Background Noise

Opponents of urban charter schools – inevitably white, upper-middle-class, MPR-listening, Subaru-driving people with degrees from Macalester – have developed a habit of sniffing that urban charters are “a return to segregation”, because many charters, especially in the city, are aimed at ethnic groups.

What these lilywhite guardians of “diversity”-for-its-own-sake miss is that these charters – the Twin Cities have schools aimed at black, H’mong, latino and Native American kids, and used to have one serving Muslim students – may be “segregated”, but it’s entirely voluntary; the decision of the parents and families involved.

And why would they do that?

Because they’re racists?

Perhaps.  More likely, I suspect, it’s cultural (the Native American and H’mong schools), and linguistic (the Latino schools).

And I suspect that for more than a few parents, it’s more like this:  while they like the idea of “diversity” – exposing their children to different people, cultures, races and the like – they also know they’ve got one shot with their kids.  America’s racial problems aren’t going to be fixed in 12 years.  If they’re fixed in thirteen years, that’s great – but too late for your first-grader.

And in the meantime, lurking in the background at the worst “diverse” schools, are scenes like this (and save your breath, Volvo-driving ninnies; this sort of tension is endemic at urban schools; my kids went there for years, and while it rarely got that bad, it hovered over the school experience in ways ugly and comical for their entire time in school).  And while I suspect that, like me, a lot of parents would love for their kids to participate in America’s ethnic “conversation”, they also figure that there’s plenty of time for that when they’re adults, and they’d like to spend that first 12 years focusing on them getting an education without all the pointless, mindless tension.

30 thoughts on “Background Noise

  1. Forced integration has never worked. The black kids stick with the black kids, white with white, brown with brown.

    The only places you see kids intermingle are those that provide a common interest. Sports and entertainment top that list.

    These stinking lefties are just pissed because minorities have rejected their plan for them. They make me physically ill.

  2. Of course, those opposing charter schools for others are the same people who choose schools other than public schools for their own children. Why do they oppose others to have a choice? Do they see these people who have different skin color from them or less income than them as less superior, incapable of making choices for themselves? That’s the only explanation one can conclude.

  3. Interesting fact: MN was the first state in the country to pass charter school laws.

  4. Emery – it is. I’ve been writing about charters and charter school policy for years, especially when my kids attended ’em.

    So – about that “logical incoherence…?”

  5. I grew up in urban schools, in particular in an urban school district that underwent forced busing for desegregation. The folks who valued education left as fast as they could if they could afford it; I was stuck there since we were too poor to afford leaving. The school changed from what I would consider a normal distribution of jocks, brains, and dirtbags to being dominated by losers. Most of the incoming kids didn’t value education, and trying to get an education became much more difficult as the new kids disrupted class and were much more interested in everything but education.

    To me, what charter schools threaten to do is take away the few kids in modern urban settings actually want an education and segregate them into a place where learning can actually take place. It takes effort on the part of both the student and the parent to deal with going to a charter: extra effort in organization, transportation, etc. That leaves the place the kids left with fewer interested parents and kids, and the support for education in the old place drops.

    Charter schools, to me, are much more statements about the social environments in which parents want their kids placed than anything else, be it a traditional culture (Indian, Hmong), or academic magnet. I doubt you’s see much of a charter school movement if public schools could actually kick kids out for misbehaving, or segregate kids into vocational tracks if they weren’t into school, but that’s not today’s reality.

    You’ll note that none of this mentions race except to this extent: the reality that there is a “ghetto” culture of lower class, inner city folks who generally don’t value education. Before desegregation my school had a fair number of black students but they weren’t “ghetto”, they were kids from families that had small businesses, worked for the state, etc. and nobody much cared about race. When they bused in the “ghetto” kids was the only time we actually had any “racial” tension. Folks called it “racial” but it was really cultural in that the black kids that were there before the ghetto kids came in generally were beaten up by the new kids, too, for not being “black enough.” It was an ugly time, and things only got worse as time went on and more folks left.

  6. While some charter schools perform well, the schools apparently cherry pick the kids they take — for that they shouldn’t receive any public funds, and they should have to conform to all the same regs and performance criteria as other public and private schools. And let’s face it, plenty of the charter schools DO NOT perform well. And the connection to privatized education, where the primary focus is profit not learning, is a legitimate concern– and that involves, what, around 50% of the charter schools?

    Could it be you are bringing up minority students because of the STrib article about the failures of charter schools?
    http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/02/17/new-analysis-shatters-narrative-charter-school-success
    Public schools are outperforming charter schools in Minnesota, in some cases “dramatically,” according to a new analysis by the state’s Star-Tribune newspaper.

    In addition, many charter schools fail to adequately support minority students, close examination of the data revealed.

    Journalist Kim McGuire looked at 128 of the state’s 157 charter schools and found “that the gulf between the academic success of its white and minority students widened at nearly two-thirds of those schools last year. Slightly more than half of charter schools students were proficient in reading, dramatically worse than traditional public schools, where 72 percent were proficient.”

