John King uses WSJ to threaten NYC on charter rent: are Amplify losses so great Rupert can't afford to pay fact-checkers anymore?

Today the Wall St. Journal carried one of the worst articles I have ever read, carrying baseless threats by the State Education Department that they are considering cutting school construction aid to NYC if the de Blasio charges charter schools rent.  

It would be an outrageous abuse of power to penalize NYC for failing to submit to the Commissioner's personal privatization agenda.  Remember that before being appointed to SED, King used to run a chain of charters called Uncommon charters, that benefit from free space in DOE buildings. The reporter failed to mention that fact.

Not only would cutting school construction aid be illegal-- as the state capital funding reimbursement formula is written into law -- but essentially the Commissioner would be punishing NYC for complying with state law.

Yet the reporter, Lisa Fleisher,  misstated the law, by erroneously writing that "school districts "may" contract with charter schools "at cost."

Section 2853 of state education law clearly says that if districts choose to contract with charters for space and services, "any such contract shall provide such services or facilities at cost.”

http://law.onecle.com/new-york/education/EDN02853_2853.html

This is a huge legal difference between “may” and “shall" of course. 

Perhaps Rupert Murdoch is losing so much money with Amplify he can't afford fact-checkers at the WSJ anymore. 

The reporter also omitted mentioning that as part of their applications to be authorized, charters have to submit a financial plan that covers rent. 

I have written to the Wall St. Journal, asking them to retract this egregious error; perhaps others could too at wsjcontact@wsj.com  Let's see if they respond.  Below is the letter Arthur Schwartz of Advocates for Justice sent John King today.

February 7, 2014

Commissioner John King

New York State Education Department

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, New York 12234

                                Re:         Penalizing NYC if It Charges Rent to Charter Schools

Dear Commissioner King:

                We are counsel to petitioners in two lawsuits which challenge the current policy of the NYC Department of Education not to charge rent to charter schools co-located in NYC public school buildings.  Both suits, one titled NYC Parents Union v. NYC Board of Education and the second titled Leticia James, et al. v. NYC Board of Education, are based on Section 2853 of the Education Law, which clearly says that if districts choose to contract with charters for space and services, “any such contract shall provide such services and facilities at cost.”

                We have always read this statute as excusing school districts from the requirements of Education Law § 403-a, which requires that rentals not be less than “fair market rental value.”  “At cost,” however, does not mean “for free,” and NYC’s Independent Budget Office has calculated a “cost,” for the space allocated to co-located charter schools, of more than $2,000 per student.  This sum, we have contended, is an unlawful subsidization of charter schools that co-locate (money not given to charter schools that rent).

                There is an article in the Wall Street Journal today that reports that the New York State Education Department is “studying how the pledge [by Mayor De Blasio] to charge rent [to charters] could affect the amount of funding the City receives for facilities.”

                We are dismayed to hear this.  It is our understanding that the State reimbursement rate for City spending on school construction is set in law and cannot be abrogated because of the policy preferences of the State Education Department.

                Moreover, the Wall Street Journal reporter misstates the State law.  The law does not say that “school districts may contract with charter schools ‘at cost’”; it says “shall.”  We fear that the reporter got this version of the law from your office.

                The article quotes your office as being concerned about the City “making a profit” by charging rent to charters.  Charging rent at cost does not cause a district to “make a profit,” nor has a school district charging market rent for space (far more than “cost”) ever resulted in a penalty.  In fact, under Section 403-1, your office penalizes districts that fail to rent space at market rates.  See Appeal of Robert A. Forrest, No. 14501 (July 15, 2013, aff’d ___ Misc. 3d ____ (Sup. Ct. Albany County, January 2014); Ross v. Wilson, 308 N.Y. 605; Yeshiva of Spring Valley, Inc. v. Board of Education of East Ramapo Central School District, 132 A.D.2d 27.

                We wish to know whether the discussions reported in the Journal are truly taking place, and what possible legal basis the Commissioner could have for withholding state aid to a district charging rent to a charter “at cost.”  Such a move could only lead to unpleasant litigation.

