The Delaware Blogs are on top of it ~
Also on TC blog ~ Tony Bennett is a complete education FRAUD.Transparent Christina talks about the recent grade fixing scandal in Florida while noting that the Education Chief who resigned in disgrace has the same education policy as Governor Markell. Nice tag. [FTR, the grade fixing scandal was in Indiana, he was defeated in 2012 election, after the nefarious acts (and Emails), moved on to FL, where he resigned.]
On Thursday (NYT) Motoko Rich reports ~ Florida’s Education Chief Quits Amid Report That He Changed a School’s Rating
Speaking defiantly at a news conference in Tallahassee, Tony Bennett, who was appointed Florida’s schools chief in December after losing a re-election bid in Indiana in November, referred to “malicious, unfounded reports” when he announced his decision. The resignation came three days after The Associated Press published an article revealing e-mails that showed Mr. Bennett ordered his staff to change a “C” grade given to Christel House Academy, a charter school in Indianapolis, to an “A.”The school takes its name from its founder, Christel DeHaan, a former executive at a time share company and one of Mr. Bennett’s largest donors during the 2012 election. According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, she donated a total of $90,000 to Mr. Bennett’s re-election campaign. The school grades, which can be based on a number of factors, including student test scores and graduation rates, are used to determine whether a school could be taken over by the state or whether students are eligible for taxpayer-financed vouchers to attend private schools.
........Mr. Bennett’s resignation came a week after he announced the results of a new school grading system in Florida. The system was revised to account for the state’s transition to the Common Core, a set of standards adopted by 45 states that outline what each student should learn in reading and math from kindergarten through high school. Under the new system, the number of Florida schools that received an “F” more than doubled from a year earlier. The number of schools that received an “A” tumbled from close to half of all public schools in the state to 29 percent.
More on Common Core Standards from Kavips ~
Well, read all of Kavips' Common Core posts HEREWill Florida Torpedeo Common Core And Cause the Necessary Implosion?
But There Is A Catch….
Common Core: Is It Really Living Up To It’s Hype?
With recent Kilroy ~ HERE, HERE.
I first read the story at Diane Ravitch. Today's post ~ The Biggest Loser in the Bennett Scandal?
Also see:This is a terrific commentary on the Bennett fiasco, written by Valerie Strauss. Who is the biggest loser? Could it be the man behind the curtain who decided that testing would make kids smarter? The one who turned choice into a battle cry? The guy who invited for-profit charters into Florida to make buckets of cash that could be used to hire lobbyists and clear the way for more profits?
How Tony Bennett Raised the C to an A
Test Defenders Feeling the Heat from Test Critics
Is the A-F Grading System Fatally Flawed?
This morning’s report by Nirvi Shah ponders whether the departure of Tony Bennett will show that his (and Jeb Bush’s) beloved A-F grading system is damaged goods. The discovery that Bennett toyed with the system to protect a school owned (and named for) a major GOP donor is reason enough to doubt its validity.
In fact, if you read the article closely, you will understand that the A-F system is intended to facilitate privatization. It sets up schools to fail and to be privatized. Once a school is labeled D or F, it goes into a cycle of decline that is usually irreversible as families leave, good teachers leave, funds and programs are cut, and the school dies, a victim of failed policies and malign neglect.........How much more fraud and miseducation will be tolerated until thinkers and leaders step forward and admit that test-based accountability IS the problemPasi Sahlberg: Testing and Choice Don’t Work
The Insanity of Florida’s School Grades
“In Gainesville a school called Einstein Montessori received an “F.” It is a charter school specifically created for children with reading disabilities. They gave the children with reading disabilities and their teachers an F because they didn’t do well enough on a reading test!!! It is insanity and dispicable! Parents must be the ones to make this stop!!!”
Tony Bennett Resigns
Stotsky: Why I Oppose Common Core
And a favorite: A Really Cool Reformy Event
InBloom Loses Another Site
Another state has pulled out of using the Gates Foundation’s $100 million technology service project, inBloom. The withdrawal further shrinks the project after other states pulled out in part because of concern about protecting students’ privacy. Guilford County, N.C. told POLITICO on Wednesday that the state decided to stop using the service, which is designed to hold information about students including names, socioeconomic status, test scores, disabilities, discipline records and more in one place, and ideally, help in customizing students’ education.
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