Under new law, will state send more funds per child to state charter schools than local systems?

Thank you for posting Mr. Garrett’s letter. I wonder if you can get a comment from Gov. Deal?

Gov. Deal told my local state representative that his “yes” vote would never negatively impact the funding in local systems. He assured him that HB797 would have no fiscal impact on local schools.

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The intent of conservative republicans has always been and will always be is to gut public education.

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The state has cut funding for public schools in Georgia by more than $4 billion in the last 4 years.

There is no magic money to fund these special state charter schools, so of course the money will come out of the same state education funds currently used to fund public schools. Local taxpayers and local property taxes will have to make up the difference to fund the existing public schools!

Voters will decide the fate of Georgia’s public schools on November 6. If you care about the public schools in your community and the children who attend them, the answer is simple. Vote NO.

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Can the local school systems pull together to sue the state for not adhering to, both, the state constitution and the QBE formula?

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Oh, and should I also remind all of you how “outdated” our state constitution is? And I quote, yet again, “Georgia’s citizens shall have the right to an adequate education.” ADEQUATE! I would really stop referencing our constitution, people.

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1. Why isn’t the Superitendent named?
2. What is the job of Herb Garrett … To protect school districts, not children!
3. The calculations above show that state charter school students will, under HB797, receive less in total dollars than any child in any district in the state. The state has allocated additional “STATE DOLLARS” not local dollars, to make sure the students are funded somewhat comparably to traditional public school students.
4. Herb seems to forget that parents are freely choosing to attend PUBLIC charter schools because they are, for some reason, not satisfied with what is being offered by the district. At what point will Herb start looking at what is best for children. Children are not, as he insinuates, simplly dollar figures in the giant district machine.

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There was no doubt from the outset that the governor and legislature wanted to create preferential funding for charter schools. Thanks go to Herb Garrett for sending out this notice with real and accurate numbers that tell the extent of that funding.

For the state to so blatantly thumb their nose at the existing public schools with these funding estimates is astonishing, though. They are adding insult to injury. For nearly 10 years our school budgets have endured so-called austerity cuts, and these cuts have completely eviscerated our schools’ abilities to meet students’ needs. We have cut teacher pay, the number of school days for students, programs for kids, and other essential services. To see they are willing to put 2.5 times the funding to go to charter schools speaks loud and clear about where they are placing their priorities.

Voters must realize this means their schools will continue to endure deep cuts to funding while the charter schools will get preferential treatment. For those of us in areas with good public schools, we will, in effect, lose funding so the state charter schools can get 2.5 times more per pupil! Prepare to vote no on November 6.

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Chip Rogers stated at one of his Town Hall Meetings: “There is only so much money in the pie . . .the state cannot print money.” If 1162 passes, there will still only be so much money in the pie, and the money for all of the “special” charter schools will have to come from the pie. No one really believes that it will come out of the transportation budget, do they? Not likely. Our state legislators will continue to chip away at public schools, and the children in the state of Georgia will be the losers.

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A couple of points:

1) This blog functions more as platform for airing the anti-reform, anti-parental choice views of the teachers’ unions—than it does as a legitimate debate forum.

2) Traditional public schools AREN’T meeting the expectations of vast segments of the public. You otherwise wouldn’t see growing pressure for reform.

3) Charter schools ARE public schools, and will continue to employ professional teachers. Yet so many critics of parental choice would have readers infer the opposite.

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A few things…

I’d like to clarify 2 points: I encourage you to check for yourself – I will never state anything here that you cannot verify for yourself.

Charters receive the same austerity cuts as traditional districts/schools receive. Go here and look at the allotment sheets: http://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/ows-bin/owa/qbe_reports.public_menu?p_fy=2000.

For example, Cherokee Charter Academy (a prior Commission school) receives austerity cuts this year in the amount of $479,787. The locally approved charters will have a proportionate share of austerity deducted from the funds their district sends.

So how will state charters be funded? Follow this, and I think you will see that there is NO WAY POSSIBLE they can be funded more than districts…

1. Regular QBE funds they earn based on FTE (same as district)
2. Categorical grant and facilities funds they earn based on FTE (same as district)
3. Federal funds they earn based on FTE and programmatic eligibility (same as district)
4. State supplement calculated as the average of the LOWEST 5 districts’ local FTE funding. (That means 99.97% of the districts’ local funding is HIGHER than the state charters’ supplement).

I am just asking you to use reasoning and to read what the law says. I think you will see that what is being claimed is impossible.

The districts have a dog in this fight and every reason in the world to spread inaccurate information. The charters would RATHER go through their local districts – there are more services and clearly, from above, more funds to support their programs.

I ask you again – if the districts fairly authorize charter schools, then an appeals body should only be a “checks and balances.” Why are they so afraid of an objective body appointed by publicly elected officials to check their work?

The only reason I would worry if I was them is if I was not doing what is right…

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CharterStarter – what you fail to address is the simple question. Why should charter schools be funded at the higher rates than local schools? This question gets at the heart of the underlying preferential funding plan for state charter schools. Our public schools are not being funded adequately and there is no intention from our state leaders to do anything about that fact. The citizens who have quality public schools need to understand why money will not be provided to their kids’ schools, but state charter schools will be funded at much higher rates.

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Maureen, as I’ve said above and is referenced in 797, IF the DOE is calculating things correctly, then this is impossible.

Rather than just publish what they SAY, why not ask them to SHOW you their calculations of a state chartered special school beside their traditional district along with the source of their numbers. Go line item by line item what the charter vs. the traditional school district earns through all funding streams and then divide it out per pupil.

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Tony, and what you fail to consider is:

1. The law PROHIBITS state chartered special schools from being funded above the district schools.

Charters don’t want to be funded higher – we’d settle for even close to parity. As I have said in prior posts, a Ball State University Study found charters to earn .74 for every dollar districts earn.

2. You assume that districts aren’t funded adequately, where in point of fact, districts earn anywhere from about 25% – 70% (give or take) in state funds, depending on the wealth of their district and local funds collected. For example, APS earns less than 25% from the state – most of their funds are local funds, so the austerity reductions at the state level mean a whole lot less than our little rural districts. So “adequacy” in state funds varies widely across the state. With or without the charters, we have a parity issue within public education. The charters suffer along with the rural districts when state cuts hit.

The REAL questions to ask are what is “adequate” to fund a quality education. I’d be careful how you answer since we have state charters living off $4500-$5500 per pupil (serving a comparable student population) knocking the socks off the MUCH higher funded districts ($10,000 – $13,000 per pupil).

The second REAL question to ask is if your district is spending the pot of money they DO have prudently. Again – go do some research.

Aside from my views on chartering, I think the state needs to deal with our QBE formula inequities and ensure that students in smaller districts/schools do not receive inadequate resources to support a quality education. So rural districts, we’re fighting the fight right along side you!

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Cardoza promised to get with DOE experts over the weekend and get back to me.

Whatever happened to the seemingly VERY legitimate concerns that an English teacher expressed on this blog about the INSANE amount of time implementing new writing standards would require of teachers (by her calculations TWENTY EIGHT working days just do a single aspect of grading writing)

Matt the Mouth Organ was supposed to comment on that too. Accountability for teachers? Sure, fine. Accountability TO teachers to answer fair and legitimate questions. Apparently not so much for Matt the Mouth Organ and DOE.

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Happy St. Pats – the charters DO have to go to districts first, and they MAY NOT change their applications… Go here and see page 14 which states that charters must submit an IDENTICAL petition to the state. http://archives.gadoe.org/DMGetDocument.aspx/Charter%20Schools%20Petition%20Process%20Guidelines.pdf?p=6CC6799F8C1371F655A02F38AF9C4E4CCBE9FC6FF1C3017D97AC46A9255A65B0&Type=D

Secondly, funds required to support state chartered special schools is 0.00044984% of the whole state budget. Really- 4 ten thousandths of a percent. The law prohibits funds from being deducted from the local districts, but yes…somewhere in the state budget 0.00044984% will have to be cut and invested in schools that ARE IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES. Seems like a good investment to me.

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Catlady – you’re almost there…. so let’s take, for example, APS vs. a state chartered special school…

BOTH earn their QBE funding based on their student population.
BOTH earn the categorical and facilities funding based on FTE.
BOTH earn federal funds based on FTE and prog. eligibility.
APS earns in local funds 9,149.26 (here: http://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/ows-bin/owa/fin_pack_revenue.display_proc), while the charters will earn a state supplement (to address not earning local funds) equal to the AVERAGE of the lowest 5 districts (Pelham, Trion, Atkinson, Brantly, Jeff Davis counties), or about $1,100 per pupil.

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Beverly Fraud, I think I love you.

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Maureen, you might also consider where Herb’s original number came from….

The answer to that is the DOE (why don’t you ask Herb his source?) So basically, you asked the state if the number they originally produced is right. What do you think they will say?

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Yes, Maureen, that is absolutely unequivocally what I am saying. Mr. Garrett himself made a mistake…is it inconceivable to believe that folks sitting in a finance department can’t make an error?

The DOE is adding in funds the charters earn per FTE (like districts) and lumping that amount with the supplement which is solely to offer loss of local funding.

You can see how faulty their statement is when you take the per pupil (just a regular ed. kid) amount of funding comparison between a state charter and traditional district pupil. All of this being published is out of context. That is why I want someone to lay out the law and lay out their calculation and rationale so that you can SEE it makes not sense.

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Maureen,

The implication you (and Herb) are making is that traditional school students receive MORE funding to educate their kids. The only “more” is the average of the lowest 5 districts’ per pupil (about $1100 per pupil). That was very clear when the law was passed. The funds appropriated were made public….that’s all there is that can go to the charters.

