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Mayor Cicilline Stands with Education Reformers

Published by blog August 26th, 2008 in Charter Schools, Great Leadership, Legislature, Mayors, Providence and Urban Schools. 0 Comments

Yesterday in Denver, Democrats for Education Reform and the Education Equality Project held an event at the Democratic National Convention titled “Ed Challenge for Change,” marking a watershed turning point for the Democratic party on issues of accountability, choice and a true commitment to addressing our nation’s greatest civil rights injustice: the achievement gap between low-income children of color and their wealthier white peers. The popular Mickey Klaus in the blog Slate provides this coverage of the event:

I went to the Ed Challenge for Change event mainly to schmooze. I almost didn’t stay for the panels, being in no mood for what I expected would, even among these reformers, be an hour of vague EdBlob talk about “change” and “accountability” and “resources” that would tactfully ignore the elephant in the room, namely the teachers’ unions. I was so wrong. One panelist–I think it was Peter Groff, president of the Colorado State Senate, got the ball rolling by complaining that when the children’s agenda meets the adult agenda, the “adult agenda wins too often.” Then Cory Booker of Newark attacked teachers unions specifically–and there was applause. In a room of 500 people at the Democratic convention! “The politics are so vicious,” Booker complained, remembering how he’d been told his political career would be over if he kept pushing school choice, how early on he’d gotten help from Republicans rather than from Democrats. The party would “have to admit as Democrats we have been wrong on education.” Loud applause! Mayor Adrian Fenty of D.C. joined in, describing the AFT’s attempt to block the proposed pathbreaking D.C. teacher contract. Booker denounced “insane work rules,” and Groff talked about doing the bidding of “those folks who are giving money [for campaigns], and you know who I’m talking about.” Yes, they did! As Jon Alter, moderating the next panel, noted, it was hard to imagine this event happening at the previous Democratic conventions. (If it had there would have been maybe 15 people in the room, not 500.) Alter called it a “landmark” future historians should note. Maybe he was right.

Providence Mayor Cicilline was there, too. From his Convention Blog, he writes:

I attended a great education forum entitled “ED Challenge for Change.” My colleagues Mayor Adrian Fenty and Mayor Cory Booker presented and were joined by Joel Klein, Chancellor, New York City Schools, Gov. Roy Romer, Michelle Rhee, Chancellor DC Public Schools, John King (Uncommon Schools), Joe Williams, Democrats for Education Reform, and many other educational leaders. There was excellent discussion about the urgency of real change in public education and the opportunity of the new president to take this issue and make it central to his campaign.

An increasing majority of Rhode Island Democratic leaders understand the urgency of this issue — whether from an economic development standpoint for the future of our state’s workforce, or from a civil rights justice standpoint to provide the American dream of a better future to so many families of color living in our largest cities, the Democratic party is poised to get serious about education reform, even if it means “letting go of outdated orthodoxies.” Rhode Island House Majority Leader Gordon Fox was honored in June by Democrats for Education Reform as an education reform “hero” for his inspiring leadership to expand Rhode Island’s charter school movement with “Mayoral Academies.”

Rounding out coverage of the DNC event yesterday, Denver’s Rocky Mountain News reported on the event in today’s edition:

“It is a battle for the heart of the Democratic Party,” said Cory Booker, the 39-year-old rising star mayor of Newark, N.J.

“We have been wrong in education,” Booker said of his party and its alliances with teachers unions that put adults before children. “It’s time to get right.”

Booker was among those who appeared Sunday at the Denver Art Museum to challenge the Democratic Party to reconsider its course on education.

In references sometimes veiled and sometimes blunt, they tackled the party’s often- cozy relationship with the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, which typically support - financially and otherwise - Democratic candidates.

“The Democratic Party is supposed to look out for poor and minority kids,” said Washington, D.C., schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. “That’s not the dynamic today,” said Rhee, who is battling her city’s union over a plan to overhaul teacher pay.

The headline of the Denver newspaper story sums it up: “Lesson Plan: Put kids over teachers.”

Lessons from New Orleans

Published by blog August 26th, 2008 in Charter Schools, Great Leadership, Teacher Effectiveness and Urban Schools. 0 Comments

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a phoenix has risen from the ashes. Long plagued by incompetence, corruption, racial segregation and dysfunction, the New Orleans school district was essentially scrapped in the wake of the hurricane. In its place, education reformers have taken a “clean slate” attitude to the challenge, focusing on the needs of kids first and foremost. The human capital teaching in New Orleans schools has been a key change strategy, with Teach for America providing 250 corps members per year to begin teaching in New Orleans schools, and an entire Web site designed to recruit our nation’s best and brightest teachers called TeachNOLA.org. Meanwhile, the majority of New Orleans students attend public charter schools, operating outside the traditional district bureaucracy and without traditional collective bargaining union contracts. Most of these schools opened after the storm. The early results are tremendously promising, as profiled in last weekend’s New York Sunday Times article, “A Teachable Moment,” which profiles the reformers, families, and students who are turning the lemon that was Katrina into the lemonade of one of America’s premier education reform success stories. To quote from the article:

“For many years now, the central debate in American education has been over just how much schools can do to improve the low rate of achievement among poor children. While it is true that for decades the children of New Orleans toiled in a substandard school system, they have also continually faced countless other obstacles to success — inadequate health care, poorly educated parents, exposure to high rates of violent crime and a popular culture that often denigrates mainstream achievement. And though the hurricane washed away the school system, it didn’t wash away their other problems. In fact, for most children it compounded them with a whole new set of troubles: wrecked homes, frequent relocations, divided families, post-traumatic stress. Were public schools really the right vehicle to attack all of those problems? Were a blazer and a necktie and a lot of hard work enough to get Tony Petite to college?

For Hardrick and Sanders and the dozens of other education reformers I spoke to in New Orleans since my first trip there in March, the answer was a firm yes. They didn’t deny the daunting spectrum of problems facing the children they were trying to educate. But they said they believed they could overcome them in the classroom — and that the new educational terrain in New Orleans had significantly increased their chances of success.”

Continue reading the New York Sunday Times article on the rebirth of public education in New Orleans.

KIPP Academy in Lynn, MA Outperforms Marblehead

Published by blog August 21st, 2008 in Charter Schools, KIPP, Middle Schools, No Excuses and Urban Schools. 2 Comments

The Globe has a story today about the KIPP middle school closest to Rhode Island. In Rhode Island, not a single district-operated open-enrollment urban middle school has even 50% of its students proficient in math or reading. Yet in Lynn, Massachusetts, KIPP Academy, now in its fourth year as one of over 65 KIPP charter schools operating nationally, is proving that demographics need not determine one’s destiny. Children enter the school in fifth grade, most well below proficiency as measured by their 4th grade MCAS. Yet the students make 2.7 grade levels of growth in their first year, and by 6th grade, they outperform not only the district, and not only the statewide average, but these kids (of whom 80% are of color and 85% are on free and reduced lunch) actually outperform the tony suburban towns of Swampscott and Marblehead. This is the equivalent to a school in Central Falls, Providence or Woonsocket outperforming a school in Barrington, and it is something we hope to someday see in Rhode Island! Click here for the full article in the Globe.

Newsclips: Kudos for Legislature; Big Apple; Global Competitiveness; Rhee; Obama; Wendy Kopp

Published by blog July 14th, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

A quick post with several recent articles about education in Rhode Island and across the country:

  • Voting for Students: The Providence Journal praises the General Assembly’s moves to end the ban on new charter schools and allow ‘Mayoral Academies,’ noting “… it is enormously encouraging that Rhode Island’s political leaders displayed real backbone this year in fighting for the state’s students. Citizens applaud them.” (read more)
  • Charter School Vote Showed Courage: East Bay Newspapers (Bristol Phoenix, Barrington Times, Newport This Week, Warren Times Gazette, etc.), praises the General Assembly’s bold moves: “… Charter schools are swamped with applications from skilled teachers who appreciate freedom from a system designed to smother change. And most important, they offer choice to families whose school placement is governed now entirely by address.” (read more)
  • Charter Schools Make the Grade: NY Post comments on the remarkable success of New York City’s public charter schools, “All told, roughly 40 of the 50 charters whose students took the exams beat the citywide averages, a number that is all the more astonishing because the schools are located primarily in the poorest neighborhoods…. No, not every charter is wonderful. Those that lag get closed. But most are doing spectacularly. ” (read more)
  • Revamping Education in U.S. Schools: BusinessWeek makes the observation “If we continue to rank our students only against each other within the country, we will have no way of knowing how we compare with those overseas, many of whom will ultimately compete with American students for jobs.” It’s written by a college student working on the captivating movie documentary, 2 Million Minutes, which makes remarkable observations on America’s lack of global awareness. (read more)
  • It’s the education gap that’s obscene: ProJo editorial board member David Anderson says: “Where the gap between … the privileged and the unprivileged really is a travesty is in educational opportunity…. I recently heard [Washington, D.C.] Chancellor Rhee speak in Boston … Ms. Rhee speaks plainly: There are two basic problems in the D.C. schools: 1) No accountability. 2) The interest of adults always takes precedence over the interest of children, who have no voice. There are two solutions: 1) Good leadership. 2) Great teachers.” (read more)
  • Obama Doesn’t Have to Run as a Liberal: In the WSJ, Matt Miller argues Obama should embrace education reform with a “‘New Deal’ for teachers,” explaining, “… college students and younger teachers will crave the chance to earn, say, $150,000 if they excel…. He can explicitly endorse something like the breakthrough deal being pushed by Washington, D.C., schools chief Michelle Rhee, under which teachers could opt into a new pay schedule that gives them a chance to earn up to $130,000, but requires them to relinquish tenure and seniority rights as part of the bargain.” (read more)
  • Wendy Kopp on Charlie Rose: See inspirational education reform advocate and leader Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, on Charlie Rose. Recall that unfortunately, current Rhode Island regulations do not yet allow TFA to send its corps members into RI public schools. (read more)

NEARI’s Purtill Resorts to Personal Attacks

Published by Angus July 11th, 2008 in Charter Schools, Failed Leadership, Legislature, Mayoral Academies, Mayors, NEARI and School Day. 0 Comments

In the wake of the recent victory for education reformers in Rhode Island, I appeared on 10 News Conference with NEARI Executive Director Bob Walsh to debate the issue on the merits.

While Mr. Walsh debated in public, however, NEARI launched personal attacks behind the scenes. NEARI publishes an official newsletter called “Newsline,” to 11,000 current and retired teachers. In this month’s issue, NEARI President Larry Purtill devotes an entire column to attacking me personally.
Continue reading ‘NEARI’s Purtill Resorts to Personal Attacks’

10 News Conference on Charter Schools, and Length of School Day

Published by Angus July 11th, 2008 in Charter Schools, Mayoral Academies, NEARI and School Day. 2 Comments

I was appeared recently on 10 News Conference, our local version of “Meet the Press,” with NBC 10 reporters Kelley McGee and Bill Rappleye to discuss public charter schools and the recent expansion of the charter school law in Rhode Island. Joining me was Bob Walsh, Executive Director of the NEARI union, a vocal opponent of expanding innovative new public charter schools. Last month, Mr. Walsh said those of us working to expand educational options for parents have “declared war on public eduction,” and went on to say that NEARI will “do everything we can” to stop the reform. He made those statements before the House voted in favor of the charter school expansion by a 41-30 vote.

The 10 News Conference debate on public charter schools in Rhode Island was spirited. I made the arguments that these schools, to be operated by leading charter management organizations such as KIPP, Achievement First, Uncommon Schools, Democracy Prep or other similarly successful non-profits, would offer something new to Rhode Island parents and children. When asked for an example of what would be different, I cited the longer school day and year used with success in many of these inner-city schools to raise student achievement.

As Newark Mayor Cory Booker has told me, “We need to stop thinking about time in school as the constant and student achievement as the variable. Instead, we must define high student achievement as the constant and allow time in school to become the variable.”

Bill Rappleye asked NEARI Executive Director Bob Walsh, “What’s wrong with longer school days?”

Mr. Walsh responded, “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.”

But in 2004, when the Rhode Island Board of Regents took steps to lengthen the school day, NEARI vehemently opposed the step. It was described by the Providence Journal at the time as the “most controversial” education proposal in recent history. NEARI President Larry Purtill stated then: “Not a single piece of research shows that lengthening the school day improves student performance.”

Yet on 10 News Conference, Bob Walsh, Executive Director of NEARI, said, “I like what Angus said about ‘make time the variable.’” And of course, there is plenty of research favoring more time in school for at-risk kids.

As Mr. Walsh said on Channel 10, schools with a longer day “Are giving [children] a place to do their homework; they’re giving them a place with an overall supportive environment…. The police will tell you the trouble doesn’t start at midnight, it starts at about 3 pm.”

This is a stunning reversal, because the unions claimed in 2004 that reforms demanding a longer school day were “a form of educational malpractice” and “patently illegal” (I can’t make this stuff up! Click here to read the Projo Article from that time).

I am thrilled to hear NEARI is now in favor of longer school days for our neediest children, despite what Larry Purtill claimed to the contrary just a few years ago. To see the entire 10 News Conference story, click here, then scroll down and click the link for “June 29, 2008: Mayoral Academies.”

Victory for Education Reform in Rhode Island

Published by blog June 19th, 2008 in Charter Schools, Great Leadership, Legislature, Mayoral Academies and Mayors. 5 Comments

Last night, the Rhode Island House of Representatives passed an historic budget bill that significantly expands public school choice for Rhode Island families and takes a significant step towards ending educational inequity and closing the achievement gap in our state. Key to this momentous leap forward was a phenomenal speech from House Majority Leader Gordon Fox (D-Providence) who inspired us with his vision of hope for Rhode Island families desperate for better educational options. He moved some of us to tears as he spoke eloquently on the issues of educational inequity that motivate us all.

The ban on public charter schools in Rhode Island is over.

A bill to expand the charter school law by eliminating restrictions on charter schools pertaining to tenure, “prevailing wage,” and a ban on defined-contribution benefit plans has passed after the lengthiest debate of the evening.

Mayors in the state of Rhode Island will now be able to apply to open public charter schools in partnership with non-profit organizations such as Democracy Prep, KIPP, Achievement First, and others.

This is the culmination of a massive effort by a broad group of people too numerous to mention in a single post. The leadership of our legislature has changed the direction of our state, despite opposition from defenders of the status quo. Reformers owe thanks to Speaker Murphy, Majority Leader Fox, House Finance Chair Costantino, and the other members of the leadership who stood with them, courageously.
Continue reading ‘Victory for Education Reform in Rhode Island’