    “Today, charter advocates claim that their privately managed charters will ‘save low-income students from failing public schools,’ but the Minnesota experience suggests that charters face the same challenges as public schools.”
    —Diane Ravitch, New York University

    Between 2011 and 2014, McGuire reported, 20 charter schools failed to meet the state’s expectations for academic growth each year, “signaling that some of Minnesota’s most vulnerable students had stagnated academically.”

    Charlene Briner, the Minnesota Department of Education’s chief of staff, told the newspaper that she was troubled by the information, “which runs counter to ‘the public narrative’ that charter schools are generally superior to public schools.”

    “Minnesota is the birthplace of the charter school movement and a handful of schools have received national acclaim for their accomplishments, particularly when it comes to making strong academic gains with low-income students of color,” the Star-Tribune claims. “But the new information is fueling critics who say the charter school experiment has failed to deliver on teaching innovation.”

    Education analyst Diane Ravitch notes: “Minnesota was the home of the charter movement, which began with high expectations as a progressive experiment but has turned into a favorite mechanism in many states to promote privatization of public education and to generate profits for charter corporations like Imagine, Charter Schools USA, and K12. Today, charter advocates claim that their privately managed charters will ‘save low-income students from failing public schools,’ but the Minnesota experience suggests that charters face the same challenges as public schools, which is magnified by high teacher turnover in charter schools.”

  7. DG, once again you failed to do a proper FACTCHECK. And once again, I must step forward to embarrass you.

    There are several charters that are succeeding where old, busted union owned schools have failed
    http://www.startribune.com/local/north/223776481.html
    http://www.minnpost.com/learning-curve/2012/05/get-know-hiawatha-leadership-academy-minnesotas-most-successful-school

    And let us not forget, that charters do better with much less funding
    http://www.better-ed.org/blog/not-all-charter-schools-work%E2%80%A6-some-do

    I had hoped the public shaming I recently subjected to you would have prompted you to give up your career of lies, but alas, tis not to be so.

  8. No, I think it’s an example of a short tempered, self loathing individual with father issues.

  9. I grew up in rural Minnesota. There were no Black kids in our school. There were no Hispanic kids, Asian kids, Muslim kids. But we were a diverse community: we had Missouri Synod Lutherans AND Evangelical Lutherans.

    We had no Science Club, Honor Society or Gifted program, no swim, soccer or hockey team. The teachers had tenure and a union so they had no incentive to see that we actually learned anything. There was one school for everyone, rich and poor, smart and stupid, athlete and musician. We had no choice.

    Charter schools have the flexibility to focus on students with musical talent or foreign language immersion. They give parents a choice.

    Dog Gone is against choice. She wants all students to go to my school, everyone at the same school, to take the same classes, march in straight lines, click their heels and salute in unison. Every student must achieve identical results regardless of intellect or environment, everyone must turn out the same – interchangeable personnel units fit to serve the Homeland working in factories.

    Minnesota has moved beyond the 19th Century Prussian educational model. Too bad Dog Gone hasn’t.

  10. Poor, unmotivated parents will produce poor, unmotivated students most of the time. Those students will go on to live lives like their parents. Throwing resources at inner–city schools will not change that equation. There’s little to be done about bad parents, unless one plans to do some serious social engineering, removing children from parents who aren’t child-worthy (no I don’t think we want that). But for those kids and parents who are willing to work hard to succeed, we need voucher programs / charter schools to allow them to fulfill their potential.

  11. Emery, most physicians serving the poor eventually learn that they can cure diseases and most injury, but they can’t cure stupid. In this case, vouchers and charters exist to allow parents to escape stupid, and I’m all for that given that public schools have become so politically correct that they’re unable to control the student population within them.

    DG, most charter schools are in urban settings.The report you cite groups all the schools in MN together and compares them with charter schools. Can we get comparisons of urban charter schools with urban public schools to get a better apples-to-apples comparison? I suspect that controlling for environment will provide a different result.

  12. While some charter schools perform well, the schools apparently cherry pick the kids they take

    WRONG!

    Dog Gone, that is ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT. Charter schools have to accept all applicants.

    They have waiting lists and lotteries – but so do in-demand public school programs.

    they should have to conform to all the same regs and performance criteria as other public and private schools.

    THEY DO!

    In fact, I’d love to challenge public schools to meet the same performance and financial hurdles that every successful charter has to meet.

    nd let’s face it, plenty of the charter schools DO NOT perform well

    Just like public schools. Amazing, huh?

    And the connection to privatized education, where the primary focus is profit not learning, is a legitimate concern– and that involves, what, around 50% of the charter schools?

    It’s a “legitimate concern” how?

    Could it be you are bringing up minority students because of the STrib article about the failures of charter schools?
    http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/02/17/new-analysis-shatters-narrative-charter-school-success
    Public schools are outperforming charter schools in Minnesota, in some cases “dramatically,” according to a new analysis by the state’s Star-Tribune newspaper.

