The president plays the Simon part; Congress, alas, is Paula
Here's my latest op-ed.
Orange County Register
Sunday, April 10, 2005
The president plays the Simon part; Congress, alas, is Paula
By Lisa Snell
Director of Education and Child Welfare Program, Reason Public Policy Institute
Each season of the hugely popular "American Idol" starts with a few episodes featuring talent-challenged, but very entertaining, contestants taking their shot at pop superstardom. Think William Hung, who earned his 15 minutes of fame by butchering tunes. By now, as in past years, the program has discarded the less gifted vocalists and gotten to its core: talented singers vying for votes to help them survive weekly cuts.
While much less entertaining than "American Idol's" evaluation process, the Bush administration recently conducted a merit-based evaluation of the effectiveness of taxpayer-funded federal education programs. As a result, 48 programs were voted off the taxpayer payroll.
Even with the cuts, Bush plans to spend more than $56 billion on education in 2006; K-12 education funding will have increased by 51 percent since 2001. Believe it or not, states have had a difficult time spending their federal increases over the last few years because of inept bureaucratic budgeting processes at the state and district level that let the funding lapse rather than redirecting the money to local classrooms. At the beginning of 2004, states had $5.75 billion in unspent federal education funding that had accumulated between 2000 and 2003, and today that figure tops $6 billion.
Unfortunately, while Bush tries to play the role of brutally honest Simon Cowell - sending programs packing and sticking to his cuts - it is likely that Congress will be much more like Paula Abdul, saying kind words and keeping ineffective programs alive. True to form, the Senate recently added $5.4 billion in education spending to its budget.
Congress has a long history of continually funding questionable education programs. The 2005 appropriations bill contained over 1,200 education pork projects, according to the Heritage Foundation: $450,000 of taxpayer money for a Baseball Hall of Fame outreach program using baseball to teach students distance learning; $25,000 for the study of mariachi music; and $725,000 for the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, to name a few.
The beneficiaries of these pork projects won't go quietly, proclaiming Bush is gutting education and howling with indignation about the value they provide to American children. A cable news channel recently ran an emotional story on plans to cut Even Start, a 15-year-old, $225 million federal literacy program for low-income families. Three separate evaluations have shown the program is not succeeding.
Similarly, there has been an outcry over plans to eliminate the $500 million Enhancing Education Through Technology state block-grant program, which supporters call the primary source of federal funding for school technology. Their assertion is ridiculous in light of the fact that another federal program, E-Rate, provides schools with more than $2 billion each year in technology grants.
On "American Idol," the public can vote for its favorite contestant. Unless they can afford a private school, American parents don't get to vote for, or send their children to their favorite, i.e. the best, public school. Bush's 2006 education budget takes money from failing programs and moves it to help ensure that students and parents have more meaningful choices and educational opportunities - including $50 million that will fund new school choice programs providing competitive awards to states, school districts and community-based nonprofit organizations that provide low-income parents with more opportunities to transfer their children to higher-performing schools and $219 million to support new charter schools that would give parents another option to failing public schools.
Singing talent and tax dollars are both scarce resources. The only way to ensure that education dollars are spent on effective programs is to evaluate the evidence. Education programs should have to demonstrate tangible results if they want to hear, "You're through to the next round."
Monday, April 11, 2005
Thursday, March 10, 2005
First School Choice Program of 2005
Utah's first.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. today signed the Carson Smith
Scholarships for Students With Special Needs Act. The first school
choice program to be enacted in 2005 authorizes the distribution of
scholarships for Utah's special needs children to attend private
schools.
For more info. go to Alliance for School Choice.
According to Education Week:
The Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarships legislation would provide $1.4 million in voucher money to help parents of students with disabilities send their children to private schools, both secular and religious, that place particular emphasis on helping such students.
About 50,000 students in the state would qualify for the scholarships, Ms. Peterson said, but only a few hundred would be able to receive the funding under the current amount of money allotted for the program. Students with disabilities that range from brain injury to speech or language impairments would be able to apply for the scholarships, which could pay out nearly $5,500 per student annually.
Utah's first.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. today signed the Carson Smith
Scholarships for Students With Special Needs Act. The first school
choice program to be enacted in 2005 authorizes the distribution of
scholarships for Utah's special needs children to attend private
schools.
For more info. go to Alliance for School Choice.
According to Education Week:
The Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarships legislation would provide $1.4 million in voucher money to help parents of students with disabilities send their children to private schools, both secular and religious, that place particular emphasis on helping such students.
About 50,000 students in the state would qualify for the scholarships, Ms. Peterson said, but only a few hundred would be able to receive the funding under the current amount of money allotted for the program. Students with disabilities that range from brain injury to speech or language impairments would be able to apply for the scholarships, which could pay out nearly $5,500 per student annually.
45 Hours of TV a Week? Get Real!
Here's a rant from Mr. Educationweak who usually rants at the Winecommonsewer.
So your worthless kids spend more time gawking at the tube than you spend at work (in a bad week with overtime). Not only that but the little twerps are simultaneously surfing the I-Net AND punching buttons on the Gameboy with the Ipod welded to their ears (and text messaging the news about Friday's party to their friends on the cell) .
“These kids are spending the equivalent of a full-time work week using media, plus overtime,” said Vicky Rideout, M.A., a Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President who directed the study. “Anything that takes up that much space in their lives certainly deserves our full attention.”
Well, No, Vicky, it doesnt deserve your attention because it's none of your got dang business. And it's crap, you've been had (or you're making it up) by a bunch of kids who are even now chuckling to themselves about how moronic this study really is.
Plus, your credibility is suspect. Dude, you work for Kaiser, the witch doctor of modern medicine, whose main claim to fame was the invention of rationed health care, from which the modern delusion of managed health care (courtesy of our federally mandated HMO system) evolved.
