Here are some interesting articles we received and discovered this past week…

ENJOY!

I’m a Public School Parent and I Have Every Right to Complain

Quote from Article:

When someone speaks poorly of public institutions there is probably a story there. 

To that point, if you read the millions of words I’ve written about education, you might wonder if I harbor ill will for public schools. I won’t blame you. It’s apparent in my words that there is a problem. What is it? 

Well, first, I “did my time” as a K-12 public school student in three states as a child. None of it was good. I hated every minute of it and I was bored to death. I was a terrible student who never reached my potential and there were material consequences for it once I reached the real world of work, bills and taxes. 

And…

If you’re a parent or guardian too, then you’ll find nothing surprising about me saying there is nothing on planet Earth I love more than my children. And any entity that cares for them in any way ought to anticipate scrutiny, rather than simply demanding blind support as public schools too often expect. 

If I’m critical, it’s not because I’m anti-public school. On the contrary, as a long-term and current stakeholder in education, I feel like James Baldwin when he talked about loving America so much that, “exactly, for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” 

And…

Let me clear up another misconception, too. You also might think I oppose racial integration (I don’t) in the schools, that I’m not fond of teachers (I am), and that I think they all should be replaced with Teach For America candidates (I don’t), and that I only believe charter schools are worthy of support (Nah!). Again, these are fair conclusions given my writing, but here on my home turf, I’m not Citizen Stewart, I’m merely an education civilian who is deeply concerned my kids will miss important opportunities to learn. 

And…

In our school, we have nothing but veteran unionized teachers (with an average tenure of 12 years), who have mastered their styles of teaching to the extent that they can. Our school is clean, safe, well-maintained, well-staffed and in the hands of competent leadership. 

And…

Oh, there is one more thing to mention: The school is failing.

Out of 850 elementary schools in the state of Minnesota, ours ranks somewhere in the middle. White students perform above the state average with about 75% proficiency in math. For Black students, it’s only 29%. If I offered you more stats they would only get worse.

So why are our kids there? 

Did you see everything that I said above? It’s clean. Safe. Integrated. The teachers are nice people. Some of them teach well.

And…

But, the truth is, when I think about all of this I struggle. Because I investigate and promote schools for a living, I get to see how much more rigorous other schools can be when compared to ours. I see schools that are better organized around achievement, where kids are mastering lessons my kids aren’t even exposed to—where the technology keeps parents, students and teachers on the same page. 

You can’t rewind childhood, so I feel like we might be succumbing to lowered standards while children elsewhere are challenged to be their most excellent. That haunts me. 

This is why I am so incredibly critical of public schools. It’s not because I have abandoned them, or because I am against them in general. I want these schools to be better for my kids and yours, and I don’t intend to be quiet about it.

District Deeds Synopsis:

Many of the items that the author of this article mentions rings true with District Deeds.

The key phrase in the article is the following:

“If you’re a parent or guardian too, then you’ll find nothing surprising about me saying there is nothing on planet Earth I love more than my children. And any entity that cares for them in any way ought to anticipate scrutiny, rather than simply demanding blind support as public schools too often expect.”

It is extremely difficult for any Parent or Guardian to entrust their child to any organization without fully trusting that their child will be safe and secure.

As a strong critic of the dysfunctional San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) under incompetent Elementary School (ESS) Cindy Marten, we see the SDUSD propaganda department explicitly distort the horrible educational truth repeatedly and implicitly demand “blind support” of the district by Stakeholders through its lies.

We understand parents who continue to blindly support SDUSD schools.   They could not live with themselves if they thought they were putting their child in a dangerous or unhealthy educational environment where they were not able to learn and their safety is at risk.

As a busy parent it is hard to resist the millions of dollars worth of SDUSD propaganda lies that make you feel better…but as a caring parent how can you ignore ESS Marten financial and operational mismanagement putting your child at risk that:

• Eliminates custodial services and creates filthy school sites and classrooms?
• Allows computer equipment worth millions of dollars purchased for the use of your child with your taxpayer dollars to collect dust because of tech support cutbacks?
• Hires and promotes cronies over more highly qualified administrator, teacher and staff candidates?
• Allows bullying and intimidation on campuses and hires millions of dollars of legal support to fight against parents who file lawsuits when their children are seriously harmed?
• Takes educational shortcuts like unproctored online credit recovery to falsely increase graduation rate percentages while neglecting the real education of your child?

As we mentioned earlier…District Deeds IS a parent and we realize that it is hard to stand up and speak out about obvious SDUSD incompetence and corruption at school sites and the central office…we have been through that journey.

But remember…the corrupt SDUSD leadership is counting on you to take the easy self delusional route.

ESS Marten and Tricky Dick Barrera are counting that you believe the SDUSD propaganda, funded by millions of your tax dollars and only “hope” that your child is not harmed by unsafe campuses and incompetent oversight.

The truth is that you can run but you cannot hide your child from SDUSD educational damage.  Some day it will be your child’s turn to be physically or educationally injured.

“Blind support” for the ESS Marten dictatorship can only do you harm…the fight for your children’s right to a safe campus and a great education cannot wait.

Start aggressively standing up for your children today!

Long-Term Principals Can Make the Difference for Low-Performing Schools

Link to Research  : Understanding and Addressing Principal Turnover_ A Review of the Research

Quote from Article:

Principals are vital for ensuring student success. Their actions help maintain a positive school climate, motivate school staff, and enhance teachers’ practice. Therefore, they play a major role in retaining effective teachers and ensuring their success in the classroom. Ultimately, principal leadership has significant implications for students’ experiences and accomplishments.

Research notes that principal turnover can be disruptive to school progress, often resulting in higher teacher turnover and, ultimately, lower gains in student achievement. Further, the relationship between principal turnover and declines in student outcomes is stronger in high-poverty, low-achieving schools—the schools in which students most rely on education for their future success.

And…

Why Do Principals Leave Their Jobs?

1. Inadequate preparation and professional development.
2. Poor working conditions.
3. Insufficient salaries.
4. Lack of decision-making authority.
5. High-stakes accountability policies.

And…

Which Principals are Less Likely to Leave?

Among the principal characteristics most strongly associated with job stability is educational experience, including preparedness for the position as a result of preparation and/or in-service programs and having an advanced degree.

Which Schools are More Vulnerable to Principal Turnover?

Overall, the relationships between school and student characteristics and a principal’s likelihood of leaving are much stronger than relationships between principals’ personal characteristics and principal turnover. The most robust evidence from the studies reviewed indicate that schools with higher percentages of students from low-income families, students of color, and low-performing students are more likely to experience principal turnover. The root of the problem, however, may be the school characteristics—such as low levels of resources, less competitive salaries, and problematic working conditions—that are often concurrent with student disadvantage. 

And…

Strategies for Reducing Principal Turnover

District Deeds Synopsis:

This study makes it clear that principal retention is extremely important for schools, especially schools that have a large at-risk student population.

For the record, the SDUSD has had over 130 out of 150 Principals leave their schools since ESS Marten was illegally assigned Superintendent in violation of the Brown Act five years ago.

Many highly qualified, credentialed Principals with decades of experience voluntarily left the SDUSD when Marten. with only Elementary School experience was illegally assigned.

Other schools have had multiple involuntary Principal removals by ESS Marten.  For instance Lincoln High School has had at least 4 principals (including temporary principals) in the last 5 years.

Reasons for Principals voluntarily retiring include all five of those listed and a sixth one that is unique to the SDUSD:

6.  Corrupt and incompetent Superintendent and Board of Education

A recent Voice of San Diego article titled “San Diego Unified Principals Blast District Leadership” provided proof of SDUSD Principal discontent.   The job of Principal in the SDUSD has become an impossible task under the Marten dictatorship.

Here are the SDUSD Principal documents provided in the article:

Principal Complaints – July 24. 2019

Principal Complaints – September 2. 2019

Principal Complaints – September 5, 2019

As usual, ESS Marten and her incompetent senior leadership cronies attempted an intervention with the Principals to shut them up and cover up the dysfunction.

