Catholic Elementary Schools Score Lower in Math Than Publics

From Americans United . . .:

It has been a rough couple of months for advocates of private and religious school vouchers.

First, voters in Utah – the reddest red state in the nation – went to the polls and trounced a voucher scheme that misguided legislators had tried to foist on them.

Then, a researcher examining Wisconsin’s voucher program for children in Milwaukee determined that students in the plan are doing no better academically than their public-school counterparts. The finding is similar to other studies that have been released over the years.

Now comes a real shocker: A researcher has determined that students attending Catholic elementary schools make no more progress in reading than similar students in public schools, and they do even worse in math. . . .

Higher Teacher Pay: How to Kill a Great Idea

While doing some research on Teach for America (or at least for Awhile), which is described by one unconvinced Yale senior as "like the Peace Corp but, you know, creepier," I came across this quote by one of those young former Ivy Leaguers who signed up for TFA to do his 2-year urban teaching stint to prove that grim sociological reality can be eclipsed by the sunny stumbling of high cognitive functioning and and untested egomania:

"I'm having trouble sleeping, but I'm really enjoying it," he said. "It's frantic but fun. Classroom management is the hardest thing for me. I've learned that the minute I turn my back, it's a volcano in the classroom, so I won't be turning my back anymore. There's three other T.F.A. teachers in my school, and we're getting through it together."

Still these social entrepeneurs just keep on coming. With no experience, history, sociology, or politics of education to inform their splendid mental gifts and social positions, they are left to their own self-acknowledged ingenuity and glassy-eyed spunk to come up with schemes that are saleable to the new econanthropists and human capital market managers who are taking over education. Most recent example: Washington Heights TFA teacher and former Yalie, Zeke M. Vanderhoek. Zeke has a funded plan to pay teachers $125,000 a year to teach in his new school, The Equity Project. The working hypothesis: Pay enough in salary to attract people like himself to teach in the poorest schools, and voila!

If there were anything to hold Mr. Vanderhoek's immodest enthusiasm within the realm of the possible, he might have noticed that teacher pay is a factor in getting and holding great teachers--but it is not the factor. And many of those other factors have everything to do with the infrastructure, non-instructional support, resources, curriculum, facilities, climate, etc. that Mr. Vanderhoek would cut back on in order to pay the higher salary:

. . . .“I would much rather put a phenomenal, great teacher in a field with 30 kids and nothing else than take the mediocre teacher and give them half the number of students and give them all the technology in the world,” said Mr. Vanderhoek, 31, a Yale graduate and former middle school teacher who built a test preparation company that pays its tutors far more than the competition.

In exchange for their high salaries, teachers at the new school, the Equity Project, will work a longer day and year and assume responsibilities that usually fall to other staff members, like attendance coordinators and discipline deans. To make ends meet, the school, which will use only public money and charter school grants for all but its building, will scrimp elsewhere. . . .

Ah, yes, efficiency zeal and either-or thinking--the two enemies of common sense. What a great deal of energy that a little background reading and research might have saved. But then that would have necessitated the acknowledgement that the past might be relevant to what we do today, and clearly, hubris has already eliminated that possibility.

School Choice or Schools Cheap?

If the school privatization mob could sink to a more morally bankrupt position, I don't know what it could be. For years conservatives who don't give a rat's patootie for the plight of the poor or the brown have disingenously argued that poor parents should be given a choice of good schools just like the parents who can afford private schools.

That kind of cynical abuse of social sentiment just got exposed once more in Florida, as legislators of both parties try to finagle a way to give corporations huge tax credits for money they funnel through non-profit charters that, then, hand over cheap vouchers to poor families, vouchers that actually represent a reduction from what the State now spends in the public schools for these same children.

It's not called vouchers anymore because the Florida Supreme Court ruled those unconstitutional. How about corporate tax credit scholarships? I am wondering if Florida taxpayers want to assure that the obscene profits by McGraw-Hill and Pearson go untaxed, profits that both companies have extracted from the blood, sweat, and tears of the state's children and teachers. And what kind of scholarships are being offered? The 20 to 30K needed to enroll in a good private school? No, no, we are talking about $3,750 for a cheap charter school with poorly paid teachers who have been certified through ABCTE. Yes, Jeb Bush made sure that ABCTE would have a big footprint in Florida's brave new world of corporate socialist schools.

Here is a clip from the Bradenton Herald:

. . . ."It's going to be really difficult for us to support any expansion in corporate vouchers in an environment where the Legislature and state are having trouble properly financing schools," said Mark Pudlow, a spokesman for the Florida Education Association.

