NAACP Sends a BIG FU to Charter Lobby

The charter lobby has been going wild, spending lavishly and running PR campaigns to try to stop the NAACP Exec Board from opposing charter expansion. They failed. After lobbying the

NAACP unsuccessfully, they will now turn to attacking the NAACP as being irrelevant.

Black Lives Matter has also called for a moratorium on charters.

The woim is toining. More signs tomorrow.

From Ravitch:

The national board of the NAACP endorsed the resolution passed by its 2016 annual convention calling for a moratorium on charter school expansion!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 15, 2016
CINCINNATI – Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Board of Directors ratified a resolution Saturday adopted by delegates at its 2016 107th National Convention calling for a moratorium on charter school expansion and for the strengthening of oversight in governance and practice.

“The NAACP has been in the forefront of the struggle for and a staunch advocate of free, high-quality, fully and equitably-funded public education for all children,” said Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the National NAACP Board of Directors. “We are dedicated to eliminating the severe racial inequities that continue to plague the education system.”

The National Board’s decision to ratify this resolution reaffirms prior resolutions regarding charter schools and the importance of public education, and is one of 47 resolutions adopted today by the Board of Directors. The National Board’s decision to ratify supports its 2014 Resolution, ‘School Privatization Threat to Public Education’, in which the NAACP opposes privatization of public schools and public subsidizing or funding of for-profit or charter schools. Additionally, in 1998 the Association adopted a resolution which unequivocally opposed the establishment and granting of charter schools which are not subject to the same accountability and standardization of qualifications/certification of teachers as public schools and divert already-limited funds from public schools.
We are calling for a moratorium on the expansion of the charter schools at least until such time as:

(1) Charter schools are subject to the same transparency and accountability standards as public schools
(2) Public funds are not diverted to charter schools at the expense of the public school system
(3) Charter schools cease expelling students that public schools have a duty to educate and
(4) Cease to perpetuate de facto segregation of the highest performing children from those whose aspirations may be high but whose talents are not yet as obvious.

Historically the NAACP has been in strong support of public education and has denounced movements toward privatization that divert public funds to support non-public school choices.

“We are moving forward to require that charter schools receive the same level of oversight, civil rights protections and provide the same level of transparency, and we require the same of traditional public schools,” Chairman Brock said. “Our decision today is driven by a long held principle and policy of the NAACP that high quality, free, public education should be afforded to all children.”
While we have reservations about charter schools, we recognize that many children attend traditional public schools that are inadequately and inequitably equipped to prepare them for the innovative and competitive environment they will face as adults. Underfunded and under-supported, these traditional public schools have much work to do to transform curriculum, prepare teachers, and give students the resources they need to have thriving careers in a technologically advanced society that is changing every year. There is no time to wait. Our children immediately deserve the best education we can provide.

“Our ultimate goal is that all children receive a quality public education that prepares them to be a contributing and productive citizen,” said Adora Obi Nweze, Chair of the National NAACP Education Committee, President of the Florida State Conference of the NAACP and a former educator whose committee guides educational policy for the Association.

“The NAACP’s resolution is not inspired by ideological opposition to charter schools but by our historical support of public schools – as well as today’s data and the present experience of NAACP branches in nearly every school district in the nation,” said Cornell William Brooks, President and CEO of the NAACP. “Our NAACP members, who as citizen advocates, not professional lobbyists, are those who attend school board meetings, engage with state legislatures and support both parents and teachers.”

“The vote taken by the NAACP is a declaratory statement by this Association that the proliferation of charter schools should be halted as we address the concerns raised in our resolution,” said Chairman Brock.
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Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. You can read more about the NAACP’s work and our six “Game Changer” issue areas here.

Leonie Haimson summarizes court hearings in the school closure/co-location lawsui - June 22

On June 22 Oral arguments were heard in the UFT/NAACP school closing/co-location lawsuit. State Supreme Court Judge Paul Feinman’s courtroom was packed, mostly with attorneys and reporters, so crowded that initially the guards let in only about five unaffiliated observers (including me.) The cadre of charter school lawyers was especially immense; about 25 of them, all apparently pro-bono. The city sent a handful of lawyers, including Michael Best, and the UFT/NAACP had a small contingent from Stroock, Stroock and Lavan.

