A new era begins as pro-charter majority selects Rodriguez to head L.A. school broad - LA Times

A new era begins as pro-charter majority selects Rodriguez to head L.A. school board - LA Times:

A new era begins as pro-charter majority selects Rodriguez to head L.A. school board

 The Los Angeles Broad of Education on Thursday selected charter school co-founder Ref Rodriguez as its president.

After the 4-3 vote, Rodriguez immediately called for unity. The votes backing him came from a bloc elected with the help of funding from charter school backers. The other three board members supported Richard Vladovic, who has served as president in the past.

After Rodriguez took the gavel, the board turned to another item of business: his emergency motion to put “students first.”

There’s more to the resolution than that, but that opening line to a set of action items suggests the previous leadership — including board members, the superintendent of schools and senior staff — missed the mark on the idea that the needs of students must be the top priority in the nation’s second-largest school system.

The resolution was a main order of business during the first board meeting of the seven-member body that will, for the first time, have a pro-charter school majority. Also spending big in this year’s elections, the most expensive school board races in the nation’s history, were employee unions, whose candidates lost.

The charter-backed bloc consists of newcomers Kelly Gonez and Nick Melvoin, elected in the May general election; longtime incumbent Monica Garcia, reelected by winning a majority in the March primary; and Rodriguez, who was not on the ballot this year.

The first order of business Thursday was the swearing-in of the three election winners, something that took place at the Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts just north of downtown. Then the board convened at the nearby district headquarters to elect a president.

The students-first resolution would require L.A. schools Supt. Michelle King to provide a “student impact statement” for any item that comes before the board. The statement must show how any measure would affect “outcomes by low-income students, English learner students, foster youth, African American students and special education students.”

The resolution also directs the superintendent to ensure that “100% of parents and A new era begins as pro-charter majority selects Rodriguez to head L.A. school board - LA Times:

President Trump can post a violent video with impunity — but a public school principal couldn’t - The Washington Post

President Trump can post a violent video with impunity — but a public school principal couldn’t - The Washington Post:

President Trump can post a violent video with impunity — but a public school principal couldn’t

By now you’ve probably seen at least once the video that President Trump recently tweeted — the one showing him walking just outside a wrestling ring and then punching to the ground a man whose head had been replaced by the CNN logo.

And you’ve either decided that it was a “genuine” effort to communicate with Americans, as homeland security adviser Tom Bossert said, or you think it is a dangerous attack on the press and an invitation for bullies to settle scores with violence, like numerous critics said.

But whatever you think, it’s worth mentioning that the posting of such a video would get educators and administrators and even students in some degree of trouble. How much trouble would depend on who did it, who the target was and other such details, but getting away scot-free probably wouldn’t be an option, according to educational leaders.

[Trump’s rather weird meeting with the 2017 Teachers of the Year]

Bob Farrace, director of public affairs at the National Association of Secondary School Principals, had this to say when asked what would happen to a principal in a public school who posted a video similar to  Trump’s:

I cannot think of an instance in which a principal’s posting such a video would be considered appropriate behavior. At its most innocuous — if a principal, for instance, were punching the image of a rival team’s mascot — it would likely be deemed at least in poor taste, and the principal would quickly recognize the need to apologize.

Punching the effigy of any other stakeholder group would likely bring serious repercussions. In any case, given that you want to engage your stakeholder groups to help you achieve your goals, it’s a pretty awful outreach strategy.

Daniel Domenech is the executive director of the American Association of School Administrators and a former longtime superintendent of the well-regarded Fairfax County President Trump can post a violent video with impunity — but a public school principal couldn’t - The Washington Post:

New pro-charter L.A. school board seeks emergency motion to 'put students first' - LA Times

New pro-charter L.A. school board seeks emergency motion to 'put students first' - LA Times:

New pro-charter L.A. school board seeks emergency motion to 'put students first'

For generations, earnest teachers and administrators in Los Angeles have sought the solution to lagging student achievement, with imperfect results. But on Thursday, a new wave of leaders seems to have found what they believe is the elusive formula on their first day in charge.

A school board member who belongs to a pro-charter school bloc, Ref Rodriguez, put forward an emergency motion that declares: “We are a District that puts kids first.”

There’s more to the resolution than that, but that opening line to a set of action items suggests that the previous leadership — including board members, the superintendent of schools and senior staff — missed the mark on the quintessential idea that the needs of students must be the top priority in the nation’s second-largest school system.

