tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post6555292870950164162..comments2024-03-26T11:07:03.496-04:00Comments on Ed Notes Online: Astounding NY Times Editorial Spells Doom for Ed Deform: Was Brent Staples Absent Today?ed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-64355419564616193692013-05-22T10:15:37.229-04:002013-05-22T10:15:37.229-04:00Tony
I want to make it clear. I view charters as a...Tony<br />I want to make it clear. I view charters as an alien force being used to break and privatize the neighborhood schools. If you put your efforts into reforming the current public school system we would be ahead of the game.<br />This is a good dialogue but I do wonder exactly where you are coming from. You name KIPP etc as models. I do not accept an org that has so many kids leave as legit. Their numbers are bogus.<br />And their methods of controlling kids are awful.<br />I taught many difficult kids and gave them as much freedom as was feasible in what was often a difficult situation. <br />You really should read Gary Rubinstein's blog on KIPP bogus numbers -- your success rate rises as you get rid of low scoring kids -- and the 60% girls -- see my blogroll for link to Gary.<br />I taught in Brooklyn for 35 years and at one school for 27 so I talked to parents all the time. <br />I have been an ed activist since 1970 and was deeply involved in the old school board stuff -our group supported the efforts of community people of color to break the white political control of our board -- and things were stacked against them due to politics. We could have changed those dynamics if we gave more local control to real patents not politicians. That is what you should be fighting for.<br />I don't have time right now to get into the details but i consider Joel Klein and John King no different from each other. ed notes onlinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-90689415825896353242013-05-22T09:40:39.005-04:002013-05-22T09:40:39.005-04:00If you've ever spoken to parents at daycares i...If you've ever spoken to parents at daycares in neighborhoods like Brownsville or East New York, you're very familiar with how urgently they are demanding public schools that are safe and will help their kids get to college. I fully agree that the NYC DOE has not been successful in supporting and empowering local schools to be able to do this, and it's not the fault of the extremely dedicated teachers and principals. I agree that we should fix schools that aren't working. But who exactly is going to do the fixing? No public agency in the country has gotten this job done. Very few non-profits have gotten it done. New Visions? ELOB? CES has a strong track record, but it's heavily weighted toward suburban schools, and frankly, most successful in schools that have additional autonomy (like charters and pilot schools). So, who? Your locally elected school board? Those have proven effective in smaller communities, but the sad reality is that in almost all urban settings, these bodies have been captured by political interests and have not represented the interests of families and students effectively. <br /><br />So how about this: let's get some GREAT teachers who become great principals, and then make THEM into superintendents. Build a support structure from the ground up, only spending money on things that REALLY support kids and teachers. Do you like that idea? This is KIPP. This is Uncommon. This is Achievement First. Would you rather have John King in charge of your schools or Joel Klein?<br /><br />As for charter boards, yes, they generally have at least one parent representative and some community representatives, alongside people with high giving capacity. Why? Because schools are community institutions, and there are more people in the community than just the parents at a given school. And because yes, the reality is that current funding is too low, and I'm happy for hedgefunders to redistribute some of their wealth in support of public schools. And can you blame them for not wanting to put this money into the traditional school system? From the inside, I have been amazed at the capacity of urban districts to waste money. Direct to schools? Since principals have so little budget control, they tend not to be great at managing finances, since this isn't really their job. Yes, this balance is out of whack at many charter schools, and that is something the charter sector desperately needs to change. But if we are ever to wrestle control of our schools away from mayoral control, we need to find a form of local governance that actually works in big cities. THIS is where the most important innovation is happening in charter schools (not generally in the classrooms), and there are important lessons to be learned. <br /><br />But if we dismiss charter schools entirely on the basis of corporate conspiracy theories and spurious arguments (you have a lot of good teachers, but they're young and white, so the learning they inspire matters less), those lessons don't get learned and we take a step backwards, away from local control. I'm equally hard on charters- see horacemanifesto dot tumblr dot com. But let's PLEASE stop villifying on both sides and start focusing on what really works. Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00391606714371234771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-14944033137792269892013-05-21T11:58:45.102-04:002013-05-21T11:58:45.102-04:00But you don't deny there are hedge fund manage...But you don't deny there are hedge fund managers on your board. Why?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-70619785841164987512013-05-21T11:57:53.857-04:002013-05-21T11:57:53.857-04:00My preference is a locally elected school board ba...My preference is a locally elected school board based on elections of a board at the school level. How is your charter board chosen? How many parents from your school are on it? How many kids at your school walk to school?\<br />In fact what role did the neighborhood have in starting your school? Or were you hellicoptored in?<br />I'm betting you are not seeing neighborhood people given the extra large catchment zone charters pull from. How can you be a neighborhood school when "choice" offers other neighborhood schools? What I advocate for is a true neighborhood school like the one I went to as a kid. If it doesn't work do what it take to fix it. No excuses. Your guys always say that to us but use all kinds of whiny excuses: it's the culture, the union, the teachers, the principal, the blah, blah, blah. No excuses. Fix it and not by putting another school next door that will undermine it.<br />How do you call the charter local control when the Board is an outside agent? Do parents elect that board? Do teachers have a long-term commitment to the school?<br />What are the school student turnover rates? and the teacher turnover rates? What is the average age of the teachers? I bet they are young and white. And the kids and parents are not. At the very least teachers at my school stayed for a long time if not for their entire careers. I was there for 27 years. We were a constant force for some stability in the lives of our kids and their kids. Not that that counted for a lot but it was something.ed notes onlinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-90534600137294925692013-05-21T11:03:51.784-04:002013-05-21T11:03:51.784-04:00I agree with the editorial, but as a "charter...I agree with the editorial, but as a "charter shill" myself, I'd like to point out that charter schools do in fact represent an incredibly aggressive form of local school control. I have been to MANY charter school board meetings (all of which are open meetings), and here is one thing I've NEVER seen: any hedge fund manager or anyone else in the private sector exerting the slightest influence on curriculum or purchasing decisions, or in any other way taking any action that would accelerate the "privatization" of public education. <br /><br />Here's what I have seen: parents visiting the meetings, sharing what they like about the school and what their concerns are. And board members and school leaders listening intently and often making changes.<br /><br />You will deny this is actually what happens, but before you do, please explain how many charter school board meetings you've been to. Then, explain exactly what your preferred system of local governance is, and why it is superior to the charter school model.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07768496711241047956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-61459463616697208642013-05-20T12:51:57.674-04:002013-05-20T12:51:57.674-04:00The worm has turned and is carrying a bazooka. Loo...The worm has turned and is carrying a bazooka. Looks as if the Walcott missive has reached the ears of those who now have to reevaluate their position on the education miracle touted by the Bloomberg administration.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-29675482929268607282013-05-20T10:59:58.776-04:002013-05-20T10:59:58.776-04:00Of course Mike. But he is not reporting but a comm...Of course Mike. But he is not reporting but a commentator. There is an important difference here. Reporters look like just the facts when in fact you can see between the lines if they do a good job -- as Javier Hernandez sort of did on Saturday -- actually he was one of the better ones -- he seems to get it.ed notes onlinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-23136642829976052712013-05-20T10:22:59.641-04:002013-05-20T10:22:59.641-04:00I wish you had included Michael Winerip along with...I wish you had included Michael Winerip along with Anna because his reporting was truthful as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com