"Education Inc" at Occidental College November 11, 2015

"Education Inc"  is a "documentary about how money and politics are changing our schools."  Produced, Directed, and Edited by Brian Malone. Cindy Malone is Producer and Writer.  Diana Holtzberg is Executive Producer.  Larry Lawrence and Dave Alpert of Alumni of Occidental in Education (ALOED) sponsored a showing of the film and a panel discussion with Steve Zimmer, President of Los Angeles Unified Board of Education, Karen Wolfe, parent and head of PSConnect, and Dr. Suzie Abajian, an Occidental professor as well as graduate, who was recently elected to the Board of Education of South Pasadena schools.
   Education Inc takes place in Douglas County, Colorado, a middle or upper middle class suburb.  Bloomberg, Jeb Bush, et al poured much money into an election there.  A half billion dollar budget was available to
the 1%.  Conservatives won the election because people didn't vote.
The Board picked Dr. Elizabeth Fagen from the Milton Friedman Foundation.
Dr. Diane Ravitch.  Talk about the Manufactured Crisis - David Berliner.
Chris Tienken.   1981 - A Nation At Risk - this is the context of the takeover.  The Board of Education had to market itself.  Fagen advertised the schools.  Thirty plus teachers were interviewed by Brian Malone and all but one were intimidated.  Brian White -- who even speaks up at Board meetings.   Parents are upset too.  They don't like the Voucher program or NCLB.
   A volunteer researcher found out that the Board set up a dummy charter as a way to take the tax money from the public schools, supposedly to give to parents, but went to a private school instead. Ed McVaney and Vogel funded the Ads for the Board - both had interests in vouchers and private schools -- until the court stopped them.  The Board got the Waltons, Daniels Fund, Alex Cranberg to fund their case.  Cindy Barnes was the volunteer researcher who caught the illegality and proved the case.   A student defended Cindy Barnes after she was bullied by the Board, which only allowed their supporters to speak.  None of the Board agreed to be interviewed for the film  Fagen has a BODY GUARD!  The School Board meets behind closed doors.  Reporters can't hear them - banned from meetings much of the time.  Nancy Spence was the only right-winger who would speak -- she believes in competition among schools.  "Parents Choice" as it is called.  Dr. Barry Schwartz of Swarthmore spoke up for the people.
   Jefferson County Schools had the same experience -- low turnout allowed the conservatives to win.  Pushed out the Superintendent and hired a buddy from Douglas County.  Jefferson County parents aren't afraid -- citizens shut the meeting down -- Recall Recall".    All over the country -- New York, Portland, San Diego, etc.    Out filmmaker went to Chicago where there were "bad" schools.  Phillip Cantor speaks -- tells the story of Rahm closing 50 schools and opening charters -- all for the real estate industry.
   Charters are quasi-private (quoting the film here) originally started by parents. [I think this isn't correct -- charters were started by the AFT as a way to innovate - I disagree with the film here.]  [From Wikipedia:  "The charter school idea in the United States was originated in 1974 by Ray Budde,^[10] a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.Albert Shanker, President of the American Federation of Teachers, embraced the concept in 1988, when he called for the reform of the public schools by establishing "charter schools" or "schools of choice."^[11] Gloria Ladson-Billings called him "the first person to publicly propose charter schools".^[12] At the time, a few schools already existed that were not called charter schools but embodied some of their principles, such as H-B Woodlawn."  Now charters are run by private organizations that cherry pick their students. Don't provide free or reduced lunches.  No special education.  In Illinois hedge funders run these schools.  There have been FBI raids on some of them -- example is UNO in Chicago - under Federal investigation. 
   Board of Education meetings are contentious in Chicago.  Parents are thrown out. [Rousemary Vega and family.]  
   Our filmmaker goes on to talk about NCLB since 2002 and the growth of McGraw-Hill and Pearson and their enormous profits based on Common Core.  He feels CC is good but not the way it is being implemented.  [Again I disagree with the filmmaker.]  
   Brian Malone goes to meet Duncan and asks him about for-profit companies in education. Duncan tells him this has always been so. [Really?]
   ALEC is writing the laws in this country.  Corporations co-write laws and always have. The corporation that writes the bill gets the contract!!
   Cindy Barnard is the volunteer fact finder.  Chris Holbert and Cinnamon Watson are ALEC employees.   There are places where public education is working.  Frank Gargiulo, Superintendent of Hudson County Schools, is an award-winning and innovative Super.  He is against standardization. No grades. Get students excited about a subject -- how to learn and not what to learn. Education is NOT A BUSINESS MODEL.
   Finland has the best education in the world.  Public schools here in the United States are blamed for poverty -- a distraction, Diane Ravitch says.  OPT OUT says Diane Ravitch.  In Douglas County parents take over the streets while deformers take over the airwaves.
   Parents and teachers lost the battle by very small percentage.  48 to 52% of the vote.  But they did so well given the enormous amount of money poured into the election by the deformers.
   Jefferson County is also fighting.  Students walked out.  Civil disobedience is part of our tradition.  In the end, Brian White, the only teacher who spoke in the movie, was asked to leave his job.

