In Case You Missed It – June 19, 2023

Here are links to last week's^† articles receiving the most attention on NEIFPE's social media accounts. Keep up with what's going on, what's being discussed, and what's happening with public education.

Be sure to enter your email address in the Follow Us By Email box in the right-hand column of our blog page to be informed when our blog posts are published.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Look for the [Indiana] voucher share to go up this fall as the program grows to include families that make up to four times the limit to qualify for reduced-price school meals: $220,000 for a four-person household.

"Legislators like to say Indiana “funds students, not systems.” We don’t. The students and their families never touch the money; it goes straight to the schools. We’re funding an unaccountable system of private education that teaches religion and can discriminate. That’s just wrong." -- Indiana blogger Steve Hinnefeld in his blog post, Voucher program grew in 2022-23

THE "CHOICE" IS FOR THE PRIVATE SCHOOLS

You might have gotten something in the mail from your Indiana state legislator last week which touted the General Assembly's huge increase in funding for education. What the mailing neglected to say was that voucher schools and charter schools received a much higher percentage of the increases than did public schools.

This year, the Republican supermajority in the state legislature continued its quest for a completely privatized school environment in Indiana by throwing more public dollars at religious schools, private schools, and privately run charter schools. It doesn't seem to matter to them that the vast majority of Indiana's children go to public schools; the tax money that they collect for education is being diverted from public to private despite no evidence that private is better...or even comparable.

In our Quote of the Week, above, Steve Hinnefeld noted that Republicans claim we need to "fund students, not systems." Unfortunately, the Constitution of the State of Indiana says otherwise (emphasis added).

Article 8. - Education.

Section 1. Knowledge and learning, generally diffused throughout a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to encourage, by all suitable means, moral, intellectual, scientific, and agricultural improvement; and to provide, by law, for a general and uniform system of Common Schools, wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all.

Indiana’s “school choice” voucher program grew 20% last year — with more growth coming

Are religious, private, and charter schools "equally open to all" as required by the state Constitution? Not always. Religious schools are allowed to limit their enrollment to students they choose. LGBT+ students, students with LGBT+ parents, and some students with disabilities are regularly rejected. Charter schools, as well, have ways to limit which students attend their schools.

Indiana should quit subsidizing the privatization of education and follow the Constitutional mandate by supporting the state's public schools.

From Indiana Capital Chronicle

Indiana’s private school voucher program grew by 20% in the 2022-23 school year — the largest increase in the number of students in nearly 10 years, according to a new report.

The Indiana Department of Education’s (IDOE) annual Choice Scholarship Program analysis released this month showed state funds paid private school tuition for 53,262 Hoosier students.

That’s compared to 44,376 students who used vouchers during the 2021-22 academic year.

With that growth came increased costs. The state spent $311.8 million on the program in the 2022-23 school year — 29% more than the year prior.

Voucher participation and spending are expected to jump even more this fall after state lawmakers expanded the program to be nearly universal and open to almost all Hoosier families.

The broader eligibility provisions are projected to grow the voucher program to some 95,000 students by 2025 — and more than double the state money spent on the Choice Scholarships, costing taxpayers $1.1 billion over the next two years.

MICHIGAN STATE BOE SUPPORTS "FREEDOM TO READ"

Michigan: State Board of Education Passes Resolution Supporting “Freedom to Read”

While states around the nation are banning books which teach accurate American history and those with "controversial" characters, Michigan's state Board of Education adopted a "Freedom to Read" resolution allowing professionals to make professional choices.

From Diane Ravitch

Mitchell Robinson is a professor of music education at Michigan State University who was recently elected to the Michigan State Board of Education. He shared a resolution that he introduced and that was passed by the State Board. Are there books that are not age-appropriate? Yes. Can we trust teachers and librarians to select the right books for the children in their care? The Michigan State Board of Education thinks we can. Michigan law already forbids pornography in schools.

TAKEOVER OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN SARASOTA

Kathryn Joyce: How Sarasota County Became Florida’s Laboratory for Far-Right Extremism

The privatization of public education is widespread.

From Diane Ravitch

Kathryn Joyce is an outstanding journalist who has written several excellent articles about the far-right conspiracy to destroy public education. In this important article, published by both the Hechinger Report and Vanity Fair, she examines the rightwing takeover of public schools in Sarasota, Florida, by the extremist Moms for Liberty and their hero Governor DeSantis.

Joyce begins...

CHRISTIAN NATIONALIST CHARTER SCHOOLS

Carol Burris: The New Christian Nationalist Charter Schools

For years judicial interpretation of the First Amendment prohibited public funding of religious institutions. No more. Now tax dollars are flowing freely from state coffers to church schools.

From Diane Ravitch

Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education, writes here about the latest disturbing development in the charter school industry—the growth of charter schools that promote a Christian Nationalist perspective. Her article was published on Valerie Strauss’s blog The Answer Sheet at the Washington Post.

