The headlines of a state newspaper read “Invalid and
unreliable: 2016 school report cards released” on November 3, 2016. The public
school article went on to say “One final time, the Oklahoma State Department of
Education released school report cards based on a much-maligned calculation
method even the state’s top educator has deemed invalid and unreliable. Across
the state, there were 196 A’s, 455 B’s, 582 C’s, 319 D’s, and 213 F’s this
year. That means there were 16 percent more “F” schools and 8 to 9 percent
fewer “A” and “B” schools, respectively.”
As one who has
conducted extensive public school research over the years, and published valid
and reliable analyses concerning school financial issues, I believe these
school grades are essentially meaningless and completely flawed. Many experts
believe the public should dismiss these school report cards as nothing more
than rubbish. The “grades” are deemed meaningless because the prevalent factor
which determines each school’s letter grade has been proven to be the poverty
level of citizens in each school district. This “controlling” factor is
completely outside the “control” of each school. For instance, if within a
school district a high level of poverty exists based on the average income
level of student parents, the school letter grade is lower – corresponding with
the low average income. The school letter grades also rise to A’s and B’s when
the average parent income is higher. This direct inverse correlation between
parent income and school letter grades is the mitigating factor which
invalidates the grades. The school letter grades, A thru F, would be a very
good measuring stick of a school district’s poverty level, however. The “A-F”
school letter grade system would be comical as an attempt to grade schools, if
it weren’t so sad – or it weren’t so devious. Devious and calculating is now
how many public school experts describe the system.
Many public school
supporters believe the A-F school letter grade system is one way that corporate
education reform groups such as the American Federation for Children (AFC) are
using to “prove” that our public schools are failing. They, like all corporate
reform groups, believe they can access public tax dollars, if they can get rid
of the competition. The AFC along with their legislative accomplices (lawmakers
they’ve supported with monetary contributions and mudslinging on election
opponents) believe they can more easily pass voucher legislation if they can
sling mud on our public schools - with an invalid and unreliable A-F grading scale.
The Oklahoma State
Department of Education (OSDE) and State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister have
continued to say that we “must have a school letter grade system” because the
U.S. Department of Education and Secretary of Education (formerly Arne Duncan,
but soon to be Betsy DeVos) forces states to have A-F grading schemes. While
this was true before Duncan resigned his position a couple months ago – it’s
not at all true now. As a matter of fact, on Monday, November 27 the U.S.D.E.
released final regulations that reveal states will not be required to grade
schools with A-F letter grades or any other single indicator score of school
performance after all (State to push ahead with A-F update, even though new
federal regulations don’t require school grade cards, Tulsa World, Nov. 29,
2016). When questioned about the new federal guidelines, Superintendent
Hofmeister said “Our proposed accountability system DOES include an A-F
summative indicator”. It appears as if Superintendent Hofmeister was not being
completely truthful when she blamed the A-F grading scheme on the federal
government. Public educators and many other public school supporters believed
when the federal government released the pressure of the now discredited A-F
system, it would disappear. We believed Superintendent Hofmeister when she said
it was the federal government’s fault. But now, that excuse for not dumping it
is gone, and we more fully understand the truth. The truth is probably this:
When President-elect Trump’s new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos (an avowed
voucher wolf) takes office in January, 2017 - the federal government required
A-F systems will be once again the rule of the land. DeVos is an avowed voucher
wolf because she is the former Director of the AFC, the dark money group out of
Washington D.C. which supported state voucher candidates over public school
candidates during the 2016 elections. I’ll reveal more specific facts in a
later column. The bottom line for our public schools is this: The invalid and
unreliable A-F school grading scheme is with us now, and probably will be
forever…
No comments:
Post a Comment