Larry Lawrence introduces the panel and describes a demonstration in DC in 2013 - Save Our Schools.

Panel:  Dr. Suzie Abajian:  the film captures the struggle of 20 years of defunding all of our public schools.  Corporatization of the schools.  Health care, housing, schools, living wage.  Public education is not perfect -- we marginalized people of color and poor communities.  The Deformers have used this to promote their agenda. How can we better our schools?  with all students feeling they belong? Ethnic studies is an example.  [Steve Zimmer sponsored the resolution for Ethnic Studies at LAUSD.]

Karen Wolfe:  Colorado is not very diverse [as the film shows].  They succeeded in Jefferson County in recalling their board [but not in Douglas County].  WE ARE DOCUMENTING THE END OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. These films are important to the public record.  In Venice we had a two year fight to prevent the sale of the Post Office -- we lost.  We are watching it happen everywhere.  Eli Broad is running this city - LAUSD - some are on Broad's payroll.  Transfer the public realm into private hands.  Initially Karen believed in Charters.  She would call and complain but got the same response from LAUSD - "Charters are their own district."  She had to force them to publish public records and agendas for their meetings.  Her charter complied -- but most do not.   What's wrong with a billionaire putting money into it - people ask her.  It's a work in progress.

     

Steve Zimmer:  Met the filmmaker.  We should support this.  He self-funded his own film  What happened in Colorado can happen anywhere.  Universal film can help build the counter-narrative that this is happening everywhere.  The fight in Los Angeles -- we have to be honest and have a painful conversation about our schools and the savage inequities.  Our credibility is otherwise limited.  Root of the defunding -- causes the collapse of the social infrastructure.  This [LAUSD] is now the epicenter - stakes are extraordinarily high.  We have to engage parents and community leaders about our vision in transforming education for people of color.  If we aren't honest, people won't listen -- won't care who is funding their child's school.  We haven't broken systemic racism or the motives of the privatization move -- "a some kids - not all kids motivation."  $10 million is going to defeat Zimmer in the next election.  Probably go to over $25 million.  Truth and Democracy are our argument.  Broad has no concern about schools.  We have the most democratically elected board -- Broad wants to destroy the Board and UTLA.

Larry:   Jeanette Deutermann organized in New York -- ultimately 200,000 students opted out of testing.  But not in New York City.  How to motivate the inner city to OPT OUT?

Steve:  there is agreement in this room around testing.  Talk about what these tests do to kids and teachers.  But we have to establish trust that we care about kids.  Relationships -- building trust -- take time.  Talk to families about hopes and dreams.  Families feel public schools are where their dreams die.  Every child has the right to the best of education.

Suzie:  scapegoats in history -- parents, teachers, students all have been -- deficit notion of education. We must DEAL WITH HISTORY - and RACISM -- teachers have to build relationships with communities. We are in this together.

