tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64789680311805819272024-02-19T06:48:58.794-08:00The Battle for Indiana Public EducationIndiana Citizens for Public Education represents a collection of educators, parents, and community members deeply concerned about the state of public education in Indiana and the larger United States. We are pro-public education, anti-school privatization, pro-teacher, pro-democracy, and, at the core, invested in supporting good public schools that help all of our children.Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-72573638815745115622013-10-10T06:09:00.001-07:002013-10-10T06:09:34.782-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Upcoming </span><b><span style="font-size: large;">“Conversations About Education”</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Series
at Central Library.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The
series of three public conversations will feature a collection of local
education experts, who will dig into important issues facing the education
landscape and share options for improvement.</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Dates
for the series are as follows:</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Wed,
Oct 9<sup>th</sup>, 6:00pm, “Are We Crazy About Kids?”: A Conversation About
Preschool</span></i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Tue,
Oct 16<sup>th</sup>, 6:00pm, “Why Aren’t You at School?”: A Conversation About
Chronic Absence</span></i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Tue,
Oct 29<sup>th</sup>, 3:00pm, A Conversation with Superintendent Glenda Ritz</b></span></i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Conversations
are FREE and open to the public. Please feel free to share this with
colleagues, students, faculty, and others who may have an interest in the
future of education. I’ve attached a poster with additional
information. Event details and registration may be found at: <a href="http://www.wfyi.org/events/are-we-crazy-about-kids" target="_blank">http://www.wfyi.org/<wbr></wbr>events/are-we-crazy-about-kids</a></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-86007763553981626762013-07-11T06:23:00.000-07:002013-07-11T06:23:27.077-07:00Parent Power and Education Reform<br />
<h1 class="headline headline-2631890">
Parent Power: Activism in Indy Schools </h1>
<cite class="byline"> by <a href="http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/ArticleArchives?author=1178362" rel="author">Rebecca Townsend</a></cite><br />
<a href="http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/parent-power-activism-in-indy-schools/Content?oid=2631890">http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/parent-power-activism-in-indy-schools/Content?oid=2631890</a><br />
<br />
<br />
For Delana Ivey, being an educational activist means encouraging local schools to break free from the status quo and embrace open, democratic systems in which parents and students are valued equally with teachers and administrators. <br />
"People talk about parent involvement, but it is still the parent being told what to do, just like a child," Ivey says. Through her work with Parent Power — a grassroots effort to engage parents and the community as agents of change within Indianapolis Public Schools —Ivey encourages people to exercise their voices, to ask questions, to realize their value.<br />
<br />
<strong>"We are critical friends of IPS," she says. "We have children in it— my physical children that I gave birth to — and my community's children. These parents are the taxpayers; they are the people who are paying people's wages. ... In the urban or rural setting, there is a different way we'd like children to be addressed — and it is not as a deficit class and your parents as a deficit." </strong><strong>Bottom line for Ivey: "We want humanity back in schools."</strong> <br />
<br />
While<a href="http://josefasb.wordpress.com/">running for school board</a> in 2010, Josefa Beyer ran across Ivey speaking at a public meeting. Beyer recalled being struck by Ivey's emotion. "I thought 'That's why I'm running.' " <br />
Empowerment is "heartbreaking" work, activist parents say. It entails conflict— often of the good, old-fashioned head-butting type. But the goal is to enable a constructive kind of conflict based on the various stakeholders' ability to challenge each other's actions and assertions. In study groups, Parent Power members read actual "conflict theory" as it relates to the sociology of education. They consider the ultimate purpose of education and worry that curricular change accompanying by the rise of high-stakes testing increases the factors that cause dropouts and disenfranchisement. They discuss the ultimate purpose of education and fret that critical thinking and holistic intellectual development are suffering under contemporary status quo.<br />
Central to these discussions of educational theory and approach is the notion of critical pedagogy. In <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/14331-a-critical-interview-with-henry-giroux">a February 2013 interview with <i>Global Education Magazine</i></a>, Henry Giroux, a leading proponent of critical pedagogy, explained it as such: <br />
"As a political project, critical pedagogy illuminates the relationships among knowledge, authority, and power. It draws attention to questions concerning who has control over the conditions for the production of knowledge, values, and skills, and it illuminates how knowledge, identities, and authority are constructed within particular sets of social relations." <br />
One tenet Parent Power members have learned concerning critical pedagogy within local schools: Questioning authority is not a solo mission. <br />
<b>Montessori madness</b><br />
Ivey's educational activism took root a few years ago when she realized that many teachers at the Montessori-branded magnet school her children attended were not certified to teach the Montessori Method. <br />
Her twin boys were placed in different classes. Ivey assumed that, because the school was advertised as a Montessori School, teachers would be using the <a href="http://www.amshq.org/Montessori-Education/Introduction-to-Montessori.aspx">Montessori Method</a>, a well-established educational model that, according to the American Montessori Society website, views children as "naturally eager for knowledge and capable of initiating learning in a supportive, thoughtfully prepared learning environment." Underlying this educational approach, the AMS explains, is an appreciation for "the human spirit and the development of the whole child — physical, social, emotional, cognitive."<br />
One of Ivey's sons landed in a classroom with a Montessori-certified teacher. He responded well — and was soon recruited into the Sidener Academy for "high ability students."<br />
Her other son, however, was in a class with an uncertified teacher. This teacher told Ivey her son had behavior issues; the teacher suggested medication. The following year, another parent in the school, DeShawnWaiss, raised questions about a math textbook her daughter brought home. <br />
"That's how we found out half the teachers were uncertified or weren't fully using the Montessori Method," Ivey says.<br />
Upon questioning, the teacher told Waiss that the only difference between her Montessori classroom and any neighborhood school is she gets to choose her own books.<br />
"Traditionally, Montessori's Method is not about books," Waiss said. She couldn't believe that a teacher who, despite the benefits of teaching at the <a href="http://magnet.ips.k12.in.us/magnet-programs/">magnet school</a>, which included having her class capped at 25 students with the help of a teacher's assistant and another adult volunteer, "doesn't deem it necessary to do the Method."<br />
<b>A trip Downtown</b><br />
Waiss and Ivey joined forces.<br />
"We said, 'Let's go Downtown and figure this out,'" Ivey says.<br />
They tracked down Billie Moore, then director of magnet and gifted programs for IPS. She affirmed the parents' concerns by visiting the school and spreading the word that IPS pays to make Montessori training available to the school's teachers and that teachers must take the certification or be re-assigned.<br />
In the car, following their trip Downtown, Ivey and Waiss felt a rush of empowerment. Ivey remembers them saying, "That's powerful! That's what it is: We are parent power — this is power." <br />
At that moment, the trip became the first <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Parent-Power-Indianapolis/113715475354342?fref=ts">Parent Power</a> act.<br />
"We were just like, 'Wow!'" Waiss says. "The fact that we came together — we didn't know what it was, but we knew the lady was sincere and something was going to happen. And we also knew that other parents hadn't gone that far with the issues they have. We could tell she didn't often get the visit she had with us."<br />
To see Moore make sure that the appropriate changes were made within the IPS Montessori program gave Ivey and Waiss a sense of accomplishment, a justification of their resolve to stand up and do something about a situation they felt was wrong. <br />
"I believe that's some power," Waiss said. "I believe that's the definition of it."<br />
Moore, who has since retired from IPS, could not be reached for comment.<br />
<div class="contentImageCenter" style="overflow: hidden;">
<img alt="A group of parent activists and their children, including Mary Juerling (front left) next to Delana Ivey and DeShawn Waiss on the far right. - MARK A. LEE" height="365" src="http://www.nuvo.net/imager/a-group-of-parent-activists-and-their-children-including-mary-juerling-fr/b/original/2632498/111f/Parent_Activists.jpg" width="550" /><ul style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; overflow: hidden; width: 550px;">
<li class="imageCaption"> A group of parent activists and their children, including Mary Juerling (front left) next to Delana Ivey and DeShawn Waiss on the far right. </li>
<li class="imageCredit"> Mark A. Lee </li>
</ul>
</div>
<br /><br />
<b>Parents as activists</b><br />
Parent Power voices are decentralized. Ivey does not want to be in charge.<br />
"Anyone can call a meeting," she says. If someone reaches out for help, she will help facilitate meetings and training sessions with parents and community members, but, she adds, "There's no reason I should keep all the information and be in charge — I'm not in charge."<br />
The most important idea is that parents learn to use their voices.<br />
"You see something that is upsetting or wrong, you have to say something," Ivey says. "Saying something and feeling powerful afterwards ... it's inspiring."<br />
But decentralized voices do not mean voices left alone to speak without at least one supportive witness. <br />
"If you're going to do a Parent Power act, you never do it alone because someone else needs to see it too," Ivey says.<br />
The Montessori experience was transformative to Ivey. At the start, she didn't think to question the teachers' credentials. Afterward, she found herself empowered, angry and active.<br />
"The rest of the year, I went to meetings. ... I'd heard kindergarteners art funding would be cut. (The meeting) ended up being about something else, but I wanted to speak about that — the horror of a parent who knows what she is getting into when she goes to a boundary school."<br />
Boundary schools are the schools closest to a student's home; the boundary school where one of her sons moved in third grade was slated to transition to a <a href="http://327.ips.k12.in.us/">Center For Inquiry</a> the following year.<br />
"I knew the pedagogy was going to be very standard," Ivey says. "I knew because in boundary schools there are more behavior problems, more worksheets and less learning." <br />
The idea that all the teachers were in transition, likely to be replaced when the school switched to the CFI, underscored Ivey's sense of ill ease. <br />
"People were going there and doing their best with what they got, but at a school that is test driven and where teachers don't know where they are going to be, for me, that's toxic and unsuitable for children," Ivey says. "All they've done is take away art, social studies and science —seriously — because it's not tested."<br />
Most recently, she is hearing about silent lunchrooms in which students are not allowed to speak to each other upon penalty of losing their recess privileges.<br />
Fellow Parent Power member Merry Juerling cringes when she hears about students denied recess during their school day. "IPS policy states you may not use recess as reward or punishment, but that's exactly what they do," she says — she's seen her son's teacher do it. <br />
"It's a travesty that these kids sit at their desks for hours and there's not time to play — that's how they learn; that's developmentally appropriate —but that's what's not happening. My kids don't need to be in reform school, but, with all this education reform, that's what it is feeling like to many of our children."<br />
As Ivey began to engage in policy discussion and ask questions, the scope of the task began to seem overwhelming. <br />
"There was always work to be done — I was always in the schools, realizing that I was spending so much time in the school because I didn't trust it," Ivey says, noting an ongoing inner war with her conscience over the need to work and the need to be in the schools.<br />
She wanted to be involved in a meaningful way with her kids' schools. <br />
"Sometimes I feel parents feel like they just could not do that," Ivey says. She wants to see that reticence to engage erased. "You go to school because you can, it's not wrong to just go check things out," she says.<br />
Waiss echoes that sentiment.<br />
"I don't know if parents really understand they have to get involved in their children's education — in their children's learning environment," Waiss says. "You've got to know what's going on, you don't have to have a Ph.D., you just have to know you care about your tax dollars and, more importantly, the minds and the future of your children."<br />
And, if parents can't always make the PTA meetings or volunteer in the classroom personally, they should send a proxy, Waiss adds.<br />
"You do need a caring teacher, but they need parents to come in and help — or other family," she says. "Teachers need assistance. We have to do what's necessary, because the children are our future. We can't leave it all up to someone else. ... If your child is failing or not doing right, you've got to be there and know the situation."<br />
Beyond that, Waiss says, "If your school is not able to give what your child needs, you need to get extracurricular activities that are available, for free, all over the city. There is a program at IUPUI where kids can do dissection for free — I learned about it at a PTA meeting."<br />
<b>The work of activism</b><br />
Since 2010, when Ivey organized the first parent-led forum for IPS school board candidates, Parent Power has hosted study groups, training sessions and organized Statehouse lobbying trips and a meeting on education issues with former Gov. Mitch Daniels. Members are growing a network where parents across the city can seek support when they feel called to question authority or simply want a witness to their school-related experiences.<br />
"If a parent has an issue, there are parents willing to be a supportive body for you," Waiss says. "Our thing is: 'When are you meeting? ... Have you met with the teacher and the principal?' I also let them know: Have another person with you. This sets a precedent that parents are concerned. We may be few, but we are there and it has to be dealt with."<br />
Members also hold a regular breakfast meeting Friday mornings at the Near Northside's <a href="http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/kountry-kitchen/Location?oid=2383024#.Ud18XfbfZZs">Kountry Kitchen Soul Food Place</a>, where anyone with an interest in improving the local educational experience for kids can join the ongoing conversation.<br />
Still, Ivey says, "It is hard to be an activist in this town. It's like they see you coming from a mile away." <br />
The decision to take a more active role in her children's educational experience has, at times, made Ivey feel like an outsider, she says, adding "I'm just a human having an experience — just like you." <br />
<div class="contentImageCenter" style="overflow: hidden;">
<img alt="Delana Ivey with her boys Sebastin and Zavier. She wants to give them the sense that she is engaged and interested in their educations, that she cares about the quality of their daily experiences, that she has their backs. - LORNA ROSE" height="367" src="http://www.nuvo.net/imager/delana-ivey-with-her-boys-sebastin-and-zavier-she-wants-to-give-them-the-s/b/original/2632499/5c27/inside_nuvo_2.JPG" width="550" /><ul style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; overflow: hidden; width: 550px;">
<li class="imageCaption"> Delana Ivey with her boys Sebastin and Zavier. She wants to give them the sense that she is engaged and interested in their educations, that she cares about the quality of their daily experiences, that she has their backs. </li>
<li class="imageCredit"> Lorna Rose </li>
</ul>
</div>
<br /><br />
<b>Retaliation</b><br />
In addition to potential ostracism, parental activists also fear retaliation.<br />
Parent Power member Nanci Lacy, who has three kids, ages 21, 19 and 12, says her 12-year-old "was falsely accused of being a bully." This was after Lacy had reported the principal for what she felt was inappropriate treatment of a child. She had heard the principal telling a student in a voice loud enough to be heard in the hallway that she was tired of supporting her family on welfare.<br />
"The next thing I know, my son is suddenly involved in a group of bullies," Lacy says.<br />
The school's principal gave her 24-hours notice to attend a meeting. If Lacy missed the meeting, she was told, her son would be suspended. When she arrived, the school had called in the parents of about seven boys for a group-upbraiding not limited to an incident involving Lacy's son. Together, the boys stood accused of being the bullying ringleaders for the fifth and sixth grades. Former IPS Superintendent Eugene White attended the meeting because the principal had, in past meetings, been physically threatened, Lacy says, but "Dr. White wasn't trying to hear from any of the parents."<br />
Assigning punishments seems to Lacy to have taken a higher priority than academics. She notes she has received more notices on problems with uniform compliance than communication about missed classroom assignments.<br />
Authoritarian retaliation techniques also include abdicating responsibility. Juerling encountered this when she told school administrators her high-functioning autistic son's writing skills where not up to grade level and that forcing him to take standardized tests was developmentally inappropriate. Juerling had just read a federal law that said a special needs student's independent education plan committee, which typically involves teachers, support staff and parents, holds the responsibility to determine assessments for students with disabilities. When Juerling said she wanted to discuss opting out of standardized testing — she felt the test was abusive because her son, who was advanced in math but grades behind in English, came home crying after a testing session — school officials informed her that they could not discuss testing. <br />
"I was told that if I had questions," Juerling says, "I had to contact Superintendent White or Wes Bruce, the chief of assessment with the Indiana Department of Education."<br />
Her son's IEP was eventually amended to recognize her right to excuse her son from testing and testing preparation.<br />
