Now We Know Our ABCs. And Charter Schools Get an F.

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/09/24-0



***SNIP


We've learned a lot in recent years from the struggles within our schools. Here are three sensible considerations for anyone involved in the education of our children.


A. Assessment of Teachers? Before Hiring, Not After.

It's nearly impossible to judge the long-term effectiveness of any one teacher, given the incalculable variables of student demographics and school funding. And independent-thinking Americans are reluctant to look beyond their own country's borders for solutions.


***SNIP

B. Budget Cuts? No, Let the Tax Avoiders Pay Up.

Not many upper-income parents would allow their children to attend a school without a library, but that's the case for 160 Chicago public elementary schools.

***SNIP

C. Charter Schools? They Flunk.

Milton Friedman's 1955 article, "The Role of Government in Education," argued for a voucher system that would allow parents to purchase the school of their choice for their children. Just as Friedman's supply-side free-market beliefs have been proven wrong, so also the notion of privatizing education is doomed to failure.

[HiPointDem]

1. deregulated schooling is a big fail but a great profit center on the government dime

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. Where have they been deregulated?

[HiPointDem]

14. they're being deregulated everywhere, as we speak. deregulation has never, anywhere, meant

"no regulation".

it means "new regulations favoring capital & negliging labor and the general public"

[ProgressiveProfessor]

26. Yours is a unique usage of the term "deregulation"

IMO the public schools are getting more regulated not less and charters are by and large public schools.

[wtmusic]

48. And a unique usage of the term "neglige" nt

[HiPointDem]

83. french transfer "negliger" to neglect via 19th-century novels.

[wtmusic]

86. Ah, excuse my gaucherie.

I thought you had dropped an 'e'.

[HiPointDem]

96. i figured...:>)

[proud2BlibKansan]

51. That's what charter schools are.

Deregulated public schools.

They're allowed to write their own rules and are not required to follow most regulations that govern traditional public schools.

There's also the issue of many charters not being held accountable for the few regulations that are supposedly governing them.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

87. Depends what state you are in

Ones I have seen have some freedoms, but are not exempt from basic regulations.

[MAUREENH60]

81. deregulated schooling???

what exactly is 'deregulated schooling' is that anything the likes of 'self deportation'?

[hack89]

2. Not in Rhode Island

they are considered public schools and do as well as any other public schools - they are held to the same standards as every other school.

A charter school teacher was named RI teacher of the year.

[doomcupcake]

4. they're still not on equal footing

Most charters have an application process. Even if admission is lottery based, there is still that application process which can be a barrier for a student who has, say, illiterate parents or neglectful parents or parents who don't speak English. There are also a limited number of student openings each year at charter schools. The traditional public school has to take anyone who shows up at the door, regardless of available space and resources. Charters and the school districts may be held to the same standards, but the starting point is not the same. Let's stop pretending that it is.

[hack89]

6. That issue is addressed in RI law

before approval by the state, the charter school must provide:

(b) The school’s plans for identifying and successfully serving students with disabilities, students who are English language learners, students who are academically behind, and gifted students, including but not limited to compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

Secondly, since many charters are run by the local school districts, their charters contain specific demographic goals. For instance, the charter will say that 80% of all students must come from that district. Considering that charter schools are more common in poorer districts, it ensures that the charter school cannot cherry pick applicants from all over the state.

[proud2BlibKansan]

52. We have the same regs in the state where I teach

and charters still largely ignore them.

[hack89]

58. We have stricter oversight in RI

perhaps the advantage of being in a state where Democrats predominate.

[proud2BlibKansan]

63. Democrats wrote the charter laws here

This is not a partisan issue at all. Obama's agenda supports increasing the number of charters with no increase in accountability.

[hack89]

69. Since you are so familiar with RI law, perhaps you can point out specific weak areas? nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

101. No more familiar than you are with MO politics.

[hack89]

103. But I have not commented on MO policies. nt

[Auntie Bush]

64. But they can accept the best students in that district and not accept

those that are far behind academically, have disciplinary problems or have no parental help. They don't have to take everyone that applies amd that put public schools at an immediate disadvantage.

[hack89]

71. Against the law in RI

C-5-2. Enrollment Lotteries.

-- (a) When fewer students apply than there are seats available, all applicants shall be offered enrollment into the school. When more students apply than are seats available, the school shall conduct a random lottery to determine enrollment. For Charter schools that do not have defined enrollment percentages from their sending districts in their Charter, lotteries shall be held no later than a date set by the Commissioner in the school year before the year in which students are to enroll. Charter schools shall use a lottery application developed by the Commissioner. Weighted lotteries are permissible if the Commissioner deems it necessary to fulfill statutory requirements.

