tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20412879771698083972024-03-17T23:03:45.644-04:00Mother CrusaderNever intended to become a parent advocate until I watched the great schools in my little town come under attack. The more I learned about what was happening the more I read. The more I read the more I saw how what is happening here is tied to towns across not only New Jersey, but the country. And now I'm in the thick of it, and I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing.
Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.comBlogger197125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-76023161193192788842019-06-18T10:00:00.001-04:002019-06-18T11:01:45.400-04:00JerseyCAN Can't Hide From Opioids Crisis Billionaire Founder<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">NJ Spotlight needs to <a href="https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/19/06/17/op-ed-moving-toward-a-more-meaningful-high-school-diploma-in-nj/?fbclid=IwAR2Fk62A5XUadsCmAlvW8QVKABzKgf4Wq9JXEifK1pgpgb9lq2Ufcg9P6ec#" target="_blank">stop giving space to billionaire-backed corporate reform groups like JerseyCAN</a>. JerseyCAN does not represent the students, parents and educators of this state and should not be given a platform when their only true constituency is their funders. You can see the full list, which includes the Waltons, Bill Gates, Eli Broad, John Arnold, etc. <a href="https://50can.org/about-us/financials/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">JerseyCAN - <a href="https://50can.org/our-approach/our-network/" target="_blank">a 'branch campaign' of 50CAN</a> - is particularly egregious in this regard. Three years ago <a href="https://50can.org/blog/50can-studentsfirst-merger-press-release/" target="_blank">50CAN merged with Michelle Rhee's failed StudentsFirst</a>. The Frankenstein-esque corporate reform group created by the merger continues to masquerade in a handful of states as "locally grown, locally led and locally sustained." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nothing could be further from the truth, and here in New Jersey those of us paying attention are not fooled. We see JerseyCAN for what it is - a mouthpiece for a Connecticut billionaire responsible for the opioids crisis who should have no say in what happens to students in our state. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">50CAN grew out of ConnCAN, the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">C</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">onnecticut Coalition for Achievement Now</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "robotoregular" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Sackler-family-opioid-fortune-backed-CT-charter-13674072.php" target="_blank">a reform group co-founded by Jonathan Sackler in 2005</a>. Sackler is one of the heirs to the Purdue Pharma fortune - built on the back of the opioids crisis. As<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/19/sackler-family-members-face-mass-litigation-criminal-investigations-over-opioids-crisis" target="_blank"> reported by The Guardian</a>, the Sackler heirs "face mass litigation and criminal investigations."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Sackler-family-opioid-fortune-backed-CT-charter-13674072.php" target="_blank">The New Haven Register</a> has a fascinating piece on Jonathan Sackler and his connections to charter schools and 50CAN. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The article states that 50CAN is trying to distance itself from Sackler and hasn't taken any money from him in 2019, but that's hardly the point. 50CAN would not exist were it not for billionaires like Jonathan Sackler and the fortunes they amass by exploiting others. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Simply put, 50CAN doesn't deserve a seat at the table in conversations that relate to the future of public education in New Jersey. </i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sackler's 50CAN can swap out "50" for "Jersey" and hide behind the "<a href="https://jerseycan.org/about-us/staff-fellows/patricia-morgan/" target="_blank">Jersey Girls</a>" they hire to front this national organization at the "local" level, but that doesn't change the fact that 50CAN doesn't deserve the amount of real estate they are afforded in NJ Spotlight's opinion pages.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">New Jersey legislators would also be well advised to steer clear of these lackeys for the billionaire backed corporate reform movement and start listening to the actual students, parents and educators in this state.</span>Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com59tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-54104742393599415432019-03-27T14:50:00.000-04:002019-03-27T14:54:32.962-04:00A Response to NorthJersey.com's Explosive "Cashing in on Charter Schools" Series<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="efdmu" data-offset-key="ea1b9-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNSRGqcrvVrVwOTvVEKvb1tXXORwJ6YRRR0XDO-zKhoRaIB7RVymsi4104ZyVgEm5pPVPmn5guvW0Vq8w273r79u9G5dbnD_Wh9SqNmfMRiJCzQ23_yVm9C66VFM_uC1bwB3IVPSpCEDM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-03-27+at+2.40.08+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="1524" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNSRGqcrvVrVwOTvVEKvb1tXXORwJ6YRRR0XDO-zKhoRaIB7RVymsi4104ZyVgEm5pPVPmn5guvW0Vq8w273r79u9G5dbnD_Wh9SqNmfMRiJCzQ23_yVm9C66VFM_uC1bwB3IVPSpCEDM/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-03-27+at+2.40.08+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From NorthJersey.com's Cashing in on Charter Schools series</td></tr>
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<span data-offset-key="ea1b9-0-0"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">P</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lease note: <a href="https://www.northjersey.com/in-depth/news/2019/03/27/nj-charter-schools-nj-tax-money-disappearing/2139903002/" target="_blank">THIS is what journalism looks like.</a></span></span><br />
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<span data-offset-key="enbs1-0-0" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For the better part of a <b>DECADE</b> I have watched as reporters copy and pasted </span><span blockkey="enbs1" class="_247o" contentstate="c { "entityMap": undefined, "blockMap": OrderedMap { "ea1b9": c { "key": "ea1b9", "type": "unstyled", "text": "Please note: THIS is what journalism looks like. 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true } }" data-offset-key="enbs1-1-0" decoratedtext="New Jersey Charter Schools Association" end="119" entitykey="5" offsetkey="enbs1-1-0" spellcheck="false" start="81" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span data-offset-key="enbs1-1-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.njcharters.org/" target="_blank">New Jersey Charter Schools Association</a></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="enbs1-2-0" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> press releases about the need for more charters in our state, without <b>EVER</b> digging beneath the surface of claims. At the same time legislators on <b>BOTH</b> sides of the aisle turned a blind eye as charter schools proliferated, forcing districts to transfer scarce taxpayer dollars and resources to unaccountable charter operators.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="1u3tq-0-0" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Please also note: As </span><span blockkey="1u3tq" class="_247o" contentstate="c { "entityMap": undefined, "blockMap": OrderedMap { "ea1b9": c { "key": "ea1b9", "type": "unstyled", "text": "Please note: THIS is what journalism looks like. 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true } }" data-offset-key="1u3tq-1-0" decoratedtext="Steve Sweeney" end="34" entitykey="6" offsetkey="1u3tq-1-0" spellcheck="false" start="21" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span data-offset-key="1u3tq-1-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Steve Sweeney </span></span></span><span data-offset-key="1u3tq-2-0" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">travels the state selling the merits of district consolidation to solve the state's budget woes as part of his "<a href="http://pathtoprogressnj.org/" target="_blank">Path to Progress</a>," he is <b>COMPLICIT</b> in the rapid spread of charter schools across the state under the Christie administration - and I'm going to shout this so everyone in the cheap seats can hear me:</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">EACH AND EVERY CHARTER SCHOOL IN THE STATE IS ITS OWN DISTRICT! </b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Each charter has its own administration - even charters that only serve a few hundred children. Every charter also has its own privately appointed board. Members of the public can not "vote out" bad boards. Members of the public have </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ZERO</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> recourse if a charter school board goes rogue or doesn't function as faithful stewards of taxpayer dollars, or, worse yet, doesn't act in the best interest of </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CHILDREN</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> - there is simply no accountability mechanism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This lack of accountability to the public and lack of transparency </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">INVITES</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> the shenanigans highlighted in the Northjersey.com series.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Allow me to digress for a moment, and let's take a quick look at Hatikvah International Academy Charter School. </span><a href="http://hatikvahcharterschool.com/?page_id=13" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Their website</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> lists the names of board members and meeting dates, and posts a handful of meeting agendas and minutes (although </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ZERO </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">meeting minutes for 2019, as of this writing). Let's look at the </span><a href="http://hatikvahcharterschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Decmeber-13-2018-Meeting-Minutes.pdf" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">minutes from their December 18, 2018 meeting</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/403365203/Decmeber-13-2018-Meeting-Minutes#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View Decmeber 13 2018 Meeting Minutes on Scribd">Decmeber 13 2018 Meeting Minutes</a> by <a href="https://www.scribd.com/user/126996052/darciecimarusti#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View darciecimarusti's profile on Scribd">darciecimarusti</a> on Scribd</div>
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<span data-offset-key="4qja8-0-0" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were <b>ZERO</b> members of the public present at this meeting, only <b>TWO</b> of <b>FIVE</b> board members were physically present, and <b>ONE</b> board member participated "by phone." The telecommuting board member was Eli Schaap, the Senior Vice President of the <a href="https://steinhardtfoundation.org/about-us/" target="_blank">Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life</a>. Billionaire Michael Steinhardt is the <a href="https://steinhardtfoundation.org/programs/primary-areas-of-focus/#toggle-id-4" target="_blank">driving force behind the Hebrew Charter School movement</a>, and one of his employees is a voting member of the board of one of the charter schools his organization funds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Can you say conflict of interest?</span><br />
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<span data-offset-key="4qja8-0-0" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were <b>ZERO</b> reports from the board's <b>THREE</b> committees, which implies that these board members are failing to do their due diligence overseeing district operations and expenditures. Only <b>SIX</b> votes were taken, with just <b>TWO</b> votes held to authorize <b>$245,369.25</b> in spending. <b>ZERO</b> details are offered in the minutes as to what the money was spent on, and no supporting documents are posted. </span><br />
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<span data-offset-key="4qja8-0-0" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Eli Schaap abstained from one of the votes for an expenditure of <b>$50,833.33</b>, (perhaps because of a possible conflict of interest?) so only <b>TWO</b> board members approved that expense. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span data-offset-key="4qja8-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">The meeting was called to order at </span><b>7:27 PM</b> and was adjourned at <b>7:31 PM</b>. It took <b>FOUR</b> minutes for <b>THREE</b> board members to spend <b>$245,369.25, </b>with no indication that the board members reviewed the expenditures before hand (no committee meetings) and no notice to the public as to what those taxpayer dollars were spent on. </span><br />
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<span data-offset-key="4qja8-0-0" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's not hard to see how <b>HUGE</b> problems arise with such limited oversight, now is it?</span><br />
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<span data-offset-key="drp9n-0-0" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the November <a href="https://www.njsba.org/news-publications/school-board-notes/november-14-2018-vol-xlii-no-15/delegate-assembly-on-saturday-policy-specialist-will-substitute-for-sweeney/" target="_blank">New Jersey School Boards Association Delegate Assembly </a>meeting where Mark Magyar, associate executive director for policy development in the Senate Democratic Majority Office, stood in for Senator Sweeney to answer questions about the "Path to Progress," I got to the mic first. I asked how charter schools were going to figure into the Senator's consolidation proposal since each charter school is its own district. With around 100 charter schools statewide (no one seems to know exactly how many there actually are....) this duplication of services is preposterous - especially as Senator Sweeney is calling for traditional district to consolidate and for the formation of two <b>COUNTYWIDE</b> districts.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="1u3b5-0-0" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The response?</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="avq26-0-0" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was none. They still needed to think about it.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="aq0rr-0-0" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why? Because there is <b>ONE</b> set of rules for charter schools and another set of rules for traditional public schools, for everything from facilities to board oversight to school management. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The time has come for the Murphy Administration to not kowtow to pressure applied by high-paid lobbyists funded by out-of-state corporate reform groups, and instead listen to the voices of those of us working to ensure that true New Jersey public schools thrive and serve children well. The next phase of the <a href="https://www.state.nj.us/education/outreach/" target="_blank">NJDOE's charter school outreach</a> has to confront some of the very real, very destructive problems in the state's charter school sector.</span></span></span></div>
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Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-24375154831650443602017-05-24T20:51:00.000-04:002017-05-25T09:38:06.965-04:00Don't Like Chris Christie? Blame the Democrats.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yesterday Diane Ravitch published a piece in The New Republic, titled <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/142364/dont-like-betsy-devos-blame-democrats" target="_blank">Don't Like Betsy DeVos? Blame the Democrats.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you care about public education at all, it's a must read. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I heard today that Senate President Sweeney is paving the way for Governor Christie, the <a href="http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/04/christies_newest_stat_nations_most_unpopular_gover.html">least popular governor in the country</a>, to replace three of the State Board of Education members who aren't 100% blind Christie loyalists, a mere six months before a gubernatorial election, I instantly thought of Diane's piece.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's critical to remember that every awful thing Chris Christie has done to public education during his tenure has been done either with the direct assistance of the Democratic majority, or with their complicit silence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And the State Board of Education hasn't stood in Christie's way, either - <a href="http://www.nj.com/education/2017/02/christie_lower_charter_school_teacher_standards_re.html" target="_blank">until February</a>. </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.208px; margin-bottom: 1.067em;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">In a rare rejection of a Gov. Chris Christie proposal, the state Board of Education on Wednesday shot down his <a href="http://www.nj.com/education/2017/01/njs_charter_school_rules_fight_5_new_developments.html" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(185, 225, 255); color: #0088ee; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">controversial plan</a> to experiment with lower certification standards for charter school teachers and principals. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.208px; margin-bottom: 1.067em;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The board voted 5-2 with one abstention to remove Christie's proposed five-year pilot program from his promised <a href="http://www.nj.com/education/2016/05/chris_christie_charter_schools_new_jersey.html#incart_river_home" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(185, 225, 255); color: #0088ee; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">charter school deregulation package</a>.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Three of the board members that cast no votes, </span><a href="http://www.state.nj.us/education/sboe/boe/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">including the president and vice-president of the board</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, are on the brink of being removed from their seats, likely because of this vote.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurSchoolsNJ/?hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf" target="_blank">This narrative from Save Our Schools New Jersey's Facebook page explains what's about to happen.</a></span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">SHAME ON YOU Senate President Steve Sweeney!!!</span></span></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Tomorrow, the Democratically-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to put 3 Christie nominees on the State Board of Education for 6 years, replacing three current Board Members who vote more independently.</span></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">This will give Christie complete control of that important board once again.</span></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The three Board members that Sweeney is replacing all voted against the regulations allowing for unqualified charter school teachers. With them gone, Christie will be able to bring those awful regulations up for a vote once more as well as any other destructive regulations that he can come up with over the next eight months.</span></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">What did Senate President Steve Sweeney get in exchange for hurting NJ children in this way?</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's what those three board members told the Star Ledger after they cast their no votes on allowing uncertified teachers teach in charter schools:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Board President Mark Biedron:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;">"Out in the education community, I couldn't find anybody who thought this was a good idea other than, and I understand, the charter school organizations."</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Board member Edith Fulton:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">"There was nothing as controversial as what we dealt with today. The proposal is not legitimate."</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Board Vice-President Joe Fisicaro was asked if the board had ever rejected a Christie proposal. Here's what he said:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">"I don't remember ever doing it."</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The real crime is that Biedron, Fisicaro and Fulton are the <b><i>only</i></b> three board members who not only regularly stay to hear public comment after board meetings, they actually <i><b>listen</b></i> to the public and engage with them. If other board members bother to stay, this is their typical level of engagement.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNG59erhuXUUA-Ng2sEt1kUR1eGzhWlYbYsCVGDym6aqLHI_mPMM86sdqtdEuaZfxf4_CjmP8FnXrZzXv-rhlFzHNT86yeqFIkeS062oZ_8RfQTFkHWcoORwF8OFk05Yq0n7Mth7xAwNE/s1600/12729357_461029434106745_6789699227978666031_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNG59erhuXUUA-Ng2sEt1kUR1eGzhWlYbYsCVGDym6aqLHI_mPMM86sdqtdEuaZfxf4_CjmP8FnXrZzXv-rhlFzHNT86yeqFIkeS062oZ_8RfQTFkHWcoORwF8OFk05Yq0n7Mth7xAwNE/s320/12729357_461029434106745_6789699227978666031_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">State BOE member Andrew Mulvihill <br />at a 2/10/16 meeting</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's what Mulvihill had to say about the charter regulations that were voted down (hint, he wasn't one of the no votes).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Let's take a chance and back these guys up with what they want to do. It makes sense.</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have often been disappointed in the board's seeming inability to stand up to the administration, but it's now as plain as day that disagreeing with Christie and the all powerful charter school lobby is <b><i>just not an option</i></b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is no surprise that Christie would exact this type of revenge on board members that dared to oppose him, but why are the Democrats playing along? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Which brings us back to Diane's amazing piece about the Democratic Party's collusion on charters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She writes:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: -0.1px;">when DeVos was confirmed by a vote of 51 to 50, over unanimous Democratic opposition, Senator Cory Booker </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/corybooker/videos/10156528917262228/" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: linear-gradient(to top, rgb(255, 255, 255) 0%, rgb(255, 255, 255) 49%, rgb(0, 0, 0) 50%, rgb(0, 0, 0) 100%); background-position: 0px 97.5%; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 2px 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0.03em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -0.03em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) 0.05em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -0.05em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) 0.09em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -0.075em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">went on Facebook</a><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: -0.1px;">, “frustrated and saddened,” to sound a sorrowful note: “Somewhere in America, right now, there is a child who is wondering if this country stands up for them.”</span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: -0.1px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: -0.1px;">Listening to their cries of outrage, one might imagine that Democrats were America’s undisputed champions of public education. But the resistance to DeVos obscured an inconvenient truth: Democrats have been promoting a conservative “school reform” agenda for the past three decades.</span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: -0.1px;"> </span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">New Jersey, it's time to wake up. This is just the latest example of establishment Democrats in this state not standing by our public schools. If you're as sick of it as I am, call the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow. Light up those phone lines like phone lines were lit up after Betsy DeVos showed her incompetence at her confirmation hearing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If Steve Sweeney won't stop Christie's anti-public education agenda, Senate Democrats must. And if they won't, me must vote them out.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here are the members of the committee and their phone numbers. Start calling now.</span><br />
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<tr><td colspan="2" valign="top" width="5%"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" title="View Bills"><b><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Judiciary Committee </b></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u>Nicholas P. Scutari</u></b> <b>(D)</b> - Chair (908) 587-0404<br /><b>Nia H. Gill </b><b>(D)</b> - Vice-Chair (973) 509-0388<a href="http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/BIO.asp?Leg=126" title="View member page"><br /></a><b>Christopher Bateman</b><b> (R)</b> (908) 526-3600<br /><b>Gerald Cardinale </b><b>(R) </b> (201) 567-2324 or (862) 248-0491<br /><b>Michael J. Doherty </b><b> (R </b> (908) 835-0552 or (908) 722-2427<br /><b>Joseph M. Kyrillos </b><b>(R)</b> (732) 671-3206<br /><b>Raymond J. Lesniak, </b><b>(D)</b> (908) 624-0880 or (908) 327-9119<br /><b>Kevin J. O'Toole, </b><b>(R) </b> (973) 237-1360<br /><b>Nellie </b><b>Pou (D) </b> (973) 247-1555<a href="http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/BIO.asp?Leg=335" title="View member page"><br /></a><b>Paul A. Sarlo, (D) </b> (201) 804-8118<br /><b>Bob Smith (D)</b> (732) 752-0770 <a href="http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/BIO.asp?Leg=53" title="View member page"><br /></a><b>Brian P. Stack (D) </b> (201) 721-5263 or <span style="background-color: white;">(201) 376-1942</span><br /><b>Loretta Weinberg (D)</b> (201) 928-0100</span></td></tr>
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<br />Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-41876960880757510572017-04-22T01:33:00.002-04:002017-04-22T02:08:01.677-04:00We Made a Difference! Grassroots Organizing in New Jersey Inspires Senators to Take Action on PARCC <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yesterday I went on a road trip with my twin 10 year old girls to Senate President Steve Sweeney's office where we spent time with some of the most fantastic, courageous folks you'd ever want to meet. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why were we there? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To ask Senator Sweeney to post <a href="http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2016/Bills/SCR/132_I1.HTM">SCR 132</a>, a concurrent resolution that would send NJ's new PARCC graduation requirement regulations back to the State Board of Education for a much needed re-write. You see, the regulations that the State Board passed don't match up with state statute.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The statute calls for a test of basic skills administered in 11th grade with re-testing options in grade 12. So what does the NJDOE and the State Board do? Propose and pass regulations that make PARCC Algebra 1 (taken as early as 7th grade) and PARCC ELA 10 the new exit exams.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">See the disconnect? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And the best part about the concurrent resolution? It completely side-steps Christie. <b><i>It's veto proof. </i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Assembly already passed their version of the resolution. If it passes the Senate the regulations go straight back to the State BOE for revision. But Ruiz hasn't posted it in the Senate Education Committee, and Sweeney hasn't posted it for a vote - it's completely stalled.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The New Jersey Senate, ladies and gentlemen - where pro-public education bills go to die. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But grassroots activists don't give up and we don't give in, so we headed for Sweeney's West Deptford office to bring our message right to his door. We rallied for a bit across the street, and then we strolled over to Sweeney's office and chatted with his staff.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jGhu9B-f8jKrbZdqF6QVXTT1La0JsFMstzLSgdkqFNpFLjIzYy9XYUF-NS1u6aP28n1sjXjzmmZBJSXe1GOE2g8D1eWvad2h4cnYmw39wPeFzSYSutUulPVR5VRH9ebPwPEOgTKMmVc/s1600/17992278_10103116957763452_3844701930081364613_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jGhu9B-f8jKrbZdqF6QVXTT1La0JsFMstzLSgdkqFNpFLjIzYy9XYUF-NS1u6aP28n1sjXjzmmZBJSXe1GOE2g8D1eWvad2h4cnYmw39wPeFzSYSutUulPVR5VRH9ebPwPEOgTKMmVc/s400/17992278_10103116957763452_3844701930081364613_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crew!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9ha8JxP_G-kMIL_mvhsvMyFTQlPx8ljMj-RAvz1aJQ8pAsxErVAi9XGV3cb3c2nfSt2bDlMq9GlSqvsIiPyAZyQ9LibRtU3IDfqs8fDUUg8QZZrPRIJwI1UlOyB0epMXZaNxhmzURhY/s400/18033019_10103116912035092_100111969978139436_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let's go see Sweeney - with a bullhorn!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2EI8a_lu-8R238YFkKYUejG1uVd5Hf3qbnKraZfk9H2nujZkFjYNBPbB23LiVj_neGvWia26qG5F8qSdBG1iApzPRZRJHxgN7sDKrlOn2pqlr2zttb-UgGlZNrvPKVzwFlIsHlBKbBc/s1600/18033067_10155468598701165_565812982756254101_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2EI8a_lu-8R238YFkKYUejG1uVd5Hf3qbnKraZfk9H2nujZkFjYNBPbB23LiVj_neGvWia26qG5F8qSdBG1iApzPRZRJHxgN7sDKrlOn2pqlr2zttb-UgGlZNrvPKVzwFlIsHlBKbBc/s400/18033067_10155468598701165_565812982756254101_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Should we knock, or maybe just stand out here <br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11.2px;">and see what happens - with a bullhorn.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinj3gpY5f54uDBrGk_jpIrDgYS_p6ap8Nwd9lGehEyKMVdCrMgJcXS6-fIn4lghYRjikPmZeJ-IeR5DEUDxWjv9S_sFXKhYqK-Vo4Wx4HRFROkFqjjwjFhJKhnebUaQc4tVAIafEGZx0I/s1600/17952618_301162326983517_8889223442048206812_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinj3gpY5f54uDBrGk_jpIrDgYS_p6ap8Nwd9lGehEyKMVdCrMgJcXS6-fIn4lghYRjikPmZeJ-IeR5DEUDxWjv9S_sFXKhYqK-Vo4Wx4HRFROkFqjjwjFhJKhnebUaQc4tVAIafEGZx0I/s400/17952618_301162326983517_8889223442048206812_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">This is just what Sen. Sweeney's staffers wanted to see at 4:45.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqiGm3o6s1EZEwHdy3P2U-5KRYN2C59tPh__TcLs_8ezO7T0EGsgC28xOTVkOyz8XwGve7rRoc-OzLPApmi1y-nq_M_WNrWdfsQDTSjglKhCU1lK_V92IcKc1oViqf2-ZdbU7vRlTtTDo/s1600/18033083_10213170342118915_3476710061804063622_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqiGm3o6s1EZEwHdy3P2U-5KRYN2C59tPh__TcLs_8ezO7T0EGsgC28xOTVkOyz8XwGve7rRoc-OzLPApmi1y-nq_M_WNrWdfsQDTSjglKhCU1lK_V92IcKc1oViqf2-ZdbU7vRlTtTDo/s400/18033083_10213170342118915_3476710061804063622_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">That's (one of) my girl(s).</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And then today, <a href="http://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2017/04/21/sweeney-ruiz-say-use-of-parcc-as-exit-exam-violates-legislative-intent-111447">this</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">State Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Sen. Teresa Ruiz, chair of the chamber's Education Committee, penned a letter to state education officials this week, indicating that the use of PARCC as a high school exit exam violates legislative intent.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you'd like to read the letter, you can find it <a href="http://www.politico.com/states/f/?id=0000015b-92ac-de92-a17b-9efc65fb0001">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But why did Sweeney and Ruiz send a letter? Why didn't they just post SCR 132, and allow the full Senate to vote?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The letter is addressed to State BOE President Mark Biedron and Acting Commissioner Kimberly Harrington. Governor Chris Christie and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto are copied on the letter. Was a deal struck to do this more quietly to avoid humiliating the Governor - a man who is already the<a href="http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/04/christies_newest_stat_nations_most_unpopular_gover.html"> least popular Governor in the nation</a>?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Who knows.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's anybody's guess what will ultimately become of the graduation requirement regulations, but I'm putting this one in the win column for now. There's a lot more work to be done, but this is a damn good start. And best of all, when my girls came home from school and I told them the news, one exclaimed with glee, <b><i>"We made a difference!"</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes my darling girl, we made a difference.</span></div>
Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-19299421330934904552017-03-29T14:21:00.001-04:002017-03-29T18:30:30.811-04:00$115 Million Price Tag for Christie Growth of Gulen Charters<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the heels of an <a href="http://www.northjersey.com/longform/news/watchdog/2017/02/15/fethullah-gulen-charter-schools-islamic-cleric-new-jersey/94574618/" target="_blank">explosive investigation of Gulen Charter Schools in New Jersey by The Record</a>, comes a <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-turkish-religious-scholar-fethullah-gulen-funding-movement-abroad-through-us-charter-schools/" target="_blank">report today from CBS</a> claiming that teachers at Gulen charters were forced to turn over up to 40% of their salary to the Gulen movement.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Leaving aside the insanely complex political issues for the moment, I'd like to add to the phenomenal job The Record has done investigating New Jersey's Gulen charters. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Unbeknownst to most of us, Chris Christie has exponentially increased the number of Gulen charters in New Jersey - which will, without a doubt, dramatically increase the price tag as well. But by how much? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let's find out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When he took office, four Gulen affiliated schools existed.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School (TEECS)</b> - 2002<br />
<b>Paterson Charter School for Science & Technology</b> - 2003<br />
<b>Central Jersey College Prep</b> - 2006<br />
<b>Bergen Arts and Science</b> - 2007</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chris Christie has opened three new Gulen charters, and has approved a fourth to open in September, 2017.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Passaic Arts and Science</b> - 2011<br />
<b>Paterson Arts and Science</b> - 2013<br />
<b>Hudson Arts and Science</b> - 2016<br />