Chuck Moerdler, Stroock’s senior litigator, started by saying he had only three main points: One, that the case could be streamlined, because DOE agrees that they need approval from the State Education Department before they can close 12 out of the 19 schools; and yet they have not even filed any applications to do so, as the State Education Commissioner confirmed just that morning.

Second, last year, there was an signed agreement between the UFT and DOE to provide extra help to these schools, as part of settling the previous lawsuit, including an “education plan” that would provide them with more teachers in the ATR pool (absent teacher reserve) and support in myriad ways.

Whether or not that agreement was a binding contract, there was an “obligation of good faith” that DOE had utterly failed to live up to. At Beach Channel HS, for example, the DOE agreed to send 11 ATR teachers , but two never showed up, and another was “illegally” asked to teach special needs students. At Columbus HS, twenty five classes in the fall did not have a single teacher, and the single ATR teacher they sent was only qualified to teach typing and stenography (!) which the school does not offer. At Jamaica HS, where they were supposed to provide a Teacher Center,  the principal received an email about this on June 10, only a few weeks ago, following nearly a full school year of non-action.

Third, as to the charter co-locations: DOE put boilerplate language into the Building Utilizations Plans, they were empty of content until the UFT/NAACP lawsuit was filed; they are still rewriting the BUPS and redoing all the hearings to try to repair the deficiencies, but they are still not adequate.

In any case, these BUPs are “ wholesale revisions,” and according to state law, any “significant” revision of a building plan requires a new six-month waiting period before the start of the next school year when the co-location can occur. It is now far too late in the year. Moerdler went through a litany of some of the unfair and inequitable co-locations that are still being contemplated, with children at the district schools losing equitable access to  bathrooms, libraries, gyms, etc. He argued that the “city of NY which has betrayed” these schools by their failed promises, and that the NYC DOE has one goal only: “the destruction of free public education in New York City.”

The city’s attorney, Chlarens Orsland, was up next. He said that the DOE was “working with State Education Department” to ensure they would get approval to close these 12 schools and that they expected a decision by July 31. The other seven schools (ironically those not on the state’s failing list) can be closed without the state’s approval. He denied that there was any agreement with set timelines to provide extra support to these schools; and cited an affidavit from former Chancellor Joel Klein, who disputed the UFT’s interpretation of this agreement.

( Klein’s affidavit says that the “agreement was never intended to be a mechanism to limit or forestall any of the DOE’s determinations as to the necessity of closing or co-locating schools. Rather, the portion of the letter agreement providing for the Education Plan was a mechanism to ensure that the 19 schools, which had a history of poor performance and student outcomes, received additional resources to enrich the students’ educational experience.”) 

READ MORE AT THE NYC PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENT BLOG

Yesterday's court hearings in the school closure/co-location lawsuit

newsclips on the hearings, see GothamSchools, Post, Times, NY1, WNYC.

Ravitch Vs. Alter/ NAACP Responds to Attacks

Don't miss debate between DianeRavitch and JonathanAlter tomorrow am on DavidSirota radio show.

Diane Ravitch will debate Jonathan Alter on David Sirota's Denver radio show, at 7 am Denver time, 9 am Eastern time, on the morning of Wednesday, June 8. You can listen live online here, or catch the podcast later here.

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Susan Ohanian comments on review of our film:

The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for 'Superman' and One Teacher's Two Cents

Ohanian Comment: Maybe a review of the new film The Inconvenient Truth about Waiting for 'Superman' should be filed under "good news," but because it directly addresses such outrages I put it here.

Here is the order form for getting your own copy of the film. They ask for a donation to help them cover the cost of this grassroots effort.

I have just one quibble with this review: I wish people would stop saying that the poverty rate for US children is 20%, because clouds the really dire situation in pubic schools. The 20% figure is the official US poverty rate which includes all children, including the rich kids in private schools. The poverty rate in urban public schools is 50% and higher.

I've seen this movie. I recommend it whole-heartedly.

