Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Ravitch in Chicago

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Ravitch in Chicago


There was a good turnout for Diane Ravitch's whirlwind book tour in Chicago. Friday, she spoke at DePaul (left) and UIC. On Saturday, she spoke to Catalyst (right) members. Her talks were hosted co-hosted by the Small Schools Workshop.

UCSC Fines Activists $944 Each � Student Activism

UCSC Fines Activists $944 Each � Student Activism

UCSC Fines Activists $944 Each

Yesterday I posted about SFSU’s move to charge eleven student activists more than $700 each for costs relating to a building occupation on campus. As I reported, this week also saw a PR blitz from the UC Berkeley administration, which claimed that this year’s protests there have cost them more than two hundred thousand dollars so far.
Today, the blog Occupy CA is reporting that UC Santa Cruz is demanding that an unspecified number of students who participated in November’s Kerr Hall occupation pay the university $944 each in restitution.
Much more detail over at Occupy CA, including the following claims:
  • Those facing fines include three of five student negotiators, who were “uninvolved in the actual

Sacramento Press / Business Community steps up to raise funds for WEAVE

Sacramento Press / Business Community steps up to raise funds for WEAVE

Business Community steps up to raise funds for WEAVE 

by 

On April 8th members of the business community and leaders from the California State Government joined together to raise awareness and funds for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Sacramento County. Presenting sponsor, Accenture, and 22 other corporate supporters hosted “Break the Cycle. Build a Connection” at the California Museum. Dignitaries in attendance included Senate President proTem and Sacramento County Supervisor Susan Peters. Event chair Gail Gregori created the event as a response to WEAVE’s struggle to ensure that life-saving and changing services remain available to families in need during these challenging economic times.
Photos on web site, www.phototia.com
Gail Gregori, Event Chair, Darrell Steinberg, Senate President proTem and Beth Hassett, Executive Director of WEAVE


Mark Whitney, Attorney and Ashley West, Weave Board President and Attorney

DAC meeting is Tuesday, April 13, 2010 sacdac.org

Education News & Comment

The next DAC meeting is Tuesday, April 13, 2010
at the Serna Center, Community Room, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm.
Free dinner and daycare is provided for your convenience.
Agenda and draft minutes are attached.
Hello DAC members & Community Partners:


Dear DAC Membership and Interested Parties:
The next DAC meeting is Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at the Serna Center, Community Rooms from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Agenda is attached. Last month’s minutes are also attached.
District Advisory Board (DAC) Board got some major breaking new! First, the Title I cutoff for 2010-11 has moved up to 50% free and reduced lunch student population from last year 36%. Second, the school district when through an audited last year. The Feds found SCUSD inappropriately distributed the Economic Impact Aid (EIA) funds. EIA funds are divided between State Compensatory Education funds (SCE) 60% & Limited English Proficiency (LEP) 40%. The principals received training this week. I have provided you the information that was shared at the DAC board meeting (see attachments). All monies are to serve the socioeconomically disadvantaged or English Learners students directly, not supplant staff that serves the whole school population.
I recommend all School Site Council members attend this meeting, not just DAC representatives. Look at the data provided. Schools’ estimated 2010-11 categorical allocations are listed. Graciela Albiar, Director of State & Federal Programs will be explaining in detail how these changes are calculated and how the new ruling applies to EIA allocations to your school’s Single Plan of Student Achievement.
Manuel Guillot, Director of Office of Parent & Community Engagement will discuss research-based best practices to increase parent involvement—to help build the school’s capacity.
I want to stress that anyone can attend DAC meetings—any community member and parents not necessarily involved in school site council. These meeting are open to the public.
See you there!
Wanda Yañez
Chairperson
District Advisory Committee (DAC)
Sacramento City Unified School District
Work: (916) 654-7729


The Perimeter Primate: Sunday reading: Privatization in your face (Two short articles extra credit)

The Perimeter Primate: Sunday reading: Privatization in your face (Two short articles extra credit)

Sunday reading: Privatization in your face (Two short articles + extra credit)