(b) All students in the lottery pool at the time of the lottery shall be drawn from the lottery. Once all available seats have been filled, the remaining applicants in the pool shall be drawn and placed on a waiting list ranked in the order that they were drawn.

(b) Only after a family has confirmed enrollment shall the school ask the family to provide specific information and documentation about the student, including prior school academic records and special education records (IEP/504 plans).

http://www.ride.ri.gov/regents/Docs/RegentsRegulations/Charter_%20Regulations_%20for_%20Promulgation_%2020%2011.pdf

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. Some public schools have admissions processes and other hoops as well

In some areas lotteries, racial mix, and other things figure into it as well. The local school does not have to take any one who shows up at the door. They may shunt them to another school at the district's discretion. San Francisco is a classic example. Also read recently of a local school working hard to deny a disabled child access.

[lunasun]

12. People REALLY need to understand this!!!!

[secondwind]

27. HOW TRUE

[HiPointDem]

9. and now you have achievement first, and you'll pay for the school buildings that *they'll* own.

not your city, not your state, not your school district. achievement first will own, but you'll buy them the building.

Mayor John DeStefano has signed a letter of intent to sell the building to the Achievement First charter network. The letter helped the charter group snag state approval for a $35 million high school construction project.

The city is banking on bringing in $1.5 million by selling the property, according to the new budget approved in May. The school, which has been closed for two years, most recently housed the Urban Youth Middle School, a transitional program for troubled kids.

Achievement First plans to tear down the former MLK school to build a new home for Achievement First Amistad High School, a public charter school that serves 238 New Haven and Bridgeport kids on Prince Street.

The charter group won approval from the state legislature last month for the $35 million project. The state would pay $24 million, and Achievement First would pay for the rest, according to Ochoa.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/amistad_seeks_to_buy_mlk_school/

and "the rest" will come from your school taxes. win-win, eh? a different state, but it's their M.O.

The Rhode Island Board of Regents Thursday gave preliminary approval to a controversial charter school plan that has divided the city.

In a 5-4 vote, with chairman George Caruolo casting the tie-breaker, the regents voted to permit Achievement First, a charter school operator with schools in New York and Connecticut, to open two elementary schools in Providence also serving children in Cranston, Warwick and North Providence.

The application had the strong support of Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and the Providence School Board. The school committees in the other three districts were strongly opposed to the proposal as were labor leaders, many Providence teachers and West Side parents.

The schools are expected to open in the fall of 2013.

http://news.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/2012/02/regents-give-go.html

Now, before you look, take a moment to reflect on what we've been told about Achievement First. They're a non-profit organization. True. But certain members of the organization will profit - hand over fist profit. It's a "public" charter school. Politifact wouldn't even give this a half-true. Sure, they're going to take money from the public, but they're not accountable to the public. Why would they be? Their sole purpose is to last seven years, so their investors can cash in. They'll "share best practices" with sending districts. I'm sure all the children of Providence will do very well if Achievement First will share its lobbyists, public relations staff, advertising budget, and ability to lure billionaire investors - because those are the only practices they can prove are working.

So, without further ado, I give you Civic Builders' portfolio. These are the schools they're building or renovating - and managing. The Chairman of their Board of Directors holds the same position at ConnCAN (I fear I can't place enough emphasis on this).

http://wecanri.org/blog/how-achievement-first-and-ri-can-are-same-following-money-part-1

[hack89]

15. They lease presently shuttered school buildings

invest $5 million in capital improvements and the city still maintains ownership.

http://cranston.patch.com/articles/achievement-first-selects-providence-sites-for-charter-school

I don't think you appreciate how poor Providence schools are - the present system is broken and parents are desperate and angry. This move is popular in Providence.

[HiPointDem]

16. uh-huh. well, we'll see who winds up owning them.

[hack89]

20. They were a liability to the taxpayers

they were shuttered yet the city had to pay maintenance and security costs. They were of no economic value to the city.

[HiPointDem]

21. uh-huh. a terrible liability, i'm sure. the schools that are emptied to fill achievement first's

two new buildings will no doubt become similar liabilities.

and eventually, the public schools will be out of the schooling business & the schools will belong to the charter operators, who will consolidate and concentrate (as all deregulated industries eventually do). and all the nice little mom & pop's will sell out to the national operators like achievement first, and then the mask of 'nonprofit' will come off.

but your kids will be out of school by then and the future be damned, right?

Meet Art Reimers: He retired from Goldman Sachs in 2001...Art Reimers sits on the Board of Directors of ConnCAN...

(Meet) Brian Olsen...chairman of ConnCAN's Board of Directors...after cutting his teeth at Morgan Stanley...one of the young co-founders of the multi-billion dollar hedge fund, Viking Global Investors....Chairman of the Board of Civic Builders, a non-profit "facilities director" for urban charter schools.