                                                                                                                Very truly yours,

                                                                                                                Arthur Z. Schwartz

AZS:dr

cc:           Hon. Bill De Blasio
                Richard Trautwein, General Counsel, State Education Department

                Hon. Leticia James

                Hon. Melissa Mark-Viverito

                Leonie Haimson

                Jonathan Westin

                Mona Davids

Please reverse the damaging co-locations! Sign our petition to the Chancellor now!

Over 30 school co-locations proposals were pushed through during the last few months of the Bloomberg administration that will cause even more overcrowding and take away the critical space that children need for a quality education.

Please sign our petition and let the new Chancellor and the new members of the Panel for Education Policy that these co-locations should be reversed. And be sure to add a comment on the petition page, especially if the school that your child attends or one in your community will be negatively affected. Thanks!

The petition can be found by clicking here or by clicking the link on the side of the blog.

Dear Chancellor Fariña and Panel members,

I want to thank you for focusing your efforts on improving opportunities for NYC public schools students.

I hope you will reconsider and reverse the co-location proposals made by Mayor Bloomberg in the last few months of his administration, which would lead to more overcrowding and would push thousands of kids out of their classrooms, as well as their art, music and science rooms, and the dedicated spaces special needs students need to receive their mandated services.

These co-locations could also cause many children to lose access to their gyms, libraries and make it unable for them to eat lunch at a reasonable time.

They would take away space that could be used to expand preK and/or reduce class size, which is at a 15 year high in the early grades.

As a parent, teacher, or concerned New Yorker, there is no more critical issue to me than providing NYC public schoolchildren with the space they need to learn and grow, and these co-locations would hamper their opportunity to do so.
Yours sincerely,

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Did Obama blame parents for education low-performance in his State of the Union? And why I said he should send Duncan to Mars

On Tuesday night, Obama gave a brilliant State of the Union address. But I can't say I appreciated what he said about education.

He seems to have pivoted in his approach. Though I'm glad he is no longer assigning responsibility for low educational performance on ineffective teachers, he is now appearing to blame parents for not having high enough standards for their children or their schools.

In this, he seems to be taking his cue from Arne Duncan, who famously critiqued parents  protesting the flawed Common core standards, describing them as “white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were.”  

More recently, Duncan spoke before the National PTA , and praised South Koreans as “parents [who] were relentless and had the highest of expectations – insisting their children receive an excellent education….I wished our biggest challenge here in the US was too many parents demanding excellent schools.” 

Duncan went on to exhort parents:  As you think about how to use your voice, your time, and your energy, I want to pose one simple question to you: Does a child in South Korea deserve a better education than your child? If your answer is no — that no child in America deserves any less than a world-class education — then your work is cut out for you.

Because right now, South Korea – and quite a few other countries – are offering students more, and demanding more, than many American districts and schools do. And the results are showing, in our kids’ learning and in their opportunities to succeed, and in staggeringly large achievement gaps in this country.

Doing something about our underperformance will mean raising your voice—and encouraging parents who aren’t as engaged as you to speak up.  Parents have the power to challenge educational complacency here at home. Parents have the power to ask more of their leaders – and to ask more of their kids, and themselves.”

No matter that according to OECD data, South Korean kids are the unhappiest in the world, and according to many studies, have high suicide rates.  US parents should be just as demanding more of their kids, even if their happiness and mental health be damned.

I’ve written before about Duncan’s misplaced envy of the South Korea, where 20% of the average family’s disposable income is spent on private tutoring, and even the Prime Minster has warned us against emulating their educational system. Many Korean families in fact move to the United States in order to  save their children from the horrible pressures of their system.  But now Duncan and the President appear to have taken this fixation even further.

Graciously, Obama started his State of the Union praising teachers: “today in America, a teacher spent extra time with a student who needed it and did her part to lift America's graduation rate to its highest levels in more than three decades.”  But then he went on to say:

 “Race to the Top, with the help of governors from both parties, has helped states raise expectations and performance. Teachers and principals in schools from Tennessee to Washington, D.C., are making big strides in preparing students with the skills for the new economy -- problem solving, critical thinking, science, technology, engineering, math.  Now, some of this change is hard. It requires everything from more challenging curriculums and more demanding parents to better support for teachers and new ways to measure how well our kids think…”

Good he and Arne have changed their line – at least temporarily – by saying that teachers need more support.  But now they are accusing parents of not having high enough expectations.  Can't we get over this blame game?  Or am I being too sensitive?

Below is what I wrote for Salon on what I hoped Obama would say in his speech, which sadly he did not.  Please add your comments below on what you wished he’d said.

Send Arne Duncan to Mars: “President Obama should start by apologizing for the recent comments of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan that parents who oppose the harsh over-testing regime that has afflicted our schools are just upset that their children aren’t smart enough. He will say he is withdrawing all federal support for the Common Core standards, exams and curriculum until they have been reassessed in a transparent manner by an independent task force of teachers, parents, early childhood experts and special education professionals, with full public input, as opposed to the secretive and incestuous way the standards were developed.

“At the same time, he will eliminate any federal mandates to require high-stakes testing or invalid teacher evaluation systems linked to test scores, and cancel all funding for programs targeted at closing public schools or turning them over to private corporate hands.  He will pledge that the FERPA regulations be immediately revised to protect privacy once again, rather than the way they have been rewritten by the U.S. Department of Education to encourage the tracking and sharing of personal student data without parental consent. He will announce the resumption of manned space flight, starting with a trip to Mars by Arne Duncan and Bill Gates, where they will try out their education experiments on any inhabitants they find there. The president will conclude by announcing that during Duncan’s absence, Diane Ravitch will serve as secretary of education.” 

— Leonie Haimson, executive director, Class Size Matters

Today is Data Privacy Day: Sign the petition & then call the Governor!

Today is National Data Privacy Day.   Please take a moment to sign this petition and call Governor Cuomo at (518) 474-8390 with the following message:

The Governor needs to publicly oppose the state’s plan to share student data with inBloom Inc. and other vendors. NY is now the worst state in the country when it comes to student privacy.

Cuomo has not yet said a word about this egregious plan. 

At the same time, you can let him know that his proposal to add only $603M in state education aid is too low – especially as the NY Education Conference Board says we need at least $1.6 billion just to maintain current class sizes and services.  More than 60% of school districts get less aid now than in 2008!

How you can help ensure we get new and better Regents members now!

Commissioner King and most of the members of the Board of Regents have been totally unresponsive to parents and the elected leaders of both parties.  They have refused to pull back from inBloom, data-sharing and the high-stakes testing linked to the Common Core, despite huge opposition.   

Commissioner King is appointed by the Regents, who are appointed by Speaker Silver and the members of the NYS Assembly.  Four of the sitting Regents have their terms up in March; these individuals have not said a word against King’s agenda,  and all of them have refused to fill out our survey, asking for their positions on these issues, despite repeated requests.

Class Size Matters and New York State Allies for Public Education have endorsed three new candidates for these seats, who are either parent activists or long-time educators:  

District XIII (Staten Island)- Michael Reilly (click here for survey results and resume) 

District III (Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Sullivan, Ulster)  - Regina Rose (click here for survey results and resume)  

At-Large - Audrey Marie Baker (click here for survey results and resume)

Michael Reilly is a highly respected parent leader from Staten Island, a current CEC member, and would be the only member of the Regents with a child currently in the public schools.  Audrey Baker and Regina Rose are both highly respected educators with years of on-the-ground experience, especially in the area of special education.  All of them agree that the current policies of State Education Department are severely damaging our schools and our kids.

Please call Speaker Silver’s office, and your own Assembly member and urge them to support these three candidates for the Regents.
 
For more on this campaign, see the NYSAPE press release here, and our action alert here.