Memphis Lift, Sift, and Grift

Ever since Bush's corrupt bag man at ED, Rod Paige, paid out millions in federal grants to the Black Alliance for Education Options to promote vouchers, both governments and corporations have leaned on black astroturf groups to push the corporate reform school catalog of bad ideas.  

One such group of black mercenaries is the corporate-funded Memphis Lift, which uses white charter empire cash to pay locals in Memphis to go door to door among residents of the poorest communities to recruit for the corporate charters, which are lined up for their piece of the ASD action as public schools are shut down.  

Since early 2015, Memphis Lift has been been lubricated with stipends funneled by John Little through his Strategies Redefined, LLC, which was formed in December 2014.  Little receives cash to disperse to his bad news crews in Memphis from the Tennessee Charter School Association, which is kept flush with tax-sheltered dollars from the nation's richest venture philanthropists.

A few weeks back the Shelby County Schools decided to stop sharing student demographic data with ASD, which had been sharing Memphis student addresses and phone numbers with Memphis Lift.  At first the ASD appeared ready to accept this decision, since the information could be obtained through the TN Dept. of Education.  

In the past few days, however, it has become clear that the ASD will now use Governor Haslam's muscle to try to force Shelby County to give up the information so that Memphis Lift can continue  the anti-public school campaign in Memphis.

Details on ASD's Rigged Takeover of Memphis Schools

from the Commercial Appeal:

Less than 1.5 percentage points — That's the margin by which the Hillcrest High School Neighborhood Advisory Council gave charter network Green Dot Public Schools approval to take over their school next year under the state-run Achievement School District.

Less than half of one percentage point — That's the margin by which the charter could have failed had the ASD not deleted sections of one of the six evaluations, citing a lack of concrete evidence to justify low scores.

Two out of six — That's how many of the Hillcrest neighborhood council members gave Green Dot at least a 50 percent score, the threshold needed for the charter network to take over.

One out of four — the lowest possible score a Neighborhood Council member could give the charter operators on each section of the evaluation. There was no option to give zero points.

The ASD released the councils' original evaluations to The Commercial Appeal Monday, after several NAC members raised questions about whether the decision was ever truly in their hands.

This year's ASD charter matching process, which will result in four schools converting to charters next year, was billed as a step up from previous years in both transparency and community involvement. The power would rest with the Neighborhood Advisory Councils, with at least half the members being parents, who would have the chance to interview the charter operators, tour existing schools in the ASD under that charter network and review and grade each charter's application.

While all of that happened, several NAC members in a news conference Monday referred to the process as "a scam" and said it was designed just to look like the community had a say. . . .

ASD Councils Call ASD Process a "Scam"

Last week Shelby County Schools called for a halt to Achievement School District takeovers in and around Memphis.

This week it seems the ASD hostile school takeover scheme has hit another snag, when a group set up by ASD to rubber stamp its plans called the process a "sham."  From the Commercial Appeal:

The group of people the state-run Achievement School District picked to add transparency to the school takeover process turned against the ASD on Monday, claiming the matching process was "a scam" meant to give the illusion of community input.

The group held a news conference in front of the Shelby County Schools administration building, although a statement from SCS said the district was not directly involved in the event. No one from the SCS administration was present, but board member Stephanie Love attended and spoke.

She, along with members of the neighborhood advisory councils that evaluated charter operators, called for families in the four schools slated for ASD takeover not to attend those schools next year.

"I am asking every parent whose school was taken over: Do not send your children to that school," Love said. "You begin to call the board and you tell us that you want us to put your children in a Shelby County school." . . . .

ASD's Continuing Failure Confirmed by Vandy

Posted at Schools Matter earlier today.

 "The effects in the ASD schools were mainly statistically insignificant . . ."

--> Vanderbilt Peabody has just released a research paper that examines the awful performance of ASD schools in Memphis, Nashville, and Chattanooga. Tennessee's Achievement School District was modeled after the Recovery School District of New Orleans, which was part of the disaster capitalist response to Katrina.
The ASD's stated goal from 2010 was "to move the academic performance of schools taken over from the bottom five percent of schools to the top quartile of schools in Tennessee within five years." 

The ASD started taking over "priority" schools in 2011, and given the results of the Vandy analysis, it is reasonable to ask if ASD could ever come close to meeting its ridiculous goal.    

Below are some of the data from the Report.  Note from the last chart below, the worst of the worst ASD schools are those run by the charter management organizations (CMOs).

The largest effects of these hostile takeovers are not measured in these meager test results, however.  The real significance is the accumulated weight borne in the disrupted lives of parents, children, and teachers, all of whom have suffered and continue to suffer for the benefit of corporate know-nothing paternalists, whose primary aim to build a business model based on the cultural sterilization of poor children. 