Valerie Strauss introduces Carol’s article:

The religious right scored a win this week when Oklahoma’s virtual charter school board approved the opening of the nation’s first religious charter school, which, if it is actually allowed to open as planned in 2024 for grades K-12, will weave Catholic doctrine into every single subject that students take. Given that charter schools are publicly funded, and public schools aren’t supposed to provide religious education (although they can teach about religion), you may wonder how this school could be given permission to exist.

NACS TEACHER HONOR ROLL

Teacher Honor Roll: Northwest Allen educator's passion for her students shines

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

School: Eel River Elementary

Grade or subject teaching: Applied skills

Education: Bachelor’s degree in mild intervention from the University of Saint Francis

Years teaching: 1

City born and current hometown: Fort Wayne

Book you’d recommend: “You Are Enough: A Book About Inclusion” by Margaret O’Hair

Favorite teachers: Michelle Hoffacker, Sherry Shoda and Kathy Weibel

Favorite teaching memory: I have enjoyed planning hands-on and real-life experiences for my students to learn and engage in their world. During the spring we had 10 caterpillars that we watched turn into butterflies. They were all excited to let go of the butterflies outside and watch them fly away.

**Note: The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is behind a paywall. Digital access, home delivery, or both are available with a subscription. Staying informed is important, and one way to do that is to support your local newspaper. For subscription information, go to fortwayne.com/subscriptions/ [NOTE: NEIFPE has no financial ties to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette]

^†Note: NEIFPE's In Case You Missed It is posted by the end of the day every Monday except after holiday weekends or as otherwise noted.

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In Case You Missed It – June 5, 2023

Here are links to last week's^† articles receiving the most attention on NEIFPE's social media accounts. Keep up with what's going on, what's being discussed, and what's happening with public education.

Be sure to enter your email address in the Follow Us By Email box in the right-hand column of our blog page to be informed when our blog posts are published.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"The reality of what DeSantis and Moms for Liberty are doing is now clear to everyone: With a combination of lies, misinformation, and intimidation, they want to create an America where it’s easier for a white supremacist to ban a book than it is for a Black child to read a poem." -- The Unprecedented Newsletter Blog

FLORIDA'S ATTACK ON PUBLIC EDUCATION GOES NATIONAL

Today we look at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's attack on public education. Along with his right-wing legislature, DeSantis has declared an all-out war on learning.

The three following stories focus on Florida's attack on public education and learning in general.

First, the Scientific American Editorial Board reviews Florida's anti-science agenda.

Then, Diane Ravitch and the Washington Post write about the move to restrict access to poetry by Amanda Gorman, whose poetry was featured in the 2021 Inauguration of President Biden.

Finally, before moving on to other topics, we present an article about how red states across the country (including Indiana) are following Florida's lead.

“Scientific American” Editorial Board Warns About DeSantis “Anti-Science Agenda”

From Diane Ravitch

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, is running for president of the United States on a record of anti-diversity, pro-censorship, white nationalist measures. He has targeted education, LGBTQ rights and access to health care, and should he prevail, his anti-science candidacy stands to harm millions of Americans.

DeSantis has banned books in school libraries, restricted teachers’ classroom discussions about diversity, prohibited high school classes that focus on Black history and people, politicized college curricula, limited spending on diversity programs, ignored greenhouse gas reduction in climate change policy, diminished reproductive rights and outlawed transgender health care.

The governor has refused all evidence that masks are safe and help prevent COVID, appointed a surgeon general who advised against vaccines, and continues to paint science and evidence as restrictions to the freedom of Floridians. Instead of limiting the role of government, as he claimed in his fight against masks, he is expanding it to selectively promote a particular religious agenda.

Florida: The Banning of Amanda Gorman’s Poem Is Shameful

From Diane Ravitch

At this point, it should be obvious that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s culture-war directives are designed to encourage parents to indulge in book purges for sport. Precisely because removals have become so easy, lone right-wing actors are feverishly hunting for offending titles, getting them pulled from school libraries on absurdly flimsy grounds, sometimes by the dozens.

A new turn in the explosive saga involving the poem that Amanda Gorman read at President Biden’s inauguration underscores the point. DeSantis is now defending a Florida school’s decision to restrict access to “The Hill We Climb” — a move that has become a national controversy.

Book-Banning in Florida Is Contagious in Other Red States

From Diane Ravitch

...While efforts to ban books or censor education material have come up sporadically over the years, critics and supporters credit DeSantis with inspiring a new wave of legislation in other conservative states to regulate the books available in schools — and sometimes even in public libraries.

The number of attempts to ban or restrict books across the U.S. last year was the highest in the 20 years the American Library Association has been tracking such efforts.

EveryLibrary, a national political action committee, said it’s tracking at least 121 proposals introduced in state legislatures this year targeting libraries, librarians, educators and access to materials. The group said 39 of those proposals would allow for criminal prosecution.

STATE TAKEOVERS DON'T WORK

State Takeovers Don’t Work. How About Radically Increasing Support for Communities and Kids Instead?

Last week we learned that full funding is important for schools to be successful.