And golly gosh darn gee whiz, Senator "It Takes A Village" Clinton was the keynote speaker at the press conference announcing the study's shocking results (webcast here). Now there's a surprise.
Even allowing for households where the TV is constantly blaring in the background during all waking hours, it isn't physically possible for any kid to watch TV 45 hours a week. Not even Beavis & Butthead watched that much TV.
Jake & Katie get up around 6:45 AM. They're on the bus at 8:00 home again at 4:15. Dinner around 5:00. They've got homework, gymnastics, Little League games and practice, soccer games and practice, chores, baths, quiet reading time, and then bed by 9:00. If they're lucky they get to watch American Idol twice a week, the Friday night family movie at Casa de las Rocas Grande, and a cartoon after school.
Never once in their entire lives have my kids ever watched TV for six and a half hours in a single day (not once). Further, I doubt that they know any other kid who has watched that much TV either, given that a majority of kids move directly from school to after-school day care.
In the immortal words of the Tim Cavanaugh, I call Boo Sheet on this. I'm tempted to spell it out, too.
I can hear it. I know, I know. But we simply HAVE to do SOMETHING. It's for the children after all.
Here's a rant from Mr. Educationweak who usually rants at the Winecommonsewer.
So your worthless kids spend more time gawking at the tube than you spend at work (in a bad week with overtime). Not only that but the little twerps are simultaneously surfing the I-Net AND punching buttons on the Gameboy with the Ipod welded to their ears (and text messaging the news about Friday's party to their friends on the cell) .
“These kids are spending the equivalent of a full-time work week using media, plus overtime,” said Vicky Rideout, M.A., a Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President who directed the study. “Anything that takes up that much space in their lives certainly deserves our full attention.”
Well, No, Vicky, it doesnt deserve your attention because it's none of your got dang business. And it's crap, you've been had (or you're making it up) by a bunch of kids who are even now chuckling to themselves about how moronic this study really is.
Plus, your credibility is suspect. Dude, you work for Kaiser, the witch doctor of modern medicine, whose main claim to fame was the invention of rationed health care, from which the modern delusion of managed health care (courtesy of our federally mandated HMO system) evolved.
And golly gosh darn gee whiz, Senator "It Takes A Village" Clinton was the keynote speaker at the press conference announcing the study's shocking results (webcast here). Now there's a surprise.
Even allowing for households where the TV is constantly blaring in the background during all waking hours, it isn't physically possible for any kid to watch TV 45 hours a week. Not even Beavis & Butthead watched that much TV.
Jake & Katie get up around 6:45 AM. They're on the bus at 8:00 home again at 4:15. Dinner around 5:00. They've got homework, gymnastics, Little League games and practice, soccer games and practice, chores, baths, quiet reading time, and then bed by 9:00. If they're lucky they get to watch American Idol twice a week, the Friday night family movie at Casa de las Rocas Grande, and a cartoon after school.
Never once in their entire lives have my kids ever watched TV for six and a half hours in a single day (not once). Further, I doubt that they know any other kid who has watched that much TV either, given that a majority of kids move directly from school to after-school day care.
In the immortal words of the Tim Cavanaugh, I call Boo Sheet on this. I'm tempted to spell it out, too.
I can hear it. I know, I know. But we simply HAVE to do SOMETHING. It's for the children after all.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Don't Students Ever Get Detention Anymore?
Florida has yet another example of extreme punishment for what seems a minor offense. Zero tolerance laws are like landing on the "Go Directly to Jail" square on the Monopoly board--except there is never a get out of jail free card.
A 13-year-old student in Orange County, Fla., was suspended for 10 days and could be banned from school over an alleged assault with a rubber band, according to a WKMG Local 6 News report.
Robert Gomez, a seventh-grader at Liberty Middle School, said he picked up a rubber band at school and slipped it on his wrist.
Gomez said when his science teacher demanded the rubber band, the student said he tossed it on her desk.
After the incident, Gomez received a 10-day suspension for threatening his teacher with what administrators say was a weapon, Local 6 News reported.
"They said if he would have aimed it a little more and he would have gotten it closer to her face he would have hit her in the eye," mother Jenette Rojas said.
Rojas said she was shocked to learn that her son was being punished for a Level 4 offense -- the highest Level at the school. Other violations that also receive level 4 punishment include arson, assault and battery, bomb threats and explosives, according to the Code of Student Conduct.
Long gone are the days portrayed in the classic high school film, The Breakfast Club, where high schoolers spent Saturday in detention for much more serious offenses then tossing or even shooting a rubber band on to a teacher's desk. Check out the picture at the link above, the rubber band looks very lightweight and not even substantial for a rubber band.
Florida has yet another example of extreme punishment for what seems a minor offense. Zero tolerance laws are like landing on the "Go Directly to Jail" square on the Monopoly board--except there is never a get out of jail free card.
A 13-year-old student in Orange County, Fla., was suspended for 10 days and could be banned from school over an alleged assault with a rubber band, according to a WKMG Local 6 News report.
Robert Gomez, a seventh-grader at Liberty Middle School, said he picked up a rubber band at school and slipped it on his wrist.
Gomez said when his science teacher demanded the rubber band, the student said he tossed it on her desk.
After the incident, Gomez received a 10-day suspension for threatening his teacher with what administrators say was a weapon, Local 6 News reported.
"They said if he would have aimed it a little more and he would have gotten it closer to her face he would have hit her in the eye," mother Jenette Rojas said.
Rojas said she was shocked to learn that her son was being punished for a Level 4 offense -- the highest Level at the school. Other violations that also receive level 4 punishment include arson, assault and battery, bomb threats and explosives, according to the Code of Student Conduct.
