Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty-(Rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
We often hear the term “school reform” used often by politicians of all stripes. Chicago’s politicians are no different when it comes to talking about and taking action on so-called school reform. Recently, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is a big fan of the charter school program and a former investment banker, decided that the best way to “reform” Chicago Public Schools was to close 49 schools and terminate 550 teachers and another 300 school staff employees!
“On June 14, the Chicago Public Schools sent layoff notices to 850 school employees, including 550 teachers. The layoffs will hit hardest at those teachers working in African-American and Latino communities. These are the communities that were targeted in the system’s recent decision to close 49 schools – the largest single school closure in US history.” Truth-out What is interesting to me is that while Mayor Emanuel has hammered the Chicago Public School teachers union and Chicago Public schools, he has made sure that Charter schools will be a big player in the City of Chicago.
“Emanuel, a former Congressman and investment banker, has become a darling of the US education reform lobby by implementing its demands for privatizing the public education system through establishing charter schools – privately owned, for-profit schools that receive public financing – by attacking the CTU, and most recently, by pushing forward the huge school closure.
The number of charter schools – which receive public money while being freed of many work and collective-bargaining rules – has doubled in Chicago since 2005, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. There are now about 100 of them in the city. The Emanuel administration has called for 60 new charter schools by 2017. ” Truth-Out
While no one will argue that the Chicago Public Schools do not need improvements, why is it that politicians insist that educating our children should be done by for-profit corporations? Mayor Emanuel is actually continuing a “reform” program first initiated by Mayor Richard Daley and now Education Secretary, Arne Duncan.
“Daley began the privatization of the school system by closing so-called “underperforming” schools, mostly in black and Latino neighborhoods, and firing large numbers of teachers. Between 2001 and last year, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) district closed about 100 schools. Arne Duncan, the CEO of CPS during many of those years, was appointed Secretary of Education by President Barack Obama, who himself rose out of the Chicago political system.” Truth-Out
Is it just a coincidence that most of the schools closed by the last two Mayoral administration’s were in black and Latino neighborhoods? Are the charter schools a way of attacking the Chicago Teachers Union? The problems that the CTU and Mayor Emanuel had during the last strike were well documented. The Teachers Union now has 550 fewer members and there may be more terminations to come. Round 1 to Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Why are charter schools the latest rage in the education arena? Why would alderman and mayors around the country be sold on the idea of for profit education, paid for by taxpayer money? What facts did the Emanuel administration use to make its claim that Chicago needed to engage in the largest single school closure in history?
“Critics accused the board of using false and misleading claims to justify the closures. They say 46,000 students, not 30,000, will be affected. The board claims public schools had lost 145,000 students. In reality, enrollment had declined by 75,000, and 47,000 of those students had gone to charter schools, making the real figure 28,000. Most of Chicago’s student losses occurred 30-40 years ago at the height of deindustrialization. The school district claimed what it said was a $1 billion deficit made closures necessary, but in fact, since students don’t disappear and other schools will require more funding, there will be no cost savings from the closures.” Truth-Out
If I understand the numbers correctly, the Mayor may have used bogus numbers to make his claim that public schools needed to be closed en mass while Charter schools are increasing in number. Could the lower average teacher salaries at charter schools be part of the reason Emanuel and other politicians are fawning over the alleged promise of charter schools?
At least one study provided numbers that seems to claim that charter school’s promise of improvement is all wet. Especially when you compare apples to apples. “Research on charter schools paints a mixed picture. A number of recent national studies have reached the same conclusion: charter schools do not, on average, show greater levels of student achievement, typically measured by standardized test scores, than public schools, and may even perform worse.
The Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University found in a 2009 report that 17% of charter schools outperformed their public school equivalents, while 37% of charter schools performed worse than regular local schools, and the rest were about the same. A 2010 study by Mathematica Policy Research found that, on average, charter middle schools that held lotteries were neither more nor less successful than regular middle schools in improving student achievement, behavior, or school progress. Among the charter schools considered in the study, more had statistically significant negative effects on student achievement than statistically significant positive effects. These findings are echoed in a number of other studies.” Education Justice
If for profit charter schools are not performing better than public schools why would politicians be in favor of them? The best answer I have to that question is to repeat the statement made by the infamous “Deep Throat” of Watergate fame. “Follow the Money”!
Mayor Emanuel, have you no shame?
Additional References: Edudemic.com; Washington Post;
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Most school districts could lay off a large number of “administrative staff”, reduce the bloated salaries of top officials and their liutenants, raise the property tax rate in wealthy residential areas, and then they could hire more teachers and have smaller class sizes. And while they’re at it, set up some special schools for the all those kids who need a more “structured” environment so they too can maybe learn a little.
Brad S,
To answer your question, it is simple math. If you fund a public school you pay for the school. Fund a charter or corporately managed school and you add a layer of expense called “profit.” It is the same thing that is wrong with health care insurance. Added to the profit is an overhead factor, created by the bureaucratic class to make sure there are thousands of rules in place that have to be followed. I wrote my first Federal grant back in 1968. I know what I am talking about. Public funding of a privately run operation adds at least two layers of added expense that are not there with direct funding.
It is simply cheaper and more efficient for the funding source to run an operation (of any kind) directly.
I also have a bone to pick with mandated high stakes testing and teaching to the test. That is why our kids are no longer getting civics classes.
Darren, what I said is the mayor and school district were separate until recently,when problems got to a crisis level. The same transition occurred in Milwaukee, 90 miles north, for the same reason. Jed Clampett is whittling my comments.
Charter schools are not the problem. Some are a scam, some are not as the article articulates. I haver personal experience with a charter school that is a success. We have plenty of studies that show what we need to have better schools, money is not high on the list. Indeed follow the money. Rahm or his buddies are probably recipients of some of this charter school money.
miles north of Chicago.rict and mayor’s office were separate until fairly recently when problems w/ the schools reached a crisis level. The same transition occurred in Milwaukee,
I fail to see how the structure of the state funded education monopoly is of any real importance in the education debate. What makes a publicly owned, publicly funded education institution somehow more virtuous than a publicly funded privately owned education institution?
Raf, I’ve been reading a lot about this topic and I would like to keep it positive and simple. You’re a Guest Blogger who loves this blog w/ your genuine heart., so I know that will happen,. I don’t know if what the Teeny Tiny Mayor is doing is good or bad. However, can we agree the status quo is unacceptable?
Interesting article Raff, like Darren stated: I have questions as well.
1). Many school districts have deficits and/or debt. They are not required by state law to pay off their total debt immediately. They (school districts) can carry a certain percentage of a 2012-13, for example, deficit into the next year. However, they are required to have a plan to eliminate the yearly deficit and to start paying on their debt. Question: (You probably don’t have the answer) What is the required amount the CPS has to pay for the coming school year? If the CPS school is facing a total debt of $1 billion, and if they don’t have a financial plan to avoid bankruptcy, then, more drastic measures will be taken to reduce the debt and yearly decificts? Or Maybe we have to wait to see CPS budget?
2). Like the state of Missouri, I can guarantee that noone in the state of Illinois is considering (or has proposed) legislation to change the way public schools are funded. In Missouri, we legally challenged the corrupt funding formula for educating our public school students. However, we discovered that not only was our democratic governor Jay Nixon and most of the state representatives were not on our side (meaning, they sent in court briefs in support of the funding formula), but also the Missouri Supreme Court rule against us.
http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/x46864322/Missouri-Supreme-Court-upholds-school-funding-formula
3). Has the CPS lost their accrediation? If so, then the state and/or city is in charge of everything? Or does the state and/or city appoint an entity to oversee everything? Hence, the reason why the Mayor is proposing certain plans?
4). This is off topic. It is interesting that a few parents are now speaking up about the school district’s ‘problems’. Are they the same parents’ whose children are not doing so well in class? Are they (parents) expecting the schools to be the parental figure, as well as be a the teacher, while their child is in school? Where were the parental concerns before these ‘financial difficulties’ escalated? Learning begins and ends at home. If there is no ‘home’, then children’s learning needs will seldom occur.
Read the following article about parents requesting Illinois AG Lisa Madigan to investigate CPS’ finances.
http://www.wbez.org/news/cps-parent-group-wants-investigation-school-closure-decision-process-105488
DARREN SMITH Says:
“If the charter schools are operating at less cost than public schools and are achieving at least the same rate of academic ranking would this not be more efficient?”
Is there any line you would draw and say “no mas” to privatizers? If they “had” to lay off people and raise fees (to fund CEOs and other executives),in order to achieve greater efficiences don’t you know, that would be fine too by you?
Just asking
Right On! Justice Holmes.
In the South the charter schools are a way of segregating by race on the public dime. Perhaps that is also the scheme in the North.
I might ask your indulgence, fellow bloggers, and make some plays on words in my comment. I was a public school kid in my youth back in my prior incarnation as a human. I had an excellent experience. To say that one is “reforming” a public school system by closing classes, firing teachers, and closing schools is a sure way to achieve reform schools as the destination for the kids. In essence a Charter school is like a colonial experiment. A bunch of white guys show up in a boat and the natives run for the hills. The right wing does not like teachers organized into unions so they bust them in these oblique ways. It is also age discrimination. They hire these young, fresh, no nothings who know it all and freeze out the kids who have special needs. Those kids stay in the public school and the one’s with energetic parents join the Charter. Its private school on public dime. A stitch in time does not save nine. The Chicago Mayor is just trying to bust unions. It is plain as the nose on his face.
The education of children in a democracy should not be handed over to for profit corporations who are anti union, anti democratic, anti human and ultimately anti education. Rham Emanual is a strange breed of DEMOCRAT, pro corporate, anti progressive and anti union. Of course it shouldn’t surprise us becuase his former boss Barach Obama is similarly inclined.
As to charter schools Diane Ravitch one of the biggest charter school supporters in the nation Has changed her mind about charter schools. She initially thought they had great promise but she now says that the data shows that they have failed to deliver. She wrote: “On our present course, we are disrupting communities, dumbing down our schools, giving students false reports of their progress, and creating a private sector that will undermine public education without improving it. Most significantly, we are not producing a generation of students who are more knowledgable, and better prepared for the responsibilities of citizenship. That is why I changed my mind about the current direction of school reform.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Nal,
the arena issue is one more reason to “follow the money”.
Darren,
The Chicago experience is similar to the national results that when you have similar student bodies, the charter schools do worse than the public schools. Cheaper schools that actually do worse and harm the city by forcing neighborhood schools to close so that money can be directed to for profit charter schools is unhealthy and unwise, in my opinion.
I also agree that the Mayor should not be the school czar of any city.
With Rahm’s DePaul plan, we’ve entered a new arena of stupidity
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is set to announce plans to build a $300 million, 12,000-seat arena for DePaul University . . . dum-dum- dum (suspense) . . . at McCormick Place.
Not on DePaul’s campus. Not anywhere on the Near or Far North Side or anywhere close to Lincoln Park. The gym will be next to gargantuan convention center McCormick Place, located at 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, a meandering 50 blocks or more from DePaul. Kind of like a school bookstore, huh?
It’s a dumb idea on the face of it. DePaul’s men’s basketball team has been on a slow trip to nowhere. In the last five years, the Blue Demons have gone 47-111.
What Mike said and I don’t think Rahm can even spell the word “shame”.
I have a couple questions about your good article Larry.
1) If the charter schools have been in place since 2007 how have they individually compared with Chicago public schools as far as academic achievement? The comparison offered uses national charter school stats.
2) If the charter schools are operating at less cost than public schools and are achieving at least the same rate of academic ranking would this not be more efficient?
Just asking.
On another note I personally don’t like the idea of a mayor being able to dictate school policy and budgeting issues. School districts should in my experience be separate entities.
Washington’s constitution provides that school districts are to be essentially municipal corporations in their own rights and answer to the state legislature for governance outside the district. They answer also, ultimately, to the superintendent of public instruction.
Larry,
This is an important subject to write about. Study after study has shown that charter schools don’t outperform public schools, yet the drive to privatize education continues unabated. Emmanuel is an elitist who is a corporate hack and has been since his days with Clinton. Poor Chicago, they keep electing corrupt turkeys for Mayor.
Charter schools are a scam. They will still dumb your kids down and they are still funded by theft.