Thank you Wilma!
I've been reading these self congratulatory reports from these folks for a
long time. When I too look in the mirror, I see the most beautiful creature
on the planet.
This was a pattern in Phila. before "No child left behind" insisted that
districts gave those numbers.
I also think that all PR spin these days includes more arrogance and pushes
the limit of the bull. With all of the bombarding infomercials, etc, which
Joe mentioned in a recent post, the people seem very complacent. They want
good news and sound bites while manipulators and deceivers give them what
they want.
For reinforcement, the deceivers have their pawns call anyone with a
question names like, 'Pennspiracy theorists.' It's a tight little system.
As you can see this bull because you are on the front lines of this issue, I
think when we dig into so many other issues and spin these days, the
identical pattern can be seen.
Thanks again,
Glenn
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wilma de Soto" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Anthony West" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "UnivCity listserv"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 8:35 AM
Subject: Re: [UC] markets in schools and lettuce
Where might one find the data with regard to, " all three management
models
SD schools, charter schools and EMO schools (which include the Penn
partnership three) because all three models have been showing impressive
gains."
These very same individuals (SRC and Administration) will:
1. Call meetings and then send e-mails to change the subject of the
meeting
as you are about to walk out the door to attend, then change it back while
you are en route and wonder why you are not properly prepared.
2. Implement a directive in the morning that is cancelled by noon and
reinstated by the end of the school day, all done arbitrarily and without
explanation.
3. Make an appointment to visit a school and classrooms only to cancel
because of a heat wave, which we teachers and students must work through.
4. Demand paperwork to be done and submitted on directives that were never
sent out to us and want it ASAP; often class time suffers because of
these
emergency directives.
5. Lose 75-90 hours per school year of classroom instructional time giving
'professional development' for better instruction, while the students who
are supposed be receiving this instruction are watching TV, playing video
games and running the streets. If these kids do not make AYP under No
Child
Left Behind, well it's your fault.
6. They are very gifted at "School District Political Speak" for which
they
give ABSOLUTELY NO CREDIT to teachers who managed to raise test scores in
spite of all of the above and MORE, because the public likes to hear such
claptrap and enjoys teachers being degraded.
A week or month as a substitute teacher would be very therapeutic to those
who set store by this School District PR spin.
On 6/30/08 9:37 PM, "Anthony West" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
The School Reform Commission (that is the School District's direct boss
these days) announced the sixth straight year of gains in test scores
since the SRC took over Philadelphia's public schools in December 2001.
The mood was upbeat at SD HQ on N. Broad St. this afternoon. It's not so
much that 2008 posted handsome gains; rather, the reform model the SRC
followed from the beginning was very research-oriented, very
outcome-oriented, and over time has delivered what it was asked to
deliver.
From 2002 to 2008, the percentage of students rated "advanced or
proficient" in reading has gone from 23.9% to 44.8%. Those scoring
"advanced or proficient" in mathematics have gone from 19.5% to 49.0%.
"Below basic" numbers have tumbled accordingly -- in reading, from 49.4%
to 33.2%; in mathematics, from 59.2% to 30.8%.
A confident hope expressed by SRC Chairwoman Sandra Dungee Glenn was the
ever-more-impressive results delivered by the Philadelphia School
District will be rewarded by the General Assembly with substantial net
gains in this year's Pennsylvania State budget, which is in the final
hours of negotiations now.
The press conference was ill suited to single-school or single-manager
discussions. Dungee Glenn did, however, emphasize the SRC is relatively
satisfied with all three management models -- SD schools, charter
schools and EMO schools (which include the Penn partnership three)
because all three models have been showing impressive gains.
"We are moving away from model comparisons and an emphasis on
competitiveness," Dungee Glenn elaborated. "What we do need to learn
from those schools that are doing well, are best practices that can be
transmitted to other schools under different management."
At this point, I'm not prepared to follow Ray's advice and "move out" of
the SD's "catchment areas" -- just give up on Philadelphia, in other
words. There are remarkable signs our city may be in the process of
figuring out something new and important about urban public education.
Pessimism never goes out of style in this area, with good reason, so I
respect everyone's cynicism to a point. But we should stay open to the
possibility something new and better is coming down the pike -- maybe
even in our neighborhood.
-- Tony West
Anthony West wrote:
Markets don't, in themselves, maintain inequalities. Segregationists
who argue people of different classes should never live side by side,
because that can only harm the lower classes -- they do maintain
inequalities, don't they? I don't share their views.
We have fundamentally different interests in this discussion. I am
interested in the real challenges and choices facing urban education,
because I have a kid in the system and that makes me think about the
subject more than I otherwise might. You are looking for occasions to
complain about Penn and capitalism, as usual (two obviously allied,
but somewhat distinct, critters). Outcomes don't matter to you; only
judgements matter. Always the same judgement, too.
I'll leave you to your pet judgement. I'll continue to comment on the
real challenges and choices. Urban education in Philadelphia is at a
crossroads. Wherever it is headed next, one thing's for sure: it's
not going back to that "egalitarian" quagmire of guaranteed low
expectations for every child, especially when he's a child of color.
the solution to your school choice problem is simple: sell your house
and move out of the catchment area. why limit your options now that
your son has graduated to high school? instead of freaking out about
the system and the egalitarian quagmire, shop around! it's outcomes
that matter -- and besides, only segregationists, not markets,
maintain inequalities.
..................
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
----
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the
list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see
<http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
----
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the
list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see
<http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.4.3/1526 - Release Date: 6/30/2008
8:43 AM
----
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the
list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see
<http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