The national Campaign for Achievement Now - 50CAN - is presided over by its founder, Marc Porter-Magee. 50CAN is the parent organization for ConnCAN, MinnCAN, RI-CAN, NYCAN and MarylandCAN. Oh, speaking of parents, Marc Porter-Magee and Mike Magee (president of the Rhode Island Mayoral Academies) share theirs.

Their parents, that is. Get it? So that's how we make the RIMA-RI-CAN-ConnCAN-50CAN connection. But how does Achievement First work its way into this little family business? Easy. Meet the Missus, Kathleen Porter-Magee (wife of Marc, Sister in Law of Mike). She's the curriculum and assessment developer for Achievement First. She's also a research director at the Fordham Institute.

Goldman Sachs created the Urban Investment Group to take advantage of New Markets Tax Credits.

Basically, investments that qualify for the NMTC receive 39% of their original value in federal tax credits over the course of seven years. In addition, because these investments are loans, the investment group gets its original dollar amount back - plus interest. Essentially, you wait seven years and double your money.

So the for-profit Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group works with the Low Income Investment Fund, whose Board of Directors is led by the manager of the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, Daniel Nissenbaum, to finance the development of facilities for urban Charter Management Organizations like Achievement First and Democracy Prep (remember them?).

Luckily, we know where to go for charter school facilities. Civic Builders, of course...!

http://wecanri.org/blog/how-achievement-first-and-ri-can-are-same-following-money-part-1


Fat, dumb, and ripe for the plucking.

[hack89]

32. Ok - we like charter schools. They work. nt

[wtmusic]

35. They work...better. For now.

How will they work in twenty years, when Roger Ailes Elementary School is piping Fox News into every homeroom?

Maybe the answer isn't to seek private investment, but improve public investment.

[hack89]

37. In RI at least, there is no relationship between spending and student achievement

the top performing school districts have some of the lowest student per capita spending while the worse performing school districts have some of the highest per capita spending.

How we teach and how schools are organized are just as important as money. If the process is broken then pouring money into it will not make things better. The stated purpose of charter schools in RI is to be incubators for transforming education. That is why the state school superintendent and state government exercise such strict oversight - they are looking for new ways to do business.

It is accepted in RI that our school systems don't work - they do not prepare our kids to succeed in a modern economy. They need to change.

[wtmusic]

45. Improving public investment doesn't necessarily mean more money.

It means allocating money where it does the most good.

It's wonderful that the stated purpose of charter schools is to be incubators for transforming education, but the entire concept is shortsighted. The idea that corporate involvement will, in the long term, do anything but marginalize poorer/underperforming students and present serious conflict-of-interest issues - is naive.

I was quite serious with my earlier hypothetical. What's the incentive for a strapped school board to reject a "$20 million computer lab", courtesy of Fox News, in exchange for presenting kids with an "informative" morning news program? Do you not see where this is headed?

[HiPointDem]

56. like i said, show me the data.

[hack89]

59. Here are the RI school reports for every school and every district.

http://www.ride.ri.gov/RIDE/reportcards.aspx

[HiPointDem]

66. i don't see any way to compare charters v. non-charters within districts or states, nor over time.

nor pre-charter to post-charter.

i see a bunch of individual school reports.

[hack89]

68. When I Google "RI charter schools" this is what I got

http://www.ride.ri.gov/commissioner/charterschools/DOCS/CHARTER%20SCHOOL%20CONTACT%20LIST%20%20Jan%202012.pdf

[HiPointDem]

70. as you say RI charters are better than other RI schools & have improved outcomes for

students of similar populations, i'm wondering how you know that.

i assumed there was some pre-existing analysis that compared these things and came to those conclusions.

you're giving me a list of charter schools and telling me to do the analysis myself.

i know i said 'show me the data,' but i didn't expect to have to do the complete analysis.

at any rate, there's no longitudinal data even in the stuff you gave me.

[hack89]

73. I think we have reached the point where the spoon feeding ends

I know your only purpose is to find away to reject charters so lets save us both a lot of trouble and let you go on your way happy in your convictions.

[HiPointDem]

76. I'm seriously not trying to be difficult. But I would like to know what the official analysis says

before I attempt to construct one from scratch.

at any rate, i have to leave shortly. but i will come back this eve with analysis.

[Dustlawyer]

36. The system is broken b/c the powers that be intentionally starve the schools so they

will do poorly, then everyone wants to try the NEW thing!

[hack89]

38. No - Providence has some of the highest per student spending in the state.

there is no connection between student achievement and spending in RI - the top performing school districts have some of the lowest student per capita spending while the worse performing school districts have some of the highest per capita spending.

[HiPointDem]

43. uh, yes, so the PR says in every state in the union. but when you actually look into the numbers,

it ain't quite the case.