Long gone are the days portrayed in the classic high school film, The Breakfast Club, where high schoolers spent Saturday in detention for much more serious offenses then tossing or even shooting a rubber band on to a teacher's desk. Check out the picture at the link above, the rubber band looks very lightweight and not even substantial for a rubber band.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Economics 100
In an ongoing markets in everything piece, Marginal Revolution highlights what happens when one high school banned candy:
Students at a high school in Austin, Texas gave their teachers a lesson in the economics of prohibition.
When Austin High School administrators removed candy from campus vending machines last year, the move was hailed as a step toward fighting obesity. What happened next shows how hard it can be for schools to control what students eat on campus.
The candy removal plan, according to students at Austin High, was thwarted by classmates who created an underground candy market, turning the hallways of the high school into Willy-Wonka-meets-Casablanca....
"It's all about supply and demand," said Austin junior Scott Roudebush. "We've got some entrepreneurs around here."
In an ongoing markets in everything piece, Marginal Revolution highlights what happens when one high school banned candy:
Students at a high school in Austin, Texas gave their teachers a lesson in the economics of prohibition.
When Austin High School administrators removed candy from campus vending machines last year, the move was hailed as a step toward fighting obesity. What happened next shows how hard it can be for schools to control what students eat on campus.
The candy removal plan, according to students at Austin High, was thwarted by classmates who created an underground candy market, turning the hallways of the high school into Willy-Wonka-meets-Casablanca....
"It's all about supply and demand," said Austin junior Scott Roudebush. "We've got some entrepreneurs around here."
Jill Stewart on English Immersion in California
One of my favorite commentators on California politics, Jill Stewart, takes California's School Superintendent Jack O'Connell and others like him to task for holding English Language Learners back in California.
Under Proposition 227, immigrant children were only supposed to stay in special immersion for a year or so, then go to mainstream class. But O'Connell has refused to credit English immersion for soaring English literacy rates. His silence emboldens the anti-English ideologues who still strive to keep Latino kids in a separate world.
Again this month, O'Connell refused to credit English immersion, telling The San Francisco Chronicle he won't guess why kids are learning English so well.
Guess? Year after year, he's failed to crunch data that could compare kids still stuck in "bilingual" to those in English. The State Board of Education finally ordered O'Connell to produce a study with that in mind. While we wait, I did my own study. I found that school districts like Los Angeles Unified -- where moderate Democrats stamped out failing "bilingual" education amidst fierce lefty resistance -- are producing big, lasting gains in English literacy.
By contrast, districts controlled by left-wing Democrats with an attitude of "they won't be able to talk to grandma!" are producing smaller gains.
In 2001, of 244,000 L.A. kids who weren't native English speakers, only 17 percent scored as "advanced or early advanced" on statewide English tests. Today, a stunning 49 percent get those high scores.
Back then, L.A. was paying 6,000 teachers a yearly bonus ($2,500 to $5,000) to teach in Spanish -- the disastrous "bilingual" program. Now, only 679 teachers get the bonuses and teach "bilingual."
See any pattern there, Mr. O'Connell?
By contrast, San Diego Unified was run by sad, fad-obsessed school honchos Alan Bersin and Tony Alvarado, who kowtowed to its anti-reform teachers union. It shows. In 2001, of 33,800 San Diego kids who weren't native English speakers, 24 percent got "advanced or early advanced" scores on the English tests. Today, 41 percent get those high scores -- well behind L.A.
Virulently anti-Proposition 227 Berkeley Unified is almost frozen in place. In 2001, of the 1,000 Berkeley kids who weren't native English speakers, 42 percent scored "advanced or early advanced" on English tests. Today, 45 percent do. L.A. -- far more urban and poverty-riddled -- has blown past leafy Berkeley.
As they say, read the whole thing.
One of my favorite commentators on California politics, Jill Stewart, takes California's School Superintendent Jack O'Connell and others like him to task for holding English Language Learners back in California.
Under Proposition 227, immigrant children were only supposed to stay in special immersion for a year or so, then go to mainstream class. But O'Connell has refused to credit English immersion for soaring English literacy rates. His silence emboldens the anti-English ideologues who still strive to keep Latino kids in a separate world.
Again this month, O'Connell refused to credit English immersion, telling The San Francisco Chronicle he won't guess why kids are learning English so well.
Guess? Year after year, he's failed to crunch data that could compare kids still stuck in "bilingual" to those in English. The State Board of Education finally ordered O'Connell to produce a study with that in mind. While we wait, I did my own study. I found that school districts like Los Angeles Unified -- where moderate Democrats stamped out failing "bilingual" education amidst fierce lefty resistance -- are producing big, lasting gains in English literacy.
By contrast, districts controlled by left-wing Democrats with an attitude of "they won't be able to talk to grandma!" are producing smaller gains.
In 2001, of 244,000 L.A. kids who weren't native English speakers, only 17 percent scored as "advanced or early advanced" on statewide English tests. Today, a stunning 49 percent get those high scores.
Back then, L.A. was paying 6,000 teachers a yearly bonus ($2,500 to $5,000) to teach in Spanish -- the disastrous "bilingual" program. Now, only 679 teachers get the bonuses and teach "bilingual."
See any pattern there, Mr. O'Connell?
By contrast, San Diego Unified was run by sad, fad-obsessed school honchos Alan Bersin and Tony Alvarado, who kowtowed to its anti-reform teachers union. It shows. In 2001, of 33,800 San Diego kids who weren't native English speakers, 24 percent got "advanced or early advanced" scores on the English tests. Today, 41 percent get those high scores -- well behind L.A.
Virulently anti-Proposition 227 Berkeley Unified is almost frozen in place. In 2001, of the 1,000 Berkeley kids who weren't native English speakers, 42 percent scored "advanced or early advanced" on English tests. Today, 45 percent do. L.A. -- far more urban and poverty-riddled -- has blown past leafy Berkeley.
As they say, read the whole thing.
Lock Them In
The headline says it all:
Detroit educators in a battle to keep students in the city.