When you take all funding streams per pupil and compare, side by side, the state chartered special schools and district schools, charter earn MUCH less per pupil (the disparity would be even greater without the supplement). Isn’t that what we are talking about? Adequate funds to serve our public school students?

I might add that equalization is no different – it provides a supplement for districts (almost always rural) who cannot raise adequate local funds. So in fact, districts earning equalization funding get “more” from the state than districts who do not earn it. When you look at the per pupil bottom line though, the rural districts are still funded less than urban schools. That is the same case for charters and traditional schools.

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CS2, based on your own words, it sounds to me that you should be writing to Senator Millar and demanding he cut the per pupil state funding of charter schools to the public school student funding level. Your argument about local tax funding of public schools needing to be offset by increased funding for state chartered schools seems to me to be an admission by you that there is a great disparity in state funding for traditional public schools. Local taxpayers elect their local board of education to decide how to spend their local funds on traditional public schools, not on state chartered schools. You, as I understand it, don’t want local boards of education to have any oversight over your state chartered school. Fine, but why do you then expect the state to fund you more than the public schools, especially in light of the draconian cuts which have been imposed on local public systems? You want special treatment and that is wrong.

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Before Herb Garrett takes another organization into account, perhaps he should take his OWN organization into account.

Herb Garrett, your organization named Beverly Hall the 2009 Georgia Superintendent of the Year. Knowing what you know now, have you RESCINDED the award?

And if not, where is your moral authority to comment on ANYTHING regarding the best interests of children in Georgia?

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Ok, let me see if I can understand this:

We are supposed to IMPLICITLY trust a guy who heads an organization that named Beverly Hall Superintendent of the Year, and then after the cheating scandal BLEW UP NATIONWIDE, determined that Beverly Hall was worthy of keeping the award?

THIS is the guy who we are to implicitly trust to be “for the children” when it comes to education?

What is this, Open Mic night at the Comedy Lounge?

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Also, I have know Herb Garrett for years. In my dealings with him, I have always found him to be a straight-shooter.

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Let the Separation begin! This is Georgia’s latest try at SEGREGATION, this time Race is not the only factor. This New plan introduces economics front and center. Starve the school systems of much needed revenue for those of the Lucky Gene Pool
Club.

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I’ll second Ed Johnson’s request. This is important to voters.

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Charter Starter – I’ll be very clear about this and it is at the heart of Mr. Garrett’s statements, too.

We are opposed to having a funding stream that provides more state dollars for charter schools than the state provides for regular public schools. The formula that grants charter schools an amount based on local tax collections provides a special funding stream for charter schools and the net effect in budgets that are already strained beyond the limit is that regular schools receive less funding from the state than charter schools. And, yes, that is unfair to our students and shows a clear and preferential treatment for charter schools.

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@ Tony, and why do you not also oppose equalization funding? What is the difference? Is one child REALLY worth more than another? Because your theory is about funding systems and not students.

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@Tony, your comment about the state funding of charter school students being “preferential treatment” is offensive.

In 2008, HB 881 set up a statewide alternative authorizer of charter schools allowed the state of Georgia to withhold a dollar amount from a local district equal to the local funding for that district to ensure the CHILD was funded equally and equitably when compared to students attending a traditional public school.

That law was tested and found to be “unconstitutional” as the Supreme Court said local district have “exclusive control” over K-12 education. The court was silent on the funding. It is peculiar that the Georgia contitution never used the term “exclusive control” with regards to local board and K-12 education.

Now the state of Georgia, in an attempt to provide communities in Georgia with quality public school options, is having to go through the very painful process of changing the state constitution.

This effort is to empower parents to have options which most closely identifies with the needs of a child, family or community. Public education is the cornerstone by which we as a society will thrive or continue to decline. Reform movements do NOT happen within a silo.

So with a new statewide alternative authorizer, the funding mechanism has changed. First and foremost, no local dollars are being touched. With that as your starting point, students attending a state approved charter school are receiving 50% funding.

The state is attempting to make up some of the difference to make sure students are funded somewhat equatable. The supplemental amount the state is providing these charter schools places the schools in the bottom 1% of funded schools in the state.

I ask you, how is that equatable for families who desire something different? Your argument falters most expecially when we look at the academic achievment of our state and nation. We must be willing to try innovative practices, new models, and offer outlets to our most needy.

Bobby Kennedy once said during the civil right era, “progress is a good word, but change is is it’s motivator and change has its enemies”.

I am someone who embraces progress and you appear to be an enemy of change.

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Beverly,

This is a simple math equation. A personal assanation of this guy does not change the math. We will all find out soon if he used the proper variables.

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Beverly,

This post is about if we are funding charter schools per pupil at a higher level than public schools. I have been critical of the Kathy Cox time period……….But none of that has anything to do with this issue. This is a fairly straight forward math issue, and he is either right or wrong. Maureen seems confident she will have the answer for us early next week from the BOE.

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The other question is, of course, where is all this money going to come from??

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Ms. Downey, thanks for the link, but could you please publish, outright, and on the front page, the names of the legislators who voted in favor of this? If we have accountability for teachers lke we do, we should also have even greater accountability for our legislators, as their negative effects are SO MUCH WIDER AND DEEPER. Could you also print the legislators’ contributors?

BTW, if the cap on the tax credit scholarship was raised (somehow I missed that), could you print those legislators’ names as well? Front page, center? And could you tell us how the legislature has mandated (if it has) the strict monitoring of the abuse of that program? How about publishing the links between legislators and those profiting from this?

Ned, my school system in rural north Georgia has had to send millions to counties like Gwinnett to “pull them up,” meanwhile our free lunch rate is over 75 percent! Also, virtually every bank around has failed as it heated up the land prices by underwriting insane property “values.”

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If you look at HB797 you will see:

“the department shall pay to each state charter school through appropriation of state funds an amount equal to the sum of:

(A)(i) QBE formula earnings and QBE grants earned by the state charter school based on the school’s enrollment, school profile, and student characteristics. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘QBE formula earnings’ means funds earned for the Quality Basic Education Formula pursuant to Code Section 20-2-161, including the portion of such funds that are calculated in accordance with Code Section 20-2-164. QBE formula earnings shall include the salary portion of direct instructional costs, the adjustment for training and experience, the nonsalary portion of direct instructional costs, and earnings for psychologists and school social workers, school administration, facility maintenance and operation, media centers, additional days of instruction in accordance with Code Section 20-2-184.1, and staff development, as determined by the department.

(ii) A proportional share of earned state categorical grants, non-QBE state grants, transportation grants, school nutrition grants, and all other state grants, except state equalization grants, as determined by the department;

(B) The average amount of the total revenues less federal revenues less state revenues other than equalization grants per full-time equivalent for the lowest five school systems ranked by assessed valuation per weighted full-time equivalent count, as determined by the department; AND

(C) The state-wide average total capital revenue per full-time equivalent, as determined by the department”

Paragraph A above references Ga Code section 20-2-164 which says “(h) In the event a local school system fails to provide for or to use the amount of local funds required to be raised and applied by the local school system in order to participate in the Quality Basic Education Program as defined by this article during any fiscal year, the State Board of Education shall calculate the total amount of such funds and add that amount to the local five mill share being required of the local school system for an ensuing fiscal year.”

It isn’t clear but seems to me that the paragraph above could be construed to mean that any seat NOT paid for by the local governing body will be paid in state funds, which would put the funding for state chartered special schools above the level of the local school (that is where the double dipping is). If this is correct, look for a bounty of “state wide attendance zone” charter petitions in the counties that have the highest local five mill share.

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Well, the number don’t lie folks, so nitpick, name-call, and justify all you want. I must admit I’m impressed by the prowess of the state legislature to hoodwink us and get this through the process. Now, if they get the votes they’re counting on in November, my prediction will come true. We’ll see a slew of charter applications that will, by design, be turned down locally so the appointed, voter accountability removed state commission can approve them. And now we know how much more per student funding they’ll receive. Just like the military, the privatization of education will only increase the government budget. Let’s just hope they achieve better results than what we’re seeing currently from charter schools.

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Charter Starter Too….are you an idiot? You think all parents will REALLY be able to enter their children in a lottery for charter slots? You assume all parents can make transportation arrangements, etc. on an equal basis. You know that more affluent parents will be the parents that leave the public school – if not already in a private school. Further, if this is a mechanism for “failing” public schools….explaining Ivy Prep in Gwinnett. While I think the Gwinnett School System leadership is a bunch of corrupt politicians, I do not see the Gwinnett School System as failing (even the individual schools). Just admit, you want vouchers and private school for middle class and above!

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ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Will more Georgia taxpayers’ dollars be spent, on average, upon each charter school student than upon each student in a traditional public school?

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Herb Garrett indeed works on behalf of public schools. But anyone who knows the guy will tell you he is as honest as they come. He is not a man who puts out lies and propoganda. Herb closely analyzes and reviews any data he feel needs to be public. Let me just say, Herb Garrett has much more knowledge on school issues than members of the Governor’s staff and members of the General Assembly. When the question is one of character….Herb takes that one in a no contest!

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Note: The state of Georgia has made it relatively easy to search campaign donations. You can find information about donations to candidates and PACs.

http://media.ethics.ga.gov/Search/Campaign/Campaign_ByName.aspx

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one thing this does show is that Georgia does not have any union of any kind outside of membership in the United States. even a weak union would have this tied up in court for years

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The only reason we are having this discussion is because the government of Georgia wants to turn public education over to the private sector. This is the first step in doing so. Argue what you want, but that is the bottom line.