This resolution is a main order of business of the first board meeting for a seven-member body that will, for the first time, have a majority elected with dominant financial backing from charter school supporters. Also spending big in this year’s elections, the most expensive school board elections in the nation’s history, were employee unions, most especially the teachers union, whose candidates lost.New pro-charter L.A. school board seeks emergency motion to 'put students first' - LA Times:

There's a new, pro-charter school board in L.A. Here's what we expect from it - LA Times - http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-lausd-school-board-20170704-story.html on @latimes

CURMUDGUCATION: Why Churches Should Hate School Vouchers

CURMUDGUCATION: Why Churches Should Hate School Vouchers:

Why Churches Should Hate School Vouchers

It seems clear that the wall between church and state, particularly when it comes to educational voucher programs, is collapsing like a stack of cheerios in a stiff wind. This is not good for a variety of reasons, but those reasons do not all belong to supporters of public education. Even before I was a cranky blogger, I was telling folks that religious institutions should be right out there resisting vouchers, and that if school vouchers with no regard for the church and state wall ever became law, churches would rue the day just as much as anyone, if not more.

So what's my point? Why should churches want to get that stack of cheerios back up and fortified?

It's important to remember that the separation of church and state is not just for the state's benefit-- it protects churches as well. Once Betsy DeVos and Mike Pence get their way (I'm not convinced that Trump either knows or understands any of the issues here), here's how things are going to go south.

First, tax dollars for education will still be directed by the politicians in capitals. That means that churches will have to become experienced in the business of political pandering. And this is not my prediction for the future-- it is happening right now. Emma Brown at Politico is reporting today on the Catholic Church's are meeting with GOP lawmakers and administration officials to see if the CURMUDGUCATION: Why Churches Should Hate School Vouchers:

The Jeff Bryant Report: Why Democrats Should Unite On A Charter School Moratorium

7/6/2017 – Why Democrats Should Unite On A Charter School Moratorium:

Why Democrats Should Unite On A Charter School Moratorium

THIS WEEK: NEA Rejects Trump … Rich Won’t Pay For Schools … Koch School Choice … DeVos Boosts For-Profits … Rural-Urban Edu Gap

TOP STORY

Why Democrats Should Unite On A Charter School Moratorium

By Jeff Bryant

“This week, the nation’s largest labor union, the National Education Association, broke from its cautious regard of charter schools to pass a new policy statement that … wants a moratorium on new charters … The NEA’s action echoes a resolution passed earlier this year by the national NAACP calling for a moratorium on the expansion of charters and … a policy statement issued last year by the Movement for Black Lives … Now that labor and civil rights have come together in a unified call for a moratorium on these unregulated, privately-operated schools, prominent leaders in the Democratic party can champion this issue knowing they have a grassroots constituency that supports them.”
Read more …

NEWS AND VIEWS

Teachers Union Leader: We Won’t Work With Trump And Devos Because ‘I Do Not Trust Their Motives’

The Washington Post

“The president of the country’s largest labor union, Lily Eskelsen García of the National Education Association, told delegates at her organization’s annual gathering that they would not work with the Trump administration because the president and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos could not be trusted … Eskelsen García … accusing President Trump of residing ‘at the dangerous intersection of arrogance and ignorance’ … labeled DeVos as ‘the queen of for-profit privatization of public education’ … The NEA and Eskelsen García are strongly opposing the agenda of Trump and DeVos, who have made expanding alternatives to public education their chief education priority.”
Read more …

In The Land Of Bill Gates, A Standoff Over Money For Schools

Good

“Teachers being asked to foot the bill [is] a nationwide problem, due in large part to the fact that teachers, who are evaluated on student success, can’t do their jobs without basic supplies. But it’s surprising that in a prosperous state with a booming economy … schools can’t seem to put the coins together to pay for pencils and paste … Since the 1970s, Washington’s tax revenue has fallen 30% as a portion of state income; meanwhile … 13 billionaires living nearly tax-free – among them, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates – boast a net worth totaling $180.3 billion … Washingtonians pay ‘the fifth highest combined sales tax in the country.’ The result is the ‘most regressive tax system’ in the United States.”
Read more …

An Inside Look At How The Koch Brothers Are Flexing Their Political Muscle To Spread Message Of School Choice, ESAs

The Denver Post

“The Koch network’s six-figure campaign to promote school choice and education savings accounts, or ESAs… in Colorado involves the Americans for Prosperity Foundation and the Libre Initiative … which promote ESAs … Five states currently offer the accounts … The program allows parents to use taxpayer dollars for private school tuition, online learning programs, books, or tutoring … The Koch network considers Colorado an attractive state for its message because public charter schools are a bipartisan cause.”
Read more …

