Two recent stories on the push to privatize schools:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7vhjTiqpX0

• http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/22/978218/-The-United-Gates-of-America

Anyone with a working long-term memory knows where this agenda to “Starve Public Schools Out Of Existence” came from.

Good thing there's web search for the rest of us —

Richard DeVos Advocates “Stealth” Strategy Against Public Education
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-fTAhc4QC4

Blackwater In-Law DeVos Outlines “Stealth” Plot Against Public Education
• http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/04/972949/-Blackwater-In-Law-DeVos-outlines-stealth-plot-against-Public-Education

Strategy for Privatizing Public Schools Spelled out by Dick DeVos in 2002 Heritage Foundation Speech
• http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/5/3/12515/58655/Front_Page/Strategy_for_Privatizing_Public_Schools_Spelled_out_by_Dick_D

We need to hold McMillin and Marleau accountable for this destruction of education. McMillin writes his legislation with the aid of ALEC, a right wing bill writing group that is funded by large corporations. The main plan is to privatize education. This will not help children. Instead, it will help their rich masters.

Mary... how about holding your school board accoutable for excessive spending, year after year? They are they ones that decide the spending... not McMillin and Marleau.

Athletics, for example, deserve a bit of scrutiny. The district spends nearly $1000 per participant! $1.5 milliion for approximately 1500 secondary athletes. Increasing pay-to-play is not the only solution; the board agrees to allow the MEA to control the hiring -- and salaries -- of coaches and assistants.

Did the district really need to buy a $50K postage meter? Why didn't they outsource it?

Does the board really need $65K in new video equipment to make themselves look better, or could we have squeaked by for another few years?

The board just signed long-term contracts (3 years!) with it's teachers union, despite the fact that they had no clue what their revenue was going to be. Do we really think that is a the most prudent and responsible course of action?

I must agree with you guys. While I can understand the school district not spending new funds on gifted education, much of the differentiation my daughter receives to provide her curriculum at the level and pace she needs is done by the staff at the media centers and the parapros. These cuts are further decreases to the minimal gifted education our district provides and will force more parents of gifted students to consider alternatives. If the district spent 1/3 of the money on gifted students as they do on gifted athletes, we would have a great gifted program that would attract kids to our district.

By cutting media center assistants and parapros, Rochester Community Schools is cutting their commitment to the Pyramid of Intervention and both gifted and special needs children will be hurt. Public schools are supposed to be for EVERY student, not just the average student.

For those unfamiliar with the Pyramid of Intervention... read "The Emperors' New Clothes." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor's_New_Clothes)

"An Emperor who cares for nothing but his appearance and attire hires two tailors who promise him the finest suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or "just hopelessly stupid". The Emperor cannot see the cloth himself, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing unfit for his position or stupid; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they mime dressing him and the Emperor then marches in procession before his subjects, who play along with the pretense. Suddenly, a child in the crowd, too young to understand the desirability of keeping up the pretense, blurts out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is taken up by others. The Emperor cringes, suspecting the assertion is true, but holds himself up proudly and continues the procession."

Clara. You have that right. You might want to add ALEC, Devos, Prince, and Koch Brothers. The new monarchs that are recreating the feudal system. See you with the other serfs soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WebDEpNwHc

Someone should alert the authorities in Central Planning.

http://www.jeremynielson.com/blog/?p=1028

Our school board has known since 2009 that they were heading towards a funding cliff. Now we’re at that cliff, staring over the side.

They’re laying off staff and affecting our classrooms. And our kids will fall behind as a result.

Ladies and gentlemen, hope just isn't getting it done.

The Facebook page, “Wear Red For Public Ed”, collects news and opinion about the state of public education across the national scene:

http://www.facebook.com/wearredforpubliced

Followed your link... had ME seeing red! :-)

You forgot to link to http://www.saveourschoolsmarch.org/, complete with speakers like the Diane Ravitch

Be sure to check out the "Union Roll Call" section.

They use rhetoric like "We stand united by one belief – it’s time for teachers and parents to organize and reclaim control of our schools." PLEASE! They are the status quo, and never lost control!

Or how about this:

"As concerned citizens, we demand an end to the destructive policies and rhetoric that have eroded confidence in our public schools, demoralized teachers, and reduced the education of too many of our children to nothing more than test preparation."

Demand?

It's "rhetoric" that is eroding confidence? Shouldn't RESULTS trump rhetoric?

This is nothing more than a resistance to the movement towards accountability, and really, in the end, it's about adults trying to advocate for adult (union) issues.

Why are you peppering these comment sections with this sort of propganda? Why not stick to the issues covered in the article?

In a related story ...

Wealthy Families, Corporate-Backed Foundations Behind Push for School Vouchers
• http://www.prwatch.org/spin/2011/05/10778/wealthy-families-corporate-backed-foundations-behind-push-school-vouchers

You think too narrow.

If you want to pay GOOD teachers more – and I do – then you need to find efficiencies somewhere. You need to find some way to increase productivity. The conversation was meant to spark a meaningful discussion on how you might be able to take a talented teacher and help them to reach more children. There is plenty of “grunt work” that a teacher does, that could be delegated to a capable group of assistants. It’s similar to a lawyer working with their paralegals, a dentist working with a hygienist, or a doctor working with a nurse / physician’s assistant.

Maybe it’s not 1/3… maybe it’s 2/3. What I tossed out was an idea – not a plan. Maybe some variation on it might work. Maybe none of it. But rather than discussion it in any sort of rational way, you instead choose to dismiss it, advocate for the status quo, and disparage non-public (non-union) teachers and parapros in the process.

All you ever really say is, "It''ll never work; leave us alone", and "Give us more money." We can predict what you are going to say. My guess is that it's your approach that is causing the legislature, for the most part, to ignore your arguments.

So, you can rely on your anointed school board folks, who will continue to twiddle their thumbs (or wring their hands, depending on the day), and I’ll continue to advocate for a better future for our children with new ideas.

In all my years on the board I can only recall one time where I even had an opportunity for compromise, and that was elections. I wanted to move elections from May to November, and the rest of the board was resistant. Eventually the pressure mounted, and they were forced to move. But of course, their self-preservation instincts kicked in, and they wanted six-year terms. I thought that was absurd, but voted YES in the spirit of compromise. I got November elections, and they got six-year terms. I compromised.

Aside from that... I cannot recall other opportunities to compromise. It was their way, or the highway.

And as far as the legislature goes... they too compromised. The pension tax would be one example, and the additional per-pupil revenue added after the original proposal would be another.

With respect to board members... your questions reveal how you view these things. Why would we want to talk about their motivations? Or rather, why would we SPECULATE about their motivations? Can't you accept that they want to serve for the right reasons, regardless of whether they are effective or not?

And why do you want to see them "attacked" individually?

Let's talk about their results... you start by pointing to an effective program, or an effective budget, and let's dissect that. Unless, of course, you want to go after people personally.

Joshua Raymond wrote:

“I am not wealthy nor corporate-backed. As I mentioned in my post above, I just want options for gifted children who aren't having their needs met in Rochester Community Schools. The options suggested by some RCS employees have often been tuition-based schools which many parents, including me, cannot afford. Please suggest some options and not just another link.”

Mr. Raymond,

It may well be that every child is gifted in something — it might be art, or athletics, or astrophysics, or any one of a thousand other things. All the true teachers I have ever known were the sorts of persons who loved nothing better than seeing those gifts come to light. What constrains the administration and faculty of RCS from doing justice to all those gifts?

Do you think it's a lack of dedication or desire on the part of the administration and faculty? I personally doubt that.

Do you think it's that much ballyhooed austerity? I think that anyone watching the dollars in the air and where they are going will have to admit that austerity in general is one of the biggest of the Big Lies that we have seen in many decades.

Where private dollars go is determined by private interests — some of the links I shared are informative on that score.

Where public dollars go ought to be determined by the Public Will. Is that what we see happening in the current state of things?

That is the question that we ought to be asking here.

I'm pretty sure parents and community members will agree: Education is about our kids' educational needs - not adult needs and wants. It seems to me that's the Public Will.
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http://www.jeremynielson.com

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat, liberal, and former union organizer, on teacher UNION leadership: an "unwavering roadblock to reform," the "loudest opponent and the largest obstacle to creating quality schools" and the "most powerful defenders of the unacceptable status quo."

What can I say?

Keep bashing your teachers. Keep listening to con men. Keep cutting funds to public education and expecting to get high quality education as a result.

Welcome to Michissippi ❢

Union leaders would have you believe that teachers and unions are essentially the same. The fact of the matter is that there are nearly 1 million teachers in America who don’t belong to a union and certainly do not subscribe to the mentality that the union perpetuates.

Teachers deserve to be treated as individual professionals with ideas and experience that can be brought to the policy table. To create and implement meaningful education reform, the true voices of American teachers need to be heard, instead of the outdated, overreaching, politically charged mantras of union bosses. We need to empower teachers to not only have the tools they need to succeed but give them the freedom to make the choice for themselves how to be represented. "

Talented, devoted teachers make impact on students

"In a speech about the importance of training effective teachers, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan suggests that in the next 10 years, over half of our teacher workforce will be retiring. To attract the best and brightest to the teaching profession, we need to elevate our teachers to a new level of professionalism. While a lot of talk has been devoted to changes needed in policy in the classroom, it is high time that teachers examine the yesteryear representation of their unions and consider non-union alternatives that better represent their profession."

Here is a post from the Facebook page of the Ferris Faculty Association:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ferris-Faculty-Association/146689847768

“We all know the struggles public schools face with declining per pupil funding. We have seen Governor Snyder's plan for the future. The following link is a fund raiser trailer for Greenhills, the school Snyder has his daughter enrolled in. They're fund raising because $20,000 per year per student is not enough to properly educate a child. This trailer shows what Snyder wants in a school for *his* children.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAfBHj9Lc8E

Mr. Reno,

What I oppose is those who would destroy our longstanding system of universal free public education. That system of education is one of the foundations of a successful democracy, and I believe that a democratic form of government is essential to any society that hopes to survive and even, with grace and luck, thrive in a complex world. There have been other fits and starts toward democracy that failed for the lack of well distributed education and information among the people who would rule. I will do what I can to weigh against destroying that system of education.

I did not invent the fact that others are pushing for a different route, the route of total corporate privatization of the entire public sector, including public education as one subsidiary of their intended incorporation. The pushers of privatization have stated their goals. They have numbered vouchers among their methods. They have been weighing heavily and steadily for what they want with all their wealth and all the power they can muster. And they have been doing all that for a long time now.

The only thing that has changed this time around is that their tactics have become more deceptive, less open and less forthright.

I oppose that deception, and so should you.

Mr. Reno,

You are using the word “monopoly” in a very curious fashion that I have only recently heard. I cannot tell if your intention is supposed to be ironic or not.

Yes, all forms of government might be said to maintain a “monopoly” over those functions and institutions that are considered essential to their public purview. Now and again we see stories in the news of people who chafe against Uncle Sam's monopoly on the printing of money, and there was indeed a time in our history before that irritating but apparently necessary regulation on commerce was imposed. Oh well, at least they left us our coupons.

Perhaps you honestly do not know what a true monopoly is, or what a private corporate monopoly of our nation's educational system would look like.

I pray that we do not find out.

I don't support free public education. I support free education of the public. The distinction is that I care that children are educated, but I don't care where. I believe that should be the parent's choice. Not every child learns the same and there should be tuition-free options for Montessori schools, gifted schools, magnet schools, highly disciplined schools, unschooling, and whatever else works.

Vouchers shift the power to the parents and away from the bureaucracy. I believe vouchers also shift power to the teachers and away from the bureaucracy. It often seems to me that public school teachers are unreasonably constrained compared to private school teachers. Between court rulings, state laws, and union contracts, it appears that public school teachers are stripped of academic freedom and the tools of discipline and given a mixed bag of students whose parents maybe "overly" involved in their children's education or completely uninvolved until they turn against the teacher for sending their child to the principal's office or not passing their child to the next grade. This doesn't seem very fair to teachers and is another detriment of the educational monopoly and the lack of choice caused by banning vouchers.

My concern is for the children, not for educational bureaucracies or corporations. Free public education will survive, but vouchers mean free education of the public.

Well, it took a bit of work to drag the truth out into the open, but at least we have established the fact that some people really do still believe in vouchers.

That is a kind of progress ...

Joshua, you're absolutely right.
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In the end, this is all about our kids and meeting their educational needs. I think reasonable folks in our community understand this and see through the name calling.
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We can do better!
http://www.jeremynielson.com

Joshua... this is what it's like anytime you try to suggest anything related to public education. You are suddenly branded as a hater, a public education foe, a "right-winger", an elitist... the list goes on.

Go back and reread these posts. Every idea or suggestion we've offered as been countered with an insult, or some philosphical tangent unrelated to subject.

And I cannot find one single specific idea or suggestion in their posts. Not one. (Excepting, of course, the nonsense rhetoric.)

Your clever attempt to distract with some meaningless gauntlet is just that… a distraction. Unless, of course, you are an official somewhere who is showing serious interest.

And you’ve still suggested nothing, other than ridicule.

I’m not trying to impose anything on your kids, other than offer them opportunity.

While the current system might be just fine for your child, I don’t feel it’s serving the needs of mine.

I’ve tried advocating for change. The system doesn’t want to change. So what am I left to do?

Rather than let me take the public funds allocated for my child, and use them to better my child, you instead want to keep me trapped in the schools YOU design, or at least like. And if I – or any parent for that matter – engages in an effort to change it, you feel perfectly comfortable tossing out insults. “Jackboots”… “missed out on the social aspects”… etc.

With all due respect… I honestly feel sorry for you. I can tell that you are passionate about this, and your frustration/bitterness oozes from your postings. I wish I could help you to express your frustrations in way what would allow for a meaningful discussion. As far as a I can tell, the only thing you are advocating for is my silence. Really… is that what this is all about?

Are you really just try to get people to stop criticizing the schools because you are happy with them?

More tangents... bridges and marriages.

And how wonderful... you look at this as a sport... minus the pay-to-play.

So your entire objective here is not advance any idea... it's to simply hide behind rocks and shoot darts at those of us who are willing to step into the arena and at least try.

Makes all of your questions much clearer. To you, this is not about an exchange of ideas... it's the equivilant of shooting skeet! Rather than yell "PULL", you instead fire off some irrelivant question, and then just track it... waiting to fire from your anonymous keyboard.

Nice.

The National Education Association is so enamored of Alinsky’s tactics that it issued a directive to its members to read and practice his “Rules for Radicals”.

In case anyone missed it, here’s a summary:

1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.
2. Never go outside the experience of your people.
3. Whenever possible go outside the experience of the enemy.
4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.
5. Ridicule is mans most potent weapon.
6. A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.
7. A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
8. Keep the pressure on with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose.
9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
10. The major premise of tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
11. If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside.
12. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it.

http://aconservativeteacher.blogspot.com/2009/11/nea-recommends-saul-alinskys-rules-for.html

RTR, if you want to see my agenda, it is at http://RochesterSAGE.wordpress.com

I've offered union leadership and educators the opportunity to write a guest post on Rochester SAGE with their thoughts on gifted education. So far, none of taken me up on this. My aim is to bring together voices from all constituencies to develop a picture of what gifted education should look like for Rochester Community Schools.

REAforming:

http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/literacy/comprehension_strategies.html

I know some great teachers that can help you out.

Not a king's ransom, but it's a living.

Linda Darling-Hammond • “The Service of Democratic Education”
http://www.thenation.com/article/160850/service-democratic-education

❝
Precisely 100 years ago, nationally distributed tests of arithmetic, handwriting and English were put into use. Their results were used to compare students, teachers and schools; to report to the public; and even to award merit pay — a short-lived innovation due to the many problems it caused.

In the view of these brilliant managerial engineers, professionally trained teachers were considered troublesome, because they had their own ideas about education and frequently didn’t go along meekly with the plan.

As one such teacher wrote in The American Teacher in 1912:

We have yielded to the arrogance of “big business men” and have accepted their criteria of efficiency at their own valuation, without question. We have consented to measure the results of educational efforts in terms of price and product — the terms that prevail in the factory and the department store. But education, since it deals in the first place with human organisms, and in the second place with individualities, is not analogous to a standardizable manufacturing process. Education must measure its efficiency not in terms of so many promotions per dollar of expenditure, nor even in terms of so many student-hours per dollar of salary; it must measure its efficiency in terms of increased humanism, increased power to do, increased capacity to appreciate.
❞

Interesting...

Seriously. I was not aware of that.

I'd want to read more about it, but at first blush here's the concern:

"Education must measure its efficiency... in terms of increased humanism, increased power to do, increased capacity to appreciate. "

What does that mean? Measured / judged by whom?

In Rochester, we have a few OUTSTANDING teachers... a number that were good / solid... a few that were marginal, and a few that were really bad.

That is my subjective assessment. Of course, these teachers who are OUTSTANDING always believe they have room to improve. All of the others generally believe they are doing a splendid job. The principals seem happy with them.

By the schools short yardstick, and wimpy measurements like the MEAP, every year my children have in increased power to do, and an increased capacity to appreciate.

So... are we good? We are successful because the schools say my kids are successful?

Please... let's try to reboot here... and stop the insults.

Serious question... should we as parents be satisfied with the education of our children based solely on the assessment of the schools?

Mike,

I am (he computes) 62 years old. My first experience with educational reform was when I had to help my little brothers and sisters with “The New Math” while I was still being trained on “The Old Track”. So I got to see the clouds of chalk-dust from both sides at the very outset. My high school and undergrad years were filled with curricular reforms going under a parade of Acronyms and Isms that I don't even want to try and remember. I have lost count of all the Crusades and Movements and Programmes and Revolutions and Reformations that I have survived since then.

There are no simple answers. Some things can be quantified, some things cannot. Reality demands competence and creativity, exactness and humanity. I do not know how we are judged in the end, but we learn to be whole human beings by interacting with other whole human beings, and there is no escaping that in the meantime.

I have known enough teachers to know that none of them ever goes into teaching to make the Big Bucks or to have an easy life. They all, so far as I know, start out with some hint of a calling, a true love of teaching, and trying the best they can. If they get ground into the dust somewhere along the way, that is a human tragedy, both for them and their charges, but there are forces beyond any isolated person's control, and it would be a gain for society if we inquired into what those are.

Diane Ravitch • “Waiting for a School Miracle”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/opinion/01ravitch.html

❝Be skeptical of stories of rapid educational transformation.❞

❝
Educators know that 100 percent proficiency is impossible, given the enormous variation among students and the impact of family income on academic performance. Nevertheless, some politicians believe that the right combination of incentives and punishments will produce dramatic improvement. Anyone who objects to this utopian mandate, they maintain, is just making an excuse for low expectations and bad teachers.
❞

Great. Rather than discuss, you choose to quote the rabid one.

Ok, I'll accept that you are comfortable with this sort of excuse-making. And I'll keep working to shine a light on the absurdity

You can have the last word, or insult, as you deem appropriate.

Just sharing a tidbit from my daily newsfeed, as I do run across a lot of random readings that I find slightly more interesting and always a lot more coherent than my own rambling thought process.

I dimly remember reading a little of what Ravitch was saying in the early 1990s, I think when she was doing her bit for Bush 1.0. That was probably tangential to my reading in the literature on Critical Thinking, and I don't remember thinking too highly of her point of view in those days. It's only recently that I have run across her latest Op-Ed pieces, and she strikes me as that rare breed of person who is capable of changing her theories in response to the data of experience. I always find thinkers like that worth another thought.

I think the word is in the public domain. That is actually the very word I always use to describe off-topic posts in the Wikipedia Review meta-discussion forum that I occasionally moderate. And believe you me, the people there are very tangential.

Mackinac Center For Public Policy • “State Needs Privatization”
http://www.educationreport.org/15050

❝
The Michigan Legislature should consider privatization in order to correct the state’s overspending crisis, a Center expert told the Lansing State Journal.

“There are all sorts of areas that the state should consider privatization,” Fiscal Policy Analyst James Hohman said. “You have to monitor everything to make sure you’re getting the value for the money. It’s not just a blanket privatization arrangement that will work for the state.”

Michigan’s public schools have found increasing success with privatization of noninstructional services over the last decade. Mike LaFaive, director of the Center’s Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, recently wrote about privatization in the Michigan prison system.
❞

Lansing State Journal
“Going Private? — Snyder, Republicans Put New Focus On Merits Of Privatization”
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110515/NEWS04/105150528/GOING-PRIVATE-Snyder-Republicans-put-new-focus-merits-privatization

❝
Once a buzzword in Michigan state government in the 1990s, privatization now is coming back in a big way.

Touting his goal of reinventing government, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has proposed privatizing prison food and store services, dairy farm and plant nursery inspections and resident care in two veterans homes to bring state costs under control.

A far more sweeping measure would privatize the processing of Medicaid and day care aid applications in the state Department of Human Services, which union officials say would lead to layoffs of several hundred state workers. That measure, proposed by Republicans, has been passed by the Senate and now must be reconciled with the House budget.
❞

The Governor and his Privateers are starving the Public Sector in Michigan out of existence for a reason, so that private corporations can complete their hostile takeover of all public services. They stopped being content with tax abatements, bailouts, bribes, incentives, kickbacks, and worker concessions a long time ago — they want nothing less than the automatic funneling of tax dollars directly into their private corporate bankrolls without the annoying interference of all you pesky peasants.

Mackinac Center For Public Policy • “State Needs Privatization”
http://www.educationreport.org/15050

Lansing State Journal • “Going Private? — Snyder, Republicans Put New Focus On Merits Of Privatization”
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110515/NEWS04/105150528/GOING-PRIVATE-Snyder-Republicans-put-new-focus-merits-privatization

Democracy Demands Universal Free Public Education

The purpose of universal free public education is to promote the general welfare. In order to do that governments must (1) insure equal opportunities for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, (2) provide all citizens with enough education that the Republic as a whole has the best chance of surviving and prospering, and (3) enable citizens to exercise their civic rights and responsibilities with the information, the knowledge, and the faculties of reason that it takes to do so with the best chance of success.

Education is not a private commodity. Education is not a personal luxury. Education is a necessity of life in a democracy — if we intend to secure that democracy for ourselves and our posterity.

In a democracy the state is just people.
Just people will constitute a just state.

TGIF❢

TUFSO❢ (Thank Unions For Saturdays Off)

Re: “Democracy Demands Universal Free Public Education”

Mr. Raymond,

The word “Universal” here is shorthand for the idea that Free Public Education must be co-extensive with the class of people who are learning to function as citizens in a democratic society. When you really think about it, that may be an example of Lifelong Learning, but that doesn't conflict with the fact that some lessons are more basic than others. You'll get no argument from me about the value of diversity, at least, in the play of ideas that we contemplate. But the survival of a society or a species depends on realizing that reality will sort out the People and the Creatures who don't take fact-finding seriously.

And when it comes to choosing what ideas to bet our lives on, we have to “Consider The Source”.

'Ten geographers who think the world is flat will tend to reinforce each others errors. Only a sailor can set them straight'. John Ralston Saul

'Every actual state is corrupt. Good men must not obey the laws too well.' Ralph Waldo Emerson

'Government schools will teach children that government is wonderful.' Neal Boortz

'Whoever controls the education of our children controls our future.' Wilma Mankiller

Mr. Awbrey, I look at our state and do not consider it just. I'm sure there is some law created or government action taken with which you strongly disagree. Should that viewpoint be free and others cost thousands of dollars. This is not the free exchange of ideas, but the subsidization of some ideas and a tax on others. This is bad for democracy, no matter how just you consider the state.

There are many beliefs not grounded in reality that have been overturned. Often this takes hundreds of years, particularly if the belief is held by the state. Our children don't have hundreds of years. It is better that we allow our children to be taught a diversity of beliefs that can be tested against reality than to have one central belief taught until reality rejects it. I do not believe our country holds a monopoly on correct beliefs, but it holds an essential monopoly on teaching beliefs. Truly valuing diversity would be to allow parents to choose which school they have free education at instead of limiting free education only to schools that teach state-held beliefs.

I think everyone is ignoring the obvious. Vouchers will just eliminate the competition and allow private schools to jack up their prices, thus once again prohibiting the middle class from a quality education. As it is, show me a non parochial school that offers my children an opportunity for a well rounded , objective and diverse education for under 15 thousand a year....I have looked, not easy. So for those of you who think that those prices will go unchanged once vouchers are an option are clearly fooling yourself.
And of course.....we should continue to remember ......separation of church and state!

Mr. Ray, current competition is limited to other public schools unless you are willing to pay tuition. Some public schools, like Rochester, also charge tuition to out-of-district students.

In RCS, I believe you have in-district school of choice for any schools that have available spots. There are also out-of-district schools of choice like Troy, but many limit initial entry to kindergarten and first grade. If you decide to move your child after that, the inbound districts typically do not let you. My understanding is that they do not want children who have fallen behind in their old district to disrupt education for their current students.

There are also districts that do not participate in schools of choice. Some, like Rochester, charge exorbitant tuition for out-of-district students. These are often districts that still receive some funding under property taxes. Governor Snyder's plan to require all districts to participate in schools of choice was met with great adversity from these districts as probably only the state funding would follow the student, leaving a gap between funding and operating costs.

Ms. Junker, I don't deny that Oakland County has an inordinate number of private non-parochial schools set up to serve the rich. Vouchers probably will do little to offset the costs of those schools and they may raise their tuition to retain exclusivity.

There are also schools like Eton Academy in Birmingham that are aimed at special needs children. My brother attended there for a few years and benefited significantly. His special needs were not being addressed in the public schools. For a parent to be able to transfer the state money including the special education allocation to this school may mean the difference between a student who succeeds and a student who is socially promoted.

There are also Montessori and Steiner schools with tuition rates comparable to public school funding.

Lastly, the Supreme Court has ruled in 2002 that vouchers do not violate separation of church and state. They are unconstutional in Michigan, where the Blaine Amendments were created specifically to target Catholic schools. http://www.blaineamendments.org/

Rochester Community Schools does not accept any out of district students. The only exception is with staff children. Your statement is totally inaccurate. Please fact check before you say something is true.

It's my understanding that Rochester does, in fact, allow out-of-district students.
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They charge the out of district parents $14,000 per year, per student.
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Perhaps understandably, there are no students that are taking advantage of this opportunity in our district.

Snyder and his “Run It Like A Chinese Computer Company” cronies like to make a lot of noise about “Accountability” and “Transparency”, but those are just Big Bizness Buzzwords that Big Bizness Buzzards like to foist on everyone but themselves.

The fact is that vouchers are a pipeline for draining public funds into private schools, and once the money goes there the public abandons almost all the accountability and transparency that it expects and demands to exercise over its public schools. There is not much the public can do but wait for some outrageous scandal to break before the courts will give them leave to beg pretty please where the money went.

That's what the word “Private” means.

Given the exorbitant means at their disposal, private corporations have been very successful at protecting what they claim to be their “Right to Privacy” and their “Trade Secrets”, even from the most ordinary forms of public eyeballing. Indeed, the late-blooming idiocy of “corporate personhood” is threatening to give private corporations vastly more rights to privacy than any of us mere mortals could afford to defend.

According to the Rochester Community Schools website at http://media.rochester.k12.mi.us/download/63252?token=OCaRojCyVwc%3d

Nonresident students may be enrolled as tuition-based students in
accordance with the M.C.L.A. 380.1401. Yearly tuition rates are
computed on the basis of the District’s per capita operating cost.
Placement of students is based on available space and assigned
staff.

Your understanding is incorrect. No out of district children are allowed in Rochester for any sort of money. I have no clue where you arrived at these numbers. Please contact Deb Hartmann., the Rochester PR person. I am sure that she will set you straight on this. Please don't spread false truths.

Rochester is not a school of choice, meaning that the district will not accept the transfer of the student's foundation grant. That does not mean they will not accept a student who brings a tuition check.

Nobody in their right mind would write a check... but the option is indeed available.

Pot, meet Kettle.

I just called up Debbi's office. The lady said that Rochester does not do "Open Enrollment".
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I asked to be transferred to Bill Mull's office, who used the "$14,000/year" number at a board meeting in April. Ms. Shaw was able to give me some more information and really clarified matters.
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The district does not do "Open Enrollment", which is where a student from another district brings their foundation / state grant money with them to Rochester.
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However, the district DOES do the Tuition Program. Again, as described above, the district charges parents $14,000 per year, per student for enrollment in Rochester schools.
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Thanks for pushing me to look for more answers. As I run for the school board, I look forward to understanding all of these nooks and crannies better!
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We can do better!
http://www.jeremynielson.com

Here's a good article on the ongoing program by ALEC, DeVos, Koch, et al. to destroy public education:

Jim Hightower • “Billionaires' Front Groups Attack Workers, Public Schools, and Young Voters”

• http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/2680

It appears to me that the McMillin 3 are getting a little upset that they can't hang on an intellectual level with Mr. Awbrey. Read Jon's resume. He appears to be a very gifted man and it appears that the public school system didn't let him down.

Jeremy,

Quick question. If you would have been the CEO of GM a few years ago would you have rejected the bailout package? A school board member who cares about the school system doesn't support statewide cuts to educational funding no matter what his policitical ideology may be.

No to the McMillin 3.

THANK YOU West Bloomfield Teachers For Stepping Up to Put Kids & Communities First!
In View of Bleak Economic Forecast, WB Teachers Accept Pay Cuts, Tenure Changes and Health Care Cost Increases
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2011/06/10/news/doc4df0f98c3bc14816426192.txt?viewmode=fullstory
"The contract is expected to save the West Bloomfield School District more than $2.1 million in 2011-2012 and nearly $3.8 million the following school year but will not necessarily eliminate the need for a small number of layoffs, said Rick Arnett, the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources and labor relations.
“There’s recognition that the school district is facing large deficits and the future funding outlook is not bright,” Arnett said. “This is something that needed to be done. We’re thankful that teachers stepped up and agreed to these concessions.”
West Bloomfield teachers will now contribute anywhere from $60 to $100 per month toward their healthcare coverage under a new carrier, Arnett said. There will also be higher deductibles. Teachers agreed to a 5 percent pay cut in the 2011-2012 school year and another 7.5 percent cut in the 2012-2013 school year.
The salary schedule has changed so that it will take longer for teachers to reach high levels of tenure as well, Arnett said.
“That essentially defers how long it takes someone to get to the top of the pay scale,” he said.

Kristen,
Tone can be very hard to interpret in these posts. I reread your original post and saw that it could be taken in a calm way, even though my orginal reaction was similar to MJ's, in that I also thought you might be "angry." (I didn't get to read MJ's full reply since it has been deleted.) Many of us don't know each other so it's hard not to bring our own baggage when reading the comments. Just something for the readers and the posters to think about - that how the comment was intended and how it's being interpreted may be different. (Writes Janet with light-hearted sincerity, not looking for a fight.)

This just in …

ALEC | Publicopoly
http://www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=publicopoly

At least they are starting to be a little more blatant about *some* of their agenda …

The New Transparency

ALEC | Education
http://www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Education

Here's a good update on some of the things that educators, parent activists, and others will be doing over the Summer to protect our system of democratic education from hostile takeover by corporations, ideologues, and other private interests.

Frustrated Educators Aim To Build Grassroots Movement
• http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/06/15/35activists_ep.h30.html

❝
Thousands of educators, parent activists, and others are expected to convene in the heat and humidity of Washington next month for a march protesting the current thrust of education policy in the United States, especially the strong emphasis on test-based accountability.

Organizers say the effort aims to galvanize and give voice to those who believe policymakers, including U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and state governors, have gone astray in their remedies for improving American schools.
❞

A balanced look at the standardized testing debate:

http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/16137.aspx

"While standardized testing is stressful and time-consuming, it is can also be very beneficial. In the following article, some of the positive and negative factors are discussed.

Standardized testing is a subject that many people feel strongly about. Most people either think that it is the best way to assess students’ abilities or it is a stress-invoking nightmare for everyone involved.

However, if you step back and look at it objectively, it becomes clear that it is neither. Standardized testing has both positive and negative aspects and when used effectively can play a significant role in bettering the education of our students. The key, of course, is using the results effectively.

There are some who believe strongly in either direction. In addition to the pros and cons listed below, you can read more arguments supporting standardized testing, and an argument against standardized testing.

Positive Aspects of Standardized Testing

1) Standardized testing gives teachers guidance to help them determine what to teach students and when to teach it. The net result is less wasted instructional time and a simplified way of timeline management.

2) Standardized testing gives parents a good idea of how their children are doing as compared to students across the country and locally. This can also indicate how your local area is doing compared against the national landscape.

3) Standardized testing allows students’ progress to be tracked over the years. When students take the same type of test yearly (adjusted for grade level) it is easy to see if a student is improving, losing ground academically, or staying about the same. (For example, if a child is taking a norm-referenced test and scores in the 75th percentile in the sixth grade and the 80th percentile in the seventh grade, you can see that the child is gaining ground in school.) This helps determine how a child is doing academically.

4) Since all students in a school are taking the same test (with respect to grade level) standardized tests provide an accurate comparison across groups. (For example, this makes it easy to see how boys are performing as compared to girls in a particular school or district.) Over the years great improvements have been made with regards to test bias, which has led to more accurate assessments and comparisons.

Negative Aspects of Standardized Testing

1) Many teachers are (unjustly) accused of teaching to the test. Most do not do this, but some feel so much pressure for their students to achieve a specific score that they do end up teaching to the test, whether they want to or not. This can make school drudgery for students and steal teachers’ enjoyment of teaching.

2) Some school systems are under great pressure to raise their scores so they have resorted to decreasing (and sometimes doing away with) time spent in recess. This can have negative impact on children’s social, emotional, and academic well-being. (Read more here.)

3) Standardized tests can place a huge amount of stress on students and teachers alike. This can lead to negative health consequences as well as feelings of negativity directed at school and learning in general. (Read more here about how to help students deal with this stress.)

4) As much as test creators try to do away with testing bias, it may be impossible to rid tests of it altogether. I once tutored a 5th grader who did not know what a recipe was. If a standardized test was to ask questions directed at a recipe, that child would have been at a huge disadvantage because most fifth grade students know and have had at least some experience dealing with recipes, but she did not. There is just no way to know for certain that every child being tested has a fair amount of knowledge going into the test.

Standardized Testing Uses

The key student success on standardized tests is balance. Those in charge need to step back and take into account both the good and the bad things about testing and find a way to help students succeed without causing them too much stress.

So, will there ever be an end to the constant back and forth between testing advocates and those against standardized testing?

It’s hard to say, but I feel relatively certain that for better or worse, standardized testing is here to stay. I believe the key is to use the test results as a guide for teachers, parents, and students.

They should also be used, in a limited capacity, to assess how well schools are doing. Standardized testing certainly should be used to help measure a school’s success, but it should be one assessment among several that determines whether a school's students are progressing or not."

Oh Noes ❢❢❢ More Homework ❢❢❢

Michael T. Martin • “Waiting For SuperFraud”
http://ksdcitizens.org/2010/12/22/waiting-for-superfraud/

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Public schools have to fail. There is no alternative. So give up trying to argue otherwise with facts and logic.

The mockumentary Waiting For Superman made this clear. Funded by millionaires, the movie told the story of some privatized schools in Harlem portrayed as saviors of children otherwise condemned to public schools. Privatized schools mostly funded by hedge fund millionaires on Wall Street. They spent two million dollars to promote the film nationally. Another major film titled “The Lottery” told a similar tale: children in Harlem desperate to escape public schools. Funded by more millionaires.

State Senator Bill Perkins, who represents the people of Harlem, tried to put profit restrictions on these privatized schools. So the millionaires spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to run an opponent against him in the November, 2010, election. The people of Harlem voted overwhelmingly to re-elect Perkins.

One of the supposed heroes in the mockumentary was Michele Rhee, the caustic head of Washington, D.C., schools. She subsequently was the focus of the November, 2010, mayor’s election in D.C., campaigning for the existing mayor who appointed her, promising to resign if he lost. The people of D.C. voted him and her out.
❞

Perhaps everyone on this thread should meet for a conversation over coffee and create a list of compromised-solutions to present to the school board; maybe there are some ideas they haven't considered. I think that would be very constructive and a great example of the community, with obviously different beliefs, working towards addressing the issue.

I definitely see some upsides to standardized testing. Standardized testing can help compare school districts, schools, and even classrooms if done correctly. Unfortunately, most of the data analysis given to the public is too superficial to be of much help. Exploring the rawer data can provide some interesting results. I give one example at http://RochesterSAGE.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/meap-scores-2010/

I do see some downsides to standardized testing as well. Requiring that all children reach a certain level and tieing it to merit pay places significant pressure to get the children who are capable of passing the test up to the task at the expense of children that can already pass the test or children too far behind to be able to pass the test. A better use of standardized testing and its results would be to measure yearly progress of each student. Then the incentive is placed on helping each and every child advance. I explore this further at http://RochesterSAGE.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/higher-meap-cut-scores-and-what-still-needs-to-be-done/

"Fire Snyder! Fire Snyder! He hates teachers and eats children! He wants to burn down public schools and force kids to apprentice to blacksmiths and quarry workers! Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!"

If a bunch of Democrats hadn't jumped to vote for Snyder in the Republican primary, he would have lost to Hoestra or Cox. Maybe Bernero and his pro-union, anti-business policies could have beat one of them. You created your own problem. Suck it up and deal with it. We had to put up with eight years of Granholm ruining Michigan's economy.