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“(e) Funding for state charter schools pursuant to this Code section shall be subject to appropriations by the General Assembly and such schools shall be treated consistently with all other public schools in this state, pursuant to the respective statutory funding formulas and grants.”

HB 797

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http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2011_12/versions/hb797_HB_797_APP_16.htm

HB 797 Final version/signed
I hate forgetting my references.

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@ Alex,

Did you know that charters closely mirror statewide demographics for free and reduced lunch, and in fact, have historically had a higher FRL rate? You make two faulty assumptions: 1, that no charters provide transportation, which is inaccurate. Many don’t, but some do. The assumption and generalization you make that low income families can’t or won’t bring their kids to schools that do not provide transportation is also faulty, since the charter sector has 49.5% FRL eligible students.

Charters ARE a mechanism to provide parents an alternative from failing schools, but it’s bigger than that. Decision makers tend to look at aggregate numbers for schools (how many made AYP, etc.) What they fail to realize is that within that aggregate are kids falling through the cracks and not served…even within successful schools and systems. The charter provides an alternative setting for these kids as well. The common argument of charter opponents is that “we’re not Burger King – you can’t have it YOUR way.” Charters HAVE to have enough interest to open their doors. If enough parents to fill a whole school feel that their child is not receiving an adequate education in their home school and a school where these kids are clearly thriving exists (i.e., like Ivy), then the local districts should be listening. Their stakeholders are speaking with their feet….and same holds true for charters. If the charters don’t meet the needs of their families, the families walk. The Constitution is clear that an adequate education is the responsibility of the state. Adequacy is not always defined in dollars and cents – the learning environment plays heavily into a child being able to thrive academically. If dollars and cents was the only driver, then the districts earning $13k – $15k per pupil (i.e., Taliaferro, Clay, Baker, APS) would be knocking the socks off student achievement….but they aren’t.

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Brandy, you do get to vote on this issue by electing representatives. Problem is, our state’s electorate is not very intelligent. They are gullible, and easily frothed up over social issues orchestrated to overshadow real issue such as this – i.e. guns, gay marriage, immigration, etc. And the result is we are represented by such as Will (chip) rogers, david ralston, nathan deal, and the rest of the corrupt gang of thugs under the gold dome.

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@Patrick Crabtree, well said, sir.

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bootney farnsworth, 7:38 am

“@ ME

I don’t think this is a TRS move. while the state would love to get their hands on our money, we actually do Georgia a favor by being a public sector pension they don’t have to pay for.

I think this is just backroom politics as usual. somebody somewhere is paying off a favor, or creating an opportunity for themselves.

BTW: I do wish you’d tone down the evil republican bit. while it may make you feel better, its not helping our situation.”
================================================

bootney, in all due respect, I have to post – to the general public – what I see as truth, in depth. It is not a matter of either Republicans or Democrats being “evil” – which is not what I see, nor my intent in posting, i.e. to label either political party in negative caricature. My intent is to communicate to the general public, as I see it, what is ACTUALLY going on that could change public education to private educational enterprise and could, ultimately, use students for profit and teachers as commodities to achieve that profit. Some of the powerful people behind this movement, who are Republicans, have had a long-standing agenda, nationally, to “starve the beast of government” since the mid-1970s, and the public is just now seeing the fruits of their labor. Where do you think that “beast – government” phrase came from?

I am sorry if you do not see the connection between diminishing the TRS and diminishing public education, overall. But there is a connection. I did not say that the proposed Constitutional amendment (HR 1162) diminishes the TRS, I said that based on the fact that ALEC member, Rep. Jan Jones, sponsored both bills, I believe that diminishing the TRS is a Republican goal of the near future. Furthermore, you and others should also know that I have, also, heard this plan – regarding the TRS – will unfold within the next two or three years from two different sources. One source was a high official from one of Georgia’s professional teachers’ organizations (which normally isn’t politically active), and the other source was a teacher – who told me a week ago at a social function that she is retiring now because a TRS employee had advised her that she should retire as soon as she could because of political changes projected for the TRS. As Paul Krugman, closed his “Bankruptcy Boys” column of 2/21/10 in the New York Times, “you heard it here, first.”

Have you, and others, noticed how the Republican politicians in our state have mandated that Georgia’s state employees’ pensions (except for those of teachers, who have protested) – at least a small amount (%) of those pensions – are to be used to sponsor risky Venture Capitalist business endeavors in Georgia? Have you, also, noticed that Venture Capitalist business endeavors monies lost 40% for the last quarter of 2012, according to “The Atlanta Business Chronicle?” But, hey, what does it matter to the Republican legislators who insisted that that money, in part, come from state employees’ pension monies, since they don’t want the state paying for state employee’s salaries or pensions (even though the rules were established for state pensions years ago).

Wake up, bootney. I am afraid that the Republican agenda is working against your best interests, as a former teacher who should draw retirement one day. I do not see either the Republicans or Democrats as “evil” entities or “evil” people, but I refuse to put my head in the sand and not see what is actually happening in this state and nationally in regard to the public sector’s and the public sector’s interest and that includes Georgia’s public education, of which I am a strong proponent.

I will repeat, if you are a Georgia public school teacher, or retired teacher, and you vote the Republican ticket in November, you will be voting against your own best interests.

Paul Krugman, 2/22/10. “The Bankruptcy Boys”:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/opinion/22krugman.html?scp=1&sq=Paul%20Krugman,%20The%20Bankruptcy%20Boys,%202/22/10&st=Search

Also, please google “ALEC.”

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This defunding of public schools started with the Republican takeover of the govt. You voted and continue to vote for it so quit complaining. Go fishin.

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When will people, especially people in red states, realize the “conservative movement” is not your friend. Proponents of this movement toss the glitter of religious freedom, gun rights, traditional marriage, less government, less taxes etc. in your eyes and at the same time are working overtime dismantling what the greatest generation established that we enjoy today.

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Beverly, until Big Bev is found guilty in a court of law, it is not really like the Paterno thing. Unfortunately, she is being shielded from being held accountable. I think entities like GSSA won’t remove her name until that happens. Don’t hold your breath; there is too much standing in the way of her accountability.

CS2–no, a rural mountain county. We do get quite a bit of Title 1 money, as well as money for ESOL. What screwed us so bad on equalization grants is the long-term overvaluation of property, courtesy of the banks. It “just so happened” that the developers were also bank directors, and got unbelievable loans for raw land. As I understand it, that made it look like we are prosperous, although there is only one major employer in the county that employs most of the Latino crowd at 9-10$ per hour. We have a high rate of “transfer monies” in addition, in the form of welfare, SS, SSI, SNAP. Except for the school system, virtually no regular working stiffs other than farmers. (I personally don’t think any county should be considered for the Fair Share until they have taxed themselves at 20 mils for education. First, you should do all you can for your children before you get help.)

I might also say that I am okay on some charter schools, but I don’t like the idea of paying a middleman for education. So I am NOT okay with for-profit companies operating public schools, Why should the education of our children be about making profit for others? I would love to see some innovative ideas be tried on our kids–mostly from low income, low educational attainment parents–and I think a charter school would be the way to go to loosen ideas and let them be tried on OUR kids.

As to your distrust of the computations cited above, I understand. We have had quite a lot of “information” come out of our GA DOE that had to be revisited to correct it.

This story has the possibility of being as explosive as the CRCT cheating. I hope the AJC will give strong effort to investigating it, not allowing itself to be treated as gullible idiot, and publishing boldly its findings, including information on the legislators involved, front page center. Perhaps they might even put together a special section on the legislative efforts to “improve” the public schools by starving them, such as the vouchers for sped, rerouting tax receipts to private schools for scholarships, instituting the (declared unconstitutional) the state charter commission, and the several other efforts of the last 10 years.

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With our Georgia public schools in such dire straits during the last few years, why does the Legislature seem so eager to create charter schools–which have no better track record than the public schools–over the local Boards of Education’s objections? And then fund them more favorably, too? I think we have the answers…

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If the Charter School movement was so confident in its sucess (which hasn’t been shown so far), then why do charter schools have little to no SWD or ELL students?

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I moved to Georgia a few years ago from a state big on charter schools. There were two charter schools in my district. As a special education director, I heard the same story from parents on a consistent basis. These charter schools, while receiving state and federal funds, refused to provide special education services and supports to students with disabilities. These schools, in effect, waited it out until the parents–out of frustration–returned their children to the local school system. These charters wound up ‘cherry-picking’ their students to manipulate their test scores and had very little over site from the state or the feds (even though they didn’t mind getting their funds!). A lot of what appears to be the success of charter schools is more like smoke and mirrors. If public schools could pick and choose their students and could pick and choose the accountability models we might have some of the same test scores, too!

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We won’t need a voucher system if this referendum passes, the state will provide full funding for an alternate education through the state special charter schools. HB797 does not mandate full disclosure to the taxpayer for the academic success or financial transparency of state special charter schools to the taxpayers (only the charter commission-appointed, and the GA DOE). HB797 also states that any local system charter can convert to state special charter with approval of the charter commission and that while they must continue to pay any local system “facility” usage fee if applicable, there is no requirement to reimburse local systems for equipment and materials paid for with local tax dollars.

If the referendum passes we will have separate but not equal school systems again in this state.

My question is “why do we have to fight so long for full funding when the state is willing to give more than full funding to a business model that the state itself has said is not educating our kids any better than the existing system?”

The charter starters can claim all they want that nothing is being “taken” away from the local system in order to establish the state special heirarchy. My children have been in the local system for 14 years and I can tell you that they have “taken” away from the public schools in order to establish the state special heirarchy! Look up the word “austerity” and you will know what I’m talking about.