[hack89]

46. If you say so. nt

[HiPointDem]

49. show me the data for RI.

[hack89]

53. Sure

From FY2010. The top 4 school districts: Barrington, N. Kingston, Portsmouth, and E. Greenwich are in the lower half of the rankings.

http://www.ride.ri.gov/Finance/funding/Uniform%20Chart%20of%20Accounts/2010/STATE/FY10%20Equalized%20Expenditures%20Report%20-%20Sorted.pdf

[HiPointDem]

100. So since i don't know much about RI, i'm comparing the one city/district i do know a bit about

to barrington.

Per pupil expenditure:

Barrington: $12,682
Central Falls: $19,866

Difference: $7184 (or about $40/d/pupil on a 180-day calendar)


The districts (& their collection areas) are about the same size population-wise, but as a native, you already know:

Median family income:

Barrington: $84K
Central Falls: $26K

Percent white:

B: 93%
CF: 57%

Percent of households with children that are married couples (v. unmarried, single-parent, or other groupings)

B: 69%
CF: 37%

So that's the general flavor: CF = poor, high-minority, non-trad/unstable families; Barrington the opposite. Which has ramifications for school funding -- school lunch funding, for example.

<5% of Barrington students are eligible for free/reduced-price school lunches. In CF, it's 81%.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:b9Rc1LyYfeAJ:www.ride.ri.gov/instruction/intech/RITEAF/RITEAFpdf/2012-13_Paperwork/2012-13%2520Lunch%2520Data/Binder-2010_NSLP_Eligibility%2520Report%2520with%2520ERATE%2520Discount.pdf+%22barrington%22+%22central+falls%22+percent+reduced+price+school+lunch&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjXSceJpzI-rFbSsKZbcXx39c-aUfAq4I053E0RpXDk5RyodxB9jjQAFJFjrlvdU3ggQNjd2MJuOvtZoiTa16LVniT4bPOlPOjok7O8spM96gWAd2YNaleOQo753scHlmpg-fHJ&sig=AHIEtbQYxGqtfzddarfVEhXK2S5AbCQKHA

Feds reimburse average of $2.66 for every free/reduced-price school lunch served.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:guFXV9lrUKIJ:www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/aboutlunch/NSLPFactSheet.pdf+how+much+reimbursement+do+schools+gets&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESigj1GOwTpX18A8NZCkuW0qcGgrilOQSkz-TlUoE-eE_oOn0qtUXv64vTGkfJ9I-k5zjQuI_H9gOzFTmGxH2AiJ4xPgWJlWlN8Ww9ajtn8TyTg-cj3yUmknhwGs7OhERm8BE3Ar&sig=AHIEtbSQly6On0sn-tY1Ns8NvOqTuQKHGg

For barrington district, if every eligible child ate, that would be:

4.6% of 3482 students = 160 students x $2.66 = $426/d@180 days/year = $76.7K/yr
Per pupil funding/yr = $22

For central falls:

81% of 2821 students = 2285 students x $2.66 = $6078/d@180 days/yr = $1,094,058/yr
Per pupil funding/yr = $388

Difference: Central Falls, +$366


That's an example of the kind of thing affecting per pupil expenditures. Percent ELL students, percent students with disabilities, percent students on IEPs, etc.

It's more expensive to provide an equivalent education to high-poverty, high-needs kids. And even more so if your expectation is equivalent outcomes. I don't see any way around that basic fact given current realities -- & I don't think there are too many folks who want to do away with lunches for poor kids or who think they can provide them cheaper than $2.66/d.

And charter schools get the same funding for the same kids. So they're not educating those children more cheaply; in fact, in schools i'm aware of where high-needs populations get significantly improved outcomes (like harlem childrens' zone) funding is significantly higher -- funded by big-pockets donors, on top of government funding.

But if there's some rhode island miracle, please post the information, I'd like to see what they're doing.

PS: At least between Barrington & Central falls, the funding difference seems to have little to do with teacher salaries.

CF steps start a bit higher ($43 v. $38K, which I'd guess is a little sweetening to induce new teachers to come to a high-poverty district) -- but Barrington maxes out higher: ($72 v. $70K).

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:dw6KHCsz85wJ:www.neari.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Public/Salaries2000-2009.pdf+median+teachers+salary+barrington+rhode+island&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESin4vSOc_vwcnPOj346CQ64DKfZNbzhj1eYa7hiEtnecC9Q9zrmIOf9wTVlyrg6VEgOSPm6mHfs5bgLvQzq-sACEcEcm1O1FV5VWlxmEP9oOsiXwRdbJBzT3sTzoh6ZxptsYsnO&sig=AHIEtbTnYnavY2rfl1YGphaOZBPHUaxK4w


The difference in 'home capital' the two sets of students start out with is about $58K. That 'home capital' represents greater family stability, greater material affluence, higher parental education levels & contact hours, a more stable/less dangerous community, etc.

