditionally not been welcoming places to nonwhite parents and students.

NAAPID is important. I make it a practice and honor the holiday by showing up. For conferences, games, events and/or meetings I show up. As a black parent I show up. Every single instance that I show up I’m showing up as a black parent on white domains and fields. Our educational systems are racist and segregated. NAAPID is the one day where that gets reversed and where black parents are welcomed with open arms.

But in honoring National African American Parent Involvement Day it reiterates that it is a day that should be recognized and not re-named. Black parents should be invited, welcomed and heralded for our all we do to present and raise our children. Our children's lives matter and this day should matter.

A day for black voices to be heard

NAAPID isn’t a day to try to maximize parent involvement. It’s also not a day to try to get NAAPID: the day to welcome black parents to the table | MinnPost:

Cato: Which States Snag The Most K-12 Cash From Everyone Else?

Which States Snag The Most K-12 Cash From Everyone Else?:

Which States Snag The Most K-12 Cash From Everyone Else?

Mississippi, Louisiana, South Dakota, New Mexico, and Arizona must love U.S. taxpayers for sending them so much K-12 money for lackluster education.

The five states with the biggest appetite for federal K-12 cash are Mississippi, Louisiana, South Dakota, New Mexico, and Arizona, according to an analysis of new federal data by a Kentucky researcher. Congress just approved another increase in education spending above and beyond five decades of exploding K-12 spending despite flatlined student results and research showing spending above a basic minimum has no effect on student achievement.

Richard Innes’s chart below shows how much each state spends on each student each year (minus capital costs such as school bonds, which can be extensive), and ranks states according to what proportion of that spending comes from the whole country’s taxpayers via the federal government. Looks like Mississippi taxpayers should be super grateful to the rest of us, to say the least. But they’re not the only ones. Find your state below.

The Cato Institute chart below depicts the massive increase in federal education spending against an utter lack of improvement among American students. This is one of many pieces of evidence showing that big influxes of federal cash don’t help students learn more. The top five states binging on everyone else’s K-12 money also help confirm this reality, as national test results show their students at or below average. Mississippi, Louisiana, and New Mexico are among the five worst performers of all states, and Arizona and South Dakota are merely average.

A large chunk of federal money goes directly to state-level bureaucrats, giving them a big reason to support higher federal education spending. As Rep. Scott Garrett of New Jersey points out (perhaps not coincidentally because New Jersey is the biggest education tax loser), the Congressional Budget Office says federal mandates cause 41 percent of state-level administrative costs despite supplying just 7 percent of the average state’s education funding.

In other words, federal requirements cost approximately six times as much as federal money supplies, if you only calculate state-level costs. A number of state studies conducted in the wake of No Child Left Behind found that federal regulations cost local taxpayers even more than they do state taxpayers.  Yet state leaders keep demanding federal money even though in the end it costs them more than rejecting it. A new federal study found teachers reporting paperwork takes them an hour or two every Which States Snag The Most K-12 Cash From Everyone Else?:

School district deems teachers' union proposal inappropriate | Sacramento News - KCRA Home

School district deems teachers' union proposal inappropriate | Sacramento News - KCRA Home:

School district deems teachers' union proposal inappropriate

Natomas Teachers Association calls claims 'utterly false'

NATOMAS, Calif. (KCRA) —The Natomas Unified School District (NUSD) claims a contract proposal from Natomas Teachers Association (NTA) union includes provisions that allow teachers to bring weapons to school and have inappropriate relationships with students without getting fired.

 The school district said parents should have received an email update last week about contract negotiations with NTA .

Several families with students enrolled in the NUSD said they never saw the email.

"Absolutely outrageous. Wow, I can't believe this. Do you have an extra copy of this?" parent Chaz Morris said when seeing the document for the first time Monday night.

One line in the document said, "If a teacher engages in an inappropriate relationship with a student, they cannot be fired."

Another line said, "If a teacher brings a weapon on campus, they cannot be fired."

"We are shocked, disappointed and offended," NTA president Phil Cox said. "It's utterly false. The intent of the proposal that we submitted was to give the district tools to deal with teachers that may step outside the lines of professionalism."

Cox said the group presented a proposal to the school district on a new item that would address professional rights, academic freedom and complaint procedures.

"There was no discussion," he said.

Instead, Cox said Natomas Unified released its own response.

"We stand by the accuracy of that document," Natomas Unified spokesperson Jim Sanders said. He added that they don't support the NTA proposal.

"We can't accept this. You read it for yourself, you form your own opinion," Sanders said.