<b>Union Arts and Science</b> - opening September 2017</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Simply put, Christie has doubled the number of Gulen charters in his two terms.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>How much is this costing New Jersey taxpayers in 2017?</b></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks to an Open Public Record Act (OPRA) request, I have the State Charter School Aid summaries for every single charter school in the state for FY17, so I can easily calculate that amount.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the 2016-17 school year the taxpayers of New Jersey shelled out $64,972,385 to fund seven Gulen charters.</span></b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Central Jersey College Prep</b>: $6,203,605<br />
<b>Bergen Arts and Science</b>: $14,016,818<br />
<b>Passaic Arts and Science</b>: $10,857,525<br />
<b>Paterson Arts and Science</b>: $6,984,518<br />
<b>Hudson Arts and Science</b>: $3,816,388<br />
<b>Paterson Charter School for Science & Tech</b>: $14,615,460<br />
<b>Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School</b>: $4,667,683</span></blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kind of shocking, no?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here are those aid summaries, so you can see the numbers for yourself <b><i>and</i></b> you can see if your district is impacted. (There's a zoom feature at the bottom) I think you'll be surprised to see just how many districts are impacted, and how much money they are losing.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="display: block; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px;">
<div style="display: block; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px;">
<a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/343446910/FY-17-Gulen-Charter-Schools#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View FY 17 Gulen Charter Schools on Scribd">FY 17 Gulen Charter Schools</a> by <a href="https://www.scribd.com/user/126996052/darciecimarusti#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View darciecimarusti's profile on Scribd">darciecimarusti</a> on Scribd</div>
<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">
<iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="1.2941176470588236" data-auto-height="false" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_92204" scrolling="no" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/343446910/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-oEx35vvspl8NZpfmOXjX&show_recommendations=true" width="100%"></iframe><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">And as if the loss of almost 65 million dollars is not wild enough, wait until you hear about the expansions Governor Christie's administration has approved for these schools. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chris Christie explodes the number of Gulen charter seats</span></h3>
<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></div>
<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">According to the aid summaries, these seven schools are serving approximately 4,797 students this year.<b style="font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Here are the expansions and new charter schools the Christie administration has approved in the last two years alone:</span></div>
<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.nj.gov/education/news/2016/0229chart.htm" target="_blank">2016</a>:</span></div>
<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Expansions</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Bergen Arts and Science CS<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">2007<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Garfield, Hackensack, Lodi<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-12<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">1440<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td> </tr>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Thomas Edison Energy Smart CS<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">2012<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Franklin Twp, North Brunswick, South Brunswick<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-6<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 122.0pt;" width="122"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">584<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">New Charter School</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Union Arts and Science CS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 118.0pt;" width="118"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Elizabeth/Linden<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-2<br />
(240 students)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
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<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nj.gov/education/news/2017/0301charter.htm" target="_blank">2017</a>:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Expansions</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
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<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background: white; border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Paterson Arts and Science Charter School<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="53"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">2013<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 102.2pt;" width="102"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Paterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 60.05pt;" width="60"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-8, 540<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 82.6pt;" width="83"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-12, 897<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 139.8pt;" width="140"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Central Jersey College Prep Charter School<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="53"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">2006<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 102.2pt;" width="102"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">New Brunswick, North Brunswick, Franklin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 60.05pt;" width="60"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-2, 6-12, 480<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 82.6pt;" width="83"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-12, 1,320<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 139.8pt;" width="140"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Passaic Arts and Science Charter School<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="53"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">2011<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 102.2pt;" width="102"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Passaic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 60.05pt;" width="60"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-10, 860<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 82.6pt;" width="83"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-12, 1,021<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 139.8pt;" width="140"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Hudson Arts and Science Charter School<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="53"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 102.2pt;" width="102"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Jersey City, Kearny<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 60.05pt;" width="60"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-5, 360<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 82.6pt;" width="83"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-8, 1,021<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 139.8pt;" width="140"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Paterson Charter School for Science & Technology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 53.35pt;" width="53"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">2003<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 102.2pt;" width="102"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">Paterson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 60.05pt;" width="60"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-12, 1,068<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td> <td style="padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 82.6pt;" width="83"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">K-12, 1,584<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.1pt; margin-top: 0.1pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And now to total up all the new seats. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You'll notice the 2016 summary from the state doesn't make it easy to see how many seats they've added, so I had to do some digging. <a href="http://archive.northjersey.com/news/expansions-approved-at-three-bergen-county-charter-schools-1.1519963" target="_blank">It looks like Bergen A&S</a> was given an increase from 1,040 students to 1,400, a total of 360 new seats.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the letter below, former Commissioner David Hespe says he's limiting TEECS's expansion, citing a lack of diversity, but he still allows TEECS to add an additional 200 seats. Not much of a punishment for not serving the same demographic mix as the sending districts, now is it? <a href="http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2017/03/nj-charter-schools-fools-gold-rush_12.html" target="_blank">Read my good buddy Jersey Jazzman for more on the segregation happening at TEECS.</a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="display: block; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px auto;">
<a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/343443644/TEECS-Charter-Letter#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View TEECS Charter Letter on Scribd">TEECS Charter Letter</a> by <a href="https://www.scribd.com/user/126996052/darciecimarusti#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View darciecimarusti's profile on Scribd">darciecimarusti</a> on Scribd</div>
<iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="0.7762478485370051" data-auto-height="false" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_6712" scrolling="no" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/343443644/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-WX0pwlDEQ4eswbJkrMOU&show_recommendations=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That makes 560 new seats just for Bergen A&S and TEECS, plus another 240 when Union Arts & Sciences opens up in September of 2017 to serve kids in K-2. <a href="http://unioncharter.ilearnschools.org/ApplicationLetterEnglish.pdf" target="_blank">Union A&S was approved to serve K-5</a>, so at full expansion they will have 480 available seats.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hudson Arts and Science just opened in September of 2016 to serve </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">360 kids in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">grades K-5. </span><a href="http://hudsoncharter.org/Documents/Hudson-English-Letter.pdf" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">They were approved to serve K-8</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, so at full expansion they will serve 540 students, for a total of 180 additional seats.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And here's how many new seats were just approved in February of 2017.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Paterson Arts and Science:</b> 357<br />
<b>Central Jersey College Prep</b>: 840 (this includes a 360 seat new facility in New Brunswick)<br />
<b>Passaic Arts and Science</b>: 161<br />
<b>Hudson Arts and Science</b>: 661<br />
<b>Paterson Charter School for Science & Technology</b>: 480</span></blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That's another 2,499 seats in 2017 to add to the 1,220 additional seats for Bergen, Hudson and Union A&S, and TEECS, for a total of 3,719 seats still to come in Gulen charter schools.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>How much more is that going to cost?</b></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">According to the Aid Summaries above, there are 4,797 students enrolled in Gulen charters this school year. With a total of $<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">64,972,385</span></span> spent,<b> </b>that's an average of $13,544.38 per student.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At that per pupil average, Christie's continued reckless expansion of Gulen charter schools will add another $50,371,549 burden to the taxpayers of New Jersey. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After Christie leaves office, if the next administration doesn't do something to halt this unprecedented growth, the people of the fine state of New Jersey will soon spend <b><i>$115,343,934 per year</i></b> to support a network of Gulen charter schools.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And remember - <b><i>Christie approves 'em but we pay for 'em out of our local tax dollars.</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>So what do we do?</b></span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you think this is outrageous, start talking to the candidates for Governor of <b><i>both</i></b> parties. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Show up at their meetings. Ask them questions. Send them letters. Let them know that if they want your vote they need to halt the charter school growth Christie has unleashed on the people of New Jersey. While you're at it, tell them they need to fix New Jersey's charter school law and give local school boards the say over new charters. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And don't forget to tell the gubernatorial candidates that Christie made these decisions <b><i>as he was about to walk out the door</i></b>, sticking the next administration with this gigantic mess to figure out.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Swell guy, that Christie.</span></div>
Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-21276877983074030912017-01-07T22:30:00.001-05:002017-01-08T13:33:30.099-05:00Demand that Senators Who Have Received DeVos Money Recuse Themselves<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On January 11, 2017 The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) will hold the confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. Recently, <a href="http://static.politico.com/4b/0c/fce86acb43879694090fd430d601/senate-help-committee-paperwork-for-betsy-devos.pdf" target="_blank">Politico released the paperwork DeVos filed with the Committee prior to her hearing.</a> I perused it with some interest, wondering what it might reveal. Not a big surprise that she's involved in numerous education reform organizations, but even I got a chuckle to learn that she's a member of not one, but <b><i>three</i></b> yacht clubs.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But I digress.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What I really wanted to look at were her political contributions. The unsearchable pdf wasn't user friendly - lists of Committees, Campaigns and PACs are not terribly helpful or illuminating, so I decided to use the <a href="http://www.fec.gov/" target="_blank">Federal Election Commission website</a> to see what I could find.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wanted to see if any of the members of the HELP Committee have any conflicts with DeVos and her billions. Sure enough, a fair number of the Republican Senators do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvoCtVQ9QNvxHpqz7sQWqSL74B1gcM3TvzSfc8bDB0oK2fD9zfrrapQ164j6NQrGUY7GX32443S4hHYPRoESoM_stTHjyDXddfExD2u0l_G4jEsGv860HQ0Yxg770CdPXQDGbMLjpU3_w/s1600/Devos_Familytree-960.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvoCtVQ9QNvxHpqz7sQWqSL74B1gcM3TvzSfc8bDB0oK2fD9zfrrapQ164j6NQrGUY7GX32443S4hHYPRoESoM_stTHjyDXddfExD2u0l_G4jEsGv860HQ0Yxg770CdPXQDGbMLjpU3_w/s400/Devos_Familytree-960.jpeg" width="338" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But before we get to the actual contributions, I need to make something very clear. For Betsy DeVos to disclose only contributions that she gave as an individual is inherently dishonest. I've spent more than my fair share of time researching campaign contributions, and if there is one thing I've learned it's that billionaire families give as a unit. If there is a $2,600 contribution limit, the husband and wife both donate the limit, and they do it as often as possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The DeVos's are no exception to that rule, and as you will see, if anything, when one member of the DeVos clan contributes, the <b><i>whole family</i></b> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">contributes</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Their businesses are family affairs. Just because her first name doesn't appear doesn't mean her interests are not in play. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Check back to the DeVos family tree of businesses which illustrates this quite nicely.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we consider if a Senator has a conflict of interest in participating in DeVos's nomination hearings, we have to consider not only her contributions, but those of the rest of her billionaire brood as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here is a list of the twelve Republican Senators on the HELP Committee.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><u><a href="http://www.republicanleader.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-republican-committee-assignments-for-the-115th-congress" target="_blank">Health, Education, Labor and Pensions </a></u></span></b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Lamar Alexander, Tennessee<br />Mike Enzi, Wyoming<br />Richard Burr, North Carolina<br />Johnny Isakson, Georgia<br />Rand Paul, Kentucky<br />Susan Collins, Maine<br />Bill Cassidy, Louisiana<br />Todd Young, Indiana<br />Orrin Hatch, Utah<br />Pat Roberts, Kansas<br />Lisa Murkowski, Alaska<br />Tim Scott, South Carolina</span></blockquote>
<div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let's see how many of them we can connect to campaign contributions or independent expenditures from DeVos, her family and the PACs they have contributed to.</span><br />
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
</h4>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Alticor PAC </span></b></h3>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51tyrSVqVwHVHYvOFhhPrQVCpecP85UXpyBf4g2UtrvePa1clvir3Arb24bliYn39H6qaLpqEcAjY-TcpFh5PJQDPLQ7wybL5qyosk7clAAogo5TNAQ_TtcAIt00CD5-n7K0Q-pA6a9E/s1600/LOGO-Alticor.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51tyrSVqVwHVHYvOFhhPrQVCpecP85UXpyBf4g2UtrvePa1clvir3Arb24bliYn39H6qaLpqEcAjY-TcpFh5PJQDPLQ7wybL5qyosk7clAAogo5TNAQ_TtcAIt00CD5-n7K0Q-pA6a9E/s200/LOGO-Alticor.gif" width="135" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Between 1997 and 2016 the DeVos family contributed at least $283,000 to the Alticor PAC. <a href="http://www.alticor.com/" target="_blank">Alticor is the parent company of Amway</a>, and as we all know (see graphic above), Amway is a DeVos family company. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Betsy DeVos contributed $5,000 to Alticor in <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?201601059004433899" target="_blank">2015</a> and another $5,000 in <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?201612059037613436" target="_blank">2016</a>. You can view all of the DeVos family's contributions <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SOpaKFaU1-KQVPzl65qU_CCtx-k3JIqn0xV0Ep0o5PQ/pubhtml?gid=340727110&single=true" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?201601059004433914" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 2015 Alticor contributed directly to Lamar Alexander's Senate campaign.</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Alticor also contributed to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Friends of Todd Young in <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?201610079032200532" target="_blank">2016</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Orrin Hatch in <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?10931404932" target="_blank">2010</a> and <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?14970075030" target="_blank">2014</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pat Roberts in <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?28020793966" target="_blank">2008</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So right off the bat we've uncovered that the chairman of the HELP Committee and two committee members have benefited from campaign contributions from a DeVos family company PAC.</span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Alticor PAC Totals:<br /><br />Lamar Alexander - $2,500</b></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Todd Young - $2,000</b></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Orrin Hatch - $2,000</b></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Pat Roberts - $1,000</b></i></span><br />
<h4>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></h4>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Senate Leadership Fund </span></b></h3>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv3u1492d4lvTYRoxqH7dWOJRWaBAeBhGUAlEcPKoITKe0E8NY-0yZfSAYfxWNDk2MUAfvtkRJNTvns-eRzwJI2SMUSsJpgi7-QgyUjNLXGhUL69W07nZacR328rKBmcg512f7e6es74Y/s1600/download.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv3u1492d4lvTYRoxqH7dWOJRWaBAeBhGUAlEcPKoITKe0E8NY-0yZfSAYfxWNDk2MUAfvtkRJNTvns-eRzwJI2SMUSsJpgi7-QgyUjNLXGhUL69W07nZacR328rKBmcg512f7e6es74Y/s1600/download.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Senate Leadership Fund describes itself as an "<a href="http://www.senateleadershipfund.org/about/" target="_blank">independent Super PAC</a>" and claims that its sole goal is "to protect and expand the Republican Senate Majority when Harry Reid, Elizabeth Warren and their army of left-wing activists try to take it back in 2016."<br /><br />This goal seems to have resonated with the DeVos family - they contributed $2,225,000 between 9/27/16 to 11/1/16. Yes - you saw that right - almost two and a quarter million in a little over a month. You can see those contributions <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SOpaKFaU1-KQVPzl65qU_CCtx-k3JIqn0xV0Ep0o5PQ/pubhtml?gid=163303566&single=true" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cycle=2016&cmte=C00571703" target="_blank">According to Open Secrets</a>, Independent Expenditures to support Todd Young in his 2016 Indiana Senate race totaled almost $300,000. Expenditures to oppose his primary challenger Marlin Stutzman totaled</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> $482,330, and to oppose his general election opponent the PAC spent a shocking $11,542,687. That's a total of $12,325,017 to put Young in the Senate.</span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Senate Leadership Fund Totals:</b></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Todd Young - $12,325,017</b></i></span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Freedom Partners Action Fund</span></b></h3>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG4ZSepo-Wl2i9lT-VnffLeng9Topmk85PYrwmuA6_jO-k_PqLblZb56jyDDbvyCAnFO5Cm_nAPjxYfry5SKe52X4yuUZLh1tTucEdiXt18JJ5eei6ubZ0-2ZIsThVXu5Pw-zMZ1JczQQ/s1600/download+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG4ZSepo-Wl2i9lT-VnffLeng9Topmk85PYrwmuA6_jO-k_PqLblZb56jyDDbvyCAnFO5Cm_nAPjxYfry5SKe52X4yuUZLh1tTucEdiXt18JJ5eei6ubZ0-2ZIsThVXu5Pw-zMZ1JczQQ/s1600/download+%25281%2529.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The DeVos Family contributed $2,000,000 to the <a href="https://fpaction.org/" target="_blank">Freedom Partners Action Fund</a> Super PAC between 2014 and 2016. You can view those contributions <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SOpaKFaU1-KQVPzl65qU_CCtx-k3JIqn0xV0Ep0o5PQ/pubhtml?gid=241255937&single=true" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In turn, Freedom Partners Action Fund supported William Cassidy - and they successfully helped him defeat incumbent Mary Landrieu, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cmte=C00564765&cycle=2014&txt=" target="_blank">spending over $1.6M to oppose her</a>. <a href="https://fpaction.org/states/louisiana-senate/" target="_blank">Watch some of the commercials they produced to slam Landrieu</a> - they're pretty heinous attack ads. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The expenditures on Cassidy's behalf totaled $223,168</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> - you can see them <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xTvW1XrcjiK8nM2BNKnF3dkNEIObqPNNzhfPlwCXcZg/pubhtml?gid=672280767&single=true" target="_blank">here</a>. In total, that's almost $2M to put Cassidy in office, and on the HELP Committee where DeVos will have her hearing. Money well spent, I suppose.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Freedom Partners spent less to support Pat Roberts, but they supported his Senate campaign to the tune of </span><span style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">$17,507.45</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. See </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xTvW1XrcjiK8nM2BNKnF3dkNEIObqPNNzhfPlwCXcZg/pubhtml" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>Freedom Partners Action Fund Totals:</b></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;"><b><br /></b></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>William Cassidy - $1,840,359</b></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>Pat Roberts - $17,507</b></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>ESAFund </b></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxvd7yN2qXboxf1TUMRebJt5Gq_kIGYD0m2uMnHoLfM1668wQpWANhb_-_iiCVQaWD024vP6cbuMQQp6Xfe1xlFJmRBnbyAizV0X_inB0vlvXBhgrTjBf2huYduYeFvOnBOF0nv3vhzo/s1600/esaf-logo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxvd7yN2qXboxf1TUMRebJt5Gq_kIGYD0m2uMnHoLfM1668wQpWANhb_-_iiCVQaWD024vP6cbuMQQp6Xfe1xlFJmRBnbyAizV0X_inB0vlvXBhgrTjBf2huYduYeFvOnBOF0nv3vhzo/s1600/esaf-logo2.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="http://esafund.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ES</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://esafund.com/" target="_blank">AFund's website</a> is under construction, but says that they support candidates who "favor enhancing free enterprise, reducing the size of government, and balancing our nation's budget." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Between 2014 and 2016 the DeVos family has contributed over $500,000 to the ESAFund. You can see those contributions <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SOpaKFaU1-KQVPzl65qU_CCtx-k3JIqn0xV0Ep0o5PQ/pubhtml?gid=2038898668&single=true" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Todd Young's 2016 campaign <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xTvW1XrcjiK8nM2BNKnF3dkNEIObqPNNzhfPlwCXcZg/pubhtml?gid=931793266&single=true" target="_blank">received $134,086.68 from ESAFund</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As a fun aside, ESAFund also spent <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xTvW1XrcjiK8nM2BNKnF3dkNEIObqPNNzhfPlwCXcZg/pubhtml?gid=1058552813&single=true" target="_blank">close to $1M to oppose Bernie Sanders' presidential bid</a>, and Sanders is on the HELP Committee as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>ESAFund Totals:</b></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Todd Young - $134,086</b></i></span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DeVos Family's Direct Contributions</span></b></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here is a list of the direct contributions the DeVos family have made to HELP Committee Members and how much was in Betsy DeVos's name (Click on amounts to see all of the individual contributions): </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Richard Burr</b> - <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11ZSmhugd5qnaCDZl8DWsDf07v03bFU0EIA7gR3AhHH8/pubhtml?gid=467362276&single=true" target="_blank">$43,200</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">($5,400 from Betsy DeVos)</span><br />
<a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/com_ind/C00385526/2/D/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></a>
<a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/com_ind/C00385526/2/D/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Contributions on FEC website)</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Lisa Murkowski </b>- <span style="color: black;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11ZSmhugd5qnaCDZl8DWsDf07v03bFU0EIA7gR3AhHH8/pubhtml?gid=298866511&single=true" target="_blank">$40,500</a> ($5,400 from Betsy DeVos)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/com_ind/C00384529/1/D/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Contributions on FEC website)</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Bill Cassidy</b> - <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11ZSmhugd5qnaCDZl8DWsDf07v03bFU0EIA7gR3AhHH8/pubhtml?gid=1832724939&single=true" target="_blank">$67,600</a> ($7,800 from Betsy DeVos)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/com_ind/C00543983/1/D/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Contributions on FEC website)</span></a><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Todd Young</b> - <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11ZSmhugd5qnaCDZl8DWsDf07v03bFU0EIA7gR3AhHH8/pubhtml?gid=492871441&single=true" target="_blank">$48,600</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">($5,400 from Betsy DeVos)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/com_ind/C00459255/1/D/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Contributions on FEC website)</span></a><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Tim Scott</b> - <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11ZSmhugd5qnaCDZl8DWsDf07v03bFU0EIA7gR3AhHH8/pubhtml?gid=1258142048&single=true" target="_blank">$49,200</a> ($7,400 from Betsy DeVos)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/com_ind/C00540302/1/D/" target="_blank">(Contributions on FEC website)</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That's a total of $296,800 from the DeVos family ($31,400 in Betsy's name) directly to sitting members of the HELP Committee.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Conservative Solutions PAC</span></b></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This one is just kind of amusing. <a href="http://conservativesolutionspac.com/" target="_blank">The Conservative Solutions PAC supported Marco Rubio for President.</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Betsy DeVos gave $50,000 to this Rubio friendly PAC in her own name, and the DeVos family gave $750,000. See those contributions </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SOpaKFaU1-KQVPzl65qU_CCtx-k3JIqn0xV0Ep0o5PQ/pubhtml?gid=462877647&single=true" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPF_gut4AYG7u3kfOE-sXFsHy1Wka3m5He13IQj5r_GszWK3QPgqSdyJRFxc_68M9mFdGIHw4YeAUOc6-fNQ-5UDdOz1EHLWbqLzifiHJdbucuo5XC1W6ypRy6ooj1p66rxOUy-4oWOg/s1600/1481299280842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPF_gut4AYG7u3kfOE-sXFsHy1Wka3m5He13IQj5r_GszWK3QPgqSdyJRFxc_68M9mFdGIHw4YeAUOc6-fNQ-5UDdOz1EHLWbqLzifiHJdbucuo5XC1W6ypRy6ooj1p66rxOUy-4oWOg/s320/1481299280842.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cycle=2016&cmte=C00541292" target="_blank"><br /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cycle=2016&cmte=C00541292" target="_blank">Open Secrets shows</a> that while Conservative Solutions spent almost $40M to support Rubio, they also spent over $4,750,000 to oppose Trump. Can you imagine the kind of leverage this gives someone like Trump over DeVos? Do you think this came up in their meeting? Hard to imagine it didn't, isn't it?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So how much money did Senators on the Committee get in total?</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the top of this post I listed the 12 Republican members on the HELP Committee, and I have been able to connect 8 of them to DeVos money, eith</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">er directly or through PACs the DeVos family has contributed to. I would be remiss if I didn't add that this is just what I was able to find combing though FEC filings. In no way are these totals exhaustive. There well could be more money and other PACs I simply wasn't able to uncover with my somewhat limited Nancy Drew style sleuthing abilities.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSSyzLc6Fw2-lbqzbcEaCFlfSxUg1_1MVIN1yx72lW3XoXdpkzh7SCJYho9apxk0GAshQOrZorVfU4xyT3u1VkFfUv1ORbr4C3S1YzQZyGjjAL1Lpt772hNxP06tbODjn87l0Tm4aM0mQ/s1600/Conflicted+HELP+Committee+Members.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSSyzLc6Fw2-lbqzbcEaCFlfSxUg1_1MVIN1yx72lW3XoXdpkzh7SCJYho9apxk0GAshQOrZorVfU4xyT3u1VkFfUv1ORbr4C3S1YzQZyGjjAL1Lpt772hNxP06tbODjn87l0Tm4aM0mQ/s640/Conflicted+HELP+Committee+Members.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Senators who have received contributions and/or support from the DeVos family and the PACs they contribute to should recuse themselves</h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://act.endcitizensunited.org/page/s/devos-petition?source=MS_SOCIAL_ADVO_2017.01.06_X_TWITTER_X__X__X" target="_blank">End Citizens United and Every Voice have started a petition</a> asking senators who have received contributions from Betsy DeVosto recuse themselves. You bet I'll be adding my name to that petition, and I hope you'll join me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I would expand that call to include senators who have received the support of DeVos family members and PACs that the DeVos family have contributed to as well. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTr89YC6zRaAcTETLOKJYnDKuqbmjxqMsFyQCSJ8OvA6akgTJ27jiI3dtVX1n3o9TmMK01JUhdANv9S2OyZQgpbCuZO8g0-Ko_fCdWMEP3psJkvWEHR0Wmm79Pui3NtbR2xD3csKgSxn0/s1600/betsy_devos_card_2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTr89YC6zRaAcTETLOKJYnDKuqbmjxqMsFyQCSJ8OvA6akgTJ27jiI3dtVX1n3o9TmMK01JUhdANv9S2OyZQgpbCuZO8g0-Ko_fCdWMEP3psJkvWEHR0Wmm79Pui3NtbR2xD3csKgSxn0/s320/betsy_devos_card_2016.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you haven't yet <a href="http://networkforpubliceducation.org/2016/12/8208/" target="_blank">called your senators</a> and the senators on the HELP Committee to oppose DeVos's appointment, please call on Monday. <a href="http://npeaction.org/2017/01/05/devos-hearing-set-january-11-1000-call-senate-help-committee-members/" target="_blank">NPE Action has a handy list of Committee Members and their contact information for you to use, as well as a call script.</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's crucial we make these calls. DeVos is on a list of nominees Democrats plan to scrutinize, and Politico has reported that they may <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-cabinet-democrats-senate-232136" target="_blank">demand a roll call vote</a> on her appointment. Hold the senators in your state and the senators on the HELP Committee accountable. DeVos has been clear that<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2016/11/13180/5-things-know-about-billionaire-betsy-devos-trump-choice-education" target="_blank"> the money she and her family contribute is meant to buy influence</a>.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">"My family is the largest single contributor of </span><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Soft_money" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Soft money">soft money</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;"> to the national Republican party. I have decided, however, to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence. Now, I simply concede the point. We expect to foster a conservative governing philosophy consisting of limited government and respect for traditional American virtues. We expect a return on our investment; we expect a good and honest government. Furthermore, we expect the Republican party to use the money to promote these policies, and yes, to win elections."</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Don't let her buy her way into the Secretary of Education's office. Our public schools are too important, and she doesn't have a clue as to how to oversee them. </span><br />
