The Political Underbelly of Ed Deform: Enormous Money Wasted on Teacher Monitoring

UPDATED: Nov. 3, 2011, 11:40PM

On National Test, New York Declines in Math
Ohanian Comment: I had resolved to skip all stories about NAEP. After all, Gerald Bracey pointed out how corrupt the NAEP setup was from the get-go. And it certainly hasn't changed.[Don't miss this classic Bracey takedown.] And I studied the reading passages and questions carefully--and read the bizarre rationales the scorers gave for the scores they assigned. But I stumbled across this Merryl Tisch quote, and ohmygod, have to post it for posterity. It is so arrogantly incomprehensible that I'll post it twice, once here, and once in the article: 

"We cannot be diddling around with courts and lawyers while children and teachers in this state are going hungry for an evaluation. We need to get to a place in New York State where curriculum and instruction drive assets, and not the assets that drive the curriculum and instruction."--Merryl Tisch 

What IS she talking about? She is a prime diddler. 

I added the above since Susan grabbed the same Tisch asshole quote I did below.

First the ed deformers sell the idea that the teacher is the most important element in a child's education.
Then the witch hunts begin.

In my debate last week at Hofstra with Michael Regnier from the NYC Charter Center where ed deform reigns, he was asked for solutions and basically came up with better training for teachers, better method of teaching. That triggered my only heated moment of the evening where I categorically rejected the key idea of the ed deformers that all we need are better lesson plans. I'm glad that Yelena Siwinski, CL of PS 193K who accompanied me, asked Regnier if he ever taught- which he didn't - which led to his heated moment - he refused to accept the idea that you have to teach to discuss education policy. Sure, Michael, go discuss to your heart's content - but you are getting paid as part of the ed deform industry that has sprung up to move public policy. I stole the button from Pissed Off Teacher but there is another that reads - THOSE WHO CANNOT (teach) WANT TO MAKE ED POLICY. I just love those people on the ed deform dole who say they care about children but won't go near the highest level of showing how much you care - go teach those children you care so much about.

Oh, so simple. Just spend billions on measuring teacher effectiveness and get rid of the ineffective teachers who can't improve (hint: some have figured out a way to cheat on the tests).

The sad thing is that our unions - the AFT and UFT - often jumped in with glee to declare how important the teacher is while downplaying the factors that we know have the real impact.

At least Mulgrew jumped in to respond to this outrage by Tisch who placed the blame for the low NAEP's squarely on the teachers:

Merryl Tisch, the chancellor of the state Board of Regents, said the test results reinforce her argument that the state needs a strong teacher evaluation process.
“We cannot be diddling around with courts and lawyers while children and teachers in this state are going hungry for an evaluation,” Ms. Tisch said. “We need to get to a place in New York State where curriculum and instruction drive assets, and not the assets that drive the curriculum and instruction.”

And in the same Times article, another slug said:

Ms. Libfeld also blamed budget cuts and lack of money for teacher training. “It’s an issue all over that we need to focus on,” she said. “Money needs to be focused on professional development for teachers and that’s the bottom line.”

Sure, that's the bottom line. The reality is that we will always have a bunch of teachers who are problematic and even if you ended LIFO right now and allowed principals to fire every teacher they wanted to - we know that a whole bunch of these would be fired for nothing to do with their performance as teachers so so-called "good" teachers would be let go. But let's say they get rid of all the people they consider bad. Now they have to find replacements. Does anyone think that a whole batch of these replacements - who in most cases would be totally inexperienced - wouldn't also be problematic?

But this is where an enormous amount of money is going. Why test kindergarten kids? So they can get a baseline for their teachers. Insanity.

You can see ed deform at work every single day. Just this week we found out that NY State made no progress on the NAEP scores. Now as an opponent of using tests to measure everything I hate to jump on the necks of Merryl Tisch and her neighbor Bloomberg - no, I really don't hate to do it - they lived by the sword and should die by the sword. Even before the NAEP's were released I predicted that NYC would do a penny better than the rest of the state and even though last in the nation would declare victory. You know why? Because we have the least experienced corps of principals with so many coming from the Leadership Academy and many of them are at least competent in figuring out how to cheat - like going so far as to threaten teachers with their jobs if they don't. And of course with the witch hunts on to measure and fire teachers who don't perform, I can't blame them.

So there were lots of articles in the NY Times this week on what may look like separate issues but they are all connected.

Leonie Haimson linked these issues at the NYC Parent blog:

Today's scorecard on our schools: the news ain't pretty & the diagnosis bizarre

We have had nine long years during which NY state and city education officials have relentlessly focused on  high stakes testing, with school closings, grade retention, and teacher bonuses all linked to test scores.  So according to data released today, what have been the results?

• Test score tampering allegations are way up;

• So are suspensions;

• So are class sizes;

•  Meanwhile, our test scores on the most reliable national assessments are flat or declining.

So what do we need, according to NY education officials ?  Better tests.  Read it and weep.

Leonie Haimson tracks another waste of money by the Tweedies.