Not sure that $40/student really compensates.

[proud2BlibKansan]

54. Yep. That's what they say about the schools where I teach also.

And several regularly out perform suburban schools.

But if THAT got out, all that money going to bankers and others who want to 'reform' our urban schools would dry up.

Gotta justify making these folks rich.

[bluestate10]

31. Do the Charter schools take any child that show up at their doors?

If not, they are not equal to public schools, which have to take any child.

[hack89]

33. Pretty much.

Before approval by the state, the charter school must provide:

(b) The school’s plans for identifying and successfully serving students with disabilities, students who are English language learners, students who are academically behind, and gifted students, including but not limited to compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

Secondly, since many charters are run by the local school districts, their charters contain specific demographic goals. For instance, the charter will say that 80% of all students must come from that district. Considering that charter schools are more common in poorer districts, it ensures that the charter school cannot cherry pick applicants from all over the state.

[wtmusic]

40. And how are the remaining 20% of students in the district served by this arrangement? nt

[hack89]

47. That number was just a hypothetical

no reason why the school district can't say 100%

[Phentex]

42. Many of them are the public school

and no application is required for students in the resident area, special needs included.

There are many kinds of charters. They really should not all be lumped together.

[reformist2]

3. I'm kind of shocked to read that they do *worse* than traditional public schools.

I think more people need to know this.

[zazen]

5. some do far worse; some do far better

And there's little rigorous qualitative research conducted yet on the schools. The quant metrics used, say for predominantly minority charters, show lower test scores but don't measure whether attitude, motivation, solidarity, and other indicators are better.

We support HBCUs at the college level. If minority parents want a predominantly minority charter for their children , I don't feel I have the right to oppose that.

And in NC, some non-profit, highly progressive charter schools are amazing--in the top 1% in the nation. But yes, they aren't equal, in that parents have to provide transportation. That screens out a lot of poorer families right there. Otherwise, it's a lottery.

[oldsarge54]

23. The Effect of Creaming

As a retired teacher, one effect of charter/private schools is creaming. The voucher schools can and are selective about who may enter, thus taking the best and brightest away from the public schools. It has also been my experience that should children be a behavior problem at these voucher schools, they are asked to leave, and returned to the public schools. Interesting to note, charter schools/private for profit, do not have to meet the same regulations, the same testing standards, etc, as the public schools do. Then again, this is Perry's Texas.

If we ask nicely enough, could the national Republicans PLEASE take him away?

[hack89]

7. Not in every state

it depends how they are regulated and monitored by the state. States that do not allow for profit organizations to run charter schools do well.

[HiPointDem]

13. i think you better do some reading.

http://wecanri.org/blog/how-achievement-first-and-ri-can-are-same-following-money-part-1

In any case, at this rate, if Achievement First succeeds with their strategic plan they will be collecting upwards toward $10 million a year in “Management Fees”.

http://jonathanpelto.com/2012/01/03/can-conncan-con-conn-2/

[hack89]

17. In RI the charter schools do as well as public schools.

Achievement First has yet to open a school in RI. So we know that charter schools do work in RI and they work well.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. The results are dramatically mixed

Charter schools are too diverse to lump them all together. Some of them that are taking some very specific and original ways of doing things are doing well. They are also not run by for profit companies.

[HiPointDem]

18. there's not a goddamn thing any charter does that's "very specific" or "original".

and there's plenty of charters run for profit, as well as charters that call themselves 'non-profit' but in fact make profits.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

24. What about language immersion charters?

You must have forgotten that the charter movement started with educators looking for new ways to teach children effectively, particularly those not being well served by the standard public system.

Those remain the small minority now that much of the charter movement has been taken over by large organizations.

BTW, how can a non-profit make profits and to whom does it go? Tax and corporate laws are pretty specific about that kind of thing.

[HiPointDem]

41. omg, language immersion! earth-shattering revolution! unprecedented! why didn't anyone

ever think of that before hedge funders came along?

The first modern language immersion programs appeared in Canada in the 1960s...In the United States, and since the 1980s, dual immersion programs have grown ...Language immersion classes can now be found throughout the US, in urban and suburban areas, in dual-immersion and single language immersion, and in an array of languages. As of May 2005, there were 317 dual immersion programs in US elementary schools, providing instruction in 10 languages, and 96% of programs were in Spanish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_immersion

In our program students begin their school experience in kindergarten with 90% of the instruction in Spanish. At each grade level the percentage of English increases and the Spanish decreases until at fourth and fifth grade the students receive 50% of their instruction in each language. Our program is a dual language program with a mixture of native Spanish speakers and native English speakers and they are all on their way to becoming bilingual. When instruction takes place in English, the Spanish speakers are immersed in their second language. In the same manner, when instruction is in Spanish, our native English speakers are immersed in their second language. In this way, each child has a time in the day when the instruction is in their native language and they have a chance to lead and shine.

http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools/atkinson/208.htm

BTW, how can a non-profit make profits and to whom does it go? Tax and corporate laws are pretty specific about that kind of thing.

are they indeed?

