Guidelines for Investigating or Suing Charter Schools

When launching investigations of charter schools at the state or municipal level, or suing charter schools for misappropriation of public funds, the following questions should be asked:

1. What private interests benefit from the closing of public schools and the creation of charter schools? What tax breaks are conferred and what profits are made? To what degree do groups lobbying for the creation of charter schools stand to benefit financially from the policies they are pushing for?.

2. What is the connection between the creation of charter schools and real estate speculation which leads to rising rents and displacement of long time neighborhood residents?

3. To what degree do charters engage in weeding out of students who do not perform well on tests or are unwilling to conform to draconian behavior codes ? What are the consequences of large number of such students being pushed into local public schools, which have to accept them, or, if they are older, joining a population that is unschooled entirely?

4. To what degree do charters engage in unfair labor practices in their treatment of teaching and support staff, and how do these practices contribute to undermining the stability and professional integrity of the teaching profession in the communities where charters are located?

5. Which politicians on a city, state and national level receive major contributions because of their support of charter schools, and where are those donations coming from?

What Happened to Education Strategies that Promoted "Community Centered Pedagogy?"

 In the late 1980's and early 1990's, responding to a wave of violence sweeping through urban America, educators of color began proposing that public schools transform their pedagogy to enhance the self esteem and historical undersanding of young people in the hardest hit communities. They called for the transformation of social studies curricula to incorporate more Black and Latino history, for the creation of new public schools in which Black and Latino history were integral parts of the school culture, for the development of strategies to recruit more Black and Latino teachers, especially from communities that were most at risk.

There was a tremendous amount of energy and idealism accompanying this vision of Urban Education, and controversy as well. Supporters claimed these measure were necessary to save a generation of youth at risk; critics claimed they would intensify racial divisions, promote hostility to white  teachers and administrators and, in the most extreme cases, undermine patriotism and national unity.

 Fierce debates about such strategies occurred all through the 90's, but by the time  George W Bush had taken office, the critics had largely won the day. When No Child Left Behind was passed, its architects decided to base their vision of compliance and equity entirely on conformity to  National Standards which allowed little if any adaptation to community traditions.  The same approach was incorporated, in even more restrictive form, by
Barack Obama's "Race to the Top" which called for mandatory closing of schools which did not perform well on standardized tests as a condition for receiving federal grants.  Not only were inner city schools not rewarded or honored for adapting pedagogy to the cultural traditions of the communities they were located in, they were penalized for doing so if their efforts did not raise scores on standardized tests.

   The rise of  "standardization" as the centerpiece of national education policy, had a powerful impact on the charter school movement, which in its early stages, had proponents who tried to create schools incorporating community centered  pedagogy, and went out of their way to try to recruit teachers and administrators of color.  With startling rapidity, charters with that approach began losing ground, and most importantly losing funding, to charter chains such as K.I.P.P., and Success Academies, which saw student test scores on standardized tests as the centerpiece of their pedagogy and actually preferred inexperienced white teachers with little connection to the communities they taught in to veteran teachers of color who were the dominant teaching staffs in neighborhood public schools.

      Worse yet, the example of these charter chains was used as a sword for policy maker to hold over the head of public school administrators, warning them that unless they followed this model of pedagogy and teacher training, they were likely to see their schools closed, and their jobs eliminated.

     By the time of Barack Obama's second term in office, community centered pedagogy was so out of favor that no local school board in any major city dared promote it. High test scores on standardized exams, preferably those which incorporated the Common Core standards, were to be the sole measure of education equity anyone would take seriously.

    Perhaps it is time to revisit "the path not taken."  Punitive standardization has not promoted education equity, not in  New Orleans, not in New York, not in Washington DC, not anywhere. It has  not inspired students, it has not empowered teachers, it has not given families stronger connections to their neighborhoods.

    Perhaps it is time to bring back community history and recruit teachers and principals who see neighborhood cultures and traditions as an asset to their work rather than an obstacle to overcome in the pursuit of "standardization."