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And if I have my figures correct, when a student leaves a local public school for a STATE charter school, there is the same local tax money left to be split among the local students, thus giving them MORE local tax money per student.

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Mary Elizabeth: I haven’t been nearly as eloquent as you have about all of this, but what I would say if I only had the time… I thought having two toddlers in the house on my own was a lot of work, but now that they are teenagers, I realize how busy parenting can really be!

It scares me how quickly many have jumped on the issue of charter schools with such fervor for dismantling public education and how naive many are about the real driving forces in the reform movement. This reminds me over and over about debates in the past about privatizing military services, and the end results will undoubtedly be much the same. The state legislature has put all the pieces but one in place to set up a totally state-run system with unclear accountability for the funds the state will give it. Clearly the intent is to remove as much public accountability as possible, and the current recession is proof of what happens when the glorious private sector is allowed to work without reasonable rules. Looking at many of the metropolitan Atlanta school systems makes it clear why so many want alternatives and they should have them. I am thankful every day to be outside that area in a small system. I just hope between now and November that enough people will learn the truth about what the legislature is planning and decide to stop them before they get away with ought to be criminal defunding of public schools. Sadly, I don’t they will.

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@ Mary Elizabeth, 10:11 am: “‘”Wake up, bootney. I am afraid that the Republican agenda is working against your best interests, as a former teacher who should draw retirement one day. …I will repeat, if you are a Georgia public school teacher, or retired teacher, and you vote the Republican ticket in November, you will be voting against your own best interests.”

I will simply add to your excellent post alerting us to present designs on the Teachers Retirement System that any changes would affect public school and USG staff employees as well as teachers/professors. These public school staff employees are also TRS members.

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As far as I can see, most private or charter schools are a cover for parents to “shield” their child from people who are a different color, religion, or economic standing. The schools promote prejudice especially among the rich, white, and religious.

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mountain man: if the state is indeed funding at about 40% of total budget right now, then when the child leaves the local system, that percentage of funds is taken away. Yes, the local money is still there, but the loss of state funds would be significant. If a local system loses say 500 kids to a charter, then if they’re budgeting say $5000 per child, 40% of that would be $2000 per child. Yes, they’d still have the rest generated locally, but the loss of a million dollars in one year would be a pretty big hit in most systems. The devil’s in the details, as they say, and I’m thinking about this from a small system perspective where losing that 500 kids would be about 10% of our student population. While it wouldn’t bankrupt the system, it would hit pretty hard.

What I think will end up happening is the state, as it funds more charter schools, will likely have to reduce the percentage it pays to existing public school systems, a la more “austerity” cuts. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that if the state charter schools gain enough support, the state will eventually stop funding current public schools completely. Not in the short term mind you, but certainly within the next decade or so, in my opinion. If you think about it, it’s very likely that what the state wants is to fund schools without the interference of local boards, and it’s appealing to think it could cut that out when you look at Dekalb and APS as examples. I can’t imagine anyone in those two systems turning down the complete dissolution of the local BOE. I’m not sure it wouldn’t be better and possibly more financially efficient in theory, but there certainly isn’t a very good track record of long term financial savings in privatization of government services, and I expect many, if not most charter schools would be run by private corporations (both for-profit and nonprofit). Just my opinion for the two cents it’s worth.

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Mary Elizabeth–not that I really think it would do any good. Georgia voters, for the most part, are like sheep. In this case, sheep being led to the slaughter, and they have to pay for their slaughter. However, the AJC could win some kind of acclaim in exposing what I believe to be deliberate machinations to further separate the haves from the have-nots, or THOSE people vs. US. And there might be a FEW folks who would pay attention and say, “Whoa, this is wrong!”

BTW, would you consider sharing a copy of your developmental history template? I felt super-charged by the mention of it. I have said repeatedly in our RTI meetings that we need to look at the whole picture–the kids we are seeing have had significant problems for years and multiple attempts to address the problems. I would love to lobby for inclusion of something like that.

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@catlady
Your suggestion is a worthy one, but I wouldn’t count on any follow-up from the AJC. Those reporters seem to enjoy patting themselves on the back for uncovering the APS cheating (and it was a worthy endeavor to expose the corruption), but otherwise they have been negligent in bringing to the public’s attention the assault on public education in this state, beginning almost the second Sonny Purdue was sworn in as governor. For the most part, the AJC’s investigative reporters have failed.

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You COULD improve the public education system. So much public money now goes to education of the few – most of whom it does not help. SPED students and ELL students siphon off public money. A lot of SPED students will NEVER benfit from education. Likewise if an ELL is an illegal immigrant, then graduates school and then is deported, where is the benefit? Charter schools can be successful because they don’t have these expenses. Likewise, charter schools actually address the problem of discipline – public schools have for years turned a blind eye to the problem (same for attendance – see last blog). Charters can do better because they take students who WANT to learn. Public schools just aren’t addressing the main issues.

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Mikey, I have hope for the AJC to go after this one. Yes, they were very slow in their investigation (folks on this blog had been pointing out the impossibility of those scores for YEARS), but once they got into it they did good work, and deserve credit for sticking with it and coming up with some important information (info that the state DOE should have come up with when it saw the data), information that has played out nationally. However, it looks like many involved at the very roots will never face prosecution.

Before that, they investigated the shameful practice of passing students on even after they fail the CRCT multiple times in the gateway grades. As we know, the practice has continued.

In some ways, this is even more important, as it has an effect on the entire state, taxpayers and children alike.

As a practicing educator for almost 40 years, I see other things I think should be investigated by our free press, but this is probably the most wide-ranging of them all, as it impacts MILLIONS of people. Unless taxpayers demand it by holding their legislators accountable, it will continue, IMHO.

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“Enrollment at charters is done in the early spring in plenty of time for budgeting.”

CharterStarter: What about the kids who choose to enroll later? do you think most charters would refuse enrollment after a certain date if they still had available space? If so, then you’re correct. What about kids whose parents want to move them in the middle of the year? There are going to be a lot of questions about how funds are allocated and establishing cutoff dates for funds to move with a child. And like most things involving the state legislature, I don’t expect any simple answers any time soon. How do you see the funding of charters working out if the state is already cash-strapped and asking departments to cut millions more as we speak? If the charter system develops as many believe it will, and the amounts this article mentions are true, then do you think the state will eventually end traditional public education funding in favor of charters? I don’t see how there could be parallel systems with both receiving some or all funds via the state, do you?

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@ ME

God knows I’m a believer in free speech, so say what you gotta say. I do think, however, when you start broad-brushing as much as you seem to, the “people” quickly tune you out. if you wish to preach to your choir, sally forth. if you wish to be heard, a better response might be to focus on the issue being done and by whom, not the party affiliation of said person.

it would be extremely easy for me to post massive litanys of stupid and counter productive actions by democrats (Beverly Hall and her supporters are a quick example), but that does nothing to advance the issue.

and frankly, when you bring up Haliburton in this context, it just makes you look like a left of center wingnut.

that said….

I don’t doubt for a moment the idiots downtown would raid our pensions happily and completely if they could. but the numbers of people working in education, especially the still growing administrative class make it impossible for them to do much damage at present.

it is incumbent on us to be vigilant to be sure they behave, this I think we can agree on. we dealt with King Roy of two different occasions, and supported the intent, if not the actions of Zell Miller.

besides the state having no legal mechanism to touch our pensions, it would be political suicide to do so. and even the most disingenuous of them (cough, cough, Fran Millar) isn’t stupid enough to take us on en masse.

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why am I in the filter this time?

is it an offense to be critical of Fran Millar?

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I’d love to be a fly on the wall of Nathan Deal’s office tomorrow morning. I can see Boss Hogg fuming now. How do they correct the obviously illegal legislation that they crammed down our throats last spring? Separate but equal is alive and well. I hope all of Boss Hogg’s big business friends are paying attention now. I’m sure this will be attractive news to any companies considering moving to GA under this business-friendly Governor. Teachers rose up and deposed Gov. Roy Barnes years ago and the same will happen to Nathan Deal. I, for one, would welcome back Roy Barnes with open arms.
And John Barge….can you smell what the rock is cooking? It was bad enough that you had to scamper and cover your tail about having to support Chip Rogers. Now we realize you hired Chip’s brother at GADOE! You can’t lay down with pigs and not get covered in mud. Enjoy the remainder of your one and only term! You can’t ride the fence, Dr. Barge. You are either all in or all out. We’ll be showing you the door, too!

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Sorry for mistyping my intro. It should read; “@CS2 and Ron F.” No offense intended, just lousy typing skills.

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@ Ron –

CharterStarter: Districts have kids coming and going to neighboring districts and out of state regularly. The attrition rate in districts is not impacted by charter enrollment in any significant way at all. Charters, like districts get their initial funds and then the “mid year adjustment” happens in the Spring, which captures in between the 2 FTE counts.

First of all, what you (and others) need to realize is that a big chunk of the money quoted by Herb is already accounted for in the state’s budget. The districts won’t earn it any longer because they don’t serve the children – just like if that child moved to another district or out of state (and thus, don’t have the costs associated with serving them either). The actual supplement budgeted amount accounts for .0004% of the whole state budget. Can you even conceive of the finite percentage that is? Besides the point that the districts will KEEP all local funds and have less students to serve.

To your point about the zillions of charters that you say will be approved. Opponents try to panic everyone, and did so as well when the Commission was originally started. The TRUTH (and you should go check for yourself) is that in the 2 years the Commission was in operation, 16 schools across the entire state were authorized – that is out of 56 who applied. 16 schools that are meeting the needs of their stakeholders AND ADDING VALUE TO THEIR COMMUNITIES that would not be in existence because of the unfair authorizing practices of local boards.