Read the review: — Liz Hoelzle
Arts and Humanities, Teachers College
2011-06-06
http://artsandhumanities.pressible.org/lizhoelzle/the-inconvenient-truth

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NAACP Organizes resistance to charter attacks:

New York City has become the latest battleground in the national fight for education equality.

In some schools, hallways serve as a stark dividing line. Classrooms with peeling paint and insufficient resources sit on one side, while new computers, smartboards and up-to-date textbooks live on the other. One group of students will be taught in hallways and basements while others under the same roof make use of fully functional classrooms.

New York schools have increasingly co-located charter schools inside existing public schools as a cost cutting measure. Handled improperly, co-locations can lead to disparities, division and tension among students, which can impede learning.

In many instances, traditional students are forced into shorter playground periods than their charter school counterparts, or served lunch at 10 am so that charter students can eat at noon. The inequity could not be more glaring. And similar proposals are being considered in other states and counties nationwide.

Throughout our history, the NAACP has fought for equal educational opportunities for all Americans. When we have seen inequality in school districts from Los Angeles, California to Topeka, Kansas, we have never hesitated to fight for what is right. Today the fight continues in the nation's largest school district.

_You can help shed light on this inequality by signing the NAACP petition today and supporting New York City students._
(http://action.naacp.org/page/m/474a375d/799fb262/7f0a7185/2f6150c9/216649664/VEsE/)

Last month, after a year of attempts to negotiate with the New York City Department of Education to correct these inequalities after they lost to us in court, the NAACP was forced to go to court again to compel them to comply with state law.

Our return to court has triggered a smear campaign against the NAACP.

In recent days we have faced a coordinated media attack backed by funds from right wing opponents of public schools. Unable to dispute the facts of the case, they've chosen to cast aspersions on the NAACP, to question our motivations, and to sling mud at our legacy.

This is a tactic meant to silence the NAACP, but with your help, we will not be silenced.

Will you join us in speaking out? Stand alongside the NAACP, New York City parents and students to let the Department of Education know that all students deserve a quality education.

_Sign the Petition now and let New York know that those who believe in justice will not back down._
(http://action.naacp.org/page/m/474a375d/799fb262/7f0a7185/2f6150c9/216649664/VEsF/)

The NAACP will always work for the day when all students can access high-quality public education. We will not tolerate the neglect of the hundreds of thousands of families depending on traditional public schools, nor will we stand by as public schools are illegally closed, communities are ignored
in defiance of the law and student success is left to chance.

And we will never be silenced by right wing attacks on our reputation.

The NAACP has always believed that educating children in a separate and unequal system that provides a quality education to the lucky few at the expense of the many is the wrong kind of education, and we will continue to fight, as we always have, for equal opportunity for all.

Thank you for standing with us.

Sincerely,

Ben

Benjamin Todd Jealous
President and CEO
NAACP

(http://action.naacp.org/page/m/474a375d/799fb262/7f0a7185/2f6150c8/216649664/VEsH/)

Press Ignores Inequality Issue and Charter School Political Manipulation of Parents and Students in NAACP Reports

Below are the links at Gotham this morning to stories regarding the NAACP suit. Most of them compare the numbers who turned out to the charter school protest compared with the much lower numbers who came to the press conference on Friday. Not one mentions that Harlem charter schools closed down for hours on the day of their rally and organized the parents and children who had no school to go to and were politically organized to attend the protest against the NAACP. A serious sign of omission in any story comparing numbers.

But worst of all, the massive testimony at the Friday press conference in front of Eva Moskowitz' Success Charter HQ pointing to the enormous unequal treatment of children was also ignored, receiving some mention only by NY1's Lindsey Christ.

The press should check out the video tape I put up - http://vimeo.com/24644676 - at the very least scroll through the 55 minutes and see how children are treated differently in charter co-locos, the main point of why the NAACP is involved.

UFT has TWO co-loco charters
Also note how the UFT is vilified as being against charters and co-locos but not one story mentions that the UFT has TWO charter schools in the East NY section of Brooklyn that are occupying space in public school buildings. Yes, the UFT has taken the hyprocritic oath. But where is the press on that angle?