Evaluating parental empowerment<br />
Parent Power evaluates levels of parent involvement on a grid divided into four rows ranging from status quo to open democratic system. The columns list the theoretical approach associated with each row, the model by which each system tends to define parental involvement, the degree to which parents are seen as co-contributors in the educational process and the type of relationship parents and teachers typically display at each level of involvement.<br />
"Parents have got to change their mentality about their involvement with respect to the education of their children," Waiss says.<br />
In status quo, conformist environments, students and parents are not engaged as equals with teachers and administrators. In open democratic systems, parents and teachers are equals engaged in constructive criticism of the school system with the ultimate purpose of greater intellectual stimulation and enrichment for students.<br />
Today, parents aren't often asked what they bring to the table, Ivey says. Instead they are handed an agenda and told not to go off topic, that they should be happy just to have a seat. <br />
"Parents care; they do not engage because they know they will not be listened to and treated as social equals by school staff," John Harris Loflin, a retired IPS teacher and member of Parent Power, said in an email after a recent breakfast meeting of activists. "So, it is not disinterest, it is resistance."<br />
Today's status quo is driven by high-stakes testing environments and the mantra to keep kids in school no matter what. But Ivey says, "My thing is: Why are they not turned on by school?' (Leaders) don't ask the question."<br />
Asking the students for greater input would yield much greater results, several Parent Power members note. <br />
"If we started to get the stories of children, it would wake us up to everything," Ivey says. "They tell you exactly everything that goes on in their school." <br />
Beyer, the former school board candidate, is currently in the process of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Families-Talk-Oral-History-of-Indianapolis-Public-School-Families/437019736348006">collecting stories of people's IPS experiences</a>. During her candidacy, she was struck by the number of grandparents active within IPS.<br />
"These people know something," Beyer says. "They've raised their children and their grandchildren — they know something, and no one ever asks them what they know."<br />
As a writer, Beyer says, she loves oral histories. She tries to guide her subjects with open-ended questions, so they are free to dictate their experiences according to their individual priorities.<br />
She asks people of all generations: "What's been important to you? When you think about school, what do you think about?" And, she says, "I've been stuck by a lot of people remembering stories about their art teachers, music and choirs and shows — I didn't bring that up — they did."<br />
Personal accountability is also essential if parents really want to be transformative figures in the city's classrooms, Waiss is sure to emphasize. <br />
"Always look in the mirror first and say 'Where can I make changes?'" she says. "You can't just complain. It doesn't benefit your child at all."<br />
Ultimately, Waiss says, "regardless of public, private or charter, we just want good environments for children to learn in. I wish the politicians understood that."<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>True Alternatives</b><br />
Alternatives in educational offerings may, for many students, be tantamount to an inoculation against incarceration.<br />
Bored, disenfranchised students are dropout threats. Kids who have dropped out are "3.5 times more likely to be incarcerated than those who complete high school," according to a 2011 Justice Policy Institute report. <br />
Ivey saw this dynamic play out at Tech High School. Without the approach to education she learned during her elementary years attending Indy's <a href="http://616.ips.k12.in.us/">Key Learning Community</a>, she says, she would not have made it through high school.<br />
The project-based approach she learned at Key encouraged her to ask questions about the subject matter that interested her.<br />
"At Key School, they dealt with the <a href="http://616.ips.k12.in.us/magnets/">multiple intelligences theory</a> and educating the whole child," Ivey says. "One subject wasn't any more important than another."<br />
At Tech, Ivey says, "I spent a lot of time in the media center freshman year— more than normal — doing project work. Had I not had that, I would have just dropped out — a lot of people around me did, they weren't engaged at all."<br />
<br />
<div class="contentImageCenter" style="overflow: hidden;">
<span class="clicktozoom">click to enlarge</span><a class="zoomable" href="http://www.nuvo.net/imager/parent-power-activism-in-indy-schools/b/original/2632500/9d1e/ParentPower_graph_1000px.jpg" rel="contentImg_gal-2631890" title=""><img alt="ParentPower_graph_1000px.jpg" height="421" src="http://www.nuvo.net/imager/parent-power-activism-in-indy-schools/b/big/2632500/9d1e/ParentPower_graph_1000px.jpg" width="580" /></a><ul style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; overflow: hidden; width: 580px;"></ul>
</div>
<br /><br />
<b>Closing the prison-to-school pipeline</b><br />
<a href="http://www.reachforyouth.org/">Reach for Youth</a>, a local nonprofit working to change outcomes for students facing expulsion, outlined what is at stake when considering disenfranchised students in its <a href="http://www.reachforyouth.org/RFY_annualReport11.pdf">2011 annual report</a>: "(Indiana) ranks third in the nation in school expulsions, second in teen dating abuse and at the top of Midwest states for illicit drug use among teens."<br />
The report also referenced a<a href="http://www.uwci.org/upload/documents/CA_2008_Summary_of_Findings_and_Recommendations.pdf">2008 United Way of Central Indiana Community Assessment</a>, which found "that removing students from the school, even for a short time, is directly related to negative consequences on that child's future, including increased dropout and incarceration rates."<br />
<b>Moving beyond stereotypes</b><br />
Ivey remembers a presentation from former IPS Superintendent White in which he broke<a href="http://www.ips.k12.in.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/IPS-Data-4-9-12.pdf">down IPS standardized testing performance by various sub-groups</a>, noting that the district's performance challenges were linked to its greater population of subgroups. Commonly evaluated subgroups include divisions based on income, race/ethnicity, special needs, and English proficiency. <br />
"No one went, 'Why do I have to be a subgroup? Why can't I be normal?' " Ivey says. "That goes back to that critical theory. I can't believe everyone just sat there and listened to the definition of subgroup and no one went, 'Why do I have to be a subgroup? What is normal?'"<br />
She says she left the presentation feeling that people who are not white, middle class males are stuck in a subgroup, always being held to foreign standards, compared to something other.<br />
Nanci Lacy can relate: "To hear Dr. White say 'We have to take all kinds, that's why IPS can never achieve.' We're the reason why IPS would never be anything? I was so glad to see him go. His comments offended me because they offended my autistic son, who had done everything he can each year to improve. He felt especially sold out because he started school under Dr. White in Washington Township; my kids would hug him in the Keystone Walmart — he knew my son and daughter by name."<br />
Breaking through the labels of "broken" schools, "bad" kids and "uninvolved" parents is important to Parent Power members. Not that such concepts are foreign to Indianapolis, but because the diagnosis creates the feeling of being plagued by a foregone conclusion.<br />
"People become their stereotypes — because, actually, they were programmed," Ivey says. "The thing we say over and over is what they think about."<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>What the future holds</b><br />
The empowerment dialogue continues to develop in Indy and around the world.<br />
"Delana is, like, almost 20 years younger than I am, and she is my mentor," Beyer says. "She is amazing. I love the people she has allowed to meet each other because of her and her work. It will keep happening. I see us moving forward."<br />
Beyer sees <a href="http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/Search?cx=010521573707257736118%3Asapivywasjc&cof=FORID%3A9&q=Local+school+councils&sa=Go">local school councils</a> as a way parents may see greater involvement in the future. She also predicts successful fundraising for continued study circles, fostering democratic conversation about schools — about issues parents and students determine are priorities. Ultimately, "promoting voice and collective action on behalf of children."<br />
Ivey tries to stay as engaged as she can with Parent Power and on her own. She led a talk on yoga in the classroom at the international Alternatives in Education conference in London, and a Parent Power group will travel as the Indiana delegation to this year's conference in Colorado. Ivey is also leading youth programs exploring how to amplify the student voice. She continues to meet with Parent Power members and participate in the ongoing conversation on how to improve the system.<br />
If schools embrace parents and students as social equals, Ivey says "you would have strong parent support — but at this point, there's not enough involvement because they're still like a 'Be a passive fan, make sure they get enough rest for a test.' <br />
"We've got to get beyond that." Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-81453380534929388392013-06-28T12:14:00.000-07:002013-06-28T12:14:05.521-07:00<br />
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><u>SUMMARY OF TEN
IMPROVEMENT</u></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><u> </u></span></span></strong><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><u><strong><span style="font-size: small;">INDICATORS IN INDIANA EDUCATION</span></strong> </u></span></span></div>
<br />
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">23-YEAR </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">CURRENT</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">AT OR
NEAR </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> <u>RANGE</u></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><u>MARK
</u></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><u>HISTORIC
HIGH?</u></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">1.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">ATTENDANCE RATE</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">94.7 – 96.1</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">96.1</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span><br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">2.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">GRADUATION RATE </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">76.1 – 88.4</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">88.4</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">(new method
since 2006)</span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">3.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">SAT VERBAL SCORES </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">485 - 504</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">(1988-89 –
2004-05)</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">SAT CRITICAL READING</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">493 –
498</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">493</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">NO</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">(revised test
2005-06 – 2010-11)</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">SAT WRITING</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">475
– 486</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">476</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">NO</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">(revised test
2005-06 – 2010-11)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">4.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">SAT MATH SCORES</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">485- 508</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">(1988-89 – 2004-05)</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">SAT MATH –REVISED</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">501 –
509</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">501</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">NO</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">(revised test
2005-06 – 2010-11)</span></span><br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">5.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">ACT COMPOSITE SCORES </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">20.9
– 22.3</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">22.3</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">6.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">NATIONAL ASSESSMENT (NAEP) </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">(percent passing
basic standard)</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">4</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><sup>TH</sup></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> GRADE
MATH</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">60% -
89%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">87%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">8</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><sup>TH</sup></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> GRADE
MATH</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">56% - 78%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">77%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">4</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><sup>TH</sup></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> GRADE
READING</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">64% -
70%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">68%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">8</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><sup>TH</sup></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> GRADE
READING</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">73% - 79% </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">78%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">4</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><sup>TH</sup></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> GRADE
SCIENCE</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">70% -
74%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">70%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">NO</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">8</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><sup>TH</sup></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> GRADE
SCIENCE</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">62% - 67%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">67%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">8</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><sup>TH</sup></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> GRADE
WRITING</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">85% - 89%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">89%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span><br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">7.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">ISTEP ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS
SCORES</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">(67 year-to-year comparisons)</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">33 (49%) went up</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">Gr. 3,
5 & 6 went up ; </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">18 (27%) went down</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Gr. 7 went down </span><br />
<div style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">16 (24%)
same </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">Gr. 4 & 8
same </span></span></div>
<br />
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">8.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">ISTEP MATH SCORES</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">(67</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">year-to-year comparisons)</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">42</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">(63%) went up</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">Gr. 3, 6,
7 & 8 went up</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">11 (16%) went down</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">No grade went
down</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">14 (21%)
same</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Gr. 4 & 5 same</span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">9. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">ASPIRING TO COLLEGE</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">48.9% - 77.0%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">77.0%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span></div>
<br />
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">10. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">HONORS/CORE 40 DIPLOMAS </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">42.8% -
81.9%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">81.9%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">YES</span></span></div>
<br />
<div>
<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><i>CONCLUSION:</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><i> </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><i>EIGHT
OF THE TEN INDICATORS ARE AT OR NEAR THEIR HISTORIC
HIGH.</i></span></span></strong></div>
<div>
<strong><em><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"></span></em></strong> </div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>A review of 23 consecutive years of data for
Indiana’s public schools show that they are currently performing at or near
their historic high on eight of ten key indicators.</b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b> </b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>While there remains plenty of room for further
improvement, claims that Indiana’s public schools have declined or failed are
clearly not based on facts, as a review of the attached data will
show.</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>The legislative
push to dismantle public education and use state tax dollars for vouchers to
send students to private schools is clearly based on beliefs and ideology and
not on performance data.</b></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong></strong></span></span></span> </div>
<div>
<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><em>Source: </em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"> </span><a href="https://www.exchange.iu.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=4djaRe-EbUW12L2ywBYqykpcBv2SR9AIBLQHlioB2x-DpMtHucfdM1sXlvoH-gauBaXbtEE4yxA.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.icpe2011.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">www.icpe2011.com</span></span></b></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b> </b></span></span></span></strong></div>
Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-46607521006489451582013-04-19T06:01:00.000-07:002013-04-19T06:01:47.527-07:00Will Education Reform Strengthen Neighborhoods?<em><span style="color: blue;"><strong>The more diverse voices here, the better! If you want parent voice, community voice, teacher voice....looks you'll have to bring it from the audience. We hope you do.</strong></span></em><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background: white; mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 600px;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 123.75pt;" valign="top" width="165"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<img alt="registration" class="yiv2025747553image_fix" height="187" id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs179/1102224436298/img/230.png" width="125" /></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr style="height: 60pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 60pt; padding: 0in;" valign="bottom"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
</div>
</td> </tr>
<tr style="height: 45pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 45pt; padding: 0in;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
</div>
</td> </tr>
<tr style="height: 45pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 45pt; padding: 0in;" valign="bottom"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="color: #c3b622; font-size: 11pt;">REGISTRATION<br />
IS FREE<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr style="height: 45pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 45pt; padding: 0in;" valign="bottom"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://ca.mc1618.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=SThomas@lisc.org&subject=Education%20Public%20Convo%20RSVP" target="_blank" ymailto="mailto:SThomas@lisc.org?subject=Education%20Public%20Convo%20RSVP"><span style="color: blue; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><img alt="register" border="0" class="yiv2025747553image_fix" height="32" id="_x0000_i1027" src="https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs054/1102224436298/img/194.png" width="125" /></span></a></div>
</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
</td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 326.25pt;" valign="top" width="435"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in;"><h1 style="line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 9pt;">
<span style="color: #a1c4da; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20pt;">Will Education Reform Strengthen Neighborhoods?<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
</td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In the past decade, Indianapolis has become a hotbed of reform efforts aimed at radically improving public education. At the same time, our urban neighborhoods often suffer from poor reputations and declining populations due in large part to the public perception of their schools. A recent analysis shows that some of Indy's neighborhoods are well-served by their schools while others are terribly underserved. Reform efforts are attempting to improve existing school districts, start new charter schools, prepare pre-school children for school, and effectively challenge and support many more youth to attain college degrees.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
What exactly is the nature of the connection between these reform efforts and neighborhood vitality? Are there opportunities to improve the synergy between education reform and neighborhood development efforts? Please join us to hear and participate as PNC and LISC present a panel of local education leaders to discuss how their work is affecting Indy's neighborhoods.</div>
</td> </tr>
<tr style="height: 45pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 45pt; padding: 0in;"><h3 style="margin: 1em 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Education Panel</span></h3>
</td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 15%;" valign="top" width="15%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<img alt="Diane Arnold" border="0" class="yiv2025747553image_fix" height="72" id="_x0000_i1028" src="https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs179/1102224436298/img/223.jpg" width="52" /></div>
</td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 30%;" valign="top" width="30%"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Diane Arnold</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
Executive Director, the Hawthorne Community Center and President, Indianapolis Public School Board<o:p></o:p></span></td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 5%;" width="5%"></td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 15%;" valign="top" width="15%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<img alt="Sam Cargile" border="0" class="yiv2025747553image_fix" height="72" id="_x0000_i1029" src="https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs179/1102224436298/img/231.jpg" width="52" /></div>
</td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 30%;" valign="top" width="30%"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Dr. Samuel Cargile</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
Vice President, Senior Advisor to CEO, Lumina Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></td> </tr>
<tr style="height: 7.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;"> <td colspan="5" style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 7.5pt; padding: 0in;"></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 15%;" valign="top" width="15%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<img alt="Jason Kloth" border="0" class="yiv2025747553image_fix" height="72" id="_x0000_i1030" src="https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs179/1102224436298/img/222.jpg" width="52" /></div>
</td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 30%;" valign="top" width="30%"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Jason Kloth</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
Deputy Mayor of Education, City of Indianapolis<o:p></o:p></span></td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 5%;" width="5%"></td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 15%;" valign="top" width="15%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<img alt="Jeff Kucer" border="0" class="yiv2025747553image_fix" height="72" id="_x0000_i1031" src="https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs179/1102224436298/img/221.jpg" width="52" /></div>
</td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 30%;" valign="top" width="30%"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Jeff Kucer</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
Senior Vice <br />
President, Director of Client and Community <br />
Relations, Office <br />
of the Regional President, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.<o:p></o:p></span></td> </tr>
<tr style="height: 7.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;"> <td colspan="5" style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 7.5pt; padding: 0in;"></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 15%;" valign="top" width="15%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<img alt="Marcus Robinson" border="0" class="yiv2025747553image_fix" height="72" id="_x0000_i1032" src="https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs179/1102224436298/img/227.jpg" width="52" /></div>
</td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 30%;" valign="top" width="30%"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Marcus Robinson</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
CEO, EdPower and Chancellor, CEO, Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School<o:p></o:p></span></td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 5%;" width="5%"></td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 15%;" valign="top" width="15%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<img alt="Bill Taft" border="0" class="yiv2025747553image_fix" height="72" id="_x0000_i1033" src="https://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs179/1102224436298/img/226.jpg" width="52" /></div>
</td> <td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0in; width: 30%;" valign="top" width="30%"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Bill Taft</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
Executive Director, Local Initiatives Support Corporation <em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Moderator</span></em><o:p></o:p></span></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-669970140542764342013-03-18T10:07:00.000-07:002013-03-28T06:43:21.780-07:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">PAA-
Indianapolis and Parent Power Present:</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>ED
TALKS: The Policies and Politics in Indiana Public Education</strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">IUPUI
- Education/ Social Work Building rm 2116<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>April 8th, 2013 6pm-7:30pm [<em>date change</em>]<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">This
event will be filmed by Channel 16. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Once
filmed we will post on FB and linked in Email<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Panel
Includes</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>IUPUI-
CUME: Robert Helfenbein<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>E-CAT:
Alex Sage<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>PAA-IN:
Anne Waxingmoon<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><strong>Black
and Latino Policy: John Loflin<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: blue;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">MC: </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Parent
Power, Delana Ivey</span></strong></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IZoWS4FNJpOAg1mz81Wwyb5QLNr6bPToGR4Ff1ja5Ht9I0ZbgVDHlNxZzxZXqtcZJi5HX9evLsIj7SG2bnj4QK7PU5dXlL-ImbKK_REqyer-4Wl6IpIsWEf5EBKWI9OPxF-0IX3VHDF5/s1600/paa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="79" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IZoWS4FNJpOAg1mz81Wwyb5QLNr6bPToGR4Ff1ja5Ht9I0ZbgVDHlNxZzxZXqtcZJi5HX9evLsIj7SG2bnj4QK7PU5dXlL-ImbKK_REqyer-4Wl6IpIsWEf5EBKWI9OPxF-0IX3VHDF5/s320/paa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span> </div>
Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-64213681197210262072013-01-15T11:17:00.001-08:002013-01-15T11:18:41.052-08:00White to Resign IPS<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Eugene White
plans to resign and may announce he is doing so by end of the day, sources told
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><em>IBJ</em></span>.</span>
<br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">White, 65, has led IPS for seven years. His planned departure follows the Nov.
6 election of reform-minded school board candidates who have questioned whether
he is the right leader for the district.<br />
<br />
White on Monday afternoon denied to <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">IBJ
</span>that he planned to resign. But three sources familiar with the
situation said they expected him to announce his resignation Tuesday. A fourth
anticipated the resignation announcement by the end of the week.<br />
<br />
It’s not clear how quickly White would officially step down.<br />
<br />
White’s future<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></span><a href="http://www.ibj.com/reform-minded-candidates-win-ips-board-seats/PARAMS/article/37745"><span style="color: black;">became
cloudy</span></a><span style="color: black;"> after reform-minded candidates Caitlin Hannon, Gayle Cosby and Sam
Odle were elected Nov. 6. The outcome gave reformers a strong majority on the
seven-member panel. White previously had enjoyed strong backing.<br />
<br />
IPS has been under fire after decades of decline. It has lost more than 5,000
students to charter schools in recent years and saw 350 of its students sign up
for vouchers to attend private schools.<br />
<br />
</span><a href="http://www.ibj.com/survey-shows-dissatisfaction-with-indianapolis-public-schools/PARAMS/article/37584" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">Survey results</span></a><span style="color: black;"> released late last year show a majority of
district residents are dissatisfied with the school system.<br />
<br />
In December 2011, education-reform group The Mind Trust proposed a series of </span><a href="http://www.ibj.com/mind-trust-calls-for-decentralizing-ips/PARAMS/article/31439" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">sweeping changes</span></a><span style="color: black;">, including transferring control of the
district to the mayor of Indianapolis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-34121095023628706052012-11-13T08:04:00.004-08:002012-11-13T08:04:56.409-08:00Post-Election.....the Beat goes on<em><span style="color: blue;">An amazing grassroots victory for Glenda Ritz who campaigned almost solely on the idea that Tony Bennett had gone too far, bereated teachers, and ultimately was a tool for larger political forces. But, remember that many activists would argue that voting is the lowest form of civic engagement. There is always more to do. For you consideration.....the battle in Indiana doesn't seem to be over, folks. Looks like the State Board of Education plans to ignore the will of the people. This seems like a reasonable request offered in today's Indy Star. Thoughts?</span></em><br />
<br />
<h1>
<a href="http://blogs.indystar.com/letters/2012/11/13/wait-for-ritz-to-take-helm-before-moving-on/">Wait for Ritz to take helm before moving on</a></h1>
<div class="ody-hgroup">
<h6>
<!--Will show custom field guest author if entered--><div class="ody-arttime">
<span style="font-size: small;">With the elections behind us, leaders of both parties have called for national unity. In his concession speech, Gov. Mitt Romney called for government at all levels to put the people before the politics. I hope that will be the case here in Indiana, where the people have spoken about the pace and direction of education reform.</span></div>
</h6>
</div>
<div id="article-bodytext">
<div class="blog" id="the_absolute">
<br />
Perhaps one of the first tests will be the Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability II (REPA II) proposals now before the state Board of Education. This body, chaired by the superintendent of public instruction, is scheduled to meet Dec. 5 under the current administration. Though the agenda has not been announced yet, indications are they’ll consider REPA II. <br />
<span id="more-5867"></span><br />
REPA II changes would lower standards for teacher and school leader preparation in the state. For example, REPA II would make it possible for someone to become licensed to teach just by taking a standardized test. It would also lower academic requirements to become a school principal. REPA II would de-professionalize teaching at a time when our students need great teachers most.<br />
During the required period of public comment on REPA II, more than 99 percent of Hoosiers who submitted testimony spoke against the proposals. The state board should defer action on REPA II until Superintendent-elect Glenda Ritz is inaugurated. Then, under her leadership, it should table REPA II for good.<br />
<br />
Approving a policy so overwhelmingly opposed by citizens of Indiana would not be putting people before politics.<br />
<strong> Gerardo M. Gonzalez</strong><br />
<em>Dean, School of Education</em></div>
</div>
Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-22893302288332915132012-10-11T13:49:00.004-07:002012-10-11T13:49:49.450-07:00Tony Bennett's Fiasco<em>....in case you're local paper won't print it. Take a look.</em><br />
<br />
Dear Editor,<br />
Tony Bennett’s plan to give <a href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/2012/06/28/why-some-educators-say-the-states-a-f-grading-system-isnt-an-improvement/" target="_blank">letter grades to schools</a> has turned into a fiasco. Last January, all 35 speakers in the only public hearing on his plan opposed it, including representatives of all education groups and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Bennett did not attend the hearing. Nevertheless, he pushed the plan through in February without any of the recommended changes, despite information from his own department that the plan would result in 22% D’s and F’s for Indiana schools. In comparison, Florida last year gave D’s and F’s to 6% of their schools. Indiana schools are not over 3 times worse than Florida schools! This fact is certifiably grounded in data from the National Assessment, which is a test taken in common by all states and is known as “the nation’s report card.” On the National Assessment, Indiana consistently outscores Florida in 4th and 8th grade math and in 8th grade reading, and Indiana consistently scores higher than the national average. Tony Bennett’s A-F system has demeaned the performance of Indiana’s schools compared to Florida. Conveniently, low grades would feed more schools into his pipeline for state intervention which in Indianapolis and Gary has resulted in <b><a href="http://my.firedoglake.com/dougmartin/2011/03/09/no-charter-school-left-behind-mitch-daniels-tony-bennett-and-dennis-bakkes-imagine-schools/">for-profit corporations taking over schools</a></b>, accompanied by discord, litigation and fragmented communities. <br />
<br />
Mayors have complained that unfairly low school grades damage local economic development efforts to attract new jobs. The calibration of this A-F system is simply wrong. It will hurt our schools and our economy. <br />
<br />
This fall implementation has seen major delays, the director of the program took another job in the midst of the roll out, and local school officials say they can’t get answers to their questions about the flawed growth statistics. We need a change. I support <a href="http://www.ritz4ed.com/"><strong>Glenda Ritz for State Superintendent </strong></a>who stands for a revised system of grading our schools.<br />
<br />
Dr. Vic Smith<br />
Indianapolis, IN <br />
<br />
<b>Indiana Citizens for Public Education</b>Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-25598727339350103092012-10-03T11:52:00.001-07:002012-10-03T11:52:40.990-07:00Indiana Education Reform: Community Conversation
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Calling All Parents,
Guardians, Community Stakeholders<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“New Indiana Education
Laws and our Children”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span><br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Light of the World Christian Church, 4646
N. Michigan Road, Indianapolis, IN</span></span></b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<v:stroke joinstyle="miter">
<v:formulas>
<v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0">
<v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0">
<v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1">
<v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2">
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth">
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight">
<v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1">
<v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2">
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth">
<v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0">
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight">
<v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0">
</v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas>