Many new positions to be  hired in “Teacher Effectiveness Support”; incl. two jobs at six figure salaries. meanwhile class sizes growing out of control and no money for classroom supplies. What does Support mean?  More rigid evaluation systems. Read the list below the fold.

NY State United Teachers SUPPORTS Testing for Kindergarten

Susan says "Shame"

Outrages (Susan Ohanian Speaks Out)_ 
(http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=9780) 

States Ready Tests for Kindergarten 

Ohanian Comments: It's unfortunately no surprise that state functionaries--and the New York State United Teachers (for shame!)-- succumb to the lure of money and agree to engage in practices that are, at best, pretty much useless. Federal policy already put DIBELS testing into kindergarten. 

See Kindergarten teacher details lunacy of standardized tests for kids for the 27,000 data entries kindergarten teacher Nancy Creech must make every year. She notes: "I am spending so much time recording "formative" assessments that I don't have time to evaluate the meaningful assessments and plan for instruction, much less time to actually teach!" When is she supposed to fit in another test? Where's the evidence this new test has any validity? It is shameful that government functionaries put a scramble for federal money on the backs of five-year-olds. It is worse than shameful that the federal government uses OUR tax dollars for this purpose. 

WSJ Article below

The Hits (on WalBloom) Keep on Comin': Fed Up Brownsville Parents Set to March on Chancellor’s Town Hall Meeting

I'm about to head over to Washington Sq Park  for the support general strike rally in Oakland rally before heading up the GEM Change the Stakes committee meeting. See a good post by Mike Klonsky on the Oakland situation. Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog.

But here is another interesting event going on today on Brownsville as more and more communities rise up to battle the ed deformers. I'll tell you later about the large crowd that turned out Tuesday afternoon for a meeting to organize in North and West Brooklyn. Now, if we can link all these movements we'll be in business. We have enough experience now with the DOE's "closing school game to make way for charters" to provide more assistance to schools in this situation so look for a somewhat stronger fight back this year. (The UFT's response of a few fizzled rallies followed by a flimsy law suit is hopefully a thing of the past - unless they still try to push a strategy that has resulted in almost 100% losses - but then again they still tell teachers that the only way to fight is through a grievance even though they lose almost a hundred per cent of those.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 2, 2011

Contact:         Evan Thies (Brooklyn Strategies), 917 715 9265 – evan@brooklynstrategies.com

Fed Up Brownsville Parents Set to March on Chancellor’s Town Hall Meeting Following School Cuts, Fatal Shooting Outside PS 298

Shooting Final Straw for Parents After DOE Cuts $1M From Nearby Schools and then Moves to Close Them

Fed up Brownsville parents will march to a protest tonight outside of Chancellor Walcott’s scheduled town hall meeting there in response to the City’s move to close three of their schools—one of which was across the street from a fatal shooting in October where a mother was killed and a student was shot in the face.  The Brooklyn schools – PS 298 and General D. Chappie James Elementary and Middle School (K631 and K634) – were placed on a list of 20 low performing elementary and middle schools in September, putting them at risk of closure.  But parents say the City has neglected the schools: cutting more than $1 million and staff from them over the past three years, and dooming students there to fail without new support.

Parents will also argue that the schools have large numbers of high-needs students (homeless, special education and lower income) that far exceed citywide averages, and so need extra support to succeed—yet the administration’s deep cuts have led to lost programs, classes and personnel.  Both schools have also undergone restructuring, but neither has been given the time or funding to deliver results.

Quick facts on PS 298:

·       School has experienced budget cuts of $564,736 over the past 3 years

·       84% of students are considered lower-income (free/reduced price lunch eligible), compared to 74% citywide

·       21% of students are in special education, compared to 14% citywide

·       8% of students at the school are homeless, double the citywide average of 4%

Quick facts on Chappie Elementary:

·       School has experienced budget cuts of $442,530 over the past 3 years

·       90% of students are considered lower-income (free/reduced price lunch eligible), compared to 74% citywide

·       10% of students at the school are homeless, double the citywide average of 4%

WHEN:           Wednesday, November 2^nd – between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM

WHERE:         5:00 PM – Parents meet in front of PS 298 and Chappie, march to Walcott event at PS 156

(PS 298 located at 85 Watkins St.; Chappie Elementary located at 76 Riverdale Ave.)

5:30 PM – Parents rally in front of Walcott event at PS 156 (104 Sutter Ave.)

WHO:             Dozens of parents and students angry with DOE move to close schools; public education advocates.

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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 the right for important bits.

Busy Days

Some busy days coming up - almost too busy to do this blog. I didn't even get to write about last week when I debated a NY Charter School Center guy at Hofstra followed the next day by the screening of our film at NYU and the follow-up discussion which led to the invitation below.

Dear Norm Scott,
I'm writing as a member of an NYU student group organizing in support of Occupy Wall Street. For the past few weeks we have been holding open forums that we are calling the People's University in Washington Square Park, bringing teachers and activists out into public spaces to talk about current social issues.

