Sharing from NEIFPE: Thanks again, Karen Francisco, for pointing out the flaws in the A-F system: Look at this shiny thing over here! – Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma, Oct. 14, 2014. OK, Brian Bosma didn’t exactly use those words in releasing the Republican caucus’ legislative priorities for 2015, but he might as well have. The timing of the release and the No. 1 priority – increasing the base funding for K-12 education – look suspiciously like an effort to deflect attention from the A-F school grades set for release Wednesday by the Indiana Department of Education. A-F grading, of course, is a key component in the GOP caucus’ so-called education reform package. It was designed to benefit the voucher and charter schools the party has so zealously promoted in its privatization push. Their effort backfired, of course, when it was revealed that former state Superintendent Tony Bennett had meddled with the grading formula after a wealthy campaign donor’s charter school earned a C. A reworked formula delivered Christel House an A, but the school tumbled to an F the next year, without Bennett’s intervention. Therein lies the problem for Bosma and his GOP colleagues. As they pound the campaign trail in solid defense of choice, the choices they’ve handed to Indiana students aren’t looking so good. When the grades are released tomorrow, look for some impressive marks from public schools and some appalling marks for charters promoted at the public schools’ expense. Another thing to watch for: The transparent and easy-to-understand school letter grades enthusiastically promoted by GOP lawmakers will be nowhere in sight for many of the voucher schools, particularly the small Christian schools that have sprung up to take advantage of tax-dollar handouts. Student privacy rules dictate that the scores are shielded where too few students’ scores are reported, so many of the voucher schools will not receive grades. When a legislative candidate says he or she supports the school grades because it gives parents easily understood measures for choosing a school, ask how a parent is supposed to know the quality of a school without a grade. Transparency? Only when it comes to Bosma’s motives.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 08:36:52 +0000
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