Bloomberg's 12 Step Method to Close Down Public Schools

[teacher gal]

Cross posted at GD

From The Indypendent:

There is a method to his madness. Bloomberg and his Chancellor Joel Klein have initiated shut down or initiated the closing of more than 100 public schools, many of which have deep roots in their communities. No two situations are exactly alike. Nonetheless, here is a handy template to go by if you are a mayor who is eager to break up large public schools and hand over their buildings to privately run charter school operations, but don’t want to leave your fingerprints at the scene of the crime.

I'm not sure of the copyright rules for The Indypendent so please go this URL to read the 12-step method: http://www.indypendent.org/2010/01/29/bloombergs-12-ste... /

[NYC_SKP]

1. Points 4-6:

4 Close other nearby large schools and send low-performing students to the large school you have targeted.

5 Require the large school to continue to enroll students throughout the school year, many of whom have special needs or behavioral problems, while exempting the charter school from such obligations.

6 Funnel high numbers of kids being released from juvenile detention to the large school while exempting the charter school from such obligations.

Our charter takes these kids, low performing, special needs, juvenile hall releases.

Regarding all 12 steps, the article suggests a growing number of rejects going to a decreasing number of traditional large public schools.

If the objective is to replace all traditional public schools with charter schools, at some point these students will, presumably, be in these "selective" charter schools.

That's the part I don't get.

Though I don't doubt this is happening.

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. I believe he's been stopped, at least for now, re. charter schools.

He wanted to lift the cap ( it's 200 now) to 400 by changing state law. Union and its supporters said OK.... *if* you open up the charter books to public scrutiny and account for the public $$ spent. Also ,charters would have had to admit ELLs and kids with IEPs in the same proportion at which they are found in the PS population.

Bloomberg and co. withdrew the bill. But they'll be baaaaaccckk.

[Catshrink]

3. Accountability's a bitch.

[Dinger]

50. Yup

Sucks when the standards are the same too.


P.S. I like you Catshrink.:)

[Catshrink]

52. Awwww

I like you too, Dinger!

:hi:

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. They are doing this in Mobile, Al.

Been following the news for over a year, what they are doing is identical to the steps in the article.
Our Repug Gov. who is best buddies with Rove is pushing for Charter schools all over the state.

[azurnoir]

5. My public schools system has a "unique" way of dealing

with "low" preforming very early on say from 1st or 2nd grade it's called the IEP or (individualized education program) that's special ed for all not versed in school speak it works like this

in 1st grade Jonny doesn't do so well on either one or both of the standards tests in my area that would be math and reading

in second grade Jonny is found not to be pronouncing his "sh's" or "th's" very well so Jonny needs Speech Therapy which gets Jonny an IEP which means that not only don't his test scores count against the school any more but the school gets extra money to boot (what's not to love)

now say by 3rd or fourth grade Jonny's speech has improved and Jonny's parent want him taken out of the IE program well here's what to do you find amorphous "red flags" not really ever saying flagging what

so Jonny is put through endless batteries of tests all of which are inconclusive maybes or amorphous now if Jonnies parents get sick of this Jonny is then sent to school councilors or social workers who then play 50 questions about Jonnyes home life all without Jonnys parents prior knowledge of course if still nothing then the questions are turned on the parents and include when Jonny sleeps what Jonny eats what Jonny watches on TV accompanied with the appropriate hmms and do you think that's wise?

Now keep in mind that this is repeated every time Jonnys parents question the school as to what they are doing if the parents are not properly intimidated about this then the big guns are pulled out Jonny has ADD not ADHD because the latter is objective diagnosis and the former is subjective meaning no actual proof just opinion and needs to be drugged but say Jonnys Pediatrician doesn't play along says that is ridiculous and will not refer Jonny for the lengthy battery of tests to diagnose ADD then its back to questioning Jonnys home life

now this all takes time and the entire time Jonny is promoted along in grade levels without of course ever getting the actual help he needs in what ever subject he is not doing well in the whole process may repeat more than once though but before you know it Jonny is "ready" for middle school and then a miracle occurs on Jonnys final battery of tests he is found to be perfectly normal all of past "problems" have vanished and so he can now go on to middle school

but all in all this may explain why charter schools are doing so well because public schools are playing this game wholesale and dumping kids into secondary programs completely unprepared

[donco6]

6. Just a few corrections.

in 1st grade Jonny doesn't do so well on either one or both of the standards tests in my area that would be math and reading

What test are they giving to test reading in 1st grade?

in second grade Jonny is found not to be pronouncing his "sh's" or "th's" very well so Jonny needs Speech Therapy which gets Jonny an IEP which means that not only don't his test scores count against the school any more but the school gets extra money to boot (what's not to love)

In Colorado, students with IEP's test scores DO count against the school. Certainly kids with just a speech/language determination. They're probably getting maybe 1 or 2 hours of service per week. We do get funding for kids in special ed, but the costs are only reimbursed at 23% of actual, so it's hardly in our best interest to identify kids who don't need the services.

now say by 3rd or fourth grade Jonny's speech has improved and Jonny's parent want him taken out of the IE program well here's what to do you find amorphous "red flags" not really ever saying flagging what

so Jonny is put through endless batteries of tests all of which are inconclusive maybes or amorphous now if Jonnies parents get sick of this Jonny is then sent to school councilors or social workers who then play 50 questions about Jonnyes home life all without Jonnys parents prior knowledge of course if still nothing then the questions are turned on the parents and include when Jonny sleeps what Jonny eats what Jonny watches on TV accompanied with the appropriate hmms and do you think that's wise?

This is all pretty much bullshit. If Johnny's speech improves, he's done. Unless there are some psychological problems identified along the way. In that case, yes, we're required to make a referral to someone who can provide support. It's not usually the school district - at least, here anyway. We have 5 Psychs for 6000 kids. It just can't happen here.

Now keep in mind that this is repeated every time Jonnys parents question the school as to what they are doing if the parents are not properly intimidated about this then the big guns are pulled out Jonny has ADD not ADHD because the latter is objective diagnosis and the former is subjective meaning no actual proof just opinion and needs to be drugged but say Jonnys Pediatrician doesn't play along says that is ridiculous and will not refer Jonny for the lengthy battery of tests to diagnose ADD then its back to questioning Jonnys home life

Now you're starting to get a little scary.

now this all takes time and the entire time Jonny is promoted along in grade levels without of course ever getting the actual help he needs in what ever subject he is not doing well in the whole process may repeat more than once though but before you know it Jonny is "ready" for middle school and then a miracle occurs on Jonnys final battery of tests he is found to be perfectly normal all of past "problems" have vanished and so he can now go on to middle school

I'm confused. Isn't that what you wanted?

but all in all this may explain why charter schools are doing so well because public schools are playing this game wholesale and dumping kids into secondary programs completely unprepared

So you're upset with the school for identifying him, then not identifying him, then identifying him - and you believe charters are better because they would have . . . ?

[azurnoir]

10. This is MN and I am relating the experience of my Jonny

from grade 1 through grade 6 the test is called the MCA and no it was not what we wanted what we wanted was help math with which he never got.
He was done with his IEP at the end of grade 6 and our experience with the school was what I related

[donco6]

11. The Minnesota MCA doesn't start until 3rd grade.

So what happened in 1st grade again? And you didn't mention how a charter would have helped?

[azurnoir]

13. and 3rd grade was also when his IEP started

what I never mentioned is that my kid also has a disability, he has a birth injury to right hand which makes it almost impossible for him to write THIS was never addressed we requested repeatedly that he be allowed to type rather than write but we listened to excuses for hours on end as to why even with Doctors statements they just could not do this
Charters here are more closely regulated and have been shown repeatedly to have better results

But lets guess here your either a teacher or an administrator in some school district have I got that right

[tonysam]

20. You've got to be kidding. They aren't all that regulated. n/t

[azurnoir]

21. Every state is different and to a degree so is every district

I am in one of the 2 largest districts in my state and have been told that had my kid been in a smaller more well moneyed i.e. suburban district none of this would ever have happened

eta he did his kindergarden year in a suburban district and they offered to give him physical therapy for and made allowances for his hand

[donco6]

23. We would have, too.

I'm sorry about your bad experience. Hopefully you'll find the support you need wherever you feel you need to go.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. Ok I am just guessing here

But why am I wondering if perhaps this school district wanted to do more testing than this parent wanted to allow? You and I both know that happens.

[azurnoir]

42. We allowed them to do whatever they wanted

we went to at least 4 major meetings a year with school administration, special ed teacher i.e. speech teacher, school nurse, and sometimes but not always the teacher

eta the only thing that did not get done ws the ADD work up and that was because we needed a referral from his primary pediatrician who would not give one
the ADD thing came up in the middle of one of the meetings after the question why can you not give him extra help with math? One of the admin people popped up with well we think ADHD is a possibility here and then the one sitting next her chimed in "Oh no not ADHD we think it's ADD" the difference being ADHD is a definitive diagnosis there are physical body chemistry abnormalities and ADD is not it is a very lengthy battery of tests both academic and cognitive.

[proud2BlibKansan]

45. First of all, ADD/ADHD is a MEDICAL diagnosis

and a school cannot diagnose it. It isn't even a recognized disability under IDEA (sped law).

There is however a policy statement issued by the US Dept of Ed that says kids with ADD/ADHD must receive accommodations at a public school. However, a policy is completely different from being a recognized handicapping condition. Hence, it is not recognized by public schools as a disability eligible for sped services, but it is recognized as a disorder with special needs that must be met.

I know that is confusing but there is a huge difference between disability and disorder.

I know a lot about this policy statement as I was part of a group that lobbied for several years to get this statement issued. I believe the date it finally came out was 1991.

Secondly, there is NO definitive diagnosis for either ADD or ADHD. They are both on the same spectrum, just different variations of the same MEDICAL disorder. ADD is the term for the inattentive type and ADHD is the hyperactive type. But they are actually the same disorder. The diagnosis is made through behavior rating scales that are scored by a physician, and those are very subjective. So as I said it is NOT a definitive diagnosis.

Thirdly, if indeed the school did tell you that they suspect ADD is a possibility, then you should, in the best interests of your child, ask the school to fill out some behavior rating scales and take them to your pediatrician.

You need to move beyond being angry at the school and get some help (if necessary) for your child.

Good luck.

[azurnoir]

46. They dropped almost as fast as they brought it up

I related this episode to the school nurse who was not present at that particular meeting and she was quite outraged

anecdotally we found out from some of my daughters friends parents who also had younger sibs in this particular school they too had similar experiences with them

eta I do work in medical and this time I do know what I am talking about
I am not quite sure what your point is and please stop with condescending crap, as I said earlier I have no reason to lie or make this up it is what happened

[proud2BlibKansan]

48. An informative post is condescending crap?

Is English your first language?

[azurnoir]

49. Yes English is my first language

but here is fact; ADD was brought up once as a retort to a direct question as to why my son was not being given extra help with math as I said it wa a redirect
also I never said ADD was not a medical diagnosis what I did say is that the methodology used in that diagnosis is different and is far more time consuming than a diagnosis of ADHD

now as to help my son needed none was ever given not for math and not for a problem with his right hand that is due to a birth injury which makes it very difficult if not almost impossible for him to write clearly, THAT should and could have been the basis of his IEP but was never mentioned
now as I said this was in a large inner city school district which he has been in from 1rst grade on, he did his kindergarden year in a suburban district that actually offered to give him physical therapy for his hand and did do just that
I mentioned my sister what she has told me is that my experience is not unique when dealing with large urban districts, that they do play this game quite frequently and also that was why she kept her kids in the 'burbs

condescending is your implication that we are neglecting our son as we are doing anything but as I said his doctor would not give the referral needed, his checkup was only days after the meeting where this was brought up and now I have worked professionally with this doctor also and know we hear this all too frequently and under similar circumstances
the point here is that this particular school district spends an unusual amount of time dithering and excuse making as to why they can't do something and seems to favor this over dealing with the actual problem

[tonysam]

51. The stream-of-consciousness writing in your posts

is extremely frustrating to read.

[azurnoir]

47. In addition

all of this happened in a large inner city school district, the ADD thing came up when we were questioning why he was not being given extra help with math, it was a redirect of the conversation, the people who brought it up had very little contact with my son and it was not ever mentioned again, period
My point is that at least in my district there is an unusual amount of time used by school administrators in making up excuses as to why they can not do what really needs to be done, if that amount of effort was put in to solving the actual problem they might well have better results

[stopschoolpaddling]

7. This reminds me of

the principle who told me if paddling a student wasn't working, then they try something else. Shortly afterwards, I met the parents of 7th grader who said he had been paddled 37 times last year in 6th grade. When do you suppose they were going to figure out it wasn't working? This boy is now in alternative school. The more they shut down around here the better, at least children will still be alive.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. PrincipAl

And since paddling is illegal in many states, this is just an anecdotal story that can't be used to generalize.

I am also wondering how many children are not alive because they were paddled at school. Do you have a link?

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. You can't exclude kids on IEPs from NCLB tests and yes, their scores do indeed count

I would argue that the IEP scores are even more important since IEP kids are a subgroup, and subgroup scores carry a lot of weight in determining the school's AYP.

And these are FEDERAL regs, not state.

[azurnoir]

12. Let me guess your a teacher or a school administrator

well hon the info about how those test scores are handled came from the district it self, now once in middle school then the scores do count but not in grade school

[Catshrink]

14. And let me guess, "hon", you didn't do so well in school yourself.

"your" in your subject line should be "you're" since you apparently mean "you are." "Your" is a possessive, "you're" is a contraction. You should also write "itself" instead of "it self."

I just love how people who don't know squat about education love to play expert at criticizing it. Do you realize that there are federal laws pertaining to special education and that districts are required to identify children with special needs? The testing process must be thorough to best identify whether a child needs special education services and, if so, how those services must be tailored to meet that child's needs.

Less hostily, please. You're dealing with people who know what they're talking about and who actually live with these issues every day. We can help you understand what you clearly don't -- but aren't going to lift a finger for someone displaying hostility.

[azurnoir]

16. Let me guess your arse covering

as to don't know squat and some of my 'red flags' came from my sister who is a schooll teacher in NY state
and I am dealing with people who "know" what they're talking about and have jobs on the line but hon it is hostility not hostily LOL case closed

[tonysam]

19. ?????? n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. Seconded

[donco6]

25. Thirded.

[Name removed]

26. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. I think the point was that some scores aren't counting?

Which you and I both know is complete bullshit. Not only do sped kids' scores count - at EVERY tested grade level - but they carry more weight than kids who are not sped.

Yep that's fair alright. How many of our critics here understand that the feds look at the sped kids' scores and the minority kids and the free lunch kids and the non English speaking kids? This is something that has infuriated me since day one with this insane law. If you are in a school with few or no sped, minority, poor or ELL kids, the feds don't give a shit about your scores. Now which schools fit THAT profile? Why the schools that are doing fine anyway, since they don't have any ELL, minority or poor kids and probably not enough sped kids to make a subgroup.

And what is the penalty for those schools who DO have the subgroup kids and don't do well on the test? Why taking their federal funding away! Yep, that's fair too!!

Now let's move on to the 100% proficient mandate. That goes into effect in 2014. How many of our critics here realize that by 2014, the law states that 100% of ALL of our kids must be proficient? And that each state gets to define what proficient means? In my state it means on grade level. Now if it was indeed possible for all of our children to perform on grade level, I would be out of a job and someone would have invented a cure for retardation and brain damage, all of our children would be speaking English and all would come from families that send their 5 year olds to school ready to learn. Oh and in my community, all the lead paint in older homes would be gone. Poof!

Now don't get me wrong. I would be thrilled if that was the case. But to get to that point in 4 years is just not very realistic.

And even IF we didn't have to count the scores of the kids on IEPs, only in fantasy land can you find even one school where 100% of the kids are on grade level. Or ever will be.

Life is a bell curve. NCLB completely ignores that fact.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. Huh?