    Old story. I wrote about it years ago. Many charters, especially in the city, have low scores because they take in students that have failed in the public system and are already behind. Others pound the crap out of their neighboring public districts.

    And as I pointed out back then, given the number of kids who come to charters after having any love of learning beaten out of them in the public system, “test scores” are a misleading measurement. The right measurement would be changes in comprehension and performance over time.

    Oh, yeah:

    “Today, charter advocates claim that their privately managed charters will ‘save low-income students from failing public schools,’ but the Minnesota experience suggests that charters face the same challenges as public schools.”
    —Diane Ravitch, New York University

    Diane Ravitch’s “research” on the subject has been beaten bloody. She’s a hack. Quoting her is a sign one really isn’t paying attention.

    Between 2011 and 2014, McGuire reported, 20 charter schools failed to meet the state’s expectations for academic growth each year, “signaling that some of Minnesota’s most vulnerable students had stagnated academically.”

    Unanswered, and probably untestable: Would they have done any better in a public school?

    DG, the Strib report is a hack job. I may have to dispose of it in a future blog post.

  13. I don’t know the answer to this question, it’s an honest inquiry: do all students take the test to determine if they’re at reading level and math level? Or are some students exempted?

    I imagine Little Johnny being a handful, his Helicopter Mom getting him on Ritalin and set up with an Individualized Education Plan that gives him less homework and extra time to complete it. The school would be on board because that makes him a Special Education student so more tax dollars. Does it also exclude him from taking the placement tests?

    If so, we must ask: are there more Little Johnnys in the public school than the charter school? If so, then the public schools are cherry-picking test applicants and their At Level scores are artificially higher.

    Not saying it’s true, saying it wouldn’t surprise me to see the system manipulated. How can we find out who actually takes those tests?
    .

  14. “I think it’s an example of a short tempered, self loathing individual with father issues.”

    I do believe Emery has plagiarized the rejection letter he received from the Cub Scouts Leadership Council.

  15. Mitch, DG recently claimed she commands a NATIONAL READERSHIP of 225,000. You think she has any truth issues?

  16. DG recently claimed she commands a NATIONAL READERSHIP of 225,000. You think she has any truth issues

    I’ll look into it, after I decide whether to go out with Scarlett Johannson or Jennifer Lawrence this weekend.

    Straight(er) answer? Leftyblogs have a looooong history of playing games with audience numbers. As if anyone gives a crap.

  17. Joe Doakes <—-Give that man a cigar.

    That is exactly and precisely what is going on. Union schools are allowed to shield a percentage of their students from testing. Not only mentally disabled, but ELL students are given wide latitude and do not show up anywhere but as key players during excuse making and cash gathering.
    http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/SchSup/TestAdmin/MNTests/

  18. Still waiting for the coherent case that this… “MBerg: Your complaints and remedies lack a certain logical coherence” … is accurate.
    I’m certain the “Cut ‘N Paste Artist in Residence” here at SITD is feverishly working on it. Maybe he was too distracted finding celebrities giving one-finger salute close-ups with Google Images? Standing by…

  19. I don’t know the answer to this question, it’s an honest inquiry: do all students take the test to determine if they’re at reading level and math level? Or are some students exempted?

    While we waited to see if my son would get into a charter school, we had to apply to public – 1st grade. And yes there was a test he had to take. Then he was accepted to Charter and we sighed a breath of relief. I do not recall him taking any tests there for placement. It was all one “big” class, but kids were quickly marshalled into groups based on their abilities. He is now in 8th grade taking high school Algebra I along with a couple of other kids of his age (one is actually in 7th grade). We are actually going to hold him back and not take >10th grade courses until he is a bit older and mature and can focus on geting better grades in classes counted in college admissions.

    What I am trying to say, is that it is not just my wife and I who are pushing my son, who is quite intelligent (but not necessarily smart). It is also the school’s charter that is allowing him to grow at his own pace. My daughter who finished a different charter school spend her senior year doing PSCO. Something like this would never have been possible in a public school – especially an urban one.

  20. Seflores, do you really consider Swift a celebrity? That is Swift in the flesh, not Harvey Keitel. Tom must have ben having a temper tantrum and was expressing his non–verbal skills.

  21. Emery, it was a joke from a long ago blog post. Only anal orifice orbiters like you, ProfBilly and Ken Weiner have made it an object of obsession.

    It’s probably time to update it, y’all are probably getting tired wanking yourselves off to an 8 year old pic, lol!

  22. Here’s something I missed 1st time thru the comments – Emery referenced Mitch’s “complaints and remedies lack …. coherence”. Remedies ?? not sure he read the same post I did. Beginning to think you’re just making things up, Emery

  23. Emery doesn’t make anything up. He prefers to gift to himself the words of others.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.