R.I.P. Avis Hanson "Teacher for Life"

One of the greatest teachers I have ever met passed yesterday evening. Her name was Avis Hansen and for more than 30 years, she was a teacher, English chair and advisor to the student newspaper at two Bronx high schools, Morris and Taft. . Among the many great students she mentored was Dr Clara Rodriguez, Professor of Sociology at Fordham University and an internationally known pioneer in Latino Studies. Avis Hanson's interview with the Bronx African American History Project, one of the most eloquent we ever conducted, will be in the book of the BAAHP's oral histories Fordham Press will be publishing. In it, she described how her West Indian family, looking for better educational opportunities for their children,found their way to a predominantly Jewish section of the Bronx during the Depression years when landlords began advertising vacant apartments to "select colored families." The neighborhood her family moved to, Morrisania, not only became her home for more than 20 years, it was the site of the high school where she got her first teaching position, Morris High School, which was a short walk from where she lived. As someone who knew poverty as a child, who knew discrimination, Avis Hanson welcomed students of all backgrounds who entered her classroom at Morris, provided they showed the same passion for learning that she did. She burned with a fire for knowledge and a passion for justice that lit up the lives of those fortunate to know her. Never married, Avis Hanson survived into her early 90's, still in touch with her favorite students and those she mentored.

RIP Avis Hanson. You embodied what it means to be "a teacher for life.

What a REAL Education Commissioner in NY would fight for

1. Restore the local diploma for high schools graduation for students for whom Regents exams are developmentally inappropriate. Let all young people who work hard and pass their courses get a high school diploma

2. Cut the length of exams in elementary school to 2 days with no more than 90 minutes of testing each day.

3. Eliminate the use of standardized testing to rate teachers, principals, schools and school districts. Use such tests for diagnostic purposes only to help individual students.

4. Enforce complete test transparency and end punitive test secrecy

5. Radically expand the number of consortium or portfolio schools in the state that are exempt from state tests and develop holistic strategies for assessing student performance

6.. Bring back vocational and technical education through out the state in collaboration with community colleges and local employers.

7. End the requirement that all tests in the state be aligned to the Common Core standards and end all contracts with for profit test companies. Go back to the system of having teachers and teacher educators devise state tests.

8. Prohibit cancellation of recess or physical education for test prep and work to promote play and physical activity among students

"Opt Out- Stop the Abuse" Message from an Educator in Upstate New York

The New York State Education Department released the student test data to the school districts on Friday, August 21, 2015.  I have spent two entire days entering student test data into the computer.  That is, I entered a 1, 2, 3,or 4 for specific students.  In many cases, only one student took the test.  What this means is that one student will determine a teacher’s growth score.  One student will be the deciding factor if a teacher is rated: developing, effective, highly effective, or ineffective.  One student.  Is this statistically sound?    Most would call this inhumane or even insane.  Is this ethical?

A teacher who may be a single working mom supporting her family stands to lose her income if deemed ineffective two years in a row.  We are fortunate to have some local assessments in place that may save her job----maybe.  It’s hard to plan for a family’s future when your job and entire livelihood lies in the balance.  This is an unnecessary amount of pressure.  Most would call this inhumane or even insane. Is this ethical?

So, what most people do not know is that these state tests DO NOT truly measure a student’s reading skills or math skills.  These tests Do Not measure a teacher’s effectiveness.  The tests have been purposely designed to reduce the public school teaching staff exponentially.  Most would call this inhumane or even insane.  Is this ethical?

I pride myself in knowing the students in my school.  I know their families.  I know their day-to-day performance in the classroom.  In many cases, I have known these children since Kindergarten.  I know their joys and their sorrows.  I know the teachers in my building.  I know their joys, their struggles, and their hardships.   I cannot help but think about all of this as I proceed with the mind-numbing task of entering a 1, 2, 3, or 4 into the computer system.  A numbers game with human beings, that I am being manipulated to participate in, coerced if you will.   This I know is wrong with ever fiber of my being, my heart and my soul.  I saw 2’s for students who should have gotten a 4.  They would have gotten a 4 if the test was written on their grade level, and if there were no trick questions with extremely close choices for answers.  I saw 2’s for students who read above their grade level.  That tells me that they are not test takers and/or the answers were so close that they may have picked the wrong one, or they may simply have run out of time due to the length of the reading passages.  I cannot analyze this, because, I do not have the test questions  nor do I have the answer sheets.  I cannot have a conference with parents and show them where their child needs assistance.  Most would call this inhumane or even insane.  Is this ethical?

How can I trust the validity of any of this?  How can I trust what the new Commissioner of Education dictates?   She is new to her position.  She has not yet earned the trust of New Yorkers.  I understand she has concerns about ethics. 

I think about the student who vomited on her test.  We followed protocol, and put her test in a zip lock bag.  She was escorted to the Nurse’s office, and needless to say, she did not finish her test.  I don’t have a test score to enter for her. These tests put several stakeholders under undue pressure.  Is this ethical?