Last Thursday I attended the GEM screening of An Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman at NYU (which was really great, by the way). I was wondering if you would be interested in coming out to a People's U this Saturday, 11/5 at 1:30pm.
The session will be on public education in NYC, and we would be thrilled to have you speak about your work as an NYC public school teacher and activist. Our events on Saturday have drawn upwards of around 75-100 folks, and our speakers have generally used the people's mic and talked for 10-15 minutes or so. (Here's our website with past events, if you're interested: http://peoplesu.tumblr.com/ .)

The session on public education will see a mix of public school teachers, parents, students, and activists speaking about their experiences under mayoral control, and (if they are inspired to do so) on the connections between education activism in NYC and the OWS movement.
If this would interest you, and/or if you have any recommendations for others who could speak at the People's U, please let me know. Thanks for your time!

Sincerely,

If you are around Washington Square Park on Saturday afternoon around 1:30 come join the crowd. If you would like to speak at People's U email me
-----------------


Screenings Galore of GEM Film as UFT Continues to Boycott


There are some screenings of the film coming up. Nov. 7 at Teachers College, Nov. 9 at PS 261K. There is a big organizing drive going on for the Nov. 9 screening as a way to inform the community that Eva is looking to invade about charter schools using our film as a tool. 


I will be flying up to SUNY Cortland on the 9th (also a DA which I will thankfully miss) for a panel on the film. Here are the nitty gritties. We need to RSVP for the TC screening so email me if interested. 

--------------------
And then a special event at SUNY Cortland where I will be on a panel - they actually sent me a plane ticket to fly up on Nov. 9th for an overnight stay, so I will miss the screening at PS 261 in Cobble Hill (see below).

FREE FILM SCREENING

Eva Moskowitz wants to bring her Success Charter Schools to District 15!

What does that mean for our neighborhood public schools?

What happens when charter schools are given space in public school buildings?

Why is the DOE supporting charter schools and cutting the budgets for public schools?

Learn more by joining us for a screening of “The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman”, produced by The Grassroots Education Movement.

Followed by a panel discussion featuring:

Becky Alford

NEST program teacher & parent, PS 32

Ina Pannell-St. Surin

MS 447 PTA Co-Vice President

Khem Irby

1st Vice President, District 13 CEC & co-founder of The MANY

Leonie Haimson

parent & director of Class Size Matters

Brian Jones

teacher at PS 261 & member of GEM

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2011
6:00 PM

PS 261 Auditorium
314 Pacific Street (between Smith & Hoyt)
Brooklyn, NY

Sponsored by PS 261 Unite
Contact 261Unite@gmail.com for more information
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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 the right for important bits.

Growing the National Movement: OCCUPY the DOE supports Oakland this Wed!!!

The Oakland Teachers Union has endorsed the general strike though it is not clear if teachers will actually walk out. What the critics of OWS seem to miss is the energizing impact of the movement on others and the growth of militancy whereas there has been so much passivity. In the NYC teacher movement we have to contend with a union leadership that will always try to pull teachers back from militancy but even they may be getting caught up. (See Michael Mendel on the misuse of the Danielson frameworks by principals and threats to walk away from negotiations.)

*Join the Occupy the DOE Committee this Wednesday in support of Occupy Oakland!*
The Oakland General Assembly has called for a general strike on November 2nd. In response to this call and the national call for solidarity actions on that day (see below), Occupy Wall Street is organizing solidarity action
here in NYC. Since the brutal attack on Oakland, there have been several other police attacks on occupations, including in Denver, Nashville, Austin and Rochester. Stand together with Oakland the Occupy Movement across the
country to say that our voices will not be silenced!
*4pm: Student Convergence at Washington Square Park - will then march to meet the rest of the demonstration*
*5pm - 6pm: Gather at Zucotti Park (Liberty Plaza at Broadway and Liberty)*
*5pm: March from Zucotti past City Hall to One Police Plaza*
*November 2nd: **National Day of Action in Solidarity with Occupy Oakland and in Defense of the Occupy Movement Nationally*
On October 25th, Occupy Oakland was brutally attacked by riot police. One protestor, Iraq veteran Scott Olson, remains in critical condition. But on Wednesday, thousands of protestors re-occupied Oscar Grant Plaza in
courageous defiance of this attempt at repression. 
The Oakland General Assembly has called for a general strike on Wednesday, November 2nd. Given
this call, and given the national attempt by mayors and police to repress and silence our movement, the Labor Outreach Committee of Occupy Wall Street is calling for a national day of action on November 2nd in solidarity with Occupy Oakland and in defense of the Occupy movement nationally. We urge students, labor, the unemployed and all members of the 99% to take action on that day to send a message that our movement will not be silenced.
To endorse, email november2endorse@gmail.com.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=175965405823878

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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 the right for important bits.

If You Can't Occupy Wall Street, Keep Wall Street Occupied

An idea worth sharing.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JlxbKtBkGM&feature=player_embedded
=============

OCCUPY TWEED (front steps)

***Calling all parents, students, teachers, school aides, community organizations, youth groups, and community members concerned about creating public education in the interest of the 99%***

OCCUPY the Department of Education invites you to the:

People’s General Assembly 

on Public Education

Date: Monday, November 7th

Time: 5 PM

Location: Steps of Tweed Hall, 52 Chambers St.

