StudentsFirst

Last updated
StudentsFirst
Founded2010
Founder Michelle Rhee
TypePolitical lobbying
FocusTeacher evaluation based on student achievement, ending teacher tenure and seniority preferences
Location
  • Washington, D.C.
Area served
United States
Key people
 Michelle Rhee
Website studentsfirst.org

StudentsFirst is a political lobbying organization formed in 2010 by Michelle Rhee, former school chancellor of Washington D.C. public schools, in support of education reform. [1] The organization worked to pass state laws on issues such as expanding charter schools and teacher tenure reform. On March 29, 2016, it announced some of its state chapters would merge with 50CAN, and its Sacramento headquarters would downsize. [2] [3]

Contents

Policy positions

StudentsFirst organizes its policy agenda into three categories: "elevate teaching," "empower parents," and "govern well." [4]

Under what it calls "elevate teaching," StudentsFirst has sought to eliminate the "last in, first out"—or LIFO -- seniority system for laying off public school teachers, [1] based on the premise that such a system promotes a sense of "adult entitlement" among teachers. [5] The organization also supports teacher evaluation systems based on improvement in student test scores, [1] and does not believe such assessment systems cause teachers to alter the test scores. [6]

"Empower parents" refers broadly to policies that allow for increased choice in where a student attends school, such as increasing accessibility to charter schools and providing opt-out options for students whose local public school is deemed "low-performing." StudentsFirst supports parent trigger laws, such as the California law that served as the plot for the movie Won't Back Down.

"Govern well" refers to policies in regards to school spending and resource allocation. [7]

In January 2013, StudentsFirst published a "policy report card" evaluating each of the 50 states' public educations laws and rules against its own policy agenda. [8] The survey suggested states publicly finance charter schools, institute test-linked "performance pay packages" for teachers, repeal laws capping class sizes, and end teacher tenure. No state received an "A" and only two states, Florida and Louisiana, received "B"s.

Political activity

According to the Los Angeles Times , StudentsFirst "spent nearly $2 million" in the 2012 general election cycle "to support 105 candidates across the country," [9] 90 of whom were Republicans. [10]

StudentsFirst supports the Student Success Act, legislation signed into law by Governor Rick Scott of Florida; [11] Michigan legislation that will remove a teacher's tenure status after a bad evaluation; [12] and similar proposals in Georgia, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. [13] The organization's activities have been the subject of significant coverage with articles appearing in the Huffington Post , [14] Fast Company magazine, [15] National Public Radio, [16] Education News Colorado, [17] The Washington Post , [1] The New York Times , [18] USA Today , [6] and the DailyKos. [19]

The organization has received seed money from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, a backer of educational reform in school districts. [6] As of May 2011, it had 21 staff members, and planned to engage in lobbying, the drafting of legislation and the backing of candidates for elected office. [6]

In October 2011, StudentsFirst launched an initiative to defend Michigan Republican Paul Scott against a recall effort, [20] dedicating nearly $70,000 to the initiative. [21] Scott's opponent in the upcoming race, Bobbie Walton, said StudentsFirst's involvement in the local election was "evidence of a national push to discredit teachers unions." [22] [ neutrality is disputed ] On November 8, 2011 Scott was recalled. [23]

Former chairman Joseph P. Watkins was named Receiver of Schools in Chester, Pennsylvania in 2012. [24]

Board of directors

As of September 2013, the members of StudentsFirst's Board of Directors were [25]

Funding

Appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2010, Rhee announced a goal of raising $1 billion and garnering one million members. In actuality, the organization reported it have raised $7.8 million in its first fiscal year and $28.5 million in its second. [26]

StudentsFirst has received funding from Michael Bloomberg as well as the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. The latter committed $20 million to the initiative in 2012, to be paid out over a five-year period. [27] [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, the motivations for reform have not reflected the current needs of society. A consistent theme of reform includes the idea that large systematic changes to educational standards will produce social returns in citizens' health, wealth, and well-being.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in the United States</span>

In the United States, education is provided in public and private schools and by individuals through homeschooling. State governments set overall educational standards, often mandate standardized tests for K–12 public school systems and supervise, usually through a board of regents, state colleges, and universities. The bulk of the $1.3 trillion in funding comes from state and local governments, with federal funding accounting for about $260 billion in 2021 compared to around $200 billion in past years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Public Schools</span> Public school system of the municipal government of Chicago, Illinois

Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the fourth-largest school district in the United States, after New York, Los Angeles, and Miami-Dade County. For the 2023–24 school year, CPS reported overseeing 634 schools, including 477 elementary schools and 157 high schools; of which 514 were district-run, 111 were charter schools, 7 were contract schools and 2 were SAFE schools. The district serves 323,251 students. Chicago Public School students attend a particular school based on their area of residence, except for charter, magnet, and selective enrollment schools.

Alma Dale Campbell Brown is a past head of global media partnerships at Meta and a former American television news reporter and anchorwoman. She was co-anchor of the NBC news program Weekend Today from 2003 to 2007, and hosted the prime time news program Campbell Brown on CNN from 2008 to 2010. Brown won an Emmy Award as part of the NBC team reporting on Hurricane Katrina. She is a senior advisor to Tollbit, a website services provider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randi Weingarten</span> President of the American Federation of Teachers

Rhonda "Randi" Weingarten is an American labor leader, attorney, and educator. She has been president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) since 2008, and is a member of the AFL-CIO. She is the former president of the United Federation of Teachers.

The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is the local public school system for Washington, D.C. It is distinct from the District of Columbia Public Charter Schools (DCPCS), which governs public charter schools in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Fenty</span> Mayor of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2011

Adrian Malik Fenty is an American politician who served as the mayor of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Saudi Arabia</span>

Public education in Saudi Arabia—from primary education through college—is open to every Saudi citizen. Education is the second-largest sector of government spending in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia spends 8.8% of its gross domestic product on education, which is nearly double the global average of 4.6%. Saudi Arabia is an Islamic country and therefore Islam is interwoven in every part of society, also in education. Islamic studies are part of the education system alongside scientific and social studies that vary from educational institution to another. Important goals of education in Saudi Arabia are to teach the students the economic, religious and social norms of the country. They also want to reduce the high illiteracy. The education system consists of 3 levels: primary education, intermediate education and secondary education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Rhee</span> American educational reformer (born 1969)

Michelle Ann Rhee is an American educator and advocate for education reform. She was Chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools from 2007 to 2010. In late 2010, she founded StudentsFirst, a non-profit organization that works on education reform.

ConnCAN is an American state-level education advocacy group founded in January 2005 and located in New Haven, Connecticut.

<i>Waiting for "Superman"</i> 2010 American film

Waiting for "Superman" is a 2010 American documentary film written and directed by Davis Guggenheim and produced by Lesley Chilcott. The film criticizes the American public education system by following several students as they strive to be accepted into competitive charter schools such as KIPP LA Schools, Harlem Success Academy and Summit Preparatory Charter High School.

Hari Sevugan is the former national press secretary for the Democratic National Committee. He served as the senior spokesman for the Barack Obama presidential campaign. According to one report "Sevugan's sound bytes were often pithy, biting and memorable." Another report is more direct, noting during the 2008 campaign Sevugan always gave out "the press office's harshest lines." He is currently one of the Principals at Chicago-based advocacy firm 270 Strategies.

TNTP, formerly known as The New Teacher Project, is an organization in the United States with a mission of ensuring that poor and minority students get equal access to effective teachers. It helps urban school districts and states recruit and train new teachers, staff challenged schools, design evaluation systems, and retain teachers who have demonstrated the ability to raise student achievement. TNTP is a non-profit organization. It was founded by Wendy Kopp, the original founder of Teach for America (TFA), in 1997 as a spin-off of TFA. She recruited Michelle Rhee as the CEO, according to TNTP's website. Wendy Kopp remained as President of the board of TNTP until 2000 according to TNTP's 990 form. Wendy Kopp remained as a board member until 2011. Rhee left TNTP in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Wisconsin protests</span> Demonstrations against proposed state legislation

The 2011 Wisconsin protests were a series of demonstrations in the state of Wisconsin in the United States beginning in February involving as many as 100,000 protesters opposing the 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, also called the "Wisconsin Budget Repair bill." The protests centered on the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, with satellite protests also occurring at other municipalities throughout the state. Demonstrations took place at various college campuses, including the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. After the collective bargaining bill was upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on June 14, the number of protesters declined to about 1,000 within a couple days.

Teacher tenure is a policy that restricts the ability to fire teachers, requiring a "just cause" rationale for firing. The individual states each have established their own tenure systems. Tenure provides teachers with protections by making it difficult to fire teachers who earn tenure. Some states are focusing on revisions so that the tenure system no longer functions the same way as currently.

Last in First Out is a policy often used by school districts and other employers to prioritize layoffs by seniority. Under LIFO layoff rules, junior teachers and other employees lose their jobs before senior ones. Laying off junior employees first is not exclusive to the education sector or to the United States, but is perhaps most controversial there. LIFO's proponents claim that it protects teachers with tenure and gives them job stability, and that it is an easily administered way of accomplishing layoffs following a budget cut. LIFO's critics respond that it is bad for students. They prefer that the best teachers remain regardless of how long they have been teaching.

