Tuesday, July 19, 2016

GOP Platform on Education

The Republican convention in Cleveland has -- no surprise -- brought forth its platform today. The sections referring to K-12 education also contain no surprises. They follow:
We support the public display of the Ten Commandments as a reflection of our history and our country’s Judeo-Christian heritage and further affirm the rights of religious students to engage in voluntary prayer at public school events and to have equal access to school facilities. We assert the First Amendment right of freedom of association for religious, private, service, and youth organizations to set their own membership standards.

Children raised in a two-parent household tend to be physically and emotionally healthier, more likely to do well in school, less likely to use drugs and alcohol, engage in crime or become pregnant outside of marriage. We oppose policies and laws that create a financial incentive for or encourage cohabitation.

We call for removal of structural impediments which progressives throw in the path of poor people: Over-regulation of start-up enterprises, excessive licensing requirements, needless restrictions on formation of schools and day-care centers serving neighborhood families, and restrictions on providing public services in fields like transport and sanitation that close the opportunity door to all but a favored few. We will continue our fight for school choice until all parents can find good, safe schools for their children.

Education: A Chance for Every Child
Education is much more than schooling. It is the whole range of activities by which families and communities transmit to a younger generation, not just knowledge and skills, but ethical and behavioral norms and traditions. It is the handing over of a cultural identity. That is why American education has, for the last several decades, been the focus of constant controversy, as centralizing forces from outside the family and community have sought to remake education in order to remake America. They have done immense damage. The federal government should not be a partner in that effort, as the Constitution gives it no role in education. At the heart of the American Experiment lies the greatest political expression of human dignity: The self- evident truth that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

Parents are a child’s first and foremost educators, and have primary responsibility for the education of their children. Parents have a right to direct their children’s education, care, and upbringing. We support a constitutional amendment to protect that right from interference by states, the federal government, or international bodies such as the United Nations. We reject a one- size-fits-all approach to education and support a broad range of choices for parents and children at the state and local level. We likewise repeat our long- standing opposition to the imposition of national standards and assessments, encourage the parents and educators who are implementing alternatives to Common Core, and congratulate the states which have successfully repealed it. Their education reform movement calls for choice-based, parent-driven accountability at every stage of schooling. It affirms higher expectations for all students and rejects the crippling bigotry of low expectations. It recognizes the wisdom of local control of our schools and it wisely sees consumer rights in education — choice — as the most important driving force for renewing education. It rejects excessive testing and “teaching to the test” and supports the need for strong assessments to serve as a tool so teachers can tailor teaching to meet student needs. Maintaining American preeminence requires a world-class system of education in which all students can reach their potential.

We applaud America’s great teachers, who should be protected against frivolous lawsuits and should be able to take reasonable actions to maintain discipline and order in the classroom. Administrators need flexibility to innovate and to hold accountable all those responsible for student performance. A good understanding of the Bible being indispensable for the development of an educated citizenry, we encourage state legislatures to offer the Bible in a literature curriculum as an elective in America’s high school districts.

Rigid tenure systems should be replaced with a merit-based approach in order to attract the best talent to the classroom. All personnel who interact with school children should pass background checks and be held to the highest standards of personal conduct.

Academic Excellence for All
Maintaining American preeminence requires a world-class system of education in which all students can reach their potential. Republicans are leading the effort to create it. Since 1965, the federal government, through more than 100 programs in the Department of Education, has spent $2 trillion on elementary and secondary education with little substantial improvement in academic achievement or high school graduation rates. The United States spends an average of more than $12,000 per pupil per year in public schools, for a total of more than $620 billion. That represents more than 4 percent of GDP devoted to K-12 education in 2011-2012. Of that amount, federal spending amounted to more than $57 billion. Clearly, if money were the solution, our schools would be problem-free. More money alone does not necessarily equal better performance. After years of trial and error, we know the policies and methods that have actually made a difference in student advancement: Choice in education; building on the basics; STEM subjects and phonics; career and technical education; ending social promotions; merit pay for good teachers; classroom discipline; parental involvement; and strong leadership by principals, superintendents, and locally elected school boards. Because technology has become an essential tool of learning, it must be a key element in our efforts to provide every child equal access and opportunity. We strongly encourage instruction in American history and civics by using the original documents of our founding fathers.