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Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-31113077228128615982016-12-09T12:10:00.000-05:002016-12-09T12:10:25.700-05:00Camden Voucher Advocate, Member Of Groups With Ties To Betsy DeVos, Nominated For NJ State Board Of Ed<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You've got to hand it to Chris Christie. He'll always keep you on your toes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/16/12/08/governor-benches-biedron-no-reappointment-for-boe-president/" target="_blank"><br />
</a> <a href="http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/16/12/08/governor-benches-biedron-no-reappointment-for-boe-president/" target="_blank">As reported in NJ Spotlight yesterday</a>, the Governor announced nominees for long vacant seats on the State Board of Education yesterday, and in a move no one saw coming, he ousted the Board's President, Mark Biedron. John Mooney also noted one particular nomination, and what it may mean.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Christie added to the board well-known Camden activist Angel Cordero. A former mayoral candidate from the city, Cordero a few years ago was among the state’s biggest advocates for private-school vouchers, a topic that may see a revival in Christie’s last year.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A look at Cordero's Twitter account is, well, disturbing. His handle is <span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><a class="ProfileHeaderCard-screennameLink u-linkComplex js-nav" href="https://twitter.com/Christie_Guy_" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 14px;">@</span></span><span class="u-linkComplex-target" style="text-decoration: none;">Christie_Guy_</span></a>.<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> The bulk of his tweets fall into three categories; love letters to Christie, hatred for the teachers' union, and more than a few that are just straight up bizarre. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Here are some representative samples.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's start with the straight up bizarre ones to give you a sense of the guy Governor Christie thinks should get to vote on the future of our state's public schools.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
You can't get anything past the Gov. As President he's not going to allow the American people's pockets to be picked <a href="http://t.co/XhUHgf1dwJ">pic.twitter.com/XhUHgf1dwJ</a></div>
— Angel Cordero Camden (@Christie_Guy_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Christie_Guy_/status/634424353971662848">August 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
We are in trouble radical Muslims No education in Urban cities hate groups against people n police no jobs more drugs <a href="http://t.co/5OQyofS0Bl">pic.twitter.com/5OQyofS0Bl</a></div>
— Angel Cordero Camden (@Christie_Guy_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Christie_Guy_/status/631423394211307520">August 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From here the bizarre melts into hatred for the teachers' union.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
USA is in a crisis the teacher's Union destroying the minds of children in Urban cities and radical Muslims at war <a href="http://t.co/yCQ8Qq9ywT">pic.twitter.com/yCQ8Qq9ywT</a></div>
— Angel Cordero Camden (@Christie_Guy_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Christie_Guy_/status/631418028530487296">August 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Gov Christie said he like to punch the teacher's union who are responsible for the destruction of back and brown kids <a href="http://t.co/54qcBlsqGL">pic.twitter.com/54qcBlsqGL</a></div>
— Angel Cordero Camden (@Christie_Guy_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Christie_Guy_/status/628792908272021504">August 5, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then there are countless tweets of pure, unadulterated love for the man himself.</span><br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Christie the only one that can fix the house behind me keep this country safe n stop poverty in this country is you <a href="http://t.co/5edsZd8hXQ">pic.twitter.com/5edsZd8hXQ</a></div>
— Angel Cordero Camden (@Christie_Guy_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Christie_Guy_/status/629659125501296640">August 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Looking forward to August 4th to be with the greatest human being I have ever met, Governor Christie. <a href="http://t.co/trSMmH1nX3">pic.twitter.com/trSMmH1nX3</a></div>
— Angel Cordero Camden (@Christie_Guy_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Christie_Guy_/status/625138101686530048">July 26, 2015</a></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
A great Man with a heart of Gold our next President Governor Chris Christie. the right path to recovery <a href="http://t.co/oXAHpieGYd">pic.twitter.com/oXAHpieGYd</a></div>
— Angel Cordero Camden (@Christie_Guy_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Christie_Guy_/status/631113716814217217">August 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Greatest human being he's ever met? A great man with a heart of gold? <a href="http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/12/what_nj_voters_think_of_gov_christie_now.html" target="_blank">82% of New Jersey residents disagree</a>, as Christie's approval level just hit an all time low of 18%.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But back to Cordero. He's <a href="http://www.llanj.org/sample-page/" target="_blank">on the Board of Delegates</a> of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey. In 2011, during Christie's strongest push for the Opportunity Scholarship Act, then LLANJ President <a href="http://b4njkids.org/go.cfm?do=News.View&nid=174" target="_blank">Martin Perez was a strong supporter.</a></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #5f6062; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 13px;">In this post-election period, the Legislature has a chance to make a real difference in the lives of thousands of students shackled to low-performing schools. It’s a chance that leaders genuinely concerned about the future cannot afford to let slip by. The Opportunity Scholarship Act (OSA) is ready for the final few steps of the legislative process and could be on Gov. Chris Christie’s desk by the end of the month if lawmakers do what they know is right for their constituents.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2012 Perez and his wife, Patricia Bombelyn, were behind Vargas v. Camden Board of Education, a lawsuit that sought to free parents from the "failing" schools in Camden and pay them to go to the private school of their choice. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/10/22/the-legal-question-for-camden-what-constitutes-a-toxic-school/" target="_blank">And Angel was right at their side.</a></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">One of those advocates is Patricia Bombelyn, the New Brunswick attorney who led the Crawford case and has been closely aligned with Excellent Education for Everyone (E3), the decade-old group that has largely led the push for private school vouchers in the state. E3 is helping sponsor the challenge.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d;">Her law partner, Martin Perez, was also in attendance. Perez heads up the Latino Leadership Alliance. Also present: Angel Cordero, a Camden activist and former mayoral candidate, and former U.S. Rep. Richard Zimmer, a member of the E3 board.</span> </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So it crystal clear that Cordero has been at the heart of the movement to bring vouchers to NJ, and it is likely that Christie is rewarding him for his allegiance with this seat on the State Board of Education. But Cordero must have some other qualifications, right?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wrong.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/333733963/Cordero#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View Cordero on Scribd">Cordero</a> by <a href="https://www.scribd.com/user/126996052/darciecimarusti#from_embed" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View darciecimarusti's profile on Scribd">darciecimarusti</a> on Scribd</div>
<iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="0.7715996578272027" data-auto-height="false" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_83287" scrolling="no" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/333733963/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-8clmlwd2PTMIp4oIMZAx&show_recommendations=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's hard to know where to start with this resume. The only experience offered, other than his work with the LLANJ and NJ reform heavyweight E3, is the Community Education Resource Network (CERN) and East Side Preparatory High School. I can find no reference to East Side anywhere <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/117375392/The-Blessings-of-Young-Dreams-Learn-More-About-The-CERN-Program#fullscreen=1" target="_blank">other than in this Scribd document</a> which was posted by "The CERN Program." Cordero describes his role at East Side as "Co-founder/general stuff." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How illuminating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CERN</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, <a href="https://home.cern/" target="_blank">certainly not <b><i>the</i></b> CERN</a>. Cordero's CERN has been described as an "<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; letter-spacing: 0.208px;"><a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/camden_school_commencement_dou.html" target="_blank">an alternative school for dropouts</a>" in Camden. And while this is certainly a laudable endeavor, it is clear that Cordero has used the school as a political tool to pass voucher legislation. Cordero wants public money to fund his school when, as seen in this highly produced video of CERN's 2014 graduation (created by NJ Public School Options no less), their graduations are held <b><i>in a church</i></b>.</span></span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HeI-m8BE2sw" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "benton sans" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;"><a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/camden_school_commencement_dou.html" target="_blank">And this NJ.com article</a> about CERN's 2011 graduation makes it very clear that the ceremony was little more than a political rally (again, at a church) with the Governor himself in attendance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Politicians urged audience members to call lawmakers, school officials praised the program’s virtues and workers at the door handed out bright yellow T-shirts saying "one failing school is one too many."<span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">"They said everyone had to wear a shirt," said Charles Washington, 24, of Pennsauken. "You couldn’t get in without a shirt."<span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Some of the state’s most powerful people attended the ceremony for the approximately 100 graduates of the Community Education Resource Network, an alternative school for dropouts. It also showcased the alliance — at least when it comes to education — between Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, and George Norcross, a Democratic power broker from South Jersey. Both are pushing the scholarship measure, which has stalled in the Legislature despite the support of Democrats and Republicans alike.</span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px;">Just imagine a public school handing out mandatory t-shirts at graduation, with pleas for attendees to call their legislators to support public education. Something like that might inspire Christie to <a href="http://www.nj.com/articles/4454638/gov_chris_christie_accuses_nj.amp" target="_blank">accuse the teachers' union of using students as drug mules...</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cordero has absolutely zero experience in or around a public school. While his dedication to the people of Camden is commendable, his push for vouchers, and his willingness to use the students and families he serves as pawns in his political game, is highly suspect. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And his connections to organizations like E3 and LLANJ are deeply troubling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Betsy DeVos, E3 and LLANJ</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How in the world does Betsy DeVos come into this?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back in 2013 I was concerned about a candidate running for the New Brunswick Board of Education. He too was a voucher supporter, and an ally of Patricia Bombelyn and Martin Perez. When I looked into the money behind these vouchers champions, I found DeVos. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the time, I had no idea who she was.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2013/04/national-school-choice-group-finds.html" target="_blank"><br />
</a> <a href="http://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2013/04/national-school-choice-group-finds.html" target="_blank">Here's what I wrote in 2013.</a> (Sadly, a bunch of the links no longer work.)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And in case you're thinking Bombelyn and Perez's connections stop at the NJ border, you're wrong. When Bombelyn and Arocho ran on the same ticket, their campaign received a $2,600 donation from the "New Jersey Federation for Children PAC."</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Note the address; 1660 L ST, NW STE 1000, Washington DC. This just happens to be the address for the <a href="http://www.federationforchildren.org/contact" style="color: #3399bb; text-decoration: none;">American Federation for Children.</a> Who's behind it? <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/162613/right-wing-billionaires-invest-wisconsins-recall-elections-save-school-privatization-age" style="color: #3399bb; text-decoration: none;">Reformy glitterati such as Betsy DeVos.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">...<a href="http://www.federationforchildren.org/" style="color: #496a8b; text-decoration: none;"><b>American Federation for Children (AFC)</b></a>, the powerful national network of billionaire campaign contributors that has been <b>pouring millions into school privatization fights across the country.</b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">...</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Organized by <b>Michigan billionaires Dick and Betsy DeVos,</b> Americans for Children is officially nonpartisan. <b>But <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_DeVos" style="color: #496a8b; text-decoration: none;">Dick DeVos </a>is a former Republican nominee for governor of Michigan and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_DeVos" style="color: #496a8b; text-decoration: none;">Betsy DeVos</a> is a former chair of the Michigan Republican Party.</b> <b>Together, they have poured tens of millions of dollars into the ideological and electoral infrastructure that supports school privatization.</b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">“Dick DeVos has used his family’s fortune and status to create an intricate national network of nonprofits, political action committees and federal groups known as 527s that effectively fund the political arm of the school voucher movement,” notes a People for the American Way study of the political projects of the heir to the Amway fortune and his wife. <b>“Nowhere is the impact of the DeVos family fortune greater, though, than in the movement to privatize public education.”</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">AFC chair Betsy DeVos has for decades been a high-stakes political player on behalf of school privatization. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: normal;">(emphasis mine)</span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQ1y70bEhJN4D5Spk8rmfF6PWlx3VAb_l-ahJY8-eybM2gPcYysM76NGj3PCXw1ipu2WUKoMEI5P1XhjYRMUXQgugif-0A8rq-kjJs3Fd7Dx8h5E8DCCBZJf_bLLOKu1cBgEOIUGK5i4/s1600/thepublicenemy1+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #3399bb; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQ1y70bEhJN4D5Spk8rmfF6PWlx3VAb_l-ahJY8-eybM2gPcYysM76NGj3PCXw1ipu2WUKoMEI5P1XhjYRMUXQgugif-0A8rq-kjJs3Fd7Dx8h5E8DCCBZJf_bLLOKu1cBgEOIUGK5i4/s320/thepublicenemy1+(1).jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="224" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Great. Just when I thought I had a handle on all the reformers with their claws into public education in New Jersey, it turns out there's ANOTHER one breathing down our necks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Other notables behind AFC are <a href="http://www.klhcapital.com/teammember/john-f-kirtley-partner-founder/" style="color: #3399bb; text-decoration: none;">"venture capitalist" John F. Kirtley</a>, and investment banker and banking heir Boykin Curry, who is also <a href="http://www.dfer.org/list/about/board/" style="color: #3399bb; text-decoration: none;">on the board of Democrats for Education Reform</a>, and a <a href="http://newamerica.net/user/356" style="color: #3399bb; text-decoration: none;">co-founder of a chain of NYC charters called Public Prep</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To bring this full circle, it's important to note that AFC is part and parcel of another entity called <a href="http://www.allianceforschoolchoice.org/" style="color: #3399bb; text-decoration: none;">Alliance for School Choice</a>, which has identical board members and the same address. W</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ho funds Alliance for School Choice? (As if these folks need more money??) In 2011 the </span><a href="http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/2011-education-reform-grant-list" style="color: #3399bb; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">Walton Foundation gave them $1,202,000</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And here comes the trickle down. </span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Between 2006 and 2010 Alliance for School Choice gave $113,500 to none other than Martin Perez's Latino Leadership Alliance. Not surprisingly E3, (remember Perez is on the board) <a href="http://www.allianceforschoolchoice.org/our-school-choice-allies" style="color: #3399bb; text-decoration: none;">is listed as their only ally in New Jersey.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In turn, the LLA NJ donated $2,700 to Bombelyn and Arocho's campaign.</span></div>
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Angel Cordero may have been nominated for a seat on the New Jersey State Board of Education <a href="http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/SenateNominations/SenateNominations.asp" target="_blank">but he has not yet been confirmed</a> by the Senate (See page 6 in the link for current status of his nomination). He has absolutely no experience in public education, and is clearly hostile to the teachers' union. His appointment by one of the least popular Governor's in New Jersey's history must be challenged. </div>
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Appointments to the State Board of Education are for 6 years, and there are no minimum requirements to serve, <a href="http://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/2013/title-18a/section-18a-4-3/" target="_blank">other than those that relate to the make-up of the Board as a whole</a>. </div>
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So left to his own judgement, this is who Governor Christie nominates. But there is a process that must be allowed to unfold. This is a nomination, not an appointment. As noted in the NJ Spotlight piece above:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #4d4d4d;">All the appointments require Senate approval, and the nominations this week only start the process of vetting and interviews before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Nevertheless, it is rare when a nomination to a state board is reversed.</span> </span></blockquote>
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It may be rare for a nomination to be reversed, but Cordero is an unusual nominee, to be sure. If ever there was a time for the Senate to intervene, this is it.</div>
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<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-55331714991009688992016-11-29T01:17:00.001-05:002016-11-29T01:25:48.685-05:00DeVos Removes Controversial Twitter Photo But Conflict Of Interest Concerns Continue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2016/11/betsy-devos-conflict-of-interest.html" target="_blank">Late last week I posted about Betsy DeVos's Twitter header photo</a>, which appeared to show Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education shilling boxed water sold by a company in which she had invested. In the post I posited that, like Trump, DeVos may have her own conflicts of interest to grapple with.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At some point this afternoon, the header photo I challenged was taken off of Betsy DeVos's Twitter account. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Coincidence? I think not. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's the new photo:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqLOQ7sKMWjhjNNTGsS_uZNqlkDrqqI-WWOIgTUhcQT3HFjCDS9YFtMkXDBzyp5eApqNF2jRyO91WemyBHWbdDp-reEfQzO_lwnPyqX-lKl6TsuQy2kat-wVsokuRUO_KhvP6DLo3NVyc/s1600/IMG_2435.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqLOQ7sKMWjhjNNTGsS_uZNqlkDrqqI-WWOIgTUhcQT3HFjCDS9YFtMkXDBzyp5eApqNF2jRyO91WemyBHWbdDp-reEfQzO_lwnPyqX-lKl6TsuQy2kat-wVsokuRUO_KhvP6DLo3NVyc/s640/IMG_2435.JPG" width="640" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks to some clever cropping, this image seems more appropriate, but it still falls pretty far short for a nominee for a cabinet position. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You see, <a href="http://betsydevos.com/" target="_blank">I checked out DeVos's website</a>, which is plainly <a href="https://twitter.com/BetsyDeVos" target="_blank">linked on her Twitter account</a>. On the website there is a <a href="http://betsydevos.com/contact/" target="_blank">page for contact and media inquiries</a>. There you will find a line that says:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 16px;">To download photos of Betsy DeVos for editorial purposes, please </span><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4w1nqbqoak61k8e/AACSE5HlBpcus6IU6xWJjPjea?dl=0" style="box-shadow: currentcolor 0px 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #db9a7a; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">click here</a><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 16px;">.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So of course I clicked there, and here's what I found.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The uncropped version of the new header photo is titled "Betsy in a Meeting 3". Here is the entire image, with some commentary from yours truly.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYqGVY8Ld1OFfy9clPIubTvf-3zDgIzBreysjveS-0SJwvVFsE1tKT79kXQGE9SxrTYDHPVAFpXwnOGL-HQN5BsimEptRKhODMf5LvqQ9fbJ1ZucegTiRJ8eiLC8DRJIqdPr-CfotagKw/s1600/What+floorplans%253F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYqGVY8Ld1OFfy9clPIubTvf-3zDgIzBreysjveS-0SJwvVFsE1tKT79kXQGE9SxrTYDHPVAFpXwnOGL-HQN5BsimEptRKhODMf5LvqQ9fbJ1ZucegTiRJ8eiLC8DRJIqdPr-CfotagKw/s640/What+floorplans%253F.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And here are "Betsy in a Meeting 1" and "</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Betsy in a Meeting </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2".</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZevIgbaTT1mw7tdPSjJU0NK5RVDvGLCqojIKkkVuOYY9Jronr-CR1h0ySPW6OAjJOMi4qjLNIMyIPz5ZPBempn3m67RwZDmdlitsA3WtMFk9aDBq2UfTPgU9CVGciqI5gHhpiqQITKfE/s1600/Gold%2521+Lots+of+gold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZevIgbaTT1mw7tdPSjJU0NK5RVDvGLCqojIKkkVuOYY9Jronr-CR1h0ySPW6OAjJOMi4qjLNIMyIPz5ZPBempn3m67RwZDmdlitsA3WtMFk9aDBq2UfTPgU9CVGciqI5gHhpiqQITKfE/s640/Gold%2521+Lots+of+gold.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The new photo may be less outwardly problematic, but my goodness, really? With her <a href="http://betsydevos.com/qa/" target="_blank">self reported "28 years involved with education issues</a>" her people can't find <b><i>one photo</i></b> of her where she's actually doing something related to, oh, I don't know, <b><i>educating kids</i></b>?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Where did I find that fascinating tidbit about 28 years in education, you may ask? On the newly updated Q&A page of DeVos's website! On that page you'll also find this:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1a1a1a; margin-bottom: 1.75em;">
<span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Q: What are your thoughts about specific education policies?</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1a1a1a;">
<span class="s1" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I am very excited to get to work and to talk about my thoughts and ideas on making American education great again. The status quo is not acceptable. I am committed to transforming our education system into the best in the world. <i><b>However, out of respect for the United States Senate, it is most appropriate for me to defer expounding on specifics until they begin their confirmation process.</b></i> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(emphasis mine)</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So not only has DeVos updated her header photo, she's updated her website to reflect the fact that she is Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education. Not much to go on here in terms of her thoughts about the job, though. And the only information offered under the "<a href="http://betsydevos.com/education/" target="_blank">Education</a>" tab is what you'd expect - just a string of school choice buzz words. It's all about "<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a;">America’s broken education system" and "children </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a;">trapped by their zip code in a school that failed to meet their needs."</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And there's even a blurb about founding the <a href="http://www.westmichiganaviation.org/" target="_blank">West Michigan Aviation Academy</a>, a charter high school. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But not a positive word to say about traditional public schools. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Not. A. Word.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maybe there is a contact email address where I could ask her a question about what she plans to do about all of these pesky public schools people seem to like so much? So much so in fact that, as of this writing, <a href="http://networkforpubliceducation.org/2016/11/tell-your-senator-to-vote-no-for-betsy-devos/" target="_blank">over 77,000 people have contacted their Senators to oppose DeVos's appointment.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lucky for us, there <b><i>is</i></b> contact information! If you have a question for the next Secretary of Education,<a href="http://betsydevos.com/contact/" target="_blank"> just get in touch with the Windcrest Group!</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Other questions? Email <a href="mailto:followup@windquest.com" style="box-shadow: currentcolor 0px 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none;">contact@windquest.com</a> and we’d be happy to help!</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To learn more about the Windcrest Group, just click on the "<a href="http://betsydevos.com/entrepreneurship/" target="_blank">Entrepreneurship</a>" tab on the same website.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Starting in 1989 along with, Dick, Betsy started the <a href="http://www.windquest.com/" style="box-shadow: currentcolor 0px 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Windquest Group</a>, where she serves as Chairman. The Windquest Group invests in a family of companies that provide innovative solutions, services, and products that make the world better.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DeVos may have taken down the super tacky photo of her selling Boxed Water, but clearly she still doesn't get it. It's simply not OK to offer information regarding her nomination and her entrepreneurial enterprises on the same website.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Which brings me back to the same <a href="http://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2016/11/betsy-devos-conflict-of-interest.html" target="_blank">questions I raised in my last post.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="background-color: white;">Will she divest from her business interests now that she is poised to become a government employee? Or does Trump believe that the "</span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/11/23/trumps-claim-that-the-president-cant-have-a-conflict-of-interest/" style="background-color: white; color: #3399bb; text-decoration: none;">law is on the side</a><span style="background-color: white;">" of the Secretary of Education as well, and she can't have a conflict of interest?</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If I was right that the photo needed to come down, then it stands to reason that I'm also right that a wall needs to go up between her and her "family of companies". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But will Trump and DeVos be willing to build walls between themselves and their business empires? If they are, those walls are going to have to be <b><i>huge</i></b>.</span></div>
Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-24375329779964324662016-11-24T02:21:00.000-05:002016-11-28T22:35:51.253-05:00Betsy DeVos: Conflict of Interest Concerns Arise on Future Secretary's Twitter Account<div class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So it's done.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-nominates-nikki-haley-to-be-un-ambassador/2016/11/23/401f4a7a-b183-11e6-be1c-8cec35b1ad25_story.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-nominates-nikki-haley-to-be-un-ambassador/2016/11/23/401f4a7a-b183-11e6-be1c-8cec35b1ad25_story.html">Trump has appointed billionaire school choice fetishist Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">"Betsy DeVos is a brilliant and passionate education advocate,” Trump said in a statement. “Under her leadership we will reform the U.S. education system and break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back so that we can deliver world-class education and school choice to all families."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I first heard the news I took to Twitter to check out her account. Here's the first thing I noticed. </span></div>
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I am honored to work with the President-elect on his vision to make American education great again. The status quo in ed is not acceptable.</div>
— Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVos) <a href="https://twitter.com/BetsyDeVos/status/801489110984691712">November 23, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let's play a little game for a moment to try and lighten the mood. Did you catch the missing word in that tweet? The missing word is <b><i>public</i></b>. Our new Secretary of Education can't bring herself to utter the word <b><i>public</i></b> in the same sentence as <b><i>education</i></b> while announcing that she will soon oversee the <b><i>education</i></b> of 50 million American students in <i style="font-weight: bold;">public </i><b><i>schools</i></b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's what I noticed next. Her header photo.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74j0TRU3saYpjTVO9OLpZdfkJ50jI-zE9xVWWnJndRj6UuAJWXYgAKB8WSo8LvOs90PWA_-saWvxqwEPLLTmkMbBsRYdZGXmK89I0qn1EbeoayL3pxLgKlgp8KMc8067h6KJ9nZsFwaI/s1600/image1+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74j0TRU3saYpjTVO9OLpZdfkJ50jI-zE9xVWWnJndRj6UuAJWXYgAKB8WSo8LvOs90PWA_-saWvxqwEPLLTmkMbBsRYdZGXmK89I0qn1EbeoayL3pxLgKlgp8KMc8067h6KJ9nZsFwaI/s640/image1+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At first glance this just looks like a lovely photo of DeVos in conversation with a student. But huh, isn't it a little odd that there is a carton in front of each of them? And not just any carton, a carton of water. That's not something you see everyday.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It looks like a product placement, doesn't it? But nah, she's savvy enough to keep any products her family business may be associated with far away from the Twitter account where she's tweeting about her appointment, right? She can't be involved in that company, that would look like a conflict of interest! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So l</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">et's just get on with our story.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DeVos is from Michigan. Betsy and her husband, Dick, have funded countless Republican candidates in Michigan, <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/devos-michigan-labor-politics-gop" target="_blank">going back to the 1990s</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Nowhere has the family made its presence felt as it has in Michigan, where it has given more than $44 million to the state party, GOP legislative committees, and Republican candidates since 1997. "It's been a generational commitment," Anuzis notes. "I can't start to even think of who would've filled the void without the DeVoses there."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.mcfn.org/node/203" target="_blank">Governor Rick Snyder has been the recipient of the DeVos family's largesse.</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Employees of Blue Cross/Blue Shield are the biggest funding source for the governor so far, having donated $112,131. Fifteen members of the DeVos family have contributed $85,600. They are followed by employees of CMS Energy, $82,975, and DTE Energy, $75,800.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The DeVos family uses their money and influence for any number of vile endeavors; <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/11/betsy_devos_could_destroy_publ.html" target="_blank">vouchers</a>, <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/devos-michigan-labor-politics-gop" target="_blank">right-to-work laws</a>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-crawford/what-about-nbas-homophobe_b_5236780.html" target="_blank">anti-gay marriage</a> efforts, etc. But <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/trump-picks-billionaire-betsy-devos-school-voucher-advocate-as-education-secretary/2016/11/23/c3d66b94-af96-11e6-840f-e3ebab6bcdd3_story.html" target="_blank">school choice is Betsy Devos' bread and butter.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">But they are perhaps most ardent about their support for school choice, leading a movement to promote vouchers and charter schools for years.<br /> <br />Betsy DeVos founded and serves as chairman of the American Federation of Children and its associated political arm, a platform she has used to support candidates who endorse vouchers and charter schools and to attack candidates who don’t.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The DeVos clan has a ton of money (<a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/richard-devos/">5.1 billion to be exact</a>) from multiple business interests, and they use it to bust unions, privatize schools and deny rights to gay Americans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's a quick peek at some of the family's business, political and foundation connections from <a href="http://www.muckety.com/310536DFBDCC5C669590EFA3964530DD.map" target="_blank">Muckety</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Whew, nothing about a boxed water business, so my earlier suspicions must be unfounded. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But I just can't shake the feeling that something is off about those water cartons being in the photo. Like it's more of an advertisement than a snapshot of an educational leader engaging in a genuine moment with a student. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I looked up the company.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.boxedwaterisbetter.com/" target="_blank"><br />