This week, another aspect of failed (so-called) "reform" falls by the wayside...state takeover of schools.

It turns out that those Republicans who, in the 80s and 90s, called for "local control" were right. Local schools work better when states fully fund the state's school systems and let the local school boards do their job.

From Public Voices for Public Schools

When the state of Rhode Island took over the Providence Public School District in 2019, there was little reason to believe that outcomes for the struggling school district would meaningfully improve. In Detroit, student proficiency in both math and English dropped after the state took charge of the schools. Schools under state control in Memphis showed significantly less improvement than schools over which the city retained control. And in New Orleans, often touted as an example of a state takeover that worked, more than half of schools in the all-charter district earned D or F ratings in 2022.

The evidence that state takeovers don’t work keeps mounting. The most comprehensive study to date, published in 2021, found that, on average, state takeovers had no observable positive impact on student achievement. In fact, state takeovers are correlated with a drop in student ELA scores.

FWCS TEACHER HONOR ROLL

Teacher Honor Roll: Fort Wayne elementary school educator attuned to students' needs

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

A Fort Wayne Community Schools teacher has been nominated for Teacher Honor Roll in recognition of her caring and attentiveness. Her profile follows.

Sarah Schoolman
School: Lincoln Elementary

Grade teaching: Fourth grade...

What advice would you give to your students as they plan for their future? One piece of our classroom mission statement is “Learn all we can!” I challenge my students to become lifelong learners and to never turn down an opportunity for learning. Whether that’s reading a book, taking a class, or spending time with someone whom you can learn from – take advantage of every bit of learning you can!

**Note: The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is behind a paywall. Digital access, home delivery, or both are available with a subscription. Staying informed is important, and one way to do that is to support your local newspaper. For subscription information, go to fortwayne.com/subscriptions/ [NOTE: NEIFPE has no financial ties to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette]

^†Note: NEIFPE's In Case You Missed It is posted by the end of the day every Monday except after holiday weekends or as otherwise noted.

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In Case You Missed It – February 15, 2021

Here are links to last week's articles receiving the most attention on NEIFPE's social media accounts. Keep up with what's going on, what's being discussed, and what's happening with public education.

Be sure to enter your email address in the Follow Us By Email box in the right-hand column to be informed when our blog posts are published.

INDIANA LEGISLATORS WANT TO EXPAND VOUCHERS

Indiana legislators are working overtime to privatize the state's public schools. The House votes Monday, Feb. 15, on a budget that will increase money for vouchers and charters while ignoring the increase in child poverty and its impact on public education. Public schools will get an increase of less than 3% each year for the next two years, while vouchers will increase by 20% and 23%. Despite promises over the last two years, there is no increase in teacher pay in the budget.

Once again, the Indiana General Assembly shows its preference for privatization.

House budget expands vouchers: Republican plan differs from governor's on key points

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

House Republicans unveiled a budget Thursday that would give less money to traditional public schools than Gov. Eric Holcomb's proposal, while also funding several one-time grant programs to energize the economy.

The governor proposed $377 million in tuition support – which is then distributed to school districts using a complex formula. The total equates to 2% growth in the first year and 1% in the second year of the biennial budget.

The House Republican budget has $378 million in new tuition support – 1.25% in the first year and 2.5% in the second year.

But their total includes an expansion of the voucher program that will send an additional $65 million to private schools over the biennium. That program would increase by 23% the first year and 20% in the second year.

Holcomb did not include a voucher expansion and, in his State of the State address, expressed concern about expanding choice at the expense of public schools.

Indiana House budget would expand vouchers, limit poverty aid for schools

From Chalkbeat*

At a time when many Hoosier families are in financial distress because of the pandemic, the Indiana House Republicans’ draft budget would cap the state aid for educating children in poverty and at the same time fund a significant expansion in private school vouchers for middle-class families.

The budget proposal, which was presented to and passed by the House Ways and Means Committee Thursday, would increase state funding for K-12 education by $378 million over the next two years — a 3.8% boost from this school year. The state would spread that increase across all Indiana public schools and a host of contentious education priorities while limiting funding to districts where poverty surges because of the pandemic.

The draft is an early step in the state’s budget development process. The Senate will produce its own budget proposal before the two chambers negotiate a final agreement.

Thursday’s proposal omits any substantial increase for teacher raises that a state panel recommended last year.

FWCS resolute against vouchers: Board, teachers oppose legislators' expansion bill

Kudos to FWCS Board of School Trustees and the Fort Wayne Educators Association for publicly coming out against the increase of vouchers. Public money should go to public schools.

Disclosure: FWCS school board President Anne Duff is a member of NEIFPE.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**

Fort Wayne Community Schools leaders formalized Monday their opposition to proposed legislation that would expand Indiana's voucher program.

“The public schools educate 90% of the students, and why we are catering to the small 10% is beyond me,” school board President Anne Duff said.

Lawmakers are considering expanding the current Choice Scholarship program, in which the state pays vouchers for private education. They also are considering creating new Education Scholarship Accounts, giving parents control of schooling dollars. The latter is limited for special education students, foster children and children of active-duty military members.