Karen: not an education professor - but parents aren't talking about equity or racism.  Parents do feel teachers discriminate against them based on their zip code.  Parents talk to each other and reinforce each other to speak up for their students.  Schools on the Westside are diverse - in every way.  More charters there -- middle class have fled the traditional schools.  These bigger issues aren't going to do it.  Tired of having to prove that she has spoken to 15 people to represent other parents.  Our schools are emptying out.  Middle class is gone, or going.  We have to speak to all the families -- maintain our diversity -- not just talk about poor families (that makes schools scary to parents).

Steve:  December 8th tried to pass a charter accountability resolution.  It passed now - will it be enforced.  

Karen:  our independent school board is the largest in the United States.  New York, Chicago, Indianapolis are all appointed school boards.

Steve:  Periodic assessments-- benchmarks.  Testing is state mandated.  Testing budget could go to things we need!!!

Suzie:  put the money into Ethnic Studies -- arts -- libraries [Stephen Krashen].

Karen:  testing equipment was 20% of budget for testing when Deasy was there.  We should find out what happened. The FBI is still investigating -- not over yet.  New York rolled out Common Core two years before California - a huge resistance there to testing. New York has the highest per student funding in the U.S.  [$16,000 per student - Calif is about $9,000].   Common Core tests said kids were failures and parents went ballistic.  Karen's son is a junior -- she is opting him out.  Principal said just to eat it.  January 8th, 1964 - ESEA passed. The purpose was equity!  Now all we care about is outcomes.  Get over it!!!! Kids are being told their scores are too low so they have to take a remedial class.  Still tracking kids.

Steve:  Data disease -- he doesn't care about test scores.  Outcomes he means are graduation rates.  83% at El Camino Senior High.  38% at Fremont.

Larry compares Morningside High in Inglewood with La Costa Canyon in Carlsbad.

Suzie:  Kids are tracked even in South Pasadena. Latino kids tracked lower. Special education is pushed out.  Still inequity in best schools.  Putting money into communities -- housing, universal health care, etc.  is what we need.

Karen:  Compton case about kids who face trauma there and need to be served.

Karen:  TEACHER JAIL IS THE SHAME OF LAUSD.  Truth is coming out.  Teachers have saved LAUSD tons of money by leaving.  A WITCH HUNT!  Used Miramonte case to justify their teacher jail.  

See above for Karen Wolfe's group - PSConnect.

Dave Alpert's blog:  ALOED  and TigersTeach.  

CONCLUSIONS - for Los Angeles:  We must fight to keep our democratically elected school board.  We must unite to prevent Eli Broad from turning 50% of Los Angeles Unified schools into privately owned charters.  WE MUST INVEST IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS SO THAT PARENTS WILL HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT WE CAN GIVE OUR STUDENTS THE EDUCATION THEY DESERVE.    [JGK]

Jesse Hagopian visits Antioch University LA

Jesse Hagopian visits Antioch University LA on November 9, 2015 

Jesse Hagopian teaches History at Garfield High School in Seattle where the entire faculty voted to refuse to administer the high-stakes MAP test.   Jesse edited the book More Than A Score about opting out and more of high-stakes tests.

   Jesse started teaching in 2001 -- at the beginning of NCLB - the  "test and punish" regime -- for his whole career.  

But all of this took on new meaning to him when his five year-old entered kindergarten at an International School teaching Spanish and Mandarin immersion.  Big ceremony held with cultural performances, talks, etc. but then the Governor's Aide says to "tell the kids they will be prepared to compete in the global economy."   Jesse didn't want this to mean that they would subjugate others in the global economy.

   Edward B. Rust Jr. - and the adoption of standards -- see the list of who attended the launch of these standards -- standards will give us the competitive edge and make business more money.  Children will fulfill the needs of business -- from low wage earners to tech to prison.