DeVos Is Discarding College Policies That New Evidence Shows Are Effective

The New York Times

“DeVos announced plans to dismantle a set of Obama-era policies devised to protect students and taxpayers from predatory for-profit colleges. Yet data released in the final days of the previous administration shows that the existing rules have proved more effective at shutting down bad college programs than even the most optimistic backers could have hoped … Close analysis of the more than 500 failing programs that haven’t appealed their status reveals … a substantial majority of them, 300 or so, have already been shut down … If the new rules gut the existing regulations, Ms. DeVos will have destroyed a highly effective tool for protecting students from for-profit colleges.”
Read more …

Rural Youth Chase Big-City Dreams

The Wall Street Journal

“As more young people decide to pursue four-year degrees, college towns are siphoning students out of the rural heart of the Farm Belt and sending them, degrees in hand … to the nation’s urban centers … Other states are struggling with rural population outflow to state-university towns … Many young people in rural communities now see college not so much as a door to opportunity as a ticket out of Nowheresville. The result is a redistribution of educated graduates to urban areas, which is helping to widen the divide in educational attainment between urban and rural areas.”
Read more …

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7/6/2017 – Why Democrats Should Unite On A Charter School Moratorium:

Best & worst education journalism of June 2017 - kappanonline

Best & worst education journalism of June 2017 - kappanonline.org:

Best & worst education journalism of June 2017

By Alexander Russo

Before July takes full hold, let’s take a look back at the best and worst education journalism in June.  As you’ll see, there were some particularly strong pieces – including three that came out in a single week — and only a small handful of problematic pieces.

THE BEST 

During one single week early in the month, three separate outlets published emotionally gripping stories about school children who had faced traumatic times. California Sunday published Losing Gloria, about how some kids respond after their parents are deported to Mexico. Chicago Magazine published a great feature on a neighborhood high school that’s become a magnet for refugee kids. And the Washington Post’s 12 Seconds of Gunfire told the horrifying story of a school shooting in South Carolina.

The best piece of journalism I came across in June was Darren Sands’ look at What Happened To Black Lives Matter? Along with many other things, the BuzzFeed story helps explain a bit how the Movement for Black Lives umbrella organization ended up coming out with education positions that not everyone thought represented the views of its members. (On a related note, The Huffington Post’s Rebecca Klein updated us on the NAACP education task force, whose final report is coming out this month.)

ESSA implementation coverage took off at the end of June, after an eerie silence during previous months. See ABQ Journal, CT Post, Detroit News, ChalkbeatTN, for example. Check out US News for an overview piece, or The 74 for national overviews. The most useful piece of journalism was Best & worst education journalism of June 2017 - kappanonline.org:

Audio: LAUSD's new board members aren't interested in 'massive charter school expansion' | 89.3 KPCC

Audio: LAUSD's new board members aren't interested in 'massive charter school expansion' | 89.3 KPCC:

LAUSD's new board members aren't interested in 'massive charter school expansion'

Forget what you’ve heard: the Los Angeles Unified School Board's two newest members say they're not here to usher in a new golden era for charter schools.

Nick Melvoin and Kelly Gonez both benefited from record outside spending by pro-charter school political groups on this spring’s school board campaign. After they take their oaths of office on Thursday, they'll become the third and fourth board members to receive the California Charter Schools Association's exclusive endorsement — enough, in theory, to form a majority on a seven-member board.

But in separate and broad-ranging interviews for KPCC’s Take Two, both Melvoin and Gonez were adamant: this new school board is not about to open the floodgates for more charter schools in L.A.

"No … I'm not interested in a dramatic expansion, or really an expansion at all, of the number of independent charter schools in the district," said Gonez, who now represents the East San Fernando Valley on the board.

"I'm concerned about the financial health of the district," Gonez went on, "and I'm concerned about students in district schools. I think, while there are many factors that are contributing to declining enrollment in our district schools, charter schools are one of those factors."

Melvoin, too, said "massive charter expansion" is unlikely: "That's (A) not going to happen because … I don't support it, but (B) it's just really infeasible when you consider the restraints on facilities and the supply of teachers."

• Listen to their Take Two interviews: Melvoin | Gonez

Like most L.A. Unified elections in recent years, this year's campaign was a proxy battle between charter school groups and the United Teachers Los Angeles teachers union. Since campaign finance rules allow outside groups to spend more freely, Audio: LAUSD's new board members aren't interested in 'massive charter school expansion' | 89.3 KPCC:

Twisted Thursday Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Twisted Thursday Diane Ravitch's blog 

A site to discuss better education for all

Parents File Complaint to New York State, Demanding Reduced Class Sizes

4by dianeravitch / 1h

The press release is self-explanatory: Contact: Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters, 917-435-9329; leoniehaimson@gmail.com Wendy Lecker, Education Law Center, 203-536-7567, wlecker@edlawcenter.org NYC PARENTS FILE 

