Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Nationally recognized teacher removed from class after allegations of misconduct - LA Times

Nationally recognized teacher removed from class after allegations of misconduct - LA Times:

Nationally recognized teacher removed from class after allegations of misconduct 





Attorneys for a nationally recognized Los Angeles Unified teacher, who was removed from his classroom after allegations of misconduct, are issuing an ultimatum to district administrators: publicly apologize and let him return to work, or get sued.

Rafe Esquith, a longtime educator at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School who has written several books on teaching and received multiple awards for his work, has not been allowed to return to school since district officials launched an investigation in March.

Three months later, L.A. Unified officials have not clearly outlined the allegations against the popular teacher, said his attorney Mark Geragos. But Geragos said he learned that the investigation stemmed from a complaint by another teacher after Esquith read to a class a passage from "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain.

 The passage, which is much longer, includes this section: “The duke and the king worked hard all day, setting up a stage and curtain and row of candles for footlights. … At last, when he’d built up everyone’s expectations high enough, he rolled up the curtain. The next minute the king came prancing out on all fours, naked. He was painted in rings and stripes all over in all sorts of colors and looked as splendid as a rainbow.”

Esquith was initially sent to a district administrative office, where instructors report to after they've been removed from their classrooms over allegations of wrongdoing. He is now home waiting for the results of the district’s investigation. The teachers union has criticized these so-called teacher jails, saying that instructors typically aren't informed of the charges against them and that they are barred from their classrooms for far too long.

Geragos said the district shared the information with the state, which has already cleared Esquith.

“When you quote Mark Twain you go to teacher jail, your reputation is trampled on and ignorant bureaucrats assume the role of judge and jury in the face of a baseless allegation which has already been found meritless by the California Teacher Credentialing Committee,” Geragos said. “Sadly, it is the students, their families and the community that suffers."

District officials declined to provide details, except to say that “the goal is to complete the investigation before school starts in August.”

“He’s extremely distressed by the whole thing,” Geragos said. “He’s helped by the fact that there has been a deluge of support from parents, teachers and others. This is somebody who has given his whole life to teaching and being in the classroom and has been recognized as one of the most unbelievable teachers out there. It’s the personification of 'no good deed goes unpunished.'”

Esquith’s nonprofit, the Hobart Shakespeareans, had to cancel 12 performances of “The Nationally recognized teacher removed from class after allegations of misconduct - LA Times:

Despite All My Rage | The Jose Vilson

Despite All My Rage | The Jose Vilson:

Despite All My Rage

Screen Shot 2015-06-17 at 10.14.20 PM


I normally talk to young adults about math and other academics, but recently, because we’re winding up the school year, subjects have expanded to Fetty Wap and flicking wrists. The currency for “young and cool” changes over time, almost as quickly as we age.
Yet, on this day, the subject turned to teachers. They went on to gossip about their favorite and least favorite teachers in the building. For a moment, I told them, “Please don’t talk about me” because, despite what my readers believe, I really don’t like talking about myself in person. They shared their views on how difficult teaching must be like, but also that teaching needs to be done by people who care. One in particular almost went into tears sharing her frustrations about one particular educator. Of course, because it was in confidence, I wasn’t going to mention it to him, but suffice it to say, it humbled me somewhat.
Was I that teacher to someone else? Have I done enough reflection so, should other conversations like this happen, I can be on the right side of these young people’s litmus test?
Just then, a teacher said, “I suggested we get rid of him but [the administrators] weren’t trying to hear it, but at least you’re set. Teaching has good job security and the kids respect you here.”
Um what?
“So let me ask you a question. Do you think that’s what teaching is about?”
“I really don’t know, and I’m probably not a good representative to talk about teachers, but that’s kinda what I see.”
For a minute, I’m reminded of the already herculean task of accommodating dozens of minds at a time around a subject that works in multiple brainwaves, some concrete, some abstract. With all the levels we already work in, we also have to partner with our peers, our administrations, and our students’ parents to make sure we’re meeting our students’ needs. An already hefty task, if not for the multiple mandates set upon us from folks in larger grey offices with big titles, a few more set upon us by general society, and the secret codes some of us live by to keep us in the Despite All My Rage | The Jose Vilson:

'Rigged' charter school ratings need immediate fix, charter critics and backers say | cleveland.com

'Rigged' charter school ratings need immediate fix, charter critics and backers say | cleveland.com:

'Rigged' charter school ratings need immediate fix, charter critics and backers say







COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Key critics and supporters of charter schools called today for an immediate change to Ohio's main charter improvement effort so that online and dropout recovery schools are included in the fixes.
The Plain Dealer reported Sunday that those two controversial sectors of Ohio's $1 billion charter industry were excluded from calculations of the performance of the agencies overseeing charters this year, even though the schools serve thousands of students and receive millions in state tax dollars.
Rating those oversight agencies, known as sponsors or authorizers, is the centerpiece of the state's indirect plan to improve charter schools that teach kids less than traditional districts across the state.
And that omission by the Ohio Department of Education, never announced formally, caught legislators and charter advocates by surprise. Without the low grades of these schools counted in sponsor ratings, sponsors have higher ratings that could allow them to gain benefits and avoid penalties.
Innovation Ohio, a left-leaning advocacy group that has been a sharp critic of charter schools for years, this afternoon called for the state to fix this "flawed" plan when it votes on charter school reform legislation now under consideration.
Stephen Dyer, the group's education policy fellow, said not counting online and dropout schools represents a "carve out" for charter companies that donate to Republican candidates in Ohio while making money from online schools.
If online and dropout recovery schools aren't included in those reviews, he said, it gives sponsors a free pass from not making the schools improve.
"This sponsor-rigging practice at ODE represents a severe setback for the broad-based effort to reform Ohio's nationally ridiculed charter school system," said Dyer, a former state representative and consistent critic of charter school policy on his blog. "This is outrageous and the legislature must fix this flawed evaluation process and work to pass real charter reform before they adjourn for the summer." 
Chad Aldis, vice president of Ohio policy and advocacy of the Fordham Institute, an group that is pro-charter but which has campaigned for stronger standards, agreed that online and dropout recovery schools should be included in the program. 
Fordham has backed using review of charter oversight agencies, known as sponsors or authorizers, to put pressure on schools to improve. But he said those reviews need to be complete, not leave out some of the state's largest schools.
"I think its critical as we focus on sponsor quality that we have an accurate measure of sponsor portfolios," Aldis said.
Aldis said he understands that there are concerns about accuracy of test scores for online schools that need to be resolved. And he understands that the state won't have 'Rigged' charter school ratings need immediate fix, charter critics and backers say | cleveland.com:



Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 6/17/15


SPECIAL NITE CAP 

CORPORATE ED REFORM






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