In what appears to be Detroit Public Schools' latest attempt to hang on to students, officials said Tuesday they will no longer give students waivers to attend other districts.
It's unclear how many of the estimated 6,000 Detroit students attending suburban public schools will be affected. The DPS could not provide that number.
Detroit Public Schools has a $200-million deficit, which administrators blame largely on declining enrollment. The district has lost 40,000 students during the past decade, and says it could lose 10,000 a year until 2008. Last week, the district announced 34 schools would close in June.
Each DPS student who leaves costs the district $7,180 a year in state funding.
In addition to the 6,000 students attending schools-of-choice districts, an estimated 33,000 Detroit students attend charter schools. School choice districts are those that open their borders to students who live outside that district.
I'm not sure how this will be legal as the schools-of-choice program is a state-level program. It will be interesting to see if Detroit can legally deny a child the right of exit if other districts are willing to accept the child.
The headline says it all:
Detroit educators in a battle to keep students in the city.
In what appears to be Detroit Public Schools' latest attempt to hang on to students, officials said Tuesday they will no longer give students waivers to attend other districts.
It's unclear how many of the estimated 6,000 Detroit students attending suburban public schools will be affected. The DPS could not provide that number.
Detroit Public Schools has a $200-million deficit, which administrators blame largely on declining enrollment. The district has lost 40,000 students during the past decade, and says it could lose 10,000 a year until 2008. Last week, the district announced 34 schools would close in June.
Each DPS student who leaves costs the district $7,180 a year in state funding.
In addition to the 6,000 students attending schools-of-choice districts, an estimated 33,000 Detroit students attend charter schools. School choice districts are those that open their borders to students who live outside that district.
I'm not sure how this will be legal as the schools-of-choice program is a state-level program. It will be interesting to see if Detroit can legally deny a child the right of exit if other districts are willing to accept the child.
School privatization Fight Back on in California
California Republicans have renewed their fight to repeal the bill that outlaws outsourcing in public schools. The new bill is weaker than previous bills with many concessions to labor.
Republican lawmakers on Thursday revived their push to make it easier for school districts to contract out for nonteaching services such as food, landscaping and buses.
Legislation being developed would allow schools to outsource for some services, saving districts money while keeping in place protections for employees replaced by contract workers, said Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield.
The Republican plan this year calls for displaced workers to be offered a job with the contracted company or elsewhere in the district. The employer would have to match the hourly wage and provide the same level of health-care benefits. It also would require more extensive fingerprinting and background checks of school workers.
"It protects wages. Health care, it provides it. Displacement job protection, we take care of that in this bill," said McCarthy, who is sponsoring the legislation along with Assembly Member John Benoit, a Riverside Republican. "We [address] every concern about why the bill could not move forward."
In the last few years, the anti-outsourcing bill has cost districts lots of money and forced some to suspend instructional programs. Fresno is the case in point.
Fresno Unified — in financial shambles and struggling to avoid a state takeover — could save millions of dollars each year if it were allowed to contract out for landscaping, food and printing services, Mehas said. The money could restore downsized music programs.
Mehas said Central Unified School District could save $500,000 per year by using an outside company to do its printing. Doing so, he said, would not hurt employees.
California Republicans have renewed their fight to repeal the bill that outlaws outsourcing in public schools. The new bill is weaker than previous bills with many concessions to labor.
Republican lawmakers on Thursday revived their push to make it easier for school districts to contract out for nonteaching services such as food, landscaping and buses.
Legislation being developed would allow schools to outsource for some services, saving districts money while keeping in place protections for employees replaced by contract workers, said Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield.
The Republican plan this year calls for displaced workers to be offered a job with the contracted company or elsewhere in the district. The employer would have to match the hourly wage and provide the same level of health-care benefits. It also would require more extensive fingerprinting and background checks of school workers.
"It protects wages. Health care, it provides it. Displacement job protection, we take care of that in this bill," said McCarthy, who is sponsoring the legislation along with Assembly Member John Benoit, a Riverside Republican. "We [address] every concern about why the bill could not move forward."
In the last few years, the anti-outsourcing bill has cost districts lots of money and forced some to suspend instructional programs. Fresno is the case in point.
Fresno Unified — in financial shambles and struggling to avoid a state takeover — could save millions of dollars each year if it were allowed to contract out for landscaping, food and printing services, Mehas said. The money could restore downsized music programs.
Mehas said Central Unified School District could save $500,000 per year by using an outside company to do its printing. Doing so, he said, would not hurt employees.
Charters for Oakland?
Under Randy Ward the Oakland school district is planning on converting 8 failing schools to charter schools. The reaction from the teacher union president versus Oakland parents really sheds light on the union's priorities. No surprise, but it is always shocking to see how unashamed the union is while locking children in failing schools.
"We don't need to be doing the dirty work for George Bush here in Oakland," teachers union President Ben Visnick told Ward during the meeting. "Don't pick on the poor kids. Shame on you. Shame on you."
Compare that with this quote from a grandparent with a child in a failing school in Oakland:
Great-grandmother Mary Degraffenreed said she does not mind if the school does become a charter, "as long as my grandchild learns."
So trying to make the failing schools more competitive and responsive is picking on poor children but leaving the children in a school that has failed for several years is NOT.
Under Randy Ward the Oakland school district is planning on converting 8 failing schools to charter schools. The reaction from the teacher union president versus Oakland parents really sheds light on the union's priorities. No surprise, but it is always shocking to see how unashamed the union is while locking children in failing schools.
"We don't need to be doing the dirty work for George Bush here in Oakland," teachers union President Ben Visnick told Ward during the meeting. "Don't pick on the poor kids. Shame on you. Shame on you."
Compare that with this quote from a grandparent with a child in a failing school in Oakland:
Great-grandmother Mary Degraffenreed said she does not mind if the school does become a charter, "as long as my grandchild learns."