Choice in Education
We support options for learning, including home-schooling, career and technical education, private or parochial schools, magnet schools, charter schools, online learning, and early-college high schools. We especially support the innovative financing mechanisms that make options available to all children: education savings accounts (ESAs), vouchers, and tuition tax credits. Empowering families to access the learning environments that will best help their children to realize their full potential is one of the greatest civil rights challenges of our time. A young person’s ability to succeed in school must be based on his or her God-given talent and motivation, not an address, ZIP code, or economic status. We propose that the bulk of federal money through Title I for low-income children and through IDEA for children with special needs should follow the child to whatever school the family thinks will work best for them.

In sum, on the one hand enormous amounts of money are being spent for K-12 public education with overall results that do not justify that spending level. On the other hand, the common experience of families, teachers, and administrators forms the basis of what does work in education. In Congress and in the states, Republicans are bridging the gap between those two realities. Congressional Republicans are leading the way forward with major reform legislation advancing the concept of block grants and repealing numerous federal regulations which have interfered with state and local control of public schools. Their Workplace Innovation and Opportunity Act — modernizing workforce programs, repealing mandates, and advancing employment for persons with disabilities — is now law. Their legislation to require transparency in unfunded mandates imposed upon our schools is advancing. Their D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program should be expanded as a model for the rest of the country. We deplore the efforts of Congressional Democrats and the current President to eliminate this successful program for disadvantaged students in order to placate the leaders of the teachers’ unions.

To ensure that all students have access to the mainstream of American life, we support the English First approach and oppose divisive programs that limit students’ ability to advance in American society. We renew our call for replacing “family planning” programs for teens with sexual risk avoidance education that sets abstinence until marriage as the responsible and respected standard of behavior. That approach — the only one always effective against premarital pregnancy and sexually-transmitted disease — empowers teens to achieve optimal health outcomes. We oppose school-based clinics that provide referral or counseling for abortion and contraception and believe that federal funds should not be used in mandatory or universal mental health, psychiatric, or socio-emotional screening programs. The federal government has pushed states to collect and share vast amounts of personal student and family data, including the collection of social and emotional data. Much of this data is collected without parental consent or notice. This is wholly incompatible with the American Experiment and our inalienable rights.

We urge state education officials to promote the hiring of qualified veterans as teachers in our public schools. Their proven abilities and life experiences will make them more successful instructors and role models for students than would any teaching certification.

Gene V Glass
Arizona State University
~            
University of Colorado Boulder
National Education Policy Center
~            
San José State University

The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not represent the official position of the National Education Policy Center, Arizona State University, University of Colorado Boulder, nor San José State University.

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Why Bill Gates Won't Be Raising Chickens

When asked recently how the poor can lift themselves out of poverty, Bill Gates answered that they should raise chickens. And then preceded to explain why raising chickens is a nifty way to survive the crushing hand of poverty for the world's billions of abject poor.

Anyone who has traveled through the American Southeast -- Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama -- will see hundreds, no thousands, of deserted chicken coops. They were built by people desperately trying to rise out of poverty and who signed contracts with the Tyson corporation to raise chickens. But the contract had some provisions in it. They had to buy their eggs from Tyson, and the feed, and when the chickens were ready for market, Tyson was to be the only market. Tyson named their prices from start to finish; and when disease or disaster wiped out a crop, as it often inevitably did, the chicken farmer went broke and the coops were abandoned. Sure, Bill Gates, just raise chickens.

Gates, one will recall, is the man who once said that if you are born poor, it is not your fault, but if you die poor, it is your fault. This man is monumentally insensitive and he thinks he has the answers to the world's problems.

Gene V Glass
Arizona State University
~            
University of Colorado Boulder
National Education Policy Center
~            
San José State University

The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not represent the official position of the National Education Policy Center, Arizona State University, University of Colorado Boulder, nor San José State University.