The main problem with that strategy is that Marten has no clue how to deal with any middle school or high school issues since her only experience was as a principal of a small elementary school!!!

Marten represents the WORST of all worlds for Principals…

Marten has no Middle or High School operational or budget experience.

Marten has no Central Office operational or budget experience.

Marten has no senior management Human Resource experience.

SDUSD ESS Cindy Marten is a TRIPLE THREAT to Principals and Students!!!!

The letters from the Principals are amazing and, knowing the vindictiveness and insecurity of ESS Marten, we honor them for their honesty and courage.

We only ask one more thing of the principals…

KEEP IT UP!!!

Rising Tide: Charter School Market Share and Student Achievement

Link to Study: Rising Tide: Charter School Market Share and Student Achievement

Quote from Article:

Rising Tide: Charter School Market Share and Student Achievement, authored by Fordham’s David Griffith, is a first-of-its-kind study that looks at the relationship between “charter market share” and the academic achievement of all students in a given community, including those in traditional public schools. To accomplish this, the report uses data from a new source, which allows researchers to compare English language arts and math scores from thousands of school districts and dozens of different tests.

And…

The study has three findings:

1. In large urban areas, higher charter market share is associated with significant achievement gains for black and Hispanic students.
2. In suburban and rural areas, higher charter market share is associated with significant achievement gains for Hispanic students, and black students in rural districts also see gains.
3. There is no evidence that higher charter market share is associated with achievement gains for white students.

And…

These findings are the basis for three takeaways:

1. In general, the district-level evidence suggests that the charter advantage is not attributable to “cherry-picking” or “creaming” the best students.
2. Similarly, there is no evidence that charters have a negative effect on the performance of traditional public schools.
3. Expanding charter market share in black and Hispanic communities could dramatically reduce racial achievement gaps.

And…

In short, the report is consistent with prior research that suggests black and Hispanic students learn more in charter schools, and that competition from charter schools has a positive, or at worst neutral, effect on traditional public schools.

In other words, a rising tide of charters really does lift all boats.

District Deeds Synopsis:

This report is a great read for ALL SDUSD Stakeholders.

The next time anyone in the corrupt SDUSD leadership whines to the press that Charter Schools take away money from SDUSD students, please remember the following 3 things:

1.  ALL Charter Students in the SDUSD boundary area ARE SDUSD Students.  The budget money given to them via their Charter School is the same as giving budget money to students in any SDUSD school.
2. Families who send their kids to a Charter School always do it for the same reason…they feel it is the best option for their child’s education.
3. SDUSD Black and Hispanic Student, on the average, learn more in Charter schools.

Does this mean that ALL families should choose Charter Schools?

Of course not.

The report only shows that PARENT choice to send their kids to Charter Schools is a HEALTHY decision and that it is the BEST decision for the SDUSD overall.

Don’t let corrupt ESS Marten, Trustee Tricky Dick Barrera or the SDUSD million dollar propaganda marketing machine convince you of anything different.

Don’t let them successfully bully you into “blind support” and submissive compliance to by their budget scare tactics.

The only budget you should be afraid of is the budget provided by “Budget Ignoramus 1” Cindy Marten and passed with the help of “Budget Ignoramus 2” Tricky Dick Barrera!

Now for our Quote of the Week:

“Stand up to ignorance, because if you don’t, the ignorant will run free to spread ignorance like a disease.” ― Suzy Kassem    

Have a great week!!!

__________________________________________________________

IF

• Your family has been injured by the San Diego Unified School District, go to the District Deeds Complaint Forms page to find instructions to fight for your Civil Rights!

• YOU ARE TIRED OF THE COVER UPS AND LIES BY SUPT. CINDY MARTEN…

Please Click the Link Below and sign the Petition Today and READ the COMMENTS to Support the REMOVAL of Marten by SDUSD Stakeholders!

FIRE San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten Immediately!

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