FWCS and the Fort Wayne Education Association make clear their opposition to House Bill 1005 and Senate Bills 412 and 413 in a joint resolution to be shared with legislators.

“There is no urgency to pass this measure during a pandemic that is already imposing severe financial constraints on public schools, as parents in Indiana already have an array of state-funded options,” the resolution states.

Options for Hoosier families include traditional public schools, charter schools, virtual schools, Choice Scholarships and tax credits and deductions for private and home-school education, the resolution adds.

“What the General Assembly is considering is fiscally irresponsible,” board member Steve Corona said. “They have not demonstrated the oversight ability to follow the dollars that have been given previously.”

Corona had an example to support his claim – the alleged $68 million in fraudulent spending by virtual charter schools.

NO MORE SCHOOL GRADES?

Indiana lawmakers could overhaul accountability, end school takeovers

Now that private schools and charter schools have learned that high poverty is the major cause of low student test scores, the pro-privatization legislature is considering ending school takeovers and school grades. When the punishment was only for public schools, it wasn't a concern.

Note also that the Chair of the House Education Committee (and school privatization consultant), Bob Behning, no longer thinks "accountability" is necessary.

From Chalkbeat*

Indiana lawmakers are considering a plan that would put the final nail in the coffin of the state’s aggressive efforts to take over schools with chronically low test results.

A proposal winning early support in the House would eliminate many of the consequences for poor test performance that typically loom over Indiana public schools. District schools with failing grades would no longer face the threat of state seizure or the steps that precede it, such as a requirement that districts attempt to improve schools by replacing personnel, giving them new resources, or working with outside experts.

Under the proposed law, charter schools with low grades would be able to seek renewals without special permission from the state. And even if they receive low marks from the state, private schools would be able to receive vouchers for new students.

SMART ALEC

A Smart ALEC Threatens Public Education

This is an old article (2012) but a reminder that ALEC is knee-deep in voucher expansion

From Education Week

A legislative contagion seemed to sweep across the Midwest during the early months of 2011. First, Wisconsin legislators wanted to strip public employees of the right to bargain. Then, Indiana legislators got into the act. Then, it was Ohio. In each case, Republican governors and Republican-controlled state legislatures had introduced substantially similar bills that sought sweeping changes to each state’s collective bargaining statutes and various school funding provisions.

What was going on? How could elected officials in multiple states suddenly introduce essentially the same legislation?

The answer: The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Its self-described legislative approach to education reads:

Across the country for the past two decades, education reform efforts have popped up in legislatures at different times in different places. As a result, teachers’ unions have been playing something akin to “whack-a-mole”—you know the game—striking down as many education reform efforts as possible. Many times, the unions successfully “whack” the “mole,” i.e., the reform legislation. Sometimes, however, they miss. If all the moles pop up at once, there is no way the person with the mallet can get them all. Introduce comprehensive reform packages. (Ladner, LeFevre, & Lips, 2010, p. 108)

PUBLIC SCHOOLS LOSES LEADER

Legendary former Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis has died. ‘She was a fighter and a treasure for this city.’

Public schools lost a strong leader with the death of former Chicago Teachers Union President, Karen Lewis.

From the Chicago Tribune

Karen Lewis, the firebrand former Chicago Teachers Union president who led a seven-day strike and nearly ran for mayor, has died at 67.

Details of her death were not immediately available, but Lewis was diagnosed with cancer in October 2014. The news came a day after the union, whose current administrators have said “will always and forever be the house that Karen built,” announced a tentative reopening deal with Chicago Public Schools and Mayor Lori Lightfoot that, if approved through a union vote, would avert a strike.

Lewis’ tenure as CTU president was marked by an unprecedented number of school closings, teacher layoffs, charter school expansion, crumbling school finances and rancorous contract talks with the city’s Board of Education.

In September 2012, she led the city’s first teachers strike in a quarter-century and stood at the helm of demonstrations that underscored smoldering national debates over public education reform. That gave her the political muscle to consider a run for mayor against then-incumbent Rahm Emanuel, a man she once described as the “murder mayor.” Lewis said in a later interview that once doctors told her of a malignant brain tumor detected near the surface of her frontal lobe, she knew her plans to take over City Hall were finished.

TESTING DURING THE PANDEMIC: STILL A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY

A Teacher in California: The Madness of Test Obsession

From Diane Ravitch

A teacher in California, who must remain anonymous to protect her job, wrote this post. CAASP testing is the Common Core test produced by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC).

“We are 100% virtual, and teachers just had to sign an affidavit regarding CAASPP testing. I cannot believe they are STILL going forward with this. They expect that kids will 1) be in a quiet place with no distractions, 2) have their cameras on at all times, 3) not be using any other materials except pencil/paper, 4) that kids will have earbuds/headphones so they can hear the audio portion, 5) that kids won’t talk about the test content with ANYBODY.