<v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f">
<o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit">
</o:lock></v:path></v:stroke></span></v:shapetype></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><u><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Join Us
in Discussing How New Laws Affect Our Children’s Education</span></u><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Special Guest Panelists:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Representative <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Greg Porter</b>,
City County Councilman <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Leroy Robinson</b>,
Washington Township Teacher <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Glenda Ritz</b>,Ed
Power CEO <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Marcus Robinson</b>, Indianapolis
Deputy Mayor <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jason Kloth</b>, and Attorney
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brenda A. Roper,</b> National Council of
Negro Women<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Be informed about how several of the following laws impact
our children:<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-Teacher Evaluation and Performance
System</span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-School Accountability-New Federal
Waiver of NCLB</span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-Growth Model<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>-Charter School Expansion</span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-Discipline<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>-Turnaround Schools</span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1.25in; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-Vouchers<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>-Minority Teacher Recruitment</span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 26pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“We can’t
ADVOCATE, if we don’t KNOW.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Co-Sponsored by the Greater Indianapolis National Association of the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Indianapolis Alliance of Black
School Educators (IABSE), National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), and the Indianapolis
Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW)<o:p></o:p></span></span></i><br />
Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-74395966100981610972012-09-24T15:53:00.001-07:002012-10-03T12:07:46.217-07:00A Timeline of the Battle in Indy<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top"><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i>Dear concerned citizen: </i></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 4pt;"><i> </i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i>Over the past three-plus months, local and state print media have picked up on the value of a dialogue around the future of education in Indianapolis. A slew of commentaries, blogs, and stories from a wide variety of sources including</i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> NUVO</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i>, the </i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Indianapolis Star</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i> and now even the </i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i> are providing readers a variety of view points to help them make informed decisions about the future of public education. </i></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 4pt;"><i> </i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i>In particular is the commentary on local education issues from someone outside Marion County by a Ft. Wayne newspaper editor /blogger. </i></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Black & Latino Policy Institute/ </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Parent Power / </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Education-Community Action Team</span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">S<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>eptember 6</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> “</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>The problem is not parents”</b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Here’s the link to a commentary</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 9pt;"> “</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The problem is not parents; it's a crisis in democracy” by Councilor Jose Evans published in </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i>NUVO</i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">’s Perspectives on Education.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.nuvo.net%2fPerspectivesinEducation%2farchives%2f2012%2f09%2f06%2fperspectives-in-education-josandeacute-evans%23.UFXmYbJlTwt" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">http://www.nuvo.net/PerspectivesinEducation/archives/2012/09/06/perspectives-in-education-josandeacute-evans#.UFXmYbJlTwt</span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 5pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>September 9</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> “</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>Daring to trust parents”</b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Here’s the link to Indy </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i>Star</i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> columnist Dan Carpenter on the issues surrounding Local School Council proposal he titled, “Daring to trust parents…”</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.indystar.com%2farticle%2f20120907%2fOPINION05%2f209090328%2fDan-Carpenter-Daring-trust-parents" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 9pt;">http://www.indystar.com/article/20120907/OPINION05/209090328/Dan-Carpenter-Daring-trust-parents</span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 5pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>September 12</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> “</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>Coming to a school near you…”</b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i>Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette</i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> editorial writer Karen Francisco published a blog she titled: </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">“Coming to a school near you…”</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.journalgazette.net%2farticle%2f20120912%2fBLOGS13%2f120919830%2f0%2fSEARCH" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120912/BLOGS13/120919830/0/SEARCH</span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 5pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>September 13 “Our schools can benefit from self-government”</b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Here’s the link to the Letter to the Editor published in the </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i>Star </i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">regarding the Local School Council proposal he presented: “Our schools can benefit from self-government”</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><a href="https://blogs.indystar.com%2fletters%2f2012%2f09%2f13%2fmy-view-our-schools-can-benefit-from-self-government%2f" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">http://blogs.indystar.com/letters/2012/09/13/my-view-our-schools-can-benefit-from-self-government/</span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 3pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>August 22 “A grassroots approach to school reform”</b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i>NUVO </i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> article on the Local School Council Plan</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.nuvo.net%2findianapolis%2fa-grassroots-approach-to-school-reform%2fContent%3foid%3d2484953" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/a-grassroots-approach-to-school-reform/Content?oid=2484953</span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 4pt;"><b><i> </i></b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><i>In mid-June, NUVO began an on-line forum for written commentaries regarding education called “Perspectives in Education. “ </i></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 6pt;"><b> </b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>June 14</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> : </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Here’s the link to the first Perspectives on Education by community activist </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>Wes Bernard</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">, “What is the purpose of education?” where is argues that education is really all about skillfully drawing out of what is inside the student, establishing and fortifying the students' identity and competence and their place in community and society.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><a href="https://nuvo.net%2fPerspectivesinEducation%2farchives%2f2012%2f06%2f14%2fperspectives-in-education-wes-barnard%23.UFYUDbJlTws" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">http://www.nuvo.net/PerspectivesinEducation/archives/2012/06/14/perspectives-in-education-wes-barnard#.UFYUDbJlTws</span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 5pt;"><b> </b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>June 21: </b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Here’s link to comments by educator </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>Jeffery C. White</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> on urban education reforms around the idea that the cluster of incompetent administrators in IPS warrants significant change right now.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.nuvo.net%2fPerspectivesinEducation%2farchives%2f2012%2f06%2f21%2fperspectives-in-education-jeffery-c-white%23.UFYX8LJlTws" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">http://www.nuvo.net/PerspectivesinEducation/archives/2012/06/21/perspectives-in-education-jeffery-c-white#.UFYX8LJlTws</span></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; margin: 10pt 0px 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">June 28: </span></span></b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Here’s the link to essay from local writer </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>Doug Martin</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> concerning those who study the corporate school movement realize that "autonomy" is merely a code word for letting charter school leaders do anything they desire to collect a hefty profit.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.nuvo.net%2fPerspectivesinEducation%2farchives%2f2012%2f06%2f28%2fperspectives-in-education-doug-martin%23.UFYrUbJlTwt" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">http://www.nuvo.net/PerspectivesinEducation/archives/2012/06/28/perspectives-in-education-doug-martin#.UFYrUbJlTwt</span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 6pt;"><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>July 5: </b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Here’s the link to teacher </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>Annette Magjuka</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">’s essay on the issue of how </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">we provide free public education for all citizens, so even poor children can compete. But unfortunately, all public education is not equal.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.nuvo.net%2findianapolis%2fperspectives-in-education-indys-naacp%2fContent%3foid%3d2482495%23.UFYrbLJlTws" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/perspectives-in-education-indys-naacp/Content?oid=2482495#.UFYrbLJlTws</span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 5pt;"><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>July 12: </b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Here’s link to the essay by IPS teacher </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>Mary Noland</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> on how it is terribly frustrating to hear people who are NOT teachers talk about reform, and add to that the term "accountability."</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.nuvo.net%2fPerspectivesinEducation%2farchives%2f2012%2f07%2f13%2fperspectives-in-education-mary-nolan%23.UFYaWLJlTws" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">http://www.nuvo.net/PerspectivesinEducation/archives/2012/07/13/perspectives-in-education-mary-nolan#.UFYaWLJlTws</span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 5pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>August 16: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Here’s the link to a commentary from our local </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>NAACP</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> encouraging participation in a new round of talks on education, adhering to the philosophy that "if you are not on the table, you are on the menu." The essay encourages a wide variety of citizens respond to the “What’s possible?” conversations so that solutions to the problems that we did not create should not be left to the politics of power, status, and wealth.</span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://www.exchange.iu.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=n-nrkvstw0O_4roEDV5DathnbgQ4bs8IcEpQ-lE0qa5xOFj9FELTi1nXBBwcPeJqKVOml2myOMs.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.nuvo.net%2findianapolis%2fperspectives-in-education-indys-naacp%2fContent%3foid%3d2482495%23.UFYrbLJlTws" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/perspectives-in-education-indys-naacp/Content?oid=2482495#.UFYrbLJlTws</span></span></a></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 5pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>June 8: </b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Here’s link to NUVO story on “In the Mind Trust we trust?</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.exchange.iu.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=n-nrkvstw0O_4roEDV5DathnbgQ4bs8IcEpQ-lE0qa5xOFj9FELTi1nXBBwcPeJqKVOml2myOMs.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.nuvo.net%2findianapolis%2fa-grassroots-approach-to-school-reform%2fContent%3foid%3d2484953%23.UFYEALJlTws" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/a-grassroots-approach-to-school-reform/Content?oid=2484953#.UFYEALJlTws</span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 5pt;"><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><b>August 15: </b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Introduction letter to the Local School Council proposal by Jose Evans</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.exchange.iu.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=n-nrkvstw0O_4roEDV5DathnbgQ4bs8IcEpQ-lE0qa5xOFj9FELTi1nXBBwcPeJqKVOml2myOMs.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.indy.gov%2feGov%2fCouncil%2fDocuments%2fEvans.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">www.indy.gov/eGov/Council/Documents/Evans.pdf</span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 5pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">The Local School Council proposal: </span></span><a href="https://www.exchange.iu.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=n-nrkvstw0O_4roEDV5DathnbgQ4bs8IcEpQ-lE0qa5xOFj9FELTi1nXBBwcPeJqKVOml2myOMs.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.indy.gov%2feGov%2fCouncil%2fDocuments%2fLocal%2520School%2520Councils%2520in%2520IPS.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">www.indy.gov/eGov/Council/Documents/Local%20School%20Councils%20in%20IPS.pdf</span></span></a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-47416551455301507832012-06-20T18:17:00.000-07:002012-06-20T18:17:27.942-07:00<strong><span style="color: #20124d;">Election 2012! Glenda Ritz for Superintendent of Public Instruction</span></strong><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2jmh5WIeeDo" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
On Thursday Indiana gubernatorial candidate John Gregg endorsed Glenda Ritz for Indiana Superintendent for Public Instruction. Speaking at the State Capitol, Gregg introduced Ritz, saying that she "has been at the forefront of the fight here in Indiana to protect public education."<br />
<span class="paragraph-1">Ritz has been an educator for 33 years, serving as an elementary school teacher, as a library media specialist, on the Board of Directors of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, and numerous other positions.<br />
<br />
Gregg said that "the best ideas don't come from Washington, DC or Indianapolis, and as an educator for 33 years Glenda understands that. This is a women who has understood from day one that the key to Indiana's future is public education."<br />
Ritz said, "When our students go out into the world, whether it be to technical schools, or universities, or to the workplace, they need to know how to think in ways that support them in the changing world that we live know. That kind of thinking cannot be learned by just passing a test."<br />
<br />
From <a href="http://kokomoperspective.com/news/gregg-endorses-glenda-ritz-for-superintendent-of-public-instruction/article_5a2fb660-b65c-11e1-9511-0019bb2963f4.html" target="_blank">KokomoPerspective</a><br />
<br />
Comments?<br />
<br />
</span><div id="in-story">
<div class="tncms-region-ads blox-filled" id="tncms-region-ads-in-story">
</div>
</div>Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-74310402067928308902012-04-07T11:25:00.000-07:002012-04-07T11:25:57.379-07:00Who's Really Behind Education Reform?<table style="background-color: white; vertical-align: top; width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><th><h2 style="background: rgb(204, 0, 0); border: 1px solid rgb(204, 0, 0); color: white; font-size: 140%; font-weight: bold; margin: 3px; padding: 0.2em 0.4em; text-align: left;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Julie_Underwood_on_ALEC_.26_Education">Julie Underwood on ALEC & Education</span></h2></th></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black;"><div style="float: right;"></div><a href="http://alecexposed.org/wiki/Julie_Underwood_Discusses_ALEC" title="Julie Underwood Discusses ALEC">Julie Underwood</a>, the Dean of the UW-Madison School of Education, discusses ALEC's school privatization agenda.</td></tr>
</tbody> </table><br />
<br />
<object height="360" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H4Zm8G2hoOM&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H4Zm8G2hoOM&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<a href="http://alecexposed.org/wiki/Privatizing_Public_Education,_Higher_Ed_Policy,_and_Teachers" target="_blank">Privatizing Public Education, Higher Ed Policy, and Teachers</a> from ALEC Exposed<br />
<ul><li>Indiana Rep. Cindy J. Noe (R-87)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HHS_Letter_16-62"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ALEC_Politicians#cite_note-HHS_Letter-16" title="">[17]</a></sup>, ALEC <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Education_Task_Force" title="Education Task Force">Education Task Force</a> Member, spoke on "Enacting a Comprehensive K-12 Education Reform Agenda" at the 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting on August 3, 2011</li>