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<a href="http://www.boxedwaterisbetter.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From their website you might think they're total do-gooders.</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">OUR STORY </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We started with the simple idea of creating a packaged water brand that is kinder to the environment and gives back.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">WE FOUND THAT IT SHOULDN’T BE BOTTLED, BUT INSTEAD, BOXED.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We focused on purity and sustainability, delivering our first carton to our favorite lunch spot in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2009. Since then, we’ve continued to spread our message of healthy and thoughtful living, one box at a time.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Huh, they started in Michigan. DeVos is from Michigan. So maybe the boxes are in the photo just because this is a nice, local brand! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A do-gooder local company must have pitched in to help with the Flint water crisis, right? <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/michigan-based-company-boxed-water-to-donate-to-flint-michigan-residents-amid-water-crisis-300212443.html" target="_blank">This is from a press release from the company.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">"We feel for the local community and those impacted by the Flint water crisis, and as a Michigan based water company, we strongly believe it's our responsibility to help the community during this time," commented David Lee, Chief Operating Officer for Boxed Water. "We encourage everyone involved to continue donations and continue volunteering time and energy to raise awareness for this issue and to help those in need during this time."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A little tacky to send out a press release about your good works, but okay, I still want to buy the do-gooder routine.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Until I search for "Boxed Water is Better" and "Betsy DeVos", just because in my heart of hearts, I really am deeply cynical. I just can't help it.<br />
<br /><a href="https://mibiz.com/item/23528-boxed-water-expands-distribution-to-meijer-stores" target="_blank">And what did I find?</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Founded in 2009, Boxed Water is a portfolio company of DeVos family office <strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Windquest Group</strong>.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Boxed Water is just one of many ventures that are a part of The Windcrest Group, <a href="http://windquest.com/" target="_blank">which is described on their website</a> as a "<span style="background-color: white;">privately held enterprise and investment management firm with diversified projects in technology, manufacturing, clean-tech, hospitality, and nonprofit solutions."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">And Betsty DeVos is the Chairwoman of the Windcrest Group.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/devos-family-foundations-heritage-americans-prosperity-blackwater</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">So wait a minute. Let's skip past the whole "<b><i>I knew it!</i></b>" part and unpack this a bit. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">A water company the DeVos family has invested in donated water to the people of Flint, and touted the donation via a press release in February of 2016. This was just a month before a panel, commissioned by the governor, concluded that that same governor (</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">who, remember, the DeVos family helped put in office with almost $100,000 in campaign contributions)</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and other state officials were "fundamentally accountable" for the lead that poisoned the people of Flint. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/michigan-officials-responsible-for-flint-water-crisis-governor-appointed-panel-finds-1458762906" target="_blank"><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/michigan-officials-responsible-for-flint-water-crisis-governor-appointed-panel-finds-1458762906" target="_blank">From the Wall Street Journal</a>:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><i>The Flint water crisis is a story of government failure,</i></b> intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice,” said Chris Kolb, a co-chairman of the task force and president of Michigan Environmental Council, a nonprofit coalition of environmental groups in the state.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(emphasis mine)</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A story of government failure. Let that just sink in for just a moment. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How opportunistic is if for a business funded by the DeVos family to send out a press release about donating boxed water to Flint, when their 44 million dollars in campaign contributions helped elect Republican legislators that have failed the people of Flint for decades? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Disaster capitalism at its finest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hard not to draw comparisons to DeVos and her penchant for privatization and school choice, isn't it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wreck the public schools by underfunding them and busting their unions, and then offer the desperate masses for-profit charters and vouchers to private schools!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">And as it so happens, one of the many "enterprises" that is listed as part of <a href="http://windquest.com/portfolio/" target="_blank">The Windcrest Group portfolio</a>, right on the same page as the Boxed Water company, is the charter school started by DeVos' husband, the <a href="http://www.westmichiganaviation.org/" target="_blank">West Michigan Aviation Academy.</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because to people like Trump and DeVos, a school is just another business.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So here is the big question - at a time when questions swirl around the Trump family's business empire and the unavoidable conflicts of interest, what about DeVos? In how many businesses does the DeVos family have an interest, and how many of those businesses could potentially benefit from her new position?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After all, if she's not above using her official Twitter account to shill boxed water sold by a company she has invested in, what other products might her family sell that could lead to conflicts in her new role as a government official? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Will she divest from her business interests now that she is poised to become a government employee? Or does Trump believe that the "l<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/11/23/trumps-claim-that-the-president-cant-have-a-conflict-of-interest/">aw is on the side</a>" of the Secretary of Education as well, and she can't have a conflict of interest?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Can she shill boxed water that pays her dividends on her Twitter account, President Trump? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Are you OK with that?</span></div>
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Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-6683868055350648482016-09-08T12:57:00.000-04:002016-09-08T12:57:29.807-04:00Guest Post: Who Chooses Charters in New Jersey?<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The following is a guest post from four incredible public school activists from Montclair, New Jersey; Lynn Fedele, Michelle Fine, </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Christine McGoey and Regina Tuma. They are members of the community group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Montclair-Cares-About-Schools-151421161685482/" target="_blank">Montclair Cares About Schools</a>, also know as MCAS. MCAS has inspired dozens of similar "Cares" groups across New Jersey, including <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HighlandParkCares/" target="_blank">one here in Highland Park</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">MCAS is now actively involved in working to inform the public not only about the problems with the application for a French Immersion charter in Montclair, but how their experience illustrates major flaws in the state's charter school program.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My hat is off to them for their tireless advocacy work on behalf of all children.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">In late March, 2016, public school parents in Montclair, NJ were informed that an application for a French language immersion charter school had been submitted to the New Jersey Department of Education. While the Montclair Board of Education, Town Council and citizen groups quickly objected through letters and calls to the state, the application was approved to move to the second phase. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Now people in Montclair are learning what their neighbors in places like Newark and Paterson already know: when it comes to charter schools, local communities have no choice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Who Chooses Charters? </b></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">NJ Charter School law puts the decision to grant charter applications solely in the hands of the Commissioner of Education, after review by the charter division. The charter division may take into account community opposition, but communities have no right to make their own decisions about whether charter schools are right for them. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Communities are forced to pay for charter schools, draining dollars for local public schools, even when there is no support or need for them. Adding insult to injury, once the public school dollars are turned over, charter schools have absolutely no accountability to the district tax payers who supply them; no requirements for transparency and no evidence of equity. A charter school can take and take from the local community but does not have to answer to it. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Fulbright / Montclair Charter School Application is a prime example of how these glaring inequities in NJ Charter law can hold local school districts hostage to educationally unsupportable and unnecessary charter schools overwhelmingly opposed by the community. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/proposed-french-charter-school-faces-resistance-in-montclair-1471483484" target="_blank">In a recent Wall Street Journal article</a>, Brian Murray, a spokesman for the governor, called the NJ charter approval process "rigorous" and asserted that: </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">This administration will encourage successful charter-school programs wherever the state Department of Education deems appropriate and whenever they can effectively provide parents with an alternative to a failing public school.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the first instance, communities who are paying for these schools are denied choice, and tax levy dollars are re-routed into corporate hands. Second, even according to Murray’s criteria, the Montclair charter application should have been denied in Phase One. There is no credible way to label Montclair's schools as failing. How then, could a "rigorous process" have allowed the application pass to Phase Two? Under what criteria and by whose judgement did the application move to this second phase? </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nobody outside a select few at the NJ DOE knows, because the so-called "rigorous" process is not transparent to democratic, public scrutiny. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">OPRA requests were met with NJ DOE reply that:</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The Department does not make or maintain records responsive. </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The NJ DOE has only produced heavily redacted invoices for a charter consultant from New York. If indeed the NJ DOE keeps no records of charter application feedback, this is a change in policy, as the state used to provide feedback to applicants on a rubric that was available for public scrutiny through an OPRA request. Apparently, this is no longer the case. Again we ask, who chooses charters?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The problems inherent in this lack of public transparency from the state are compounded in the face of the strong local opposition to the proposed charter. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The Opposition</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To start, <a href="http://www.montclair.k12.nj.us/WebPage.aspx?Id=2714" target="_blank">the Montclair Board of Education and Superintendent Ronald Bolandi have opposed the charter</a> on numerous educational grounds. In a letter to state commissioner David Hespe, they state:</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Montclair is a racially and economically diverse community, characteristics about which its residents take a great deal of pride… Approval of a charter school will undermine the student diversity for which Montclair is so rightly proud. The application spends a lot of space discussing the achievement gap, but points to no evidence-based method for assuring a diverse student body and runs the risk of further segregating Montclair schools.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Charter review is required to attend to fiscal and segregative impacts. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In addition to town officials, a group of college professors have analyzed the application, declaring it a pedagogically unsound hodge-podge of immersion, STEAM, and STEM. They note that Montclair operates under a court desegregation order, but the application asserts the school will be modeled on and recruit in the same ways as Hoboken’s HoLa charter--currently the subject of a lawsuit for increasing segregation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Their letter delineates a series of concerns, rooted in Charter law: </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">…the financial consequences of a charter school in Montclair will drain monies from the already theme-based magnet schools. In addition, we have thoroughly reviewed and are well-versed on the literature regarding the pros and cons of charter schools in general and their adverse impact on curricular offerings and loss of supports for low income students in the host community. In Montclair we care deeply about equity and the needs of struggling students. The Charter would undermine both.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Many have noted the obvious lack of experience in the founders, and questionable judgement in selection of proposed principal. The applicants--a hedge fund employee and former fashion industry employee--have no background in education. The named principal for the school <a href="http://nypost.com/2013/04/28/school-in-oui-bit-of-trouble/" target="_blank">has been accused of financial mismanagement</a>, when she reportedly "spent like a kid in a candy store" on doughnuts and lunches while running a NY charter. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even the local police have voiced concerns. The proposed site for the Montclair charter has been the recent subject of a town health and safety meeting where everyone from the emergency manager to the police lieutenant in charge of traffic and the fire chief have found the site unsuitable. It is no surprise that Montclair has come out united and in force against this charter application </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Montclair BOE, Mayor R. Jackson, the Town Counsel, the local NAACP, PTA, Montclair Cares About Schools, Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence, the Montclair 250, the Montclair Civil Rights Commission, Montclair Kids First, The Montclair Times, The Montclair Community Pre-K, Montclair Residents Opposed to Fulbright/Montclair Charter, and individual citizens have all registered written opposition with the state, supported by Montclair's State Senator Nia Gill, and Assemblyman Thomas Giblin and Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Aware of the ability of charters to draw from neighboring towns, Glen Ridge, and Bloomfield Boards of Education are opposing the charter as well as parent groups from Verona and South-Orange Maplewood. And thousands of individual parents and community members have sent letters of opposition.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For some of these same reasons, and because charter schools are speeding up the rapid racial re-segregation of schools and over-disciplining of African American children across the US, Journey for Justice, the Movement for Black Lives (a coalition of 50 groups organized by Black Lives Matter), and the national NAACP have initiated a call for a moratorium on charters, and have been recently joined in the by the Democratic Party in MA. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Charter applications and applicants should not be favored under law over the local districts and citizens who have to support them. That the state continues to consider the approval of a pedagogically unsound charter school that local tax dollars would have to fund, despite public opposition and in a hidden procedure that includes no democratic processes for local taxpayers and citizens, reveals just how flawed the system for charter school approval is in the state of New Jersey. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a town known for rich debate, dissent, and dialogue, Montclair has surprisingly spoken in a single voice: We reject this charter. This unified opposition then begs the question: How can charter schools present any choice when the community has no voice and the state has no transparency or accountability to the public it is supposed to serve?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Montclair Board of Education is holding a rally to celebrate the Montclair Public Schools and to protest the proposed charter on Wednesday, September 14th at the Montclair High School Ampitheater from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. State Senator Nia Gill will be the Keynote Speaker with expected political representatives to be in attendance including State Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver, State Assemblyman Thomas Giblin, Freeholder Brendan Gill, Mayor Robert Jackson, Montclair Town Council and others.</span><div>
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Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-23738056996759311062016-06-14T16:01:00.001-04:002016-06-14T16:01:11.115-04:00NJ Charter Expansion Once Again On The Rise<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It would appear that Chris Christie's NJDOE is up to their old tricks again. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">NJCSA's Nicole Cole with Christie at <br />Bergen Arts and Science Charter School</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Governor Christie has been prancing around the state, meeting with charter parents (see <a href="http://nj.gov/governor/news/news/552016/approved/20160601a.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://nj.gov/governor/news/news/552016/approved/20160606b.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://newjersey.news12.com/news/gov-christie-visits-hackensack-s-bergen-arts-and-science-charter-school-1.11814406" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/education/in-our-schools/2016/05/16/christie-visits-franklin-highlight-charter-school-opportunities/84456674/" target="_blank">here</a>), and New Jersey Charter Schools Association staff (see photo), boldly proclaiming that before he leaves office he will all but completely deregulate charter schools. <a href="http://www.nj.com/education/2016/05/christie_njea_spar_over_charter_school_proposal.html" target="_blank">He even delivered the keynote address at the New Jersey Charter Schools Association conference</a> where he took more than a couple of predictable swipes at the NJEA.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In a speech Thursday at the New Jersey Charter School's Conference in Atlantic City, Christie said teachers unions are stealing from children and taxpayers while charter schools are doing "God's work." </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">"Their philosophy is that every one of their jobs, every one of their perks is more important than changing the system that they know is failing," Christie said of teachers unions.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Charter schools, where teachers are not unionized and last-in-first-out policies do not apply, are more focused on students, Christie told a crowd of hundreds of charter school teacher (sic) and administrators. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Christie travels the state cozying up to the charter sector, and bashing traditional public schools, I've noticed that the charter application process has once again become a three ring circus. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday it was announced that nine out of twenty four charter applications were advanced to Phase 2 of the state's March 2016 charter application round. <b><i>That announcement came over three weeks late</i></b>, according the the NJDOE's own timeline for the application process. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But more on that later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the previous round of charter applications, announced in February of this year, Commissioner Hespe approved three new charters and <b><i>sixteen</i></b> expansion requests. <a href="http://www.state.nj.us/education/news/2016/0229chart.htm" target="_blank">A Christie Administration press release</a> boasted that the 2016-2017 school year would see a 10% increase in charter seats across the state. No word of course as to how districts would <b><i>pay</i></b> for those seats, just this bold proclamation from Commissioner Hespe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white;">Expanding the number of charter schools and seats available ensures that students and parents, especially in our academically struggling districts, have more options to achieve success.</span></span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsMJTPh0vUTjHYDh3oojaX7AucWAf-TBFaRSZl8rpmvt_8I0bfSYxl06IgTU1FzaNpUF2Z94eE_ywxMP9fqnpzb7TxwCS2UD9YqzLe_Wb7ELTXsGuq3HsOeBh2T_u5dVRAGYrPoxm_tQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-14+at+8.41.20+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsMJTPh0vUTjHYDh3oojaX7AucWAf-TBFaRSZl8rpmvt_8I0bfSYxl06IgTU1FzaNpUF2Z94eE_ywxMP9fqnpzb7TxwCS2UD9YqzLe_Wb7ELTXsGuq3HsOeBh2T_u5dVRAGYrPoxm_tQ/s320/Screen+Shot+2016-06-14+at+8.41.20+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No mention that cities like <a href="http://www.edlawcenter.org/news/archives/school-funding/state-underfunding-and-rapid-charter-growth-put-newark-budget-in-crisis.html" target="_blank">Newark</a>, <a href="http://www.northjersey.com/news/paterson-officials-making-cuts-to-close-45m-gap-in-schools-budget-1.1520244" target="_blank">Paterson</a> and <a href="http://articles.philly.com/2016-05-14/news/73067143_1_support-staff-school-year-fewer-students" target="_blank">Camden</a> are struggling to fund their traditional public schools as the state opens an endless stream of charter seats, siphoning more students out of neighborhood schools and more dollars out of the district's budget. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No mention of the fact that the state capped the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, which they must pay for, because, <a href="http://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-limits-its-school-choice-program-1.1262801" target="_blank">in Hespe's own words</a>, the program became unsustainable.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #2c2c2c; line-height: 30px;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">“It’s fiscally unsustainable,” state Education Commissioner</span></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 30px;">David Hespe said in an interview. “The program has increased fivefold. The cost has increased fivefold.”</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead of actually stopping out of control charter growth in the hardest hit cities, the NJDOE feigns restraint in their charter school program by adding lines like this one to their press release.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">There are currently 89 charter schools in New Jersey. Since 2010, 39 new charter schools have opened and the Department has closed 17 due to academic, operational or financial deficiencies.</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But take a look at this chart I prepared for a presentation I gave in Montclair, a town now forced to continue to <a href="http://patch.com/new-jersey/montclair/montclair-super-opposes-new-charter-school-application-0" target="_blank">mount a defense against a charter application</a> that has made it to Phase 2.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhopb6Ae0IKi1YsPTNkUEbyzVa8MPsJUcUjsPXAi7XfAmycI31L8xJ7m8jc9NrtCcPYY_B7DpFDGabfdFqjVsv5-Ykk8J87KjjJkFQx3au8Fqrm74NycHugJuspyIWeO3V8ReTc4pAJlaw/s1600/Charter+Applications+and+Approvals.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhopb6Ae0IKi1YsPTNkUEbyzVa8MPsJUcUjsPXAi7XfAmycI31L8xJ7m8jc9NrtCcPYY_B7DpFDGabfdFqjVsv5-Ykk8J87KjjJkFQx3au8Fqrm74NycHugJuspyIWeO3V8ReTc4pAJlaw/s640/Charter+Applications+and+Approvals.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now keep in mind, this chart only represents <b><i>new</i></b> charter approvals - this does not include the expansions that have been approved. As I mentioned above, in the last round only 3 new charters were approved but <b><i>sixteen</i></b> were given the go ahead to expand. This resulted in a 10% increase in the number of charter seats in one school year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This kind of sudden increase is reminiscent of 2010, when Christie first took office and attempted to radically grow the number of charter seats in New Jersey. He was met with fierce opposition across the state, <a href="http://njmonthly.com/articles/towns-schools/the-right-course/" target="_blank">not only from parents</a>, but from legislators such as <a href="http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/1116/2341/" target="_blank">Senator Nia Gill who demanded transparency</a> in the approval process as Christie's administration <a href="http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-get-charter-school-approved.html" target="_blank">handed out charters as political favors</a>. As the chart above demonstrates, when they were challenged, the number of charter applications and approvals significantly slowed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is time for parents and legislators to stand up and demand that same transparency once again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Allow me to provide an example of the nonsense currently being perpetrated by the NJDOE. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a screen shot of the March Application Timeline, as it appeared on the Office of Charter Schools website on May 13th, four days before the Phase I decisions were to be announced.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBAX9i2jq7vNDs4Zlr45MGnBiv2oBlIqrNR0qZCNmBpWyUilIc_L0W8Dv9elZJj19FDOGWtKClgN5EvpWO_iq7qohRQMxjBVDiGcDcFgxBAYRMBxAkvyXnhOzQWyhcweqdZf_xXC1xv3M/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-05-13+at+12.29.08+PM.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBAX9i2jq7vNDs4Zlr45MGnBiv2oBlIqrNR0qZCNmBpWyUilIc_L0W8Dv9elZJj19FDOGWtKClgN5EvpWO_iq7qohRQMxjBVDiGcDcFgxBAYRMBxAkvyXnhOzQWyhcweqdZf_xXC1xv3M/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-05-13+at+12.29.08+PM.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.nj.gov/education/chartsch/app/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></a>
<a href="http://www.nj.gov/education/chartsch/app/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here is what it looks like today.</span></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSKgG8nCbzJzjlktrql7a04G4m483jrQo_Krv1a-Zewj5SL7fuwGbgwWBIVbnY5Ojy4wNvTiVvw9ImJiLQCzZ8gcvv3Oc_VcbFU3AfNTmOCbo9qUXvMvqptgg1CZ8PlaY_pqDZqd1Rz0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-14+at+8.18.01+AM.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSKgG8nCbzJzjlktrql7a04G4m483jrQo_Krv1a-Zewj5SL7fuwGbgwWBIVbnY5Ojy4wNvTiVvw9ImJiLQCzZ8gcvv3Oc_VcbFU3AfNTmOCbo9qUXvMvqptgg1CZ8PlaY_pqDZqd1Rz0/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-06-14+at+8.18.01+AM.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only does this appear to be a cover for the fact that, as I mentioned previously, the NJDOE was three weeks out of timeline with yesterday's announcement. This also means that with this new scaled back timeline, districts and communities have <b><i>no idea</i></b> when they will receive the Phase 2 applications and <b><i>no idea</i></b> how long they will be given to prepare their responses to those applications.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No doubt the applicants have been told the submission date for Phase 2 applications, but districts and communities, as usual, are left in the dark. This is just par for the course when a charter school is trying to open in a town. The deck is stacked against the traditional school district, as the state <a href="http://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2016/05/chris-christies-charter-school-gold-rush.html" target="_blank">woos and holds the hands of charter applicants and operators</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is time for the people of this state and their elected representatives in Trenton to once again call the NJDOE out on these shenanigans. Chris Christie's NJDOE makes up their own rules as they go along, and our governor has been very clear that he intends to drastically increase seats while he simultaneously deregulates the charter sector. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the <a href="http://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2016/05/chris-christies-charter-school-gold-rush.html" target="_blank">New Jersey Charter Schools Association</a> stands behind Christie (much as Christie stands behind Trump), just waiting for their reward, it is incumbent upon the rest of us to ensure that his reckless deregulation plans are thwarted. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keep in mind, with the lax regulations currently in place, this administration has had to close <b><i>seventeen</i></b> charters for "</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">academic, operational or financial deficiencies.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">"</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> That is an unnecessary</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and unproductive disruption of the education of thousands of students. How many more children will be put in the care of incompetent charter operators should Christie get his way?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must demand transparency in the application process, both for new applications, and for expansions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christie's aggressive charter growth and deregulation agenda is poison. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunlight is the best antidote</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span>Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-75556035061980608312016-05-05T11:29:00.001-04:002016-05-13T10:24:14.808-04:00NJ PTA: Well Funded But Ill Informed<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It seems that NJPTA President elect and We Raise NJ spokeswoman Rose Acerra <a href="http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/16/05/04/parcc-foes-vow-to-keep-fighting-high-school-graduation-requirement/">needs to do her homework on the graduation requirement issue</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">A coalition called We Raise NJ, which includes the New Jersey PTA, NJ Business and Industry Association, NJ Charter Schools Association, NJSBA, and several other groups, <b><i>sent out a press release yesterday defending PARCC</i></b>.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">“We believe in high-quality standards, as well as assessments that align to those standards. And we believe that every high school senior in the state of New Jersey should take a high-quality assessment to demonstrate college and career readiness,” said Rose Acerra, president-elect of the New York PTA. “That is the best way to determine if they are prepared for the next step that awaits them, be it a classroom or a boardroom.” </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">(emphasis mine)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Note to Acerra and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We Raise NJ</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">: High school seniors don't take exit exams. According to existing state statute, students are required to take an </span><a href="http://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/2015/title-18a/section-18a-7c-6/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">exit exam in the 11th grade</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">In the school year which begins in September 1993, and annually thereafter, the State graduation proficiency test <b><i>shall be administered to all 11th grade pupils and to any 11th or 12th grade pupil who has previously failed to demonstrate mastery</i></b> of State graduation proficiency standards on said test. The mastery of proficiencies required to fulfill local graduation standards shall be determined as appropriate under local board of education assessment plans. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(emphasis mine)</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The only 12th grade students taking exit exams are those students that did not pass the 11th grade administration. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Her comments make me wonder if Acerra even understands that the proposed regulations make PARCC Alg 1 and ELA 10 the state's exit exams. And does she understand, for instance, that many students take Algebra 1 in middle school?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">According to the state, last year 30,000 middle school students took PARCC Algebra 1. (<a href="http://www.state.nj.us/education/assessment/parcc/informing.pdf">see page 6</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And ELA 10 is taken, well, in 10th grade. What was the pass rate on that test last year? 37%. (see page 5)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let's bottom line this. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The state is proposing that schools must pressure middle schoolers</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and 10th graders </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(because remember, <a href="http://www.state.nj.us/education/news/2016/0111grad.htm">as of 2020 there will be no opting out</a>) into taking </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tests with 36% - 37% pass rates </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to prove they are both "college and career ready" <b><i>and</i></b> ready to graduate from high school. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As my friend Jersey Jazzman says, is everybody OK with that? Because to my mind, this proposal only makes sense if you want to set kids and schools up to fail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And while Acerra's well rehearsed talking point that the NJ PTA believes in "high-quality standards, as well as assessments that align to those standards," in reality that has nothing to do with the state statute as it relates to graduation exit exams.</span><br />
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<a href="http://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/2015/title-18a/section-18a-7c-6.1/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In fact, here's what the state statute actually says:</span></a><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The test shall measure those basic skills all students must possess to function politically, economically and socially in a democratic society. </span></i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">(emphasis mine)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Did you catch that? The legislature asked the NJDOE to create a test of basic skills. PARCC is not a basic skills test. Does PARCC include basic skills? Probably. Is it limited to basic skills? Most certainly not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Shoutout to the brilliant Sarah Tepper Blaine for scouring state statute and making these arguments before the New Jersey State Board of Education yesterday. Her fabulous testimony is <a href="https://parentingthecore.com/2016/05/04/administrative-law-101-administrators-must-implement-the-law-as-written/">posted on her blog</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sarah made it crystal clear that the NJDOE has completely overstepped their authority with the proposed graduation requirement regulations they're asking the state board to adopt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; line-height: 21.6px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">However, the school laws you’re tasked with enacting and enabling <b><i><span style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">only</span> allow you to deny high school diplomas to students who don’t</i></b></span><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; line-height: 21.6px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i> demonstrate the minimum basic skills in </i></b></span><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; line-height: 21.6px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i>reading, writing, and computational skills</i></b> necessary to function politically, socially, and economically in a democratic</span><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; line-height: 21.6px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"> society. <b><i>What the statutes expressly do not</i></b></span><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #111111; line-height: 21.6px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i> allow you to do is to unilaterally raise that minimum and instead require students to meet a much higher threshold – college and career readiness</i></b> – in order to obtain a high school diploma. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">(emphasis mine)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hey, We Raise New Jersey! I'll see your Rose Acerra and I'll raise you a Sarah Tepper Blaine! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You guys</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> may be clever enough to make it look like parents are on board with the NJDOE's proposed changes to graduation requirements by putting the NJPTA out in front on this one, but you don't have parent advocates Sarah. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You only have the NJPTA, and they lost the ability to represent the interests of parents the minute the national organization started taking <a href="https://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2015/01/solitary-pro-parcc-testimony-was-njpta.html?showComment=1440150462522">millions of dollars from Bill Gates</a> "<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.48px;">to educate parents and communities on the Common Core State Standards." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.48px;">That's when they stopped talking <b><i>with</i></b> parents and started talking <b><i>to</i></b> them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.48px;">And while those millions may get Gates a seat at the table in NJ in the form of some made-up coalition of parents and the business community (natural allies, right?), all that money can't buy him passion, commitment and determination. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.48px;">Like this.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; line-height: 20px;">Susan Cauldwell, executive director of SOSNJ Community Organizing, also endorsed the legislative approach during the press conference, but held out the possibility of a grassroots campaign against PARCC that extends into 2017 and beyond.</span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; line-height: 20px;">We won’t be discouraged in this fight,” she said. “Parents have attended countless public hearings, countless legislative hearings, they’ve written editorials, they’ve blogged, they’ve posted on Facebook. We’re not going away, so if it’s not this governor and this DOE, there’s an election coming, and it will be the next governor and the next DOE. We have the numbers, and change will be coming soon.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So while We Raise NJ was sending out their crisp press release, SOSNJ, ELC, NJEA and dozens of parents, teachers and students were outside the NJDOE stating our case. We were wet, and we were cold, but we were there to show the powers that be that </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">no
single test should be used to decide if a student is eligible to graduate. Especially
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And like Susan said, we're not going away and change will be coming soon.</span></div>
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Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-33871715865257847182016-05-03T13:35:00.003-04:002016-05-03T16:37:05.621-04:00Chris Christie's Charter School Gold Rush<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The shine is off of Chris Christie for sure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once the golden boy of the Republican Party, the New Jersey governor failed to poll out of the single digits in the primaries, and has been the subject or scorn and ridicule since returning to the Garden State defeated and opportunistically endorsing Donald Drumpf for President. There is <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/christie_chronicles/Christie-Not-expecting-but-not-ruling-out-Trump-VP-pick.html" target="_blank">speculation that he could be rewarded by being selected to be Drumpf's VP. </a> Anything to stay relevant, I guess </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Christie's favorability rating at home <a href="http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/03/christies_trump_endorsement_doesnt_sit_well_with_n.html" target="_blank">hit an all time low after the Drumpf endorsement</a>, and residents expressed sincere concern for the future of the state under his leadership.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Prior to endorsing Drumpf, Christie held a 33 percent approval rating. In the days after his surprise announcement last week, that rating dropped to 27 percent. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">The survey also found a record low number of New Jerseyans, 29 percent, are confident the state is headed down the right track. Fifty-nine percent expressed concern the state is "headed off the rails," according to the poll.</span> </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Fairleigh Dickinson University poll also asked respondents to describe the Governor in one word. Here is the word cloud created based on those answers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Not a big surprise that Christie is viewed as an arrogant bully, or that very few positive sentiments rise to the surface. This just confirms that Christie is persona non grata in the state, and we're all just biding our time until he's gone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our state held hostage by an arrogant bully. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So who would want to welcome Christie into their midst? Why, the New Jersey Charter Schools Association, of course!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I could barely stifle the laughter when I read the glowing email I received from NJCSA this morning:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">We are delighted to welcome Governor Chris Christie as the Keynote Speaker for the 8th Annual New Jersey Charter Schools Conference on Thursday, May 26 at 1 PM at Bally's Atlantic City.</span></blockquote>
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<img alt="Governor Chris Christie, Keynote Speaker" class="CToWUd" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgJrQtuGtHsB75ZLBpe-W3rcuIoLgHDf-3W6HxP5zOvAGKYgoXVwReH4i_9vwdAgE8bHnZpIITSfsIJHMZQNX8DOVPW4t7miZKPPVv-y3kP_mLJxLg5RfBey52xaJvlkOWydCB5koJD80MJzHMsWwJ-UwHbTPI2kWC-n7iXUA_AxcOf_e883J1P0Q=s0-d-e1-ft" style="float: left; margin: 1px 5px;" title="Governor Chris
Christie, Keynote Speaker" width="150" /></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Since taking office in 2010, Governor Christie has made education reform a top priority of his Administration, working to turn around failing schools, improve accountability, create a fair and meaningful evaluation system for teachers and principals and increase school choice in the state’s worst performing districts. Governor Christie provided billions of dollars in additional state aid for New Jersey schools, setting a historic high for school funding for five consecutive years.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Leaving all of the inaccuracies in this statement aside for the moment, why would the NJCSA be "delighted" to welcome a governor who has become so toxic to, well, just about everybody?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because Christie has promised to increase charter seats before he leaves office, and he's already shown he's prepared to make good on that promise. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But who can actually create those additional seats? Why, that would be </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Christie appointee David Hepse,</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> the Commissioner of Education. That's right, the Commissioner of Education is the only "decider" in the state as to which charters are opened, closed, renewed, or expanded. So it's not a bad idea to make sure to heap a bunch of praise on the guy who hires or fires the guy responsible for your future growth. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You see how this works, right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And oh, did I mention that Commissioner of Education David Hespe was the NJCSA Keynote Speaker last year?</span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I just wake up and I say, "How can I help these dedicated folks do better?" And, by the way, whenever you think of a way you can do better, let me know. I'm there. I'll support you in whatever possible way I can.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">....</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">If you need me, you know where to find me.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> - David Hespe 3/31/2015 </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The level of fawning is nothing short of shocking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The governor announced in his 2016 State of the State address that he intended to </span><a href="http://www.nj.com/education/2016/01/njs_charter_school_goal_50000_seats.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">increase charter seats by 9%</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> before leaving office, thus creating an additional 4,000 seats.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What has naturally followed is increased numbers of applications. Currently<a href="http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/16/04/05/new-applicants-still-lining-up-to-open-charter-schools-in-new-jersey/" target="_blank"> 26 prospective charter applicants</a> are hoping to get the nod from Commissioner Hespe. This comes right on the heels of <a href="http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/16/02/29/state-approves-only-three-new-charters-gives-ok-to-16-expansions/" target="_blank">16 approved expansion requests and three new charter schools approved in late February</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">NJCSA has not been shy about the fact that they have gotten the green light from the administration to open the flood gates, and it seems that they have sent that message loud and clear to current and prospective charter operators. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.redbankgreen.com/2016/01/red-bank-charter-school-plans-offensive/#more-101931" target="_blank">Consider this from Red Bank.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Flanked by Trenton lobbyists and a pair of ex-superintendents-turned-consultants, charter Principal Meredith Pennotti said one key reason the school is seeking to expand is “the political climate” — specifically, Governor Chris Christie’s unabashed support of school choice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">“Did you hear him underscore charter schools?” in his <a href="http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/01/full_text_of_chris_christies_2016_state_of_the_sta.html#annotations:8510505" style="color: #009900; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">state of the state address</a> last week, Pennotti asked the audience. With two years left in his second term as governor, and perhaps less if his quest for the presidency leads to an early departure, “we’re taking advantage of that opportunity,” she said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Christie mentioned charter schools 19 times in the speech, and called them “a resounding success for our state.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">“In two years, when he’s gone, this opportunity may not exist,” said <a href="http://njcharters.org/about/staff/" style="color: #009900; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">New Jersey Charter Schools Association</a> president Nicole Cole, “That’s a pretty critical piece. The time is now for your good schools to be looking at growing seats.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And this from Pennsauken.</span><br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="268" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FSaveOurSchoolsNJ%2Fposts%2F1156039194429239&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As Save Our Schools NJ so rightly pointed out:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Imagine if the Environmental Protection Agency began encouraging the coal power plants it regulates to expand and open in new locations?</span></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Of course, the funding for those charter schools comes from local property taxes and local public schools - even though the local population has nothing to say about whether those schools may open in their community. That decision is entirely up to the Commissioner of Education - a political appointee of the Christie Administration.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is no doubt that there is a concerted effort underway, by Christie, Hespe and NJCSA, to increase charter schools seats across the state. While I'm not surprised in the slightest that they're working together to create more charter seats, I would think they'd want to be a bit more subtle about it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It sure seems like a risky move to glorify Christie as the patron saint of your movement at a time when the vast majority of the state sees him for the arrogant bully he is. </span><br />
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Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-59154191391124313922016-03-02T11:14:00.000-05:002016-03-02T12:05:48.368-05:00My Kid Is Just Fine Thanks, She's Refusing The Test<div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: none; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKM95uVsg53Y3D-wUqxaFjUYDfq2YfoVP_9_ZKNRxytSwYT-OuPXl-bev4yVOBUm3f30Qq7cAkzBm-0mjR3E3soiWOlniVuT5q9T7TGSTcgAoztCZpVnuRXTHkcpIw-GTuOIRo_MmoTc/s1600/Bill+Gates+Green+Hat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCKM95uVsg53Y3D-wUqxaFjUYDfq2YfoVP_9_ZKNRxytSwYT-OuPXl-bev4yVOBUm3f30Qq7cAkzBm-0mjR3E3soiWOlniVuT5q9T7TGSTcgAoztCZpVnuRXTHkcpIw-GTuOIRo_MmoTc/s1600/Bill+Gates+Green+Hat.jpg" /></a></div>
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rejoice, New Jersey! Spring is almost here! That magical time of year when the flowers bloom, the sun sets later, and the temperatures rise. But for public school children, it's also state-mandated testing time. That dreaded time of year when their vibrant schools wither into testing factories, the school day can't end fast enough, and parents, politicians, and pundits get hot under the collar debating the value of PARCC.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What better time to launch a pro-testing, astroturf social media campaign?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Everyone please give a resounding welcome to <b><i><a href="http://howismykiddoing.com/" target="_blank">How Is My Kid Doing</a>!</i></b> These Gates funded Common Core astroturf cheerleaders, are doing a bang up job of setting all us misinformed parents </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">straight</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why, just watch their teaser video!</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yI1ui_tQylU" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From Carla, part of the How Is My Kid Doing team:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">The love and the anxiety we have over these little beings. It makes you put blinders on, you know? I mean, people could say to me, <b><i>if you wear a green hat on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, your kid will be spared from X, Y, and Z</i></b>. I'd be like, OK, put on the green hat, as silly as it makes me look, I'll do it!</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This may be the most preposterous pro-testing argument ever to be uttered, let alone recorded and promoted. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Imagine Bill Gates's disappointment that this is best the <a href="http://www.councilforastrongamerica.org/how-is-my-kid-doing/" target="_blank">Council for a Strong America</a> could do with the<a href="http://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database/Grants/2013/07/OPP1082143" target="_blank"> $2.2 million he gave them</a> to "</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="bodyregion_0_interiorarticle_0_lblPurpose" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">educate and engage stakeholders about the Common Core.</span><span style="line-height: 22px;">"</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Here's how they describe their campaign:</span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://howismykiddoing.com/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #005daa; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How is My Kid Doing</em></a> is an interactive video project that creates a parent-to-parent dialogue on the issue of well-designed, limited testing to measure and assess our children’s readiness for real life. The project talks with parents from across the country and discusses challenges and growth experienced as a result of testing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 23.8px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Common rules and ways to measure results help businesses, the military, and sports teams compete. Young Americans, no matter where they live, deserve the best preparation possible for their future success in college and the workforce.</div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If "common rules" are effective in business, the military, and in sports, then naturally they should be highly effective in a Kindergarten classroom, amiright? I mean, who wouldn't want their 5 year old shaped in the environmental conditions found on Wall Street, the battle ground, and the gridiron? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A friendly </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">little</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> word of advice to Bill Gates, and his army of propaganda pushers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>JUST STOP.</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>The parents I know who refuse the tests do not have blinders on</i></b>. They won't just put on a green hat because Bill Gates thinks it's good for their kid. They research. They think critically. They are not prone to follow someone else's lead. They are independent parents who want full, rich experiences for their own children, and for all children.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In other words, they are the people that will tell Bill Gates where he can shove his green hat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you want to hear authentic parent voices, hop on over to the Save Our Schools NJ Facebook page, where they have just launched their own campaign to raise the voices of informed parents across the state who refuse the test for their kids. The first refusal story is from a mom in Jersey City who was so disheartened by the joyless Kindergarten environment in her child's school, she made the decision to home school - the ultimate refusal.</span><br />
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<blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurSchoolsNJ/posts/1112105208822638:0">
Real parents explain why they oppose high stakes standardized testing. Check out our Q and A and other refusal resources at: http://www.saveourschoolsnj.org/refusing-parcc-test/<br />
Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurSchoolsNJ/">Save Our Schools New Jersey</a> on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurSchoolsNJ/posts/1112105208822638:0">Wednesday, March 2, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To hear from more independent parents across the state, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurSchoolsNJ/?fref=ts" target="_blank">stay tuned to the Save Our Schools NJ Facebook page</a>. If you'd like to submit your own story, send them a Facebook message with your name, a photo and a 100 word statement on why you refuse the tests.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The best antidote to Bill Gates and his minions is informed, engaged parents who aren't afraid to tell their story. More and more parents are waking up to the fact that education is so much more than what can be measured or standardized, and we refuse to let state and federal demands for accountability squeeze the joy and love of learning out of our children.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmqffQrXQ971IYtu7e_dGZhYuSMDbsjfXHXpcOFcKbVhqrZpmqc_9c83LMuhM-2uCnaRnBuzUSpEV7whYn6ba7n6GeTJrkFvmYGj3MfKtOmowQRfBl3msblEhLyL70wDccadQTm1vNhs/s1600/Bill+Gates+Green+Hat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmqffQrXQ971IYtu7e_dGZhYuSMDbsjfXHXpcOFcKbVhqrZpmqc_9c83LMuhM-2uCnaRnBuzUSpEV7whYn6ba7n6GeTJrkFvmYGj3MfKtOmowQRfBl3msblEhLyL70wDccadQTm1vNhs/s320/Bill+Gates+Green+Hat.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sorry Bill, no green hat for me.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ADDING: Aw, ain't that sweet! The Gates Foundation is really proud of their astroturf project about the "value of testing"!</span><br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Meet Ben, Shawna, Cheryl, and other parents in new video series on the value of testing, via <a href="https://twitter.com/howismykid">@HowisMyKid</a>: <a href="https://t.co/IdPP1nvk8o">https://t.co/IdPP1nvk8o</a></div>
— Gates Education (@gatesed) <a href="https://twitter.com/gatesed/status/704753431941136384">March 1, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-16085477500420315832015-05-08T12:27:00.000-04:002015-05-08T12:38:59.468-04:00Pitchman Fails To Extinguish Pearson's PR Fire<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If corporations really are people then Pearson must be crying in his coffee right about now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, Pearson received a thorough skewering at the hands of John Oliver.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As one might expect, the Oliver bit went viral on social media. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LastWeekTonight" target="_blank">On the Last Week Tonight Facebook page</a>, the video has been viewed almost 3.5 million times, and has been shared 56,000 times. To date, it's the most viewed video of the season. The only video that has come remotely close to the same number of views was a segment on government surveillance where Oliver interviewed Edward Snowden. The Snowden segment has been watched a little more than 2.6 million times, and shared 37,000 times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Congratulations, Pearson!! <i>You're more frightening to the American public than their own government spying on them.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What even I didn't expect however was that the segment went viral in the main stream media. It's been covered by <a href="http://time.com/3844948/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-standardized-testing/" target="_blank">Time</a>, <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/videos/watch-john-oliver-explore-insanity-of-standardized-testing-20150504" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a>, the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/05/04/john-oliver-rips-standardized-testing-with-help-from-a-dancing-monkey-on-last-week-tonight/" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal</a> and even <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/education_and_the_media/2015/05/hbos_john_oliver_takes_on_standardized_testing.html" target="_blank">EdWeek</a> among a host of other major media outlets.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/05/07/pearson-responds-to-criticism-about-its-standardized-tests/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">the brilliant Valerie Strauss reached out to Pearson</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and asked if they wanted to respond to the segment. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seems they thought this would be a good opportunity to do some </span><a href="http://www.meltwater.com/blog/crisis-communication-infographic/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Crisis Communications</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pearson's chosen Pitchman is a fellow by the name of Alfred Binford. Pearson sent Alfred out to fight their five alarm PR Fire.</span><br />
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Alfred was described in the post as the "managing director of assessment and direct delivery." Whatever the heck that means.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/alfred-binford/8/180/522" target="_blank">A quick perusal of his LinkedIn account</a> shows Alfred's only been on the job for 6 months. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before releasing his missive, Pearson may have wanted to make sure the job description on his LinkedIn account matched what they were sending to the Washington Post, since LinkedIn says he "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Directs North American Sales and GTM operations across major units for global market leader."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His letter sure reads like a sales pitch, and not only is Pearson selling us their test, they're trying to sell us Alfred himself.</span><br />
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<div style="color: #111111; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The best things that have happened in my life are because of my family and education. A single mom made schooling a top priority for my siblings and me, and I am a proud product of the Bronx Public Schools in New York City. Education has always been “access to opportunity” for me and has helped shape me as a husband, dad, neighbor, employee, and citizen.</span></div>
<div style="color: #111111; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">My wife and I want our three boys to get great educations that prepare them to earn good-paying jobs and to find fulfillment in life. Just about every parent knows that so much of future success depends on access to the best education possible. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It sure seems like Pearson's PR flacks are putting Alfred out there as the new, fresh, family friendly face of Pearson. And what a coincidence, I found reference to Alfred on the Facebook page of <a href="http://www.lwolfe.com/about-us/about-l-wolfe-communications/" target="_blank">L. Wolfe Communications</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And of course, <a href="http://www.lwolfe.com/our-clients/" target="_blank">Pearson is listed as a client of L. Wolfe Communications</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The article L. Wolfe was hawking goes even further to sell us on the Cult of Alfred.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">My family is no different. In my new role at Pearson, I am busy with the development and distribution of our assessment and virtual learning solutions, and supporting our dedicated team of professionals who work with educators throughout North America. My wife, Jackie, is putting her undergraduate degree and master’s in business administration to work as a part-time substitute teacher in Georgia. When traveling for work, I am so grateful for her shouldering much of the responsibility for managing the busy lives of our three boys—everything from shuttling them to and from basketball practice and taking them to the latest action movie sequel (that I think are way too violent) to helping with their homework projects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In the midst of our hectic lives, we find one activity that really unites us is family dinner. In the Binford household, we make an effort for the five of us to sit down at the table together every chance we get. Whether at home, or at our favorite local restaurants, this precious time together provides us with a break from our busy lives, and time to talk, laugh (mostly at me) and re-connect.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note to Pearson (and I know you are reading this):</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">STOP!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parents want an honest conversation about your tests and your role in our kids' schools. We are far too smart for you to prop up someone like Alfred and attempt to have him woo us with flowery language about the importance of family and public education. <b><i>We already know how important these things are, and that is precisely why we want you out of our schools and off of our kids' social media accounts.</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.clearlakecapital.com/news/52-082013-MYCOM_Alfred_Binford_PressRelease.html" target="_blank">Here is the press release that was sent out when Alfred took his previous job</a> as President and CEO of MYCOM, "a leading provider of innovative engineering services and carrier grade software solutions". Give it a nice long read. (Go ahead and have it taken down Pearson, I have it saved as a pdf.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meet the real Alfred "Industry Leader" Binford.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Alfred Binford: Binford has more than 25 years of experience in the communications industry and has worked across a broad range of major markets. Prior to joining MYCOM North America, Binford led the Amdocs Consulting Division to significant growth on a worldwide basis, joining the company in 2010. Before joining Amdocs, he was a senior executive at Vodafone, leading its Global Enterprise business in the Americas. Prior to working at Vodafone, Binford led the Managed Services and Outsourcing businesses for Unisys and, earlier, at EDS. Binford began his career in telecommunications with AT&T where, over the course of eleven years, he held assignments of increasing responsibility across sales, marketing, network operations, and product management. Binford went on to work at Verizon, where he was initially Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Advertising, and later the President and CEO of its long‐distance subsidiary during the startup phase.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Communications Industry... Major Markets... </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Corporate Marketing... Consulting Division... </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Business... </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sales...</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Operations... </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Product Management...</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Advertising</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hmmm, see EDUCATION in there anywhere? No? Well, I'll be darned.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pearson, your attempt to humanize your company is as big of a disaster as your test.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I beg you. On behalf of parents everywhere.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">STOP.</span><br />
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<br />Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-11114646888347688312015-05-06T00:06:00.000-04:002015-05-06T10:06:42.063-04:00NJ Mom To The Leadership Conference: Let's Talk About Testing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The guest post below by Julie Larrea Borst needs little introduction, as the author of the letter tells us everything we need to know about why she is so passionate about the testing revolt currently captivating the nation. I will tell you though that Julie <a href="http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/15/03/01/op-ed-why-nj-parents-are-refusing-high-stakes-standardized-tests/" target="_blank">recently helped pen an opinion piece for NJ Spotlight</a>, and she also wrote a <a href="http://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2013/04/why-on-earth-does-my-daughter-have-to.html" target="_blank">guest post for this blog</a> two years ago when she opted her daughter out of the NJASK. It is called <i>Why On Earth Does My Daughter Have To Take This Test</i>, and it's </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a heart wrenching reminder of how inappropriate standardized tests truly are for many disabled children, not just Julie's. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A little background on what got Julie riled up enough to write the letter I have posted below. Earlier today <a href="http://www.civilrights.org/press/2015/anti-testing-efforts.html" target="_blank">The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights released a statement </a>titled </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Civil Rights Groups: “We Oppose Anti-Testing Efforts”. </i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Julie is not alone in feeling the need to respond to this statement. The Leadership Conference statement also elicited a response from Jesse Hagopian and the Network for Public Education challenging the notion that standardized testing is the correct path to educational equity. Here's a snippet:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #44423b; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Yet we know that high-stakes standardized tests, rather than reducing the opportunity gap, have been used to rank, sort, label, and punish students of color. This fact has been amply demonstrated through the experience of the past thirteen years of NCLB’s mandate of national testing in grades 3-8 and once in high school. The outcomes of the NCLB policy shows that test score achievement gaps between African American and white students have only increased, not decreased. If the point of the testing is to highlight inequality and fix it, so far it has only increased inequality.</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can read the entire statement <a href="http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2015/05/resistance-to-high-stakes-tests-serves-the-cause-of-equity-in-education/" target="_blank">here</a>, and the press release <a href="http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2015/05/network-for-public-education-response-to-the-leadership-conference-on-civil-and-human-rights-statement-on-opting-out/" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Without further ado, here is the bold letter to The Leadership Conference's President and CEO, Wade Henderson, written by Allendale, NJ parent Julie Larrea Borst.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">5 May 2015</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Wade Henderson, Esq.<br />
President and CEO<br />
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights<br />
1629 K Street NW, 10th Floor<br />
Washington, DC 20006</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Dear Mr. Henderson,</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p> </o:p>I very rarely take the time to respond to press releases by organizations such as yours. However, the release dated today, 5<sup>th</sup> May, has left me wondering who exactly you’re representing, because it certainly is not me or my disabled daughter.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p> </o:p>Please allow me to explain why the current testing, and its abysmal 14-year track record, are not in the best interests of students with disabilities (SWD), for persons of colors, or those who are economically disadvantaged.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As a parent and a parent advocate, I am in a position to see, on the ground, how the effects of NCLB, and now the implementation of Bill Gates’ vision of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the accompanying tests, have grossly underserved those The Leadership Conference represents.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It’s easy to understand the draw of the notion that a student’s progress or a teacher’s effectiveness can be quantified. I have a corporate background. I get it. But, this is people we are talking about, and more specifically, people who for whatever reason have challenges that deserve much more than the idea that a test score will help them overcome those challenges.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">NCLB did not close achievement gaps. It did not lead to better and innovative curriculum. It did not improve US scores on PISA.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What NCLB did do is create a really clear map of where the deepest pockets of poverty are in this country. It did demonstrate that attaching “high stakes” (someone’s profession, their livelihood) to a number made for a narrowing of curriculum as everyone was forced to teach to a test. Race to the Top is that program on steroids.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For the last 14 years, tax-payer money has been going to support a program that is not focused on raising up students, no matter what their situation. Special education, as I have lived it, in some of the wealthiest areas of this country, has been cut short by the insipid notion that having “higher expectations” and doing well on a test that takes none of my daughter’s disabilities into account, will somehow, magically produce better students, now called “college and career ready.” Anyone with the most basic background or exposure to SWD’s knows this is not true. We also know that all the money spent on testing and on remediation because a single test reported that students are “failing,” has resulted in desperately needed funding not reaching the populations most in need – students with disabilities, students of color, and students who are economically disadvantaged.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Those scoring low on tests were labeled “failing” and punished with the loss of funds! Those “failing” scores translated into “failing schools” that were then closed and/or sold off to charter school companies. Imagine the very heart of your neighborhood being cut out. The effects are devastating – on the fired teachers, on the displaced school children, on loss of neighborhoods. This method is called “test and punish.”</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, with the onset of CCSS testing -- here in New Jersey it is PARCC -- we have had to deal not only with the complete overhaul of CCSS-aligned curriculum, but also with whatever districts have had to purchase in order to administer this fully online test – infrastructure, hardware (laptops, tablets, etc.), new technology staff to manage all of this, professional development to administer the test, and so on. Districts, already strapped for money, have still had to find it somewhere. There has been no accountability for the money spent on CCSS or the testing. Do you think special ed programs didn’t suffer because of this? Do you think in areas with poverty that money could not have been spent on more meaningful things such as - textbooks, art supplies, and afterschool programs? What exactly was wrong with the grade span testing pre-NCLB? And why are you not advocating alternative assessments, such as NYC’s Performance Standards Consortium, which allow students like my daughter to show what they can do rather than simply fail a standardized test.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It is disheartening to hear organizations like yours, and the ones that comprise your membership, speak out against the one action that has actually gotten attention after years of parents being ignored. It is astonishing that your civil rights group doesn’t recognize civil disobedience when you see it, and what’s more, you condemn it!</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Please, I implore you, take the time to understand what these standardized tests provide in terms of usable data. Receiving a “not proficient at grade level” designation is not even remotely helpful, especially when true diagnostic tests are available. Speak to parents. Speak to teachers.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I would be happy to have a discussion with you about testing, about special education, and how organizations like yours can help those of us living through this morass called public education.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Sincerely,</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Julie Larrea Borst</span></blockquote>
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</style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment-->Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-71159250595410798122015-04-19T11:46:00.002-04:002015-04-19T11:46:44.507-04:00Ready Or Not, Here Comes The 2nd Grade PARCC <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 2nd grade PARCC test has come out of hiding.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This image has been making the rounds on social media. It seems a <a href="http://www.state.nj.us/education/pr/1314/27/272380040.pdf" target="_blank">K-2 school in Lake Hopatcong</a>, NJ has already field tested PARCC for 2nd graders. And a quick google search reveals they are not the only district. <a href="http://www.pps-nj.us/pps/District%20Calendar/?month=04&year=2015&" target="_blank">Pleasantville Public School's April calendar</a> shows 4 days of grade 2 field testing starting tomorrow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you jump on over to the PARCC website, here is what they have to say about their <a href="http://www.parcconline.org/K2-assessments" target="_blank">K-2 Formative Assessments</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">To help states measure student knowledge and skills at the lower grades, the Partnership <span style="color: red;"><u><i>will develop</i></u></span> an array of assessment resources for teachers of grades K–2 that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards, and vertically aligned to the PARCC assessment system. <span style="color: red;"><u><i>The tasks will consist</i></u></span> of developmentally-appropriate assessment types, such as observations, checklists, classroom activities, and protocols, which reflect foundational aspects of the Common Core State Standards. The K-2 formative assessment tools aim to help create a foundation for students and put them on the track to college and career readiness in the early years.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">These K-2 assessment tools will help educators prepare students for later grades and provide information for educators about the knowledge and skills of the students entering third grade, allowing classroom teachers and administrators to adjust instruction as necessary. These tools also will help states fully utilize the Common Core State Standards across the entire K-12 spectrum. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(emphasis mine)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I find most peculiar is that the Lake Hopatcong principal sold the field test to parents as a benefit to the students. But if you read the passage above from the PARCC website, it is clear that the test is still under development, which means these children are being used as PARCC product testers. Here are a couple of definitions of "field test". First, from <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/field-test" target="_blank">Mirriam Webster</a>:</span><br />
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field–test</span></b><span style="display: inline-block; height: 20px; position: relative; text-align: justify; vertical-align: bottom; width: 56px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" frameborder="0" height="1000px" name="f1e98a7208" scrolling="no" src="http://www.facebook.com/v2.0/plugins/share_button.php?app_id=178450008855735&channel=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2FKvoNGODIqPG.js%3Fversion%3D41%23cb%3Df104b7e1c4%26domain%3Dwww.merriam-webster.com%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.merriam-webster.com%252Ff3a338ed2c%26relation%3Dparent.parent&container_width=0&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.merriam-webster.com%2Fdictionary%2Ffield-test&layout=button&locale=en_US&sdk=joey" style="border-style: none; height: 20px; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 56px;" title="fb:share_button Facebook Social Plugin" width="1000px"></iframe></span><span style="display: inline-block; height: 20px; position: relative; text-align: justify; vertical-align: bottom; width: 56px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" frameborder="0" height="1000px" name="f1e98a7208" scrolling="no" src="http://www.facebook.com/v2.0/plugins/share_button.php?app_id=178450008855735&channel=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2FKvoNGODIqPG.js%3Fversion%3D41%23cb%3Df104b7e1c4%26domain%3Dwww.merriam-webster.com%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.merriam-webster.com%252Ff3a338ed2c%26relation%3Dparent.parent&container_width=0&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.merriam-webster.com%2Fdictionary%2Ffield-test&layout=button&locale=en_US&sdk=joey" style="border-style: none; height: 20px; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 56px;" title="fb:share_button Facebook Social Plugin" width="1000px"></iframe></span><br /><iframe allowtransparency="true" class="twitter-share-button twitter-tweet-button twitter-share-button twitter-count-none" data-twttr-rendered="true" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.20ed5cfd7315475c9d1d523194b1645f.en.html#_=1429448824013&count=none&dnt=false&id=twitter-widget-0&lang=en&original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.merriam-webster.com%2Fdictionary%2Ffield-test&size=m&text=Field-test%20-%20Definition%20and%20More%20from%20the%20Free%20Merriam-Webster%20Dictionary&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.merriam-webster.com%2Fdictionary%2Ffield-test" style="height: 20px; width: 57px;" title="Twitter Tweet Button"></iframe><br /><span class="main-fl" style="color: #757575; display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em>verb</em></span> <span class="pr" style="border-left-color: rgb(218, 218, 218); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; color: #757575; display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px;">\-<span class="unicode" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'lucida sans unicode'; font-size: 0.9em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ˌ</span>test\</span><br />: to test (something, such as a product) by using it in the actual conditions it was designed for<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And also from <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/field-test.html" target="_blank">Business Dictionary</a>:</span><br />
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field test</blockquote>
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<a alt="field service representative" class="prevnext-sprite live-tipsy prev-page-link1" href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/field-service-representative.html" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://img.businessdictionary.com/prev-next-btn-sprite.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0253b7; display: block; height: 38px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 42px;" title="field service representative"></a></div>
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Definition<br /><a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/experiment.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 137, 119); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Experiment</a>, <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/research.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 137, 119); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">research</a>, or <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/trial.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 137, 119); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">trial</a> conducted under actual use <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/condition.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 137, 119); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">conditions</a>, instead of under controlled conditions in a laboratory. Also <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/call.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 137, 119); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">called</a> <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/field-experiment.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(136, 137, 119); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">field experiment</a>.</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I post these definitions to make it clear that a field test is little more than an <b><i>experiment;</i></b> <i><u>an experiment being conducted on public school children by a for-profit company using tax payer resources and <b>your children</b></u></i>. Pearson conducting field tests on 7 year olds is <b><i>not</i></b> for the benefit of the children, it is for the benefit of <b><i>Pearson</i></b>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/field-test-lessons-learned-final_0.pdf" target="_blank">Here is PARCC's report from their 2014 field test</a>. Please, try to find some reference to the field test being beneficial to student participants.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Field testing is actually to the detriment of students who are missing instructional time to help Pearson refine their product. Last year <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/06/03/6th-graders-seeking-payment-for-taking-common-core-field-tests/" target="_blank">sixth graders in Massachusetts were smart enough to realize that they were being used as guinea pigs</a> for Pearson's profits, and they asked for payment for the time they spent field testing Pearson's product.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">One student, Brett Beaulieu, drafted a letter asking that he and his classmates be paid for their time and even calculated how much they should receive if they were paid the minimum wage for 330 minutes of testing : a total of $1,628 to be divided among the kids.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Lake Hopatcong principal admits in her letter that "students will not be scored on their responses and the school will not receive the results of the testing" while making a feeble attempt to claim students will benefit solely by being forced to sit for a standardized test at the age of 7 to prepare them for the test when they are 8. That's a pretty hard sell.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If NJ districts implement Pearson K-2 tests, will 5-7 year olds be forced to agree to the same code of silence that students in grades 3-11 must abide by? If you are still not sure that it is a bad idea to allow a for-profit behemoth like Pearson to write tests for children as young as 5, <a href="https://gadflyonthewallblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/this-article-may-be-illegal-lifting-the-veil-of-silence-on-standardized-testing/" target="_blank">please read this post now.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And since all of these assessments are purchased from private corporations, the testing material is ideological property. <b><i>The students taking these exams – regardless of age – are no longer treated as children. They are clients entering into a contract.</i></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b><i>At the start of these tests, <u>students are warned of the legal consequences of violating the terms of this agreement.</u></i></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In particular, the <a href="http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/state_assessment_system/20965/pennsylvania_system_of_school_assessment_%28pssa%29/1190526" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1185d7; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;">Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) tests</a> require students to read the following warning on the first day of the assessment:</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">DO NOT PHOTOGRAPH, COPY OR REPRODUCE MATERIALS FROM THIS ASSESSMENT IN ANY MANNER. All material contained in this assessment is secure and copyrighted material owned by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Copying of material in any manner, including the taking of a photograph, is a violation of the federal Copyright Act. Penalties for violations of the Copyright Act may include the cost of replacing the compromised test item(s) or a fine of no less than $750 up to $30,000 for a single violation. 17 U.S.C. $ 101 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">et seq</em></span></blockquote>
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<i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-weight: bold;">So the first act of testing is a threat of legal consequences and possible fines. </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(emphasis mine)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no way that young children can possibly understand the consequences of such agreements, and far too many parents are unaware of what their children are being forced to agree to just to sit and take a test.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And there's more:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In addition, they are told <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">NOT</span> to:</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white; border-left-color: rgb(31, 86, 125); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 15px 30px;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-talk with others about questions on the test during or after the test.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">-take notes about the test to share with others.</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Sure kids shouldn’t talk about the test with classmates <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">DURING</span> the testing session. Obviously! But why can’t they discuss it after the test is over!?</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can 5 - 7 year olds even be asked to agree to such terms? We saw what happened to older <a href="http://www.bobbraunsledger.com/breaking-pearson-nj-spying-on-social-media-of-students-taking-parcc-tests/" target="_blank">students that made the mistake of mentioning PARCC on social media</a>. What will happen to a 7 year old who's caught talking to the kid at the next lunch table? Will there be disciplinary consequences if a 2nd grader talks to a 1st grader about the test questions? Will the student get detention? Suspension?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be clear, assessments in grades 1 and 2 are not new. The NJASK had 1st and 2nd grade tests, called the NJPASS, which were not state mandated and were not reported to the state, but districts could choose to administer. My own district administered </span><a href="http://www.riverpub.com/products/njpass/details.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">NJPASS</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and two years ago </span><a href="http://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2013/04/ive-opted-out-and-you-can-too.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">I opted my daughters out </a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of the test. Last year the district decided not to administer the test, and I was told by an administrator that they "never got very good data" from the test anyway.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The major difference here, as I see it, is that the state of NJ is potentially allowing Pearson, a multi national, multi billion dollar company, to have a monopoly, not only on testing our children in grades K-11 but also in preparing them for the tests <b><i>and</i></b> offering remediation products based on test results.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/pearson-education-115026_Page2.html#ixzz3XliUr87Q" target="_blank">Politico's Stephanie Simon</a> recently wrote a blockbuster expose on Pearson, in which she stated:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">To prepare their students for Pearson exams, districts can buy Pearson textbooks, Pearson workbooks and Pearson test prep, such as a suite of software that includes </span><a href="http://www.schoolnet.com/products/content/ib/" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.25s ease; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a7cc4; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s ease;" target="_blank">60,000</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> sample exam questions. They can connect kids to Pearson’s online </span><a href="http://www.smarthinking.com/" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.25s ease; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a7cc4; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s ease;" target="_blank">tutoring </a><a href="http://www.smarthinking.com/" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.25s ease; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a7cc4; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s ease;" target="_blank">service</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> or hire Pearson </span><a href="http://www.pearsonschool.com/?locator=PS1nGy" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.25s ease; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a7cc4; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s ease;" target="_blank">consultants</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> to coach their teachers. Pearson also sells </span><a href="http://www.pearsonhighered.com/teachercompass/pd.html" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.25s ease; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0a7cc4; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s ease;" target="_blank">software</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> to evaluate teachers and recommend Pearson professional development classes to those who rate poorly — perhaps because their students aren’t faring well on Pearson tests.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The New Jersey Assembly has <a href="http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2014/Bills/A3500/3079_R1.HTM" target="_blank">already passed a bill</a> that would prohibit the administration of non-diagnostic standardized tests prior to 3rd grade. <b><i>The Senate needs to act</i></b> <i style="font-weight: bold;">now. </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They have the power to keep Pearson away from our youngest students. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If Pearson's grade 3-11 tests were field tested in NJ in the 2013-14 school year and implemented in the 2014-15 school year, it stands to reason that a Grade 2 field test this year means the introduction of a Grade 2 PARCC test next year. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what is the NJ Senate waiting for?</span><br />
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Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-14910454068799211652015-04-17T11:03:00.000-04:002015-04-17T11:03:06.513-04:00Annual Testing Is For Taxpayers, Not For Students Or Teachers<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've noticed a new and interesting kind of honesty in recent debates about testing and accountability. As lawmakers and education leaders try to sell the merits of the current testing </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">regime </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and respond to the testing revolution that is sweeping the nation, a very telling narrative has emerged. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are three instances that have jumped out at me in 2015.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Example 1:</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was an exchange on January 21st between Senator Elizabeth Warren and <a href="http://www.civilrights.org/about/the-leadership-conference/biowade.html" target="_blank">Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference</a>, at the first Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the reauthorization of NCLB. The title of the hearing was <i>Fixing No Child Left Behind: Testing and Accountability</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=1ad5f642-5056-a032-52f2-57297bf23f2b" target="_blank">You can watch the exchange here</a> starting at the 1:37:30 mark. (I have truncated questions and responses to emphasize my point.)</span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Warren to Henderson</b>: Do you see anything in this proposal that would make sure that the states that take this money actually end up helping the kids who need it the most? </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />
<b>Henderson</b>: Interestingly enough, your point about taxpayer accountability was just reinforced in the last several days by the George W. Bush Institute which issued a report under the authorship of Margaret Spellings that talks about the <b><i>importance of annual accountability for purposes of ensuring that dollars and tax dollars indeed are well spent. </i></b></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />
<b>Warren</b>: I understand the need for flexibility but if the only principal here is that states can do whatever they want then they should raise their own taxes to pay for it. <b><i>Throwing billions of dollars at the states with no accountability for the states for how they spend the taxpayer money is not what we were sent here to do. </i></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #363634; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 22px;">(emphasis mine)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, <a href="http://www.bushcenter.org/blog/2015/01/20/every-student-matters" target="_blank">what does that Bush Institute report say</a>?</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><strong style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #363634; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Responsible Taxpayer Policy:</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #363634; line-height: 22px;"> We believe in accountability for results for taxpayer dollars. The federal government’s role should be discrete and judicious, allowing state and local policymakers to make day to day classroom decisions about the education students are receiving. <b style="font-style: italic;">However, in exchange for the nearly $15 billion in federal education funding that states and districts receive (and the over $1.3 billion that Texas alone receives) to improve education for poor and minority students, <u>it is right and reasonable to expect states to test annually in order to know how every school and every student is performing every year.</u> </b>(emphasis mine)</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Example 2:</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This past Tuesday Diane Ravitch was on All In with Chris Hayes. She was the counterpoint to Merryl Tisch, the Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents. The topic was the testing revolt currently happening across New York state where <a href="http://thepjsta.org/2015/04/15/staggering-opt-out-numbers-across-new-york/" target="_blank">refusal rates in some districts are approaching 90%</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://to-test-or-not-to-test-428138563759/" target="_blank">You can watch the video here</a>, the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">relevant exchange between Ravitch and Tisch starts at the 5:20 mark.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYEpywZFN0YBwCill8gM97WzkrIWI2Bze_J_lOtDMHI11123vmTm3d_CToFsW6inVZeH-WEVTEWnvALSV1AMo4c3yeRxwHbhmCMxPNe48MsNOQp40lQiBG4tY9SqsL7XHtuhRuUweyKoc/s1600/Getting+no+instructional+gain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYEpywZFN0YBwCill8gM97WzkrIWI2Bze_J_lOtDMHI11123vmTm3d_CToFsW6inVZeH-WEVTEWnvALSV1AMo4c3yeRxwHbhmCMxPNe48MsNOQp40lQiBG4tY9SqsL7XHtuhRuUweyKoc/s1600/Getting+no+instructional+gain.jpg" height="153" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The face Tisch made when Ravitch says the <br />tests provide no instructional gain.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Ravitch</b>: Now, when we talk about the results of the tests, they come back 4-6 months later, the kids already have a different teacher, and all they get is a score and a ranking. <b><i>The teachers can't see an item analysis, they can't see what the kids got wrong, they're getting no instructional gain, no possibility of improvement for the kids because there is no value to the test.</i></b> <b><i><u>They have no diagnostic value.</u></i></b> If you go to the doctor and you say, "I have a pain" and the doctor says, "I'll get back to you in six months" and then he gets back to you and tells you how you compare to everyone else in the state but he doesn't have any medicine for you.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Hayes to Tisch</b>: How do you respond to that?</span></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-HVdDSXtkB__G5EhMyW-wtpVPR0pRW4WKLrpv2uwRJ3ftn1flXAinO4JRNaqkvK5mHpDbDyfABg8QadnwTA0i7HCb18F5AQLqSXqhxRR7AjYqVo8n8P447fAjGs1umg9qtWuyUglQNWo/s1600/54+billion+face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-HVdDSXtkB__G5EhMyW-wtpVPR0pRW4WKLrpv2uwRJ3ftn1flXAinO4JRNaqkvK5mHpDbDyfABg8QadnwTA0i7HCb18F5AQLqSXqhxRR7AjYqVo8n8P447fAjGs1umg9qtWuyUglQNWo/s1600/54+billion+face.jpg" height="153" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The face Ravitch made when Tisch started talking <br />about the $54 billion taxpayers spend on schools </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Tisch</b>: Well, I would say the tests are really a diagnostic tool that are used to inform instruction and curriculum development throughout the state. New York State spends $54 billion a year on educating 3.2 million school children. <b><i><u>For $54 billion a year I think New Yorkers deserve a snapshot of how our kids are doing, how our schools are doing, how our systems are doing</u>. </i></b>There's a really important data point...</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9J-1EfisWb3ChdK77zEWkK8RNEj8HNXkTbtuf6aXo-_AZsz3DGwDrLaYQrQasUkU0jTj33CwqEn-qk1OFl1XiRCh9uWDiOJhnP9qWNajUtIPOUd-8dW817BjiVZHtO_orUHPH3iqAU8/s1600/Hayes+jumps+in.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9J-1EfisWb3ChdK77zEWkK8RNEj8HNXkTbtuf6aXo-_AZsz3DGwDrLaYQrQasUkU0jTj33CwqEn-qk1OFl1XiRCh9uWDiOJhnP9qWNajUtIPOUd-8dW817BjiVZHtO_orUHPH3iqAU8/s1600/Hayes+jumps+in.jpg" height="157" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hayes has a hard time jumping in to make his point</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Hayes</b>: Wait, let me just say this though, I just want to point out something. That was interestingly non responsive to what she said, right? <b><i>She's saying this doesn't work as a diagnostic tool for the child or the teacher, </i><i><u>you're saying this is a diagnostic tool for the taxpayer who's funding the system to see if the system is working</u>. </i></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363634; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 22px;">(emphasis mine)</span></blockquote>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Example 3: </span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At a Town Hall meeting yesterday another NJ citizen confronted Governor Christie about PARCC. <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20150417_Back_home__Christie_spars_on_pension_funding.html" target="_blank">Here's what happened.</a></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /><b><i>Later, Marlene Burton, 77, of Ridgewood, called the Common Core educational standards "shoddy" and the new standardized tests known as PARCC "a waste of time."</i></b> What, she asked, was Christie going to do about that?<br /> <br /><br />Christie, who once declared that he and other governors were "leading the way" on Common Core, said he had "concerns" about how the standards had been implemented and was awaiting a report he commissioned to study them.<br /> <br /><br />The report, he suggested, would provide guidance as to how to "amend or abandon" Common Core, Christie said.<br />Conservatives have denounced the standards as federal encroachment on the classroom, though they were developed by the National Governors Association and education experts.<br /> <br /><br />Christie said he wasn't wedded to the PARCC exam specifically but was committed to testing, saying, <b><i><u>"Every taxpayer has the right to know: Are those children getting what they're paying for?"</u> </i></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363634; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 22px;">(emphasis mine)</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 12.375px;">
