Michelle Rhee’s Pattern of Deceptive Marketing

Just day’s after PBS reporter John Merrow blew the door off Michelle Rhee’s cover-up of widespread cheating that occurred on her DC watch, she looked for a like-minded crowd of education reform partisans for comfort and affirmation. What better place than the republican caucus of the Florida legislature?

Reeling from opposition to their test-based accountability regime, charter school fetish and sudden friendly fire on common core, Rhee’s advice was sought on the later. As without common core, the whole thing collapses. Michelle McNeil of Education Week has this about the conversation Rhee had with Florida republican legislators:

When she was in Florida talking about her issues, Rhee said 80 percent of the questions came from legislators about the common core. The problem isn’t that legislators are against the standards, the problem is they’re starting to hear concerns and rumblings of opposition, she said.

Her advice to them?

Reframe the debate.

“This is being framed as, ‘The federal government is trying to stick something down your throat,’” Rhee said.

“You need to reframe the debate,” Rhee said she told the Florida lawmakers. “This is about China kicking our butts. Do you want China to kick our butts? No!”

She said that states and advocacy groups were able to coalesce around the common core when the effort was just getting off the ground, and now that the hard work of implementation is ongoing, those same coalitions need to stick together.

“I do think that there has to be a very strong defense of the common core,” she said.

Some of the best defense of common core has been coming from teachers as they understand that it refocuses curriculum on critical thinking, the  utilization of text and application of knowledge.  Why Rhee didn’t make this argument is telling. Perhaps it’s because reformers like Rhee and her acolytes in the Florida legislature also have to have standardized tests -  something that’s going to be impossible to put into the same stew with common core.

Rhee’s advise is another example of her deceptive, false choice marketing plan.

Parent Trigger’s Contradictory “Parent Notification” Provison Returns

Just hours after Parent Trigger’s defeat on the floor of the Florida Senate, Sen. Anitere Flores inserted one of its more troubling provisions  into a charter school bill. Leslie Postal of the Orlando Sentinel explains:

About 2.5 hours after a tie vote in the Senate killed the controversial “parent trigger” bill Tuesday, Senators amended another education bill to include provisions similar to some of those in the failed proposal.

A bill focused on charter schools (HB 7009) was amended Tuesday afternoon. It now requires that children in classes taught by teachers with an “unsatisfactory” or “needs improvement” ratings during the current school year could not be taught by similar teachers in the same subject next year.

A similar, but not identical, provision was in the “parent trigger” bill. It was not the most contentious part of that proposal — but it did spark debate and opponents of the overall bill didn’t like that provision.

The amendment to the charter bill was sponsored by Sen. Anitiere Flores, R-Miami, who voted for the “parent trigger” bill and spoke in favor of it on the Senate floor.

The charter bill passed the Senate with that amendment — and others — so must now return to the House, which had approved it earlier.

Pretty darn sneaky by Flores.

Not enough was made about this troubling provision which essentially puts the cart before the horse. It – and Flores – presumes that SB 736 will generate reliable data to make such determinations before the actual implementation of the bill in 2014. With some warning that Florida’s entire accountability is in danger of collapsing, and the state’s high-stakes test regime under constant change, to use its questionable data in this manner is terribly irresponsible.

And it’s terribly contradictory, too. In March, a circuit court judge ruled that the Florida Times-Union could not have access to the component data from which teacher ratings were calculated  StateImpact’s John O’Connor wrote this in April:

At issue are “value-added scores,” which uses a complex statistical formula to try to calculate which teachers are the most and least effective in improving student test scores.

Some republicans in the legislature agree. Reports Topher Sanders in the Florida-Times Union:

House Bill 7161 was filed Monday by Rep. Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach.

Adkins said she believed the Legislature intended there to be an exemption.

“This is really, in my opinion, consistent with the position of the Legislature when [it] passed the student success act,” she said.

Adkins said her bill also codifies the recent Circuit Court’s ruling.

The proposal was first put forth by Adkins in the House’s education committee where it was passed 13-5.

The republican-dominated committee obviously understood the need to  protect such data.  So why did they vote for making it public in Carlos Trujillo’s Parent Trigger bill?  I wrote this April:

It’s fair to ask Adkins – a proponent of Parent Trigger – why she is against making teacher evaluation data public while being for using it publicly in Florida’s Parent Trigger legislation. A provision of the bill requires parents be notified in the event their child has a teacher who has been rated ineffective for two years in a row with the same data she wants to keep private. Letters which are sent to parents will certainly become public, and in the worst way. Can’t wait to see one of these letters shared on Facebook

If Adkins believes “the Legislature intended there to be an exemption,” and her bill somehow “codifies” a recent court ruling, one would think that a lawyer like Flores would understand that litigious relief will be required if her amendment sneaks though. Whether or not education reform zealots like Flores start thinking clearly is another matter.

 

Debriefing Parent Trigger’s Defeat in the Florida Senate

Perhaps Senator Bill Montford said it best in this quote he gave Palm Beach Post reporter Dara Kam:

Sen. Bill Montford, a Tallahassee Democrat and former school superintendent, said parents already have the ability to make their voices heard.

“The issue is how do we get parents interested in the options already available to them. This bill will not help that,” Montford said. “I hope a year form now…we’ll spend this much time and energy trying to find a way to get our parents meaningfully involved.”

Indeed. Montford might get some republican senators to agree with him, too. This curious and divisive bill’s second straight defeat in Florida will hopefully bring  it’s popularity to an end and doom  the national expansion of Parent Revolution – a shady organization of political hacks whose existence depends solely on Parent Trigger legislation. This is Florida afterall and it’s been established as THE model of education reform. Jeb Bush has assured as much.

Ah, yes…… Jeb Bush. The Florida legislature only took up Parent Trigger again because Bush vowed it would return after last year’s defeat. After reaffirming his resolve on numerous occassions, it was clear he’d be looking for sponsors in the House and Senate.  But unlike last year, he wasn’t able to find co-sponsors.

Race-baiting returned from an unlikely candidate in T. Willard Fair in his defense of Parent Revolution’s production of a video featuring a faux parent group. Parent Revolution operative Shirley Ford was in the state to produce the film. She tried to embarrass African-American democrats during a hearing last year with similar assertions.

PTA bashing apparently became en vogue as House sponsor Carlos Trujillo said that PTA’s are only there to bake cookies. Similar wording appeared in Parent Revolution’s video. Former StudentsFirst operative Catherine Robinson chimed in with an opinion piece from her new seat with Step Up for Students.

PTA bashing? Really?

If you were against Parent Trigger and influential, you got attacked, mischaracterized and smeared.  Those folks learned to expect responses from places like this blog.

It became clear that some republican senators were concerned about the coercive aspects of Parent Trigger that took control away from local school boards , an indication that demonstrations like the Resolution On High Stakes Testing matter. Some senators may have paid attention to what happened in Adelanto, California. Orlando senator David Simmons inserted an amendment that supposedly took care of that. Sponsor Kelli Stargel’s assertion that Simmons’ was having second thoughts wasn’t credible as it stayed in the final bill.

It still wasn’t enough for 6 Republican senators.

So the story line being advanced by proponents  today is that Rick Scott killed the bill somehow.  If he did, he didn’t leave a margin for error. It’s more likely that there were more republicans who wanted to vote against it and they made sure there were enough no votes. Evidence the vote was known ahead of time comes in this Florida Chamber of Commerce FB  contact post from yesterday morning which included the names of five of the republicans who voted against the bill. Only Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla was not on the list.

Another republican vote was available last year in the event Alan Hayes didn’t commit himself to voting against it as retaliation against senate president Mike Haridopolis  for killing one of his bills. Another republican vote was probably available this year, too, in the event a very ill Dwight Bullard hadn’t been able to make the session.  Republican senators are glad Bullard was there as the name would have proved to be an embarrassment for Bush.

Yes, this is a defeat for Jeb Bush. And it is a win for Florida’s public schools and the school boards, administrators, teachers and families devoted to them. Parent Trigger and it’s proponents attempted to manipulate a few angry and imbittered parents to do the leg work for the  for-profit charter school industry who finance Parent Revolution and Bush’s foundations.

In the end, only 50 of 700 parents were part of the final Parent Trigger decision in Adelanto. To think that people like Bush, Stargel and Trujillo felt like this was right for Florida remains chilling.

PARENT TRIGGER DEFEATED IN FLA SENATE!

From Kathleen McGrory in The Buzz:

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kelli Stargel, would have let parents demand sweeping changes at failing public schools, including having the school transformed into a charter school.It had been watered down by an amendment from Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, that would have allowed school boards to reject parent petitions.

 

Most observers thought the Simmons amendement would have given Stargel the votes she needed to pass the bill out of the upper chamber. But a handul of Republicans joined the Democratic opposition Tuesday, including: Sens. Nancy Detert, Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, Rene Garcia, Jack Latvala, Greg Evers and Charlie Dean.

 

Detert pointed out that parents across the state had opposed the legislation.

 

“The minute you vote yes, your PTA is going to call you and say, What were you thinking?’” she said.

The bill was considered a priority for former Gov. Jeb Bush and his education non-profit, the Foundation for Florida’s Future.

New Revelations in Stargel-Rhee Parent Trigger Petition; Senate Vote Today

A “weaker version” of Parent Trigger will be get a vote on the floor of the senate today. Writes Kathleen McGrory in The Buzz:

The parent trigger bill hit the Senate floor Monday, and as expected, sparked some lively discussion.

Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, set the tone by immediately withdrawing the eight amendments she had filed.

“My intention is, at this point, to not even attempt to fix this bill, I consider it so hopelessly bad,” Detert said.

Senators quashed three other amendments deemed “unfriendly” by Sen. Kelli Stargel, the bill’s sponsor. But they approved an addition from Sen. David Simmons that would give local school boards the authority to deny parent requests to make dramatic changes at low-performing schools.

The language had already been approved by the Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee. The upper chamber needed to add it again because senators took up the House version of the bill on Monday.

Last week, Stargel said she planned to remove the wording because it took too much power away from the parents. But doing so would have likely lost her several key votes, including Sens. Andy Gardiner and Jack Latvala.

“Sometimes with a controversial bill, you take the path of least resistance,” Stargel said after Monday’s floor session.

Stargel’s admission that her bill is “controversial” is an admission by her that it that Parent Trigger is more political than it is practical. With politics comes underhanded, deliberately misleading episodes like the Stargel-Rhee petition of supposed supporters of Parent Trigger. More revelations about the petition emerged yesterday.

* A Sarasota Floridian admitted to signing the petition, but was appalled that their name appeared four times. Four who previously emailed Scathing  Purple Musings that they had not signed appeared twice on the petition.

* One signee emailed “because I think it’s important to support sensible solutions for difficult issues that plague this State I am indeed sad to say that I signed the “Students First” email.  Unfortunately, I did not suspect that there wasn’t a Florida-based group behind its convincing words or that it was actually a plug for privatized education, a system I don’t approve of. If I could rescind having taken part in this petition I would.  Alternatively, I am willing to write or call any legislator(s) you suggest to ask them to vote against bills that arise which do not support high quality and fair education for all children of Florida.”

*Another person who is certain they didn’t sign got another StudentsFirst email yesterday intended to get him to support it again. The creepy world of email list sharing and purchasing also caused this Panhandle gentleman to receive emails yesterday from Florida Watch and Democracy in America asking for his opposition to Parent Trigger.

* While a handful of people confirmed to SPM that they had signed the petition, other denials came in. A retired Miami teacher, Rosa Douglas wrote, “I do not remember signing the petition.  If I was somehow duped into doing so, I want my name removed! I DO NOT support this legislation in any way, shape or form.”

* The best comment of the day…… made within the 30 spam attacks came this from the wonderfully acerbic blogger, GrumpyElder:

“Sounds like Stargel got Rheed, since she’s still waving the petition around, she must have enjoyed it”

Responses are still coming in with between 20 to 25 percent denials. Some of those have even come from vigorous opponents of Parent Trigger. Three responders who signed the Rhee-Stargel petition now regret doing so and have change their position.

Rhee’s petition is a fabrication of such proportions which further diminishes her image as a pure education reformer. At the very least, let’s hope her days in Florida are over.

As the only Parent Trigger bill that emerges today doesn’t empower Parent Revolution or big charter school operators, the reality is that it may be weaker than current turnaround options the state already mandates and has proved effective. Only in the event Parent Revolution and their charter school financiers desire to use the win-by-lawsuit model they used in Adelanto can they be successful. Sadly, the deceitful actions of Parent Trigger’s advocates signal that they are willing to do just that.

 

 

 

 

Serious Problems Remain for Stargel, Trujillo and Rhee on Parent Trigger Petition

Tuesday  morning update here

As Kelli Stargel takes to the Senate floor today to defend her Parent Trigger bill, she will be wondering  whether or not it was  a good idea to get involved with Michelle Rhee.

There were likely to be enough votes and political muscle behind it without having to resort to submitting a fraudulent petition into the debate. But Stargel and House sponsor Carlos Trujillo were getting beat up badly in committee debate and had to counter the overwhelming numbers on unpaid state opponents who appeared at hearings to testify. Top dollar lobbyists weren’t going to be enough..

The House went first, and Trujillo began mentioning that he had 800 signatures of support in his pocket and then Stargel said she had 1200.  Some quiet inquiries prompted some foot-dragging by legislative staffs until Stargel’s list, which Michelle Rhee provided was released last week. Miami Herald reporter Kathleen McGrory received the petition late in the week and discovered that a person she knew was on it. McGrory contacted that person who denied signing. After finding another denial, the Miami Herald contacted every person on the list and released the following yesterday afternoon:

On Sunday, The Herald/Times sent an email to each person who had allegedly signed the online petition. Of the 241 who responded, 212 confirmed their signatures..But 29 people said they had not signed the petition

Scathing Purple Musings contacted a smaller number, 158, and received denials from 17. Both surveys received approximately a 20 percent response rate. While both Rhee and Stargel are brushing aside the findings it predictable fashion, some serious questions and problems remain for Stargel and Rhee.

* What not more responses? As Rhee’s survey began collecting signatures on 3/21 – most were in fact collected on this date (more later) – one can assume these folks were recent and savvy users of the internet. Did 80 percent really trash a serious inquiry from a reporter at a major US newspaper?

* 101 people appear twice. This number helps cut into the percentage of non-repondants. But four of these individuals emailed Scathing Purple Musings that they didn’t sign the petition. As the Herald’s list is larger, it’s fair to assume that there are more. Stargel will have to face the reality that as many as 100 Floridians may have had their personal information lifted to support a controversial bill she’s sponsored. The consequences are far more serious for Rhee.

* 12 out-of-state persons are listed on the petition, some from questionable contacts. One appeared twice.

* A clear pattern of the repeating signatures is clear. They all appear first during the first 6 hour period on 3/21 then appear again in a similar-size window on 3/29 and 3/30.

* What did Stargel know and when did she know it? Her evasions will have a short life expectancy that may get her through a vote today, but won’t last much longer. Not with a petition list that went public the minute she touted it. Trigger’s passage will only bring more heat as it will be tainted with evidence that fraud was committed.

* The entire list will eventually be published somewhere and opens a can of worms filled with unknowns.

*Some evidence exists that opponents of Trigger had their personal information lifted, perhaps from another Change.org or Care2.com petition. This is a pattern that Rhee has already established

Check back here for updates throughout the day.

..

Rhee, Stargel Got Some ‘Splainin’ to do About Those Parent Trigger Petition Signatures

NEW Tuesday morning update here (600AM CDT)

Monday morning update here.