<li>Featured speakers have included: Milton Friedman, Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle, George Allen, Jessie Helms, Pete Coors, <strong>Governor Mitch Daniels<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-72"></sup></strong></li>
</ul>Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-44393598640936288612012-04-04T06:16:00.000-07:002012-04-04T06:16:06.854-07:00I-READ Petition<strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/indiana-legislators-tell-the-idoe-to-scrap-iread-3" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3b5998; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Indiana Legislators: Tell the IDOE to Scrap IREAD-3</span></a></span></strong><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><span class="caption"><span style="background: white; color: grey; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.change.org/" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #3b5998; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">www.change.org</span></span></a></span></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 9.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: grey; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/indiana-legislators-tell-the-idoe-to-scrap-iread-3"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.change.org/petitions/indiana-legislators-tell-the-idoe-to-scrap-iread-3</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 9.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Why This Is Important<o:p></o:p></strong></span><br />
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; border-image: initial; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">IREAD-3 is a forty-question test that will determine whether public school students in Indiana may advance to fourth grade. It channels education dollars toward redundant assessment, not instruction, and favors retention over remediation; it is therefore a misuse of public funds.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">No major decision about a child's future should be made on the basis of a single test score. Retaining students has been shown to increase the risk that they drop out of school and to have a null or negative effect on their academic achievement in the long run.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; border-image: initial; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; orphans: 2; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt;">Like other high-stakes standardized tests, <em>IREAD-3 will disproportionately punish low-income children and families</em>. Indiana students' reading skills are already assessed continually by their teachers as well as through ISTEP+ and NWEA or Acuity. Money allocated for this test directly reduces funds available for remediation. Our tax dollars should go to local schools for literacy programs and teachers rather than to assessment overhead and testing companies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-81531234333078324522012-03-23T06:22:00.000-07:002012-03-23T06:22:11.392-07:00DOE Seeks Public Comment<strong><a href="http://www.doe.in.gov/improvement/educator-effectiveness/educator-standards-public-comment#main_content" target="_blank">Educator Standards Public Comment</a></strong><br />
<br />
<br />
Posted: Fri, 03/16/2012 - 9:15am Updated: Thu, 03/22/2012 - 9:32am The Indiana Department of Education is seeking public comment in regards to two newly developed sets of standards. These standards are intended to serve in the preparation and assessment of preservice teachers or school counselors. Please note the Exceptional Needs-Mild Intervention Reading Instruction Standards are meant to serve as an addendum to the existing Exceptional Needs-Mild Intervention Standards which may be found <a href="http://www.doe.in.gov/improvement/educator-effectiveness/repa-teacher-standards" target="_blank">HERE</a>. Once you have read the draft standards below, please visit the survey site (link below) to contribute your feedback.<br />
<br />
The IDOE will be collecting public comment on these standards between March 23 and April 23, 2012, at the following link: Survey for Public Comment on Educator Standards.<br />
<br />
<em><strong>Indiana School Counselor Standards</strong></em><br />
<em><br />
<strong></strong></em><br />
<em><strong>Indiana Exceptional Needs-Mild Intervention Reading Instruction Standards</strong></em><br />
<br />
If you have further questions, please contact us at <a href="mailto:eel@doe.in.gov">eel@doe.in.gov</a>.Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-55611864075553484992012-03-19T06:11:00.000-07:002012-03-19T06:11:27.108-07:00Upcoming Education EventsThe next <strong><a href="http://innovateindy.org/2011/12/05/school-reform-isnt-what-its-supposed-to-be/" target="_blank">E-CAT</a></strong> of Innovate Indy continuing conversation on education reform in Indianapolis will take place 5:30pm to 7:30pm on <strong>Tuesday March 27th at the KI EcoCenter</strong>, 159 West 28th Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46208 (Southeast corner of Capital and 28th Street).<br />
<br />
<br />
On <strong>Tuesday March 20th at Christian Theological Seminary</strong>, Rev. Dr. Floyd Flake will be making a presentation titled: <strong>"Politics, Religion, and the Common Good: The Case of Education Reform”.</strong> The event is free and open to the public, but registration is encouraged. The public event starts at 5 pm and will run to 7pm. More information can be found here: <a href="https://christiantheologicalseminary14608.thankyou4caring.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=387">https://christiantheologicalseminary14608.thankyou4caring.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=387</a><br />
<br />
On <strong>Wednesday March 21st at the Central Library</strong>, the Educate Indiana Speaker Series, presented by Education Reform Now, will feature Neerav Kingland, Chief Strategy Officer for New Schools for New Orleans , as well as David Harris, CEO of the Mind Trust. Registration is encouraged, but not required according to the Central Library. The event will be held from 6-7:30 pm at the Indianapolis Central Library, located at One Library Square, 40 E. St. Clair St. Indianapolis, IN 46204. <br />
<br />
More info can be found here: <a href="http://indychamber.com/ContentFiles/1389/Educate%20IN%20speaker%20series.pdf">http://indychamber.com/ContentFiles/1389/Educate%20IN%20speaker%20series.pdf</a><br />
<br />
And here: <a href="http://indfer.org/2012/03/educate-indiana-speakers-series-lessons-learned-from-new-orleans/">http://indfer.org/2012/03/educate-indiana-speakers-series-lessons-learned-from-new-orleans/</a><br />
<br />
We encourage everyone to attend these events. For those who have read the Mind trust plan you can see that they really need our help to transform education in a way that will help our children.Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-31829041578456843752012-03-14T05:57:00.000-07:002012-03-14T05:57:19.287-07:00TX school board resolution vs. high-stakes testing <em><span style="color: blue;">For your consideration....an important reminder here that public education is still part of a democratic process (at least for now) and that we and are elected officials are responsible. It'd be very interesting to see some discussion here as it relates to Indiana. Have at it!!</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></em>Guy Brandenburg writes that here is an excellent resolution that has been passed by Clear Creek School District, a large district near NASA, as well as several other school boards in Texas. It has been called "The shot heard around the county." [see <a href="http://galvestondailynews.com/story/298894">http://galvestondailynews.com/story/298894</a>] Why not around the country? If Texas school boards can pass this resolution, why shouldn't all school boards in the nation adopt similar ones?<br />
From Guy Brandenburg on the EDDRA2 listserve, Tuesday, March 13, 2012. See <a href="http://parentsacrossamerica.org/2012/03/clear-creek-tx-school-board-resolution-vs-high-stakes-testing/">http://parentsacrossamerica.org/2012/03/clear-creek-tx-school-board-resolution-vs-high-stakes-testing/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
BOARD OF TRUSTEES<br />
CLEAR CREEK INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT<br />
<br />
<strong>RESOLUTION CONCERNING HIGH STAKES, STANDARDIZED TESTING</strong><strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>OF TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS</strong><br />
<br />
<br />
STATE OF TEXAS §<br />
COUNTY OF GALVESTON<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>WHEREAS,</strong> the over reliance on standardized, high stakes testing as the only assessment of learning that really matters in the state and federal accountability systems is strangling our public schools and undermining any chance that educators have to transform a traditional system of schooling into a broad range of learning experiences that better prepares our students to live successfully and be competitive on a global stage; and<br />
<br />
<strong>WHEREAS,</strong> we commend Robert Scott, Commissioner of Education, for his concern about the overemphasis on high stakes testing that has become <span style="color: blue;"><strong>"a perversion of its original intent"</strong></span> and for his continuing support of high standards and local accountability; and<br />
<br />
<strong>WHEREAS,</strong> we believe our state's future prosperity relies on a high-quality education system that prepares students for college and careers, and without such a system Texas' economic competitiveness and ability and to attract new business will falter; and<br />
<br />
<strong>WHEREAS,</strong> the real work of designing more engaging student learning experiences requires changes in the culture and structure of the systems in which teachers and students work; and<br />
<br />
<strong>WHEREAS,</strong> what occurs in our classrooms every day should be student-centered and result in students learning at a deep and meaningful level, as opposed to the superficial level of learning that results from the current over-emphasis on that which can be easily tested by standardized tests; and<br />
<br />
<strong>WHEREAS,</strong> We believe in the tenets set out in Creating a New Vision for Public Education in Texas (TASA, 2008) and our goal is to transform this district in accordance with those tenets; and<br />
<br />
<strong>WHEREAS,</strong> Our vision is for all students to be engaged in more meaningful learning activities that cultivate their unique individual talents, to provide for student choice in work that is designed to respect how they learn best, and to embrace the concept that students can be both consumers and creators of knowledge; and<br />
<br />
<strong>WHEREAS,</strong> only by developing new capacities and conditions in districts and schools, and the communities in which they are embedded, will we ensure that all learning spaces foster and celebrate innovation, creativity, problem solving, collaboration, communication and critical thinking; and<br />
<br />
<strong>WHEREAS,</strong> these are the very skills that business leaders desire in a rising workforce and the very attitudes that are essential to the survival of our democracy; and<br />
<br />
<strong>WHEREAS,</strong> imposing relentless test preparation and boring memorization of facts to enhance test performance is doing little more than stealing the love of learning from our students and assuring that we fall short of our goals; and<br />
<br />
<strong>WHEREAS,</strong> we do not oppose accountability in public schools and we point with pride to the performance of our students, but believe that the system of the past will not prepare our students to lead in the future and neither will the standardized tests that so dominate their instructional time and block our ability to make progress toward a world-class education system of student-centered schools and future-ready students; therefore be it<br />
<br />
<strong>RESOLVED</strong> that the Clear Creek ISD Board of Trustees calls on the Texas Legislature to reexamine the public school accountability system in Texas and to develop a system that encompasses multiple assessments, reflects greater validity, uses more cost efficient sampling techniques and other external evaluation arrangements, and more accurately reflects what students know, appreciate and can do in terms of the rigorous standards essential to their success, enhances the role of teachers as designers, guides to instruction and leaders, and nurtures the sense of inquiry and love of learning in all students.<br />
<br />
<strong>PASSED AND APPROVED</strong> on this 27 day of February, 2012.Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-72651320436479935222012-02-17T06:15:00.000-08:002012-02-17T06:15:40.317-08:00Indiana Groups that Want to Privatize Your SchoolA center out of Columbia University is tracking the lobbying and funding actions of so-called education reform groups that--whether they say this publicly or not--support turning public education over to for-profit companies. Here's the Indiana list that I'm sure could be expanded. Comments?<br />
<a href="http://ncspe.org/" target="_blank">National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education (NCSPE)</a>: Check it out.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Who supports privatization of education?</span></strong><br />
<span style="color: blue;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><br />
</span><br />
<em><span style="color: blue;">A descriptive analysis of NCSPE's links to national and state-specific organizations that tend to support or oppose privatization of education</span></em><br />
<br />
<strong>INDIANA LIST:</strong> <br />
<strong>Greater Educational Opportunities (GEO) Foundation Indiana</strong><br />
“GEO Foundation, as featured in Forbes Magazine, has been making access to quality schools a reality for children since 1998. GEO incubates quality charter schools and then supports their growth. All four GEO-sponsored public charter schools are high academic growth schools and feature a unique K-14 model--full day kindergarten all the way through two years of college. GEO seeks to provide greater access to quality education for all kids. The foundation currently operates four charter schools.” (website quote)<br />
<br />
<strong>Indiana School Scholarship Tax Credit</strong><br />
“The Indiana School Scholarship Tax Credit is designed to provide scholarship support for thousands of low and middle income families to enroll their children into the private or public school of their choice. Funding for these scholarships will come from private, charitable donations to qualified scholarship granting organizations (SGOs). Donors (individuals or corporations) would be eligible to take advantage of a 50% credit against their state tax liability for contributions made to an SGO. The program is entirely privately-funded, with an incentive to charitable giving from the tax credit.” (website quote)<br />
<br />
<strong>Indiana Virtual Families </strong><br />
“Indiana Virtual School Families (IVSF) is a grassroots coalition that was formed four years ago, before grassroots coalitions became popular! The Indiana Virtual School Families board consists of a group of passionate parent volunteers that have united in an effort to educate and inform the public and policymakers at all levels of the potential benefits virtual learning opportunities can bring to Indiana. A coalition supporting virtual schools in Indiana” (website quote)<br />
<br />
<strong>School Choice Indiana </strong><br />
“School Choice Indiana, Inc. is a non-partisan, statewide organization dedicated to the principle that providing parents with real choices in the education of their children will improve educational outcomes and improve the quality of education, both in private and public schools.” (website quote)<br />
<br />
<strong>Who supports privatization of education?</strong><br />
<br />
In 2000, the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education (NCSPE) began to collect and classify website links to organizations involved in advocacy or research related to privatization of education. We created three general classifications: (1) organizations that: "tend to support privatization of education," (2) "present both supporting and opposing perspectives," and (3) "tend to oppose privatization of education." Within the general classifications we subcategorized organizations as: "advocacy," "research and policy" "nonprofit and for-profit and education management organizations," "news," and "research journals." In addition, in 2009, since much of the debate and activity related to privatization of education occurs at the state level, we began to add and classify links to state-specific organizations that "tend to support" or "tend to oppose" privatization of education.<br />
<br />
<br />
Because of the enormous expansion of activity and interest in educational privatization, we recently concluded a robust search of the internet in order to update our links. The purpose of this announcement is to share with you the results of that search.<br />
<br />
<strong>First, some descriptive data about our links:</strong><br />
In 2005 we had 49 links to organizations that "Tend to Support Privatization in Education;" we now have 85 such links. <br />
<br />
In 2005 we had 23 links to organizations that "Present Both Supporting and Opposing Perspectives;" we did not find any new links to add to this category<br />
<br />
In 2005 we had 22 links to organizations that "Tend to Oppose Privatization in Education;" we found only one new link to add to this category<br />
<br />
In 2009 we had 19 links to state-specific organizations that "Tend to Support Privatization in Education;" we now have 164 such links<br />
<br />
In 2009 we had 7 links to state-specific organizations that "Tend to Oppose Privatization in Education;" we now have 247 such links <br />
<br />
In addition to serving as a valuable resource for students of school choice and privatization, the links provide a unique window into the evolution of support for school choice and privatization at the state and national levels. The following observations are based on our review of the changes in the distribution of website links within and between the state and national levels. <br />
<br />
<strong>Continued Ideological Polarization in the National Dialogue on Privatization of Education</strong><br />
<br />
Even though a plethora of new reforms, such as online learning, are now part of the national education reform debate, school choice remains a highly divisive political issue. There are a total of 71 advocacy organizations but only 17 research and policy organizations among the support and oppose categories. In fact, if we counted the Education Management Organizations (EMOs) on our list as advocacy organizations, then essentially all of the growth in our list of national-level organizations since 2005 has come from the addition of advocacy organizations. Furthermore, we could not find neutral organizations at the state-level so we left that category out entirely for the states.<br />
<br />
<strong>Growth in Organizations that Tend to Support Privatization at the State-level</strong><br />
<br />