Please join us for the exercise of democracy, the raising of silenced voices, outrage at the lack of public representation in decisions of educational policy, the creation of a People’s Agenda for our schools and creation of collective actions that can realize this agenda.

During the OCCUPY the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP), we invited Chancellor Walcott to this forum. He declined our offer but we still think he should hear our voices. Please encourage him to come along with members of the City Council Education Committee in this exercise of real democracy. 

Click here to send Walcott your invitation

Councilman Robert Jackson, Chairperson, Education Committee 

Brought to you by the OCCUPY the DOE Committee of Occupy Wall Street

YouTube - Videos from this email

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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 the right for important bits.

GEM High Stakes Testing Committee Meets Nov. 2

The next planning meeting of the Change the Stakes Campaign is tomorrow, Nov 2nd, 5:30pm at the CUNY graduate center, room 5414. 
This is a unique opportunity and a unique time in history where anything seems possible if it grows out of grassroots  cooperation and organizing. We hope you will join us.We stand in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street actions in support of Occupy Oakland and against police brutality; unfortunately the date and time for the campaign meeting have been set for over a month and published on fliers and in various listservs. If you cannot attend because of participation in these actions, or for any other reason, but would like to get involved with the campaign please send an email toe.h.bell@gmail.com and we will keep you updated on any next steps.
-----

Nowhere is the agenda of the corporate reform movement clearer that in the use of racially-biased high-stakes tests to shame students, undermine teacher protections and then use the scores as justification for closing schools in poor neighborhoods and privatizing their space against the will of the community, using the test scores as a "justification".

Over the summer, the Grassroots Education Movement called for a High-Stakes Testing committee that drew a number of concerned teachers, parents and organizers together to begin to examine this issue and start a dialogue- a brainstorm as it were- about how to address and respond to high stakes testing and its negative effects on our children, teachers and schools. 

From these conversation emerged the idea of building a city-wide campaign specifically aimed at organizing constituents to fight this insidious monster; of finding ways to educate ourselves and others about these issues; of using people-power to demand that our elected officials support us in putting an end to this insanity; and of creating a way to unite all the forces city-wide who are deeply concerned about what the ways high-stakes tests have influenced our schools.The initial crafting of this campaign was aided by the support and guidance of Time Out From Testing, whose founding mission, organization and actions have addressed the issues of excessive and high stakestesting for almost a decade.

We came up with the name "Change the Stakes" since it is the high-stakes nature of these tests that is the root cause of their devastating influence. Our kids' education and futures are at stake when it comes to this issue. Education is high-stakes, but testing shouldn't be. 

We invite you to join us in our efforts to build a solid and influential campaign to educate and mobilize parents, educators and students around the possibility of opting-out of and putting an end to high-stakes testing and together create an alternative vision of what accountability--- to our communities--- could really be.  We invite you to help us continue to craft this campaign and vision because we understand that building this effort together will be the best way to have the most profound effect.


   Wednesday, November 2, 5.30-7.30
   CUNY Grad Center, Room 5414

Sincerely,
the GEM high-stakes testing committee

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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 the right for important bits.

Eva Walks Out When Facing the Heat

 I have a lot of material on the push-back Eva received on Saturday when she pulled a bait and switch - applying for a charter in Dist 13 and after approval trying to push into the more middle class and gentrified Cobble Hill in District 15. (Where are you Pedro Noguera who heads the SUNY authorizing body that grants Eva her charters?)

See my previous reports:

Eva Shut Down By Parent Leaders in Cobble Hill - Meeting Over

Jim Devor Report on How Eva Shut Down Her Own Meeting and Ran Out

Push back there was from parents from both Dist. 13 and 15 - many of them parents members of GEM have been working with.

Below is the video shot by Gotham Schools. Notice how Eva can hire not only a 2-man professional videographer team but also a professional photographer (who I recognize from other events I attend). How come no one in the press even raises that question? Check out my previous post on how Success Academy spends per child for recruitment (Exposing Success Academy Marketing Strategies Harmful to the Public Good).

I have lots more personal reports from all the GEM people who attended with some discussion about whether there should have been a disruption which did not seem planned but a spontaneous outpouring of outrage. Eva like all bullies can't seem to face the heat when she doesn't have control. She will now move these meetings to private homes. It has to be understood that she is using public money to build a political machine - just watch those buses at PEP meetings. But I am betting she is finding her pickings in the Black community are running dry as the parents and communities at co-locos are pushing back and she is looking for white people to build her machine.