Also note national NAACP head Benjamin Jealous defending the suit.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-the-naacp-is-suing-new-york/2011/06/03/AG1W5PIH_story.html

Good piece except for: To spur the changes needed to help students succeed, we even stood with many of these critics when a Rhode Island district fired all the teachers at Central Falls High School.

• The UFT and NAACP want school closure and charter school plans stopped now. (GothamSchools)
• The NAACP is taking a somewhat more active role in local school policy fights than ever before. (NY1)
• State Sen. Eric Adams voted to increase charter schools but this year is suing to stop their growth. (Post)
• The Post says low attendance at the NAACP rally shows that its lawsuit involvement has little support.
• Stanley Crouch: The lawsuit shows the NAACP “has fallen” since its civil rights heyday. (Daily News)
• The UFT and NAACP want school closure and charter school plans stopped now. (GothamSchools)
• The NAACP is taking a somewhat more active role in local school policy fights than ever before. (NY1)
 

AFTERBURN
NYC EDUCATOR TAKES A SHOT AT JONATHAN ALTER:

Alter's been thoroughly refuted at the Public School Parents blog, both here and here, in Accountable Talk,  Salon, and in the ceaselessly observant Schools Matter.

READ IT ALL: In Good Company

Video: The NAACP Strikes Back

Recently, the charter school lobby helped orchestrate a rally at the NAACP NYC offices protesting the law suit on closing schools. Charter schools closed down for a few hours in the morning, making blatant use of children and parents for political purposes. On June 3, the NAACP held a press conference in front of the headquarters of Success Charter School Network to emphasize the law suit is about bringing equality to ALL children, not just a favored few.

This is unedited video of the press conference called by the NAACP in front of Eva Moskowitz' headquarters. There is a lot of powerful stuff packed into these 54 minutes. I will attempt to edit it a bit and put up an abridged version if I find time. This is definitely worth watching even if you scroll through it. Mulgrew is near the end and he does very well. Mona Davids was a bit late but got to say here piece at the very end - and she makes a powerful comparison to apartheid in her native South Africa.

Go to directly to vimeo for faster play. http://vimeo.com/24644676

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Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

Today's Truths: The TRUTH vs. Distortion - I support the NAACP Rally Friday at Eva HQ

“Because of the NAACP’s stand for all children, they are being criticized by those who seek to only divide our community, pitting parent against parent, and distorting the facts about the lawsuit against the NYC DOE.” - NAACP Press Release

UPDATE: UNCF Receives $1.6 Billion Grant From Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation(see story below on UNCF leader co-writing anti NAACP piece with Michelle Rhee)

Support NAACP Rally/Press Conference Friday at Success Charter Offices (posted at Norms Notes)

NAACP and Community Rally/Press Conference at Success Charter Offices at 310 Lenox, between 125^th and 126^th.   Time is still slightly in flux – 8:30/9 am.

Call EVA MOSKOWITZ and tell her

You are STANDING WITH THE NAACP

(646) 597-4641 

This one should be fun. WOW! Is the worm turning on charters or what? Some major Harlem politicians are supporting this: Rangel, Wright, Dickens, and of course, Bill Perkins, the dean of politicians challenging the charter lobby.

Two years ago (end of school year 2009) when GEM (only a few months old) went up to Eva invaded PS 123 there were few political forces willing to take on charters. Even Bill Perkins at that time seemed ambivalent (I remember having a conversation with one of his aides). But the PS 123 situation woke him up and he began to take a stand. Throughout the summer of 2009 he invited us to take part in discussion at his office. His hearings in March 2010 created a storm (I still have many hours of tape) and led to a charter supported primary challenge which Perkins beat back easily. That was a moment where the supposed parent "support" for charters in Harlem was exposed.