At the national level, there are significantly more organizations that tend to support privatization (85 that support vs. 22 that oppose), while the opposite is true across the states (164 support vs. 245 oppose). This is largely because every state has at least one well-established teachers' organization (usually more than one) clearly opposed to privatization. However, a diverse coalition of state-level organizations that support school choice has emerged to mobilize parents and counter the power of teachers' organizations. These organizations include religious groups (especially religiously-motivated homeschoolers), free market policy organizations, parent advocacy organizations (e.g. Stand for Children), private school networks, and state-specific education management organizations. Most of these organizations, however, are more recently established and not as well connected or entrenched as those that oppose privatization. This trend suggests that we may see some significant legislative conflicts on school choice issues at the state-level in the not-too-distant future.<br />
<strong>About the NCSPE</strong><br />
The Center provides independent, non-partisan information on and analysis of privatization in education. The Center's program includes research, evaluation, conferences, publications, and dissemination on a full range of issues regarding privatization of education from pre-school to higher education, both national and international.Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-11418859609792548172012-01-19T18:32:00.000-08:002012-01-19T18:32:10.461-08:00Opting Out in Indiana<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">A great story here on WFYI on how some parents are choosing to Opt-Out of the standardized testing in Indiana. Interestingly, the Indiana DOE didn't respond to some of these folks for three months but sent an email the day this story came out. Shows what it takes these days sadly. The conversation is building steam and getting interesting.</span></i></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"></span></div><h1 class="entry-title" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Why Some Indiana Parents Won’t Let Their Kids Take State Tests This Spring</span></h1><br />
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">They’ve tried organizing. They’ve tried criticizing. They’ve tried testifying.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But despite efforts to get their message out, some parents still feel shut out of the discussion about changes in education policy across Indiana and the nation.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So now, a handful of them is trying a new way to make their point — resisting.<span id="more-4918" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Having long criticized laws like the federal <a href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/topic/nclb/" style="-webkit-transition-delay: initial; -webkit-transition-duration: 0.2s; -webkit-transition-property: all; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-in-out; color: #174e82; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" title="Feeling ‘Left Behind’ On NCLB? (Don’t Worry. We Can Help.)">No Child Left Behind act</a> and Indiana’s <a href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/topic/public-law-221/" style="-webkit-transition-delay: initial; -webkit-transition-duration: 0.2s; -webkit-transition-property: all; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-in-out; color: #174e82; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" title="How Does The State Keep Track of Schools?">Public Law 221</a> for relying too heavily on test scores, small groups of parents are planning to have their students “Opt Out” of statewide testing this spring. On test day, their kids simply won’t show up to school.</div><ul class="playlist use-peak" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; line-height: 21px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 25px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-bottom-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-top-left-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; display: block; font-size: 2em; font: inherit; letter-spacing: -1px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 75px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><a class="inline sm2_link" href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/files/2012/01/0117optout.mp3" rel="pagePlayerMP3Sound62" style="-webkit-transition-delay: initial; -webkit-transition-duration: 0.5s; -webkit-transition-property: background-color; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-in-out; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/wp-content/themes/argo-foundation/img/audio-play-default.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: 22px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #174e82; display: block; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 10px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0.45em; padding-left: 90px; padding-right: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.45em; position: relative; text-decoration: none; z-index: 2;" title="'This Page Intentionally Left Blank': Opt Out In Indiana">‘This Page Intentionally Left Blank’: Opt Out In Indiana<span class="caption" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #666666; display: block; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 1px 1px 1px; vertical-align: baseline;">Every Indiana third grader will take a new reading exam in March to determine whether he or she can move on to the fourth grade. As Kyle Stokes reports, that’s one more reason some parents who worry about the increasingly-high stakes of state testing don’t want their children taking the exams this spring.</span></a><a class="exclude" href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/files/2012/01/0117optout.mp3" style="-webkit-transition-delay: initial; -webkit-transition-duration: 0.2s; -webkit-transition-property: all; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-in-out; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/wp-content/themes/argo-foundation/img/audio-download.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 1px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #aaaaaa; display: block; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; height: 30px; left: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 16px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; top: 50px; width: 100px; z-index: 3;">Download</a></li>
</ul><h3 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 300; font: inherit; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">‘WE DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH TESTING <em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-style: italic; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">PER SE</em>’</h3><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Though state officials doubt the legality of such a move, organizers say Opt Out is a vehicle parents can use to vent their frustration with education policies. <a href="http://fairtest.org/get-involved/opting-out" style="-webkit-transition-delay: initial; -webkit-transition-duration: 0.2s; -webkit-transition-property: all; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-in-out; color: #174e82; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">National opponents</a> of high-stakes standardized testing say if as few as five or six percent of students were to skip statewide exams, state officials could no longer consider the rest of the test results valid.</div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://stateimpact.npr.org/indiana/2012/01/19/why-some-indiana-parents-wont-let-their-kids-take-state-tests-this-spring/" target="_blank">READ MORE:</a></div>Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-83423941775504744052012-01-09T16:58:00.000-08:002012-01-09T16:58:31.566-08:00Good Points on the MindTrust Plan<script language="JavaScript" src="http://ads.revsci.net/adserver/ako?activate&csid=f09828" type="text/javascript">
</script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ads.revsci.net/adserver/ako?activate&csid=J06575" type="text/javascript">
</script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://pix04.revsci.net/J06575/a4/0/0/pcx.js?csid=J06575" type="text/javascript">
</script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://pix04.revsci.net/F09828/a4/0/0/0.js" type="text/javascript">
</script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ads.revsci.net/adserver/ako?activate&csid=f09828" type="text/javascript">
</script><script src="https://plus.google.com/_/apps-static/_/js/widget/gcm_ppb,googleapis_client,plusone/rt=j/ver=ILjDkgRKLXM.en_US./sv=1/am=!CONMiKjES8GIhnU5QQ/d=1/">
</script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ads.revsci.net/adserver/ako?activate&csid=J06575" type="text/javascript">
</script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://pix04.revsci.net/J06575/a4/0/0/pcx.js?csid=J06575" type="text/javascript">
</script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://pix04.revsci.net/F09828/a4/0/0/0.js" type="text/javascript">
</script><em>Dan Carpenter does a nice job here of pointing to some of the logical problems with this plan. It is fundamentally anti-democratic, notably saying to the parents and communities of IPS that they're not capable of electing a school board. Don't get this wrong however; there's a lot to be desired in the IPS school board and its superintendent and changes are needed. But Carpenter is right that this plan is part of a corporate strategy to make money off of so-called reform.</em><br />
<div class="ody-pgwrap"><div class="modal modal-inner-content" id="ody-pgmodaldata"><a class="ody-closeimg modalCloseImg simplemodal-close" href="" title="Close"></a></div></div><div class="content-container"><div class="container"><div class="ody-hgroup"><!-- HEAD --><h1><a href="http://www.indystar.com/article/20111225/OPINION05/112250309/IPS-civics-lesson" target="_blank">IPS as a civics lesson</a></h1></div></div></div><ul><li><strong>Should a mayor who won re-election with 16 percent of the potential vote be given control of schools because of low turnout in school board elections?</strong></li>
<li><strong>Is the answer to too little democracy, in other words, less democracy?</strong></li>
</ul>The "entrepreneurial" approach to education reform, as espoused by The Mind Trust and its corporate and political partners, would give us this logic. Indeed, saith The Mind Trust's David Harris, "We do think the board needs to be moved out of the way."<br />
Who's the board? It's the people chosen, for better or worse, without suburban supervision, by residents of the Indianapolis Public Schools territory to educate more than 30,000 children.<br />
A better question: Who is "We," and who elected "Us"?<br />
It wasn't We the People, but We the People get most of the bill. The $700,000 study that produced an IPS overhaul plan enjoyed a $500,000 grant from Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett, a champion of non-public education and the state's co-leader with Gov. Mitch Daniels in channeling public money into privatization.<br />
The wholly unsurprising makeover/takeover plan, with its emphases on charter schools, the gelding of the IPS central office and the disempowering of central city voters as well as the teachers union, fits the pattern of the prevailing "reform" movement but hardly strikes this writer as a blueprint for better times in and of itself.<br />
Site-based decision-making was tried in IPS, and collapsed in the face of relentless pupil mobility. Mayorally appointed school boards have been tried in other cities, without notable success. Charter schools, for-profit and nonprofit, have not outperformed traditional public schools.<br />
Yet these are the power relationships that eclipse pedagogy in the made-up minds of business-model reformers. Get the administration, the board, the union, the messy local politics "moved out of the way," and impose a simplified education market in which families' choices will be limited to consumer choices. And first, by all means, declare the system broken.<br />
If the system is not broken, but merely running unsatisfactorily (like many of its neighbor systems), then reformers have a problem. They must find ways to help, not merely people and structures to discard. They must acknowledge strengths (of which IPS has many). They must address the low profile given school board races in the election process. They must answer for their own funding cuts, to education directly and to the demands of the monster at its doorstep called poverty.<br />
If, on the other hand, class size and hunger and crime and families fighting to survive can be portrayed as excuses on the part of complacent incompetents who stand in the way of efficiency, the stage is set for a handover of control.<br />
This is a national, even international, phenomenon. Check the rightwing American Legislative Exchange Council. Check the Milton Friedman brigade out of the University of Chicago and the Indianapolis-based Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. Your Republican lawmakers, and some key Democrats as well, are listening to them. Are the people who own the public schools too few, and too small, to be heard?<br />
<strong>Carpenter is Star op-ed columnist. Contact him at (317) 444-6172 or at <a href="mailto:dan.carpenter@indystar.com">dan.carpenter@indystar.com</a>.</strong>Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-91910261315813798182012-01-03T07:25:00.000-08:002012-01-03T07:25:59.570-08:00Innovate Indy on Education Reform: Join us Jan. 5th!<strong><span style="color: blue;">DO NOT LEAVE EDUCATION REFORM IN THE HANDS OF “EXPERTS” </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: blue;">IN BUSINESS, FINANCE, AND LAW!</span></strong><br />
<br />
<br />
On December 3rd a conversation began about education reform in Indianapolis. That conversation continues next on: <strong>Thursday January 5th at 7:00pm at Big Car Service Center, 3919 N. Lafayette Road.</strong><br />
<br />
We will talk about authentic measures for learning and stopping the abuse of children by testing them.<br />
<br />
Phil and Joan Harris from Bloomington, two of the three coauthors of:<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Myths-Standardized-Tests-They-Think/dp/1442208090" target="_blank">The Myths of Standardized Tests: Why They Don't Tell You What You Think They Do</a><br />
will join us to share their knowledge and we will discuss further activities to educate a wider community.<br />
<br />
Matthew Brooks, coordinator for <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/OPT-OUT-of-the-State-Test-Indiana/275860349126999" target="_blank">Opt- out Indiana</a> will also join the discussion of how to protect our kids and our communities.<br />
<br />
Adults please bring students to share their insights and add their voices to this vital discussion.<br />
<br />
A tremendous concentration of wealth and political power has been focused in Indianapolis to drive an agenda of change in education. We find that agenda dangerously misinformed. We intend to inform and redirect that agenda toward the betterment of our neighborhoods, our schools and our children. We need the participation of parents, students, teachers and all concerned members of the community in order to accomplish this goal. Please join our conversation.Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-48786725326684191482012-01-02T14:51:00.000-08:002012-01-02T14:51:43.248-08:00The Mind Trust and a Local Control RuseThis post from <a href="http://inschoolmatters.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">School Matters</a> nicely gives some counter voice to the local gushing over the Mind Trust's plan to gut Indianapolis Public Schools. It is important to note how much taxpayer money is already going to these folks and how much this "gift" as the <i>Indy Star</i> puts it positions them to receive in the future. We're not going to say that some of these ideas aren't good but this is shady politics and it's time that the public pay much more attention to the money trail. Finally, the idea that mayoral control is more democratic is preposterous (just ask community folks in DC, New York, New Orleans, or Chicago).<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2 style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://inschoolmatters.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/the-mind-trusts-plan-to-redesign-ips/" rel="bookmark" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(117, 171, 234); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #105cb6; text-decoration: none;" title="The Mind Trust’s plan to redesign IPS">The Mind Trust’s plan to redesign IPS</a></h2><div class="postinfo" style="clear: both; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 18px;">Posted on <span class="postdate" style="color: #a12a2a;">December 20, 2011</span> by stevehinnefeld</div><div class="entry" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; max-width: 475px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">The <a href="http://www.themindtrust.org/" style="color: #105cb6; text-decoration: underline;">Mind Trust</a>, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit that promotes education reform, released an <a href="http://www.themindtrust.org/OpportunitySchools/" style="color: #105cb6; text-decoration: underline;">ambitious proposal</a> Sunday for remaking Indianapolis Public Schools. It certainly has people talking.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">Here are some initial thoughts:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">– A key feature of the plan involves killing off the IPS school board and turning control of the district over to the Indianapolis mayor and city-county council. Whether this is a good or bad idea, it’s certainly undemocratic. As Heather Gillers <a href="http://www.indystar.com/article/20111218/LOCAL/112180372/IPS-voters-would-lose-their-say-under-Mind-Trust-reform-proposal" style="color: #105cb6; text-decoration: underline;">points out</a> in the<em>Indianapolis Star</em>, it means “telling voters who live in IPS that they are the only ones in the state who will not be allowed to elect their school board.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">More significantly, the city of Indianapolis and IPS cover very different geographical areas –- the mayor of Indy isn’t the mayor of IPS. The mayor and city-county council are elected by voters from throughout Marion County, but IPS is only one of 11 school districts in the county. About three-fourths of public-school students in Marion County attend non-IPS schools.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">The argument for mayoral control is that the mayor will be “politically accountable” for the schools. But even if the mayor screws up, IPS residents may not have the votes to punish him at the polls.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">– More than 80 percent of IPS students qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches. <a href="http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/bystate/Rankings.aspx?order=a&loct=10&dtm=11655&state=IN&tf=867&ind=5187&ch=a&by=a" style="color: #105cb6; text-decoration: underline;">No other</a> public school district in Indiana comes close to that level of poverty, except for some districts in Lake County (Gary, East Chicago). The Mind Trust plan barely mentions this fact<span id="more-3173"></span>, or the challenges it presents for any scheme to dramatically improve performance in IPS schools.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">Sure, poverty can’t be an excuse for failing to do everything possible to improve schools. But as Helene F. Ladd and Edward B. Fiske wrote in a recent <em>New York Times</em> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/opinion/the-unaddressed-link-between-poverty-and-education.html?scp=1&sq=helene%20f.%20ladd&st=Search" style="color: #105cb6; text-decoration: underline;">op-ed</a>, pretending poverty doesn’t matter only gets in the way of serious attempts at reform.