State lawmakers already are poised to cut more than $300 million from education early this month, and more cuts could come by May. Gaetz, however, counters that vouchers could wind up saving the state money - a point echoed in a 2007 analysis done by the Collins Center for Public Policy. The argument is that it's cheaper to hand out a $3,750 private-school voucher than have the state pay $7,000 for each student in a public school.

Pudlow, however, said certain school expenses will continue no matter the size of a classes.

"The school is going to still be there, the lights will still be on and the buses will still roll," he said.

Corporations earn a credit on their stateincome-tax bills if they provide money to organizations that provide a voucher. Only children who qualify for reduced-price or free lunches are eligible for what are called corporate tax credit scholarships. . . .

Backdoor Voucher Attempt in Texas

Here is another case of conservatives cynically using the plight of the poor as an excuse to subvert public policy for the purpose of subverting public institutions. And one may ask, as Jon Stewart asked Grover Norquist last night, why the free market zealots continue to insist on tax-supported vouchers if the free market is the answer to all questions, educational or otherwise. Is the "free market" on welfare? From the Austin American-Statesman:

By Kate Alexander
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

In a statewide plan to reduce the number of high school dropouts, school voucher opponents see a backdoor opening for using public money to pay for students enrolling in private or religious schools.

The legislatively mandated plan up for final approval today will set guidelines for more than $107 million in grant money for districts, charter schools and nonprofits to improve Texas high schools.

The plan includes broad priorities of better preparing students for college and the work force by encouraging them to take college courses while in high school, helping students prone to dropping out and redesigning troubled high schools. It does not explicitly address vouchers but includes language that suggests they could be on the table.

Members of the High School Completion and Success Initiative Council — including Education Commissioner Robert Scott and Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes — did not rule out the use of vouchers when pressed by opponents Monday.

Vouchers could be useful for helping students who have dropped out of high school to complete their education, Scott said. "Anybody who can get a kid a diploma, I'm all for."

Scott said a voucher program could be created through the Texas Education Agency's rule-making authority.

But to do so, opponents said, would be overstepping.

"It is the role of elected officials to create public policy," said Richard Kouri of the Texas State Teachers Association.

Kathy Miller, president of the anti-voucher Texas Freedom Network, said it would be an end-run around the Legislature, which has rejected voucher programs. She also questioned whether the council has the authority to create a voucher program.

State Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, chairman of the House Education Committee, said he plans to withhold judgment until he sees the final product. Lawmakers did not discuss vouchers last year when they formed the council nor has there been much of an appetite for vouchers in the Legislature, he said.

Don McAdams, president of the Center for Reform of School Systems and a member of the council, said, "If it was the intent to open the door to vouchers, it would explicitly say so."

kalexander@statesman.com; 445-3618

The Monster's Mother

The insult:

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she continued. "And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

And then the racist insult:

"I have to tell you that what I find is offensive is that everytime somebody says something about the campaign, you're accused of being racist," Ferraro told Fox News Channel.

" 'Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up. Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?' "

School Voucher Research and the Conservatives Who Abuse It

Media Matters calls out conservative columnist, John Tierney, for making up his own findings for some earlier voucher research:

Tierney misrepresented study on Milwaukee school vouchers

Summary: New York Times columnist John Tierney misrepresented the findings of a study of school vouchers in Milwaukee, claiming that it showed "that as the voucher program expanded in Milwaukee, there was a marked improvement in test scores at the public schools most threatened by the program." In fact, the study questioned whether the Milwaukee voucher program actually had an effect on public schools.

New York Times columnist John Tierney, in his March 7 column (subscription required), misrepresented the findings of a study conducted by Harvard researcher Rajashri Chakrabarti on school vouchers in Milwaukee, claiming that Chakrabarti's study showed "that as the voucher program expanded in Milwaukee, there was a marked improvement in test scores at the public schools most threatened by the program." In fact, Chakrabarti's 2005 study, which compared school voucher programs in Milwaukee and Florida, questioned whether the Milwaukee voucher program actually had an effect on public schools. . . .

Opting Out of Testing

There is only one tactic that will stop the testing hysteria: parents who refuse to have their children's education hijacked. From Coalition for Better Education:

We would like to encourage you to read through our site and make a decision to join us. We hope you will not remain silent but will let your local school board and representatives know how you feel about NCLB and CSAP. If you are parents, we would like to encourage you to opt your child out of testing. It is legal and can be done (see below). This act may be the best way to inform education officials of your stance on the endless testing of our students.