   THE AMOUNT OF TESTING IS BREATHTAKING - Jesse Hagopian.   112 tests from pre-kindergarten through grade 12.  Some take 30 tests in one year!  High stakes are attached to these for students, teachers, schools -- the 50 schools closed in Chicago are an example of what can happen.    NCLB, RTtT, and CCSS -- the testocracy is gutting schools.  BUT -- a great uprising has occurred -- so much so that Obama came out for less testing on his Facebook page.  Nothing may come of Obama's saying this because the Feds do not administer the tests and they can't repeal them.  Contracts with Pearson can't just be cancelled -- although this is happening right now in New York.  

   "Education Spring"  -- Seattle teachers went on strike for several key demands:  1.  No VAM - Value Added Measures to evaluate teachers.  2.  Race and Equity teams in every school.  No more suspensions. 3.  Recess -  schools had less than 30 minutes of recess.  Parent group demanded more time so the teachers' union adopted this demand.  
   It was an incredible battle -- the community rose up.  Soup for Teachers formed, brought pizza and solidarity to the teachers.  Even the City Council supported them.  THEY WON!  At least 30 teams were formed at schools.  Recess increased to 45 minutes.  And Test Scores REMOVED from teacher evaluation. First time this has happened in the country!  
   Education Spring -- amazing stories all over the country.  For example, the Providence Student Union - did a Zombie Demonstration against testing!  The also got 60 professionals to take the test and 60% of them failed!!! so they could no longer claim the test was key to the future of students' achievement.  There is resistance in various communities -- In New Mexico hundreds walked out saying "we're more than at score".  And more teachers are refusing to give the test.    St. Paul, Minnesota had to take an illegal action to defeat an illegal law!  It is in the state law to use test scores to evaluate teachers.  "Fight for the schools our children deserve."
   Parents really are the leaders of this --  60,000 students opted out in Washington state; 200,000 opted out in New York.  The resistance is growing.  And a spark that helped to light this resistance was the GARFIELD MAP REFUSAL. "Suspend the test, not the students."  Jesse was the union rep at Garfield when a teacher came to him and said "we could refuse to do harm to our students."  Jesse was stunned by her bravery.  He held a meeting in the library and asked the teachers if they would join.  Animosity to MAP was widespread.  ELL teachers said it was linguistically and culturally humiliating to their students.  Language Arts teachers were told there was a higher margin of error in the test.  It shuts down the libraries for weeks just to administer the test MAP -- so everyone was against it!  Jesse went through the contract -- you cannot refuse a direct order.  One teacher said -- "I am tired of seeing these kids run over by tests and I'd rather be reprimanded."  100% of the teachers voted to boycott!  The school district put them on notice -- they could face a ten day suspension.  Unanimous support by teachers, students, and thousands of signatures of solidarity from around the country -- this was a national crisis and they stood up against it!!!
   The superintendent tried to get the administrators to give the test.  He went into the "lion's den" to talk to the teachers at Garfield.  Garfield high is the center of Black Struggle in Seattle.   Jesse graduated from Garfield, his mom was PTA president, his father is a teacher.  The Superintendent listened to them.  Jesse told him -- you're new here in Seattle -- your decision will seal your fate!  If you demand this test, you are giving in to Gates, Broad, etc. etc.  If not -- you will be a real leader of our school system.   
   Parents and students brought flyers -- "know your rights" - "you can OPT OUT" for other students to know.  Parents sent in Opt Out letters.  Students staged a sit-in in their own classroom.  

Scrapthemap.wordpress.org   Go to the link to see videos, letters of solidarity, media, etc. A great resource for fighting back.    

   Jesse is very proud of Garfield.  The Superintendent actually suspended the MAP for always for Seattle secondary.  Still at the elementary level but they are working on fighting this.

   2013 inspired Portland, Chicago, teachers, Opt Out wave in New York.  Garfield shouldn't take all the credit -- elite private schools are original boycotters after all. [Gates children don't take tests.]  The Testocracy send their kids to these elite schools where they have creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, Olympic sized swimming pools, libraries, etc.  They can boycott but rote memorization is good enough for our kids!  
   Jesse and Pedro Noguera debated Cunningham -- former US assistant secretary of education under Arne Duncan. "your system holds those with the most power the least accountable"  Noguera told Cunningham.  We want wrap around services for our kids too.  
   Testing -- The Civil Rights Movement of our Time - tests are key for the achievement gap [the opportunity gap is really what it is].  [Read Xian Franzinger Barrett for a perspective on this.]   
Standardized testing entered schools in the 1900s -- Eugenics movement -- male supremacy and white supremacy ruled!    I.Q. tests were administered to the soldiers in World War II - one of the Eugenics people did this.  Then turned these into the SAT -- Study in American Intelligence - is the book by this Eugenicist.  "The United States was falling behind." Why?  "Because we have more African Americans than Europe does."  Proud of his racist and Eugenicist views.  
   W.E.B. DuBois resisted these tests.  Others fought as well.  
ALTERNATIVE:
Garfield refused and then built a partnership with New York -- 30 schools -- Consortium for Performance Based Assessment.  Defend your thesis at the end of a year before a panel of experts. Dissertations - the test is learning too -- the experts ask questions that provoke you to think.  So these schools shouldn't do well on the tests, say the Testocracy.  But they are the best schools by every measure.  More students graduate. 86% of African Americans go to college.  This goes beyond statistics -- these students know why they are in school!!
   Our society is in a deep crisis -- income inequality is worse. We

are in endless wars.  Violence against women - rape culture.  Immigration - more people deported than ever before.  
   Climate Change -- the greatest challenge.  3 degrees irreversible -- CRITICAL THINKING, COURAGE, CREATIVITY, EMPATHY, LEADERSHIP SKILLS -- these are what will save us. NOT TESTS!!   
   Amber Kudla [in More Than A Score] gave her valedictory speech about the current state of public education. The title of her speech was the phone number for the State Legislature that is pushing the tests.  She quotes John Green on the only test that matters.  She quotes Albert Einstein who said you cannot standardize learning. "Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid."
   1. Question -- information to show that the MAP is ineffective.  Go to the website - scrapthemap.wordpress.com/  MAP gives a score - but doesn't tell you what they need for ranking and sorting.
   2.  Need to go to parents. Teachers are afraid. 
Jesse said they should have gotten the PTA on their side.

   Recess time - a significant parent movement in Seattle around this.  Also because of the insistence that children read in Kindergarten!!  This needs to be stopped.   

   3.  Need programs to empower parents. 

   There is no more bussing in Seattle.  They had to pay for a school guard crossing.  Money for tests -- but not for the supplies that every classroom needs.  Make these connections with the parents.  

   Jesse sympathetic that people of color want their children to score high -- even though we need to get rid of rote learning.  Tests are being used to close down the schools of people of color and to fire African American teachers.  New Orleans is the biggest example but also New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Berkeley.  

   4.  Repercussions on Opt Out for students -- MAP did not mean much for the students. It mostly affected the teachers.  [Witness the suicide of  teacher Rigoberto Ruelas in Los Angeles after he was deemed ineffective in the Los Angeles Times report of teacher scores.]  Other tests do affect students -- each one is different. 

   5. Student from New Orleans -- parents and teachers are building resistance there now.  

READ:  The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein

              The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

The elite use crises as moments of great opportunity for profit. 

   Arne Duncan said Hurricane Katrina was the greatest thing to happen for education in New Orleans.   New Orleans is fighting back. But, for example, Lee Barrios ran for School Board and was met with an opponent who got money from Broad, Bloomberg, et al.   The good people lost this election.
   6. The state of Washington ruled against funding charters! The state constitution provides for "common schools" so it was possible to make a legal challenge to the charters (that are not common schools). Unfortunately California doesn't have this provision.
   There are lawsuits - some - around testing.  A teacher in New York is suing -- against VAM.   The American Statistical Association says this is JUNK SCIENCE.
   We have put the Testocracy on the defensive.  We need to go on the OFFENSIVE!  This spring should be bigger OPT OUT than ever!
   The NAACP in Seattle is telling parents to OPT OUT!!! 
   Jesse says -- the best way to avoid burnout is to join the struggle.
All of this is because we have a "meritocracy" - but in fact it's to keep people in their place.  Militarizing the police forces all over the country. [Los Angeles Unified School District has a tank and automatic weapons donated by the military.]
   Jesse spoke at his child's school - did a book talk on More Than A Score - helping the parents to resist. 
   This is what it is all about -- we are here to fix our world.
   When everybody does it -- OPTS OUT -- we are powerful!!