"They released this document with their own understanding," Cox said.

The school district sent out with another email to parents with the NTA's entire proposal attached.

"I think it's only fair if you see both sides, you know, so you know what's going on on both edges of the table," Morris said.

Natomas Unified said it plans to file an unfair labor practice charge.

NTA said it's considering legal action, which is currently under review by the California Teachers Association.

Parents are encouraged to attend board meetings and offer their opinions.

The next board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.School district deems teachers' union proposal inappropriate | Sacramento News - KCRA Home:

Swearing an Oath -- Part 2: The Kristallnacht of American Public Education

Swearing an Oath -- Part 2: The Kristallnacht of American Public Education:
Swearing an Oath -- Part 2: The Kristallnacht of American Public Education

 As the second possibility, suppose that before or during their gubernatorial campaigns, our governors came out with a full-throated endorsement of charter schools. Why would these sworn protectors-to-be of public education do something as provocative as this, unless to signal the charter school industry that a new age was dawning?

Charter schools would now have a friend in the statehouse where they could look forward to doing business together as public schools closed and charter schools opened in a new dispensation of school reform. And, of course, a healthy campaign contribution would not go unnoticed.

Their election to office would also signal the opening salvo across the bow of public education that Captain Charter School Himself was coming aboard, me Hearties, to shiver the timbers of public schools by scuttling their entire fleet. These new charter-friendly governors would usher in a dynasty of Jolly Roger freebooters, profiteers, and privatizers to loot the state treasury in recompense for "services rendered," with the hope of more "reciprocal favors" to come.

Given this unambiguous show of support for charters, how could our governors have the chutzpah to swear an oath to protect public schools, as this would pose a crisis of conscience, not to speak of a conflict of interest akin to setting a fox to guarding a hen house?

State legislators also deserve a dishonorable mention as the governors' enablers in granting charters to whoever applied to open a school. These politicians have never been known to deny a charter to even the most unworthy of applicants, especially when lobbyists come bearing gifts of hundred dollar bills stuffed in brown paper bags. Charters are Big Business in many a statehouse, as lawmakers line up by the dozens at the feeding trough.
***
But perhaps I rash judge these honorable men, and so are they all, all honorable men, by doing them a rank injustice. Perhaps the political class in this country no longer takes seriously its oath of office. Perhaps this new breed dismisses an oath as a superannuated relic from a faraway past before the Age of Corporations with their public-be-damned and predatory practices that do more harm to America than any enemy abroad.

Perhaps they regard these oaths as political theater that must be endured as lending a fig leaf of legitimacy to sanctify the greed and corruption of these privatized times. This should be hardly surprising when governors, legislators, and even some Supreme Court justices debase their high office by protecting these corporations whose interests they serve.

However, this is by far not the end of this saga. Despite the thousands of public-school closings, none of these governors has offered one scintilla of proof to justify the need for these closures, as if closing them were reason enough.

We've seen them scapegoat, demonize, and vilify teachers, but insults and name-calling aren't evidence. These governors employ that old legal maxim that "when you don't have a case, just abuse your opponent!" But the question remains: where is the evidence to warrant these closures?
***
Accusations aren't proof, and if America's once-proud tradition of investigative reporting weren't now dead, these unjustified closings would have been one of the most sensational news stories in modern times. "Governors Perjure Themselves That They'll Protect Public Schools." "Governors Conspire to Destroy Public Education." "Governors Refuse to Give Reasons for Public School Closures." Reporters would have shouted these headlines from the rooftops because, by Swearing an Oath -- Part 2: The Kristallnacht of American Public Education:

Most Charter Schools are Public Schools in Name ONLY | gadflyonthewallblog

Most Charter Schools are Public Schools in Name ONLY | gadflyonthewallblog:

Most Charter Schools are Public Schools in Name ONLY

Charter schools are public schools.

But are they?

Really?

They don’t look like a duck. They don’t quack like a duck. Do you really want to serve them confit with a nice orange sauce?

Sure, charters are funded by tax dollars. However, that’s usually where the similarities end.

They don’t teach like public schools, they don’t spend their money like public schools, they don’t treat students or parents like public schools – in fact, that’s the very reason they exist – to be as unlike public schools as possible.

Advocates claim charters exist as laboratory schools. They are free to experiment and find new, better ways of doing things. Once they’ve proven their successes, these improved practices will eventually trickle down to our more traditional houses of learning.

At least, that’s the ideal behind them. But to my knowledge it’s never happened.