Kevin S. Huffman is an American lawyer and education administrator who was the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education. He was appointed to the position by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and served from April 2011 to January 2015. Prior to his work at the Tennessee Department of Education, Huffman held a senior management position in Teach for America and had worked as an attorney specializing in education.

A parent trigger is a legal maneuver through which parents can change the administration of a poorly performing public school—most notably by transforming it into a charter school.

Bob Bowdon is a longtime broadcast journalist who is the executive director of ChoiceMedia.TV, an investigative video website devoted to education reform. He is a champion of school choice, charter schools, vouchers, merit pay, and other types of education reform.

Arnold Ventures LLC is a limited liability company focused on evidence-based philanthropy in a wide range of areas including criminal justice, education, health care, and public finance. The organization was founded by billionaires John D. Arnold and Laura Arnold in 2008.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Turque, Bill. "D.C. Schools Insider - Rhee: D.C. school bureaucracy makes 'no sense'". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
  2. ↑ Keierleber, Mark (29 March 2016). "The 74 Exclusive: Ed Reform Groups StudentsFirst and 50CAN to Merge". The 74. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  3. ↑ Resmovitz, Joy (29 March 2016). "Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst will merge with education advocacy group 50Can". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "Policy & Fiscal Strategy | StudentsFirst.org". Archived from the original on 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  5. ↑ "'Last In, First Out' Hurts Students, Teachers, and Communities". StudentsFirst.org. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Bello, Marisol; Gillum, Jack (May 5, 2011). "Inquiry sought into D.C. test scores". USA Today . Archived from the original on May 5, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Policy Priority 3: Spend Taxpayer Resources Wisely to Get Better Results for Students | StudentsFirst.org". Archived from the original on 2013-09-05. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-12-02. Retrieved 2022-02-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ↑ Los Angeles Times , "Taking a crack at California's education system ," March 26, 2013
  10. ↑ Denvir, Daniel (Nov. 17, 2012). "Michelle Rhee’s right turn Archived 2013-01-09 at the Wayback Machine ". Salon.com. Retrieved 2013-01-09.
  11. ↑ "Florida". StudentsFirst.org. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Lawmakers seek tenure reforms, say firing bad teachers too costly". Detroit Free Press . May 20, 2011. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Movement to Reform Our Schools Gaining Ground". StudentsFirst.org. Archived from the original on May 30, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
  14. ↑ Larry Strauss (February 11, 2011). "Students First and Other Lies". Huffington Post . Archived from the original on February 16, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Michelle Rhee Wants to Spend $1 Billion Fixing Education". Fast Company Magazine. January 12, 2011. Archived from the original on January 13, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee Aims To Put 'StudentsFirst'". NPR. February 26, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Michelle Rhee's next move: Students First". EdNewsColorado. December 14, 2010. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
  18. ↑ "Change the Teaching Profession - Room for Debate". The New York Times . January 26, 2011. Archived from the original on March 31, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  19. ↑ Laura Clawson (May 26, 2011). "Rhee's 'Students First' lobbied on Ohio's SB 5". Daily Kos . Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Michelle Rhee group StudentsFirst spends thousands to support Rep. Paul Scott in recall fight". mlive.com. Flint Journal. October 25, 2011. Archived from the original on October 28, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  21. ↑ "StudentsFirst claims victory in Michigan loss - POLITICO". Politico . Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  22. ↑ "Special interest groups spend thousands on Rep. Paul Scott recall effort as Supreme Court keeps issue on November ballot". mlive.com. 27 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2018-11-16. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  23. ↑ Bell, Dawson (2011-11-08). "Rep. Paul Scott recalled, concedes defeat". Detroit Free Press . Archived from the original on 2013-04-30. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
  24. ↑ Hardy, Dan (August 27, 2012). "New Chester Upland chief is change agent and lightning rod". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  25. ↑ "StudentsFirst Board of Directors | StudentsFirst.org". Archived from the original on 2013-09-20. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  26. ↑ Resmovitz, Joy (2 July 2013). "Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst Missed Its Fundraising Goal, Tax Documents Reveal". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  27. ↑ Simon, Stephanie (May 15, 2012). "Michelle Rhee, Education Activists Targeting U.S. Schools, Backed By Big Bucks". Huffington Post . Reuters. Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  28. ↑ Simon, Stephanie (June 25, 2012). "StudentsFirst Spending: National Education Reform Group's Partial Tax Records Released". Huffington Post . Reuters. Archived from the original on March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.