Deasy's got a new posse

I was catching up on Doc. Deasy's twit feed and look at what I found under the "similar" suggestion list.  Now I'm not judging the good doctor, personally I wish I was compared to as "similar" to Ron Jeremy.

Elect to Learn Agreements

Elect to Learn Agreements and the end of family tenure at LAUSD

notyetLAUSD realizes that Elect to Work Agreements are cumbersome to implement, promote cheating, do not improve educational outcomes, and parent’s just don’t care. Parents care about Elect to Learn Agreements (ELA).

ELA’s are the secret sauce parents crave at charter schools and LAUSD magnet schools.  An Elect to Learn Agreements is a code of conduct parents agree to so their child can enroll at a school.  Failing to meet the standards of an ELA results in the expulsion of that student to their neighborhood school.  Because of the infallibility with which a parent views their child, they see ELA’s as a welcome brand of distinction to assign their family.  ELA’s also assure parents that their child is at a school with like minded parents and thus just ever so slightly less, not enough to notice, infallible peers.  Elect to Learn Agreements give parents the elitist feeling that lets them know they are doing a superior job.

notyetLAUSD will be implementing ELA’s at all schools.  ELA’s will replace the existing parent-school compact that tries to make partnerships between parent and school at neighborhood schools.  As we role out ELA’s to all campuses we will pilot ‘Thin’ ELA’s out our lowest performing campuses.  So called ‘thin’ ELA’s remove even extra parent and children rights so we can focus on the child.  Children failing to meet the ELA at 3 schools will be struck out of the district.  Families can no longer expect the welfare state tenure that traditional schools have offered families.

 

Why no parent sends their child to a Failing School

A study commissioned by LAUSD by Families In Schools reports that 75% or more of parents at PSC schools like their school.  Public School Choice (PSC) schools are supposedly the worst schools in the district, so why do the overwhelming majority of parents like their piece of $h!t failing school.   Something must be wrong with the parents and that is just one reason LAUSD has voted to get rid of Parent Advisory Vote on PSC.  

The fact is parents don’t send their kids to failing schools.  The school a parent sends their child to is a good school, if they don’t like their neighborhood school they fake an address, go to a charter, open enrollment or magnet school.  Heck parents can even just show up at a school they like and the school will likely take them just to keep enrollment up.  Parents have a ton of choices in LAUSD, so if a parent is sending their kid to a failing school, do you really need to slap them in the face by calling it a f---ing school?

Why do we need so many f--ing schools?   Because there is gold in those f---ing schools.  As long as a school is f--ing you can buy expensive consultants and programs.  No growing or successful school ever gets extra money.  Charter schools make the most money (synthesized here) when they set up shop near an f--ing school in a poor area.   Chances are most f---ing schools are in poor neighborhoods, I like to call these f---ing neighborhoods.  Chance are if you’re poor, you are told you are f---ing at life.  

The definition of f---ing school depends on it revenue potential.  In LAUSD we can’t stand f---ing schools, but when a charter operator institutes a formal system of cheating and fails to provide even the most minimal of academic standards we give this school a second chance.  

notyetLAUSD wants to set a new policy on what an f--ing school is.  We have overused the term “failing school” to the point that it will soon lose its appeal for bringing in investors. The graph below shows how mind share for the term “failing school” is on the wain.

notyetLAUSD is going to take bids for new euphemisms for f--ing schools.  Please use the comments section to make a suggestion for a school that is poor but not actually committing any crimes.  Ideally we are trying to describe schools with expensive dedicated teachers who have stuck it out at these schools for years, be in a low income area to count toward tax credits for investors, have descent space to fit a charter school for extra prop 39 funds.

current ideas:
F---ing schools
Delinquent schools
Drop-out factory
Blight schools
Money bags
401K
Investment Schools

We graduated 100% of our graduates

"The future ain't what it used to be " 100% Graduation is a reality in LAUSD.  Its summer time and baseball commentators are dropping Yogi Berra-isms again.  These beautiful nuggets juxtaposed to news of 100% graduation rates at some LAUSD Charter schools tell me, "You can observe a lot by watching".   The thing about a social good being quantified is that the more we use it, the number is subject to manipulation (I recommend The Wire seasons 3 for the best example). "If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be."   Any school claiming 100% graduation is probably claiming that they graduate 100% of their graduates, they are definitely not looking at their freshman enrollment graduating, I hope they use their senior enrollment. 

I suggest schools produce 4 different graduation numbers and state which method they use when producing their results. 

·      Method 1 – Quick and Dirty (most common)

Percentage of kids graduating compared to kids who enrolled at the school over the course of the Senior year

·      Method 2 – Scary 

Percentage of kids graduating compared to kids who ever enrolled between the start of the freshman year to graduation day.

·      Method 3 -  "it ain't over till it's over" (most thorough) 

Percentage of kids who get a high school diploma by the age of 21 who ever enrolled between the start of the freshman year to graduation day. LAUSD uses this to get to a respectable 72%.

·      Bonus Method - 100% graduation 99% of the time

Find the percentage of kids walking the stage who attended graduation.  (barring excessive inebriation, most kids who show up on graduation day will walk across the stage)

" When you come to a fork in the road....Take it."  LAUSD has 4 forks when it comes to calculating graduation percentage, each one providing different insight, all must happen simultaneously. Next time you see a school with a 100% graduation rate, and you will, don’t think “It's deja vu all over again,"  ask for the other 3 caclulations.

-" I didn't really say everything I said " the quotes are provided by Yogi Berra