Here is the report on the meeting from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

They Shout Down Former Manhattan Councilwomanhttp://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=27&id=47108
By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

COBBLE HILL — Waving signs and shouting out questions, parents from local schools interrupted an information session held Saturday by a charter school planning to move into Cobble Hill. The meeting, held at the Carroll Gardens library, broke up before head of Success Academy charter schools, former Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz, could deliver her planned presentation.
When Moskowitz told the crowd, “Children need the arts,” several indignant parents called out, “You’re taking away arts from our children!” When she said that parents of special-needs children should have more options, the crowd hissed. 
“You’re hissing at special-needs children?” Moskowitz asked.
“You don’t let special needs kids into your schools!” the crowd roared.
Many of the protesters said they feared that Success Academy Cobble Hill — to be co-located inside a building at 284 Baltic St. that already houses three public schools, including Brooklyn School for Global Studies — will disrupt existing programs and drain resources from their children.
“Why don’t you open in District 13 where they need schools?” other parents asked. Success Academy has been accused of pulling a “bait and switch” by applying for its charter in District 13, then switching to District 15 after the charter was approved.
“This information session is for parents. We’ll answer questions at the end,” Moskowitz said as the crowd grew increasingly bold in expressing their concerns.
“Go ahead and talk! Get to the point!” said one impatient father who had come to hear details about the school. As Moskowitz continued to speak in generalities about her experience on the City Council and her goals for Success Academy, the man continued, “You’re talking about yourself and not the school!” At that point Moskowitz ended the official meeting — though parents continued to talk amongst themselves.
One group, The Grassroots Education Movement, announced (via the “people’s microphone”) the screening of the anti-charter school film The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman (Nov. 9, P.S. 261, 6 p.m.).

Parents React
“I’m personally happy with the way Eva left,” said Ismene Speliotis, parent of children who attend P.S. 447 and P.S. 261. “The way she left the meeting is the way she should take Success Academy and leave the neighborhood.”
“It’s not about being anti-charter,” she said. “It’s about finding a building for the charter school. Global Studies is really trying to become successful. They just renovated — there’s still scaffolding. Instead of putting in resources to make it a successful local high school, they’re putting in another elementary school.” Global Studies underwent a $2 million transformation in 2010, going from an F assessment to a B in the process. “They should go where they want to go,” she said, “but they should get their own facility.”
But another mom, Rachael (she didn’t want her last name used), said she was disappointed that Moskowitz didn’t finish her presentation. “I’m just here to learn,” she said. “It’s a joke. We’re not allowed to go to a forum to learn about something. We have a right to understand our options.”
“I’m disappointed at the level of vitriol,” said Devon Jarvis, a parent. But he said it was understandable given that Success Academy originally applied to open in District 13 and 14, not Cobble Hill’s District 15. “There was no public commentary meeting. We read in the newspaper that Eva Moskowitz was putting a charter school in my middle school. She needed to apply in District 15 — the result is public commentary here, at the wrong meeting,” he said.
“It’s a real threat to our schools,” said Dorothy Barnhouse. “They have a bigger budget, and they’re living rent free in our public school. I’m not opposed to charters — I’m opposed to co-locating charter schools in public schools because of the inequities that result,” she said. “They take the library, the science classroom, the dance studio and the pull-out spaces for speech therapy and small group instruction.”

A ‘Great Option for Parents’
Success Academy schools faced similar opposition before they opened on the Upper West Side. Several families from that school appeared at the meeting to back the school.
Mike Suchanek, whose child attends kindergarten at the West Side Success Academy, said in his experience the school is a “great option for parents. I’m thrilled we had a choice.” He said that his child didn’t get into the zoned school in his neighborhood because of overcrowding. But “I don’t know enough about the co-location issues,” he said.
Another West Side parent, J.C. Renners, is a strong backer of Success Academy. “We’re thrilled with the education our daughter is receiving.”

Exposing Success Academy Marketing Strategies Harmful to the Public Good

The underlying concern, however, for many is that Success’ intensely focused financial investment in marketing is reflective of their priorities lying with private goals rather than public aims. After all, it can be argued that the money spent by Success on marketing could, alternatively, have been devoted to educational objectives or support. In fact, on the donation section of the Success Charter Network website, the organization opens by stating, “You can tell a lot about an organization’s priorities by how they spend their money” (Success Charter Network, 2011b). This may likely be very true.

Success Charter Networks spent $1.6 million dollars on marketing efforts alone in 2009-2010, amounting to $1,300 per incoming student.

According to Annual Reports available on through Success Charter Networks, each of the seven Success charter schools in New York City spent, on average, $13,727 per pupil in 2010-2011 (Success Charter Network, 2011a). That means that, if the marketing budget remained roughly the same, 9.5% of the per pupil budget went to marketing and recruiting efforts—a number which is on par with spending of big CPG companies nationally.

Above are excerpts from the article below co-written by Catherine DiMartino who moderated the debate I took part in with a NYC Charter School Center rep on Oct. 26 at Hofstra University. Catherine sent this to me after the debate. I wish I read it before as it contains so much information I would have used. Catherine was totally objective in how she moderated I might add. 

NOTE: See video and commentary on the disruption at Eva's bait and switch tactic in Cobble Hill in my follow-up article.

TC Record Commentary on marketing and charters

Corporate Style Schooling: Marketing for Private Gain Rather than the Public Good

by Sarah Butler Jessen & Catherine DiMartino — October 04, 2011

In response to a recent article in the New York Daily News regarding the marketing expenditures of the Success Charter Network, this commentary discusses the growing push for public schools (particularly charters) to engage in marketing. The authors argue that this trend is a result of the new educational policy context of merged private- and public-sector worlds. Concerns are raised about the effects of embracing corporate models for educational reform.