Sorry but your run-on sentence is too hard to read. I have no idea what point you are trying to make.

[azurnoir]

18. Typical

when caught play the semantics game
Thanks for making my case

[Catshrink]

27. Typical

Those who don't have a clue what they're talking about stop and call names. Thank you for making our case.

[azurnoir]

29. No dear I know what happened

as to not having a clue your some anonymous whoever on a board and do not know anything about either MN schools or what happened here

[Catshrink]

35. We've got you figured out.

You're pissed off about something that happened and rather than deal with it in a constructive way, you come to an anonymous message board to bash teachers and generalize your frustration to the entire school system. The "semantics" you complain about, that you obviously don't understand, are the language used in education. You should really educate yourself.

You know, if you'd approached this topic as a person needed input from those in the field so we could offer assistance and the benefit of our experience, you might have received some useful help. Instead, you chose to act like an ass and I must say, have been well-rewarded for your success in that.

As for the la la la I can't hear you... that's why we have an ignore function.

[azurnoir]

38. I do not need input

it is way too late my son is now in 7th grade no longer has an IEP but is suffering from the years of academic neglect he suffered in elementary school, the teachers in his middle school know and admit that this type of thing is way too common

as I said your from a different state and really do not know what your talking about

as to ignore please put me on it if you wish I myself do not believe in it, I have nothing to fear from words

[azurnoir]

39. Also I find the "we" interesting

was this a coordinated attack? It did seem strange that it started almost 24 hours after I made the post hmmmmm sort of like the school

[Catshrink]

41. Coordinated? On DU?

You think we PM each other to attack a poster? OMG. More like those of us who post here often are tired of the bullcrap thrown at us by either charter shills, teacher bashers, and discontented parents. So we speak up. Watch the paranoia -- it isn't healthy.

[azurnoir]

43. I happen to know there are

I am not familiar with forum but on other forums it does happen

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. May I add that more than one DUer has contacted me via PM wanting help with a school issue

And I have always gladly given what advice I could.

I don't want to violate confidentiality but it has indeed happened and I am willing to bet I am not the only teacher on DU who has done so.

We aren't monsters. But you can only be attacked so many times before you start fighting back. You can also only see incorrect information posted here so many times before you just have to speak up and post facts.

[azurnoir]

44. I was relating our past experience

I have absolutely no reason to lie or make things up, the attack was on your part not mine IMO what happened is the direct result of NCLB as my son is the youngest 4 children, the other 3 are much older than he is the next sibling closest in age is 10 years older than he is, our experience was quite unique WRT my children

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. You call it semantics ~ I call it the English language

I teach special ed and I read several of your posts 2 or 3 times and still have no idea what you are trying to say.

Dude, this goes way beyond semantics.

[azurnoir]

31. Learn to spell then critique others

as to my posts Lalala I can't hear you doesn't work well

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. Again. Which word did I spell wrong?

[azurnoir]

34. see comment #35 n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

36. Your post #16

You still have time to edit.

Oh and if you need help, it's S-C-H-O-O-L. Only one 'l'. :)

[azurnoir]

37. really I do not care

this is not about spelling I see mistakes all the time on DU and you know what in the 4 years I have been here this is the first time I have mentioned them
your language obsession only points to your lack of much else to say and BTW I did very well in school and in fact scored in the top 2% in the MSAT's when I was in high school
but still and none the less I suspect your either a teacher or an and far more likely a school administrator
Really in my district it is not the teachers I have the problem with, they played a relatively small role in this it was and is the school administration which by it's own admission it very top heavy in my district literally more chiefs than Indians so to speak

[Catshrink]

33. +1

[tonysam]

17. Tell me all about that one.

As you know, I had a principal who ILLEGALLY approached me to violate NCLB by trying to get me to put all my life skills students on alternate testing, although only two of the eight or nine qualified. He was afraid of schoolwide test scores going down. I told him no, and that was the beginning of the end of my teaching career.

ALL kids have to be tested, whether it's standardized tests or alternate testing. With special ed kids, it depends on their disability (eligibility code) whether they take the standardized or alternate tests.