Monday, June 13, 2016

Education Week: Fair and Balanced

Education Week, the erstwhile serious outlet for news about public education, has taken a turn.

Today, Ed Week published a puff piece extolling the virtues of charter schools. One must read to the very bottom to see that the writing of the article was funded by the Walton Foundation — yes, the Wal*Mart family. Education Week, which used to be a somewhat "fair and balanced" outlet for education news has recently been accepting big gifts from the likes of Bill Gates Foundation, the Walton foundation, and others who promote, technology, privatization, and anti-union views.

Ever since the Gates Foundation bestowed its gift of $100,000 on Ed Week, there seems to be an increase of articles on the benefits of online teaching and learning.

Ed Week may be in the process of selling its objectivity to the big bidders. Will it become the Fox News of the education news world?

Gene V Glass
Arizona State University
~            
University of Colorado Boulder
National Education Policy Center
~            
San José State University

The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not represent the official position of the National Education Policy Center, Arizona State University, University of Colorado Boulder, nor San José State University.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Take All The Credit? You'll Get All The Blame

Occasionally, authors receive feedback from a reader that says in effect, "I believe what you wrote; you're on course." And so were we gratified recently when Julie Rummel, a veteran teacher from Findlay, Ohio, told us that she had read something in 50 Myths & Lies That Threaten America's Public Schools" (Berliner, Glass & Associates, 2014) that resonated with her experience.

In case you have not commanded to memory every word of 50 Myths, Myth #9 reads as follows: "Teachers are the most important influence in a child’s education." The discussion in the book goes on: "Teachers are important. They provide instruction to students, give them valuable emotional and social support, and are often generous with their time and energy .... They also labor in the shadow of this myth — a myth that seems to celebrate teachers, but which in reality hangs an unrealistic responsibility around their necks. The importance of teachers has been mythologized to the point that it burdens teachers, restricts their ability to serve students in ways they deem appropriate, and may be driving some of the best teachers out of the classroom."

Teachers can only do so much to correct the damage inflicted on children by poverty, ill health, broken homes, or homes run by broken individuals. Some persons flatter with heroic stories and lay unrealistic expectations on them ... and then they blame them when their best efforts inevitably fail. These same persons push policies with names like "value added" and "teacher quality." Teachers naive enough to believe fairy tales will feel the pain when harsh reality shows up. Take undeserved credit, and you will reap undeserved blame. Such is the recent experience of Teacher Julie Rummel when she encountered the new age of education policy with its high-stakes testing, value added evaluation, and other union busting tactics. But, we should let Julie speak for herself.

I read Myth #9 “Teachers are the most important influence,” and here I am now writing to you.

This is my 15th year of teaching. Fourteen of those years have been in inner city, 100% free and reduced lunch schools. My last district had cuts, and, since I had only been there 3 years, I got my pink slip. I was shocked and devastated. But to be brutally honest, I was also relieved. Fourteen years of children screaming at me, parents cussing me out, paying for my own copy paper, watching poverty suck the life out of the lids before they are 9 years old — I was burned-out. I was crying after staff meetings because I knew that what I was expected to have them do was simply beyond me and beyond them. I was feeling like a complete failure, even as they hugged me and told me I was the “best teacher in the world.” I was ready to quit.

My colleagues were all on antidepressants; one committed suicide. The anger and the stress in those environments are hard to explain. Our ceiling dripped into trashcans set on the heater. The kids were angry. They have more emotional problems than one well-intentioned woman can deal with. I am sure you know all of this, at least in theory. My kids were growing, but they were not passing state tests. I could not be deemed a "good teacher" with miserable test scores, could I? So my evaluations were mediocre. "Demoralized" is truly the only word that can come close.

So, back to the pink slip .... I lost my job in May and by August, I was hired in a happy, small-city school with 40% free and reduced lunch. It is now March and not one child has thrown their desk over in anger, frustration, or sheer desperation. Not one desk has been thrown. I cannot emphasize this enough. NO ONE HAS STOOD UP, SCREAMED, AND THROWN THEIR DESK OVER.

