Hom sculls, charter scams - the un-education thread brought to you by the GOP's War on Education

[billy.pilgrim]

Not to be confused with the Education thread


https://whnt.com/2017/12/14/watch-this- ... o-harvard/


He's an excitable boy

but as with all things charter, there's more to the story ...


mostly because it's all bullshit

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/us/c ... dents.html


"More than a half-dozen students interviewed said they had witnessed Mr. Landry choking their schoolmates, and three students observed him slam others on desks. Another three students said they saw Mr. Landry place a child with autism in a closet."


"After each viral video and media appearance, donors including wealthy executives and older Americans on fixed incomes sent money. T.M. Landry took in more than $250,000 in donations this year.

Students and teachers rehearsed in the days before a visitor came"


"He told students that college officers observed them through the school’s security cameras, and that the universities were so involved with the school that they set T.M. Landry’s tuition rates."


Sure they did

[billy.pilgrim]

Word on the street is that Melania takes credit as this is part of her BeeStupid program.

[Vrede too]

The school privatization agenda took a major beating in the midterms
From California to New York, the charter school attack got a taste of democracy

In most U.S. cities, neighborhoods have grown more integrated. Their schools haven’t.

... The analysis finds that, between 1990 and 2015, 72 percent of U.S. cities saw their neighborhoods grow less racially segregated, by one measure. Sixty-two percent saw their schools grow more segregated over that same period....

Another city that saw a major spike in school segregation along with a modest decline in neighborhood segregation is Charlotte. Like Seattle, it’s seen a resegregation of schools in the wake of high-profile court cases.

Charlotte also has a number of charter schools; there and elsewhere in North Carolina, other research has found that charters have likely exacerbated segregation. (Coughlan’s Charlotte data does not include charter schools.) Nationally, research has shown that charters either exacerbate school segregation or have no effect on it.

“The broader literature at this point I think shows that charter schools do not integrate schools,” said Ann Owens, a sociologist at the University of Southern California who studies segregation.

Other research has shown that the existence of different school options can promote neighborhood integration (also described as gentrification). That could help explain Coughlan’s results, with a family’s ability to opt out of a neighborhood school encouraging their move to a neighborhood they wouldn’t otherwise have considered.

The disconnect between housing and schooling trends has important implications. For one, it means that divided neighborhoods shouldn’t be used as an excuse to do nothing about divided schools, said Tomas Monarrez, a researcher at the Urban Institute who has studied school boundaries.

“Neighborhood segregation is the result of a long, long history of discriminatory policies both on the part of private agents and the federal government,” he said. “School systems have gotten to ride that and say segregation’s not our fault.”

Instead, he argued, school leaders should be taking affirmative steps to integrate schools, and recognize that they may have to continually adjust their policies. “School attendance boundaries don’t have to replicate neighborhood segregation,” Monarrez said. “You can gerrymander school attendance boundaries to decrease it.”

City-by-city data ...

[Vrede too]

Executive Summary

North Carolina - F
Florida - F
South Carolina - F
Tennessee - D

[O Really]

I'm opposed to charter schools, and even more so to vouchers, but surprisingly there doesn't seem to be much correlation between this list and common lists showing overall quality of states' education systems. And of course, to make matters worse, there is a sizeable number of people who would reverse the grades, i.e. give an "A" to the states with the most charters/vouchers. And, there's nothing to be done about it nationally anyway because education is pretty much all within state authority. (a condition I might have complained about in the past but for which I'm bigly grateful in the age of Trump and DeVos)

[Vrede too]

I'm not sure about your point.

I'm opposed to charter schools, and even more so to vouchers, but surprisingly there doesn't seem to be much correlation between this list and common lists showing overall quality of states' education systems.

This report only intends to look at charter and privatization efforts, and such privatization is carried out somewhat differently in different states. Since most kids still go to public schools, overall quality will still be determined by other policy matters. This map does show some correlation, but it's not absolute.

And of course, to make matters worse, there is a sizeable number of people who would reverse the grades, i.e. give an "A" to the states with the most charters/vouchers.