As a public school teacher, I can never recall being at a training where charter operators taught us how to do things better with these time-tested strategies. I do, however, recall watching excellent co-workers furloughed because my district had to Most Charter Schools are Public Schools in Name ONLY | gadflyonthewallblog:

Ex-principal of Franklin Towne charter files whistle-blower suit

Ex-principal of Franklin Towne charter files whistle-blower suit:
Ex-principal of Franklin Towne charter files whistle-blower suit

 A federal whistle-blower suit claims an elementary principal at the Franklin Towne Charter School in Bridesburg was hired under false pretenses and then terminated after he raised serious concerns about its operations.

Todd A. Dupell alleges that he was wrongfully dismissed as principal last August after he complained to the board chair that the charter was billing the Philadelphia School District for full-day kindergarten even though the program was not full day; the charter was awash in nepotism; and the school was paying the wife of a former board member $80,000 for a nonexistent job because otherwise her husband could "make noise."

Dupell also alleged that the charter was violating state law because it was not providing required services to students who were learning English.

He is suing Franklin Towne Charter School, its board and several officials, including CEO Joseph M. Venditti; chief academic officer Patrick Field, and Cynthia A. Marelia, longtime board chair.

"It's always important that whistle-blowers in public- school settings not be punished and retaliated against," said Patrick J. Whalen, Dupell's lawyer.

James A. Rocco 3rd, Franklin Towne's longtime lawyer, said: "We cannot comment on anything that's in active litigation."

Franklin Towne, which is based at the former Frankford Arsenal, operates a high school with 1,200 students and an elementary school with 900 K-8 students. The high school opened in 2000; the elementary school opened nine years later.

Dupell's suit, filed in federal court in New Jersey last month, contends that Franklin Towne officials and a firm it hired approached him in 2014 and encouraged him to leave his job as principal of Morrisville Elementary School in Bucks County.

According to the complaint, the officials said the job was open because Field had been promoted to a post at the high school. And after being assured that he could have a long future with the charter, Dupell left his position in Morrisville, where he had been granted tenure.

Within days of his arrival, Dupell said, staffers told him Field had been removed as principal in response to an outcry from parents over allegations of improper behavior,

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20160208_Ex-principal_of_Franklin_Towne_charter_files_whistle-blower_suit.html#G44LZ2B8v5AdwMDP.99

More Transcribed Interactions from USDOE CIO Danny Harris’ Hearing | deutsch29

More Transcribed Interactions from USDOE CIO Danny Harris’ Hearing | deutsch29:

More Transcribed Interactions from USDOE CIO Danny Harris’ Hearing

On February 08, 2016,  I published transcribed excerpts from the February 02, 2016, Congressional Oversight Committee Hearing of US Department of Education (USDOE) Chief Information Officer (CIO) Danny Harris.

  

Danny Harris

In this post, I continue my transcription of select discussion from the three-hour hearing.

Let’s just jump right back in.

Regarding Harris’ receiving continued annual bonuses despite his department’s receiving an F for cyber security– and for his apparently never having achieved such security during his tenure as CIO– Harris had this to say (minute 45:30):

I’d also like to put my job as CIO in context, if I may.

Cyber security is absolutely critical to the federal government. However, it is only one of the mission-critical responsibilities under my leadership. Uh, for example, I run the entire financial management platform. Uh, we have received 13 clean audit opinions. We have an incredible IT investment management program. We have the best grants management system in the federal government.

One, I think, should look at the totality of my leadership and not just cyber– even though I agree the Department had a poor record–but again, it is only one aspect of my job– though it is a critical aspect.

Sooo, cyber security is critical, and Harris has never delivered on cyber security as CIO, but somehow, that should be excused (as should his over $200,000 in bonuses) because other aspects of his job have shown better results.

No.

At minute 1:08:45, Rep. Fahrenhold addressed Harris as follows:

Uh, yeah. My concern is that you guys have pretty much every student’s 

More Transcribed Interactions from USDOE CIO Danny Harris’ Hearing | deutsch29:

Credentialing commission considers slowing rotation of substitute teachers | EdSource

Credentialing commission considers slowing rotation of substitute teachers | EdSource:

Credentialing commission considers slowing rotation of substitute teachers

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing this week will consider whether to create a new teaching permit in place of a decades-old permit that limits the amount of time substitutes can fill in for teachers on medical and other legally required leave.

The time limits expose students unnecessarily to a string of rotating substitute teachers, which educators have long complained interrupts classroom instruction and exposes students to  instructors with a range of teaching styles and with varying levels of competence and expertise.

