tagged w/ Charter Schools
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In keeping with the long and ignoble tradition of plastering the Lord's Prayer on every flat surface in creation, Christians in the Indiana legislature have introduced a bill to require reciting the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of every school day.In keeping with the long and ignoble tradition of plastering the Lord's Prayer on... more
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"A fund called The Michael R. Bloomberg Revocable Trust, of which the principal trustee is New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, donated $100,000 to a Baton Rouge-based political action committee just days before a pivotal Louisiana election that decided the make-up of the state’s main K-12 board of education.
The PAC in question, Alliance for Better Classrooms, spent at least $300,000 in contributions on behalf of generally pro-charter, anti-teacher-tenure and anti-union candidates running for positions on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).
The elections were this past Saturday, and though a couple of races are still inconclusive, state campaign finance reports show the business lobby, buttressed by Bloomberg dollars, far outspent groups aligned with teacher union positions.
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Is anybody surprised about the pro charter (read as CORPORATE) schools, anti-teachers union?
Folks, too many of us have made fun of home schooling. But we might want to give some serious consideration to the fact of corporate takeovers of public schools and what sort of mind warping wraps that means for young minds."A fund called The Michael R. Bloomberg Revocable Trust, of which the principal... more
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a magnet for fraud. Between 2005 and 2011, the US Department of Education opened 53 investigations into charter school fraud, resulting in 21 indictments and 17 convictions. Twenty-seven investigations are pending. Let’s just say the following schools didn’t make it into Waiting for “Superman”:a magnet for fraud. Between 2005 and 2011, the US Department of Education opened 53... more
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Karen Lewis: Obama's "Race to the top" means a lot of students will be losersKaren Lewis: Obama's "Race to the top" means a lot of students will be... more
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by Zach Carter, Media Consortium blogger
Last week, the U.S. Senate rejected a plan that would have broken up the nation’s six largest banks firms into firms that could fail without wreaking havoc on the economy. Even though the defeat reinforces Wall Street’s political dominance, there is still room for a handful of other useful reforms, like banning banks from gambling with taxpayer money and protecting consumers from banker abuses. After looting our houses, banks are now pushing for the ability to bet on movie box-office receipts, and will keep trying to financialize anything they can unless Congress acts.
Wall Street calls the shots
Writing for The Nation, John Nichols details last week’s Capitol Hill damage. Today’s financial oligarchy, in which a handful of bigwig bankers and their lobbyists are able to write regulations and evade rules they don’t like, will still be in place after the Wall Street reform bill is passed. The lesson is clear, as Nichols notes:
Whatever the final form of federal financial services reform legislation, one thing is now certain: The biggest of the big banks will still be calling the shots.
Still worth fighting for
As I emphasize for AlterNet, Congress has made a terrible mistake here, but there is still room for reform. It took President Franklin Delano Roosevelt seven years to enact his New Deal banking laws. It took even longer to reshape public opinion of monopolies when President Theodore Roosevelt took on Corporate America in the early 1900s.
What’s still worth fighting for? We have to curb the derivatives market—the multi-trillion-dollar casino that destroyed AIG. We have to impose a strong version of the Volcker Rule, which would ban banks from engaging in speculative trading for their own accounts. We have to change the way the Federal Reserve does business and force the government’s most secretive bailout engine to operate in the open. And we have to establish a strong, independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency to ensure that the horrific subprime mortgage abuses are not repeated.
As Nomi Prins details for The American Prospect, the current reform bill will not effectively deal with the dangers posed by hedge funds and private equity firms—companies that partnered with banks to blow up the economy through investments in subprime mortgages. That means that whatever happens with the current bill, Congress must again take action next year to rein in other financial sector excesses.
The derivatives casino at the movies
As Nick Baumann demonstrates for Mother Jones, banks are doing everything they can to gobble up other productive elements of the economy. The economy crashed in 2008 in large part because banks had used the derivatives market to place trillions of dollars in speculative bets on the housing market. This wasn’t lending, it was pure gambling: Instead of using poker chips, bankers placed their bets with derivatives. But, as Baumann emphasizes, banks are now looking to expand the sort of thing they can make derivatives gambles with. The latest proposal is to allow banks to bet on the box office success of movies. That’s right, banks would be gambling on movies.
Hollywood may be shallow, but it isn’t stupid. It doesn’t want to see the banking industry repeat its destructive looting of the housing industry on the movie business, and is pushing hard to ban banks from betting on movies. But we can’t count on every industry having a powerful lobby group to counter every assault from the banking system.