And then, teachers are 1) supposed to simultaneously monitor 20+ students’ cameras and computer screens, 2) write down every time a student looks away or commits some other infraction, 3) keep every kid from unmuting their microphones (impossible).

*Note: Financial sponsors of Chalkbeat include pro-privatization foundations and individuals such as Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, EdChoice, Gates Family Foundation, The Walton Family Foundation, and others.

**Note: The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has changed its online access and is now behind a paywall. Digital access, home delivery, or both, are available with a subscription. Staying informed is important, and one way to do that is to support your local newspaper. For subscription information go to fortwayne.com/subscriptions/

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In Case You Missed It – Jan 27, 2020

Here are links to last week's articles receiving the most attention in NEIFPE's social media. Keep up with what's going on, what's being discussed, and what's happening with public education.

Be sure to enter your email address in the Follow Us By Email box in the right-hand column to be informed when our blog posts are published.

DISRESPECTING A PROFESSION

Letters: Pay is just one way teachers are devalued

Teachers in Indiana, like others around the country, want to have decent salaries, but they also want the respect they deserve for the job they do. When beginning teachers, who spent at least four years preparing for their profession, and are likely burdened with college debt, are offered salaries which qualify their own children for the poverty level federal school lunch program for children, they they are being disrespected as well as underpaid.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Letters to the Editor

Indiana expects...teachers to educate students to the highest standards while denying the financial benefits of professional achievement to our teachers and their own children. Indiana legislators and governors past and present have talked about improving schools by helping teachers and improving salaries – nothing but promises, empty and delayed, at least for the past 44 years.

We need bright, multitalented individuals to take on the diverse challenges of teaching, but as a state and culture, through low salaries, social and political attacks on the profession, and continued erosion of public school funding by privatization, we do little to incentivize talented young people to consider the profession. As a state, we need to reevaluate our priorities and take action to improve public schools by respecting teaching as a profession and teachers as skilled professionals.

THE END OF AN ERA?

How shifting political tides ended Indiana’s ambitious school takeover effort

The entire education "reform" movement has been built on the false narrative of "failing schools." In truth, society has failed the poorest and most at-risk students in our schools. Public education cannot solve the problems of racism and poverty alone. Public education is not responsible for the problems of racism and poverty. Legislators and policy-makers must accept their share of responsibility.

Out of another frying pan and into yet another fire? The failures of the Daniels-Pence administrations come to an end, but now IPS will subject their returned schools/children to the “Innovation model.” We’ll see how that “charter by another name” experiment works out.

From Chalkbeat*

When Indiana leaders took over five failing schools nearly a decade ago, the decision was an act of desperation. The campuses were languishing: Fights frequently broke out in the hallways and students spent class time filling out McDonald’s job applications.

But it was also ambitious, a sign that Indiana education officials would aggressively push districts to improve schools that had long failed to meet state expectations and would even seize control of campuses that didn’t improve test scores and graduation rates.

CHURCH AND STATE

The United States Supreme Court is considering a school voucher case which could have far-reaching implications for public education in the U.S. Should states give tax dollars to schools which discriminate for religious reasons? Should your tax dollars go to a schools that teaches that your religion is somehow less than theirs? Should public funds support schools which play by a different set of accountability rules? Should your children of a minority religion -- or of no religion -- be subjected to a state sponsored prayer in school?

Here are three articles dealing with public school church-state issues.

Who Will Protect My Right NOT to Pay for Your Child’s Religious Education?

Blogger Steven Singer was subjected to anti-semitic stereotypes as a child. Should his tax dollars support schools which perpetuate those beliefs?

From Gadfly on the Wall Blog

If successful, the case would open the door to publicly-funded private religious education across the country – not to mention siphoning much-needed money away from the public schools.

It’s bad enough that kids learn prejudicial lies from the pulpit and parochial schools. It’s worse if the victims of such prejudice have to pay for their tormentors to be thus indoctrinated.

In the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom of 1779, Thomas Jefferson wrote “to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical...”

Bill to ban school voucher discrimination should be heard

Senate Bill 250 sponsored by State Sen. JD Ford (D-Indianapolis) would prevent schools using taxpayer funds to discriminate against children of Indiana taxpayers.

From School Matters

...some voucher-funded Christian schools condemn homosexuality and require families and employees to sign “statements of faith.” Some voucher schools do not serve students with disabilities.

SB 250 would bar state voucher funding for schools that discriminate by disability, race, color, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, religion, or ancestry. (Current law prohibits discrimination by race, color or national origin).

At a news conference to promote the bill, Ford was joined by Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick and Dominic Conover, a 2019 Roncalli High School graduate who said school officials warned him to be silent after he organized support for the school’s counselors.

McCormick said it’s contrary to Hoosier hospitality for the state to fund schools that turn away students and staff because of who they are and whom they love.

School Prayer Isn’t in Question, but Wednesday, Supreme Court Will Hear Important Church-State Separation Case

From Jan Resseger

President Donald Trump made a splash last week pretending that students’ right to pray at school has been threatened. While this subject may appeal to his base, the law is settled on this matter...