1. Goldman Sachs created the Urban Investment Group to take advantage of New Markets Tax Credits. Basically, investments that qualify for the NMTC receive 39% of their original value in federal tax credits over the course of seven years. In addition, because these investments are loans, the investment group gets its original dollar amount back - plus interest. Essentially, you wait seven years and double your money. So the for-profit Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group works with the Low Income Investment Fund, whose Board of Directors is led by the manager of the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, Daniel Nissenbaum, to finance the development of facilities for urban Charter Management Organizations like Achievement First and Democracy Prep (remember them?)....

article details the ties between these various organizations & one particular 'nonprofit' charter school chain.

http://wecanri.org/blog/how-achievement-first-and-ri-can-are-same-following-money-part-1


2. Did you see that talk Karen Lewis gave last November? It's on youtube; it's the one where she made fun of Arne Duncan's list. Anyway, what caught my attention was her opening, in which she said that the entire district plan was about real estate. It read like a real estate development plan, she said, not an education plan.

http://isteve.blogspot.com/2012/09/charter-schools-and-real-estate-plays.html

3. REIT is a common acronym for Real Estate Investment Trust. This is a tax designation for a company that invests in real estate and is required to distribute 90% of its income, which may be taxable if held by the REIT, into the hands of the REIT investors...I have encountered a few in the charter school world as they look for safe, profitable investments for their funds. Virtually all of the REITS with which I have had discussions are looking for equity investments or ownership of the facilities as opposed to granting a mortgage loan to their school clients. After becoming the owner, they want to enter into a long-term lease with the school tenant with the usual triple net, annual escalator, etc. features normally found in long-term commercial leases. This means that the school/lessee is responsible for all upkeep, repair, etc. costs associated with ownership but without the ownership. The lease escalators are generally aggressive, being based on a fixed percentage, the consumer price index, or a real estate value index of some sort...

REITS often like to associate themselves with education management companies (“EMO”). This association provides financial benefits to the EMO and the REIT. ...There are many of these REIT/EMO partnerships that remind me of a couple of vultures feeding off of an emaciated carcass. I cannot count how many schools have called me about how to get out of a bloated EMO contract and/or similarly bloated lease contract.

An EMO is an educational management organization. In many states, charter emos have to be 'non-profit'. but by association with a for-profit reit, they can, as the (pro-charter) writer says, "suck the carcass".

http://www.providencefinancialco.com/Charter-Schools/Charter-Schools-2010/dCharterSchoolInvestors01b.asp

Imagine charter schools follow this model:

When students first entered Imagine Academy of Academic Success four years ago, their school was already entangled in a complex series of real estate deals — ones that would divert dollars from their education. By the time they were on their first summer break, their brown brick building at 1409 East Linton Avenue had been sold three times, the final price nearly 10 times higher than the first. In the process, the company running the school — along with a small group of other players — cashed in...

Imagine Schools Inc., the nation's largest charter school operator, runs six charter schools in St. Louis. Together, their performance on state standardized exams is worse than any school district in Missouri. Nevertheless, those schools are generating millions of dollars for Imagine and a Kansas City-based real estate investment company through real estate arrangements ultimately supported with public education money.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/imagine-schools-real-estate-deals-fuel-company-growth/article_dbf9b959-0c73-586c-97e7-6fca3a729b39.html

[ProgressiveProfessor]

88. You continue to ignore and denigrate the niche charter school

Those are no threat to public education and serve those poorly served in standard schools. Language immersion is just a sample, there are others, including those focusing on teen mothers.

I do not support those that are a clone of the existing public system. They are not addressing unique circumstances or needs.

Your comment on non- profits still does not answer the question of how the non profits are profiting.

[HiPointDem]

95. you said charters were doing all these innovative things. charters are a trojan horse *designed*

to destroy public education. who are you trying to kid?

i gave you two very detailed examples of how non-profits are *already* profiting. if you chose not to read, not my problem.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

98. I said niche charters were doing innovative things and addressing things the mainline schools cannot

That you lump those in with the later takeover ones show you lack of understanding of critical details.

Same goes with how the non-profits are profiting. They aren't, those they contract with are. Again, details are important, but you seem not to be interested.

[HiPointDem]

99. You said, & I quote: Some of them that are taking some very specific and original ways of doing

things..."

to which i replied, there's *nothing* charters do that is very specific or original.

to which you said: "what about language immersions charters?"

upon which i pointed you to the history of language immersion programs in the public schools & an elementary program in a district very near me.

which you completely ignore while returning to your "some charters are nice, good, non-profit, why can't you understand"? spiel.

got another 'innovation'?

i understand very well that some charters are nice, good, & truly nonprofit, not wanting to destroy public ed just wanting their own little school.

to me that fact pales in the face of the bigger picture, which is that those 'nice' little charters were just the opening wedge in an all-out assault on public education.

and when it comes down to brass tacks, those 'nice' little independent charters & their supporters stand with the larger charter movement against public schools.

I repeat: Charter schools have no 'innovations'. They have a lot of money & a lot of windy talk.

[lonestarnot]

19. K & R!

[fasttense]

22. Vouchers are NOT charter schools.

Vouchers are a "free" market, neoliberal, Chicago school, Pinochet's Chile idea. Just like everything else Milton the tool and fool of the filthy rich thought up, vouchers are designed to turn our nation's wealth over to corporations and the uber rich. Profit over everything. Just imagine you complaining to a corporation because you 8th grader can't read. Do you think the corporation will care? They will refer you to their call center in a foreign country.

[wtmusic]

34. Are charters not turning our nation's wealth over to corporations as well? nt

[wtmusic]

25. Don't assess teachers after they're hired?

That's insane.

Granted, in many cases the metrics are currently flawed and/or too simplistic. But take Teacher X, who hands out an assignment at the beginning of class then plays on his computer for the remainder of the period. He has a long-term plan in mind?

Gimme a break (teacher X was my daughter's teacher).

[proud2BlibKansan]

57. Comprehension. It matters.

[wtmusic]

61. Not nearly as much as comprehensibility.

[proud2BlibKansan]

62. Do you understand the difference between assess and evaluate?

[wtmusic]

65. Of course. And OP is not using it in the educational context. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

72. The OP isn't addressing evaluation

And it never says teachers shouldn't be evaluated.

[wtmusic]

75. OP is using "assessment" as a synonym for "evaluation"

http://thesaurus.com/browse/assessment?s=t

[proud2BlibKansan]

102. No it's not.

It's talking about assessing a teacher's abilities BEFORE he/she begins teaching. Evaluation is what you do to determine the effectiveness of a teacher AFTER he/she has taught for a period of time.

[wtmusic]

104. "Assessment of Teachers? Before Hiring, Not After."

Advocating assessment (evaluation) before as an ALTERNATIVE to assessment (evaluation) after.

How far do you want to carry this because of pride? Your argument is more than a bit ridiculous.

[Starry Messenger]

28. k&r

[bluestate10]

29. As long as public schools have to take any child that shows up at their doors,

The will never be as good as charter or private schools that take highly selected children. The solution is to give public schools the resources that they need to deal with good and difficult children. Shrink class sizes. Have special ed classes for slow children that are classes and not storage lockers, provide lots of resources and extra teaching assistants to those classes so that slow kids can be caught up.

[joeglow3]

30. How much of the "tax avoided" is really just a timing item (i.e. bonus depreciation).

The article implied that companies will be paying $250 billion less in taxes every year in perpetuity. That is not the case, as the impact of bonus depreciation will flip in a few years and tax rates will shoot up over 35%. What is their end game then? I don't know about other cities, but a huge problem for us is shifting population bases with children. We have a TON of schools on the Eastern side of town, where there are fewer children (old part of town) and packed schools on the Western side of town.

[allan01]

39. re:Now We Know Our ABCs. And Charter Schools Get an F.

in ca , all charter schools ARE public schools by law, and must accecpt every one . charter schools must accecpt public monies ( boo). all charter schools must have a state approved carriculm and adhere to the standardized testing. all charter schools must charter in the county and district in which they were charted.

[Phentex]

44. In GA, I can't say all...

but some of the ones in my area are exactly as you describe. They are public schools open to everyone in the resident area.

[LynneSin]

50. Not all charter schools are a failure

The Red Clay Consolidated School District here in Wilmington has 3 chartered schools as part of it's system along with 4 regular high schools.

The 3 chartered schools are Wilmington Charter, Cab Calloway and Delaware Military Academy.

Wilmington Charter is one of the best public high schools in the state and even the country. It's a great school for those who would love to send their kids to an expensive private school like Tower Hill or Wilmington Friends but don't have the money for tuition. The school promote AP courses and is a great prep school for college. Something like 99% of all students take the SAT.

Cab Calloway is the school of arts for kids who want to focus on Music, Dance and other artistic endeavors. What's nice is it shares the campus with Wilmington Charter so Cab kids can take AP classes in there. (Cab provides the marching band for CHarter's football team).

I don't know as much about the Military academy.

This is how charter schools should be used - as specialty schools within a school district that can give opportunities for children without the crazy cost of tuition.

Unfortunately these schools i mentioned are the exception to the rule when it comes to CHarter Schools.

[proud2BlibKansan]

60. Nationwide, 17% have been successful.

[LynneSin]

67. That high?

I just think charter schools should be rehabbed so they work with part of a school district to give opportunities to exceptional children or even children with special needs.

But in the state of Delaware i can't think of one other charter school that does as well other than an elementary charter school here in the city.

I understand that even as a single person that part of taxes will go towards public schools but damnit, I'm pissed when I read about these failing charter schools. I'm tired of my tax dollars going towards those!

[proud2BlibKansan]

74. That's a national average

A study was published last year.

[hack89]

90. Two thirds of the charters schools in that study were the equal or better than public schools

The group portrait shows wide variation in performance. The study reveals that a decent fraction
of charter schools, 17 percent, provide superior education opportunities for their students.
Nearly half of the charter schools nationwide have results that are no different from the local
public school options and over a third, 37 percent, deliver learning results that are significantly
worse than their student would have realized had they remained in traditional public schools.

http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/MULTIPLE_CHOICE_CREDO.pdf

[BlueStreak]

77. Do you have a reference on that?

[HiPointDem]

78. stanford credo study

[BlueStreak]

79. Here's a link

http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/MULTIPLE_CHOICE_CREDO.pdf

[hack89]

89. You misread the report. It says 17% are superior to public schools

half are equally successful as public schools and 37% are worse.

The group portrait shows wide variation in performance. The study reveals that a decent fraction
of charter schools, 17 percent, provide superior education opportunities for their students. Nearly half of the charter schools nationwide have results that are no different from the local public school options and over a third, 37 percent, deliver learning results that are significantly worse than their student would have realized had they remained in traditional public schools.

http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/MULTIPLE_CHOICE_CREDO.pdf

[proud2BlibKansan]

91. I didn't misread anything

Same as is not the same as successful in the world of education.

[hack89]

92. So public schools are not a good standard by which to judge a successful school?

I don't agree with that - I am very satisfied with the public schools my kids attend.

[girl gone mad]

94. Spending more money to get the same result is a success to you?

Okay.

[hack89]

97. In RI they don't cost more

they are all public schools run by school districts. So I don't see charters as good or bad - just different.

[KSstellarcat]

80. Sure, they may admit students based on a lottery, but do they have to keep them?

In my limited experience, public schools bend over backwards to keep all students, even the most violent and disruptive...because they have to! Students on IEPs have a limited number of suspensions that they can be given in any given year. This would include the fifth grader who kicked and punched the principal several times when in trouble. This includes the violent second grader who had to have a padded room that locks by pushing a button on the outside, so that the paras who were working with him could escape from his out of control tirades. Do charter schools have the ability to expel these students?

[MAUREENH60]

82. charter schools

abosolutely do not have to keep the problem kids - they are evaluated and catagorized as special needs - they are out the door

[proud2BlibKansan]

84. Yet they are required by law to take these kids

They also aren't supposed to kick them out.

Charter school accountability is a huge problem.

[hack89]

85. Not when charters are legally considered considered public schools

then they have to meet all state laws regarding special needs. These are the requirements in RI

vi. an assurance that the school shall improve academic achievement as defined by the academic goals established in C-1-4 (h) (ii) for increasing academic achievement for all groups of students in which the number of students in a category is sufficient to yield statistically valid information, including:
1. economically disadvantaged students,
2. students from major racial and ethnic groups,
3. students with disabilities, and
4. students with limited English proficiency.

http://www.ride.ri.gov/regents/Docs/RegentsRegulations/Charter_%20Regulations_%20for_%20Promulgation_%2020%2011.pdf


In RI, special ed is regionalized so it is not an issue - the school has access to all the services they need.

[KSstellarcat]

93. Sorry, but your post does not state the grounds on which a student can be removed from a charter.

Frankly, charter schools were created originally to try to help the most disadvantaged students. Now that for-profit charters and high stakes testing are involved, that is no longer the case. Charter schools are all about taking power away from teacher unions. Some teachers are fine with that (longer student hours, smaller paychecks, etc) because they have other reasons for being attracted to a certain job...same with private school teachers. I was not a union member, but I had my contracts negotiated along with everyone else, and I am grateful for it.

I went above and beyond for my students, both in direct service (i.e. working with a struggling student after school) and in lesson prep time. I certainly didn't wasn't someone dictating to me that I had to be on call at all hours or had to attend numerous meetings and functions beyond our contract time, which is what charter schools can get away with. There had to be a line somewhere with my time, because I had my own young children to raise.