So trying to make the failing schools more competitive and responsive is picking on poor children but leaving the children in a school that has failed for several years is NOT.
Philadelphia Outsources High School Curriculum
Joanne Jacobs reports on Education Week's story on Philadelphia outsourcing a new standardized high school curriculum to Kaplan K12 Learning Services Group.
The company was given a $4.5 million, one-year contract to develop the college-prep curriculum in 10 core courses required to earn a Pennsylvania diploma: 9th grade physical sciences and world history; 10th grade biology, U.S. history, geometry, and world literature; and 11th grade chemistry, social science, Algebra 2, and American literature. That money also covers related assessments, materials for 9th grade transition classes, and student preparation for state tests. A second $4.5 million contract this year includes revisions to the curriculum as well as scoring the related tests.
Kaplan already had a track record in the district as the provider of the 9th grade transitional English and math courses. Results from the spring 2004 TerraNova, a commercial test taken by Philadelphia students, found significant increases in the percent of 9th graders scoring at or above the national average in reading, language arts, and math, and a significant decrease in the percent of 9th graders in the bottom quartile, following introduction of the program. Ninth grade improvement outpaced that of any other grade level.
Joanne Jacobs reports on Education Week's story on Philadelphia outsourcing a new standardized high school curriculum to Kaplan K12 Learning Services Group.
The company was given a $4.5 million, one-year contract to develop the college-prep curriculum in 10 core courses required to earn a Pennsylvania diploma: 9th grade physical sciences and world history; 10th grade biology, U.S. history, geometry, and world literature; and 11th grade chemistry, social science, Algebra 2, and American literature. That money also covers related assessments, materials for 9th grade transition classes, and student preparation for state tests. A second $4.5 million contract this year includes revisions to the curriculum as well as scoring the related tests.
Kaplan already had a track record in the district as the provider of the 9th grade transitional English and math courses. Results from the spring 2004 TerraNova, a commercial test taken by Philadelphia students, found significant increases in the percent of 9th graders scoring at or above the national average in reading, language arts, and math, and a significant decrease in the percent of 9th graders in the bottom quartile, following introduction of the program. Ninth grade improvement outpaced that of any other grade level.
Let California's English Language Learners Move Ahead
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today released results of the 2004 administration of the annual California English Language Development Test (CELDT) taken by more than 1.3 million English learners.
Preliminary results show that 47 percent of English learners in California's public schools scored at early advanced or advanced overall in English proficiency. This is compared to 43 percent scoring at early advanced or advanced in 2003, 34 percent in 2002, and 25 percent in 2001, an increase of 22 percentage points in four years.
Compared to the rest of the nation, California has the greatest number of students whose primary language is not English.
The larger issue for California schools is whether districts are willing to let go of these students' classification as English language learners once tests prove they are proficient in English. Unfortunately, this is yet another example where schools and districts force children to wear a specific label for financial gain and deprive them of challenging academic curriculum.
As California Schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell explained in yesterday's press release:
Statewide statistics on the number of English learners reclassified in 2004 to fluent English proficient will be released in August 2005. This information is compiled annually from data submitted to the CDE by local school districts. The statewide Language Census report for 2003, as reported in April 2004, showed 8.3 percent of English learners reclassified to fluent English proficient by their school districts. However, 43 percent of English learners demonstrated English proficiency on the CELDT in 2003.
"In the past four years, there has been a noticeable gap between the percentage of English learners demonstrating English proficiency on the CELDT and the percentage of English learners being reclassified by local school districts," O'Connell said. "I am concerned about this because English learners may not have full access to rigorous academic courses, such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate, until they have been reclassified to Fluent English Proficient. So I am urging California school districts to review their reclassifying procedures as well as the academic interventions provided to English learners."
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today released results of the 2004 administration of the annual California English Language Development Test (CELDT) taken by more than 1.3 million English learners.
Preliminary results show that 47 percent of English learners in California's public schools scored at early advanced or advanced overall in English proficiency. This is compared to 43 percent scoring at early advanced or advanced in 2003, 34 percent in 2002, and 25 percent in 2001, an increase of 22 percentage points in four years.
Compared to the rest of the nation, California has the greatest number of students whose primary language is not English.
The larger issue for California schools is whether districts are willing to let go of these students' classification as English language learners once tests prove they are proficient in English. Unfortunately, this is yet another example where schools and districts force children to wear a specific label for financial gain and deprive them of challenging academic curriculum.
As California Schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell explained in yesterday's press release:
Statewide statistics on the number of English learners reclassified in 2004 to fluent English proficient will be released in August 2005. This information is compiled annually from data submitted to the CDE by local school districts. The statewide Language Census report for 2003, as reported in April 2004, showed 8.3 percent of English learners reclassified to fluent English proficient by their school districts. However, 43 percent of English learners demonstrated English proficiency on the CELDT in 2003.
"In the past four years, there has been a noticeable gap between the percentage of English learners demonstrating English proficiency on the CELDT and the percentage of English learners being reclassified by local school districts," O'Connell said. "I am concerned about this because English learners may not have full access to rigorous academic courses, such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate, until they have been reclassified to Fluent English Proficient. So I am urging California school districts to review their reclassifying procedures as well as the academic interventions provided to English learners."
Monday, January 24, 2005
Your Bond Money at Work
I'm continually amazed how school districts blow millions of dollars in bond money--without building any actual buildings. Yet, voters continue to say yes to more school facilities bonds. This week San Francisco Unified is the case in point.
San Francisco's city controller has found major accounting mistakes in the school district's spending of construction bond money and is urging the district to stop additional projects until it fixes the problems.
In a report to be released next week, Controller Ed Harrington's office found a lack of communication between district departments, computational errors, contradictions in what phase of construction projects were in, no record of $30 million in bonds that had been sold, no record of $13 million that had been spent and $19 million noted simply as "miscellaneous spending."