The charter sector has NO INTEREST in districts or the state authorizing cruddy charter schools – that would ruin the whole intent of the movement. What we WANT is for districts to utilize quality charters in their districts to help improve what’s going on and/or provide offerings not currently available in the districts schools – we WANT a better and more student-centered public school system. If charters apply to districts and are NOT quality and then appeal to the state Commission….they will be DENIED. The Commission will simply provide a place for appeal (like every other place in society.) The districts, if playing fair ball, should have absolutely no worry at all of their decision being overturned. So in fact, districts are the masters of their own destiny….as they have always been.

I am not sure I understand where you are going with your question about parallel systems. There is ONE system – one public school system administered in 180 ways already across districts…adding public charters to the mix should change nothing (just like adding additional traditional schools changes nothing). Those 180 districts are funded in different ways – I mentioned equalization earlier – for example, take APS who earns 19.73% of their total revenue from state funds vs. Pelham City that depends on 78.7% of total revenue from the state and earns nearly $3M in equalization funds to help ensure the district has the resources to provide an adequate education. Pelham City alone (with only 1426 kids) gets almost 10% of the WHOLE charter school supplemented quoted by Herb – which will provide for 15,560 kids – and they get $3M more in state funds than APS over and above what they earn from QBE. I can assure you that although I live in a metro district, I do not begrudge Pelham City one dime of that equalization money – it is right and fair for them to have it because every single educated child in our state impacts our whole state economy. It’s just the right thing to do. That goes for charter students, too.

As a recap, state charters earning the supplement just fall into the mix and get a supplement because, similar to some of the rural districts earning little in local revenue, the state charters earn ZERO. But they are not getting something for nothing. If they do not perform and are not fiscally responsible, they will be CLOSED. So taxpayers can be assured that they WILL get a good return on investment.

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@ Holly – please ask your mother to explain to you how the mid year adjustment works. I also encourage you to go to the state website and find the LUA manual – read chapter 24 to see how QBE works. You can also read the portion of title XX that addresses QBE funding.

All the best.

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@CharterSchool2 “The charter sector has NO INTEREST in districts or the state authorizing cruddy charter schools… So taxpayers can be assured that they WILL get a good return on investment.”

Hmmm. I will be the first to admit that tradtional schools have their shre of misused funds and fraud as well – but let’s not pretend Charter schools do not lend themselves to fraud through lack of oversight and profit motive. All it takes is a quick Google search for Charter fraud and you will have dozens of horror stories.

From People’s World: http://peoplesworld.org/new-evidence-surfaces-on-charter-school-scam/

The report, “Public Good vs. Private Profit: Imagine Schools, Inc. in Ohio” by Policy Matters, a highly respected research group…Imagine has received $115.7 million in state and federal funds over the past five school years for its Ohio operations. It is actively seeking to increase enrollment to increase its public funding, although the report found that its academic performance has fallen as it increased its size. The proportion of its funds spent on actual instruction is far below national standards, the report states. Teachers are paid less than in charter schools without for-profit management, and about half what union teachers in Cleveland public schools receive. On the other hand the proportion spent on rent and maintenance paid to Schoolhouse Finance, Imagine’s real estate subsidiary, is twice the national standard. In one case, the report cites a church building Imagine acquired in Fort Wayne, Ind., where it charged its charter $90,000 a month, eight to ten times the appraised value.
The company also charges excessive amounts to lease equipment and pay development costs and siphons profits through complex real estate deals involving land acquisition, building construction, sales and leasing arrangements with investment funds.

From NPR Education: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/27/137444337/what-happens-when-charter-schools-fail

In recent years, there have been investigations in states, including California, Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, which found charter school CEOs taking money from their own schools, putting unqualified relatives on their payrolls and engaging in other questionable activities.On Monday’s Fresh Air, Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Martha Woodall details her ongoing investigation into Philadelphia’s charter school system, where 19 of the 74 charter schools operating in the city are under investigation for fraud, financial mismanagement and conflicts of interest.
Ultimately, both the founding CEO of Philadelphia Academy Charter School and his successor were charged with stealing almost $1 million from the school’s coffers, including money students had collected for a Toys for Tots campaign. The two men — one of whom had only a high school education — also allegedly engaged in questionable real estate deals. As a result, the high school paid rent money for its facilities directly to them.

From Pittsburg Post Gazette: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/legal/feds-charge-charter-school-founder-with-fraud-646755/

Within five months of securing a charter from the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the Agora Cyber Charter School, Dorothy June Brown and a second person created The Cynwyd Group in order to defraud the school of more than $5 million over the course of two years, a federal indictment filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleges…According to the most recent report available from the state Department of Education, which is from 2011, Agora received just more than $4 million in federal money. The same report said Agora has an annual operating budget of roughly $70 million.

From Mother Jones: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/charter-school-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.

From Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/26/philadelphia-charter-scho_n_1704203.html

Even as federal investigators were finalizing a massive fraud indictment against one of Philadelphia’s most prominent charter school operators, the School Reform Commission was moving thousands of students and hundreds of millions of dollars into the city’s publicly funded charter sector.
It’s a massive gamble, made riskier by the meager staffing in the School District’s Office of Charter Schools. Currently, 80 independently managed Philadelphia charters serving more than 50,000 students are monitored by just six people – a number that observers on all sides of the heated charter school debate agree is woefully inadequate.

And so on and so on.

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CS2 re your 3rd paragraph in 4:32 post: Are children ever “assigned” to charter schools? Parents who wish their children to attend must apply, which means they must be aware of the charter school and make an effort to apply. Even if the school provides transportation, that is already a narrowed pool from the start. That parents who are aware and are involved enough to apply means a specially selected subset of more aware and engaged parents.

Here is what I would like to see: Students randomly assigned to one of two elementary schools. Have one operate under special charter rules, but in no way tell which one is “special.” Compare end of the year scores. MY bet is the difference would be insignificant.

Now, same two schools. Slap the name Charter on one, and you have to make a special application to be enrolled. Again, use no different instruction. I am willing to bet the one with the “charter” name would have students performing better at the end of the year. Why? because the kids are told they are special, since they “got in” to this special school their parents applied for.

Where I live, this could be easily done, but of course there are ethical considerations as well.

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Two examples of problems with GAPubEd:

(1) a local SOS unwilling to put his/her name out for publication; and

(2) a lobbyist in whom a member of the organization he represents doesn’t have confidence.

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http://www.votesmartgeorgia.com/facts

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@Charter, I think you misunderstood my statement as refering to charters in GA. Not all states require charters to use lotteries. Therefore, my statement was in fact correct.

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That should have read “referring only”. Sorry, I was distracted by Olympics.

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@CS2, my mother did explain how it works- the state money does not come back to the county if a child comes back to the county school from a charter. Seems pretty clear to me.

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@CharterStarter, Support for my statements that many charters do not use lotteries and that charters (even some with lotteries) are able to cherry pick students:

http://www.care2.com/causes/charter-lotteries-leave-lots-behind.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/15/education/15charters.html?_r=1
http://nymag.com/news/features/65614/
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/07/14/charter-school-lottery-gambles-with-kids-futures-and-often-l/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/education/in-charter-schools-fewer-with-disabilities.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-charter-schools-exclude-the-disabled-advocates-say/2011/05/12/AFVgcV1G_story.html
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-05-26/features/os-feds-investigate-seminole-charter-20120526_1_handicapped-student-disabilities-learning-charter-school
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/04/13/28catalyst_charters.h31.html
http://philanthropy.com/blogs/philanthropytoday/charter-schools-face-discrimination-complaints/40127

A simple Google search provides hundreds more.

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“if you know of a charter violating the law by not conducting a lottery or cherry picking, I encourage you to report it to the DOE’s Charter School Division immediately. Charters are committed to serving children….period. Without qualification. ”

So what about the charters who say ” we just don’t have the resources to deal with SPED students?”

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mountain man: My concern comes from seeing how the austerity cuts have affected my system, so I have to admit it makes me cringe to think about how we’d handle the shift, even if the local funds stay in place when the kid leaves. Do you think the state will leave the local money out of it for long? I honestly think they’ll find a way legislatively to make local systems put money into charters in their district. I could be wrong, but I don’t feel very positive about anything controlled by the Georgia legislature….imagine that! I think either way we’re about to find out. The next decade will likely be a tough one for schools, whether traditional public, charter/public, or private. I’ll be following the progress of Lousiana’s voucher program myself, as we’ll likely be headed there one day too.

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@ Ron

there is nothing I’ve seen out of the legislature which makes me believe they are capable of handling this concept. even if its a good idea, I don’t trust them to manage it.

wonder if one of the miracle schools will be in Perry to teach kids how to fish?

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To catlady and NWGA Teacher,

I have spent some time this evening going through some old files to try to locate a copy of my Academic Developmental History Chart for students, but I had no luck. However, I did find a write-up that I had done on that school in 1979, so that after I present my chart (from memory), I will type part of that write-up about our model, continuous progress school, in which I had utilized the developmental history chart for some students.

From a local newspaper dated May 28, 1980, regarding the school:

“. . .students are assigned to (open) units that are equivalent in size to five regular classrooms, plus hall space. Four units. . .house the entire body of students. Each unit has a range of three grade levels, with the oldest level in each unit functioning as model students and leaders, if they show the ability.

“In a unique educational design, students are taught by teams (of teachers), with each team responsible for all the students in the unit. No teacher is assigned a specific number of students for the day. A given student may be taught by several teachers daily. . . the open space (is used) as a vehicle through which continuing progress is achieved efficiently.

“Each teacher has an advisory role in planning the unit’s program. The advisory group mechanism personalizes the teaching program so that every child has a teacher who is totally concerned about his or her growth and development. At times teachers may teach jointly or one for the other, based upon discovering a mutual objective.

The school’s principal is quoted with the following comments: “You can say we are relaxed without being laissez faire, but with high professional expectation. . .We are the best of both worlds. We’re not open education, but we’re a place where children want to come, somewhere without the pitfalls of basic education.”

The principal added that “the team teaching system adds peer pressure that keeps the instructors on their toes, and develops their own self growth.”
================================================

In that school’s instructional context, 24 sequential levels were offered in reading and mathematics in grades 1 – 7. (At that time, there were no middle schools, only elementary schools, grades 1 – 7, and high schools, grades 8 – 12. The typical advancement through levels for most students on the elementary level were:

First grade: Levels 1 – 4 in reading and math

Second grade: Levels 5 – 8

Third grade: Levels 9 – 12

Fourth grade: Levels 13 – 15

Fifth grade: Levels 16 – 18

Sixth grade: Levels 19 – 21

Seventh grade: Levels 22 – 24

Beyond seventh grade – for enrichment of accelerated 7th grade students, Levels 25 – 28

From memory, here is the chart. I am going to use a fictitious sixth grade student, as an example:
===========================================================================

Academic Developmental History for _____(John Doe)____________

Date of Birth:____(August 20, 1969)____ Grade:__(6th)____ Date: __(10/26/ 80)________

Significant PreSchool History: ___(Premature birth, 7 months gestation); (Pneumonia in kindergarten, missed one quarter)_______________________________________

Reading Levels Math Levels Comments

1st Grade 1 – 2 1 – 4 Language development slowed because
of prematurity & pneumonia kindergarten
——————————————————————————————————

2nd Grade 3 – 5 5 – 8 Math ok; Read. behind 3 levels

——————————————————————————————————

3rd Grade 6 – 9 9 – 12 Math ok; Read. behind 3 levels

——————————————————————————————————

4th Grade 10 – 13 13 – 15 Math ok; Read. behind 2 levels

——————————————————————————————————

5th Grade 14 – 17 16 – 18 Math ok; Read. behind 1 level

——————————————————————————————————

6th Grade 18 – 21 19 – 22 Math up 1 level; Read. on target

—————————————————————————————————-

7th Grade: N/A N/A

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Previewing John Doe’s developmental history, one can analyze quickly that, although he was behind initially in his reading skills because of prematurity and pneumonia which had caused him to miss 3 months of kindergarten, he is slowly catching up each year in his reading skills. One can see quickly that he is advancing according to the expected level advancement in mathematics, thus the words, “Math ok.” Under “Comments,” I Q score could have been listed to indicate his potential for rate of advancement (this chart is confidential); also special testing such as psychological testing could have been indicated, as well as information such as “needs glasses,” or “chronic absences.”

Teachers had other charts posted in their rooms which listed the sequential skills and concepts that were to be taught on each level of reading and mathematics, so that all knew what specific skills a student had mastered if he were functioning in a given level. Each student advanced through levels at a pace in which he/she could achieve 90% mastery of content. More on this will be posted within my following post from which I will copy part of my 1979 write-up on this continuous progress school.

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Post still did not present the way I had typed it.

“1st Grade: Reading Levels Math Levels Comments” should be on one horizontal line.

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It is late; more on the instructional design from this model school from my 1979 write-up tomorrow on this thread, by evening, for any who are interested in how to address the exact instructional levels of students through instructional design.

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I appreciate the comments of catlady and Mary Elizabeth, as usual. Mary Eizabeth is consistent in her efforts to point out the big picture on this blog. We have very powerful legislators who “work for” ALEC and when you read national blogs and commentary, it all makes sense. GA is ripe for such a takeover, for privatizing. We are non-union, republican state with many who would be happy to have vouchers and dismantle public education for all.
The funny thing is, charter starter too talks about what a small percentage of the state budget has gone towards these state commission charter schools. The problem lies in the increase we will see in that percentage when we open the floodgates for lots of charter starters. What business wouldn’t want to come in and suck some profit out of our taxpayer funds? Welcome to Georgia, oh heralded charter school operators, come take over a school for us, pay yourselves handsomely, and don’t worry if the kids don’t end up achieveing…we are so foolish here that there will be little to no oversight, and you can always write a bonus into your escape clause should you have to shutter your doors one fine day. Not to worry if the whole process wasn’t good for kids, don’t folks always tout the resilience of children? They will survive, and in the meantime, you will make a buck.
Watch the number grow…but don’t expect superman.

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@ Those crossing state lines and searching the internet for “examples..” – Please contain your research to Georgia, as every state has different laws, rules, and quality in authorizing. As for open enrollment – that is part of the federal definition of charter schools, so I’m not sure how you’d get around it. Nonetheless, it is mandated in Georgia. And finally, just to clarify – the state will not “run” the charter schools, nor will they “start them.” The state’s role will be to authorize quality schools and to oversee them for legal and regulatory compliance and achievement of academic and fiscal goals and responsibilities.

@ Ron F. – I’m sorry, Ron, if my tone seemed annoyed with you. I wasn’t at all – just trying to get folks to THINK and REASON and to stop generalizing and speculating, and for Lord’s sake, to stop making this a party issue…it’s not…almost equal numbers of GOP and Democrats support the amendment.

I do appreciate you listening, and I am sincere in wanting to have an open dialogue with anyone interested in discussing the matter. I feel strongly that whatever we say should be able to be substantiated, which is why I try to reference my source data and send folks to look for themselves. There is so much garbage floating around from the districts, the school board and superintendent’s associations, and charter haters. I don’t’ mind philosophical disagreements, but lies and misinformation drive me bananas. The taxpayers and voters deserve better than that. I really hope people will discern truth by verifying what is being told to them on BOTH sides. I hope I’ve shown that as a representative in the charter sector, I am not afraid to answer tough questions.

Your question…

“Honest question here, with no intent to rile or inflame you. Do you honestly think a state-appointed charter commission, that has virtually no accountability to the citizens and voters is the best way for the state to go about this? Should the authority vested in that commission be granted by the legislature without voter approval? That worries me, to be honest.”

I watched the last Commission, filled with knowledgeable and highly reputable individuals carefully review petitions and put some charter applicants through the wringer in interviews. They were highly selective, which is why only 16 got through. All eyes are on them, and their personal reputations and their appointment on the Commission are at stake, so I do think there is some accountability for the Commission.

Compare the process of the Commission to the district boards, who, while are elected, do not go through that close of an inspection of the applications themselves or participate in interviews, etc. – they rely on the district staff to make recommendations.

The fact of the matter is, though, that if a district OR the Commission makes a bad decision, the charter can be revoked or non renewed at any time – so regardless of who authorize them, the CHARTER is accountable to their stakeholders. I am not sure having directly elected officials or officials appointed by directly elected officials matters one iota. Theoretically, perhaps it may, but in practice, no.

Districts approving charter schools is an inherent conflict of interest – a Gwinnett County School Board member said that many months ago, and I believe he is right. Other states have ONLY the state authorizing schools, some have both. For fairness to both sides, an objective appeals body like the Commission who has absolutely no dog in the fight can only help to ensure that only the best charters open in the state and serve a viable purpose in a community AND they have a reasonable shot at a fair review.

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The bill passed on March 29; the last day of the legislative session. You’d be amazed at what gets through on the last day because no one has time to read the most recent version. It’s both a shame and a legislative tactic.

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The State of Georgia and DeKalb County are breaking the backs of their teachers.

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I vote, and I vote blue.

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Oh how the Georgia educators complain all the time. Now they are upset that there is viable competition for their monopoly on the education system??? How about you educators start producing a decent product before you whine and complain about not having enough money?

Also, you clowns backed none other than Roy Rat Barnes for governor – the same guy who turned on educators in this state. Your man lost! You and the NEA need to learn this lesson about backing a political candidate. If your organization has millions to throw at an unelectable politican, then you have millions to “re-invest” back into the schools.

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“I did not move to a red state, but a blue state in 1983. As soon as possible my youngest and
I will at move to blue state or at leaste a purple state.”

Please remind us how great education in this state was when the democrats were in charge.

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Thank you, Mary Elizabeth. You have inspired me to work on something that fits with what we ared doing! Best wishes! I will let you know how it goes with the “powers that be.” (The head of RTI for my system has never taught a child behind. When he was in the classroom he was an excellent teacher of the most advanced kids in the county!)

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To Long Time Teacher you said charter school proponents are racists. They want to”be a cover for parents to “shield” their child from people who are a different color, religion, or economic standing. The schools promote prejudice especially among the rich, white, and religious.”
Drew Charter is a successful Atlanta charter school and its students are 99 percent black.
So, using your own argument, all those black people are just racists trying to sheild their children from white people…..
Do you think that is the case? Really?
Or do you know the real truth?
The real truth is the traditional public schools in the area are horrible. Cheating staff and horrible test scores. In desperation, they got a charter school that thrives and teaches children well.

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http://www.researchonreforms.org/html/documents/DumpingKidsOut.pdf

http://www.legalservicesnyc.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=660

http://www.aftacts.org/charter-news/89-charter-schools-pawn-off-flunking-students-says-public-school-principal

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A few points to keep in mind with our education system:

1) Our top 20% perform as well or better than the rest of the world
2) Our country provides a lot more special education than other place in the world which is very expensive. Currently today approximately 11% of kids receive special education.
3) Top level education countries educate students based on aptitude not one size fit all NCLB. They are not pounding square begs into round holes all day like we do.
4) Most countries have way less administrative cost via not having to teach to the test one size fit all system!

