New Haven Independent

posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS on April 15, 2010  8:28am

Let’s see now…

Extended school day, longer school year, staff on call, TFA-centric, serving the most challenged student population, putting aside the standard work rules, etc.  A Do-whatever-it- takes attitude…

A charter school by any other name…

Mike Duggan is a local guy who has been doing some of the hardest work in the Stamford district for a long time.  Its great that he is finally getting a chance to help New Haven.

posted by: Margie Lord on April 15, 2010  9:27am

here’s a great write-up about Domus and the work happening in Stamford and soon-to-be in New Haven.

posted by: Threefifths on April 15, 2010  3:16pm

I would like to know how did Mr.Duggan get this contract. when was the bid put in.Was others allowed to bid for this? May be campaign
contribution? Also what happens to the school if they fail,Does the school go back to the public school status? He says He painted a picture of a school with extra resources surround struggling kids—a school where students wear uniforms. Uniforms,Rember what happen to the young people the last time that they had uniforms,They will call the brown and black shirts.

posted by: getwththeprogram on April 15, 2010  3:31pm

This reform plan sounds great (although I hope the longer school day makes room for other activities, not just CMT prep). My issue is that none of these things are new ideas. A lower student/faculty ratio, high quality teachers, and extra support are things people have been advocating for for years.

The “family advocates” seem to be the most crucial issue. The main difference between students who succeed and students who don’t is not the school for the most part, it’s the family they were brought up in. Those who have a supportive home environment do better than those who don’t. It is crucial that all new haven schools give students access to these support services.

I’m not sure if things have changed this year, but as of last school year Wilbur Cross only had counselors that were equipped to deal with the special needs students. If a regular ed. student had a “crisis” they needed to contact another faculty member in order to be able to see a counselor on an emergency basis. This system is extremely detrimental. Many many New Haven students have problems I can’t even fathom. That being said, even students who don’t have major day to day issues face occasional depression and anxiety that could be helped through talking to a certified counselor. All the NHPS should have at least one person (although Cross could probably use more) available for students to work with.

posted by: Tropical on April 16, 2010  9:59am

There is always a negative person (Threefifths) When someone wants to come in and help you cry about contracts. I think they should start all kids in 2010 school year wearing uniforms so by the time they reach middle and high school its just something they are used to but all schools and all grades need to wear uniforms from but then you get the ignorant young parents who want their kid to wear only designer clothes to school they can change clothes when they get home. Look at all they other countries where the kids where uniforms and those kids come to the US and are much more mannered and smarter than you .

posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS on April 16, 2010  12:29pm

3/5,

Were others allowed to bid for the contract? 

Who cares?  If it doesn’t work out, then hold the mayor accountable.  And btw, just because Domus is running the school doesn’t mean its not a public school.  Charters ARE public schools.  They don’t charge tution and they have to accept anybody who applies or is referred - if they have space. 

Whether a school is public or not is not defined by the status of the education PROVIDER (BOE, teacher union etc.)  Public education is defined by the CUSTOMER.

And one last thing, since you follow the “rubber room” saga, you’ll be happy to know that they are being disbanded.  But its not because the NYDOE is shutting them down, its because the NY teacher union has been exposed as being the protectors of the worst teachers in the city at tremendous taxpayer expense.

Here is a great interview with the best reformer in the country:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/#36594591

posted by: Threefifths on April 16, 2010  12:33pm

posted by: Tropical on April 16, 2010 9:59am

There is always a negative person ... When someone wants to come in and help you cry about contracts.

I am not being a negative person by asking how did they get the bid for this contract. As a taxpayer myself and others we have the right to know.You have the right to know. Also we know how contracts are sometimes gave out through political patronage!!!!

I think they should start all kids in 2010 school year wearing uniforms so by the time they reach middle and high school its just something they are used to but all schools and all grades need to wear uniforms from but then you get the ignorant young parents who want their kid to wear only designer clothes to school they can change clothes when they get home. Look at all they other countries where the kids where uniforms and those kids come to the US and are much more mannered and smarter than you .

What countries are you talking about. Some countries make them wear military uniforms. Also in some countries not just the students wear uniforms,But also the whole staff does.So should all of the people at the board of ed wear uniforms. Also a study was done and it found that uniformss don’t inprove grades and behavior.

http://www.optionality.net/mag/oct98a.html

I have seen students in uniforms at the bus stops and you should see there behavior.

Also how about the uniform corporate vampries that will be lining there pockets. Did you know that there is a uniform store in milford that is the only uniform story that people are force to go to.Give me a break No uniform period!!!

posted by: Threefifths on April 16, 2010  2:00pm

posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS on April 16, 2010 12:29pm

3/5,

Were others allowed to bid for the contract? 

Who cares?  If it doesn’t work out, then hold the mayor accountable.  And btw, just because Domus is running the school doesn’t mean its not a public school.  Charters ARE public schools.  They don’t charge tution and they have to accept anybody who applies or is referred - if they have space. 

