An unsatisfying half-hour with Duncan The Educated Guess

The Educated Guess

An unsatisfying half-hour with Duncan

Posted in Uncategorized

“I want to find positive things to take from what unfolded, but it is challenging,” was Anthony Cody’s overall assessment of the 30-minute teleconference that he and 11 other teachers had with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Monday (see preview of the meeting). Cody, who sought the session as an outgrowth of his 2,000 member Facebook page Teachers’ Letters to Obama, reported that half of the time was spent with introductions and remarks by Duncan. That left 15 minutes for compressed presentations by the teachers – and no time for Cody to give his thoughts on restructured schools.
Cody reported on the meeting in his column “Living in Dialogue” at edweek.org. It’s uncertain whether there will be a followup meeting or further discussions.

By John Fensterwald on May 25th, 2010

Unions again balk at Race to the Top

Posted in Race to the Top

The six districts leading the state’s second round Race to the Top application were able to recruit nearly 100 other districts and 200 charter schools to the cause. They failed, however, to persuade their own teachers unions to sign the application. And that lack of union participation will likely doom the state’s already iffy odds of winning a piece of the $3.4 billion that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has dangled for states in exchange for committing to an agenda of school reforms.
Friday was the last day for districts and unions to sign a memorandum of understanding. Of the half-dozen unified districts that formed the working group for Race to the Top, only unions in Fresno and Sanger, a small rural district, signed on. The big ones – in Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Clovis – in the end said no. Of the 43 unions that signed, about half represented teachers in charter schools.
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By John Fensterwald on May 25th, 2010

Mr. Secretary, listen to us teachers

Posted in Teacher Development

Today, an Oakland Unified science teacher-coach and 11 other teachers will get what they’ve been seeking for six months: the ear of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
The dozen teachers will have a 30-minute teleconference with Duncan to state some of the views they’ve been making on the Facebook page Teachers’ Letters to Obama, which Anthony Cody of Oakland started six months ago out of frustration with the directions that Duncan and President Obama were taking in education. Cody’s hoping this will be the first of a series of dialogues with Duncan, whom he says needs to hear more from teachers in the field.
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By John Fensterwald on May 24th, 2010