Taking stock in schools
Consider the unsettling report by Juan Gonzales of Democracy Now!. Gonzales details how big banks gamed the charter school system to score huge profits while simultaneously saddling taxpayers with massive debts that make teaching kids supremely difficult. By exploiting multiple federal tax credits, banks that invest in charter schools have been able to double their money in seven years—no small feat in the investing world—while schools have seen their rents skyrocket. One school in Albany, N.Y. saw its rent jump from $170,000 to $500,000 in a single year.
About that unemployment rate…
It’s not like public schools are flush with cash right now. The $330,000 increase in rent could pay the salaries of more than a few teachers. As the recession sparked by big bank excess grinds on, even the good news is pretty hard to swallow. As David Moberg emphasizes for Working In These Times, the economy added 290,000 jobs in April, but the unemployment rate actually climbed from 9.7 percent to 9.9 percent in March. That’s because the unemployment rate only counts workers who are actively seeking a job—if you want a job but haven’t found one for so long that you give up, you’re not technically “unemployed.” All of those “new” workers are driving the official figures up.
In other words, it’s still rough out there. And likely to stay rough as state governments try to deal with the lost tax revenue from plunging home values and mass layoffs. Nearly half of all unemployed people in the U.S. have been out of a job for six months or more. And while we’d be much worse off without Obama’s economic stimulus package, that percentage is likely to grow this year, Moberg notes.
This is what unrestrained banking behemoths do. They book big profits and bonuses for themselves, regardless of the consequences for the rest of the economy. Congress absolutely must impose serious financial reform this year. After the November election, breaking up the banks must once again be on the agenda when Congress considers the future fate of hedge funds, private equity firms, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If we don’t rein in Wall Street, banks will continue to wreak havoc on our homes, our jobs and even our schools. Congress must act.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the economy by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Audit for a complete list of articles on economic issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Mulch, The Pulse and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.by Zach Carter, Media Consortium blogger
Last week, the U.S. Senate rejected a plan... more
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April 22 is Earth Day. This provides many opportunities to learn. Along with attending special events, encourage your child to interact with nature. Here are a few inexpensive and easy-to-use items to teach about ecology, gardening and nutrition.April 22 is Earth Day. This provides many opportunities to learn. Along with... more
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Charter schools have come into vogue as an attractive alternative for parents and kids looking for innovative learning environments and higher test scores.
They've also become a priority in President Barack Obama's plan to overhaul the nation's education system.
And California legislators have pushed through laws that simplify charter funding and lift a cap on how many can operate in the state.
A new report by the California Charter Schools Association shows that more charters have opened this school year than in any year since 1992, when legislation first made them possible. The addition of 88 charter schools this year brings the total to 809 schools in California. Collectively, they enroll 341,000 students – about 5 percent of the state's student population.
Charters are part of the public school system and receive public money based on how many students they enroll. They don't have to comply with all the rules and regulations of traditional public schools but must meet student performance goals. Some, like the Performing and Fine Arts Academy at Natomas Charter School, offer a specialized curriculum. Others bill themselves as more- efficient alternatives to public schools.
More @ linkCharter schools have come into vogue as an attractive alternative for parents and kids... more
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To charter school or not to charter school? As the new school year kicks off, we talk to Brian Jones, a NYC public school teacher, James Merriman, CEO of NYC Center for Charter School Excellence, and Christian Roselund, a New Orleans-based writer and education advocate about the choice.To charter school or not to charter school? As the new school year kicks off, we talk... more
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A new study by a Stanford University research center determined that Arizona charter schools as a whole don't perform as well as their traditional K-8 counterparts.
In an effort to evaluate whether charter school students would have done better if they'd stayed in a more mainstream setting, The Center for Research on Education Outcomes followed more than 65,000 grade-school students in charter schools over four years, and compared them with peers in conventional public schools.A new study by a Stanford University research center determined that Arizona charter... more
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My 11-year-old stars in this pod about his charter school, which we all love. Step inside this amazing environment of only 100 kids to see and understand how a charter school works, and how Three Rivers has done such a fantastic job in just eight short years.My 11-year-old stars in this pod about his charter school, which we all love. Step... more
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A new career charter high school in Wilmington, Del., set to open in the fall of 2010, has been criticized for its focus on preparing students in homeland security careers. The Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, is looked upon by some as an oppressive arm of the government.
According to news reports, the charter school will forego college prep curriculum for such courses as weapons training. But Attorney Thomas Little, the project manager for the school, the Delaware Academy for Public Safety and Security (DAPSS), said the school is grounded in a college preparatory curriculum and will offer no weapons training.
With an 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. school day, DAPSS will offer training in a number of areas including “first responder” careers such as fire, police, paramedic, emergency room, nursing and water rescue. It will also prepare students for careers in airport and port security, border guard, prison guard, heavy equipment operation and the U.S. military.