Suddenly, 18 of 20 kids are passing their state tests!! Suddenly, I am a great teacher! (ME!) I am getting emails from parents telling me how much their kids love 3rd grade. We can make COLOR COPIES! We have show and tell and nothing gets stolen! Kids bring back their homework! Our walls are painted happy colors! The kids don’t cry. The teachers don’t cry. The kids don’t scream at their teachers, and the teachers don’t scream at the kids. I am competent! I am getting good reviews! I am a good teacher!!!!

This brings us back to Myth #9. It is not me. I am the same teacher, same sense of humor, same ability to connect with kids, same tendency to put off grading and to spend 5 extra minutes at recess. I have not implemented some new strategy. I did not suddenly grow as an educator. (Sorry, Marzano.) In truth, I am only slightly above average. The only thing that HAS changed is that I am now working with middle class families who are raising their children to be middle class citizens. It is a miracle and a gift. And slowly, I am feeling the joy creep back into my classroom and into my life. It is a joy to see those kids every Monday and ask," How was your weekend?" Knowing no one has been evicted. They are ready to learn and THAT is what makes me able to teach.

Thank you for recognizing that.

I am not superman. Nor am I the incompetent, lazy, union-member devil they seem to think I am.

I am so grateful to find someone who sees things the way they are … so that I and my fellow teachers can quit blaming ourselves.

Thank you, Julie Rummel

No, we thank you, Julie.
Gene V Glass
Arizona State University
~            
University of Colorado Boulder
National Education Policy Center
~            
San José State University
David C. Berliner
Arizona State University
~            
San José State University

The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not represent the official position of the National Education Policy Center, Arizona State University, University of Colorado Boulder, nor San José State University.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Whom Do Charter Schools Serve?

The great irony is that the charter school movement was launched decades ago as a solution to the "problem" that special needs students were not being adequately served by the traditional public schools. Charter schools would specialize in serving the needs of that neglected population — or so the story went. How ironic, then, that the modern charter school movement creams the top performing, largely white middle class, sector of the public school population and leaves the poor, the needy, and the minorities back in the traditional public schools. If you don't believe it, read here, and here.

An anonymous correspondent, responding to an earlier posting to this blog, relayed the following experiences:

When I worked at a charter school, the demographics and census of that charter school did not even line up with those of the surrounding Deer Valley Unified School District [a north Phoenix suburban school district].

Arizona State law requires schools, district and charter, to provide transportation services. Many charter schools do not and will not provide this service. Let us see how long a charter school would survive if they were to accept all disabled students, low income students, all ELL students, and students that would require transportation to the school.

One other thing that bothers me about charter schools is their procurement process does not have to follow the laws that district schools must follow.

There does need to be more accountability of charter schools to level the playing field. If the census of the charter school is skewed from that of the surrounding district schools, then something is definitely amiss.

And now, irony climbs atop irony. Charter schools that have creamed high scoring students from the public schools are labeling high percentages of the students "autistic" or other special needs to increase their state allotment from under $10,000 per regular student to about $20,000 per "special needs" student. And then they report no expenditures for special programs.

Gene V Glass
Arizona State University
~            
University of Colorado Boulder
National Education Policy Center
~            
San José State University


The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not represent the official position of the National Education Policy Center, Arizona State University, University of Colorado Boulder, nor San José State University.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

They Recruit, They Skim, They Flunk Out The Weak ... They are Arizona's Top Charter Schools

Arizona is a leader in the charter school movement. They lead in % of students in charter schools, and they lead the world in "Lack of Accountability." And no one in a position of influence really cares. The Governor loves charter schools and even wrote to the Scottsdale City Council urging them to approve even another BASIS charter school in their city. But of course, the reality is that Arizona's charter schools are ripping off the public purse and contributing greatly to the resegregation of public education.

The Blog known as Arizonans for School Accountability is the single best investigator of the charter school scene — maybe the single best investigator of charter fraud anywhere. It's originator and sole proprietor may be losing hope, because expose after expose is met with a shrug from anybody in position to stop the abuse. He posted the following entry on a "survey" performed by the Phoenix Business Journal to find the 20 best charter schools in Arizona.