In recent years, there has been a push to implement private sector strategies in the public education system. Some have argued to treat education “like a business,” and discussions of “return on investment” in education have become more common (Boser, 2011; Colvin & Snider, 2010). School systems throughout the country have implemented market-based reforms, and private companies have begun not only to invest in, but also to partner with (and even create) schools in the name of generating systemic change. This trend receives ample support from the federal government through its Investing in Innovation Fund and, more recently, though the federal “re-start” intervention model. Many schools in New York City, New Orleans and Philadelphia have corporate partners—EMOs, CMOs, and intermediary organizations — that shape the daily practices of public educational institutions. These partners’ influence ranges from providing technical support to the wholesale management of schools.

It should come as little surprise, then, when schools respond to operating within this new policy context of a “business-like” environment with “business-like” strategies aimed at helping them succeed in the marketplace. For example, the expansion of market-based reforms into public education has introduced the world of marketing to a new arena. A recent article published in the New York Daily News revealed that the Success Charter Networks spent $1.6 million dollars on marketing efforts alone in 2009-2010, amounting to $1,300 per incoming student (Gonzalez, 2011). This report incensed many public school advocates, and received targeted criticism at the recent “Save Our Schools” march in Washington, D.C. (Decker, 2011). But how unexpected or outlandish is this financial investment given this current policy context modeled after the private sector?

Marketing, of course, is a central component of private industry. The average retail company spends 4 to 6% of their sales revenue on marketing, while consumer package goods (CPG) companies spend 8 to 10% annually (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2011; Moorman, 2011). In the “brand-building” stage of product development, companies spend a great deal more on marketing efforts (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2011; Moorman, 2011). Think: the original rolling out of the Apple iPhone or the latest McDonalds’ 99 cent offering.

According to Annual Reports available on through Success Charter Networks, each of the seven Success charter schools in New York City spent, on average, $13,727 per pupil in 2010-2011 (Success Charter Network, 2011a). That means that, if the marketing budget remained roughly the same, 9.5% of the per pupil budget went to marketing and recruiting efforts—a number which is on par with spending of big CPG companies nationally.

Although charter schools are public institutions, many have embraced (and been embraced by) the private sector. Commonly viewed by the corporate world as “innovative” or “entrepreneurial” educational agents that break free of traditional bureaucracies found in public school systems, many charter schools have particularly drawn on financial and organizational support of private industries. Success Charter Network, for example, draws heavily on investments from large corporations, and their Board of Directors is largely made up of representatives from private corporations or investment firms (Success Charter Network, 2011b).

In the world of charter school marketing, Success Charter Network, of course, is not alone in drawing on the private sector. KIPP schools founders partnered with the founders of Gap, Inc. after Gap’s $15 million gift to launch the KIPP Foundation, which “was established help set up KIPP-style schools” (Kennedy School of Government, 2011, p. 2). Among other things, the KIPP Foundation spearheaded the trademark licensing of the KIPP name—a branding technique. Marketing efforts employed by others include sending monthly mailings of full color brochures to perspective students and their families, hiring part-time workers to target specific pools of applicants, transmitting personalized text messages to parents and advertising on bus stops (CellsTrust, 2010; Gonzalez, 2011; Medina, 2010).

Despite the recent merging of the education and business worlds, there are significant differences between the marketing of a CPG company and a public school. First, private companies have oversight systems in place to prevent the spread of misinformation or deception through their marketing materials. The Federal Trade Commission has governmental jurisdiction over advertising. Legal teams at major CPG companies work to ensure that wording of each marketing publication is not inaccurate or overstated. Companies can challenge claims made by competitors through the Better Business Bureau. Ads run on major television networks are additionally run through the network’s legal reviews.

At the present time, no such oversight exists for public schools. Principals, who are often charged with marketing and recruiting, are given little training on how to effectively, or accurately, portray their school in informational literature. Some research has shown that, in fact, schools have “glossified” their marketing literature to portray an image of the school (which may or may not be accurate) in order to attract certain populations )). Little research has examined the accuracy of the claims made in school marketing literature or the impact of such claims on the consumer – student and parent - experience, especially if hyperbole trumps precision.

Secondly, marketing practices from the private sector do not convert fluidly into the public arena of the educational system. At a very basic level, the purpose of a public school is to contribute to a public good whereas the purpose of private company is to build revenue. In the private sector demand can be met by increasing product and industries can expand by enlarging the consumer base. In public schools, the market is simply restricted. There are a set number of school-age children, all of whom are going to school, and each school only has a given number of seats. This creates incrementally increasing competition for specific schools, resulting in unintended complications.

Competition spurs innovation and improves practice, so school choice advocates claim. In the private sector, investing in marketing provides returns on investment through increases in sales and revenue. Research has shown that schools often begin to invest in marketing strategies, as school choice competition increases ). However, unlike in private industries, transferring portions of an institution’s educational budget to marketing can, in fact, detract from academic programming. Because public schools do not generally increase their income through marketing techniques, they do not see the same financial return on investment.