Although prayer in school is not really at issue this week, another controversy involving religion and public education will reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices will hear oral arguments on Wednesday in an important case involving the First Amendment’s protection of the separation of church and state. The subject is the long fight over the First Amendment’s prohibition of “establishing” religion, in this case by using public tax dollars to pay for religious schools.

*Note: Financial sponsors of Chalkbeat include pro-privatization foundations and individuals such as EdChoice, Gates Family Foundation, The Walton Family Foundation, and others.

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In Case You Missed It – July 22, 2019

Here are links to last week's articles receiving the most attention in NEIFPE's social media. Keep up with what's going on, what's being discussed, and what's happening with public education.

Be sure to enter your email address in the Follow Us By Email box in the right-hand column to be informed when our blog posts are published.

Read about charter scandals from NPE

CHARTERS FAIL IN CHARTER CAPITAL, NOLA

New Orleans: One of City’s Oldest Charter Organizations Closes Down Amid Multiple Scandals

From Diane Ravitch

After allegations of grade-fixing and a major fiasco involving class credits that left dozens of students unable to graduate, the public charter board overseeing John F. Kennedy High voted Thursday night to surrender its charters to operate both of its schools.

The surrender of the charters, which will take place at the end of the 2019-20 school year, was approved unanimously by the New Beginnings Schools Foundation board.

The decision stemmed from a lengthy investigation into management problems at the charter network that led earlier to the resignation of its CEO, career educator Michelle Blouin-Williams, and the firing of five high-ranking administrators at Kennedy…

INDIANA'S TEACHER PENALTY

‘Teaching penalty’ large in Indiana

From School Matters

The salary gap between teachers and comparable professionals is larger in Indiana than in most other states, according to a new report from researchers at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education and the Albert Shanker Institute.

The report, “School Finance and Teacher Pay Competitiveness,” supports the argument that Hoosier teachers have fallen behind their peers in other states, despite Indiana’s healthy state budget.

SOUTH BEND EMPOWERMENT DISTRICT

Harvard graduate tapped to be South Bend schools’ empowerment zone chief

From the South Bend Tribune

Cheryl Nneka Camacho, who recently earned a doctoral degree in educational leadership at Harvard University, has been tapped to become director of the empowerment zone that is managing five struggling schools in the South Bend Community School Corp.

At a meeting early Wednesday, the seven-member empowerment zone board unanimously voted to approve a letter to Camacho offering her the job.

TEACHER PAY COMMISSION: NO TEACHERS INVITED

Pay grade: Teachers get minimal input on raises

As usual, teachers aren't invited to participate in a commission which has an impact on, and directly impacts them.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Gov. Eric Holcomb's teacher pay commission seems determined to do its work without interference by, well – teachers. After the seven-member panel, which includes no teachers, met for months in secret, it finally scheduled three public input sessions. But the meetings begin after most teachers return to school.

STATE SENATOR AND SUPERINTENDENT AGREE

Democrat, schools chief in city to talk education: McCormick says it's become big business

McCormick and Melton agree that public education is bipartisan!

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Jennifer McCormick, the state schools chief, said she agreed with Melton during their joint appearance in Fort Wayne.

“You've got a lot of money on the line” in education funding, McCormick said. “You've got a lot of lobbyists and a lot of people who are making a lot of money. I mean, it's a big business.

“I would argue in Indiana it's kind of the Wild, Wild West of choice,” she said. “In other states, there's more parameters around it, there's more quality controls around it. And we've tried to push that.”

GULEN CHARTERS IN THE U.S.

Bill Phillis: Who Is Protecting Imam Gulen?

From Diane Ravitch

For reasons unknown to the public, the U.S. government gave Turkish Islamic leader Fethullah Gulen asylum several years ago. Gulen operates his worldwide religious/political movement from Saylorsburg PA. His movement includes nearly 200 tax-supported charter schools which help fuel a vast business/political/religious enterprise in the U.S.

WHY DO THE SUPER-RICH FAVOR PRIVATIZATION?

D.C.: Famed Philanthropist Jeffrey Epstein Endorses Charter School Dominance In D.C.

From Diane Ravitch

To understand the charter industry, you must appreciate that it is driven by extremely wealthy people and has no grassroots. It has mastered the arts of marketing and branding, but does not have a plan to improve education other than to draw students and resources away from public education, which belongs to all of us.

People often ask me, “Why do the super-rich cluster to the cause of privatization?” The Answer is not simple because many different motives are at work. Some see giving to charters as a charitable endeavor, and their friends assure them that they are “giving back,” helping poor children escape poverty. Others want to impress their friends in their social strata, their colleagues in the world of high finance. Being a supporter of charter schools is like belonging to the right clubs, going to the right parties, sharing a cause with other very rich people.

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In Case You Missed It – July 1, 2019

Here are links to last month's articles receiving the most attention in NEIFPE's social media. Keep up with what's going on, what's being discussed, and what's happening with public education.

