Seattle Schools Community Forum

I mentioned - weeks ago - that I had wanted to do a round-up of charter schools and their outcomes in this country.  I am always amused when people say there's just a "handful" of stories being blown up.  Just not true. Here's we go. I don't know how anyone missed this one - a 1st grader in a big-chain charter school in NYC getting bullied by her teacher.  Before the teacher says anything, you should look at the posture and body language of those students.  It's caught on video by another teacher who was very concerned for this class.  Horrific.  The mother of was beyond upset and yet felt marginalized and ignored by the head of the charter system.  She pulled her daughter out.

There's almost something humorous about charter stories today.  They come faster and faster; stars who start charters that fail, financial scandals, and promises made and then broken. What's the funny part?  Well, the supporters of 1240 said "we have a lot to learn from charters."   I would agree and in more ways than one.   We should be the state to be uber-careful about who comes through that charter door.  No backdoors for anyone.  No one who has been indicted in another state.   y Here's the examples of what NOT to do: - In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the FBI, not just the state auditor, have moved in on a charter group. From AP :

You'd think our current Democratic administration would have more to do than host a convention for "100 young philanthropists and heirs to billionaire families" at the White House but apparently not.  From the NY Times : Their name tags read like a catalog of the country’s wealthiest and most influential clans: Rockefeller, Pritzker, Marriott. They were there for a discreet, invitation-only summit hosted by the Obama administration to find common ground between the public sector and the so-called next-generation philanthropists, many of whom stand to inherit billions in private wealth. Policy experts and donors recognize that there’s no better time than now to empower young philanthropists. Professionals in the field, citing an Accenture report from 2012 , estimate that more than $30 trillion in wealth will pass from baby boomers to younger generations by around 2050. At the same time, the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy (no relation to this rep...

In his recent thread on the outlines of what ed reform is pushing for, Charlie included this in a comment as another facet: Standardized Curriculum - Reformers push the idea of standardized curricula, not only across classrooms within a school, but across schools within a district, across districts within a state, and, with the Common Core, across all states in the country. Standardized Curricula leads directly to standardized instruction - teachers essentially working off a script and pacing guide and being judged on their "fidelity of implementation". This boils down to every classroom in the country being on page 56 on the same day. This includes the ideas of vertical and horizontal articulation. Not only does this rob teachers of their autonomy and thereby de-professionalize teaching, but it is antithetical to differentiated instruction and therefore it worsens education for students. This is the first step towards delivering teaching through some process o...

I ended Part One explaining that there had been two large issues that arose during the meeting.  One is the rabbit hole I mentioned and the other is the funding of the Commission's work. Here's the rabbit hole explained. To get a charter from the state two things have to happen.  A charter applicant has to apply to just one authorizer and, after getting the authorizer's approval, then that approved application has to get to the State Board of Education for certification.  However, as you may recall, 1240 is quite vague on the timing of turning in approved charters to the State Board of Education.  Many of us who opposed this measure called this section out, asking "what does this mean?"  It's actually much worse than I thought.  Here's the original text: 3) Upon the receipt of notice from an authorizer that a charter school has been approved, the state board of education shall certify whether the approval is in compliance with the limits on th...

It's been awhile since we talked about charters.   I have been stockpiling the stories because, yes, there's a lot happening. FYI, the Washington Board of Education is having a public hearing on charter rules .  They seek input from citizens.  It is on Tuesday, Feb. 26th at 1:00 pm in Olympia at OSPI. Those wishing to provide comment on the draft rules may attend the hearing in Olympia, via K-20 video feed in Spokane at the office of ESD 101, or by writing us directly (sbe@k12.wa.us). The draft rules establish an annual application and approval process and timelines for local school boards seeking approval to be charter school authorizers. For example, the current draft rules will require school districts to submit an authorizer application to the State Board by June 15 and for the State Board of Education to make decisions on those applications by August 15. The draft rules also set requirements for districts applying to authorize charter schools, as well as ...

It's a doozy . The first head of the Alliance, Sue Tupper (who coincidentally ran the No on 1240 campaign for the WEA), said this: "When the organization started, there was great sensitivity to needing to take the cues from the school district, rather than coming up with an agenda and then imposing that agenda on the school district," Tupper said. Exactly.