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">– The Mind Trust plan envisions converting all IPS schools to what it calls “opportunity schools,” with the freedom and flexibility that are usually associated with charter schools. All would be “schools of choice”: parents could send their kids to any school in the district, subject to the IPS somehow playing traffic cop.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">It’s the standard market-based ideology of education reform: “Great schools” will thrive because parents send their children there; “failing schools” will close for lack of enrollment. The models for this approach are New York City under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">The Mind Trust claims it will be possible to reallocate 80 percent of IPS administrative costs to the schools, leaving the district’s central office to be a low-level provider of services. This seems like a stretch. But even if it isn’t, a whole lot more responsibilities also would flow to the schools. Principals would apparently be responsible for hiring and firing teachers, establishing curriculum, selecting textbooks, arranging for school meals, lining up transportation, securing special-education services, handling the paperwork for federal Title I funds, etc., etc.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">Oh, and also finding time to be great instructional leaders.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">– According to <a href="http://www.indystar.com/article/20111218/LOCAL/112180352/Nonprofit-s-proposal-would-radically-reorganize-IPS" style="color: #105cb6; text-decoration: underline;">the <em>Star</em></a>, the Mind Trust paid $700,000 to have its plan produced by Public Impact, a North Carolina consulting firm. That seems like a hefty price for a product that appears to involve no original research, and with its executive summary packed with reformist jargon about bold visions, reinventing education, empowering parents, great leaders, great teachers, ad nauseum.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">Some $500,000 came from the Indiana Department of Education, the <em>Star</em> reports – a lot of public money to spend at a time when state government is cutting services.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">– For those of us who don’t live in Indianapolis, it’s probably hard to comprehend the hunger that many civic-minded people must feel for something, anything, that will turn IPS into a great school system. It’s common to hear that “IPS is broken and can’t be fixed,” or words to that effect. Superintendents have raised hopes but produced disappointing results, at least when it comes to test scores. So it’s not surprising that the Mind Trust plan has won praise from folks on the <a href="http://www.dfer.org/branches/in/" style="color: #105cb6; text-decoration: underline;">left</a>, <a href="http://www.educationgadfly.net/flypaper/2011/12/a-bold-reform-plan-in-indianapolis-looks-to-halt-the-status-quo-of-under-achievement/" style="color: #105cb6; text-decoration: underline;">right</a> and <a href="http://www.indystar.com/article/20111218/OPINION08/112180319/It-s-bold-s-fresh-just-might-work-" style="color: #105cb6; text-decoration: underline;">center</a>.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px;">But as education historian Diane Ravitch often <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/2011/12/do_you_believe_in_miracles.html" style="color: #105cb6; text-decoration: underline;">warns</a>, there are no “silver bullets” in education. There are no miracle cures for poverty. Making a difference in the lives of children is hard work that takes time, resources, dedication and sustained focus.</div></div>Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-23615374170564011482011-12-29T07:53:00.000-08:002011-12-29T08:06:21.607-08:00The Political Backers of Stand for Children<em>This article proved to be prescient in Illinois politics and education reform. Check out this video with a co-founder of Stand for Children and their plan to take down the teacher union there<strong> [</strong></em><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kog8g9sTDSo" target="_blank"><em><strong>LINK</strong></em></a><em><strong>].</strong> They're in Indiana now and also very vague about what their agenda is although they make an adamant case that they are grassroots, a coalition of community folks working to improve education. When I see this type of savvy political manuevering behind the scenes, I can't help but think that good folks in Indiana are being co-opted.</em><br />
<br />
<strong>ILLINOIS Who’s behind Stand for Children?</strong><br />
<br />
BY <a href="http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/articles.sec-52-1-politics--rich-miller.html" target="_blank">RICH MILLER Illinois Times</a> October 21,2010 <br />
<br />
It’s not every day that a group almost nobody has ever heard of gives $175,000 to a single state legislative candidate. But that’s just what happened on Oct. 7 when Stand for Children Illinois PAC handed over that gigantic check to Republican Ryan Higgins, who is vying to replace retiring state Rep. Paul Froehlich (D-Schaumburg).<br />
<br />
In fact, Stand for Children’s $175,000 check represents the largest single contribution to a legislative candidate – other than from a caucus leader, party organization or candidate loans to themselves – since contribution records were put online 16 years ago. It’s probably a good bet that the group’s contribution to Higgins is the single largest “outside” legislative campaign check in modern Illinois history.<br />
<br />
Yet Stand for Children has received almost zero press coverage. Fox Chicago followed up on a story I wrote earlier this month, but that’s it, even though the group has contributed $650,000 to rank and file legislative candidates since Oct. 4. <br />
<br />
Republicans had hoped to receive nearly all of the group’s prodigious contributions this fall, but the majority of its money went to six Democrats. Rep. Jehan Gordon (D-Peoria) received a $100,000 check. State Reps. Bob Flider, Mark Walker and Keith Farnham and Sen. Toi Hutchinson have all received $50,000 contributions, as well as House Democratic candidate Daniel Biss. Three Republicans received money from the group. <br />
<br />
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan met with the group after hearing what it was up to, said his spokesman. Madigan can be a very persuasive man. Huge contributions have been the norm in Illinois for decades. Usually, though, when we see big checks run through the system we have a general idea what the group wants. So far, though, Stand for Children has not established any sort of public presence here. There have been no editorial board visits or public relations blitzes. Their campaign finance filings show that their money is coming from their parent organization, which doesn’t have to list its contributors. So we really don’t know who is actually bankrolling this group.<br />
<br />
After several tries, the organization did send me a flier about how it intends to “Improve Illinois Public Schools.” “Our vision is to dramatically increase improvement for all Illinois children by building a powerful, independent, statewide voice asking that we make what’s best for public school children the center of all education policy,” the flier states.<br />
<br />
Um, OK, but what do they want? They say they want to “redefine” teacher tenure so that it is a “benefit that is earned and kept based on high expectations and student achievement.” Their website indicates that the group strongly backs testing to gauge achievement. And they appear to want to apply those test results to teachers. They also want to make sure that administrators and teachers have “exhausted every possible avenue during contract negotiations before resorting to a strike.” Details about how they would do that were not available. <br />
<br />
“Certainly, any time you see a new group not from Illinois dropping significant dollar amounts into legislative races, it does raise some red flags,” said a spokesperson for the Illinois Federation of Teachers. “Where is their money coming from, who is funding them, what are their objectives? We’re certainly curious to see what their agenda is.”<br />
<br />
While they don’t seem to be explicitly saying so, it looks like the group is taking advantage of a peculiar situation in Illinois politics. The two teachers unions are furious at legislators for voting for a major pension reform bill, so many of those incumbents are not receiving the unions’ endorsements. Plus, the unions’ contributions, along with everybody else’s, will be capped at a much lower level starting Jan. 1, and that could hinder their influence. <br />
<br />
The thinking is that Stand for Children is now filling a unique void created by the relative lack of teacher contributions. But that theory doesn’t totally hold up. For instance, Rep. Farnham and Sen. Hutchinson were both endorsed by the IEA. And Rep. Flider has sponsored three bills making it easier for teachers to receive tenure more quickly. <br />
<br />
However, if Speaker Madigan retains the majority and the group continues to, um, “stand” with his candidates and the unions refuse to step up, it’s possible that we could see a significant education reform push next year. Stay tuned. <br />
<em>Rich Miller publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and thecapitolfaxblog.com</em><em>.</em>Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-18420145759737205812011-12-10T10:54:00.000-08:002011-12-10T10:54:26.200-08:00Rethinking Schools on "Stand for Children"<em><strong>A chapter has started in Indianapolis with the support of the Mind Trust, the Mayor's Office, and the State Superintendent. The story below, worth reading at length, tells the tale of a grassroots organization that has lost its way (or is co-opted a better word?). Questions abound when original members and leadership quit and corporate interests take over the Board. It seems important that Indiana Citizens knows the background of these powerful forces and what may indeed be its real agenda.</strong></em><br />
<br />
<a href="http://rethinkingschools.org/archive/26_01/26_01_sanchez.shtml" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">For or Against Children? The problematic history </span><span style="font-size: large;">of stand for children</span></a><br />
<br />
Fall 2011, By Ken Libby and Adam Sanchez<br />
<br />
Last October, a friend called with a question: “What do you know about Stand for Children?” The advocacy organization, based in our hometown of Portland, Ore., was expanding into his state of Illinois, and he hoped to glean some insight into the kinds of reforms the group would support. Just two months later, Stand’s Illinois branch had amassed more than $3 million in a political action committee and unveiled an aggressive teacher evaluation bill. “Have they always been like this?” he asked. The short answer: no.<br />
<br />
Stand for Children was founded in the late 1990s as a way to advocate for the welfare of children. It grew out of a 1996 march by more than 250,000 people in Washington, D.C. The aim of the march was to highlight child poverty at a time when Congress and the Clinton administration were preparing to “end welfare as we know it.” Jonah Edelman, son of children’s and civil rights activist Marian Wright Edelman, co-founded the group and continues to serve as CEO. Stand’s first chapter was in Oregon, but the group now operates in eight additional states: Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.<br />
<br />
According to Susan Barrett, a parent volunteer who recently left Portland’s Stand chapter, Stand started with a genuine focus on improving the lives of poor children:<br />
<br />
[Stand] worked on smaller issues with positive impact, such as after-school program funding and emergency dental care for uninsured kids. Many parents like me who joined Stand a while back still remember how it was an organization fighting for the Portland Children’s Levy, which provided funds for early childhood education, foster care, child abuse prevention programs, and a variety of other programs centered on children.1<br />
<br />
<br />
Here is a snapshot of Stand’s agenda during that period:<br />
•Health coverage for uninsured children<br />
•Monitoring the impact of welfare reform<br />
•More money for affordable, high-quality child care<br />
•Safe and productive after-school activities<br />
•Schools that have small classes, well-trained teachers, high standards, and involved parents. 2<br />
<br />
Fifteen years later, Stand seems to have morphed into something quite different. For Oregonians, the first public indications that Stand had made a striking 180-degree turn in its politics was its support for Race to the Top legislation and its active promotion of the antiunion, anti-public school film Waiting for “Superman.” Stand led a well-financed, intensive campaign for the film, organizing special invitation-only showings for various constituencies.<br />
<br />
According to Barrett: This past year, Oregon Stand staff wanted us to press our legislators to pass a “bipartisan education package,” which basically tied the release of much-needed school funding to the expansion of charter schools, online learning, and other so-called “reforms.” Stand also pushed to lower the capital gains tax.<br />
<br />
For Tom Olson, another former Portland Stand member, the final straw was the appointment of a new executive director for the Oregon chapter:<br />
<br />
We were appalled that [Sue Levin] had virtually no experience leading grassroots organizations. Instead, we were told that she had a truly impressive background as an “entrepreneur” (a phrase we began to hear [CEO Edelman] use quite frequently during [his] transformation during 2009–10). Levin had been the founder and CEO of a women’s apparel company, Lucy Inc. Prior to that, she had been a women’s sports apparel VP at Nike Inc. Grassroots leadership experience? Absolutely none. Connections with millionaires? A whole bunch. 3<br />
<br />
For Stand’s Portland chapter, where the organization is headquartered and one of the few places where it has a significant history of grassroots activism, the changes in Stand’s role have clearly been traumatic for parents and community members who had a very different image of the organization. This is clearly not a local phenomenon. As Stand has expanded, it has followed a similar pattern: In state after state, Stand has made the corporate-driven agenda of expanding charter schools and tying teacher pay and evaluations to student test scores their top priority.<br />
<br />
To be sure, Stand has maintained some vestiges of its original focus on children. Stand recently supported bills in Colorado and Oregon that would allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at state colleges; in both states, conservative activists expressed hostility to these measures. The Colorado chapter opposed a proposition and two statewide amendments that would have gutted education funding. The Arizona chapter supported a temporary 1 percent tax increase that avoided significant cuts to public schools. The Tennessee chapter fought an English-only amendment that would have negatively affected schools and families, supported changes to suspension policies that hurt children, and pushed for more pre-K funds.<br />
<br />
But, unfortunately, the dominant impact of Stand, everywhere it has a presence, is much more pro-business than pro-children. This was certainly the case in Illinois, where Stand for Children played a part in crafting what they are touting as their biggest victory yet: Senate Bill 7.<br />
<br />
<strong>Standing Against Illinois Teachers </strong><br />
<br />
SB 7, which passed the Illinois Senate in a unanimous vote and the General Assembly with a single dissenter, undermines seniority as the basis of teacher job security and specifically singles out the Chicago Teachers Union by severely restricting its right to strike.<br />
<br />
Chicago has become a testing ground for corporate education policy. Recent CEOs of Chicago Public Schools have included Paul Vallas (1995–2001), who later became the architect behind the union-busting and charterization plan in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina; and Arne Duncan (2001–08), who privatized Chicago public schools at a rate of about 10 per year before becoming Barack Obama’s education secretary. The policies pushed by these corporate reformers have been touted as “miraculous” by business leaders, but have created a horrendous environment for Chicago teachers.<br />
<br />
Intensive and strategic organizing in the face of layoffs, increasing attacks on teachers, and school closings led to last year’s victory for the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE), which swept the 2010 Chicago Teachers Union elections, winning every single seat. But CORE came to power in the context of an economic crisis in which workers are being forced to bear the brunt of economic sacrifice. The city’s elite became even more determined to break the teachers’ union.<br />
<br />
Bruce Rainer, a Republican venture capitalist, recruited Edelman to come to Illinois and help with this task. Thanks to a speech caught on video and posted on YouTube, we now know the intimate details of how Stand for Children helped shape Illinois’ latest anti-teacher legislation. Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival, billionaire James Crown and Jonah Edelman caused an uproar with their comments about SB 7.<br />
<br />
Their panel discussion, titled “If It Can Happen There, It Can Happen Anywhere: Transformational Education Legislation in Illinois,” began with Crown painting a picture of an all-powerful teachers’ union that consistently blocks education reform and has a stranglehold on Illinois politics. Crown was particularly angry that teachers in Illinois had maintained their right to strike. “In 45 of the 50 states, there is no right to strike by teachers,” he protested. “So this was an incredibly strike-permissive environment with these other efforts by the unions, and so forth, that created an unsustainable structure in our school system.”<br />
<br />
Following Crown, Edelman gave a step-by-step account of how Stand for Children worked to undermine teachers’ union rights in Illinois. After explaining how Stand essentially bought a handful of Illinois legislators with campaign contributions—most crucially, Democratic Assembly Speaker Michael Madigan—Edelman explained Stand’s strategy:<br />
<br />
After the election, Advance Illinois and Stand had drafted a very bold proposal we called Performance Counts. It tied tenure and layoffs to performance. It let principals hire who they choose. It streamlined dismissal of ineffective tenured teachers substantially—from two-plus years and $200,000 in legal fees, on average, to three to four months, with very little likelihood of legal recourse.<br />
<br />
And, most importantly, we called for the reform of collective bargaining throughout the state—essentially, proposing that school boards would be able to decide any disputed issue at impasse. So a very, very bold proposal for Illinois, and one that six months earlier would have been unthinkable, undiscussable. . . .<br />
<br />
We hired 11 lobbyists, including the four best insiders and seven of the best minority lobbyists, preventing the unions from hiring them. We enlisted a statewide public affairs firm. . . . We raised $3 million for our political action committee between the election and the end of the year. That’s more money than either of the unions have in their political action committees.<br />
<br />
And so essentially, what we did in a very short period of time was shift the balance of power. I can tell you there was a palpable sense of concern, if not shock, on the part of the teachers’ unions in Illinois that Speaker Madigan had changed allegiance, and that we had clear political capability to potentially jam this proposal down their throats, the same way the pension reform had been jammed down their throats six months earlier.<br />
<br />
Edelman’s comments produced outrage among union and education activists. He issued an apology, saying he regretted that he “left children mostly out of the equation,” and that the speech “could cause viewers to wrongly conclude that I’m against unions.” For their part, the leaders of Illinois’ three main education unions blasted Edelman in a joint statement:<br />
<br />
"We heard a lot from Jonah Edelman about power in politics, power over unions, and management power over teachers. Sadly, we didn’t hear anything in that hour-long session about improving education. . . . What’s worse is that these false claims clearly show an organizational agenda that has nothing to do with helping kids learn."<br />
<br />
It’s clear from Edelman’s remarks that Stand’s effectiveness is reliant on a public perception that it represents the interests of parents. But in fact, Stand’s agenda is now closely aligned with those who call for privatization, charters, vouchers, and an end to teachers’ unions. <br />
<br />
This is true throughout the country. For example, Stand’s most significant work in Colorado was their support of Senate Bill 191, a landmark piece of legislation that bases 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation on student achievement data. As Dana Goldstein explained in a recent American Prospect article, this may lead the state to test every student, in every grade, in every subject—including art, music, and PE. The poisonous debate around the bill vilified those in opposition and demoralized teachers across the state. One teacher, recalling the negotiations over the bill, told Goldstein, “I’ve chosen a profession that, in the public eyes, is worse than prostitution.”<br />
<br />
Stand’s Colorado operations are funded in part by the Walton Family Foundation and the Daniels Fund, two right-wing philanthropies that have pushed for vouchers and charter schools.<br />
<br />
Stand entered Texas in early 2011 as the state wrestled with a budget shortfall that could be as high as $27 billion. The dramatic cuts to schools in the Lone Star state will undoubtedly harm children, yet Stand put their might behind a campaign to evaluate teachers. Texas Senate Bill 4 and the companion bill in the House call for basing from 30 to 50 percent of teacher evaluations on test score growth. In addition, Stand supported legislation that would aid Texas charter schools.<br />
<br />
To further this agenda, Stand hired nine lobbyists with ties to the Republican Party, including three lobbyists from Delisi Communications. The firm’s president, Ted Delisi, purchased Karl Rove’s consulting and direct mail company when Rove joined the Bush presidential campaign in 1999, and ran the Bush/Cheney fundraising and mailer campaign the following year.<br />
<br />
Stand set up shop in Indiana in early 2011 and began advocating for changes to teacher evaluations as Gov. Mitch Daniels and the Republican-controlled legislature passed the most expansive state voucher program in U.S. history, expanded charter schools, restricted collective bargaining, and made serious changes to teacher evaluations. Stand’s advocacy for test-based teacher evaluations included statements that were blatantly false, including: “Studies show that a teacher’s influence on student achievement is 20 times greater than any other variable, including class size or poverty.”<br />
<br />
<strong>How Did This Happen?</strong><br />
<br />
What happened? How did Stand morph from an organization with a focus on children’s health issues, nonschool factors, and research-based school improvements to an organization that pushes core elements of the corporate destruction of public education? Stand has seen an enormous influx of corporate cash. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation began by offering a relatively modest two-year grant of $80,000 in 2005. In 2007, Stand for Children received a $682,565 grant. In 2009, the point at which Stand’s drastically different political agenda became obvious, Gates awarded a $971,280 grant to support “common policy priorities” and in 2010, a $3,476,300 grant.<br />
<br />
Though the Gates Foundation remains the biggest donor to Stand for Children, other players in the world of corporate education reform have also begun to see Stand as an effective vehicle to push their agenda.<br />
<br />
New Profit Inc. has funded Stand since 2008—to the tune of $1,458,500. According to its website, New Profit is a “national venture philanthropy fund that seeks to harness America’s spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship to help solve the country’s biggest social problems.”<br />
<br />
The Walton Family Foundation made a 2010 grant of $1,378,527. Several other major funders are tied to Bain Capital, a private equity and venture capital firm founded by Mitt Romney.<br />
<br />
In a similar time frame, Stand’s National Board of Directors has seen dramatic changes. Lauene Powell Jobs joined the board of Stand for Children in 2006. She also serves on the board of Teach for America. Both Powell Jobs and Julie Mikuta, who joined the Stand board in 2007, are integrally involved with the NewSchools Venture Fund. NewSchools is a venture philanthropy firm, started by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and financed by many of the same donors who give to Stand for Children—Bill Gates, the Walton Family—as well as Eli Broad and Gap founder Donald Fisher. NewSchools Venture Fund pours money into charter schools and “human capital” projects with the aim of using market models and corporate management to drastically reshape the education system.<br />
<br />
In 2010, Emma Bloomberg, daughter of billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, became the newest member of Stand’s national board. Emma Bloomberg is a program officer at the Robin Hood Foundation, another venture philanthropy organization, whose board of directors is dominated by corporate titans like General Electric CEO Jeffery Immelt and JP Morgan CEO Jes Staley.<br />
<br />
Marian Wright Edelman is no longer a board member. In fact, 11 of the 14 board members of Stand for Children and the Stand for Children Leadership Center have joined the organization since 2006.<br />
<br />
The education policy environment has changed significantly during the past 10 years. Particularly since the onset of the economic crisis, teachers have increasingly been blamed for “failing public schools.” Major foundations have spent millions in efforts to tie teacher evaluations to student test scores, make it easier to hire and fire teachers, and restrict teachers’ rights to due process and to strike. Co-opting organizations like Stand for Children Reshapes the public face of corporate education reform and helps make anti-union and privatization schemes more palatable to liberals and progressives. It’s clear that conservative foundations and corporate-backed operatives recognize that organizing parents is a promising way to further their agendas (see David Bacon’s “Trigger Laws: Does Signing a Petition Give Parents a Voice?” ).<br />
<br />
<strong>Conclusion</strong><br />
<br />
There is a legitimate concern for teacher quality, how layoffs are handled, and the need for greater parent and community involvement in teacher contract negotiations. These are serious issues for low-income families and other marginalized communities, but Stand’s approach fails to bring parents, teachers, and communities together, and instead embraces policies favored by historic opponents of public schools and teachers’ unions.<br />
<br />
As Susan Barrett explains: "My fear is that unwitting parents and community members will join Stand because they want to rectify the problems they see every day in their children’s public schools, such as underfunding, lack of arts programs, large class sizes and cuts to the school year, only to find that they get roped into very different goals. . . I worry we will lose a truly democratic discussion and action on education weighted in favor of corporate reforms."<br />
<br />
We agree. There is a need for a parent- and community-driven organization that is not directly tied to teachers unions. An organization that pushes for quality early childhood education, adequate funding for the public education system, and attention to childhood health issues would certainly represent a kid-first agenda. It is even possible to critique teacher training, hiring, and firing in such a broad agenda. But putting kids first is no longer the focus of Stand for Children.<br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-31155702569470498932011-11-07T09:58:00.000-08:002011-11-07T09:58:51.500-08:00Support Brandon Cosby in IPS<strong><em><span style="color: blue;">The Battle for Indiana Public Education stands in support of these students that are fighting to bring their principal back to Shortridge High School. Brandon Cosby is a powerful educator trying to do something in a beleagured district and he's inspired his students to the degree that they've sent this email looking for support from the broader community.</span></em></strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Subject: Shortridge Needs Your Help!</strong><br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><em>The students at Shortridge need your help!</em></strong> We know you can help us with this. We also know you have alot of influence among community leaders and we need as many supporters as possible!<br />
<br />
Our Principal Mr. Brandon Cosby was suspended pending an investigation regarding allegations of "insubordinance". This insubordinance stems from Mr. Cosby's desire to prove that Shortridge students are much more than a test score. Amidst much negative media concerning the failings of IPS as a whole, Mr. Cosby fought continually to make Shortridge a safe and inspiring learning environment, to foster connections with families, students, and the community. He is responsible for transforming Shortridge into what it is today. In order for Shortridge to continue to be set apart from other IPS schools, we need Mr. Cosby as our leader. Please let your support for our wonderful principal be known.<br />
<br />
*These are the most important numbers to call. The point of this is to flood the phone lines with inquiries about what is going on. Please be respectful and ask questions such as “Why is Mr. Cosby suspended?” “When will he be returning to work?” rather than being accusatory or defensive. Keep asking questions and don’t accept quick answers. Call as many of these numbers as possible, as many times as you can, on Monday and Tuesday.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Phone numbers to call Monday, November 7, 2011</span></strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Shortridge Main Line:</strong> 226-2810<br />
<br />
*Lori Elliott (vice principal) 226-2816<br />
<br />
*Jim Larkin (vice principal) 226-2818<br />
<br />
<strong>Department of Secondary Education:</strong><br />
<br />
Nicole Haywood (secretary to Jackie Greenwood) 226-3875<br />
<br />
*Jackie Greenwood (direct supervisor of Mr. Cosby) 226-4541<br />
<br />
*Willie Giles (Deputy Superintendant) 226-4545<br />
<br />
*Li-Yen Johnson (Associate Superintendant) 226-3128<br />
<br />
*Dr. White (Superintendant’s Office; Sandra Ginder secretary) 226-4411<br />
<br />
*Administrative Assistant to the School Board 226-4418<br />
<br />
IPS switchboard 226-4000<br />
<br />
IPS Human Resources 226-4150<br />
<br />
We need as many people as possible to call in tomorrow, because we know that there is strength in numbers. So if you could foreword this to people who will support us.<br />
<br />
You can also show your support of Mr. Cosby by "liking" our Facebook Page Dedicated to our support to reinstate Mr. Cosby:<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-our-Principal-NO-Cosby-NO-Shortridge/289399771090579">http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-our-Principal-NO-Cosby-NO-Shortridge/289399771090579</a><br />
<br />
Thanks in advance for your support of our efforts.Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478968031180581927.post-48158293005278170272011-10-22T16:20:00.000-07:002011-10-22T16:20:51.300-07:00Opt-Out of Testing!<h1><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;"><em>A powerful new movement is gaining momentum as parents start to question the dominance of high-stakes testing in US education. I'm not sure if folks in Indiana are getting involved but we'd be interested to hear about it. Check out the national website: <a href="http://unitedoptout.com/about">United Opt-Out</a> ....More to come I'm sure.</em></span></h1><h1><a href="http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-08-25/news/bs-ed-school-testing-20110825_1_standardized-tests-educators-teachers">Standardized tests: Time for a national opt-out</a></h1><!-- Module ends: article-header--><div class="mod-articlesubtitle" id="mod-article-subtitle"><!-- Module starts: article-subtitle (ArticleSubtitle) --><h2>Parents have the power to break the stranglehold of standardized testing</h2><!-- Module ends: article-subtitle--></div><!-- Area starts: article-first-block --><div id="area-article-first-block"><div class="mod-baltsunarticlebyline mod-articlebyline" id="mod-article-byline"><!-- Module starts: article-byline (ArticleByline) --><span class="pubdate">August 25, 2011</span><span class="separator">|</span><span>By Shaun Johnson</span></div><div class="mod-baltsunarticlebyline mod-articlebyline"><span></span><!-- Module ends: article-byline--></div><div class="mod-baltsunarticletext mod-articletext" id="mod-a-body-first-para"><!-- Module starts: a-body-first-para (ArticleText) -->Here's an update to a clichéd philosophical question: If a test is scheduled and no one is around to take it, will this test matter? The new school year for many public school teachers begins weeks before students arrive. Educators attend hours of workshops to discover that the newest acronym is simply a substitute for an older one. More importantly, piles of test data are pored over to both assess the previous year and to fully appreciate what is to come with a new crop of students.</div></div><br />
With every new testing mandate, combined with recent scandals chipping away at the once impossibly smooth veneer of test-based education reforms, many teachers, parents and administrators are getting frustrated. Where have market-driven and data-obsessed policies taken us over the last 10 years? Are public schools necessarily better off than they were when No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was initially greeted with bipartisan support?<br />
Another important question: What of education have we lost as a result of strict adherence to standardized tests? Many are answering, "Too much — and enough is enough." The result is that more and more parents and educators are mulling what was once unthinkable: opting children out of state standardized tests.<br />
<br />
For example, Tim Slekar, a professor of education in Pennsylvania, opted his son Luke out of his state's tests last school year to "make my community aware and to try and enlighten them of the real issues." This parent and professor's plea is simple and forceful: "Stop treating my child as data! He's a great kid who loves to learn. He is not a politician's pawn in a chess game designed to prove the inadequacy of his teachers and school."<br />
<br />
In July, a large group of public school advocates organized the<a href="http://www.saveourschoolsmarch.org/2011/05/04/indianas-destructive-education-reform-plan/"> Save Our Schools March</a> in Washington, D.C. to protest the continued, and in some cases stronger, embrace of standardized testing. Even amid budget shortfalls, millions of taxpayer dollars are spent on things like researching newer exams, test security, investigating lapses in that security, and manufacturing data collection systems. Meanwhile, schools must contend with smaller staffs and larger class sizes.<br />
Educators are frustrated by the exclusion of teachers from the larger debate on education reform and policy in the United States. Individual classroom teachers and researchers have been highlighting for years the deleterious effects of focusing solely on success or failure with regard to standardized tests. And even now, with the revelation that high-stakes environments are perfect breeding grounds for desperation and resulting dishonesty, the dispiriting march through another year of test preparation must continue.<br />
<br />
In a political and cultural environment that at best feigns listening to educators and at worst demonizes them, the most active public school advocates — like Mr. Slekar — are beginning to feel that opting their children out of completing the state tests is the only message that will get through. Those who began their research into the issue are finding it remarkably easy to do, despite the dissembling of school officials when asked for information. Parents considering opting their children out of state testing are aware of the implications — that a diminished level of participation will affect the school's ability to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). But the threat of no AYP does not appear as ominous as it once did. What is more, the Department of Education's hemming and hawing over the reauthorization of NCLB, plus this whole business of granting waivers that states don't even want, could mean that the punitive era of education reform is slowly coming to an end.<br />
<br />
Growing groups of parents and public school advocates have decided to hit the contemporary reform movement where it counts by taking away the privilege of collecting coveted data. They realize that their children are more than just test scores. They now understand that a laser-like focus on testing and test preparation comes at the expense of numerous other facets of an engaging and well-rounded education. Most of all, these same folks are slowly but surely grasping the power that eluded them during the height of the NCLB era. Despite being largely locked out of the conversation on public education, parents, teachers, and parents who are teachers know they don't have to give up the data any longer.<br />
<br />
Opting-out groups are turning to social media to organize. A Florida-based Facebook group, "Testing is Not Teaching," boasts more than 12,000 supporters. A similar, fledgling group called "United Opt Out" claimed 600 national members after just a few days of existence online. Local numbers for Maryland are elusive, and it's too early to tell whether pressing the "Like" button will translate into actual opting out of test taking.<br />
<br />
So, to come full circle: If tests were scheduled and no one took them, would it matter? It would probably be the exact opposite of the proverbial tree falling with no one around. Fewer students filling in fewer bubbles would sound an alarm akin to 1,000 trees falling in the forest. This time, one could not ignore hearing it. And the sincere grievances public school advocates have about the dominance of testing might finally receive an attentive audience.<br />
<i>Shaun Johnson is an assistant professor of elementary education in the College of Education at Towson University. His email is <a href="mailto:spjohnson@towson.edu">spjohnson@towson.edu</a>.</i>Indiana Citizens for Public Educationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06590732880106290415noreply@blogger.com3