Friday, July 3, 2015

Half of Public School Parents Would Rather Enroll Their Child Elsewhere

Parents in Croydon voted for this as well but we have an obstructionist Superintendent who refuses to do her job.  Parents wanting school choice need to call the superintendent and tell her to do her job.   The following piece appears in full on Better-ed.org. Visit the site to see the charts associated with the article.

Cathy

Half of Public School Parents Would Rather Enroll Their Child Elsewhere



The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice just released its annual survey detailing America’s opinions and attitudes on education. Among other things, the survey asked questions about curriculum, tests, and various forms of school choice.

As it turns out, many American children are not in the type of school that their parents believe would bring the best education. Currently, 84% of American parents have their child enrolled in a regular public school. But nearly 50% of that group would withdraw from public school and choose a private, charter, or homeschooling if they had the chance.


So how do we give parents the chance to give their children a better education than they are currently receiving?

Judging from further information in the Friedman survey, we should put funding for children’s education into the hands of their parents. School choice options such as tax credits, vouchers, and education savings accounts do this and are popular with a majority of the population.


Do you agree with the majority of Americans that school funding should follow the child so that parents are able to send him or her to the school of their choice? Which of these school choice options would you most likely support?

Call your US Senators tell them to vote NO on SB 1177



Editor's Note: This column was co-authored by Heidi Huber, founder of Operation Opt Out Ohio.
Parents across the nation are in open revolt against the testing mania that has seized public schools under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Common Core national standards. In some states, thousands of students — 200,000 in New York alone — are refusing the “mandatory” assessments. One would think the Washington politicos who are writing the NCLB reauthorization bill would take note of this widespread rebellion and would ease — or better still, eliminate — the federal testing requirements. But unlike the repentant thief who returns the loot, the federal government never willingly relinquishes power it has stolen from the states.

Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA) are collaborating on an NCLB rewrite dubbed the “Every Child Achieves Act” (ECAA). This bill maintains NCLB’s requirement of administering annual assessments in English and math in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. But ECAA doesn’t ignore the “opt out” movement – in fact, it adds language that effectively encourages the states to lower the boom on noncompliant students and parents.

Under ECAA (as under NCLB), state assessments must “[m]easure the annual progress of not less than 95% of all students . . . .” But while NCLB applies this requirement only to the subset of low-income schools that receive federal Title I funding, ECAA extends the requirement to all schools by making it part of the mandatory state accountability system. If ECAA passes, expect USED to ramp up its threats against states that have too many opt-outs and thus fail in their commitment to ensure 95% participation.

During recent debate on ECAA, an amendment was added that nominally protects the right to opt out of assessments: “Nothing in this part shall be construed as preempting a State or local law regarding the decision of a parent or guardian to not have the parent or guardian’s child participate” in the federally mandated assessments. But this language wouldn’t apply unless a state or locality has a law affirmatively protecting the right to opt out, which few do. And while this language could prohibit USED from punishing parents or students who choose to opt out, it would not appear to affect measures taken against states, districts, or schools. If the bill intends to protect the states against retaliatory measures from USED, it should say so. It doesn’t.

ECAA also continues to mandate that results of high-stakes assessments be used in state accountability systems. For example, the bill requires states to use assessment scores, progress toward readiness for “college and the workforce,” and high-school graduation rates as a “substantial” portion of a school’s grade. So not only must states ensure 95% participation in the assessments, they must use the results to rate their schools.

Is Congress so disconnected from its constituents that it fails to understand the deep-seated objections to these mandatory assessments? Apparently parental complaints have been drowned out by the entreaties of testing giants such as Pearson Education, Educational Testing Service, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and McGraw-Hill, which have protected their lucrative testing turf by spending a combined $20 million on lobbying efforts.

The companies get rich and the federal government gets increased control. It will be a win-win for the public/private partnership cronies, while students will lose on every front.

Leadership is bull rushing the No Child Left Behind reauthorization bill through. But all has not been lost, at least not yet. We hope people will realize what’s going on and will demand that Congress prohibit the Feds from dictating to the states how often and in what subjects children must be tested.

Across Party Lines Caring About Education.

Wow a state that cares more about the children than protecting a broken system and teacher jobs.  Excellent news!   Too bad we have a superintendent who refuses to do her job and sign checks so Croydon students can get the best possible education the students need and parents want.   You can read about standardized test results here. 

Maybe just maybe if schools and liberals stopped pushing their liberal agendas Newport would not see such a large decline in student enrollment.  When you push abortion and the destruction of the family unit, births and student population will decline.  A so called women's right to murder her baby will see a decline in student populations. 

The following piece appears in full on Voices of Liberty.com

Cathy

Nevada Will Pay Parents $5K Per Kid They Take Out of Public School


June 24, 2015—Nevada might have the worst public school system in the country, but a new policy could radically change that.

The state’s treasurer will pay parents at least $5,000 for each one of their children they move from a public school (including charters) to a private one. The program is expected to be get going in January 2016.

The program was part of a bill passed into law just last month. Parents will be able to take the educational funding that would’ve gone to their public school and spend it on private school, tutoring and homeschooling.

The bill passed on party lines and was signed by a Republican governor. Opponents cried that public education would lose funding, but in fact federal funding will remain the same, meaning more money spent per child remaining in public school.

No other state has a program quite like this one, so there is room for failure as much as there is for success. But then again, Nevada can’t get much lower in national rankings for students’ quality of education.
Should other states try this with their public school system? Comment below.

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Wednesday, July 1, 2015

School Board Meeting July 2nd

There is a school board meeting July 2nd, 2015.  If possible please attend. 

Croydon School Board meeting
Thu, July 2, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Croydon Village School - Big White
District Calendar
lapaquin@sau43.org
To view the agenda click here.

Cathy

A Child Without a Voice Should not be in a Public School

A few times a year I run across a story of a non-verbal child being abused by a teacher.  As a parent, if I had a nonverbal child I would not put them in a public school.    The following piece appeared in full on The Springfield-News Leader.

Cathy


Lawsuit alleging teacher slapped autistic boy settled for $350k

A federal judge has approved a $350,000 settlement in a lawsuit alleging an autistic boy — who cannot speak — was repeatedly hit and called names by a teacher at the Greene Valley State school in Springfield.

An order signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge David Rush says the boy’s family will receive $232,177 and the two law firms representing the boy will split $117,822.

The lawsuit filed earlier this year alleged the boy’s rights were violated and he suffered “bodily harm and emotional distress” when he was allegedly hit, slapped and called names by teacher Janet Carrie Williams, who is no longer employed by the school. The suit also named Greene Valley director Peggy Robinson, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Missouri Board of Education.

The settlement noted the defendants disputed the facts of the allegations along with the “extent of any injuries sustained.” A state official said the settlement amount will be paid out of the state’s legal expense fund.

The boy, now 8, weighs 95 pounds. The father stated, in the document, the boy was diagnosed with autism, epilepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

This settlement resolves the civil lawsuit. The boy’s family has also filed a complaint with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights.

Williams, the teacher, also faces criminal charges. In May, she pleaded not guilty to third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors, and was instructed not to contact the boy or his family or have any contact with other children. If convicted, she faces fines and jail time — up to 15 days on one count and one year on another.