Use the navigation bars to the left and above to navigate our site. If you wish to join our list serve, email dperl@myexcel.com

CSAP: Leaving Our Children Behind
Dear Parents:
CSAP (Colorado Student Assessment Program) testing is upon us…my 8-year-old’s class alone is scheduled for 16.5 hours of timed testing. After months of researching this exam and its negative implications, I have come to the conclusion that such extended testing is not only cruel, but also a waste of my tax dollars, a poor use of time that could be spent learning, and an activity that returns inconsequential results for my child, Canyon Creek and our district. My child will be opting out of CSAP testing because as a parent, that is my choice.

Read the rest of Kelley Coffman-Lee's research on CSAP

Please click on the opt out letters below if you wish to exempt your child from CSAP.

Click on the Susan Ohanian hyperlink for two sample opt out letters that she has created. Ohanian sample Opt Out Letters

We have also provided downloadable Opt Out Letters below.

Opt Out Letters

The Opt Out Letter is a form that can be downloaded as a PDF (in English/en Espanol) or as a print friendly form (in English/en Espańol) (opens a new window).

The Opt Out Letter is summarized as follows:

Please be advised that my child, ___________________________________, will not be participating in CSAP testing during the current school year. I understand that the law provides the parent or guardian the right of choice regarding this standardized testing. In my opinion, such testing is not in the best interests of our children since it promotes competition instead of cooperation, and blunts, not stimulates, our children's curiosity. I understand, too, that the school will provide appropriate learning activities during testing times. I request that no record of CSAP testing be part of my child's permanent file.

Please join us in signing a petition calling for the end to NCLB. You can reach this petition at the following website.http://www.educatorroundtable.org/

Want to know how it's going in other states? Paste the link below into your browser to read information from our sister organization in California.

www.calcare.org

Ohanian's New Book

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When Childhood Collides with NCLB

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Lisa Graham Keegan as the New Margaret Spellings?

(Photo from the Arizona Republic)

Back when Lisa Graham Keegan was just another young attractive blonde female contender for the Arizona Superintendency of Education, she was lucky to have a gentleman and mentor like John McCain to rally to her support and to push her name forward. It was the move that would rocket Lisa to the top of the education industry privatizers and corporate socialists that moved into Washington when W was elected. All those delicious discretionary grants! And what a capable grant writer Lisa turned out to be.

Now after some years of laying low following the evaporation of milllions of dollars from some of those big federal grants to the Education Leaders Council that Lisa headed up, Lisa is on the move once more as an advisor and education consultant to the McCain campaign. Will John ask Lisa where the federal grant money went? Will Lisa become the new Margaret if John is elected? After all, she loves charter schools and high-stakes testing for social engineering purposes. Stay tuned.

From the Arizona Republic:

Yvonne Wingett
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 6, 2008 12:00 AM

Lisa Graham Keegan will scale back on her job as an assistant Maricopa County manager to spend more time working on John McCain's presidential campaign as an education-policy adviser.

She has worked for the county since last year, first as a contract consultant, then as one of its top - and best-paid - administrators, at a $175,000-a-year-salary. Keegan will scale back her role no later than May 1, and will continue to work with the county and bill by the hour.

Keegan is part of an unpaid crew of five from across the nation that will advise McCain on education policies, speak at events and travel with him, she said.

"We write for him, but because it (education) hasn't been a really active issue, none of us have had to spend very much time with him on this issue yet," said Keegan, a Republican from Peoria.

Keegan is a former Arizona superintendent of public instruction, and was the architect of controversial education reforms of the 1990s.

She is best known for opening the door to charter schools, enacting new state curriculum standards and fighting a bitter political battle to impose the state's high-stakes AIMS graduation test.

Keegan and McCain go way back, to the 1980s, when he first took office. He later served as chairman of her campaign for superintendent of public instruction, and prepped her when she was on President Bush's short list for Education secretary in late 2000.

Keegan has no interest in joining McCain's team as a full-time, paid staffer, she said.

$3 Billion A Week

Every 9 week grading term an amount equivalent to the entire yearly Federal commitment to K-12 education is burned in Iraq:

The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show. In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the "burn" rate of its earliest years, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes report in a new book. Beyond 2008, working with "best-case" and "realistic-moderate" scenarios, they project the Iraq and Afghan wars, including long-term U.S. military occupations of those countries, will cost the U.S. budget between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion -- or more -- by 2017. . . .