I wake at 2:00 am and see the computer screen right before my eyes.  I can see all of the data, but what I really see before my eyes is unethical practices of the New York State Education Department. 

I consider the Commissioner’s comments that I am an extension, or an arm , if you will of the New York State Education Department.  I view all of these manipulations, and lies as abuses of power.  There, I said it.  Abuse.   Abuse of children.     Abuse of teachers.   Abuse of parents’ rights.  Malfeasance.   If I continue to blindly obey, and remain silent, am I an accessory to the abuse? 

I think about Maya Angelou’s quote:  “ I did then what I knew how to do.  Now I know better, I do better. “

In my humble opinion I feel, that we the people/ parents have the right to do better.

Opt Out.

Stop the abuse. 

It’s the principle of the thing. 

My moral compass tells me that the State Education Department and the new Commissioner are attempting to rule with an iron fist.  Personally, I feel that I have a responsibility to the taxpayers who pay my salary and to the children that are entrusted to my care.  Each and every child deserves to be treated with kindness, and handled with velvet gloves.

Truth to Power.

                                        

Six Good Reasons for Parents in NY State to Support the Opt Out Movement

1.Testing in the state has reached abusive proportions. Third graders in NY take six days of tests that are more time consuming than the LSAT's, the MCAT's, and the SAT's There are too many tests which take too much time

2. The mathematical forumulas used to rate teachers on the basis of the tests are wildly innacurate. Some of the best teachers in the state. at some of the highest performing schools have been given unfavorable ratings, prompting lawsuits which are likely to increase in frequency.

3. The tests have been so poorly designed that the state was forced to cancel the contract with the major test vendor- Pearson- replacing it with another company whose track record is barely better.

4. The use of testing to designate schools or school districts as "failing" and in imminent danger of closing or a state takeover has led to the transformation of all instruction into test prep in high poverty districts, and the cancellation of recess and school trips to create more study time for students.

5. The stress levels imposed by high stakes testing on students, families and teachers has reached such proportions that many have to seek medical care to deal with the anxiety

6. The inappropriate adminstration of tests to students with special needs, and to ELL students, has led to systematic humiliation of our most vulnerable young people.

Opting Out is the most effective strategy we have to force governments to reduce the level of testing in our schools, and remove the "high stakes" which have filled our schools with anxiety and stress

Please feel free to share these with parents, teachers, principals, superintendents and school board members

How Broken Windows Policing Leaves Large Numbers of People Unemployable

  The other day, one of my friends and tennis partners, a criminal lawyer, gave a chilling account of what a good part of his law practice involves. Many of his clients, he said, are working class people who have been arrested for non violent crimes ranging from shoplifting, to possessing small amounts of drugs, to passing  bad checks,  to getting in bar room brawls, to arguing with police when stopped for DWB or WWB ( Driving or Walking While Black). What he tells these clients is that they are paying him to make sure that they won't have an arrest or conviction record that will show up on background checks. And why is that worth it? Because employers simply won't hire people, even for entry level jobs, if they have criminal convictions on their record.

   I left this conversation extremely upset. Not just because it confirmed what i knew about criminal records disqualifying people for employment-I knew this from unsuccessfully trying to help young men who had recently been released from prison find jobs-but because this disqualification covered even people who were arrested for non violent offenses who would never spend a day in jail, a group whose numbers have been growing astronimically in the last few years because of "Broken Windows Policing."

    In many parts of this country, it is the official policy of police departments to arrest people en masse for  minor non violent offenses. In New York City, the stated logic of this policy is to prevent more serious crimes and to engage in searches which take guns off the street; but in many other communities, such as Ferguson Missourri, a side effect of the policy is to  fine local residents in such proportions that it helps balance strapped city budgets. In any case, it is now official public policy to maximize arrests for non-violent offenses and to promote police officers based on the number of such arrests they make through a computerized system called Comstat.

   Now put two and two together. Basically, we have a system of police governance whose major side effect is to render large numbers of people unemployable!!!

   And who are these people? Are they college students who possess or sell drugs? Or wealthy people who smash their luxury cars? Overwhelmingly, the people arrested for these offenses are poor people and people of color, especially young men of color.

   Is this really just? Is this really fair? Is it in the national interest to conduct public policy in a way that renders a high proportion of young men of color unemployable?

   We need to challenge this on two fronts. First, take a hard look at Broken Windows Policing. And second, look at how backround checks are used to disaqualify people for employment for conviction of non violent offenses.

   if we don't we are heading for an explosion. We may be at that point already