The issue is attracting additional attention because school districts throughout California are increasingly having to rely on substitute teachers without full credentials to blunt the impact of a growing teacher shortage in almost every subject area.

But that strategy has been complicated by an “Emergency 30 Day Substitute Teaching Permit” created by the credentialing commission more than three Credentialing commission considers slowing rotation of substitute teachers | EdSource:

In an age of resegregation, these schools are trying to balance poor and wealthy kids - The Washington Post

In an age of resegregation, these schools are trying to balance poor and wealthy kids - The Washington Post:
In an age of resegregation, these schools are trying to balance poor and wealthy kids

As U.S. public schools have grown increasingly segregated by race and income, there is a growing number of school districts and charter schools striving for greater balance among their students, according to new research released Tuesday by the Century Foundation, a left-leaning think tank.

Researchers identified 91 school districts and charter school chains serving more than 4 million students — including the District of Columbia and Chicago Public Schools — that are using tools such as magnet schools, weighted lotteries, and changes in school attendance zones to create more balance between white students and those of color, and between low-income and more affluent children.

That is more than double the number employing such tactics in 2007, according to Halley Potter, a fellow at the Century Foundation and one of the authors of the report.

The new methods, which rely on choice and incentives, are a far cry from the forced busing policies that were a hallmark of early desegregation efforts. In many cases, school districts are focused on integrating children of different economic backgrounds, as opposed to race, though the two are inextricably linked, Potter said.

“Part of the growth of these socioeconomic strategies is a reflection of the legal environment for racial desegregation, which just continues to get trickier,” she said. “Communities serious about tackling integration find that these tools are the best way.”

[Will the Obama administration now focus on desegregating schools?]

U.S. public schools are more racially segregated now than they were in the 1970s. More than one-third of all black and Latino students attend schools that are more than 90 percent non-white, according to the Century Foundation. For white students, the image is flipped: more than one-third attend schools that are nearly all white.

Research shows that children from low-income families — a group that is proportionately more African American and Latino — perform better academically when they attend schools that are not majority-poor. Segregated, high-poverty schools tend to have fewer experienced teachers, fewer challenging courses, inferior facilities, less access to private funding and In an age of resegregation, these schools are trying to balance poor and wealthy kids - The Washington Post:

Ed Notes Online: MORE Co-Sponsors: Lois Weiner at CUNY Tuesday 5-7PM

Ed Notes Online: MORE Co-Sponsors: Lois Weiner at CUNY Tuesday 5-7PM:

MORE Co-Sponsors: Lois Weiner at CUNY Tuesday 5-7PM

Unions must act on the principle that if it's a social justice issue, it's a labor issue.



 Join Dr. Lois Weiner in her presentation of New Jersey City University’s

Urban Education & Teacher Unionism Policy Project

Tuesday, February 9th

5pm - 7pm

Room 6304.01 at the CUNY Graduate Center

365 5th Avenue in Manhattan

(Please bring ID to enter the Graduate Center)

Unions must act on the principle that if it's a social justice issue, it's a labor issue.

The aim of the New Jersey City University's Urban Education and Teacher Unionism Policy Project is to apply research, explained in accessible language, to address those very hard issues that divide teacher unions from communities of color and support strong alliances.

Dr. Lois Weiner, Project Director of the Urban Education and Teacher Unionism Policy Project, is an internationally-known scholar in urban teacher education and teacher unionism.

This event is sponsored by the GC Urban Education Program, GC Critical Psychology Program, Public Science Project, Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies, Professional Staff Congress (PSC) Graduate Center Chapter, Teachers Unite, and the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE)

Flyer attached.

Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/138552853189425/

Ed Notes Online: MORE Co-Sponsors: Lois Weiner at CUNY Tuesday 5-7PM:

CURMUDGUCATION: VA: Stupid Lawmaker Tricks

CURMUDGUCATION: VA: Stupid Lawmaker Tricks:

VA: Stupid Lawmaker Tricks

Mark Obenshain is a lawyer/legislator in Virginia who has all sorts of cool ideas for laws to pass.

Back in 2009, he proposed a law that would require all women who had a miscarriage while not right near a doctor to report that miscarriage within twenty-four hours. He was reportedly trying to respond to a case in which a woman threw her dead child in a dumpster; he wanted a law that would allow her prosecution, but he came up with something so broad and ill-considered that it was untenable.

Not thinking things through seems to be an Obenshain specialty. He ran for Attorney General and lost. His "Support Team Obenshain" website hasn't had a new post since August, 2015, when he happily announced his gig as Virginia Campaign Chairman for Scott Walker. Oopsies.