Little said that at the start of the junior year, students would be able to volunteer for two years of drug testing. If cleared, they will be able to go directly into fire and police academies right after graduation.
Still, Little said, the intent of the school is to extend the inner city students’ academic horizons. “We know these kids are the toughest. We want to make them tough and smart,” he said.
Whenever possible, Little said the college prep curriculum will reflect the career mission of the school. “In history, one of the courses could be on the culture of honor, what protecting the tribe was about from the Greeks to the Samurai warrior,” he said. The senior year could include a course on the law of first response, including workers compensation, federal work safety standards and union grievance.
During the hour of physical education, students will also get training in areas useful for entering security and safety careers. In the fall, the school will offer rowing and swimming, and students will speak Spanish during the period. In the winter, the students will walk and run cross-country and speak Arabic. In the spring it will be track and field, and Chinese will be the language of the hour.
The school will also offer martial arts training, and field separate female and male judo teams, and possibly teams in debating and mock trial.
School organizers got a boost in June with the release of a long-term study of nine career academies that showed that eight years after graduation, students from career schools earned $2,088 more annually than students from other schools. Male at-risk students earned 17 percent more than other students.
The study by the Manpower Demonstration Research Corp. showed that 12th grade career academy students were more likely to remain in school, attend more regularly and earn more credits toward graduation. The career schools included academics, career studies, mentoring and work experience. Participants in the study were mainly black and Hispanic. When the study began in 1993, there were only about 500 career academies nationwide. Today there are more than 2,500.
The career academy planned for Wilmington will have a military orientation. Students will be called cadets, wear uniforms and be subject to a disciplinary system similar to that of fire and police academies and the U.S. military.
Headmaster Bruce Holaday of a military charter school in Oakland, Calif., said that military schools suffer from the stereotypes of drill sergeants and shaved heads. But, he said, “It is in how one understands the word, discipline. It is most associated with punishment and means painful, stern and harsh, laced with punishment. That is not what the word means in our school.”
*continues*A new career charter high school in Wilmington, Del., set to open in the fall of 2010,... more
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Schools, under pressure to boost student achievement, are offering incentives — field trips and cash, for example — to motivate students.
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A very slippery slope ... it's one thing for parents and grandparents to give out dimes and dollars for good grades every quarter, but quite different to institutionalize that behavior within school walls.
[I'd opine a bit more, but my wife just offered me two bucks to take out the garbage ... can't pass that up!]Schools, under pressure to boost student achievement, are offering incentives —... more
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Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, is K8 charter school in Minnesota. As a charter school, they are funded with taxpayer money. Which means that religion cannot be endorsed in the school.
The school says they do not encourage any religion.
However, according to a former teacher, this is not the case. The students pray together on Friday. And Islamic studies are taught like regular subjects.
A reported has been denied entry into the school. And the principal refused to be interviewed.
Take an in-depth look inside the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy. Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, is K8 charter school in Minnesota. As a charter school, they... more
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With high dropout rates facing many comunities this electoral season, I set out to tell the story of a new Charter school in my hometown that is virtually eliminating the problem.
In 2004 the Annie E Cassie Foundation ranked Louisiana 49th in the nation at giving public school children a chance for success. Luckily, due to Hurricane Katrina, New Orleanians have been given a second chance and are using new Charter Legislation to send more than half their kids to Charter Schools. Here's a look inside one of them. With high dropout rates facing many comunities this electoral season, I set out to... more
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To quote the first sentence of the article linked above "If your definition of "public school" is the regular public school system, you are talking about a slice of Milwaukee's educational infrastructure in which the student population is getting smaller each year." Milwaukee has been experimenting with school choice since 1990. School choice is a program that allows parents to use public funds, usually in the form of a voucher, to send their child to the school of their choice regardless of whether it is private or religious. The program was sold as a way of improving the public school system by offering competition and making the public schools fight for funding along side of charter schools, and so on and so forth. Let the free market decide what schools are good and which aren't. It doesn't work (see http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=678202). More and more public schools are closing down, and more and more charter schools are popping up. Why are we treating education as part of the free marketplace? Why are we privatizing education? At a time when jobs are scarce, and the dollar is plummeting, don't we need the best educated populace to compete in our global economy? Senator Herb Kohl, and baseball commissioner Bud Selig grew up in the same neighborhood I did (granted it was 50-60 years ago), and went to the public schools in the neighborhood. Today that neighborhood has one of the highest crime rates in the city, and a few of the public schools in it have closed down. We need to save our public schools not find an alternative. The problem with the public education system is endemic and reflective of the problems in our city and society on a whole. If we need alternative schools, then maybe we need an alternative society. To quote the first sentence of the article linked above "If your definition of... more
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