Be sure to enter your email address in the Follow Us By Email box in the right-hand column to be informed when our blog posts are published.

ICYMI will return to its weekly format beginning July 8, 2019.

* Editor's Choice

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

• *You don’t have to go to kindergarten in Indiana. But educators say it ‘levels the playing field’ from Chalkbeat

FORT WAYNE LOCAL SCHOOLS

• *Public to get say on new FWCS superintendent from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

• FWCS board unanimous on future Electric Works high school and FWCS School Board votes ‘yes’ on Electric Works space 

FUNDING, MONEY IN POLITICS/EDUCATION

• Schools struggle with unfunded mandates from Tribune-Star

• Strength in numbers: As budget shortchanges public education again, it's time to make demands of our lawmakers from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

INDIANAPOLIS LOCAL SCHOOLS

• Indianapolis Public Schools’ new leader wants to have ‘hard conversations’ about race from Chalkbeat

• How a parent organizer will try to upend Indianapolis’ top-down charter movement from Chalkbeat

POLITICS

• Education was ignored by debate moderators. What the Democratic presidential candidates should have been asked about America’s public schools from The Answer Sheet

• *We Told You So, Dammit from Curmudgucation

• *Bill and Melinda Gates have spent billions to drive their agenda on education and other issues. Now, they have created a lobbying group to push even more from The Answer Sheet

PRIVATIZATION

• *How School Choice Undermines Democratic Processes from Peter Greene in Forbes

• *Indiana schools that discriminate receive public funding from School Matters

• *After refusing archdiocese’s order to fire gay teacher, school is told it will no longer be recognized as Catholic from The Answer Sheet

• With little fanfare, Daleville board votes to shutter controversial Indiana Virtual School from Chalkbeat

• *The deal to close Indiana Virtual School leaves unanswered questions. Here’s what we want to know from Chalkbeat

• *Voucher accountability charade from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

• *Charter Schools Will Always Waste Money Because They Duplicate Services from Gadflyonthewall Blog

• If The Supreme Court Hears This Case, It Could Change The Face Of Public Education from Peter Greene in Forbes

• Critics of charter schools say they’re hurting school districts. Are they right? from Chalkbeat

• Banks gets scolding on voucher plan in DC: Delegate dismisses effort as Republican meddling from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

• Ex-Horizon chief opening school: Abraham Prep schedule to open on Coliseum from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

• *To Understand Teach for America, See Who Funds The Organization from Diane Ravitch

SEGREGATION

• When school districts resegregate, more black and Hispanic students drop out from Chalkbeat

STANDARDIZATION

• *Standardized Tests Are Not Objective Measures of Anything from Gadflyonthewall Blog

• The Twins Are Two from Curmudgucation

STATE TAKEOVERS

• For the Poorest Rust Belt School Districts in 2019, June Is the Cruelest Month from Jan Resseger

• Indiana officials spar over extra funding for takeover schools from Chalkbeat

U.S. ED DEPT

• DeVos Hires Advocate for For-Profit Colleges to Oversee Higher Education from Diane Ravitch

THE WAR ON TEACHERS

• State Sends Mixed Messages As Thousands Of Teachers Rush To Avoid Licensing Rule from WFYI-Indianapolis

WRAP-AROUND SERVICES

• Schools sought mental health aid: Conservative groups fought against funding from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

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In Case You Missed It – Mar 11, 2019

Here are links to last week's articles receiving the most attention in NEIFPE's social media. Keep up with what's going on, what's being discussed, and what's happening with public education.

Be sure to enter your email address in the Follow Us By Email box in the right-hand column to be informed when our blog posts are published.

FIGHT THE TAKEOVER

Rochester, New York: Students, Parents, and Educators Fight State Takeover of Public Schools

From Diane Ravitch

State takeovers have not worked anywhere. The Michigan Education Achievement Authority was a disaster and has closed down. The schools in the Achievement School District in Tennessee made zero gains as compared to similar schools not in the state district. Contrary to public relations, the New Orleans takeover district performs below the state average in one of the nation’s lowest performing states, and its “gains” relied on a mass exodus of poor kids who never returned and a mass influx of additional money from the federal government and foundations.

From Rochester: Please open the link and sign the petition to stop a state takeover.

TEACHERS VINDICATED

D.C.: Teachers Unfairly Terminated by Michelle Rhee Win $5 Million Settlement: VICTORY!

From Diane Ravitch

“This settlement doesn’t take away the hurt and shame Michelle Rhee inflicted on so many great D.C. teachers—but after a long fight, it is a small step toward vindication for those who suffered from her top-down, test-and-punish policies that have failed both the arbitrator’s test and the test of time.

“Instead of helping teachers get what students need, Rhee embarked on a blame-and-shame campaign that was as ineffective as it was indefensible. There is a straight line between the Rhee agenda—which tried to strip educators of any voice and dignity and reduced students to test scores and teachers to algorithms—to the current walkouts in which educators are fighting for an appropriate investment in public schools. Teachers fight for what students need. That is as true now as it was when Michelle Rhee denigrated their voice.