Yep, those would be the people with a "Commitment to" charter and private schools rather than "Public Schools".

And, there's nothing to be done about it nationally anyway because education is pretty much all within state authority. (a condition I might have complained about in the past but for which I'm bigly grateful in the age of Trump and DeVos)

DeVos is doing everything she can to promote charters and privatization. Plus, what's the harm in looking at an organized, systematic national effort even if resistance has to happen mostly on the state and local level? Almost all of the cons are getting their blueprints from ALEC, not reinventing the wheel in their own states.

[O Really]

I may not have a point. I'm certainly not disputing the conclusions of the study. But I don't see charters as being awful just for existing - I see them as being awful because they don't increase the overall quality of public education. If they did, I'd probably find them a viable alternative or added module. I'm all for creativity in education, and don't know that everybody has to be taught in the exact same way and place. As they are, though, they're not properly regulated to educational standards, and siphon funds from the rest of the system. What I expected to read in the article, and was disappointed not to find, was that those states with "A's" for charters were more likely to have D's or F's for overall system quality.

[neoplacebo]

One of the area car dealers sponsors a daily pledge of allegiance spot showing kids (pre K to middle school) reciting the pledge. As far as I know, all the clips are from TN public schools, but I would say 8 of 10 show all white kids. Some of the clips have the teacher in them; some don't. At the end of the ad, what I assume is the general manager of the dealership says "god bless Amuruca" as if he can't pronounce America. I just figured he's hum skulled.

[Vrede too]

I may not have a point. I'm certainly not disputing the conclusions of the study. But I don't see charters as being awful just for existing - I see them as being awful because they don't increase the overall quality of public education.

They give their reasons for disliking vouchers and charters low in my original "Executive Summary" link in "FINDINGS REGARDING CHARTER SCHOOLS" and its subsection "Overall Civil Rights Protections". Then, there's more rationale re charters and vouchers offered in "Introduction: Benefits of Public Education", and tremendous detail in "Analysis".

If they did, I'd probably find them a viable alternative or added module. I'm all for creativity in education, and don't know that everybody has to be taught in the exact same way and place.

I don't think that the authors believe that, either. They merely argue that the right's attack on public education "as being awful just for existing" is the wrong way to go.

As they are, though, they're not properly regulated to educational standards,

Agreed. I spotted this in the "Analysis" link:

Arkansas, Maine and North Carolina plummet to the bottom for the failed accountability of their voucher programs. For instance, none of these states required background checks for teachers and employees in voucher schools....

Arizona is the worst state when it comes to accountability for its ESA programs with North Carolina, Nevada and Tennessee close behind. Arizona’s ESA (Education Savings Account) programs fail all the accountability requirements except the background check requirement, use of public money for administration of accounts, and state oversight of the distribution of funds. Nevada, North Carolina and Tennessee similarly fail all but 4 categories.

and siphon funds from the rest of the system.

Agreed, though it varies wildly.

For example, by law, the Tuition Tax-Credit Program in Montana allows for up to 100% of students in the state to participate; however, because the credit awarded is so insignificant (approximately $250), and the maximum tax credit so low ($150), the impact of the law is minimal. South Dakota’s awards and credits are similarly low. In both cases, fewer points were deducted.

Otoh, "Executive Summary" link:

These programs allow tax dollars (typically 90% of what the public school would have spent), to be used toward certain educational expenses including tuition and fees at private elementary and secondary schools, online programs, support and therapy services, homeschooling and college tuition.

$400 to 90% is a huge difference.

What I expected to read in the article, and was disappointed not to find, was that those states with "A's" for charters were more likely to have D's or F's for overall system quality.