Ed Johnson: Neo-Colonialism in Africa–and Atlanta

by dianeravitch / 5min

Ed Johnson is a passionate advocate for quality education for all. He lives in Atlanta. Ed is a follower of the philosophy of W. Edwards Deming, who taught that you don’t blame frontline workers for the failure of the system and its poor leadership. He frequently writes letters to the members of the Atlanta Board of Education, hoping to enlighten them. Here is the latest: New-age colonialism in A

Graduation Speech: “You Said We Couldn’t Succeed, But You Were Wrong”

13by dianeravitch / 1h

Jo Lieb, who blogs as “Poetic Justice,” posted the powerful graduation speech written and delivered by Coral Ortiz, with Coral’s permission. Coral just graduated from a public high school in New Haven, Connecticut. When we were young, we were taught that we were “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Our country taught us that no matter our income or race, we would

A Guide to Voucher Jargon and Doublespeak

5by dianeravitch / 2h

The NEA posted a handy explanation of the differences among current voucher programs. Learn to understand Betsy DeVos’s euphemisms. School vouchers are actually unpopular, which is why their advocates call them by another term. “Voucher devotees like DeVos know this, which is why the term “school voucher” has been ditched in favor of more appealing terms. “Take for example this line from DeVos’ s

Have You Heard? “Personalized Learning” and the Disruption of Education

25by dianeravitch / 3h

Now that we live in the new gig economy, where kids in their 20s become instant multimillionaires by disrupting every industry, here come the hawkers of (de)personalized learning to replace teachers with smart (but not cheap) machines. These machines never need pensions or health care. They don’t care about tenure or due process. Jennifer Berkshire (once known as EduShyster) and historian of educ

Peter Greene: “Personalized Learning” and the Great Bait-and-Switch

4by dianeravitch / 4h

Peter Greene explains the hoax at the heart of “personalized learning.” The appeal is that it is customized just for you. The reality is that it is a standardized algorithm that adjusts to your responses but doesn’t you from Adam or Eve. The Brand X that we’re supposed to be escaping, the view of education that Personalized Learning is supposed to alter, the toxin for which Personalized Learning

YESTERDAY

The NEA Demands Accountability and Transparency from Charter Schools

32by dianeravitch / 23h

The National Education Association passed a resolution on charter schools on July 4, 2017, which is appropriate because public schools are the foundation of democracy. Add this to the resolution passed last year by the NAACP. And the statement by Black Lives Matter in opposition to privatization of public schools. And the statement endorsed by the Network for Public Education , saying that charte

The Heroes of This Blog! Add Your Name!

13by dianeravitch / 1d

We have quite an amazing collection of readers on this blog. I often post your comments, because they are well-written, succinct, informative, and besides which, most of you know know more about teaching and the everyday life of the classroom than I do. If your name was inadvertently omitted, let me know and I will add it. A reader who goes by the name “Homeless Educator” sent this comment. “Dian

Is Texas the Future of America? Let’s Hope Not!

11by dianeravitch / 1d

This is a fascinating and funny and scary article about politics in Texas, written by Lawrence Wright, a Pulitzer Prize winning author and staff writer for The New Yorker. The title of the article is “America’s Future is Texas,” and we better hope it is wrong. When I was growing up in Houston, the state was reliably Democratic, although the Democrats were conservative. Now the state is a red stat

Maine: Governor LePage Reluctantly Increases School Funding, Vows to Get Even Next Year

7by dianeravitch / 1d

Governor Paul LePage of Maine is one of the worst governors in the nation. Twice he was elected by a plurality in a three-way race. He hates public schools. A citizens’ initiative forced him to raise state spending on them. He vowed to get even next yea r. LePage started his time in office by doing whatever Jeb Bush wanted, such as agreeing to sign on to Jeb’s Digital Learning business to benefit

Wendy Lecker: How Chicago Targeted Black and Latino Schools and Communities for Destruction

16by dianeravitch / 1d

This article is an excellent analysis by civil rights lawyer Wendy Lecker of the deliberate destruction of public education in black and Latino neighborhoods in Chicago. Chicago has purposely sacrificed the needs of black and Latino students while protecting and enhancing the needs of white students. We have to bear in mind what Rahm Emanuel told CTU leader Karen Lewis when he was first elected:

Peg Tyre: Can a High-Tech Start-Up in Africa Educate Hundreds of Millions of Children and Make a Profit?

7by dianeravitch / 1d

Peg Tyre, veteran journalist, published a balanced and well-written article about Bridge International Academies in the New York Times Magazine. BIA operates numerous low-fee, for-profit schools in Africa and its investors hope to spread 

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: