Ft. Wayne Gazette: Indiana set to hand control of struggling schools to for-profit groups.

[madfloridian]

This is an editorial today in the Ft. Wayne Gazette.

School takeover outline

In a breathtaking assault on local school control, the GOP-controlled State Board of Education is set to adopt rules the day after Election Day that could hand operation of struggling schools to for-profit companies. Local taxpayers who footed the bill could find their investments handed over to charter operators with none of the accountability required of locally elected school boards.

..."Last year, when 26 Indiana schools reached their fifth year on probation, the state hired the Cambridge Group to send in teams of examiners. The Great Britain-based consultant prepared reports based on two-day school visits, and affected school districts were required to submit improvement plans based on the reports. The districts also were encouraged to sign a memorandum of agreement with the Indiana Department of Education by Aug. 31. Most of the districts, including Fort Wayne Community Schools and East Allen County Schools, declined to sign the agreements, which would have required them to violate contracts with their teachers unions regarding performance evaluations.

Yes, this is an international movement to privatize.

There appears to be no time limit on the control by these companies, these "outside managers". They do not have to answer to the accountability laws of the state.

The proposed rules formalize procedures, with a clear emphasis on turning operation of the struggling schools to an “outside manager.” The individual or organization selected by the State Board of Education would have the same authority and exemptions as a charter school. Indiana charter schools, however, are exempt from the consequences of the state accountability law. The outside manager has no deadline for improving school performance and seemingly could operate it permanently.

The last paragraph points out that local control will suffer when it is the state Department of Education making the decisions.

Voters unhappy with decisions made by their local school board can throw out board members when they stand for re-election. They won’t have the same recourse with a charter school operator empowered by a State Board of Education and Department of Education seemingly intent on privatizing schools.

Indiana seems to be moving quickly on the school "reform". Perhaps that is because last year they called in Florida's former governor Jeb Bush as an education consultant.

Indiana leaders call in Jeb Bush to reform their schools.

This week, Jeb headed to Indianapolis, where he spoke to state leaders about school grading, charter schools, third-grade promotion requirements and several other things he brought to Florida's public schools.

They ate it up.

The Indianapolis Star reports that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels "would like to adopt everything Bush described — and more." State superintendent of public instruction Tony Bennett was equally enthusiastic, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports.

"There is nothing off the table in the areas of freedom, competition and accountability," Bennett told the Courier-Journal.

Free market schools. It's happening quickly. But then we knew things would happen quickly when the biggest free market school supporter of all, Newt Gingrich, was asked to travel with Arne Duncan around the country.

[Tansy_Gold]

1. As a former Hoosier, K&R

Goddess, what a sad, sad mess we are in.

:cry:



TG

[madfloridian]

7. I agree about the sad mess. Sounds like this is set to go.

Sounds like Florida where Republicans can accomplish whatever they want in the legislature. Crist's sanity in vetoing their crazy anti-teacher bill saved the public schools here for a while. But then there is Rick Scott waiting in the wings...

[dotymed]

22. What do Hoosiers expect?

They have twice elected (?) Mitch Daniels as Governor.
He was Bush's budget director before he was the Governor.
His first "official act" was to force all state employees to quit their Union.
Later he leased one of Indiana's toll roads to a foreign company (from the middle east, I believe) for a 75 year period.
He has privatized everything he has touched.
I recently left my home state of Indiana, Mitch Daniels paid a large part in my decision.
As a Union Carpenter, I refused to help remodel the Governors Mansion (even though Mitch refused to live there, his family bought a mansion in Carmel,IN, in a gated community)on principal. My Union requested that I work on the Mansion three separate times and even offered to pay me my hourly rate even though it was a "volunteer job."

[Angry Dragon]

2. Taxpayers foot the bill

for massive dumbing down of the youth of America

This will stop when the American people find that
they are paying more and more for their young people
can not compete with the rest of the world.

[tomg]

3. I agree, save for one thing.

By then, America will be too dumbed down to recognize what has happened.

[Hannah Bell]

4. the Cambridge Group is one of the "privateers" involved in the british "academy" movement. a global

educorp.

[madfloridian]

6. A massive movement enabled by our party here.

And that just angers me so.

[neverforget]

5. Because capitalism cures everything. And what capitalism doesn't cure

a good tax cut should do it. :sarcasm:

[madfloridian]

8. You make two good points.

:hi:

[leftstreet]

9. K&R

[ibegurpard]

10. k&r

fucking disgusting
and we have to fight this kind of shit in what I thought was my own party as well...

[madfloridian]

11. New outside managers can fire teachers at will regardless of contract.

Looks like there is opposition building, but I wonder if they can stop it. On the agenda for Nov. 3

http://heraldbulletin.com/education/x1364879609/State-s-plan-to-take-over-failing-schools-meets-with-opposition

"NDIANAPOLIS — State education officials pushing for major reforms, including merit pay for teachers and more charter schools, got a glimpse of their organized opposition Friday at a public hearing on the fate of failing schools.

Representatives from teachers unions and local school boards spoke out against a plan that would allow the Indiana Department of Education to take control of chronically failing schools and turn them over to an outside manager.

Sparking the most heat were provisions that would allow the state to hire a for-profit company to run the school and give the outside manager the power to fire and hire teachers without having to negotiate with teachers’ unions."

[defendandprotect]

12. From war mercenaries to schools .... how can Congress be letting taxpayer money

fall under control of private interest? I don't get it!!

[madfloridian]

13. Well, Arne said from the start that was his plan.

He set the ground rules, the districts had to follow them to get money.

[defendandprotect]

15. But, what about Congress? Don't they control the purse strings?

And, Arne Duncan is set because Obama has taken on privatizing schools as

his own agenda!

[madfloridian]

16. I think Dems in congress will give the president his agenda.

Some have said they don't like it that much, but that they would not oppose it.

[Jakes Progress]

17. Yep. The neocons couldn't get it done

without our man in the white house. This shame will hang around Obama's neck longer than Nafta will stick to Clinton.

[penndragon69]

14. THEIR man mitch.

I am disgusted at what the refugs in Indiana are trying to do...again!
If some strange event happened and Mitch (the snitch) daniels were to become president,
everything in America would be leased to other countries for 75 years, just to make a quick buck.
Fuck Daniels, Fuck refugnicans, tea-klanners and libertarians.

America is doomed!

Good thing that my time is very short.

[chervilant]

19. hmm...

I have the same gratitude. I am not sorry my tenure here is soon at a close.

[Jakes Progress]

18. Another case of elected officials admitting they don't know what they are doing.

Sure we ran for office, but we are too stupid to do our jobs. We'll just sign this over to the guys who held that neato golf tournament for us. They seemed like nice guys.

After all, we must protect our phoney-baloney jobs.

[Starry Messenger]

20. We're going to see this more and more.

The English companies will probably want to take advantage of the welcoming atmosphere for privatization here. The only way to stay profitable is to expand and our government has made it clear that we are ripe for the pickings. I'm not sure that the UK has the same tax breaks for charters that we do here. If they don't, then that is double incentive to set up shop over here.

[madfloridian]

21. I'm afraid you're right.

[Starry Messenger]

23. I guess this isn't as exciting as blaming teachers though.

kick!

[Starry Messenger]

24. I just found this story from last March.

It's in google cache. Cambridge Group "assessed" the Indiana schools and immediately pinned blame to the teachers union:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Gic37citw7QJ:www.wsbt.com/news/local/88703442.html+cambridge+group+indiana+schools&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

Teachers Union lashes out against report on Washington, Riley, Bendix Schools

Story Updated: Mar 25, 2010 at 11:38 AM EDT

SOUTH BEND — South Bend teachers broke their silence Friday over a new report blaming their contract as one major reason three of the corporation's schools are now at risk of a state takeover. Union leaders said Friday that the report is based, in part, on false data.

<snip>

The biggest problem with the Cambridge report, she says, is that it relies heavily on test scores for full evaluation. Miller said there were no attempts by the group to dig deeper through the use of focus groups or surveys of parents, students or teachers.

"It's just like a stranger coming into your home and telling you: you're not doing this right. It doesn't address the central issues we have here," Zook added.

What it does address, Zook and Miller said, is the teacher's current contract with the school corporation. This week, school board member Roger Parent agreed with the Cambridge report's assessment, calling the contract "one of the most restrictive in the state, if not the country."

Miller called that assertion ridiculous.

"We are not the strongest contract in the state. We are not the strongest contract in the country, contrary to some beliefs," she said.

"The says a teacher can only be evaluated once every three years. That's not true. A principal can evaluate a teacher every year if they feel there's a concern. It's not a shield that protects teachers. It requires a principal to do their job and follow through with the proper steps," Zook said.

"If a teacher is not doing well, we have a great system in place by which to remove them," Miller added.

But, after meeting with Indiana's Department of Education on Wednesday in Indianapolis, South Bend Superintendent James Kapsa says the state may have other ideas.

"The state has an evaluation instrument they want all teachers evaluated on, on a yearly basis, using their criteria. We don't know what the criteria is. That could lead to some concerns," Kapsa told WSBT Radio's Mary Simko.

<snip>

"The teachers union in the past waived their seniority clause when it came to special schools, such as Kennedy and LaSalle, where they allowed teachers to be selected not based on seniority, but on special skills they bring to the table. There's no guarantee, but we're certainly hoping that will be the case at Riley, Washington, and the Bendix School," Kapsa said.

Kapsa says he hopes that would help satisfy state requirements under the IDOE's takeover avoidance plan. The Cambridge report suggests a list of 28 recommendations, adopted by the IDOE. Of those 28, only eight are listed as "may do." The remaining 20 are listed as "must do," including the replacement of building principals deemed "performing below expectations."

WSBT's calls to IDOE were not returned Friday.

Teachers also came under criticism in the Cambridge report for placing too much blame for low test scores on socioeconomic factors. But, the NEA believes it's a mistake to underestimate their impact.

"This doesn't address the central issues we have here. No one is saying that poverty or socioeconomic status is an excuse. But, it is a reality," Miller said.

[madfloridian]

25. "Cambridge Group "assessed" the Indiana schools and immediately pinned blame to the teachers union"

Amazing, isn't it? Absolutely no blame on the parents or students.

It is so obviously a ploy to fire teachers and hire cheaper ones.

This is really scary stuff.

[Starry Messenger]

26. It's terrifying. They obviously came in with a preselected agenda.

I just posted your OP link on Facebook, on the Anti-Academies Alliance page. They are the English anti-charter group who have been documenting the privateers activity in their public schools. I want them to know what is going on here too.

[sulphurdunn]

27. Sounds like the fix was in from the get go.

According to the article these schools will be taken over for failure to raise standardized test scores required by the state's accountability law, but the private operators that take them over will be exempt from the requirements of that law. One might beg the question by asking why the law that was so important in assessing the success of the old school regime suddenly becomes irrelevant to the performance of the new one? This is just naked "let the public be damned" political corruption hiding behind its usual persona of public service.