</div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To me, the "aha moment" Chris Hayes had in the interview with Ravitch and Tisch perfectly exemplifies the awakening parents across the country are experiencing. There is a dawning awareness that these tests are not for the benefit of our kids, their teachers or their schools. The true purpose of these tests is finally being revealed - they are a measure used to hold the public school system accountable for the tax dollars they receive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I find the honesty of these statements refreshing. Let's be direct and open about this. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>The tests are not for the benefit of students or teachers, they're for the benefit of taxpayers.</i></b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lawmakers and education leaders like Tisch <b><i>need</i></b> to be direct and honest about this. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let them try to explain to parents that the test has no value for children, but they will lose arts programing, recess, librarians, guidance counselors and nurses so that tax payers can be sure their tax dollars are being well spent. Let them explain to parents that their kids won't get any anything out of it, but at 8 years old they will to be subjected to 8 hours of high stakes standardized testing and countless hours of test prep so adults can justify spending tax dollars to foot the bill for public education for all kids. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those are pretty hard messages to deliver - no wonder they've been trying to convince parents the tests are good for kids. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Problem is, every year less and less parents buy it.</span>Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-33628932701247959252015-03-31T15:43:00.000-04:002015-04-01T08:27:54.356-04:00GUEST POST: So, Does The Opt-Out Movement REALLY Have A Race Problem?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I could not be more thrilled to host a guest post from the amazing Sue Altman. Fans of Jennifer Berkshire's may recall Sue's guest posts over at Jennifer's blog, Edushyster. </i></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(see <a href="http://edushyster.com/?p=2539">here</a> and <a href="http://edushyster.com/?p=2754">here</a>)</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /><br />When Robert Pondiscio asked, "So, does the opt-out movement have a race problem?" and used New Jersey's exploding opt-out movement as his exemplar, he awoke the Jersey Girl in Sue. She just had to respond, and I just had to give her a place to do so. <br /><br />Follow along as Sue masterfully flips the script back on Pondiscio.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Robert </span><a href="http://edexcellence.net/about-us/fordham-staff/robert-pondiscio" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Pondiscio</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'s article, </span><a href="http://edexcellence.net/articles/opting-out-race-and-reform" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Opting Out, Race and Reform</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, is another example that tried and true practice of lumping people into a group and discounting what they say because of who they are. And worse, Pondiscio has not done his research. For an opt-out movement to catch on, certain criteria must be in place— things like democratically elected school boards, open-minded and respectful superintendents, and teachers with job security. But, by design, these things have been removed, systematically, from urban communities, so that policies can be put in place that community members (mostly African-American or Hispanic) have no say in. So, I have news for Pondiscio— it’s not the opt out movement who has a race problem.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />In New Jersey, unfortunately, discounting people based on a gender or racial stereotype is always easy money. A total layup. The Star Ledger did it back in 2013 in an editorial about protests in Newark:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cami Anderson, the superintendent of schools in Newark... is facing <a href="http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2013/12/baraka_community_leaders_to_rally_in_protest_of_newark_school_closings.html" target="_blank">the predictable shrieks of protest from the defenders of the status quo.</a></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, later:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">much of (Cami Anderson's) opposition is shrill and unreasonable.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, still:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">None of these reforms is guaranteed to succeed. But it is sensible to lean on the best charter schools for help, give principals control over their staffs and make sure each ward has plenty of school choices. If that stirs up a bees nest, then so be it.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As both <a href="http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2013/12/shrieking-people-of-color-demanding.html" target="_blank">Jersey Jazzman</a> and <a href="http://www.bobbraunsledger.com/the-star-ledger-editorial-on-newark-schools-a-reply/" target="_blank">Bob Braun</a> have pointed out, the language here— <b><i>Shrieks, shrill, unreasonable, bees nest</i></b>—have uncomfortably racist undertones. The strength of these words for those who wield them is that it means that whatever these “shrill, shriek” protestors say is not to be taken seriously. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Pondiscio’s article is commenting on the relative privilege of an entire group of organized, committed and well-informed parents (and this is a far cry from the much worse crime of racist language), he shrugs off their message because they are “white surburban moms” whose own selfishness is preventing poor and minority children of “benefiting” from testing. If you disagree with ed reform, you are either a shrill and shriek uneducated minority, or a whiny, selfish, white woman. When it comes to criticizing ed reform, you can’t win.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, even more frustrating and misleading, he bases this conclusion on assumptions that are patently false, skewed, and ignore reality. People of all shades, genders and economic status have participated in these protests, whether they are opt-outs or other forms of civil disobedience. </span><a href="http://parentingthecore.com/2015/03/28/guest-voices-opting-out-in-the-jersey-suburbs-or-white-like-me-by-belinda-edmondson/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">As Belinda Edmondson writes:</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I thought Montclair was full of black people. Active, vocal, black people. Brown people too. I thought I was black. So did my children, who had no idea they are white—or rich (yay!). But these are the facts about New Jersey, according to the reformers: only wealthy white liberals are opting out of PARCC.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The reformers should have notified the large multiracial group of opting-out students who crowded into Montclair school auditoriums during PARCC testing that opting-out is a whites-only privilege. They should have informed <a href="http://www.reclaimourschools.org/updates/newark-students-stage-sit-demand-superintendents-resignation" target="_blank">the protesting black and brown students who took over the Newark schools superintendent’s office</a> that they are the wrong color. They should take aside those outspoken black parents at the Newark Board of Education meetings and minority anti-reform groups like the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NYCCEJ/timeline" target="_blank">New York City Coalition for Educational Justice</a>, and let them know: these are not the actions of black people. Stay in your lane, already</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Further, if we look at the individual cities Pondiscio mentions, we see that, in fact, plenty of protests have occurred by community members in those communities. They might always not be opt-outs, but urban communities have made their disgust with these policies known.<br /><br />To pretend otherwise is blatantly dishonest.<br /><br /> As someone who has studied the opt-out movement in New York, I believe that opt-outs have a place in the protestor's toolbox; but so do old fashioned walk-outs, demonstrations and sit-ins. <br /><br />This past year, many urban communities in NJ have come together to protest with great voracity. Ms. Edmondson mentions the student protests in Newark. A shining example. She could have also mentioned this <a href="http://www.northjersey.com/news/paterson-school-official-plans-to-keep-daughter-from-new-state-tests-1.1260057" target="_blank">notable opt-out in Paterson</a>, these <a href="http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/02/trenton_teachers_to_protests_layoffs_at_school_boa.html" target="_blank">protests in Newark over privatization</a>, or the <a href="http://danley.camden.rutgers.edu/2014/05/16/school-only-works-if-students-consent/">student-walk outs in Camden</a>. If the community in these cities chooses other forms of protests instead of opt-outs, let’s believe that they have assessed the situation and executed their best strategy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Foundations of the Opt Out Movement</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Opt-outers everywhere feel they are taking a risk in order to participate in this form of protest- it is stressful, it feels risky, it involves their child, and there are a lot of unknowns around punitive measures that might be taken against them. So, often, a strong opt-out movement requires a certain pre-existing set of community criteria that must be met so that those risks are mitigated. Only then do people feel comfortable joining, and only then can the opt-out movement spread in an area. So what, then, helps an opt out movement prosper? And why would an opt-out movement struggle to gain a foothold in an urban city in NJ? I’ll use Camden as an example since it is the city I am most familiar with.<br /><br />First, the opt-out movement is boosted tremendously in an area if the district superintendent is supportive. Long Island superintendent Dr. Joseph Rella was <a href="http://truthinamericaneducation.com/common-core-state-standards/ny-school-superintendent-on-common-core-stop-it-scrap-it-or-fix-it/" target="_blank">an early supporter of the opt-out</a> in his home district. <a href="http://thepjsta.org/2014/02/01/dr-joe-rella-on-opting-out/" target="_blank">Dr. Rella stands firm in his support</a> of the choices of parents in his community, even as he is pressured by the NYS DOE to do otherwise. Accordingly, his district had a high opt-out rate. Other superintendents have followed his lead in New York, and recently <a href="https://greatschoolwars.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/3-27-15-pm-allianceletter.pdf" target="_blank">over 100 superintendents have signed a letter of protest</a> against high-stakes testing. When superintendents speak out, parents are empowered to actively refuse tests.<br /><br />And of course, in Camden, Superintendent support will never happen. <br /><br />Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard is in the “in crowd;" handpicked by Cerf and Christie to <a href="http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/14/07/11/chris-christie-and-america-s-poorest-city/" target="_blank">run this state-controlled district</a> in an area known for its Democratic boss control. Rouhanifard would never bite the hand that feeds him. Unless he was abudcted by aliens and given a brain transplant, there is no way Rouhanifard would ever, ever be supportive of any kind of testing boycott in his district. In fact, all signs point to his taking punitive action against residents. <a href="https://danley.camden.rutgers.edu/2015/02/24/choice-submission-and-new-facilities-or-neighborhood-schools-and-old-facilities/" target="_blank">Faux-Choice in Camden exists only in the form of closing neighborhood and forcing charter schools down residents’ throats</a>-- not actual, messy democracy.<br /><br />Second, teacher support and teacher connection to community is key— and these are precisely the relationships most disrupted by ed reform policies in Camden. Many members of the opt-out leadership team on Long Island have close friends or family members who are teachers. Many “white surburban moms” in Long Island first found out about the testing madness informally, while chatting with teachers who are also members of their community. In Long Island this winter, Beth Diminio, <a href="http://www.longislandpress.com/2015/01/20/l-i-teacher-refuses-to-administer-common-core-tests-urges-others-to-join-her/" target="_blank">a brave teacher from Comsewogue</a> announced she would be the first teacher to opt-out of administering tests, bringing additional energy to the movement. When trusted, highly-respected teachers say that the tests have little value, parents listen.<br /><br />Meanwhile in Camden… teaching is already very much a tenuous job, <a href="http://danley.camden.rutgers.edu/2015/03/25/camden-school-district-announces-closures-and-takeovers/" target="_blank">with layoffs, cuts, and school closures happening right on schedule</a>. And, in New Jersey, the people who are hurt most by the closings are, overwhelmingly, educators of color. <a href="http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-our-latest-analysis-of-one-newark.html" target="_blank">As Jersey Jazzman put it</a>, "There is a history of discrimination against teachers of color in "choice" plans, and NPS, if it goes through with One Newark, may be susceptible to a legal challenge under civil rights laws.” When teachers are being fired in droves, it becomes pretty difficult to speak up- another good reason opting out feels like a more risky path for urban residents<br /><br />If you were a teacher in Camden or Newark and you felt the target on your back, would you stick your neck out to support an opt-out movement? I would sure think twice.<br /><br />Third, local town Board of Educations have been powerful supporters of opt-out policies at the district level in New York, something that is made nearly impossible in Camden. Many districts in NY have passed “testing resolutions” as a way to legitimize opting out, and groups have pushed for anti sit-and-stare policies in their individual districts. Further, opt-out grassroots groups in NY have organized to elect sympathetic Board of Education candidates in districts in order to have these voices heard on the BOE level. Then, when opt-out supportive resolutions pass, people in those communities feel comfortable that their Board of Education supports them in philosophy. In Camden, however, the BOE is not elected and is a puppet of the district, which is controlled by the State.<br /><br /> It is highly unlikely they would ever pass a resolution that stands in opposition to the party line. Fortunately, in New Jersey, Save our Schools NJ is working to pass anti-sit and stare resolution at the state level, the first step of which has just passed unanimously. <br /><br />And finally, the closing of schools and the reshuffling of residents creates an environment that makes it very, very difficult to organize. If you sent your child to a school for six years, and then that school closed and you were forcibly moved to a different school in a different neighborhood— it would be much more difficult to forge the type of relationships that lubricate community organizing efforts. I hope that outcome is not one that is part of the grand ed reform plan, but if closing schools and shuffling families around makes it harder for them to organize against the reforms, I’m sure that will suit the district just fine.<br /><br />So, before Pondiscio criticizes residents of Camden and other urban areas for not being part of the opt-out movement (or, criticizes the opt-out movement for not including the urban districts) it might be wise of him do a little research, and think more broadly, more contextually about why opt-out might have trouble gaining traction in an urban area in NJ, in favor of other forms of protest. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Opting out is perceived as a personal risk, requires strength in numbers, and a great deal of mechanisms in place— most of which are extremely difficult to obtain in these cities. Difficult because of policies that have been put in place by a state government that seems to care very little about the choices of urban residents, despite their hypocritical rhetoric. Difficult because schools have closed and churn has occurred, and difficult because trusted teachers have and will be fired. <br /><br />To accuse the opt-out movement of having a race problem is to miss the issue entirely, and to discount all other forms of protest in urban areas</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is dishonest and inaccurate.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Sue Altman is a proud product of New Jersey's public schools. At the University of Oxford, UK, Sue received a dual degree in International and Comparative Education and her MBA. Her MBA thesis focused on evaluating the the opt-out movement as a market-response boycott. She is currently an administrator at an independent school. </i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> </span></div>
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Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-11365942639025409502015-03-11T13:51:00.000-04:002015-03-11T17:27:22.393-04:00PARCC Social Media PR Stunt Backfires On Maryland DOE <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The "new generation" of standardized testing has arrived, and seems to have triggered a "new generation" of incentives as well. Districts are coming up with all sorts of ways to coerce children to take the tests and convince parents to let them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/03/09/how-schools-are-bribing-kids-to-take-common-core-standardized-tests/">On her Answer Sheet blog</a> Valerie Strauss highlighted some bizarre incentive programs intended to "bribe" students to take Common Core tests. The programs have cropped up from all over the country, and have included gift cards, iPads, “bonus points” for the next marking period, skipping English and math final exams, elective credits, extra recess and "free dress" days for schools with uniforms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An ill conceived Maryland Department of Education PR campaign directed at parents may however win the award for most distasteful. It claimed to be letters from 4th graders to "Mom and Dad" telling them not "worry" or "be stressed out" about the "big test" because it's "just a little reading and math" and the teacher knows the kids will "do fine." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hayden wants his parents to know he "might have a little headache from working hard on the computer" but Kara says that if her parents will just "feed her a good breakfast" and let her "wear the same clothes all week" it will help her do her best on the PARCC. (I'm not going to touch how odd it is for a state agency to suggest it's OK to let a kid wear the same clothes <b><i>five days in a row</i></b>, or to make light of a kid coming home from school with a headache from too much screen time, let alone to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ignore that not all kids have a "Mom and Dad"</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only did the Maryland State DOE display the bad judgement to create and post these supposed letters from 9 and 10 year olds, the DOE's Chief of Staff, John White, shared it on Facebook with the statement "Truth from the mouths of babes..."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I find particularly offensive is that the DOE is arrogant enough to presume they can hijack the voices of children, and use them to sell their own agenda. If a random sampling of 9-10 year olds were asked what they truly think of taking a 10 hour math and english test, it's hard to imagine there wouldn't be a <b><i>very </i></b>wide range of responses. How completely disingenuous and arrogant to cherry pick only the rosy cheeked "everything's going to be just fine!" responses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is just a few of the comments on the post, but it is a pretty representative sample of the reaction the post elicited from people that <i style="font-weight: bold;">don't </i>work for the Maryland DOE.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It didn't take a degree in PR to know that this train wreck of a post was going to be removed, and fast. Sure enough, by this morning - *POOF* - it was gone, with nary a word about the ruckus it had caused the day before. This tactical error on the part of the Maryland DOE will no doubt become a powerful recruitment tool for Maryland opt-out organizers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But what does it say when a state department resorts to this kind of emotional manipulation to try to sell the PARCC? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's what I think. If educationally sound, rational arguments about the need for high-stakes annual standardized tests resonated with parents and students, DOE's wouldn't need to rely on this kind of coercion and propaganda. It seems the opt out movement's message is resonating so strongly that it is drowning out the talking points, incentives and PR tricks of those desperately trying to stay in charge and in control of the narrative. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.</span></div>
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Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-25507374100174866962015-02-13T19:50:00.001-05:002015-02-13T19:50:10.778-05:00My Testimony On NJ PARCC Refusal Legislation<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Below is the written testimony I intended to deliver before yesterday's Assembly Education Committee as they debated <a href="http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2014/Bills/A4500/4165_I1.PDF">Assembly Bill A 4165</a>, which would ensure that districts provide parents the right to opt out of testing without retribution.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead of reading what I had prepared, I decided at the last second to go off script and just talk directly to the Committee Members. I don't remember everything I said, but I talked about how the federal demand for accountability, in the form of NCLB mandated annual testing for all children, has placed states (not just NJ) in the direct line of fire with parents. Parents and teachers are tired of the endless testing, pre-testing, benchmarking, and test prep that has taken over our children's schools.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I briefly covered what is written below; that it is the state's failure to act last Spring to delay the high stakes attached to PARCC, that brought us to a place where thousands, if not tens of thousands, of children across the state will be opted out of PARCC in NJ this spring.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I talked about my own experiences as a mom. Some of that testimony was picked up in an <a href="http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/new-jersey/78463-measures-restricting-use-of-standardized-tests-advance-in-new-jersey-">article about the hearing for WHYY's NewsWorks</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Parents who packed an Assembly committee meeting Thursday questioned the need for the test and how the results would be used.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Highland Park resident Darcie Cimarusti was one of those who said she will refuse to allow her children take the tests designed to assess whether students are on track for success in college and career.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">One of her twin third-grade daughters is dyslexic, Cimarusti said.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">"Why am I going to make her sit down and take a test the state is demanding that's going to tell my little 8-year-old that she's a failure? She's not a failure," Cimarusti said. "She's a little girl that needs help that no one wants to give her.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No matter the fate of A 4165, my girls will not be taking the PARCC. The bill was not voted on yesterday because the NJDOE has raised concerns that if districts fall beneath the 95% participation rate, which is mandated under NCLB, the USDOE will pull Title I funding from districts. Yesterday I <a href="http://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2015/02/guest-post-new-jersey-legislators-need.html">posted a guest post</a> by Chris Tienken and Julia Sass Rubin that debunks many of the issues behind this threat. Assemblyman Diegnan also stated he believed the threat was a hollow one, and that he has reached out to US Senator Menendez for clarification. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I eagerly await Sen. Menendez's response. In the interim, here's my testimony.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Assemblyman Diegnan, you chaired a meeting in a similarly packed room when this Committee heard testimony on Assembly Bill 3081 in May of 2014. The room that day was filled with parents, teachers, board members and administrators, and the vast majority of the testimony – with the exception of NJSBA - spoke in favor of the bill.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As I’m sure the Committee recalls, A 3081 would have delayed the high stakes attached to PARCC for both teachers and students, and would have created an Education Reform Task Force to evaluate PARCC and Common Core. But the bill never reached the Governor’s desk, and instead a “compromise” was struck. The stakes were reduced for teachers, but not for students, and the Governor’s now infamous Study Commission on the Use of Student Assessments was formed.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Madison Superintendent Michael Rossi testified at that hearing, and warned the Committee that if the legislature failed to act, then parents <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">would</i></b> act by refusing the test.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And now here we sit. The room is once again packed, this time mostly with parents, and we are demanding the right to refuse PARCC.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Score 1 for Dr. Rossi.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It is likely that many of the associations and organizations that supported A 3081 <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">then,</i></b> will not support A 4165 <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">now</i></b>. But if action had been taken to protect students and teachers from the high stakes attached to these tests, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">which almost everyone agreed was prudent</i></b>, we would not be here today.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The burden of these high stakes tests fall squarely on the shoulders of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our</i></b> children, so with all due respect, I ask the Committee to heed the parents today, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i></b> those now lobbying to stay the course.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The parents in this room have done their homework. They’re unlikely to buy the tired talking points emanating from the NJDOE and mimicked by others.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">They have taken PARCC practice tests. They have testified before the Study Commission. They have delivered public comment before their boards of education. They have written letters to the editor and have been featured in newspaper articles and on TV news segments. They are not “scared of change,” they are not helicopter parents, and they are not looking for trophies for their kids.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And perhaps more importantly, none of them are in this alone. Networks of parents have used social media to connect and strategize. They have united into an army of fierce advocates for their children, and for public education; their numbers are growing exponentially.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I don’t have Dr. Rossi’s crystal ball to tell you what will happen if the legislature fails to act on A 4165, but I can tell you one thing for certain. These parents are not going away.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The passage of this bill is by no means the end of the debate over PARCC, but it is certainly a step in the right direction. Allowing parents to refuse PARCC without retribution is nothing more than a common sense stop gap measure, and the price for the state’s failure to act to protect students and teachers from the high stakes attached to PARCC.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As a parent who will refuse PARCC for my daughters, I thank you for your support of A 4165. As a board member, I thank you for your leadership on this issue.</span></blockquote>
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Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-38877727083330936192015-02-12T00:51:00.000-05:002015-02-12T00:51:57.908-05:00Guest Post: New Jersey Legislators Need to Stand up for Our Children By Christopher Tienken, Ed.D. and Julia Sass Rubin, Ph.D. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first administration of the experimental new PARCC high-stakes standardized tests is only </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">weeks away and parents are increasingly concerned. Hundreds of families have notified their </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">school districts that their children will not be taking the PARCC tests. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Approximately one-fifth of all New Jersey school districts have responded by assuring parents who </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">refuse the test that their children will be provided with an alternative location, or at least the ability </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to read in class, while their classmates take the test.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other districts, however, have taken a much more punitive approach, threatening to force children </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as young as eight to remain in the testing room with no other activities except sitting and staring for </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the two-week duration of the test. Some districts have even threatened students whose parents </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">refuse the test with disciplinary actions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In response, parents are asking the New Jersey legislature to intervene and pass A4165/S2767. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This legislation requires all districts and charter schools to provide consistent, humane treatment </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for children whose parents refuse standardized tests.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQoo0x2xCM7dzvLGkKijU2QxS0HNC59n5eZb9Sn0tH6X6manLdT9SiU2YeLj_AwcbefljJGktMZRZSOrT0zGua6BdXhc0TlBxSUOzr-KaWnxbjKhidPeeF_fP9ZaCIu1eCzs8YiwGTkpQ/s1600/95%25+participation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQoo0x2xCM7dzvLGkKijU2QxS0HNC59n5eZb9Sn0tH6X6manLdT9SiU2YeLj_AwcbefljJGktMZRZSOrT0zGua6BdXhc0TlBxSUOzr-KaWnxbjKhidPeeF_fP9ZaCIu1eCzs8YiwGTkpQ/s1600/95%25+participation.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As growing numbers of legislators indicate their support for A4165/S2767, officials within the New </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jersey Department of Education have apparently initiated a campaign to block its passage by </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">claiming that the proposed legislation would cost districts precious dollars. Specifically, the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NJDOE is arguing that the US Department of Education would use powers it has under the No </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Child Left Behind law to cut Title I funding for any schools that fall below 95 percent student </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">participation levels on the PARCC. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keep in the mind that the proposed legislation does not direct parents to have their children opt-out </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">or refuse the state mandated tests. The proposed legislation simply asks for a consistent statewide </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">policy of humane treatment for children whose parents choose to refuse the testing. As more </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">school administrators decide to make students needlessly “sit and stare” for two weeks of testing, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">plus up to two additional weeks of make-up testing, it is imperative that the legislature act to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">protect children from such treatment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So will the US Department of Education take your school's Title 1 funds if this legislation becomes </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">law?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The answer is NO, and here are some reasons why.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. There is no federal or state law that requires financial penalties to schools’ Title I funds if parents </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">refuse to allow their children to take the PARCC tests. The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">law did include a mandate that required schools to have a 95 percent participation rate on state </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">tests or face sanctions. The intent of that law was to prevent schools from hiding subgroups of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">students from the accountability structure and was not aimed at preventing parents from refusing </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to have their children tested. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, since 2012, NJ has had a waiver to NCLB that replaces those sanctions with a new </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">accountability system.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under the waiver, only schools designated “priority” or “focus” schools face direct intervention for </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">missing state targets. New Jersey’s 250 priority and focus schools can have up to 30 percent of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">their federal Title I funds re-directed by the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) for </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">specific “interventions,” but even these funds are supposed to be used for school improvement, not </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">taken away. And the NJDOE already has the ability to redirect a part of the Title I allocations </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">received by priority and focus schools.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. No federal financial penalties related to Title I instructional funds have been imposed on any </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New Jersey school for missing the 95 percent participation rate. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And missing the 95 percent participation rate at the school level is not unusual in New Jersey. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to NJDOE data, last spring, nine schools in seven New Jersey districts had overall </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">schoolwide NJ ASK participation rates below 95 percent; 175 schools in 104 districts had </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">participation rates below 95 percent for at least one of the student subgroups (e.g., special needs, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Limited English Proficient, economically disadvantaged, etc.,).<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">None of those schools experienced any federal financial repercussions to Title I funds. In fact, no </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">school has ever lost Title I funds due to punishment by the federal government for missing the 95 </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">percent participation rate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Other states have laws that protect a parent’s right to opt their child out or refuse high-stakes </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">standardized testing and no federal financial penalties of any sort have been imposed on schools </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in those states as a result of these laws. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For example, in Wisconsin “Upon the request of a pupil's parent or guardian, the school board shall </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">excuse the pupil from taking an examination administered under sub. (1m).”<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In California, a “parent or guardian may submit to the school a written request to excuse his or her </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">child from any or all parts of any test provided pursuant to Ed Code Section 60640.”<span style="font-size: xx-small;">3</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. The US Congress is rewriting the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) – the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">federal legislation that mandates annual standardized testing. A reauthorized ESEA may </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">completely eliminate the federal interventions that are in the current version of ESEA and is likely </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to give individual states much more decision-making authority when it comes to accountability and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">testing mandates. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the NJDOE’s threat of Title I funding cuts at local schools seems premature at best given the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">past practice of the United States Department of Education to not sanction NJ schools’ Title I </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Funds for missing the 95 percent participation rate. The moral imperative for the NJDOE, the NJ </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Legislature and for individual school districts should be to act in the best interests of New Jersey </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">children, and that means treating students humanely if their parents choose to participate in the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">democratic tradition of dissent. </span><br />
