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    RussianistAdam Weinstein
    5/30/14 3:36pm

    I hope those New Orleans parents have plenty of free time to put into volunteering for the schools and being their kids' homework tutors, because that's the labour-cost-reducing secret sauce that makes charter schools seem more efficient.

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      unfortunatelylostburnerRussianist
      5/30/14 3:37pm

      The school-to-prison pipeline helps, too.

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      EasttoMidwestRussianist
      5/30/14 3:37pm

      Yeah, I was reading that a lot of charter schools kick out the kids whose parents don't volunteer a certain number of hours. That's... crazy.

      It also raises another question: Can't charters pick and choose whom they'll enroll or keep? Is every child in the city going to be guaranteed a place at a school?

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    ObliteratiAdam Weinstein
    5/30/14 3:44pm

    Anyone want to take a guess on how many low-performing kids will be expelled for "being disruptive" over the next few years?

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      Ginger Is A ConstructObliterati
      5/30/14 4:12pm

      No joke. I was proctoring AP tests at a NOLA school, and I was inquiring about the make-up dates for students who missed the original test day. I was told that they would work to reschedule the bright kids, but if they thought someone was just going to get a 1 then they wouldn't bother. The teachers also get bonuses at the end of the year based on how many of their students they say will pass the state tests for their subject.

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      ObliteratiGinger Is A Construct
      5/30/14 4:15pm

      Yep. It's almost as if "get results by any means necessary with no oversight or regulations" can lead to questionable actions. Whoda thunk it?

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    OMG!PONIES!Adam Weinstein
    5/30/14 3:31pm

    Naomi Klein called it three years ago.

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      John BoehnerOMG!PONIES!
      5/30/14 3:38pm

      fucking love klein.

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      halosonfireOMG!PONIES!
      5/30/14 6:00pm

      Vincanne Adams did some additional work on this topic in her "Markets of Sorrow, Labor of Hope' book.

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    bobwobAdam Weinstein
    5/30/14 3:46pm

    Really hoping I don't get a ton of replies about how I am an idiot, but why are charter schools so terrible? It's clear that is what Gawker wants me to think (Filed to: BAD IDEAS) and is what the commenters think. The linked article mentions a few issues; a lack of transparency/accountability sounds potentially pretty bad but it didn't get more specific than that. Do charters have better outcomes than public schools? The linked article suggests New Orleans has seen better grad rates and tests scores but points out the student population is so different post-Katrina that may not mean much. When I try to look into this question, I have trouble finding info from a source that is not clearly biased (e.g. teacher's unions or charter schools themselves).

    Is it purely an issue of privatization of the school system? I admit that makes me leery, but I'm not sure it is enough for me to think charters are bad.

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      EasttoMidwestbobwob
      5/30/14 4:11pm

      Most charter schools get to effectively pick and choose their students from certain demographics. When actually controlled for such indicators as student income, parental education levels, etc., charters schools do not perform better than public schools on the whole; more perform worse than perform better.

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      bobwobEasttoMidwest
      5/30/14 4:53pm

      Interesting. Do you have a source for that?

      New Orleans switching to charter-only could clear that up if it is true - charters can't cherry pick if they have to educate all public school students.

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    SarchasmicAdam Weinstein
    5/30/14 3:32pm

    What conservatives couldn't accomplish through the voucher movement, they now accomplish through charter schools.

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      JohnMcClanesSmirkAdam Weinstein
      5/30/14 6:18pm

      Adam: Big time error in your headline. There will still be "traditional public schools" in New Orleans next year. The Recovery School District is not the totality of schools in New Orleans. The Orleans Parish School Board (read: locally elected and controlled), despite the well-funded forces against it, still runs a handful of "traditional" schools.

      Benjamin Franklin Elementary School

      Bethune Elementary

      Mahalia Jackson Elementary School

      McDonogh 35 High School

      McDonogh 35 Middle School

      McMain Secondary School

      The illusion of inevitability is part of Charter School's PR campaign. Please don't let them have the fictional "All New Orleans schools are charter" talking point prematurely. It's bullshit.

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        GregorMendelAdam Weinstein
        5/30/14 3:33pm

        Goodbye, Ben Franklin High.

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          JennyJazzGregorMendel
          5/30/14 3:51pm

          Are magnet schools like BF impacted by this as well?

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          GregorMendelJennyJazz
          5/30/14 4:00pm

          I would think they are, as they were part of the school district. I wonder if someone changed Ben Franklin to a charter school?

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        ThePriceisWrongAdam Weinstein
        5/30/14 3:38pm

        All 33,000 students in the district must apply for a seat at one of the 58 public charter schools, relying on a computerized lottery to determine placement.

        These are children... They should not have to apply to get a basic education (even if they are guaranteed a seat).

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          branchmanglerThePriceisWrong
          5/30/14 6:08pm

          The lottery concerns location, not whether the student gets to go to school. This isn't an uncommon practice in school choice districts.

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        Ginger Is A ConstructAdam Weinstein
        5/30/14 4:02pm

        The schools in this city are so segregated (by both race and class thanks to the charter schools versus the private schools) that it's really like Brown v. Board never happened. I work part-time in a charter school here (my SO is full time there) and they really do have a blood from a stone philosophy when it comes to the teachers, who work lawyer hours for janitor pay. Katrina was to charterization what 9-11 was to the Patriot Act, something conservatives had been wanting to push through, and finally had the excuse to plug. Folks who were teachers pre-Katrina basically had to go through the NOLA version of Teach For America, insuring even cheaper workers to be working 70 hours a week. Oh, and the myth of the 3 month summer? The school year for NOLA teachers ends in mid June, and they report back late July, or first of August.

        ETA: Fun fact: since the charter schools push for performance-based pay (what good corporation wouldn't?) the teachers are concerned that they will all be given 3 out of 4 ratings on their end of year evals because then the board only has to give them each a $500 bonus, not the $1000 bonus they would get if they had gotten a 4, for excellent teaching.

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          branchmanglerAdam Weinstein
          5/30/14 4:06pm

          In contrast to some of the negative comments about charters I should mention I recently applied at a tech themed charter in a historically failing neighborhood in ATL. The school is 99% African American, including faculty from what I saw. It felt like an awesome school with a lot of potential. I got to teach a class as part of the interview process and the vibes were great. Granted, this is an impression from one visit but in this case the charter idea seemed to be succeeding.

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            JohnMcClanesSmirkbranchmangler
            5/30/14 7:59pm

            It felt like an awesome school

            This is the problem. They're good at making everything "feel awesome", rather than be awesome. It's what happens when PR takes over the educational system.

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            branchmanglerJohnMcClanesSmirk
            5/30/14 8:06pm

            Except I'm relating this to you as someone who interviewed at the school, in a classroom with students and administration. I've been to a lot of interviews at a lot of schools, and taught for 7 years. I'm not for charter schools as a rule, but this one was exceptional for the reasons I stated. I don't have blinders on going into schools at this point in my career. Sorry but in this case I'm taking my assessment of the situation over your remote read of my account. On the other hand, I could be wrong and the school is poorly run. My initial read was that it was doing much more good than harm.

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