Where schools stand to profit from intensive marketing campaigns is through student enrollment. While distributing information about schools in a choice system is intended to contribute to creating a cohesive school community through student buy-in, or simply maintaining enrollment, research has shown that parents and students respond to marketing cues from schools, which can result in sorting by a variety of factors, such as socioeconomic status, race, or educational background ). Particularly with the intense pressure to meet accountability standards, there is an underlying danger that instead of focusing on improving educational practice, schools will compete for the most “desirable” applicants through increased marketing campaigns ).

It is possible that the quality of Success schools is superior to the public institutions from which they draw their students, and, at the very least, as a newer charter network they face hurdles of “getting the word out” about their schools. Yet, the marketing expenditures of Success Charter Network come as local public schools are facing extensive budget cuts. Extra ability to invest in marketing puts them at an advantage, whatever the quality of their product, raising questions not only about this inequitable distribution of funds, but also about the potential negative impact on neighboring public schools.

The underlying concern, however, for many is that Success’ intensely focused financial investment in marketing is reflective of their priorities lying with private goals rather than public aims. After all, it can be argued that the money spent by Success on marketing could, alternatively, have been devoted to educational objectives or support. In fact, on the donation section of the Success Charter Network website, the organization opens by stating, “You can tell a lot about an organization’s priorities by how they spend their money” (Success Charter Network, 2011b). This may likely be very true.

References
Ancess, J., & Allen, D. (2006). Implementing small theme high schools in New York City: Great intensions and great tensions. Harvard Educational Review, 76(3).

Boser, U., (2011). Return on educational investment: A district-by-district evaluation of U.S. educational productivity. Washington D.C.: Center for American Progress.

CellsTrust. (2010). Harlem success academy case study. Retrieved August, 16, 2011, from http://www.celltrust.com/products/sms-gateway/celltrust-harlem.html

Colvin, R.L, & Snider, R. (2010). Business leaders and the new education agenda: Investment in our littlest learners (A Hechinger Brief). Teachers College, Columbia University: The Hechniger Institute on Education and the Media.

Decker, G. (2011). Matt Damon criticizes Eva Moskowitz’s charters at D.C. rally. Retrieved August 14, 2011 from GothamSchools.org,

DiMartino, C., & Jessen, S. (2011). School brand management: The policies, practices and perceptions of branding and marketing in New York City's public schools. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, Louisianna.

Gewirtz, S., Ball, S., & Bowe, R. (1995). Markets, choice, and equity in education. Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Gonzalez, J. (2011). Success Charter Network has been just that for Eva Moskowitz but not for public schools, New York Daily News. Retrieved from http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-07-27/local/29836796_1_success-charter-network-charter-schools-icahn-charter

Kennedy School of Government (2011). The KIPP schools: Deciding how to go to scale. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.

Lubienski, C. (2005). Public schools in marketized environments: Shifting incentives and unintended consequences of competition-based educational reforms. American Journal of Education, 111, 464-486.

Medina, J. (2010, March 10). Pressed by charters, public schools try marketing. The New York Times, pp. 1, 3.

Moorman, C. (2011). The CMO survey: Highlights and insights, February 2011. Duke University Fuqua School of Business and the American Marketing Association.

Success Charter Network (2011a). Annual Reports. Retrieved August 13, 2011 from successcharters.org.

Success Charter Network (2011b). Ways of Giving. Retrieved August 13, 2011 from successcharters.org.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce (2011). Setting a marketing budget. Retrieved on August 13, 2011 from uschamberssmallbusinessnnation.com.

Cite This Article as: Teachers College Record, Date Published: October 04, 2011
http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 16556, Date Accessed: 10/19/2011 1:50:51 PM

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"The Nation" Reviews GEM Film As Unions and Universities Hold Screenings While UFT Continues Boycott of Film

UPDATE Oct. 31, 11PM: We heard from The Nation that they will be showing the film on Thursday Nov. 3 at 4PM followed by a discussion led by Dan Goldstein.

THE BEST ANTIDOTE TO THE CHARTER SCHOOL INVASION: SHOW OUR FILM!

BREAK THE UFT LEADERSHIP BOYCOTT!

SHOW THE FILM IN YOUR SCHOOL TO TEACHERS AND PARENTS!

We have been so excited that the film we started working on 14 months ago as a short you-tube project not only turned into an hour long feature film, but since the premiere in May (with Diane Ravitch as our guest speaker) the film made by NYC school workers and parents and without any promotion other than word of mouth and the internet has shown such staying power - except here in NYC where the UFT Administration continues its boycott of the film refusing to mention the film in the NY Teacher or in any other venue.

In the meantime, unions all over the nation, have been showing the film.

The Chicago Teachers Union has been a big supporter.

The LA Teachers union has held screenings and has contacted GEM for permission (they don't need it) to reproduce the film for every chapter leader to show to their school.

Here here in NYC we have to do this one school at a time.
PS 261 in Boerum Hill will be showing the film on Nov. 9 as part of a campaign to inform the locals about the truth about charters.

Last Thursday 60 people at NYU showed up for the film and a rousing discussion afterwards.