The 20 "best" charters in Phoenix serve White and Asian children...almost exclusively. The Phoenix Business Journal just released the top 20 charter schools in Phoenix based on AzMerits fifth grade scores.

The "best" charter schools in Phoenix are:

  • BASIS Phoenix
  • BASIS Scottsdale
  • Bright Beginnings
  • BASIS Ahwatukee
  • BASIS Peoria
  • Challenger Basic
  • Archway North (GH -Great Hearts)
  • Adams Traditional
  • Self-Development Charter
  • AZ School for the Arts
  • Archway Veritas GH
  • BASIS Central Primary
  • Candeo Peoria
  • Archway Chandler GH
  • Paragon Science Academy
  • Archway Glendale GH
  • BASIS Mesa
  • Archway Cicero GH
  • Benchmark
13,452 students go to these charter schools:
    Asian 17%
  • Black 2%
  • Hispanic 11%
  • White 66%
Free Lunch - only Paragon has free lunch students. ELL - None. Special Education 4%

86% are either White or Asian. BASIS Ahwatukee has 330 Asian students and 283 White students. There is not a single public district with demographics like these and almost no districts outside of Reservation schools that have 11% or less Hispanic students. There are thousands of minority students who could do well in these college prep schools - if their parents had the skills to wade through the enrollment process - if they had transportation - if these schools really wanted to recruit them. They don't. A great school helps assure each child is successful. These school assure that they only serve successful students. There is a big difference.

Eleven of these 20 schools are run by corporations: BASIS and Great Hearts.

One truly weeps.

Gene V Glass
Arizona State University
~            
University of Colorado Boulder
National Education Policy Center
~            
San José State University


The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not represent the official position of the National Education Policy Center, Arizona State University, University of Colorado Boulder, nor San José State University.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

What It's Like to Attend the Nation's Finest High School

I have kept no secret at this Blog that I consider the BASIS charter school chain to be a disaster. If you wonder why, read here, and here, here, and here. In spite of its obvious shortcomings, US News & World Report was blind to the facts when it ranked a couple of its schools (BASIS Scottsdale and BASIS Tucson) among the Top Ten high schools in the United States! BASIS contend that they are not "selective" and that they are open to all comers. This is another cunning and deceptive part of their sales pitch. Listen to one of their "parent information sessions" and imagine what kind of parent would send their child into that school.

One parent in Mesa, Arizona, did send her child into a BASIS charter. She has chosen to remain anonymous — I suspect that her child has to survive the last few months of the school year. Read this family's experience, and you will know why a BASIS charter starts out with a few hundred children in the elementary grades but ends up with a few dozen by graduation time — a few dozen, I may add, who are no more accomplished than many times that number of high school seniors in neighboring traditional public schools.

BASIS Mesa opened for the 2013-2014 school year. My son started there as a 5th grader. He is a straight A student at BASIS and has been since he started. Why are we thinking of moving him to the Chandler School District when he is obviously doing so well? We believe that there is more to school than teaching for AP exams. Our son has many outside interest that he no longer has time for. It’s a rush every night to get home, eat quickly and start working. All those after school clubs…well it’s great if you can afford them. Also, so many times, he has so much work, that staying until 4:45 when the club ends means he’ll be up late finishing homework and studying.

His classes consist of taking notes and then spitting them out on exams. There is no time in any of his core classes for any meaningful discussions about the subject matter. It’s a race to copy the notes and then study the notes to then take the weekly exams given in all core subjects. Two February’s have passed and not one teacher has made mention of Black History Month. Recently we had our very own Arizona astronaut launch into space; again no mention of this. His Language Arts class consists of weekly packets that are not gone over in class yet the kids are expected to complete them on their own at home and then take the unit exam at the end of the week.

What we have found at BASIS is that only the strongest survive. The kids who leave behind all their extra curricular activities and focus solely on their academics. Very smart kids are leaving the school so that they may have a better balance of school and life outside of school. We also have found that the BASIS kids have no idea of current affairs, what’s going on in the world now. They also do little to no community service.