We think taxpayers have the right to care were our taxes dollars are going.No we need to hold King john accountable now,Not after.

Charters ARE public schools.  They don’t charge tution and they have to accept anybody who applies or is referred - if they have space. 

Read my friends colum.

Are Charter School Public Schools? I’m Afraid Not.
by Alexander Hoffman
In the past, I have been very careful to talk and write about “charter schools” and “traditional public schools,” the latter of which is often abbreviated TPS. I have even tended to favor others’ claims that charter schools are, in fact, public schools. But I’m afraid that I was wrong. I have tried to be more thoughtful about this question and I simply cannot find a compelling argument that they are, and can find too many that they are not.

First, let’s acknowledge what charter schools are. They are publicly financed schools that are run by private – usually nonprofit – organizations. Sometimes they are independent, and sometimes they are part of larger charter school organizations or chains.

The primary argument that charter schools are public schools is that they are paid for out of government funds. While they do get most of their budgets from tax dollars, that is not enough to render them public schools. There are many other organizations that pay for operations with public funds but are still private organizations. Defense contractors receive enormous sums of money from the government to provide design and manufacturing of weapons systems, but they remain private corporations. Blackwater provided labor, training and services to the Department of Defense and the State Department, but it remained a private organization.

If a construction firm is hired by a school district to build a school, it remains a private firm. If a new firm is formed to bid for a school construction job, and wins the project, it still remains a private firm. Even if that firm does such a good job that it wins future bids and does all the district’s construction work, it remains a private firm.

Frankly, I’ve not heard any other arguments that charter schools are public schools. Meanwhile, there are lots of ways in which they most definitely are not public schools

I think that it is pretty clear that at least some level of oversight of the day to day operations of our public agencies must rise up to our elected officials. Public agencies and offices must have some level of democratic oversight. Abuses, mismanagement and bad policy are subject to review by elected officials or those they appoint. Policies can be changed, budgets cut and/or senior personnel removed as a direct consequence of this oversight. This is quite different than contracted services. So long as the terms of the contract are met, the government cannot reach into the management of a contractor and force changes. They may try to embarrass the contractor, but they do not have authority to require changes. On the other hand, public schools are accountable to elected school boards, legislatures and/or mayors. There may be changes in who is ultimately responsible for a district, but it always is an elected official.

Charter school principals cannot be removed by elected officials. Their board members are not subject to removal by public elections. The executives of charter management organizations are not accountable to the government for their jobs.

More important, however, is the difference in moral mission. It is the responsibility of the public schools to educate every child who shows up. All children who live in a school district have a right to attend a district school. Furthermore, no public school can in good conscience “counsel out” a student. Private schools are well known to engage the practice of “counseling out” when a student does not seem to fit in or is too disruptive or the school believes that it cannot well meet that student’s needs. As the student has the public schools to fall back on, the moral import of this practice is surely debatable. But the public schools must find another placement for students whose needs they cannot meet, because they – in the form of the district – have a moral and a legal obligation to educate every child that shows up.

Charter schools do not have that obligation, either legally or morally. To the extent that many charter schools are oversubscribed, it would be difficult or impossible for them to do so. While the public schools have to cram in more students – hopefully, eventually, leading to more classrooms and even schools – charter schools only have to serve as many students as they specify. Charter schools are free to say that they do not offer support services for English language learners or autistic children, but the public schools must provide schooling for every child. Charter schools are free to “counsel out” students.

Charter school employees do not work for the government; they are not public employees. While the government has contracted with charter schools to provide a service, they do not act as the government when the provide it. Their operations are not subject to democratic or public oversight; rather their contracts (i.e. their charters) come up for review for possible extension periodically.

And if they are part of the public school system They how come across this country most will not take special-needs students.

Charter school could face probation
Albany Preparatory is accused of screening potential pupils to weed out those with academic challenges
 

ALBANY—An Albany charter school is accused of screening potential students to weed out those with academic challenges and could be put on probation this week as a result.
 
Three former employees of the Albany Preparatory Charter School claimed an administrator at the school was trying to improve the school’s scores on state standardized tests by denying admission or wait-listing learning-disabled students, an investigation has found. Some parents of students who did not perform well on a reading test were counseled that the school was “not a good fit” or would have their applications denied, according to a scathing new report by the State University of New York’s Charter Schools Institute.
Read the rest.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=903408#ixzz0gHOFah5y
Also How come Charter Schools don’t take English language learner students?

And one last thing, since you follow the “rubber room” saga, you’ll be happy to know that they are being disbanded.  But its not because the NYDOE is shutting them down, its because the NY teacher union has been exposed as being the protectors of the worst teachers in the city at tremendous taxpayer expense.