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<i>Christopher Tienken is an Associate Professor of Education Leadership, Management, and Policy </i><i>at the College of Education and Human Services at Seton Hall University.</i><br />
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<i>Julia Sass Rubin is an Associate Professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and </i><i>Public Policy at Rutgers University and one of the founding members of the all-volunteer pro-public </i><i>education group Save Our Schools NJ.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">1 http://www.state.nj.us/education/schools/achievement/index.html</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">2 http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/118/30 </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">3 Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, Division 1, Chapter 2, Subchapter 3.75.</span>Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-39808963951279779352015-01-30T21:03:00.000-05:002015-01-30T21:08:25.885-05:00My Testimony Before Governor Christie's Study Commission on the Use of Student Assessments<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2015/01/solitary-pro-parcc-testimony-was-njpta.html">As I posted earlier today</a>, last night I attended the second of three Public Testimony Hearings of the NJ Study Commission on the Use of Student Assessments. I was hoping to get a video of my testimony, but as fate would have it, my phone ran out of space. After much internal debate, I decided to post the part of my testimony that did get recorded. It at least gives a sense of how fired up and responsive the audience was. This same intensity and involvement was maintained throughout the evening. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Words can not adequately express what happened in that room last night, so I hope the incomplete video, despite the bad angle, lack of focus and hostile lighting, gives you a sense of the electricity that was in the air.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/u9qcmZZtemo/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/u9qcmZZtemo?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the video of the hearing ever becomes available I will post the full 5 minutes, but after witnessing the <b><i>6 hours</i></b> of scathing testimony against the PARCC, it is hard to imagine that video will ever see the light of day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Without further ado, here is the testimony I delivered to the Commission.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Good Evening. My name is Darcie Cimarusti. First and foremost, I want to thank you for your time, for your service to the Commission and to the children of our state. I am here today as the mom of twin 3rd grade daughters. I serve as a member of the Highland Park Board of Education, but my testimony today is my own, and does not represent the board. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I currently work for the Network for Public Education, which is a national public education advocacy group founded by education historian, author, and NYU research professor Diane Ravitch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">When I read today’s NJ Spotlight article about the Public Testimony in Jersey City, I was startled by Commissioner Hespe’s statement that he didn’t hear anything he hadn’t expected. He added that no one offered solutions to, and I quote, the “societal problem where half of the students are graduating without the skills and knowledge they need.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So I’d like to offer suggestions, and tie them to the conversation that is currently happening at the national level. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is holding hearings to discuss the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) which is 8 years overdue. Congress has held over 20 hearings on the subject, but has failed to act. With all due respect to the Commissioner, to chastise NJ’s parents and educators for not coming to the table with solutions, when our nation’s elected officials have been unable to agree on a path forward seems disingenuous at best.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Five witnesses testified before the latest hearing of the HELP Committee – a teacher, a principal, a superintendent, a state commissioner and a research director.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Senator Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, asked the witnesses how much they thought testing could be reduced while still holding schools and districts accountable for student achievement. The witnesses, with the exception of the researcher, responded that testing could be reduced 50-60%. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Suggestion 1: Reduce the amount of testing by no less than 50%</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Senator Cassidy, a Junior Republican Senator from Louisiana, asked the researcher to list the top two factors impacting student achievement. He answered without hesitation - family income and the education level of the mother or father. He placed the quality of the education the student receives third.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">When over 50% of our nation’s school children are mired in poverty, it is hard to swallow the idea that new, improved and wildly expensive standardized tests are the best response to what ails our most vulnerable students. I would submit to the Commissioner that it is more than likely that the 50% of students he claims are graduating without the skills and knowledge they need are closely correlated to the 50% living in poverty. If we truly want to help those students, what they need most is not an expensive, computer based, standardized test.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Suggestion 2: NJ should abandon PARCC </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">A tremendous amount of the current pushback is caused by the costs districts have incurred to comply with the technological requirements of the PARCC. The recent revelation that the state will pay for-profit behemoth Pearson $108 million over the next four years for the test alone has confirmed suspicions that the state is paying far too much for an unproven product.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The PARCC consortium is dwindling; state after state has abandoned PARCC and returned to their state tests. New Jersey residents wonder what keeps us tethered to what appears to be a sinking ship, steered by the wildly unpopular Pearson.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The money saved by abandoning the PARCC can be spent on services for our most vulnerable students. Let’s hire social workers and reading specialists; let’s reduce class sizes and provide all students with deep, meaningful learning experiences, not more tests and test prep. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As NPE President Diane Ravitch said, “Just say no to annual testing. No other high performing nation does it, and neither should we.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As long as we continue to disaggregate data based on subgroups, a return to pre NCLB grade span testing, which requires students to be tested once each in Elementary, Middle and High School, can provide state and federal governments all the data they need.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Suggestion 3: The state should advocate at the federal level for a return to grade span testing</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I do appreciate the states conundrum. Under NCLB, annual testing is mandated; therefore every state is accountable to the federal government, every district is accountable to the state, every school is accountable to the district, and teachers are accountable to everyone. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">But when it comes to educating their children, it’s hard to make an argument that parents are accountable to anyone but themselves. And the vast majority of parents are fed up with the testing that has taken over our schools. This fact was made abundantly clear in the poll released by the NJEA earlier this week. You can try to repackage the tests, rebrand them, and tell us they’re good for us and for our kids, but to be frank, on the whole, parents aren’t buying it anymore. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It is time to actually listen to us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">No one else in this broken system seems to be willing to step back and recognize that the weight of what you call accountability rests squarely on the shoulders of our children and their teachers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">But as parents, we feel it in our bones. We see our children’s teachers and administrators struggling to keep up with ever increasing mandates. We wince as treasured programs are cut from our schools because funds have been siphoned away to pay for the computers and bandwidth needed for the tests. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We see our children lose their love of learning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Is it any wonder that parents and teachers, Democrats and Republicans, are finally standing up, fighting back, and demanding change? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We’re tired of seeing our children get less for more; less joy, less learning, less creativity -- more stress, more testing, more standardization.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The time has come to reclaim teaching and learning. We are asking for your help to do so, but it seems our pleas are falling on deaf ears. If you fail to help us provide our children with the educational opportunities they deserve, and instead continue to answer only to state and federal demands for accountability, you leave us no choice but to refuse the tests.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Which is exactly what I intend to do for my daughters.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We sat in these very seats for 6 hours. SIX HOURS!</span></td></tr>
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Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-22905129045771542412015-01-30T10:57:00.000-05:002015-01-31T10:36:41.119-05:00Solitary Pro PARCC Testimony Was NJPTA Plant<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When over 60 parents and educators travel from across the state, and deliver 6 hours of passionate, informed testimony on their concerns about PARCC, people take notice. The press coverage of NJ's pushback against PARCC is steadily growing. You can read some of the coverage <a href="http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/15/01/30/diegnan-enters-parcc-fray-with-bill-formalizing-opt-out-procedures/">here</a>, <a href="http://www.app.com/story/news/education/2015/01/29/parcc-common-core-hearing-jackson/22559565/">here</a>, and <a href="http://nj1015.com/nj-parents-blast-parcc-test-at-2nd-hearing/?trackback=tsmclip">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was quite a sight to see Commissioner Hespe, usually shielded from such intimate contact with the parents and teachers he serves, take it all in. I have to give him credit for sitting through all 6 hours of testimony, unlike </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jersey City </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Superintendent Marcia Lyles, who cut out after a little more than 3 hours. Hespe remained affable throughout, as speaker after speaker annihilated the PARCC.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He did however seem particularly attentive to the lone voice that came to the mic to speak in favor of PARCC. When she finished, Hespe made the tactical error of thanking her for her testimony, which elicited fury from the audience, most of whom had not been thanked individually when they concluded their own remarks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you think about it, it's astounding that out of over 64 speakers, only one was in favor of PARCC.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That lone voice belonged to a woman who introduced herself only as Lisa Clarke from Irvington, NJ. She said she was the mom of two grown children, and provided no other affiliation. She said that both of her children attended college, but one was not prepared when he got there and had to take 5 remedial classes to catch up. She stated that this was a financial burden to her family, and discouraging to her son. She was absolutely sure that if he had taken PARCC tests throughout his public school years, she would have known he was not "college ready" and his teachers would have been able to better prepare him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was the kind of testimony a State Education Commissioner dreams of. She hit every PARCC talking point. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As soon as she delivered her testimony, she left the Jackson Liberty High School auditorium with a group of women who had not testified themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seemed odd. It made me wonder if she was a plant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I did a little research on Lisa Clarke from Irvington.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wasn't surprised in the least to learn that not only is she affiliated with NJPTA, she is<a href="http://www.guidestar.org/ViewPdf.aspx?PdfSource=0&ein=21-0649035"> listed on their 990</a> under "Officers, Directors, Trustees and Key Employees." She <a href="http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislativepub/budget_2011/Other_Submitted_Testimony/L_Clarke.pdf">testified before the Assembly Budget Committee</a> in 2010, where she identified herself as the Education Reform Chairman for the NJPTA. In this <a href="http://www.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?archive_id=0&page_id=6739582414&page_url=//www.njpta.org/njptaboardofdirectors/njptacommitteechairs.html&page_last_updated=2013-07-14T06:44:33&firstName=Lisa&lastName=Clarke">cached</a> page from the NJPTA website she is listed as their Legislative Activities Chairman.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That, ladies and gentleman, is just another way to say she was a NJPTA lobbyist in Trenton.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why didn't she disclose her affiliation? Why masquerade as any old parent off the street, in front of cameras and a room full of witnesses? As I mentioned, as soon as she testified she left the building with a group of women who did not testify themselves. Coincidentally, NJPTA President and President elect, Debbie Tyrrell and Rose Accerra were listed as attendees at last night's hearing, but were not registered to testify.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The NJPTA and its leadership is not only doing a disservice to the parents of this state, they are selling them out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But <a href="http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Media-Center/Press-Releases/2009/12/National-PTA-to-Mobilize-Parents-for-Common-Core-Standards">WHY</a>?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"><b>National PTA is positioning itself as a key player at the front line of education reform.</b> <b>The association today announced a new three-year effort to mobilize parents to advance key education priorities,</b> beginning with common core state standards—a voluntary, state-led, internationally benchmarked set of high academic standards in English language arts and mathematics. A $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help support the effort.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yup, that's right. Gates money. Gates money specifically earmarked to promote all things Common Core. As a side note, click the link above to this statement on the Gates Foundation website. There is a link for a supposed PTA press release on the matter, but lo and behold, it doesn't work anymore. You have to wonder, why did the PTA pull their press release about the money they took from Gates?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So forget you parents, and your measly $5, $10 and $20 contributions. PTA doesn't answer to you anymore, they answer to Bill Gates. And he's using YOUR PTA to protect HIS investment in the Common Core.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NJPTA's transparent attempt to feign support for the PARCC last night was a total fail. Parents in this state have been furious with the NJPTA for quite some time. A template has even been created to let the NJPTA know that their support of Common Core and PARCC is a deal breaker for many, and parents are rescinding their memberships. You can download the template and send it to the NJPTA if you agree that their support of Common Core and PARCC doesn't represent the interests of your child and your child's teachers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In New York State, where parents have been dealing with new Common Core aligned tests for three years, <a href="http://www.dailyfreeman.com/opinion/20150128/letter-pta-plans-to-boycott-state-education-tests">individual PTA chapters are starting to revolt</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Excessive testing teaches our children that there is only one right answer in academics and in life. It takes the joy out of learning and minimizes the value and importance of taking a test when it really counts. And it is ruining public education.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As an immediate solution, members of the Bennett School PTA are encouraging our parent body in grades three to six to refuse the state tests in ELA, math and science this spring. These tests are inappropriate for our children, are unfair to our teachers, take away valuable classroom time and are not part of our child’s overall grade or individual assessment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We intend to send a message to the state.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the NJPTA refuses to listen to the voices of actual parents and teachers, and instead allows Bill Gates and his money to buy their allegiance, then I can only imagine they will be faced with a similar uprising of local chapters in the very near future. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NJPTA must listen to parents and teachers, and develop their policy positions from the ground up, <b><i>not</i></b> from Bill Gates down. Until that happens, the NJPTA should rename and rebrand their organization. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">May I present to you, the NJBGA, the New Jersey Bill Gates Association.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">NJBGA. Your child. Bill's voice.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UPDATE: The link I provided above was to only a small fraction of the money the National PTA has received from Gates. Here is the <a href="http://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database#q/k=National%20congress%20of%20parents">link</a> to ALL grants to date. The total since 2009 is </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$2,665,422</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, with the most recent a grant in 2013 for $660,422 "to educate parents and communities on the Common Core State Standards and provide support for district leaders."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Educating "parents and communities" is not the same as planting testimony at a state hearing. I encourage the NJPTA to dig deep, and realize that the current backlash is rooted in genuine concern for an organization that seems to have lost its way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been contacted privately by an NJPTA board member, asking for dialogue. I have responded, and will try to state the case for those of us concerned with their current position and tactics. I will provide further updates, so stay tuned! </span></div>
Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2041287977169808397.post-25077450299727659272014-12-12T15:17:00.000-05:002014-12-12T15:17:32.277-05:00Debunking A Reformy Attack On The Delran Education Association's Position Statement On High Stakes Testing<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once again, <a href="http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/76177-when-unions-attack-standardized-testing-they-should-at-least-do-their-homework?linktype=hp_topstory">WHYY contributor Laura Waters</a> has invoked the late Albert Shanker to strengthen her weak argument, this time in an attempt to imply that the Delran Education Association didn't do their homework before releasing their <a href="http://delranea.org/2014/11/10/delran-ea-releases-massive-position-statement-on-high-stakes-standardized-testing/">position statement on high-stakes testing</a>. She even goes so far as to call their statement a "screed" that "veers less towards serious educational discussion and more towards Sarah Palin-esque hysteria."</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She better have a seriously well documented refutation of their positions to make a statement like that. Let's look at the one where she cites Shanker as her source.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In their statement the <a href="http://teacherbiz.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/the-delran-education-associations-position-on-high-stakes-standardized-testing/">DEA wrote</a>:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 23.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">The erroneous claim that the American public school system was failing first came about in April of 1983 with the release of the report “</span><a href="http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; line-height: 23.7999992370605px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">A Nation At Risk</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 23.7999992370605px; text-align: justify;">: The Imperative for Educational Reform.” </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23.7999992370605px;">Waters defends the report and supports her claim that it was widely considered a "</span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: -0.5px; line-height: 24px;">pivotal moment by all those who value educational improvement" </span><span style="line-height: 23.7999992370605px;">by highlighting Albert Shanker's early support.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Actually, the publication of "<a href="http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html">A Nation at Risk</a>" is widely hailed as a pivotal moment by all those who value educational improvement. The Report famously articulated a "rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people" and was embraced by America's most famous unionist, Albert Shanker. <a href="http://educationnext.org/philosopher-or-king/">According to former AFT President Sandra Feldman</a>, "when Al finished reading the report, he closed the book and looked up at all of us and said, 'the report is right, and not only that, we should say that before our members.'"</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While it is true that <a href="http://www.uft.org/who-we-are/history/albert-shanker">Shanker embraced "A Nation at Risk"</a>, he was also clear about what he did NOT embrace.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 17.3999996185303px;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Many said Shanker's decision to embrace "A Nation at Risk" was a watershed moment, because conventional wisdom held that the only cure for education's ills was more money. Anything else was considered fire from the enemy. But </span><b style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Shanker saw that the report <u>wasn't boosting vouchers or privatization</u>.</b> <b style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Rather, it spoke of </b><u style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-weight: bold;">preserving and improving public education</u><b style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">, of raising standards and implementing accountability for both students and educators — even as he never stopped reminding politicians that </b><u style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-weight: bold;">teachers continued to need the resources to do the job.</u><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(emphasis mine)</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2013/04/28/what-did-albert-shanker-say-and-what-would-he-say-now/">Diane Ravitch made it clear</a> that although Shanker supported the report in 1983, his present feelings about it and all it has come to represent may be entirely different. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Would he be as enthusiastic about “A Nation at Risk” in 2013 as he was in 1983, now that it has become the Bible of the privatization movement? We don’t know.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">However, I can speculate too. Al Shanker cared passionately about a content-rich curriculum. So do I. Would his love for a content-rich curriculum have caused him to join with those who want to destroy public education? I don’t think so.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Would he have come to realize that “A Nation at Risk” would become not a document for reform but an indictment against public education? If he had, he would have turned against it.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, you may be asking, why should we give credence to Diane's hypothesis as to how Shanker would feel about A Nation at Risk were he alive today?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Allow me to explain. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back in July of 2012 then NJ Commissioner <a href="http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/0715/1856/">Chris Cerf tried to make his case for charters</a> by stating that Shanker was "one of the first advocates for public charter schools." <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/07/16/what-chris-cerf-needs-to-know-about-albert-shanker/">Diane Ravitch proceeded to give Cerf a bit of a history lesson</a>, and clarified that in 1993 when Shanker saw that charters were being used to privatize public education, he turned against them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enter Laura Waters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In response to Diane's post, <a href="http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/new-jersey/41549-the-famous-international-scholar-and-the-nj-education-commissioner">Waters attempted to "school" her</a> in an earlier essay for WHYY that stated "as a fact" that "(i)f Albert Shanker were alive today, he'd still be an education reformer and would support NJ's efforts to expand school choice for poor urban students."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-reformy-fainting-couch.html">Jersey Jazzman took umbrage</a> with Waters' commentary, and <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/07/19/more-about-al-shanker-chris-cerf-and-charters/">Diane picked up on his post</a> almost immediately. <a href="http://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2012/07/edith-shanker-puts-laura-waters-chris.html">I responded as well</a>, but I used the words of Shanker's widow Edith, who has been quite outspoken about the fact that corporate reformers have no place using Shanker's name or positions on issues to defend the privatization movement. She had written an eloquent dissection of Joel Klein and his attempts to use Shanker's early support for charters to defend his own policies and actions.</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Klein wanted the public to believe that Al was the originator of the charter school concept (<a href="http://www.shankerinstitute.org/blog/88-07-10.pdf">he wasn’t</a>) and that he would today be supportive of the charter school ”reform” ideology now being spread around New York City and the country as a panacea for low student achievement. Conveniently, <b><i>Klein did not indicate that Al denounced the idea of charters when it became clear that the concept had changed and was being hijacked by corporate and business interests.</i></b> <b><i>In <a href="http://www.shankerinstitute.org/blog/94-07-03.pdf">Al’s view</a>, such hijacking would result in the privatization of public education and, ultimately, its destruction – all without improving student outcomes. </i></b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17.3999996185303px;">(emphasis mine)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2012/07/19/mother-crusader-rides-again/">Diane picked up on my post,</a> which ultimately got the attention of Shanker's daughter, Jennie.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jennie was clearly not pleased that her father's name and legacy was being usurped once again to defend the privatization movement. She stated very plainly, in a comment on Waters' original essay, that Shanker's heir apparent, if he has one, is Diane, NOT Ms. Waters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Your appreciation for my father's work and vision was lovely to read. But your stance on this issue is diametrically opposed to his values and intent, and <b><i>you are dead wrong to shame Diane Ravitch for her position.</i></b> Indeed, if you consider your thinking to be in line with my father's, I recommend that you champion her work, as my family does. <b><i>If anyone can speak for my father in this day and age, the person who should be most trusted is Dr. Ravitch.</i></b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It's unfortunate that many people who read your article will not see this comment. <b><i>I would like to respectfully request that you reconsider further publicizing your characterization of my father's position on this topic. From what is in evidence in this article, despite your love for the man, <u>you are in no position to speak for him</u>. </i></b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17.3999996185303px;">(emphasis mine)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ouch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I really love is that Waters' most recent piece was meant to shame the Delran Education Association (much as she had attempted to shame Diane Ravitch) for not "doing their homework" before they wrote their position statement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seems Ms. Waters, even after having been schooled by me, Jersey Jazzman, Diane Ravitch, <b><i>and</i></b> Shanker's wife and daughter, has a lesson or two to learn herself about invoking the name of Albert Shanker in the name of modern day education reform.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which brings me back to Diane's question in her post about Shanker and "A Nation at Risk."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Would he be as enthusiastic about “A Nation at Risk” in 2013 as he was in 1983, now that it has become the Bible of the privatization movement? We don’t know.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But based on the above, we can be pretty sure that Diane has a better handle on how he would feel about it today than Waters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I think it's fair to extrapolate further and say that rest of the "lessons" Waters attempts to impart upon the Delran Education Association carry about as much weight as her insights regarding Shanker and "A Nation at Risk."</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1QceHYF31x7eHS3oCXEnxfjQxc4npGhuPwavUMOVmvM9fjD5kROS604vD9pd8Orb2j5G3YR3-xZpvvNHb3Q74DpvFx0Gl0J4xOZ4Ea775YGOYaXOyK60Ws7BHVdPBiAiSO1TOHQP3G3M/s1600/Laura+Waters+Doesn't%2BSpeak%2BFor%2BMe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1QceHYF31x7eHS3oCXEnxfjQxc4npGhuPwavUMOVmvM9fjD5kROS604vD9pd8Orb2j5G3YR3-xZpvvNHb3Q74DpvFx0Gl0J4xOZ4Ea775YGOYaXOyK60Ws7BHVdPBiAiSO1TOHQP3G3M/s1600/Laura+Waters+Doesn't%2BSpeak%2BFor%2BMe.jpg" height="400" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And now, a message from Albert Shanker himself...</span></td></tr>
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Mother Crusaderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.com5