Jesse has a blog - here he reports FairTest reporting of 2015 victories against high stakes testing.

Letters to Obama

Today I found that Diane Ravitch and Anthony Cody have sent the 400 or so letters to Obama that they collected this month.  We of course had hoped there would be many many more. They were accompanied by the petition to Dump Duncan which I think has 6000 signatures.   While some may feel this is not a good time to approach and reproach Obama since he is running a seemingly close race against Romney, others feel that in fact he needs to know how teachers feel betrayed by him and the class he seems to represent.  He has furthered the cause of privatization of our schools, high-stakes testing, value added assessment of teachers, and more.  He and Duncan are destroying our public schools and of course, leading to the destruction of our unions.

I was also honored to find that my favorite blogger, Fred Klonsky, published my letter on his blog today.   He is so thoughtful, humorous, artistic, talented, intelligent, and more.

The letters can be accessed here.

Here is my letter:

Letter 1
October 17, 2012
President Barack Obama Dear Mr. Obama:
I am a retired teacher and teacher librarian, a mother, and a grandmother. I have worked in education for forty years. I attended all public schools in Los Angeles and went on to a fine public university for both undergraduate and graduate school. I have seen our schools go from places of nurture and caring that provided every subject a child needs, to essentially institutions that teach to the test and discourage creativity. As a teacher I chose to work in the areas of Los Angeles that were considered most dangerous and poverty-stricken. I felt that I was needed there more and I could do the most good.
So far you and your education secretary Arne Duncan act as if most teachers are lazy and unable to teach our students. I find this shocking and outright treasonous. You are judging something about which you know not. Neither you nor Arne Duncan have any idea what it is like to teach in most of our inner city schools. Neither you nor Arne Duncan attended any of these schools, much less rubbed shoulders with the students who are struggling just to get through the day. And, therefore, you haven’t seen what teachers do to keep our students in school, to try to reach them, help them with problems that are beyond monstrous in some cases. We encounter children who are homeless, victims of physical and sexual abuse, victims of neglect, and more. Our children are in neighborhoods where they encounter drive-by shootings and murder. Getting from home to school and back again is a torture.
We are lucky if our students can read by third grade. We are really fortunate if their parents taught them well in their first language so that learning a second language is much easier. Most of the time our students don’t have time to read a book, don’t have parents who can take time off from their two or three jobs to take their children to the library. And they certainly don’t have enough money for a home library.
Do you look at the statistics? Do you see who does well in school and who doesn’t and WHY? It isn’t because we can’t teach. The same teachers teaching the high scoring students are teaching the ones who score the lowest. And often these are the best and most caring teachers. Otherwise they would have gone to a private school at LOWER PAY to get away from the poverty belt.
More high stakes testing, more teaching to the test, and more stunted classrooms with 45 students in them, no art, music, PE or libraries – these conditions will not raise the level of our students. They will do the opposite.

Listen to the experts in Finland. Look at what they do and how they value their teachers. And begin to implement some of THEIR policies and see if our children don’t do better.
But first of all, address the need for decent jobs for our students’ parents, and the need to adequately fund our schools and libraries. Speak to the real pressing needs of our country; stop waging wars in other lands and sending drones to kill innocents. Stop giving money to bail out the banks and start hiring people to rebuild our bridges, roads, schools and parks. Put the money where it is going to benefit the majority and not the 1%.
AND MOST OF ALL, LISTEN TO REAL EXPERTS IN EDUCATION!
They will tell you what I am telling you in this letter, only more eloquently.
Joan Kramer
40- year educator
Haven’t stopped fighting yet 

I hope other teachers will write the President and keep up the fight for our schools, our students, our unions, our communities, and our future.