Good to see that this is what happens after the school district "reforms" there school construction system.
Harrington's findings come after what Ackerman has called a major cleanup of the district's spending on facilities. Under her predecessor, Bill Rojas, the district misspent at least $100 million from four voter-approved bonds, and promised projects never materialized.
Posted by lisas at 02:05 PM | Comments? Email Us
I'm continually amazed how school districts blow millions of dollars in bond money--without building any actual buildings. Yet, voters continue to say yes to more school facilities bonds. This week San Francisco Unified is the case in point.
San Francisco's city controller has found major accounting mistakes in the school district's spending of construction bond money and is urging the district to stop additional projects until it fixes the problems.
In a report to be released next week, Controller Ed Harrington's office found a lack of communication between district departments, computational errors, contradictions in what phase of construction projects were in, no record of $30 million in bonds that had been sold, no record of $13 million that had been spent and $19 million noted simply as "miscellaneous spending."
Good to see that this is what happens after the school district "reforms" there school construction system.
Harrington's findings come after what Ackerman has called a major cleanup of the district's spending on facilities. Under her predecessor, Bill Rojas, the district misspent at least $100 million from four voter-approved bonds, and promised projects never materialized.
Posted by lisas at 02:05 PM | Comments? Email Us
Monday, January 03, 2005
Disincentives to Teach in Chicago
Chicago provides a clue as to why teacher turnover might be high and to why as the Seattle Times reports in a given year, "almost one-third of the 3.4 million K-12 teachers are moving into, between or out of schools."
The Chicago Sun Times reports that complaints about city teachers and other public school employees living illegally outside Chicago tripled during the last school year.
The horror:
Chicago public school teachers were caught living as far away as Plainfield, Lockport and even in posh Glencoe, according to Inspector General James Sullivan's annual report, released Thursday.
Almost all CPS employees hired after 1996 must live in the city, and this school year, principals were ordered to make sure new hires move into the city within six months of their starting date. Schools CEO Arne Duncan insists the system has been able to recruit more and better qualified teachers, despite the residency requirement.
Sure. Way to be competitive and attract those high quality teachers.
And good to know Chicago is targeting resources to improve the quality of education for the city's students.
Chicago provides a clue as to why teacher turnover might be high and to why as the Seattle Times reports in a given year, "almost one-third of the 3.4 million K-12 teachers are moving into, between or out of schools."
The Chicago Sun Times reports that complaints about city teachers and other public school employees living illegally outside Chicago tripled during the last school year.
The horror:
Chicago public school teachers were caught living as far away as Plainfield, Lockport and even in posh Glencoe, according to Inspector General James Sullivan's annual report, released Thursday.
Almost all CPS employees hired after 1996 must live in the city, and this school year, principals were ordered to make sure new hires move into the city within six months of their starting date. Schools CEO Arne Duncan insists the system has been able to recruit more and better qualified teachers, despite the residency requirement.
Sure. Way to be competitive and attract those high quality teachers.
And good to know Chicago is targeting resources to improve the quality of education for the city's students.
Privatization Watch--Education Issue
We are opening the new year with an issue of Reason's Privatization Watch focused on education issues. Some of this is material you may have seen before, but much of it is new.
Some of the articles in this issue are:
1. No Way Out: The Illusion of School Choice
2. Helping Charters Schools Help Special Ed Students
3. Bad Schools Threaten Urban Renewal
4. D.C. Schools May Follow Privatization Trend
5. Top-Heavy Education
Read it at here.
We are opening the new year with an issue of Reason's Privatization Watch focused on education issues. Some of this is material you may have seen before, but much of it is new.
Some of the articles in this issue are:
1. No Way Out: The Illusion of School Choice
2. Helping Charters Schools Help Special Ed Students
3. Bad Schools Threaten Urban Renewal
4. D.C. Schools May Follow Privatization Trend
5. Top-Heavy Education
Read it at here.
Bring on the Charter Schools
As the No Child Left Behind Act matures, it appears that at least a few low-performing schools will be put up for a bid.
In Colorado’s first forced conversion of a low-performing public school to charter status, the state board of education has directed the Denver school district to hand over its lowest-performing middle school to the nonprofit Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP.
Rival proposals for the Denver charter came from two for-profit education management organizations with experience in taking over failing schools: Edison Schools Inc. and Mosaica Education, both based in New York City. A Denver parents’ group called Padres Unidos had submitted a fourth plan proposing to replicate a locally operated charter school in Pueblo, Colo., called Cesar Chavez Academy.
Nationally, the conversion of Denver’s Cole Middle School marks one of the first times that a state has compelled a district to convert a failing school to charter status. Observers elsewhere are watching in part because the federal No Child Left Behind Act identifies conversion to charter status as one of five approaches states can take to turn around schools that repeatedly fail to make the grade.
Like all forced conversions and government-mandated solutions, charter-school conversions will only work based on the free movement of students between schools and the local school district's right to end contracts with low-performing charter schools. However, this development is a big step forward from years of coddling low-performing schools with extra resources despite zero improvement in student educational outcomes.
As the No Child Left Behind Act matures, it appears that at least a few low-performing schools will be put up for a bid.
In Colorado’s first forced conversion of a low-performing public school to charter status, the state board of education has directed the Denver school district to hand over its lowest-performing middle school to the nonprofit Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP.
Rival proposals for the Denver charter came from two for-profit education management organizations with experience in taking over failing schools: Edison Schools Inc. and Mosaica Education, both based in New York City. A Denver parents’ group called Padres Unidos had submitted a fourth plan proposing to replicate a locally operated charter school in Pueblo, Colo., called Cesar Chavez Academy.