Now the charter lobby has tried to bully the NAACP into withdrawing from the law suit with the UFT to stop the closing of schools and charter co-locations as Gotham reported:

Parents visited the NAACP’s local offices to ask the group to exit the school closure suit. (GS, Post)
One of the parent spokespersons - Valerie Babb, a parent at Harlem Link (always makes me chuckle when I see this school mentioned) - was quoted. Leonie pointed out that she works for the New York Charter Center. I also had a communication from Babb as I mentioned in this comment I left at Gotham's report on a visit by 20 "parents" to NAACP head Hazel Dukes' office:

So I'm beginning to get it. "“We’re not going away,” said Valerie Babb, mother of a first-grader at Harlem Link Charter School." Valerie Babb is an employee of the NYC Charter Center. Babb sent out an email to charter school parents to attend the recent Brooklyn Premiere of "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman" sponsored by Mona Davids' competing charter school parent org. (I printed the email at ed notes: http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2011/05/to-charter-school-operators-you-want.html).
So, it's all about the children, eh? Politics and jobs don't enter into it I guess. How many other charter school parent activists have jobs connected to the charter school machine? Reminds me of the day when principals helped get jobs for certain parents who supported them. Link to comment: http://disq.us/24qbfb

I'm going to try to get up and shlep my way to this event with trusty camera. Here are some recent items I've been posting - just a select few.

 Rich White Woman Tells Poor Black People to Rally ...

A Jamaica HS Student's Outrage Puts Dennis Walcott...

Report from the Field: Is Harlem Success Academy P...
The Harlem Success Tries to Turn White as the Worm...

To Charter School Operators: You Want the Truth? Y...

Gotham has a link on this story. Kitchen Sink is at it again - I left a comment - go leave yours.

It's actually a sad day for charter school interests looking to glom onto free real estate. I guess you were too busy planning your exit from the public schools to set up your own shop, but those of us who remained and fought that system would never classify what we did as failing black and brown kids by condemning an entire racial group.

In my school we had great success with a number of students (I can give you a tour of the colleges they went to) and also failures. It is the former group that you are all bragging about succeeding with - just like we did over the last 40 years. Instead of focusing all out efforts on reaching those kids, you have opted for a dual school system that makes conditions worse for the very kids who need the most help. And the charter school lobby has supported the onslaught by the DOE due to narrow self-interest - the self-interest of the adults I might add.  Nice work!

But the charter lobby is out in force. This just came through:

United Negro College Fund head attacks lawsuit/NAACP

- an article Michael Lomax (a charter puppet) co-wrote with - DRUMROLL - Michelle Rhee, the Sarah Palin of ed deform as someone dubbed her.

Noguera Punts on HSA
The NY State Ed Dept, which Fred Smith exposes on their politically tainted testing procedures has also been complicent in the charter school invasions. John King who is taking over when Steiner leaves is 100% charter school. It really is invasion of the body snatchers. But HSA is chartered by SUNY and here is some back and forth on the NYCEd News Listserve regarding Pedro Noguera related to this item I posted yesterday - Success/Brandeis co-location comments due BY NOON ...

Leonie Haimson asked: Has Pedro Noguera (Chair of SUNY Charter Schools Institute) expressed an opinion on this co-location? Has he visited any of the co-located charters in D3, to your knowledge?


Here was the response:

Months ago, at the meeting where SUNY granted the charter (without a specific D3
location), Dr. Noguera did say that he wanted to look carefully at the site that
got chosen before approving it. I am told he didn't want SUNY to be a "rubber
stamp." That said, if he now has an opinion on this specific co-location, I have
not heard it, nor of any Success-related visit by Dr. Noguera to the Brandeis
complex.

It is so odd to me, now that SUNY held this hearing to do a final site
evaluation, that the SUNY Charter Schools Institute is responsible for receiving
public comments and making a recommendation to the SUNY Board about approval. As
far as I know, there were no Board members at the location hearing this week.
The CSI would seem to be in the business of supporting charters, and I find it
weird that they are the buffer between the overwhelming community opposition and
Dr. Noguera/the SUNY Board.

And, oh year, it is a good time to bring back one of our favorites about Meryll Tisch, who is the leader of the pack.

Click on photo to link to an article on K12 and Tisch Family

PEP Jan. 26: NAACP Mic Turned Off, Sullivan Makes His Point

In this 3:37 second extract, Patrick Sullivan chastises David Chang after mics are turned off from speakers from the NAACP.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR0eHLefS5k

Excuse video quality: Lousy location to shoot from - constantly having to move around to avoid blocking isles, bad lighting, cheap camera and downsized quality for faster processing.