That's not how their letter grades work, to them 'A's are bad. Also, as I mentioned above and is found in the original link:

FINDINGS REGARDING CHARTER SCHOOLS

California had the largest number of students enrolled in charter schools (568,800, representing over 9 percent of all public school students in the state), and the District of Columbia had the highest percentage of public school students enrolled in charter schools (43 percent, representing 35,800 students). However, both of these states received F’s for their lack of accountability, transparency and failure to protect the civil rights of students. In contrast, eight states had less than 1 percent of their public school students enrolled in charter schools in fall 2015: Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

The authors argue that charters are bad, but that's not going to bring down the entire system when most kids by far are still in traditional public schools. Google shows lots of articles about how the DC system is failing. Here's one, though it doesn't suggest the extent to which charter schools are the problem:

DC’s public schools go from success story to cautionary tale

It may be there somewhere, but I could not find proportional participation IDed for vouchers. I expect it's still a relatively small part of the total students.

[Vrede too]

NC 'quickly approaching' 200 charter schools

... Machado presented the latest charter schools annual report at the State Board of Education meeting Wednesday. The report showed charter school enrollment in North Carolina has increased more than 200 percent in the past 10 years.

Charters, which are publicly funded and privately run schools, have been booming in North Carolina with more than 109,000 students currently enrolled at 184 schools across the state. Last year, the state received 35 applications to open new charter schools. Twenty-two new charters are currently in a planning year/ready-to-open process.

Meanwhile, traditional public schools, which still educate the vast majority of students in North Carolina, have continued to see their numbers drop....

Charters first opened in North Carolina two decades ago. Since then, state funding for them has grown from about $16.5 million in 1997, when there were 34 schools, to more than $580 million last school year. Of the $8.93 billion in state funding for public education last school year, 6.5 percent was allotted to charter schools.

Sigh.

[O Really]

That sounds like a lot, and I guess it is, but 200 charters is, on average, only 2 schools per county, even though they're only in 60 counties. And probably not all of them are scams or camouflage for religious indoctrination. Here's the complete report that looks like where the original article took its data... https://www.ncleg.gov/documentsites/com ... Report.pdf

Maybe knock off some point for it being an NC gov't publication, but it is interesting.

[Vrede too]

That sounds like a lot, and I guess it is, but 200 charters is, on average, only 2 schools per county, even though they're only in 60 counties. And probably not all of them are scams or camouflage for religious indoctrination. Here's the complete report that looks like where the original article took its data... https://www.ncleg.gov/documentsites/com ... Report.pdf

Maybe knock off some point for it being an NC gov't publication, but it is interesting.

100K students does sound like a lot to me, even if it's only 6.5% of the total and growing. Plus, their impact is magnified somewhat due to charter school cherry picking.

Between the scams, Christian semi-madrassas (voucher schools are the full on madrassas), remote private management and discrimination, along with the reduced resources for regular public schools, and lack of improved academics after adjustment for the cherry picking, imo the experiment should be shut down now.

[billy.pilgrim]

That sounds like a lot, and I guess it is, but 200 charters is, on average, only 2 schools per county, even though they're only in 60 counties. And probably not all of them are scams or camouflage for religious indoctrination. Here's the complete report that looks like where the original article took its data... https://www.ncleg.gov/documentsites/com ... Report.pdf

Maybe knock off some point for it being an NC gov't publication, but it is interesting.

100K students does sound like a lot to me, even if it's only 6.5% of the total and growing. Plus, their impact is magnified somewhat due to charter school cherry picking.

Between the scams, Christian semi-madrassas (voucher schools are the full on madrassas), remote private management and discrimination, along with the reduced resources for regular public schools, and lack of improved academics after adjustment for the cherry picking, imo the experiment should be shut down now.

But won't.
Charters are just another right wing scam to convert taxpayer dollars to corporate profits.


https://www.orlandosentinel.com/feature ... story.html

"The percentage of charters run by for-profit companies was 45 percent in the 2017-18 school year, up from 25 percent seven years earlier, it said.

About 20 charters a year close, and at least 373 have closed in the last 20 years. “That comes with a cost to taxpayers," said Ben Wilcox, "

[Vrede too]

Agreed.

But won't....

I have some hope because parents and teachers are highly motivated, and teachers are highly educated. If the hard data doesn't support charters, at some point that may become undeniable.