Obenshain also likes to take a hard-right swing at education. Like any good conservative values politician, he would like to strip local school boards of their power, so he's proposed a charter school law that would give the state board of education the power to authorize charters. But local school districts already have that power, and the state of Virginia just isn't clamoring for charters-- it's almost as if they find their public system plenty okay. Putting authorization of charters out of local hands of course creates issues for local taxpayers-- someone else puts up a charter school in your community and you have to pay for it whether you want it there or not. And actual conservatives have a soft spot for local control. Obenshain is apparently not one of those conservatives.

But also at the top of his Haven't Really Thought This Through list is SB 737. This is a pretty straightforward bill:

Payment of public employees for time away from their official duties; employee organizations; penalty. Prohibits public employers from paying leave or benefits to any public CURMUDGUCATION: VA: Stupid Lawmaker Tricks:

CURMUDGUCATION: CAP: The Promise of Testing

CURMUDGUCATION: CAP: The Promise of Testing:
CAP: The Promise of Testing

CAP is back with another one of its "reports." This one took four whole authors to produce, and it's entitled "Praise Joyous ESSA and Let a Thousand Tests Bloom." Ha! Kidding. The actual report is "Implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act: Toward a Coherent, Aligned Assessment System."

The report is sixty-some pages of highly-polished CAP-flavored reformster baloney, and I've read it so you don't have to, but be warned-- this journey will be neither short nor sweet. But we have to take it in one shot, so you can see the entirety of it. 

Who is CAP, again?

The Center for American Progress is billed as a left-leaning thinky tank, but it has also served as aholding tank for Clintonian beltway denizens. It was formed by John Podesta and run by him between his gigs as Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, and has provided food and shelter to many Clinton staffers who didn't want to have to leave DC while waiting for their next shot at the Big Show.

CAP loves the whole privatizing charterfying profiteering common core cheering reformster agenda. In fact, CAP's deep and abiding love for the Common Core has burned brighter than a thousand stars and longer than even Jeb! Bush's willingness to keep saying that name. CAP has stymied me, taxing CURMUDGUCATION: CAP: The Promise of Testing:

Russ on Reading: The Common Core and the "Stuff" Curriculum of E. D. Hirsch

Russ on Reading: The Common Core and the "Stuff" Curriculum of E. D. Hirsch:

The Common Core and the "Stuff" Curriculum of E. D. Hirsch

In many ways, I see the adoption of the Common Core State Standards as the ultimate victory of E. D. Hirsch and his idea of "cultural literacy." I do not think that it is a coincidence that Hirsch advocates for a "core knowledge" curriculum while the standards are called the Common "Core."

I am far from the only one to make that connection. A while ago, Politico came out with its list of  50 "thinkers, doers, and dreamers who really matter", and there at number 8 was Hirsch side-by-side with the "chief architect" of the Common Core, David Coleman. Over at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Common Core cheerleader, Robert Pondiscio notes that while you won't find Hirsch's name on the Standards "his thumbprints are there, if you care to look." Pondiscio thinks this is a good thing. I don't.

Those Hirschian thumbprints that Pondiscio finds on the Common Core are perhaps most clearly found in the percentages of non-fiction texts that are prescribed at each grade level, and in Common Core "aligned" curriculum Russ on Reading: The Common Core and the "Stuff" Curriculum of E. D. Hirsch:

Oregon Save Our Schools: Teacher Input: What would it really look like?

Oregon Save Our Schools: Teacher Input: What would it really look like?:

Teacher Input: What would it really look like?

It’s an election year and we’ve just been provided with a plan through the Governor’s office asking for nominations to the new Governor’s Council on Educational Advancement.  The Council’s mission is to provide oversight to programs managed and funded through the Network for Quality Teaching and Learning established by the legislature.  The Network is in charge of and funds various programs including:  Common Core State Standards, teacher evaluations tied to high-stakes standardized testing, professional development, teacher mentoring, best practices for closing the achievement gap, early learning partnerships, recruitment of a diverse teaching force, and English Language Learners’ success.

            

Will educators finally be listened to, or will they be provided the usual “seat at the table” where they once again share in the poison wine?  

I would like to offer some suggestions as to what such a committee would look like:

·      Meetings should take place at a time where teachers can actually attend without having to plan for a substitute and incur personal costs and unpaid leave.

·      The majority of voting members of the 15-member council would be Oregon Save Our Schools: Teacher Input: What would it really look like?: