NYTimes story - At a Success Academy Charter School, Singling Out Pupils Who Have ‘Got to Go’

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will call my senator first thing tomorrow morning to get started...oh that's right I forgot, I am a second class citizen, who experiences taxation without representation, because I live in Washington, DC.

Get back to me when your child is in middle school and/or high school and a serious situation occurs in your school, but you are not given any information because of FERPA.

It's ok for Eva Moskowitz to violate FERPA because you live in DC and have no congressional representation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is my problem with charters. If you allow the charters to siphon public funds away from the core public school system and then weed out the students that take work to teach, the remaining public schools become a dumping ground that will hard pressed to serve anyone. Eff that. If these master educators really have all the answers, put them on contract to advise the public schools on curriculum and best practices. But they don't have all the answers, especially as their number one best practice is "select the students who are easy to teach"

I have an active seven year old who was no prince in kindergarten. Now, because I'm in a very good public school system in a rich area and I am educated and white, there was never any question that they would try to railroad my kid or me into anything. They figured out how to deal with my wiggly boy and others like him. They had no choice, but they also understood that this was their responsibility.

I wouldn't become complacent about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FERPA Yet another example of a law designed to protect. This law prevents schools from disclosing incidents to parents. Arrests, violent outbursts, injuries, and crimes can not be disclosed if it is possible that parents can figure out which child was the perpetrator. So the only child who gets protected is the guilty one-I doubt this is what the lawmakers intended.

There were no names named in the letter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FERPA Yet another example of a law designed to protect. This law prevents schools from disclosing incidents to parents. Arrests, violent outbursts, injuries, and crimes can not be disclosed if it is possible that parents can figure out which child was the perpetrator. So the only child who gets protected is the guilty one-I doubt this is what the lawmakers intended.

There were no names named in the letter.

She wrote the letter in response to a news segment that interviewed the child and used his name. So it is 100% clear that he is the child in the letter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

A lot more than shirts not tucked in going on there.. This is a kid with serious behavior problems. How very very dishonest to try and smear the school with lies!

So what? FERPA applies regardless.

SO WHAT??? Lies are lies. And in this case they are some pretty huge lies. Do you realize that if this student were an adult, these would be multiple felony assaults? That's very different than "shirt not tucked in" or "she wouldn't keep her hands in her lap" - the LIES that this article is based on.

Confidentiality doesn't apply to anyone else who also discussed the student, including the journalists involved in the article? You are fine with one side out there spilling confidential information in a major news outlet, presuming to tell a story but you have a problem with the other side correcting the record?

What I am fine with is people obeying the law. Families talking about their own situations: not breaking the law. Schools talking about their students: breaking the law.

Students assaulting others: breaking the law
How come you don't have a problem with that part?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FERPA Yet another example of a law designed to protect. This law prevents schools from disclosing incidents to parents. Arrests, violent outbursts, injuries, and crimes can not be disclosed if it is possible that parents can figure out which child was the perpetrator. So the only child who gets protected is the guilty one-I doubt this is what the lawmakers intended.

There were no names named in the letter.

She wrote the letter in response to a news segment that interviewed the child and used his name. So it is 100% clear that he is the child in the letter.

Only because the newspaper named the child, not because Moskovitz did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

A lot more than shirts not tucked in going on there.. This is a kid with serious behavior problems. How very very dishonest to try and smear the school with lies!

So what? FERPA applies regardless.

SO WHAT??? Lies are lies. And in this case they are some pretty huge lies. Do you realize that if this student were an adult, these would be multiple felony assaults? That's very different than "shirt not tucked in" or "she wouldn't keep her hands in her lap" - the LIES that this article is based on.

Confidentiality doesn't apply to anyone else who also discussed the student, including the journalists involved in the article? You are fine with one side out there spilling confidential information in a major news outlet, presuming to tell a story but you have a problem with the other side correcting the record?

What I am fine with is people obeying the law. Families talking about their own situations: not breaking the law. Schools talking about their students: breaking the law.

Students assaulting others: breaking the law
How come you don't have a problem with that part?

Of course it is a problem when students assault others. How is that relevant to a school administrator's violation of FERPA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

A lot more than shirts not tucked in going on there.. This is a kid with serious behavior problems. How very very dishonest to try and smear the school with lies!

So what? FERPA applies regardless.

SO WHAT??? Lies are lies. And in this case they are some pretty huge lies. Do you realize that if this student were an adult, these would be multiple felony assaults? That's very different than "shirt not tucked in" or "she wouldn't keep her hands in her lap" - the LIES that this article is based on.

Confidentiality doesn't apply to anyone else who also discussed the student, including the journalists involved in the article? You are fine with one side out there spilling confidential information in a major news outlet, presuming to tell a story but you have a problem with the other side correcting the record?

What I am fine with is people obeying the law. Families talking about their own situations: not breaking the law. Schools talking about their students: breaking the law.

Students assaulting others: breaking the law
How come you don't have a problem with that part?

Of course it is a problem when students assault others. How is that relevant to a school administrator's violation of FERPA?

Pretty sure assault is a felony in most jurisdictions. That's pretty serious, and I'd argue more serious than FERPA.

And don't you think it's a problem for the media and others involved outside of the school to cover up and lie about the assaults?

[Anonymous]

This isn't just a charter issue. Same thing happens at our MCPS school with unbelievably high scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This isn't just a charter issue. Same thing happens at our MCPS school with unbelievably high scores.

+1. The school may not be able to kick you out or have a got to go list, but there are ways to make it uncomfortable enough that a parent with other financial options will move their child rather than fight for the services/support needed for the child to be successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This isn't just a charter issue. Same thing happens at our MCPS school with unbelievably high scores.

+1. The school may not be able to kick you out or have a got to go list, but there are ways to make it uncomfortable enough that a parent with other financial options will move their child rather than fight for the services/support needed for the child to be successful.

Whether public schools or charters, there's a reason why schools push back and push kids out rather than "provide the services/support for the child to be successful" - it's most often not because they don't care or don't want to, it's because they don't HAVE the services/support for the child to be successful. In most cases what the child needs are far greater than what they can provide with their existing resources. You can fight for them all you like but in most cases, the additional resources won't materialize out of nowhere and all that will end up happening is that everyone will be miserable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Of course it is a problem when students assault others. How is that relevant to a school administrator's violation of FERPA?

Pretty sure assault is a felony in most jurisdictions. That's pretty serious, and I'd argue more serious than FERPA.

And don't you think it's a problem for the media and others involved outside of the school to cover up and lie about the assaults?

You know, if you just said, "Yes, Eva Moskowitz broke the law, but I don't have a problem with that." -- that would be honest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Of course it is a problem when students assault others. How is that relevant to a school administrator's violation of FERPA?

Pretty sure assault is a felony in most jurisdictions. That's pretty serious, and I'd argue more serious than FERPA.

And don't you think it's a problem for the media and others involved outside of the school to cover up and lie about the assaults?

You know, if you just said, "Yes, Eva Moskowitz broke the law, but I don't have a problem with that." -- that would be honest.

I'm no FERPA expert but given she didn't actually name any names or release any PII details, I'm not convinced she broke the law.

You know, if YOU just said, "Yes, I don't care that there was an extremely violent student attacking teachers and fellow classmates, and I don't care that the media lied about that and spun it, because I hate charters so much that the ends justify the means, even if that means lies and people being physically harmed" - now, that would be honest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know anything about special ed law but I find it VERY disturbing that the head of Success schools released all that very detailed information about that boy. I really hope they face legal action for that. No one who truly cares about kids would do that/

I didn't see in the article where Success released information about any kids. The information in the article was gathered from the families involved.

Eva Whatsherface posted a long letter on their website detailing all about the child. It was a huge violation of a child's privacy IMO.

What was posted on the Success Academy website was the email exchange between Success Academy and the reporters regarding dishonest reporting. The student's name was not listed.

The claim being made was that the student was disciplined for stupid nonsense like not having his shirt tucked in - but it turns out it was far far worse:

? throwing another student against the bathroom wall and threatening, “I’m going to use your
head like a soccer ball”
? picking up and throwing his desk and multiple chairs in the direction of his classmates
? lifting his desk above his head and attempting to throw it at other children
? jumping on another scholar
? kicking, scratching, and punching a teacher
? throwing a stapler
? punching a teacher and continuing to do so even after the teacher said “you’re hurting me”
requiring that safety guards be called
? hitting a teacher in the arms and stomach
? reaching for a teacher’s neck and choking her
? kicking and punching the school’s principal and grabbing her necklace, breaking it
? running away from adults on a field trip
? throwing his teachers’ cell phones on the ground and breaking them
? throwing a tantrum on a visit to a museum that caused two museum workers to have to restrain
the student as he kicked and screamed
? repeatedly and forcefully punching the gym wall
? ripping posters off the wall
? throwing and kicking objects in the main office, requiring the assistance of school safety officers
? ripping a bookshelf door off of its hinges
? pushing chairs and desks around the classroom and throwing a book in the classroom, with
other scholars present
? stabbing the walls with pencils

A lot more than shirts not tucked in going on there.. This is a kid with serious behavior problems. How very very dishonest to try and smear the school with lies!

This! The lies in that article were disgusting! Now people want to smear the school for defending itself. The parent shouldn't have lied!

[Anonymous]

I don't think Moskovitz violated FERPA. Per Dept of Ed http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.html

"a school may non-consensually disclose personally identifiable information from education records:

...to any third party the final results of a disciplinary proceeding related to a crime of violence or non-forcible sex offense if the student who is the alleged perpetrator is found to have violated the school's rules or policies. The disclosure of the final results only includes: the name of the alleged perpetrator, the violation committed, and any sanction imposed against the alleged perpetrator. The disclosure must not include the name of any other student, including a victim or witness, without the written consent of that other student."