by "Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
Published 02/02/2017 at 13:29
by "Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
Published 02/02/2017 at 13:29
No Tags
STARS: 34
TEXANS: IMMEDIATE ACTION ALERT! You have a chance to stop the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary. Republican Sen. John Cornyn could possibly shift to a NO for DeVos. This is a really big deal, since right now it’s leaning 50/50. CALL HIM!
Call one of these numbers:
Express your opinion, and they will take your ZIP code. Thank the staffers.
Copy and Past for any Texas friends.
"vondon302" (vondon302)
02/02/2017 at 13:38, STARS: 16
My wife’s a school teacher. Believe me this is a big deal.
Thanks
"area man" (hurrburgring)
02/02/2017 at 13:42, STARS: 4
Same. She and all her coworkers are horrified.
"Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever" (rustanddust)
02/02/2017 at 13:47, STARS: 2
Thank you for sharing this.
Here’s hoping DeVos gets rejected and we find someone who’s remotely familiar with public education to, you know, oversee our nations public education system. I’d rather not have a bunch of revisionist history students running the country when I’m old and gray.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
02/02/2017 at 13:48, STARS: 5
MANY of my immediate and extended family are educators. As are many more of my friends. Education funding is ALREADY fucked in Texas as it is. DeVos’ ineptitude, combined with Texas legislators’ hatred for special needs kids (in December they cut $25 million in funding for occupational therapy, largely for children with autism), combined with a move by the state lege yesterday to teach alternate viewpoints to evolution in Texas science classrooms, means we are giddily and willfully choosing to fuck over an entire generation of children. It sickens me.
"yamahog" (yamahog)
02/02/2017 at 13:50, STARS: 10
Don’t even get Michigan educators started on the DeVos family. What has been done here should be a warning to the rest of the country, not a model.
"vondon302" (vondon302)
02/02/2017 at 13:53, STARS: 5
Trust me I know. We’re in Michigan. Thx for posting this.
"for Michigan" (formichigan)
02/02/2017 at 13:53, STARS: 3
So is my brother-in-law. Definitely a big deal.
"Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)" (bman76-4)
02/02/2017 at 14:04, STARS: 4
This is terrifying, both my mom and sister are teachers. I’m not, but my firm’s specialty is education Architecture. The US built a ton of schools in the 1950's, and they’re all about 10 years beyond their lifespan. The reality is that all of these construction projects are great not only for the kids, but also for the “blue collar” workers who Reps. supposedly represent. It’s all a massive kick in the teeth.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
02/02/2017 at 14:04, STARS: 0
I live in Texas, but you need to tell me why you think I should be opposed to DeVos enough to call my senator. I’m reading up on her right now, and I’m going to make my own decisions. I need data.
"BobintheMtns" (bobinthemtns)
02/02/2017 at 14:08, STARS: 0
And for good reason..!
"Pixel" (Improbcat)
02/02/2017 at 14:13, STARS: 2
Here is a US News article on why shoe is a bad idea, with links to the various issues they note .
Short version though is she has zero experience in education, no training or schooling in education, and doesn’t even send her own kids to private schools. She support voucher programs to let kids go to private schools with public money, and opposes any accountability or requirements for those private schools. She & her family have also donated over $200 million to republican lawmakers, including many who sit on the committee voting for her. She claimed she was not involved in the donations, but records show she was a major board member for her family foundation that made the donations during the time the donations were made.
"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
02/02/2017 at 14:14, STARS: 2
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/25/opinion/betsy-devos-and-the-wrong-way-to-fix-schools.html
"pauljones" (pauljones)
02/02/2017 at 14:18, STARS: 5
Please note that this is not the Washington Post or the New York Times, which run rather liberal. But this, in a nutshell, is why you don’t want Betsy DeVos as the Secretary of Education:
Other issues that I have with her include her push to give public money to parents to pay for private school tuition, her belief that her education reform is “a way to advance God’s kingdom” (actual quote), a belief in a complete lack of accountability for private schools that would use public money, and her cuts to efforts to provide services to help special needs kids and their parents access to basic educational necessities.