Not true Look at new york one news. Look at what King Bloomberg said.

http://www.ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/top_stories/116973/doe-puts-end-to—rubber-room—practice

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/nyregion/16rubber.html?hp
Both king bloomberg and king klein agree on closing the rubber room. But i bet the rubber room will be here in the New Haven schools!! I know you are anti teachers union,But this is why you need a union.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN-JAnd-XEg&feature=related

Here is a great interview with the best reformer in the country:

No here is two of the best reformer in the country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfKfZHeiFYw&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-dixon/when-reforming-education_b_530799.html

posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS on April 16, 2010  4:07pm

3/5,

When are you going to sign up for a visit to Amistad Academy?  Then you can see for yourself what a great charter school looks like!  Imagine, then and you won’t have to rely on the falsehoods, distortions, bogus comparisons, and outright BS that your favorite writers put out there.

Friday, June 11th 7:45am (407 James st.)

posted by: Threefifths on April 16, 2010  5:50pm

posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS on April 16, 2010 4:07pm
3/5,

When are you going to sign up for a visit to Amistad Academy?  Then you can see for yourself what a great charter school looks like!  Imagine, then and you won’t have to rely on the falsehoods, distortions, bogus comparisons, and outright BS that your favorite writers put out there.

I have been to Amistad Academy and in fact I had teacher friends who had work there and left due to the working condtions there.Did Amistad Academy the High school get it’s act together with there students who had failed courses? When my son was in school I met some teachers who worked for Amistad Academy and there children went to the same public school as my son and aslo went to public high school with him.I ask why don’t you send your children to Amistad Academy,They did not say one word. Also did you know that your good old charter schools are bring back school Segregation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB6eY_YSWa8&feature=related

Or maybe you like to go back to this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfxnJ54STiY&feature=related

In fact some states are starting to wake up to this Pozi scheme race to the top.

States Skeptical About ‘Race to Top’ School Aid Contest

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/education/05top.html?hpw

then and you won’t have to rely on the falsehoods, distortions, bogus comparisons, and outright BS that your favorite writers put out there.

Can you prove or show me where these writers have put out falsehoods, distortions, bogus comparisons, and outright BS.Prove it!!!!

Tell you what let us look at a local. Check out his Bio.

Dr. James P commer.

School Development Program
Developed by child psychiatrist Dr. James P. Comer and his colleagues at the Yale Child Study Center in collaboration with the New Haven Public Schools, the School Development Program (SDP) is a research-based, comprehensive K-12 education reform program grounded in the principles of child, adolescent, and adult development.

First introduced in two low-achieving schools in 1968, over the years the School Development Program has been implemented in hundreds of schools in more than 20 states, the District of Columbia, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, England, and Ireland.

The SDP provides the organizational, management, and communications framework for mobilizing teachers, administrators, parents, and other concerned adults to support students’ personal, social, and academic development and achievement. The SDP also helps educators make better programmatic and curriculum decisions based on students’ needs and on developmental principles.

While the School Development Program helps bring change to one school at a time, it has been used as a framework for system-wide reform, providing mechanisms by which school boards and district central administration can coordinate and support the reform work at each schoolThe Comer Process is not a project or add-on, but rather an operating system—a way of managing, organizing, coordinating, and integrating programs and activities. Three teams—the School Planning and Management Team (SPMT), the Student and Staff Support Team (SSST), and the Parent Team—work together to create a Comprehensive School Plan (CSP); to design and conduct staff development aligned with the goals of the Comprehensive School Plan; and to assess and modify the plan as necessary using a wide range of student and school-level data to ensure that the school is continuously improving. The teams are guided by three principles: decision making by consensus, no-fault problem solving, and collaboration.

The nine-element process fosters positive school and classroom climate and creates optimal conditions for teaching and learning, and emphasizes the alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

Over the past three decades, research conducted by the SDP and external researchers, have consistently found that schools that implement the Comer Process at high levels tend to experience high levels of student achievement and development

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiwBy0CPr5Q

Or would you call Dr. commer a B S writer?

Again Fix prove them wroug.Better yet I found were the B S writers are.They are at city hall were they wrote this B S school reform Bill.

P.S. You still have not answer my question.Are you a skull from yale or are you a corporatist.
I bet you are a corporatist lawyer or banker cause both have you mind set.Which one fix!!!!

posted by: Threefifths on April 16, 2010  6:45pm

This is what happens when Charter Schools will not open there books.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/90130872.html?viewAll=y

posted by: Teacher Gal on April 17, 2010  9:18am

Wow, smaller class size, counselors on call, parent participation, uniforms?????? This is what it takes? Come on folks, does New Haven have to pay hundreds of thousands dollars for things we already know? I am really baffled! I think you could ask any teacher in New Haven and they could give you this formula for improvement. But, I do love the daily morning meeting idea. I worked in a school where we implemented that years ago and it was fabulous…it really got everyone going in a positive way. I wonder if they still do it as the program was watered down and is now a shell of what it used to be…so sad!