Center for Education Reform Newswire
Vol. 9, No. 8
February 27, 2007
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A weekly wrap-up of education news and commentary you won't find anywhere else, spiced with a dash of irreverence, from the nation's leading voice in school reform. See our Newswire Library for an archive of back issues.
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INSPIRATION, STRUGGLE AND SUCCESS
It's clear from a new report by award-winning journalist Joe Williams that charter schools have raised the bar for all schools, and to show just how this has occurred, this new publication tracks samples of such an impact - and chronicles the enormous system-imposed challenges some schools have had to endure in their pursuit to educate children. An excerpt, and access to the full report, is available now. See Charter Schools Today: Stories of Inspiration, Struggle & Success, published by The Center for Education Reform.
GATES v. CHARTERS?
Last week's news was filled with coverage of Apple CEO Steven Jobs' bold and accurate portrayal of the role of the teachers union hierarchy in education. This week some observers are wishing they could give Microsoft CEO Bill Gates the same credit for recognizing the realities of one of today's most important educational assets - charter schools. In an impassioned plea for a more intense focus on preparing US students for a growing global economy, "How to Keep America Competitive," Gates points to the success of High Tech High in San Diego, California, an innovative charter school that exists because a charter law was enacted - over the heated and prolonged objections of the teachers union - 14 years ago. Such schools all over the country, as the stories cited above show, are succeeding in the face of enormous obstacles. These schools, however, are recognized by fewer than 1 in 5 Americans according to Center for Education Reform/the polling company surveys. But when a man of the reputation and influence of Bill Gates fails to even mention to his audience that a school he praises is a charter, he discounts the very tool that is the primary lever for that school's success. Hmmm. Was it a mistake? A similar dodging of education reform occurred last April on Oprah, when Gates and even a few prominent charter leaders failed to acknowledge they were there because they run charters. To review that situation, check out the May 2006 edition of Chalk Talk.
NEW PUBLIC SCHOOLS
That's what we often call charters - for they are indeed new public schools. Whether regular public, charter or private, it's worth recognizing a few stories that put the real issues into perspective.
GROWTH AND ACHIEVEMENT. Enrollment in Michigan charter schools has reached nearly 100,000 and there is a good reason why - test scores. The 2006 Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) tests show that elementary charter school students are matching or outpacing their district counterparts in English and math testing. More importantly, Michigan's charter public schools exceed the average scores of their host districts on 23 of 27 MEAP tests this year. Canton Charter Academy boasts a waiting list of nearly 1,000 children. The 58 charter schools run by Central Michigan University have waiting lists of more than 10,000. While charter school success has been spread throughout Michigan and parents are clamoring for a lift of the charter school cap, perhaps most telling is their success in urban areas. In Detroit, where reform is needed most, charter public schools exceeded the local district on 24 of 27 tests - up from 20 last year.
WHOSE LINE MONEY IS IT? For charter schools, funding can be an issue that eats up administrators' valuable time and leaves many schools struggling to find facilities. Weak charter school laws leave massive funding disparities between charter schools and conventional schools, with many schools receiving half of what their counterparts receive per pupil. Doesn't seem like the funding issue could be worse, does it? But it is for six Pittsburgh charter schools that have gone head-to-head with a school board that has shortchanged charters at every corner. Linda Clautti, the CEO of Northside Urban Pathways Charter School, discovered recently that the Pittsburgh school board had withheld funds from her school and several other Pittsburgh charter schools for six years. With the help of her school's financial director, she presented extensive evidence to the school board of their financial "mistake," and the district began making payments totaling $2.9 million to 12 charter schools and nine cyber charters. That does not, however, solve all problems for Pittsburgh charter schools. The district continues to reject charter applications with little grounds and many charter administrators fear that most charter schools will not be renewed when they appear before the district in March.
MAKING WAVES. Four years ago, a national survey found that 30 percent of large U.S. companies "believed they had failed to exploit fully their international business opportunities due to insufficient personnel with international skills." Many charter schools were started precisely to fill this void, such as the Vaughn International Studies Academy in Los Angeles and the Academy of the Pacific Rim in Boston, MA. Using the charter model, New York City officials will birth forty new schools this fall with innovative curricula, including a school that teaches Arabic language and culture. Perhaps, if the public school system can learn from competition, American business can once again depend on our own students. Can you say charter?
STANDARDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY
STAGFLATION. The day some young students dread - when report cards come out - appears to be getting a little easier these days. A recent survey by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that students' grade point averages have gone up nearly a full letter grade since 1990. Students are also averaging 360 more hours of classroom instruction and taking tougher courses compared with students in 1990. Those are statistics any student would be happy to share with his or her parents. Unfortunately, it may be all smoke and mirrors. If parents got a look at national assessment trend data, they would see that despite "harder" classes and a higher GPA, students' reading and math skills have dropped significantly in the last decade. 12th-grade students lacking even basic reading skills rose from 20 percent in 1992 to 27 percent today. Proficiency in reading dropped from 40 percent to 35. And in math, only 23 percent of 12th graders tested proficient. So how can students' reading and math skills be plummeting, while their grades are rising and coursework is becoming more demanding? These are conclusions that have been offered by Newswire managing editor Jon Hussey in his report, The American Education Diet: Can US Students Survive on Junk Food? "Too often teachers' low expectations for students result in inflated grades for work that is in fact sub par, leaving students woefully and unknowingly unprepared for life after high school." To read more on the latest stats check out the Nation's Report Card.
BLOG REPORT
STUPID, AGAIN? When 20/20's "Stupid in America" with John Stossel aired on January 13, 2006, it became the program's highest rated show ever. After seeing the program, viewers flooded the various websites (like Newswire's Host) over the next week with comments and cries for more reform. The show was so popular, it was aired again in September with additional footage. Now the popularity of "Stupid in America" has hit the Internet. On YouTube, the full version of "Stupid in America" has been viewed nearly 400,000 times, and boasts a 4.5 star rating out of a possible five. It has even been added as a "favorite" video by nearly 2,000 people. And the comments keep coming, with 1,350 comments on the state of American education featured beneath the video. The education reform pot has been stirred once again - is it time for a sequel?
UNIONS
FIRING AIN'T EASY. Hardly the bastion of anti-public school prose, Washington DC's hip City Paper treated its readers last week to a mind-boggling step-by-step process on how the system here might go about firing a teacher. It's standard knowledge in education circles that addressing poor performance in a teacher can suck up enough time, money, and potential additional litigation to convince most administrators to never try. It's because of iron clad job protection "inspired" by union contracts and related city/state rules. Some are just beginning to see how this can have an impact on schools and others have been treated to the effects of bad staffing before. Don't believe us? Check out this story for yourself. Good data and solutions exist. Bookmark the National Council on Teacher Quality Web Site, which offers state-by-state details on teacher quality and how states assess.
In Other News
EDUCATION PROGRESS? What's the state of education in the states? The Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, will host a diverse array of opinions on that subject as the US Chamber of Commerce releases its report, Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Effectiveness. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donahue will be joined by Center for American Progress President John Podesta, American Enterprise Institute's Frederick Hess, and other distinguished guests tomorrow from 10:00 am - 11:30 am at the US Chamber of Commerce Hall of Flags. For more information visit www.americanprogress.org/events/.
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