 

Candlelight Vigil in Support of Southside Lawsuit Against SCS Closure

Please share and be there.  

Four of Memphis's Worst Charters with the Best Political Connections Will Remain Open

Since Gates and the oligarchs put Supt. Dorsey Hopson in charge of the charterization of public schools in Memphis, Shelby County Schools has been in a lather to close as many "low-performing" schools as possible.

Early in 2014, Hopson was adamant that it all comes down to poor student achievement and that the children have suffered long enough.  The emergency had been declared, and no one could wait another year or another month for low-scoring schools to improve.

Early in 2013, eleven public schools were targeted for conversion, and in in 2014, thirteen more were put on the list for closure.

Memphis now has over 40 corporate reform charter schools that are bleeding the public schools' budget dry each year.  More terminations, more cutting of services, more shrinkage of teacher benefits and retirement plans.

Increasing austerity is required in order to benefit the politically connected corporate welfare kings who run the charter chain gangs. As a result, the remaining public schools are further weakened, demoralized, and made ready for charter conversion.

Now suddenly we find that the achievement emergency has been put on hold, at least for the worst charter schools in Memphis that are owned by Senator Cory Booker's brother and his crony pals.  Without warning, the Shelby County School Board has decided not to close the four charters at the bottom of the achievement barrel in Memphis, and to give them at least three more years to miseducate children.

In order to keep the revenue stream flowing into the pockets of the the politically connected crooks who run these segregated fake schools, the children of unwitting parents must continue in these hellholes, where they are psychologically abused and educationally cheated.

In case you are wondering, this moratorium on closing low scoring schools does not apply to the public schools on the priority list, even if those schools are improving.  From Chalkbeat Indiana:

The same month they were slated to close their doors forever due to low academic performance, three Memphis charter operators received notice from Shelby County Schools that their schools will remain open for the upcoming school year.

City University School Boys Preparatory, Southern Avenue Middle School, and Omni Prep Academy Lower and Middle Schools are on the priority list of the state’s 5 percent of worst performing schools, making their closure mandatory this summer under a 2014 state law. However, a new law passed this year by the legislature gave districts discretion in deciding whether the schools should remain open for now.

“In light of the recent change in legislation that amended [the 2014 law], this letter is to notify you that district will not be pursuing the closure of your schools this year,” said Bradley Leon, the district’s chief of strategy and innovation, in a May 7 letter to school administrators. 

The news was cause for jubilation for the Memphis schools, which lost students and faculty following the district’s confirmation in December that it would comply with the 2014 law.

“Regardless of the prior [loss] of faculty, staff and scholars due to the district’s announcement of closure earlier this year, I am excited that we will be afforded an opportunity to continue to move the academic needle amongst our scholars at City University School Boys Preparatory,” said founder and Chancellor R. Lemoyne Robinson.

Under the new law, district-authorized charter schools now have until 2017 to get off the state’s priority list before state-ordered shutdown. However, local school boards still have authority to close a charter for poor performance before 2017.

Omni founder Cary Booker, who lobbied for the revised legislation, said the policy change should be seen as a necessary clarification, not a second chance for the beleaguered schools. “I see it as the law is now aligned with its original legislative intent,” Booker told Chalkbeat.

The reversal does not please everyone, however.

“Our perspective is that schools that are not performing don’t need to continue operating, but this decision is ultimately the decision of the authorizer.” said Emily Lilley, director of policy at the Tennessee Charter School Center, an advocacy group based in Nashville.

On TCAP tests in 2013-14, less than 15 percent of students earned proficient reading language scores at City University; under 27 percent at Omni Middle; 11 percent at Omni Lower; and about 23 percent at Southern Avenue Middle.

The schools now have opportunity to improve their performance before the state releases its next priority list in 2017. . . .

Media Awakens to South Side Lawsuit

a clip from Chalkbeat:

Citing the historic U.S. Supreme Court case that led to integration of America’s public schools, a handful of Memphis parents and teachers are suing Shelby County Schools over a recent school closing, claiming that its students will receive an “inferior and unequal” education at the school to which they are being reassigned. 

In a motion filed in U.S. District Court, three teachers, family members of two students, and a community activist argue that test scores at South Side Middle School, which is in the process of being shuttered, outpaced those at Riverview Middle School last year. They say Riverview is a dilapidated building in a gang-ridden neighborhood that would place students’ safety at risk. They also cite absence of computer and Spanish classes at Riverview, which were offered at South Side. . . .

Read the rest here.