Having a cousin who is autistic and another member of the family who is disabled, the latter is a particularly sore point for me on a personal level.
Here’s an NPR post that does a pretty reasonable job of explaining some of her beliefs and policies, and the reactions to them, without being overly biased:
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/01/31/512507538/under-devos-heres-how-school-choice-might-work
"CompactLuxuryFan" (compactluxury)
02/02/2017 at 14:26, STARS: 5
Watching her confirmation hearings is also a great way to see how she’s completely unfit for the role. It’s like they’re interviewing a soccer mom who has a driver’s license but is not even an auto enthusiast to be head of a WEC team. Absolutely no idea what she’s even being asked but she just puts on a smile and gives out non-answers.
"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
02/02/2017 at 14:30, STARS: 0
Thanks. I hadn’t heard he was on the fence. I’ve already passed this along to some friends who have already been writing and calling our senators and congressmen. For the most part I try to stay out of political comments here, but I’ll go on record saying the possibility of DeVos as education secretary is possibly the scariest thing about this administration. We’re talking about somebody that is in my opinion completely unqualified making decisions that have very long-term consequences.
"ZHP Sparky, the 5th" (e30s2k)
02/02/2017 at 14:33, STARS: 3
And let’s not lose sight of his Liberty University nutjob pick for leading higher education. Holy hell if he gets punted up for the top job if DeVos gets the boot.
"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
02/02/2017 at 14:43, STARS: 0
Can a non-Texan call up? I work IT in the K-12 education sector. If she nukes public education, I have no idea what will happen to all of us here. The very nature of the company I work for is literacy!! It’s hard enough for some schools to afford basic materials.
"Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever" (rustanddust)
02/02/2017 at 14:45, STARS: 2
Oh I know, I’m an hour away from the Liberty campus, I’ve been hearing the Falwell’s rants for years.
And even if he doesn’t, it seems we set the precedent this morning for firing off Twitter threats at public universities if theres a protest in proximity of the school.
A less intelligent population is theoretically more easily controlled than an educated population, or at least that was the motivation behind the purge of Polish intelligentsia by the Nazis and Soviets (Katyn). Granted, DeVos and Falwell (presumably) won’t be slaughtering tens of thousands, but the prospect of depriving a generation of a proper education yields an equally (if not more) terrifying outcome.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
02/02/2017 at 14:49, STARS: 2
I don’t see why not. But his staffers get zip codes from callers so they know it’s actual constituents calling. If you can call your own Illinois senators, even if they’re not going to be swayed, it’s important for them to know how their own constituents feel.
"spanfucker retire bitch" (lelykon)
02/02/2017 at 14:51, STARS: 1
Fuck me I hadn’t even considered that.
Holy shit. Then the Repubs have the perfect cover to unanimously vote him in by claiming; “look, we already worked with you once, what else do you want?”
It’d be like avoiding a shot to the head, only to get shot through your spine.
"Azrek" (azrek)
02/02/2017 at 15:01, STARS: 0
My best friend is in Houston and I remember him telling me a story about an Educator they brought in to assist schools. She was aghast by the spending on football and tried to build a chemistry lab by diverting football funds. She was chased out of town. Sooo....Texas may already be screwed? I know I’ve seen HS football stadiums bigger than some college stadiums.
"Liam Farrell" (ackrunner)
02/02/2017 at 15:11, STARS: 1
Never thought of it that way, it is very true and interesting.
"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
02/02/2017 at 15:14, STARS: 0
You bet I already do. :) I’ve called Senator Dick Durbin about hot button issues like Illinois’ bathroom bill (that thankfully died before it gained too much traction) and predatory schools. So far, so good I guess.
I’d really love to give Texas’ Lt Governor a “nice” word...
"Sweet Trav" (thespunbearing)
02/02/2017 at 15:25, STARS: 4
With DeVos, consider the geographic distribution of Texas itself. Charter Schools or school of choice may be great in urban areas where a student actually has options, but rural areas will suffer. There are rarely choices for schools in remote areas. While I personally do not advocate for Charter or School Vouchers, i suppose that is up for discussion, if they are held to high standards and support ALL students. I would want an Education Secretary to not only want to offer choice, but to be a champion for public schools, because due to logistics and distance, Charter and School Vouchers may not work for all locales, especial rural west Texas, Arizona, Michigan, ND, SD, etc. Mrs DeVos is certainly no champion of public schools. What she has done in Michigan does not work, and it should be viewed as a cautionary tale when viewing her as a nominee.
"ZHP Sparky, the 5th" (e30s2k)
02/02/2017 at 15:51, STARS: 1
Yeah that UC Berkeley tweet was ridiculous. I used to live in the Bay Area, my wife went to grad school at Cal, and we have many friends out there. Overwhelming consensus is that the rioting and violence was wrong and caused by masked instigators. Without getting nitpicky about who did it- it is wrong and sends the absolute wrong message and gave the idiot Milo more of a platform than he deserves. But then for our * PRESIDENT * to come out and not be able to make a distinction between unidentified rioters and the university that provides education to thousands and thousands of his constituents, and threaten to take away their funding – this is just plain dangerous. You don’t need to be a liberal to speak out against this – but as usual, crickets from conservatives. They’re just so high on this “we won, shut up!” party they’ve got going that they’re not realizing the very real harm this guy is threatening to do to average Americans. Imagine if Obama had tried pulling anything like this. For all his talk of being a president for all Americans and uniting the country, he seems awfully vindictive.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
02/02/2017 at 17:13, STARS: 27
I’m glad you asked because Texas public school finance and school performance accountability are actually things I know a little bit about.
DeVos’ affinity for charter school vouchers paid for by public funds stands to hurt school systems across the country, but as the bulk of my knowledge is about Texas, that’s what I’ll focus on here.
Texas public schools (and to a large extent, charter schools) receive funding from the state General Fund (public money) through an analysis of several variables, primarily: the number of students in a district, the property values in the district’s jurisdiction (school districts are taxing entities), and the local tax rate (how much your home or business is taxed per $100 valuation). Texas ranks 38th nationally in terms of dollars spent per student.
First and foremost is the minimum amount of money schools are guaranteed, called the Basic Allotment (Word document download) . According to data provided by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the basic allotment for this school year stands at just over $5,100 per student. There are additional variables that can change that number, and the state legislature can choose to appropriate more funds, but so far they’ve been reticent to get their hands dirty and fix the system (we’ll get back to that).
School-provided transportation (school buses), average daily attendance rates, the number of Career and Technology Education (CATE), special needs, gifted & talented (GT), English Language Learners (ELL)/bilingual and economically disadvantaged students also factor into funding equations.
Perhaps the most controversial of all the school finance variables is Chapter 41 of the state education code: the Equalized Wealth Level , more commonly known as the Robin Hood plan because of how it pulls a percentage of property tax revenue via a system called “recapture” from districts deemed “property rich” and redistributes that money to districts which are property poor. It does this almost completely to the exclusion of other mitigating variables, such as a district having a high number of economically disadvantaged students despite nearby properties with high tax appraisals.
So that’s a basic rundown of how our schools are financed. The state’s school finance system has been sued numerous times by multiple school districts, including suits filed by more than 600 school districts after the lege passed a $5.4 billion cut to education funding in 2011. (Approximately $3.4 billion in funding was later restored. And in 2015 the Texas lege approved an additional $1.5 billion in funding, which was only half the amount originally proposed by the House).
Seven of those cases have made it all the way to the State Supreme Court. In the most recent case, which challenged the constitutionality of the system, the state’s highest court affirmed that the system is constitutional, but admitted it was in serious need of reform. The Court went as far as calling it a Byzantine system .
Anyway, on top of all that, schools are required to meet a certain level of student academic performance. Fall below the threshold and you get warned by the state and given an opportunity to improve. Keep falling below the threshold and you get sanctioned . Those sanctions include the state taking over the administration of entire districts, or closing schools.
The primary metric the state uses to determine a district’s (and its individual schools’) performance is the STAAR test — a standardized test administered from third through 10th grade (and beyond, if a sophomore doesn’t pass it).
Educators across the state have long railed against the STAAR test as an incredibly poor measure of student academic achievement because it is an incredibly flawed exam. Notably, a poet made headlines recently after she learned some of her poems had been included in the exam and that she, herself, was unable to answer the STAAR questions about them.
So, the STAAR — a bad test — is used to judge how well every student is doing. Based on the exam, school districts have been assessed to have either “met standard” or that “improvement (is) required.” Basically, for the past couple of years, they’ve been judged on a pass/fail system. If they’re barely squeaking by, or if they’re churning out nothing but future Harvard grads, it doesn’t matter as long as they’re on the right side of the “met standard” threshold.
That’s all about to change in August 2018.
The school accountability program is transitioning from a pass/fail system to a letter grade A-F system (PDF download) beginning in the 2018-2019 school year that will make use of five weighted variables to determine how well a district and its individual schools are performing. Four of those variables will, again, rely on the STAAR test to come up with their figures. It’s yet to be determined how the fifth variable will be assessed.
Using existing (and incomplete) data TEA on Jan. 1 released a “work-in-progress” report for every school district in the state that was meant to allow the public to see how a school or district would be ranked were the A-F system was already in effect. A and B are “passing,” as is a C, but just barely. A D or an F are “failing” rankings. Not surprisingly given the incomplete data, nearly every school in the state looked worse than expected. Even high performing schools scored low. The bugs are still being worked out.
Ok, so now we’ve got school finance and school accountability down. But what happens if your school district is an under-performing one? Well, there are a couple of options. And here’s where we finally start to get into DeVos’ voucher plan.
Parents can choose to enroll their children in a different school within the same district, or even in another district, if STAAR performance is low in their current school. The guaranteed money that is applied to that child’s education follows him wherever he goes, because remember, funding is partially determined by attendance.
If the Smith School District has 10 students that each get $1,000, then the district’s budget is $10,000. But if three students leave the district because of poor academic performance, then suddenly its annual budget is only $7,000.
If Smith School District is a property poor school district, then its situation is even worse off because its tax base simply isn’t able to contribute to the funding of its children via property taxes.
Less funding means the school district will have to make do with fewer resources: fewer teachers, teachers who are paid lower wages than other districts, larger student-to-teacher ratios, fewer school supplies, less maintenance of existing supplies and technology, less tutoring, fewer extracurricular resources such as clubs, UIL competition and the like, fewer athletic opportunities, and on and on.
The fewer resources you have, the worse your students perform on the STAAR test. The worse your students perform on the STAAR, the more students you’ll lose to better schools. The more students you lose to better schools, the less funding you’ll receive. And it continues, in a vicious cycle.
It’s been proven that one of the best indicators for student achievement is socio-economic status. And it’s also been shown that, thanks to a lot of complex variables (mainly to do with institutionalized racism), the majority of students who come from a socio-economically disadvantaged status are students of color. In Texas, that means Latino and black students (Nearly 40 percent of Texans are Latino).
STAAR data shows that Latino and black students perform less well on the exam than their white classmates. (It’s called the achievement gap and part of the State’s new A-F ranking system aims to grade districts that are able to lessen that gap).
Essentially, school districts with minority majority, socio-econommically disadvantaged populations are not going to perform as well as districts with more affluent students, who, coincidentally, are usually white.
As a result, high achieving students (of all races) will be tempted to make the move to higher performing schools. (I was one of those students myself many, MANY years ago). As those schools swell in student numbers, so do their coffers, which means they are able to provide even better resources. Again, it’s a cycle.
To repeat: the higher performing schools get more and more money, while the struggling schools bleed funding, which makes it near impossible for them to better their performance.
Then, to top it all off, we have Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos, whose plan would allow for public funds to be used for vouchers to attend private school.
Private schools are not held to the same performance standards as public schools. There’s little regulation about the minimum curriculum standards they must meet. And, until now, if you wanted to attend a private school, you needed to pay tuition or be awarded a scholarship. The schools themselves are privately funded via those tuitions, among other revenue sources.
Families that have the means to do so are generally the ones who send their children to private school. Families living anywhere near the poverty level, or even if they exist in the lower middle class, are less likely to be able to afford private school for their children, even with help.
Socio-economically disadvantaged families are also most likely to be people of color who live in low performing districts. They’re also less likely to be informed that alternative education options are available.
Even if they want to enroll their child at the better performing public school across town, they might not be able to because they lack transportation or the money to pay for transportation. School districts are required to provide free transportation to all the students within their district that need it. They are not required to provide free transportation to students who come from outside their district.
If public money is allowed to fund private school tuition, you’ll create an even larger drain upon public resources, this time, coming from people who can most likely afford the expense to begin with. And the cycle of underfunded public schools not being able to adequately serve their students continues at a more despicable pace.
Maybe that doesn’t matter to you. I know someone, an incredibly affluent person, who literally said that as long as his daughter was taken care of, he didn’t care what happened to the rest of the state’s children.
But the thing is, we all need to care. A poorly educated populace is a poorly sustainable populace. Without minimal educational achievement (and at this rate, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that a high school diploma just doesn’t cut it anymore), then large populations of people will find themselves underemployed, unqualified for decently paying jobs, and in ultimately in need of state assistance.
Inadequately prepared students who attempt post-secondary education will find themselves woefully out of depth.
A poorly educated populace, not given access to the resources it needs to become educated, begets even more uneducated people trapped in the cycle of poverty.
I’m not even going to TL:dr this because, well, this whole thing was the TL:dr.
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
02/02/2017 at 17:42, STARS: 2
This may be the longest comment I have ever seen on Oppo.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
02/02/2017 at 17:45, STARS: 5
That was as succinct as I could be about a particularly thorny issue. I actually left out a lot more stuff. But I’m working on three hours of sleep and still have more work today later today. So, yeah.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
02/02/2017 at 17:53, STARS: 4
As the parent of three boys in TX public schools, I have struggled to find a meaningful explanation of the current situation. Your synopsis is welcome, and spot-on. I think that part of what drives this is the fact that parents who send their kids to private schools are paying tuition on top of their property taxes. I say, too bad. You’ve made the choice to pass on what you’re paying for to take another option. As a musician, I have performed in a host of schools in the Austin ISD, and the disparity in facilities alone is stark. It’s no secret that Republicans have been hell bent on dismantling public education. De Vos is the poster child for their movement. Unfortunately, even if she isn’t confirmed, they’ll find some other anti-public school zealot to take her place.
"WRXforScience" (WRXforScience)
02/02/2017 at 18:03, STARS: 0
Tell them you live in Grapevine, TX by DFW airport and your zip code is 76051.
"Short-throw Granny Shifter is 2 #blessed 2b stressed" (cuneor)
02/02/2017 at 18:04, STARS: 1
You clearly know your stuff.
Although I’m not philosophically opposed to the concept of school choice, I don’t understand how politicians don’t understand that tying choice it to a public funded voucher system could easily lead to a death spiral in already underfunded schools in disadvantaged areas. They’re just robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Although vouchers could lead to better educational outcomes for the ones who get out, it does so at the severe detriment of the unlucky. This is unacceptable in a country where education is considered a fundamental right and necessity.
Perhaps they are callous or greedy, but hopefully they are just ignorant, which can be fixed. Anyway, I’m thankful my representitives, Sen. Booker abd Menendez, stand with the public on this issue.
"kcunning" (kcunning)
02/02/2017 at 18:17, STARS: 3
Total aside about private school standards:
A cousin dropped out of school at 16. She was flunking anyway and decided that school wasn’t her thing. Got married, had a few kids, did the SAHM thing.
When her youngest started school, she decided to get a job driving a bus for the local private school. Within two years, she was a teacher.
Not an aide. A full-on teacher. No high school degree. Not even all that interested in academics. She was chipper, though, and fairly cheap to hire, so they gave her a slot for an elementary-level class. According to her, they felt that parents liked her, so she was the perfect person to bring on. Not, you know, someone with training and a degree and experience.
"Dr. Sattler" (drsattler)
02/02/2017 at 18:23, STARS: 3
You beauty! This is such a great recap. Thanks for taking the time to put it all out there. We’ve been calling from our school phones all day here. I’m a Texas teacher btw.
"Under_Score" (tomtheatum)
02/02/2017 at 18:38, STARS: 0
Not trying to be confrontational, but if kids got into mostly white, Christian based private schools, couldn’t they develop networking opportunities and be able to rise high into the business world? So the poor kids who get in to the private schools because they actually want to learn can mingle with the rich; I think that’s what happens around here.
As someone about to graduate high school who lives in a good, huge school district, I’ll just see what happens. Schools need improvement, but we’ll wait. I actually don’t really have an opinion of Betsy.
"SweetLazyBacon" (sweetlazybacon)
02/02/2017 at 19:14, STARS: 2
Xyl0c41n3 for Sec. Ed.? :) All seriousness, excellent explanation & thanks for sharing.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
02/02/2017 at 19:40, STARS: 1
All other considerations aside, I would note here, and as a member of one, the bulwark defenders of mediocrity and the status quo that are the teachers’ unions in this country. If DeVos took that problem on, as she surely would being an appointee of The Great Cheeto, I’d watch with interest. But reports in the Wall Street Journal say her nomination is in trouble, so I hope the point winds up being moot.
"pauljones" (pauljones)
02/02/2017 at 21:47, STARS: 1
Clearly you’ve forgotten about my old rants
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
02/02/2017 at 21:49, STARS: 0
Apparently.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
02/02/2017 at 22:24, STARS: 0
Thanks for the references.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
02/02/2017 at 22:25, STARS: 0
Thanks. It’s an editorial advancing a specific position, but still useful.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
02/02/2017 at 22:25, STARS: 1
Thanks. It’s an editorial advancing a specific position, but still useful.
"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
02/02/2017 at 22:27, STARS: 2
Yeah, kind of hard to get around that. But it does cite some specific things to research further which is where I think the real value is.
"Starr Spark" (starrspark)
02/02/2017 at 22:39, STARS: 2
Kudos to you, I have never heard anyone so clearly explain this crazy education system. Amazing!
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
02/02/2017 at 23:15, STARS: 0
Yes, that seems to be the state of news gathering these days. You kind of have to dig down a bit and ferret out the unbiased facts.
"EmmerdoesNOTrepresentme" (emmerdoesnotrepresentme)
02/03/2017 at 00:46, STARS: 2
EXCELLENT breakdown, Xyl0!!
I just want to add this, from the Minneapolis Federal reserve study in 2003 & a follow up in the St. Louis Fed in 2010
Rolnick, who was the HEAD of the Minneapolis Fed has said over & over, that quite literally, the HIGHEST ROI a state/nation/society can make is investment in Early Childhood ed (of which, high quality public schools are a critical part!)
The lowest rate i’ve ever seen on it is that for every dollar spent, there is a return of $7-8.00 as the child ages into adulthood. Some reports are as high as 12% or more as a return.
He flat-out SAYS in speeches & writings on it that NO stock market or business has EVER had a 7-12% ROI over YEARS consistently... markets ALWAYS fluctuate too much.
Early childhood ed funding is the ONLY place that rate of return is possible...
So cutting & gutting the public ed system is not only stupid in an emotional sense, it’s ENTIRELY fiscally stupid, too.
"Conan" (ske1n)
02/03/2017 at 09:38, STARS: 0
Not if they don’t actually have enough money to pay for them due to partial vouchering. That’s the pernicious and insane bit of this.