Reforming education is a key issue. I would suggest the following.

1) Create a home school/ public school option that allows students to take classes in high school similar to college enrolment over block schedules. Also allow the students to eligible for extracurricular activities. This would create flexibility for students who can intern/co-op, as well as uniting the community.
2) Eliminate many of the end of the year testing. The top countries in the world test way less than us. This would cut back on a lot of administrative overhead.
3) Promote a co-op/intern/joint enrollment style education system based on aptitude. Use the current infrastructure in partnership with colleges, Vo-tech schools……. This would create job ready graduates after high school or better prepared college students. Also it would lower the drop-out rate.
4) Require administrators to teach one class. This would keep them in touch with the system and decisions they make.
5) Let students replace gym credits with a sport in high school. This would create more time for studying, intern/co-op and core classes.

We need to all work together to solve this problem. This us verse them approach will destroy our economy. The truth is we need real reform in our public school system. That does not mean everything they do is terrible. On the other hand, dismantling the public school system will hurt us all in the long run. We should have options like home school and charter school, but it cannot be about tearing down the public school system.

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The hostile and vitriolic response from teachers or district employees on this blog smacks of entitlement and aloof reasoning based on the assumption that the current state of affairs is inherently good and any attempt to remove certain protections or funds is “unfair.” Thanks for persuading a previously undecided voter to not only cast his vote for the charter school amendment in November, but to actively lobby other undecided voters to do the same.

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Maureen,
It never ceases to amaze me how brazen education monopolists such as Mr. Garrett are in their insatiable grab for more taxpayers’ money without any accountability for the high costs and poor performance of the current governmental monopoly. According the the U. S. Census Bureau, Georgia is currently spending @$18.3 billion to “educate” @1.65 million students. According to a 2010 analysis by the Heartland Institute , to educate one student k-12, and graduate, taking into account annual per pupil spending and graduation rates, costs Georgia’s taxpayers @$220,000. However, according to the ACT and SAT, barely 20% of all Georgia students, and 5% of Black students, who graduate from Georgia’s public high schools, are college-ready without remediation.
Mr. Garrett should therfore explain to your readers why his monopoly costs Georgia’s taxpayers $1.1 million for all students, and $4.5 million for black students, to graduate one student qualified to attend UGA or Ga. Tech.
Glenn Delk

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@Mr. Delk – you may be correct with your figures, but I don’t believe the current state charter school idea is the best way to fix the problem. As a conservative, I highly disagree with handing off more tax money to charter schools that are not even accountable to local voters. That state money that is now promised to commission approved state charter schools has to come from somewhere?? The state does not have the money to adequately fund any of their programs (well…maybe the “go fish” one), and the legislature has voted to appropriate money toward charter schools?
Why not allow the public school to demand the same parental and student accountability that the charter schools are allowed?

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@Beverly Fraud, stay on the issue. You’re perseverating on something that has nothing to do with the charter school v. traditional school funding. Just chasing rabbitts!

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@Beverly Fraud, stay on the issue. You’re perseverating on something that has nothing to do with the charter school v. traditional school funding. Just chasing rabbitts!

@Amazed, asking for HONESTY and INTEGRITY from the Georgia School Boards Association is not an issue worth discussing?

If they don’t have the INTEGRITY to admit they were wrong about an award, how can you trust them on ANYTHING?

Has truth lost ALL meaning in education?

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I think it’s time for recall votes. If I remember correctly, state legislators are public servants that (like public teachers) must sign an oath of office stating that they will uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Georgia State Constitution. Also, if I remember correctly, the Georgia Constitution has an amendment – QBE: Quality Basic Education – that mandates the amount of money to be spent on a public school student’s education. Now, following this logic…if state legislators are NOT funding public education at the level dicatated by the Georgia State Constitution, then they are blatently violating their oath of office. Any time they vote to approve a budget that does not properly fund public schools, they violate their oath. I think it’s time to recall those who are blatantly refusing to uphold the Constitution of the State of Georgia. They can fuss all they want about “the formula is old and outdated” – they’ve been doing it for years and have yet to fix it or have the people vote on how to amend it. As such, they must uphold the Constitution as stated – regardless of how “outdated” they tell us it is. I think it’s time for a grassroots effort to get these legislators ousted. They have made it abundantly clear that they despise public education and all those associated with it – including our children.

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Mary Elizabeth: the chart looks a lot like what I do with my struggling readers in high school. I chart their level on comprehension, which can often be above their word skills and fluency levels. What I have found is that by the time they reach ninth grade, their mechanical skills in reading have languished for several years in middle school even though comprehension may be higher (they manage to understand enough to get by even if they can’t read all the words and give contextual meaning to them). It’s amazing to me how kids manage that, but many do. When I focus on the discreet skills where they are weak, the improvement can be swift. I wish more teachers were thoroughly skilled in teaching reading and knew how to use developmental charts to identify and teach to specific needs. If we could do that across subject areas in upper grades (6-12), I think we might be able to help more kids become successful readers. I think I have a cause to push now!

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One week you are having to CYA and explain your support for Chip Rogers.
The next week we find out you hired his brother as a communications coordinator for Race to the Top at GADOE.
REALLY?

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Ron F, 4:49 pm

“I wish more teachers were thoroughly skilled in teaching reading and knew how to use developmental charts to identify and teach to specific needs. If we could do that across subject areas in upper grades (6-12), I think we might be able to help more kids become successful readers.”
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So true, Ron. I totally agree with you!

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Ron also wrote this: “What I have found is that by the time they reach ninth grade, their mechanical skills in reading have languished for several years in middle school even though comprehension may be higher (they manage to understand enough to get by even if they can’t read all the words and give contextual meaning to them).

Ron, check out the following two links from my personal blog. I highly recommend using the read/study method of SQ3R with reluctant readers (lst link), and I have written another post that gives additional reading techniques and strategies, which will expand and complement the SQ3R method. (2nd link) See below:

(1) http://maryelizabethsings.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/about-education-essay-3-sq3r-survey-question-read-recite-review/

(2) http://maryelizabethsings.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/about-education-essay-4-sq3r-expanded-for-reluctant-readers/

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Mary Elizabeth: I LOVE SQ3R. I used that as a central part of a presentation I gave this summer to content area teachers about reading. I find that if the Study and Question generation portions are done effectively, the rest is much easier for kids. I teach that strategy every chance I get!

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@ Ron F. – thank you for your commentary and your inquiries. I understand completely the concern in rural south Georgia that segregated schools might be established. Let me tell you a true story about a Commission school in rural south GA which may alleviate your concerns and surprise you. The schools a southwestern region area were nearly 100% minority, with most white students going to private schools – the district demographics, however, were closer to 50/50 minority white. This scenario was even after years of a federal desegregation order. Families were leaving the area and industry was at a standstill. Pataula Charter Academy was started by a group of parents and community members who were tired of their failing, segregated system. They wanted to stay in their home towns and raise their children in an integrated, strong public school system. They elected to establish their school serving 5 districts. The local school district, catching wind of the charter effort, began giving them quite a hard time, and of course, denied their petition within days. The charter went to the Commission. You might find it interesting to note that one of the school district attorneys put in writing as one of the reasons for the district’s denial that the charter would not offer sports, and the attorney stated outright that “that was what African American children were interested in.” The charter board was, as you can imagine, appalled. They were working hard to ensure that they had a school representing the demographics of their community. The Commission did authorize the charter, and that little school has outperformed the districts the last 2 years. To ensure that children could access their school, they utilize their very, very limited operational funds to provide transportation (keep in mind they earn no transportation funding). They serve about 60% FRL and are already more diverse than the local school systems and are continuing to demonstrate to their WHOLE community what is possible for children – all children. Why would districts struggling with achievement and segregation not look at this little school and find out what they are doing that is finally making a difference. This school has scraped by – the districts speak of inadequacy and cuts….but not one of those districts has survived on less than $5000 per pupil like Pataula – the 5 districts they serve earn between $9,900 and $14,400 per pupil and are not achieving the same results. Why can’t they work collaboratively for their community? Why must there be a turf war? This school is ACHIEVING and providing a return on investment to local tax payers. And they were authorized by the Commission.

The commentary by some bloggers regarding “segregation” and the charters being a haven for “rich” families is not supported by charter demographics which show ~50% FRL and minority students, mirroring traditional district schools.

To your question, I do not know if the state schools not authorized by the Commission originally will fall under a new Commission, but it would make sense to me that they would. The Commission, in the 2 years that they were in existence had established excellent oversight structures including observing governance practices, financial review, and academic review. They were actively engaged with the schools because that is exactly what they were commissioned to do.

@ BC – thank you for the very kind comments and seeing the potential the charters have to support improvements in achievement and more student-centered options for parents. We appreciate your support and advocacy.

@ Alex – I will leave that decision to the voters.

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As I’ve been following along with commentary on this issue, its clear that the Mr. Garrett was attempting to engage in a spin job to advocate for his organization’s public policy position. It seems in establishing his position, he sought to tell half the story, which personally I find quite misleading. This essentially is the point of late IMHO. The general public policy debate over public education funding and governance is too often marred with half-truths, such that it makes it difficult for people to formulate informed opinions.

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Below is a link to a response to Herb Garrett’s letter from the CEO of the Georgia Charter Schools Association.

Please note that DOE has yet to respond to CharterStarter Too and Maureen’s request for clarification. CST maintains, and I agree, that Garrett’s original assertion – that charters are funded at 2.5 times traditional schools – is a serious mischaracterization (what my Momma used to call a “lie”).