Next Monday the film will be shown at Teachers College at 4PM
On Nov. 9th I'm flying up to Cortland State College for a panel. They are showing the film on campus this week and next.

Hofstra will show the film after the New Year.

The Connecticut State Teachers Association held a showing and sent us a check for $500 as a donation.
Boston U did the same as did the British Columbia Teachers Fed.

Thanks to Julie Woodward for the review from The Nation below. Julie has been an incredible activist over the years as one of the founding members of the Independent Community of Educators (ICE) and we worked as partners for many years. Since she retired last spring, we haven't heard much from her. We're hoping she at the very least keeps her toe in the water in the battle against the ed deformers.

FROM THE NATION   Nov. 7th,  on the page called "Noted." (p.5), this is the 2nd story (middle column) on the page.

TEACHERS TAKE ON ‘SUPERMAN’: As two recent documentaries make clear, it’s not the abysmal state of the US education system that’s up for debate when only 12 percent of African-American boys in the fourth grade read at grade level, but rather the solution.

The influential documentary Waiting for “Superman,” released in September 2010 to critical acclaim, made the case for charter schools. A prescient complement to the Occupy Wall Street movement, with a demand early in the film to get “Wall Street out” of public schools, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for “Superman”, released in May by the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), is a “no budget at all” response that argues that the charter movement’s push to privatize public schools is a move to corrupt one of America’s foundational tenets: access to equal and fair public education. Narrated by Brian Jones and Julie Cavanagh, New York City public school teachers, the film goes after Geoffrey Canada, the founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone, a nonprofit umbrella organization that runs three charter schools and is featured heavily in Waiting for “Superman.” It points out that a large portion of HCZ’s money comes from corporate sponsors. In September 2010, just as Waiting for “Superman” was being released, Goldman Sachs donated $20 million to HCZ. Of its seventeen board members, eleven are affiliated with major financial institutions.

The film also disputes the claim in Waiting for “Superman” that unions are responsible for protecting bad teachers. Its most salient segment looks at Finland’s education system, celebrated in Waiting for “Superman,” and reveals that 98 percent of teachers in Finland are members of the Trade Union of Education.
The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for “Superman” offers a list of ten (often vague) reforms to the current system, including “Parent and Teacher Empowerment and Leadership” and “Democratic and Social Justice Unionism.” During the Q&A session at a screening in New York on October 14, audience member and high school social worker Kathe Karlson voiced concern that if the unfocused group of organizations affiliated with Jones and Cavanagh’s GEM “didn’t come together,” they would simply “repeat [themselves] for a generation or two.” A member of GEM responded, “Look at how they’re doing it on Occupy Wall Street. It works.” Perhaps the Superman we’ve been waiting for is Occupy Wall Street.

COLLIER MEYERSON

To order the DVD "Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman"

DVD requests from have come in from ALL 50 STATES and....6 continents!!!
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dF96cXlyaUE0NlBDRlJxNTZ2VFFkVGc6MQ

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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 the right for important bits.

Jim Devor Report on How Eva Shut Down Her Own Meeting and Ran Out

It was a charade. From the beginning, when she realized that the vast majority of attendees were unsympathetic to her pitch, she obviously decided to have it shut down - doing her best to cast the blame on us.

She started with three parents from UWS Success extolling the wonderful experiences of their children in Kindergarten and the "terribly under performing" schools their children were saved from. As if that baiting of the public school teachers and parents in the crowd was not enough, one of the presenting parents started to directly engage the audience. For example, he asked whether anyone had ever witnessed actual classroom space be taken from public school kids by Charters. That immediately set off a contingent of PS 15 parents whose children have actually suffered exactly that fate as PAVE Academy has expanded in the building.

Eva then got up and complained that prospective parents were being deprived of the opportunity to hear a presentation of the Cobble Hill Success Academy's education program. But first, she said, she had to explain "the backstory". She then went out about the the terrible public school education she had received as a child growing up (in Manhattan D5, no less) during the Seventies (aside - at Stuyvesant High School??!!!!) She then went on about her career on the City Council and her failed campaign for Manhattan Borough President and how she lost because she had antagonized the UFT. That followed her recounting how she had three(?) children including one with special needs. That precipitated a snort of skepticism by one of the MS 447 parents - whereupon Eva loudly complained of being hissed at for having a "special needs child"

Throughout all of this, the crowd was growing increasingly impatient. As Benjamen Greene (President of CEC-13) called out, they wanted to "hear about the program" already. Eva petulantly responded that "you can't tell me what to say" and then abruptly "closed" the meeting.

To give you some idea of her true agenda, there was an opened film screen in the front of the room. Yet, despite presence of multiple film crews laboring at Eva's behest, there was NO SIGN OF A PROJECTOR anywhere to be seen.

In your experience, have you ever seen a pitch by these folks that was not accompanied by a film or at least a PowerPoint presentation? That small details tells you everything you want to know about the sincerity of her appearance.


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Jim Devor; President, CEC-15

See Ed Notes earlier report:  Eva Shut Down By Parent Leaders in Cobble Hill - M...