“What happened a decade ago still stings, but the teachers in Washington, D.C., who were wrongly fired will take some measure of comfort from this settlement; and their unions will continue to fight to make sure the wrong-headed mentality that pitted students against their teachers never arises again.”

INDIANA TEACHERS STANDING UP

Thinking Strike

From Live Long and Prosper

The strikes are in response to years of neglect. Teachers are tired of being disrespected. They're tired of seeing their students left behind by shrinking budgets. Teachers are tired of seeing funds meant for their schools and their students being used for private, religious, and privately run charter schools. Scores of teachers are leaving their profession in frustration. Those who have stayed are standing up and fighting back.

KIND SCHOOLS

2 EACS schools among kindest

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

When Marilyn Hissong, superintendent of East Allen County Schools, invited students and staffers to participate in the Middle School Kindness Challenge, she didn't expect it to end with a celebration complete with glittering gold and silver confetti.

She sought to add more kindness to the world, not accolades.

Yet recognition is what two EACS buildings received Tuesday. New Haven Middle School and Southwick Elementary School were among 10 national finalists in the most recent challenge cycle, during which nearly 600 schools participated.

JUST SAY "NO!" TO VOUCHERS

Georgia: State Senate Says NO to Vouchers!

Learning from Indiana's mistakes?

From Diane Ravitch

The Georgia State Senate, controlled by Republicans, voted not to create a private school voucher program.

Critics said the program would eventually cost the state half a billion a year, defunding public schools.

INDIANA VOUCHER PROGRAM GROWS

Indiana is set to spend more than $160 million on vouchers this year, though growth has slowed

From Chalkbeat

In budget drafts currently up for debate, House Republicans are proposing Indiana set aside $4 million per year more to expand the state’s private school voucher program to increase funding for certain families above the poverty line. Under the plan, a family of four making between $46,000 and $58,000 annually could receive a voucher for 70 percent of what public schools would have received in state funding for the student. Currently, those families receive a 50 percent voucher.

Voucher program serves the top 20 percent

The budget approved last month by the Indiana House would create a new category of voucher. It would cover 75 percent of cost of attendance for families making up to 125 percent of the cutoff.
https://inschoolmatters.wordpress.com/2019/02/19/school-voucher-surprise/

From School Matters

Over 1,300 households that participate in Indiana’s school voucher program have incomes over $100,000, according to the 2018-19 voucher report from the Indiana Department of Education.

That puts them in the top 20 percent of Hoosier households by income. So much for the argument that the voucher program, created in 2011, exists to help poor children “trapped” in low-performing schools.

Like previous state reports on the voucher program, the current report paints a picture of a program that primarily promotes religious education and serves tens of thousands of families that could afford private school tuition without help from the taxpayers.

INDIANA WASTES MONEY ON CHARTERS

Indiana Pays Millions to Virtual Charters that Educate No One

From Diane Ravitch

“This should be a massive alarm bell that outright fraud has been committed against Hoosier taxpayers to the tune of millions of dollars,” said Gordon Hendry, a state board of education member who led a committee last year to review virtual schools. “If this isn’t a scandal, I don’t know what is.”

CORY BOOKER: NOT GOOD FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Libertarians: Cory Booker is the Champion of Charters and Vouchers

From Diane Ravitch

In this article, a writer for the libertarian Reason magazine–which supports free-market solutions to all government problems–praises Cory Booker for his advocacy on behalf of charters and vouchers, and even dares to mention that he worked closely with Betsy DeVos, his ideological ally on education issues.

Booker is proud of his record as an advocate of privatization and a supporter of non-union schools.

TEACHERS SHOULD THINK STRIKE

Former senator: Teachers should think strike

From the Tribune Star

A retired Vigo County teacher and former Democratic state senator has turned to social media to gauge educator interest in a teacher strike.

Former senator: Teachers should think strike
Tim Skinner was known for being outspoken during his days in the Statehouse, and now he's speaking out about an issue near to his heart — the teaching profession in Indiana.

He believes that public education has been the target of the Republican Party for the past 15 years and refers to "senseless budget cuts, expansion of vouchers and crippling regulations."

Furthermore, he doesn't believe the Indiana State Teachers Association is taking a strong enough stand in response.

In an interview with the Tribune-Star on Feb. 22, ISTA president Teresa Meredith noted that many teachers across the state are calling for a walkout to raise awareness about the need to improve public school funding and teacher pay.

RADIO STATION PRESENTS: THE TAKEOVER

WFYI documentary peers inside Indiana’s radical attempt to take over failing schools

From Chalkbeat

A new radio documentary that aired this week dove into Indiana’s radical experiment to take over and turn around failing schools, weighing whether the extreme intervention into four Indianapolis Public Schools was worth it.

“It is not a simple answer,” WFYI reporter Eric Weddle said in his report. “It’s complex, and it’s messy.”

The hour-long documentary looks back on the eight years of state takeover. Next week, the state is expected to make a decision about the future of three of those schools.

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