MIAMI HERALD: On Sunday, The Herald/Times sent an email to each person who had allegedly signed the online petition. Of the 241 who responded, 212 confirmed their signatures…….But 29 people said they had not signed the petition

(Updates as responses arrive continuing here)

(Done with updates for the night. Still receiving emails and analysis of email list is still evolving. Look for another story from Kathleen McGrory in the morning – Bob Sikes)

UPDATE: A second person and third person – now four total – who contacted this blog indicating they’d never signed Rhee’s petition also appear twice. All originally on 3/21 and the again during the same small window between 3/29 and 3/30.

UPDATE: A  Sarasota woman who responded to both the Herald and this blog – and an opponent of parent trigger – has her name appear once on 3/21 and again on 3/29.

UDATE (856PM CDT) Five separate spam attacks have now been attempted as comments to this post

UPDATE: (800PM CDT) 11 signatures are from out of state. One appears twice as they signed once on 3/21 and again on 3/30

UPDATE (742PM CDT) There are 101 repeated names on the petition, anmy of them re-inserted on 3/29 after originally appearing on 3/21

UPDATE (712PM CDT) Another person just emailed ” I DID NOT sign the “Students First” petition and NEVER will. They are Anti Public Education….and Greedy.”

 UPDATE (658PM CDT) Miami Herald shares similar comment to previous UPDATE, revealing a possible pattern in copying contacts.

“I did NOT join my name to a petition in support of the so-called Parent Empowerment Act,” wrote John Raymaker, of Tallahassee. “Instead, I signed a petition OPPOSING this act. More deceitful, incredibly dishonest tactics!”

UPDATE (651PM CDT) A woman who denied signing remembers signing an anti-parent trigger petition

Scathing Purple Musings Tally

Yes, they did: 18    No, they didn’t: 15

Kathleen McGrory’s story that appeared in the Miami Herald on Friday included revelations that two people on the list of Parent Trigger supporters Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst submitted to Lakeland Senator Kelli Stargel never signed the petition. One confirmed that she did.

Scathing Purple Musings has the list and began randomly selecting people on Saturday afternoon by contacting the email address on the petition. As of this morning, 125 (approximately 10 percent) have received emails requesting verification. The tally above includes the 3 people (1-yes; 2-no) McGrory referenced in her story. Five of the email addresses which were all cataloged on March 21st or more recently no longer exist and one person was unable to remember.

Additional information will be updated as they become available, including comments from people who responded. Most recent entries will be at the top.

UPDATE (604PM CDT) Here’s Kathleen McGrory’s update in the Miami Herald.

UPDATE (442PM CDT) Scathing Purple Musings randomly selected another 30 petition signees, bringing the total inquiries to around 160.

UPDATE (4:29PM CDT)  One out-of-state contact in New Jersey confirmed their signature with a simple “I support Studentsfirst legislation”

UPDATE (1158AM CDT) A Floridian who confirmed signing wrote they “would sign it again and supports Parent Trigger “so parents can apply the required pressure to correct and have the rule of law power support to attain the acceptable changes to achieve the desired results.”

UPDATE (1047AM CDT) Another  person who didn’t sign the Rhee-Satrgel petition is Tai Beckensal from Seminole. The professional consultant feels the petition is “a cyber crime in a way” and added  “as far as how any of these people get our names and emails, phone numbers, even addresses, that is easy enough, they can just buy it from marketing groups.”

UPDATE (1034AM CDT) Chip Righter of Delray Beach didn’t sign either and emails “being a single man my entire life, and never married, I would have little interest in a petition seeking any parental position. If someone has rigged this petition, then they must be fired and banned for life to hold any future legislative positions. In the past I have had to pass drug and polygraph tests to get hired for employment. Why should we not demand all politicians to pass annual polygraph examinations to make sure the decisions they are making are in the best interest for American and stop what we all know is their individual financial gain. If politicians were doing nothing wrong why would refuse? American’s think the very lowest of politicians and they have earned their star.

UPDATE (1027AM CDT) From someone who denies signing: “I can’t imagine any situation where I would have signed anything supported by Jeb Bush or Michelle Rhee, to be honest. As to where they could have acquired my information, I am active in some advocacy organizations and perhaps one of those places shares names and addresses?”

UPDATE (1022AM CDT) From a Parent Trigger supporter who signed: “I can confirm that I did sign the petition. I am very disappointed in the school system here and most of the parents I speak to feel the same way. I believe parents have to be more involved  in the education of their children.”

UPDATE (1020AM CDT) From yesterday’s post: Bill Williamson of Palm Bay, Florida denies signing Rhee’s petition saying,  ”to the best of my recollection, I do not recall signing a petition seeking support for the so-called Parent Trigger legislation. I do not support any legislation that would enable charter schools to shoulder their way into our public school systems without open discussion and local or statewide referendums.”

Bush Foundation Hides Behind Parent Revolution in Faux Parent Group Flap

Two separate revelations this week further unmasked the political scam that has become Florida’s Parent Trigger legislation.

The first involves evidence that the petition that Michelle Rhee furnished Lakeland Senator Kelli Stargel is filled with people who never signed it. Scathing Purple Musings reported on the other that concerns the existence of a faux parent group called The Sunshine Parents.  The “group” has been circulating a video around Tallahassee and linking to a support petition on the website of Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education. Miami Herald reporter Kathleen McGrory has the entire story now:

The high-quality Sunshine Parents video and a shorter “sneak peek” surfaced last week, along with a host of questions about who had produced it.

In the videos, the Sunshine Parents described themselves as “an active and engaged group of parents throughout Florida that are seeking to transform the schools in their communities to serve all children.” But they offered no other information about the organization. The Sunshine Parents have no public online presence, and haven’t made themselves known around the Capitol.

The videos circulated in an email that linked to a petition by Bush’s education think tank, the Foundation for Florida’s Future.

Tony Bennett’s Desperate, Disengenuous Defense of Common Core

Sun Sentinel reporter Anthony Man was in attendance when Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett made a speech to Broward Workshop’s State of Our County forum on April 12. Bennett focused his speech on the sudden and unexpected debate that’s emerged on Common Core Standards.

“I would like to start my comments today around common core. I want to start by saying I acknowledge there are people on both sides of this issue.

“Let’s be very blunt about it. There are people on both sides of this issue. There are people who fear common core, and there are those like myself and [Broward School Superintendent] Bob [Runcie] who embrace common core…

“I acknowledge that there are differences. I am going to very simply say that if you want to know whether this debate should be over or not, whether common core is good or not, watch the Master’s [golf tournament].

“Don’t watch the golf. Watch the ads that our nation’s leading companies are running in between golf shots. Watch the ads that Exxon-Mobil is running.

Kelli Stargel’s Fake List of Parent Trigger Supporters that Michelle Rhee Provided

Welcome readers of The Florida Squeeze and NPE. Please see this UPDATE post.

UPDATE: (Saturday evening at 6:48PM CDT) A third person on Rhee’s list has denied ever signing the petition. Erwin Crawford of Longwood “does not remember signing anything from this individual”

UPDATE: (Saturday afternoon at 4:42PM CDT) Rhee’s list appears to include up to eight retirees from Fort Myers.

UPDATE: (Saturday afternoon at 3:30PM CDT) Bill Williamson of Palm Bay, Florida denies signing Rhee’s petition saying,  ”to the best of my recollection, I do not recall signing a petition seeking support for the so-called Parent Trigger legislation. I do not support any legislation that would enable charter schools to shoulder their way into our public school systems without open discussion and local or statewide referendums.”

UPDATE: (Saturday afternoon at 3PM CDT) I randomly selected 30 names on Rhee’s list.  Two people denied signing, three confirm signing and two email addresses no longer exists.

Earlier this week, Sen. Kelli Stargel (R-Lakeland), was asked by constituents and members of the media for the list of supporters she’s been touting during her advancement of the Parent Trigger bill she’s sponsoring. The list came from Michelle Rhee’s organization, StudentsFirst. Scathing Purple Musings has a copy of the list, but more importantly, Kathleen McGrory of the Miami Herald also received the list and discovered that it is likely to be a fraud.