Why are we thinking of taking our son out even though he is a top performer? Because life is short and there is more to life than studying 24/7. We want him to be well rounded. To understand about the world he is growing up in and to care enough about it to grow into a person who wants to make it a better place. It was great for him to go there for 5th and 6th grade because his other charter school could’t keep up with his level of advancement from year to year. He needed the advanced math and sciences. Now that he is going into the 7th grade the Chandler School District can accommodate his educational needs. He’ll be able to be in advanced, honors and AP classes. Even better, he will have a choice of what subjects he will take his AP’s in instead of being forced to take AP exams that are mandated by BASIS. If he stays on the path is on he will still graduate with as many AP classes as the students at BASIS but it will be in subjects he is interested in and at a pace that will allow him to also grow into a responsible person who understands that life is more about what you scored on a exam.

BASIS schools are a good idea in theory but I think they are leaving out the human touch. They have many dedicated teachers and administrators who truly care about the students, but whose hands are tied by the sheer volume of information they need to cover in a particular year. It’s the inch deep, mile wide approach to education that may look great on a transcript but may leave your child with great deficits in other aspects of their lives. Also, since many of the teachers have no actual teaching experience or background they lack what it takes to engage and motivate students and are not the best choice for teaching such advanced material.

How long will the State of Arizona continue to pour millions of dollars annually into this "business" known as BASIS charter schools? How many times will US News & World Report blindly publicize this pathetic imitation of a school?

Gene V Glass
Arizona State University
~            
University of Colorado Boulder
National Education Policy Center
~            
San José State University


The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not represent the official position of the National Education Policy Center, Arizona State University, University of Colorado Boulder, nor San José State University.

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Would Horace MannTweet?

On February 4, 2016, I was honored to have the opportunity to address the Ohio Deans Compact in Dublin, Ohio. The title of my talk was suggested by Aimee Howley and Deb Telfer, the organizers of the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Compact: Advancing Democratic Education

I can not be certain that the talk went in exactly the direction they expected. Surely its subtitle must have raised some eyebrows: Would Horace Mann Tweet? Whether my talk satisfied their expectations, perhaps I'll never know. But I can report that the audience was kind, attentive, and shared in the conversation that followed.

To read one person's thoughts on the fate of democratic control of America's public schools, and to learn if Horace Mann would Tweet were he alive today, please click on the following link:

Advancing Democratic Education: Would Horace Mann Tweet?

Gene V Glass
Arizona State University
~            
University of Colorado Boulder
National Education Policy Center
~            
San José State University


The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not represent the official position of the National Education Policy Center, Arizona State University, University of Colorado Boulder, nor San José State University.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

The Abysmal State of Management in a Charter School

Earlier, I reported the experiences of a teacher in a charter school who was fired by the school's managers/owners. Two things make the incident noteworthy. The treatment of the teacher was abominable. And, the school is run by a young woman with an MBA and her two parents. The three family members pay themselves an incredibly high salary to manage a charter school of 600 students. And – only in Arizona – the director of the charter school also happens to be the chairman of the state board of education.

That earlier posting has now brought forth the following communique from another former employee of the same charter school. It is not without reason that the writer of the following message wishes to remain anonymous.

I, too, worked at this school as one of the many office staff that they have been through in the past several years. Their H.R. Management is completely lacking. Once, when I was in a building workroom working on a computer, Mr. Miller came into a classroom of which a parent of one of the students was observing, and, went off, yelling at the teacher in front of all the students and the parent. Most of the children were in tears as Mr. Miller escorted the teacher out of the classroom. When I was back in the office, the parent that was observing the class withdrew her child from the school. The teacher was fired that day. I still don't know what it was about, but Mr. Miller was questioning her ability to teach.
Incidents like these speak to so many things that are wrong with the charter school system.

Gene V Glass
Arizona State University
~            
University of Colorado Boulder
National Education Policy Center
~            
San José State University


The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not represent the official position of the National Education Policy Center, Arizona State University, University of Colorado Boulder, nor San José State University.