Nationally, the conversion of Denver’s Cole Middle School marks one of the first times that a state has compelled a district to convert a failing school to charter status. Observers elsewhere are watching in part because the federal No Child Left Behind Act identifies conversion to charter status as one of five approaches states can take to turn around schools that repeatedly fail to make the grade.
Like all forced conversions and government-mandated solutions, charter-school conversions will only work based on the free movement of students between schools and the local school district's right to end contracts with low-performing charter schools. However, this development is a big step forward from years of coddling low-performing schools with extra resources despite zero improvement in student educational outcomes.
Thursday, December 30, 2004
The Red-Tape Blues
I originally penned this Op-Ed for the Orange County (Ca) Register. It appeared on Sunday December 26, 2004. You can see the original here.
Key Obstacle to Building Much-Needed Private Schools: State & Local Regulators
Nine years ago, Karen Feltch lined up overnight and slept on the sidewalk to get her 3-year-old daughter, Katie, into Friends Christian School in Yorba Linda. Katie is now in the seventh grade and hopes to attend a brand new Friends Christian High School, initially projected to open in 2006. Unfortunately, delays caused by the government's unrelenting regulatory process, especially the required environmental study and myriad of permits, mean the new high school may not be finished on time - or finished at all.
The trouble building this high school is just one example illustrating the findings in a new Reason Foundation study: State and local government restrictions are discouraging the construction of new private schools and driving up tuition prices at existing schools.
With more and more parents seeking alternatives to failing public schools, many private schools are filled to capacity, offering long waiting lists and increasingly high tuition prices - the result of high demand and low supply. But entrepreneurs interested in launching new private schools are guaranteed to be engulfed in red tape and bureaucracy. For example, Michael Leahy, founder of the Alsion Montessori Middle/High School in Fremont, estimated that the natural cost of building his school was $400,000, but the total cost came to about $1.2 million because of numerous regulations, like the one requiring that he install a red tile roof.
Ray Youmans, president of Innovative Component Groups Inc. in Sacramento, explained that he hoped to build a 10,000-square-foot roof on a school property, simply a structure without walls, to protect the area from the rain and sun. The government required his company to install a $40,000 sprinkler system even though the structure was made entirely of steel and had no chance of catching fire.
The construction of Friends Christian Church High School should have been straightforward. In 2003, the city of Yorba Linda agreed to lease about 32 acres of public land to the Friends Christian School system for the construction of a 1,200-student high school campus. The lease, projected to generate $80 million for Yorba Linda over 50 years, also allows the city to utilize the private school's facilities for community use. When the lease was signed, the church was expected to make a $400,000 payment by June 2004. However, regulatory roadblocks have pushed the payment back to June 2005. And as a result, the City Council says it will reassess the value of the property and may consider alternative proposals for the land (though council members say they still support the school).
What's the holdup? The initial environmental impact study alone examined more than 80 specific impacts, such as whether the high school would have an adverse impact on the scenic vista, have an adverse impact on federal wetlands, result in an increase in the ambient noise level, or result in inadequate parking capacity. Once those questions are answered to the government's satisfaction, the final report still must be signed off by the California Department of Fish and Game, the local Regional Water Quality Control Board and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Fostering a competitive education market, where private schools can flourish and expand the options for the many children who desperatelyneed them, requires legislators to act. Vouchers have long been debated in California. But even if the state ever awarded vouchers, there wouldn't be anywhere near enough private schools to handle the demand.
At the local level, zoning, parking and building codes, and environmental requirements must be reassessed for merit and streamlined. A performance-based system would replace land-use restrictions with specific performance standards requiring schools to meet guidelines for things such as drainage controls, density, floor area and so on. An approach designed to deal with real and measurable impact would require fewer regulations and less paperwork, resulting in a faster and simpler approval process.
Right now, state and local regulations ensure that many entrepreneurs shy away from even attempting to build or open new schools. The process also guarantees that all school construction, even public school construction (think of Los Angeles' Belmont Learning Center's nearly $300 million price tag), is more expensive and takes longer than necessary.
Parents like Linda Feltch are willing to sleep on sidewalks to get their children into a limited number of private schools. If Feltch's daughter, Katie, doesn't get to attend the new Friends Christian High School because regulators made it impossible for the church to finish the school, it will be one more example of a miserable educational system failing students and parents.
I originally penned this Op-Ed for the Orange County (Ca) Register. It appeared on Sunday December 26, 2004. You can see the original here.
Key Obstacle to Building Much-Needed Private Schools: State & Local Regulators
Nine years ago, Karen Feltch lined up overnight and slept on the sidewalk to get her 3-year-old daughter, Katie, into Friends Christian School in Yorba Linda. Katie is now in the seventh grade and hopes to attend a brand new Friends Christian High School, initially projected to open in 2006. Unfortunately, delays caused by the government's unrelenting regulatory process, especially the required environmental study and myriad of permits, mean the new high school may not be finished on time - or finished at all.
The trouble building this high school is just one example illustrating the findings in a new Reason Foundation study: State and local government restrictions are discouraging the construction of new private schools and driving up tuition prices at existing schools.
With more and more parents seeking alternatives to failing public schools, many private schools are filled to capacity, offering long waiting lists and increasingly high tuition prices - the result of high demand and low supply. But entrepreneurs interested in launching new private schools are guaranteed to be engulfed in red tape and bureaucracy. For example, Michael Leahy, founder of the Alsion Montessori Middle/High School in Fremont, estimated that the natural cost of building his school was $400,000, but the total cost came to about $1.2 million because of numerous regulations, like the one requiring that he install a red tile roof.
Ray Youmans, president of Innovative Component Groups Inc. in Sacramento, explained that he hoped to build a 10,000-square-foot roof on a school property, simply a structure without walls, to protect the area from the rain and sun. The government required his company to install a $40,000 sprinkler system even though the structure was made entirely of steel and had no chance of catching fire.