GCSA is providing some official clarity. The short version is that the state funds state-approved charters at a higher rate of state funding BECAUSE those charters are not allowed to receive local funding (the cause of the original lawsuit three years ago). The charter amendment assures local districts that no local funds will go to state approved charters. The state allotment for state-approved charters, however – and quite legally – reimburses charters at a higher rate per student to make up for the lack of local tax support. It is important to note that no school districts are penalized for charters receiving more funds. The formula does what GSSA and GSBA insisted – there is no impact on local funds and no reduction in state funds to local districts for the students they educate.

Here’s what the squawking is all about: when parents notice that state-approved charters are better than district schools, and move their kids to them, the districts WILL be impacted. How? Because the districts will no longer have access to state funds that follow the child they “lost” to the competition of a better school.

GSSA is afraid of a little competition. They know (and do not say) what parents intuitively know: competition is good for all parties. It’s the American way.

Here is the link to GCSA’s response:
http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=0bda5d5147ca0c51e1c30107f&id=8a37a10511&e=8bc557a18d

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Charter starter are you on the Walton family foundations payroll also? How do you explain to the innocent parents in Georgia where the huge amounts of money to promote HR1162 will come from. The Walton Family Foundation, Betsy deVos, David Koch, Ralph Reed. Read who’s in the Brighter Georgia coalition set up by GCSA and tell me this about “the kids.” You are shilling for the billionaires club. Oh and tell me what great thing HB797 will be for kids when they get a state charter school that is only meant to (line 22) “enhance” public educational opportunities authorized by an appointed commission who can decide not to monitor the charter school (line 118) with no legal action allowed by private citizens. Oh and how about lines 425 thru 427 which allows the commission to go after funding for building programs and transportation “where feasible.” The law wouldn’t even get high marks from the National Alliance for Charter Schools. Its just what the free market advocates who paid for it wanted!

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alpharetta mom: You can take pride in your location and vocation and use caps. As for being a shill, I only wish I had the money the people and organizations you mentioned have. What I have instead, as a small business owner, is the good sense to see that our public school system is broken. We are paying for a system that has not made any statistical progress in math and language scores in 30 years.

NACSA loves our law, by the way. And it gave our Governor a national award for supporting innovation and education reform.

And I am a free market advocate! Absolutely. Milton Friedman got it right when he said, “There is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system.” He put his money where his mouth is and invested his fortune in education reform. In a way, I am doing the same thing, with much more modest means.

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Here’s a fact for those who oppose the Constitutional Amendment about the state’s role in charters. 44% of Democrats last Tuesday voted AGAINST the Democrat party position expressed in the party’s own ballot question. Since the GOP voters in November will vote overwhelmingly FOR the amendment, too, and nearly half of Democrats appear to be ready to do the same, I’m feeling a win coming on…

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Charter Starter you are ASSUMING any GOP voter will vote FOR the referendum. You are wrong.

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@ Alpharetta Mom – speaking of painting broad stroked brushes…. you make the assumption that just because a district ON AVERAGE has high achievement that every child is flourishing and reaching their personal potential. That is not the case…otherwise parents in successful districts would not bother to enroll in charters. Charters open because their is a demand for them. Take successful Cherokee County – a great system by anyone’s standards. However, 13% of the K-8 student population registered and entered the lottery for Cherokee Charter Academy. Clearly that even in high achieving districts, children have different needs that may be better served in a charter environment.

I find it interesting that so many think charter proponents are out to “get” something out of this movement (and by the way – what did Mr. and Mrs. Friedman get from donating millions to reforming public education?) Indeed, there can be no question that there are for-profit management companies who take a fee for providing staff and expertise in school management. For these companies, they, like other vendors’ goods and services appeal to the education market. I don’t see anyone demanding that the computer and textbook companies be non-profit organizations or provide their goods and services for free. Like anything else, you expect your school boards to choose wisely and oversee quality programs and services. For that matter, even your district school board members are paid.

Aside from a few management companies in the Georgia charter sector, the vast majority of founding groups and boards of charters are parents and community members who rather than take, GIVE of their time, expertise, and money. These are people who are tired of sitting back and watching things happen in our state in public education and the economy, and instead, are making things happen to the betterment of their communities.

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Charter starter That was touching. So if this is such an overwhelming community effort why does the Walton Family Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, ALEC, Faith and Freedom Coalition, Georgia Family Council etc. feel the need to spend millions convincing voters that they should accept taxation without representation so the poor underserved parents you care so much about can get a school tailored to their childs needs. I would have thought the free market would dictate less preferential treatment. The free market would certainly not handicap competitors at the start and then compare them apples to apples. Charter schools can limit class sizes, demand more by contract from parents and students, refuse to take additional students when they’re at capacity, and vary curriculum. Wouldn’t it be easier to modify existing schools than play this silly game? And please, you lose all credibility when even suggesting that Herb Garrett has more power and money to throw around than David Koch. GEORGIA PACIFIC RING ANY BELLS!

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@ Alpharetta Mom – As for the foundations who support school reform….that’s what folks with money do. They find a cause that they believe deeply about and invest in it. Friedman and Walton families care deeply for education reform (and BTW, Walton ALSO invests in traditional districts as well like APS – they are interested in children learning.) Other organizations, many which are non-profit, have missions that serve children or families or areas where education has an impact. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce cares about economic development.

As for Herb being rich, I didn’t mention him and frankly have no idea what he has either personally or in the way of a campaign. What I DO know is that there are some board members in the traditional districts who were pretty appalled by GSBA’s campaign at their most recent conference. There was quite a pitch to raise money and lots of glossy color handouts…funded by whom I wonder? Who knows and who cares? It takes money to communicate anything, and both sides must and will.

I am very curious about your thoughts on district zoning. In the district where I live, the schools are pretty segregated based on where the lines are drawn for attendance zone, mainly because of neighborhoods that have a heavy demographic of some sort. In comparison, charters generally have district wide attendance zones, so it stands to reason that charters would be LESS likely to be segregated than a traditional school. Do you have a different perspective?

I am also interested in knowing your thoughts on accountability for tax dollars. One of the reasons I like charters (as a mom and a taxpayer) is that the children have to achieve, and the schools must be fiscally responsible and very efficient. This type of accountability is not shared with districts. Should it be? If you have a failing district earning $14,000 per pupil, what kind of accountability should there be? And in a district with a successful charter operating at $6,000 per pupil versus a comparable school in the same district that is unsuccessful academically and operating at 14,000 per pupil, as a mom and a tax payer, could you not support that charter? We have that exact scenario all over our state.

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I have read this blog with great interest over the past few days and since I have just had a baby, I haven’t had the opportunity to reply. @Charter, I appreciate the fact that you have engaged in a conversation without charters. You have obviously researched this a great deal with regards to Georgia’s upcoming election. I am only stating this as an observation and not to inflame but I have to wonder if your stance is such because you have either invested or are seeking to invest in the for-profit charter schools or another ancillary education business if the amendment is successful. I have researched the current reform movement too and what I ascertain is that the proponents are pushing “The Big Lie” that American schools are failing. They do so because they want the general public to believe that so they are scared into pushing through and backing the policies of the reformers at break neck speed. The trouble is now that the charter movement has been shown that, in most instances, it does provide better learning opportunities than our traditional schools. The biggest issue our schools face is poverty (look at the NAEP results, which are the only longitudinal study of test scores and you can see that when poverty is not an issue in schools, our children do perform at an extremely high level when compared to their global counterparts). The reformers want you to believe it’s about the children but it’s about the money.

I implore the readers of this blog to check out the blog by Diane Ravitch which exposes the motivation and intent of the reformers and why they continue to purport the big lie about American education. Invest a small part of your day to check out her latest speech at the AFT.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb1Lsod2nts

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CharterStarter, Too – it’s fun to work together again…too bad only three or four people are reading this interchange…

A-mom, if you want to talk about ideologues, then Diane Ravitch is Exhibit 1.

Sneaky peeker – I would not use Ravitch as a source to inform anyone about reformers. She is a union supporter first and foremost and vigorously opposes decentralizing power. She is all about the kids as long as nothing changes for the adults. Don’t even get her started on parents – they are the cause of all the trouble in her eyes.

And everyone – as “CharterStarter, Too” pointed out – it seems that for profit charter operators are the only for profit entities in education that traditional educators hate. Everybody else could make out like bandits (especially in the textbook racket) and that’s fine. But try to help a local charter school do its own books or train and evaluate its teachers, and WATCH OUT! Evil corporate entities! I have to laugh, honestly.

Perhaps the most ridiculous charge is that the Friedman Foundation is trying to throw its money around and force people to change. Milton Friedman made a career telling people it is wrong to let others make choices for you. His foundation is just trying to educate people about their choices, so they can make better choices. The very definition of a free market is that a citizen must be free to choose. Public schools that force one to attend a schools based on one’s zip code, give one no choice about whom will teach students or lead schools, and make all curriculum decisions in a vacuum removed from economic reality are the very definition of closed systems.

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@ Sneek Peek. Thanks for the forthright question. The answer is no, I have no affiliation with any for profit group. I am a very proud public school educator and a warrior mom. I love my community and sincerely want to help improve education. Despite the hype over “privatization of education,” there are a lot more out there doing this work for the same reasons I do. It’s hard work, often daunting when you consider that you are trying to pull a barge with a row boat. Sometimes it makes me sad, and other times infuriated, and I want to rage at the machine because of the focus on everything but what matters…kids learning. I got into this movement because of my kids and a desire to create a very purposeful learning environment for kids to learn and teachers to teach. I stay in the sector because I realized my goal wasn’t REALLY to just impact a group of kids in my home town, but to influence broader, positive reform that takes the best of public education and enhances it with more parent choice, more teacher and community voice, and true accountability. So that’s my story.

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