The construction of Friends Christian Church High School should have been straightforward. In 2003, the city of Yorba Linda agreed to lease about 32 acres of public land to the Friends Christian School system for the construction of a 1,200-student high school campus. The lease, projected to generate $80 million for Yorba Linda over 50 years, also allows the city to utilize the private school's facilities for community use. When the lease was signed, the church was expected to make a $400,000 payment by June 2004. However, regulatory roadblocks have pushed the payment back to June 2005. And as a result, the City Council says it will reassess the value of the property and may consider alternative proposals for the land (though council members say they still support the school).
What's the holdup? The initial environmental impact study alone examined more than 80 specific impacts, such as whether the high school would have an adverse impact on the scenic vista, have an adverse impact on federal wetlands, result in an increase in the ambient noise level, or result in inadequate parking capacity. Once those questions are answered to the government's satisfaction, the final report still must be signed off by the California Department of Fish and Game, the local Regional Water Quality Control Board and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Fostering a competitive education market, where private schools can flourish and expand the options for the many children who desperatelyneed them, requires legislators to act. Vouchers have long been debated in California. But even if the state ever awarded vouchers, there wouldn't be anywhere near enough private schools to handle the demand.
At the local level, zoning, parking and building codes, and environmental requirements must be reassessed for merit and streamlined. A performance-based system would replace land-use restrictions with specific performance standards requiring schools to meet guidelines for things such as drainage controls, density, floor area and so on. An approach designed to deal with real and measurable impact would require fewer regulations and less paperwork, resulting in a faster and simpler approval process.
Right now, state and local regulations ensure that many entrepreneurs shy away from even attempting to build or open new schools. The process also guarantees that all school construction, even public school construction (think of Los Angeles' Belmont Learning Center's nearly $300 million price tag), is more expensive and takes longer than necessary.
Parents like Linda Feltch are willing to sleep on sidewalks to get their children into a limited number of private schools. If Feltch's daughter, Katie, doesn't get to attend the new Friends Christian High School because regulators made it impossible for the church to finish the school, it will be one more example of a miserable educational system failing students and parents.
Friday, December 24, 2004
Merry Christmas
If anybody wonders why there has been a bit of a backlash by the 80% of the populace that observes Christmas, here is just one of many clues.
A parent of a Hampton Academy Junior High School student said the principal of the school told his son to leave the school's holiday dance on Friday night because the boy was dressed in a Santa Claus costume, which was politically incorrect.
"It was a holiday party", Principal Fred Muscara said. "It was not a Christmas party."
If anybody wonders why there has been a bit of a backlash by the 80% of the populace that observes Christmas, here is just one of many clues.
A parent of a Hampton Academy Junior High School student said the principal of the school told his son to leave the school's holiday dance on Friday night because the boy was dressed in a Santa Claus costume, which was politically incorrect.
"It was a holiday party", Principal Fred Muscara said. "It was not a Christmas party."
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
To Get More Stupider
Boys go to Jupiter to get more Stupider. Girls go to Mars to get more candy bars.
Little girls have been chanting that while skipping rope for at least three decades so it was no surprise to see her cute pink tee shirt emblazoned with the Top Five Reasons That Boys Stink. She's in my son's third grade class and I glimpsed the message when she turned around and smiled at me while we were enjoying the Thanksgiving shindig last Tuesday in the multi-purpose room.
The shirt was cute, and as always, there is just enough truth in a stereotype to make it believable. I'm not advocating censorship, I don't think she should be warned, disciplined, sent home, asked to cover it up, or anything else. But I can't help wonder in today's incendiary atmosphere of hardline political correctness what Jake's teacher, or for that matter, what the principal would have had to say if a boy arrived at school sporting a shirt that informed us of the Top Five Reasons Girls Stink.
Boys go to Jupiter to get more Stupider. Girls go to Mars to get more candy bars.
Little girls have been chanting that while skipping rope for at least three decades so it was no surprise to see her cute pink tee shirt emblazoned with the Top Five Reasons That Boys Stink. She's in my son's third grade class and I glimpsed the message when she turned around and smiled at me while we were enjoying the Thanksgiving shindig last Tuesday in the multi-purpose room.
The shirt was cute, and as always, there is just enough truth in a stereotype to make it believable. I'm not advocating censorship, I don't think she should be warned, disciplined, sent home, asked to cover it up, or anything else. But I can't help wonder in today's incendiary atmosphere of hardline political correctness what Jake's teacher, or for that matter, what the principal would have had to say if a boy arrived at school sporting a shirt that informed us of the Top Five Reasons Girls Stink.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Universal Preschool is Bad for Kids
An article on Head Start preschool centers in Northern California offers further evidence that giving the government a monopoly to run "universal" preschool could be a dangerous idea.
State regulators have recommended revoking the licenses of two Contra Costa County Head Start centers amid repeated allegations that children were slapped or physically restrained and also left unsupervised.
The recommendation, made in September by the state Community Care Licensing agency, follows repeated efforts by regulators and county officials during the past two years to address problems at the Brookside Center in Richmond and the Fairgrounds Center in Antioch, officials said Tuesday.
Unlike most other nonprofit and private preschool programs, Head Start has a built in monopoly on serving low-income four-year-olds. As this example demonstrates, Head Start continues to receive funding for low-income students even after repeated violations of state preschool regulations. The parents of children in Head Start have little incentive to find a better performing child-care provider because Head Start funds will not follow a child unless the child enrolls in a Head Start program.
State subsidized preschool, that follows the child from one school to another, represents a much more competitive structure for funding preschool and maintains competition between the private and nonprofit sectors. It also gives low-income parents a right to exit poor-performing or dangerous preschools. Those who wish for universal preschool, controlled by government-run schools, should look closely at the performance of the federal Head Start preschool program for a glimpse of a future with universal preschool.
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