1. Schwarzenegger leads the way with selling off California’s assets and removes those who question him from his path. This is neoliberalism in its true form: the transfer of wealth belonging to the masses (the State) into the hands of a small number of private individuals. Read this article carefully to absorb what is happening here. A local version of this would be if OUSD (Oakland Unified School District) sold its properties off, then turned around to rent back its schools from its new landlords in perpetuity.
2. Schwarzenegger professes his love and admiration for Milton Friedman: economic adviser to Ronald Reagan, Mr. Free-Market, and the neoliberal creator of all this mess. The movement to privatize public education started

YouTube - Denver's MSLA: Everyone a Learner, Teacher, Leader

YouTube - Denver's MSLA: Everyone a Learner, Teacher, Leader:
"NEAABS — April 09, 2010 — The Math and Science Leadership Academy is a union-designed, teacher-led public school within the Denver Public School System. The schools teachers use collaborative planning time to meet with their peers, analyze data and design instruction that meets student needs. We designed it, we put this together, and were running it, says Lori Nazareno, one of two head teachers at MSLA Everybody gets that its our responsibility. The school is designed to attract and retain the most accomplished teachers in the field, and so far its working. The school fielded around 30 applications for each position."
NEAABS — April 09, 2010 — The Math and Science Leadership Academy is a union-designed, teacher-led public school within the Denver Public School System. The schools teachers use collaborative planning time to meet with their peers, analyze data and design instruction that meets student needs. We designed it, we put this together, and were running it, says Lori Nazareno, one of two head teachers at MSLA Everybody gets that its our responsibility. The school is designed to attract and retain the most accomplished teachers in the field, and so far its working. The school fielded around 30 applications for each position.



Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.











Sorry Geoffrey Canada, but failure IS an option, a reality, and even a boon

My guest is Diana Senechal, who taught for four years in the New York City public schools and is writing a book about the loss of solitude in schools and culture.
By Diana Senechal
Calling for more school choice, Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, began his March 27 New York Daily News op-ed with the following:
"Visitors to my public charter school often ask how the students feel about the signs on the walls that say: ’Failure is not an option.’ They are surprised to hear that the signs are really for the staff." 

There are two ethical problems with declaring that failure is not an option. First of all, failure exists everywhere, chosen or not, and to deny it is to deny reality. Second, without the option of failure, we would have no freedom of will; we would have to succeed at everything, and the success would lose meaning. 
Continue reading this post »



JAY MATHEWS
What's Right and Wrong With Our Schools
Posted at 5:30 AM ET, 04/ 9/2010

Principal keeps student in AP class she rejected

I can hear some of you mumbling: What is Mathews doing? His nutty campaign for AP and International Baccalaureate and his love of anything to which the word rigor can be attached is the reason why educators push this stuff too hard. Is he finally confessing his sins of overdoing challenging courses?
Ed Buzz: The Nation

a

EducationNews.org - EducationNewsToday

EducationNews.org - EducationNewsToday

EducationNewsToday

Working Financial Literacy in With the Three R’s

While more states are beginning to require personal finance instruction, there aren’t enough that do, experts say, and the quality is inconsistent.
Full story

Sorry Geoffrey Canada, but failure IS an option, a reality, and even a boon

Calling for more school choice, Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, began a recent newspaper op-ed with the following: "Visitors to my public charter school often...
Full story

Schmoke was key to D.C. teachers contract deal

Former Baltimore mayor brought feuding sides back together ...
Full story

Gates grant and earlier changes put Hillsborough schools in sweet spot

Teachers all over Florida are watching in anger as state lawmakers upend their profession, but not teachers in Hillsborough County. They alone have been given an exception....
Full story

New law planned to boost Pa. charter oversight

Leaders of the state Senate Education Committee said Friday that they would introduce a bill in Harrisburg to address the latest allegations of fiscal mismanagement that have rocked the Philadelphia charter school community...
Full story

Harvard-based pay-for-study experiment shows students incentivized to actions, not results

The Harvard-based study led by former city Education Department consultant Roland Fryer examined the program he spearheaded, which poured $6.3 million in private funds into 261 schools in four cities....
Full story

Panel hears ideas on next S.D. schools chief

Some parents, teachers and others who have been tapped to help craft a want ad of sorts for the next San Diego schools chief know what they don’t want more than anything else. ...
Full story

Granite unveils teacher Web rules

Granite teachers soon could be required to give their students a cyber cold shoulder. The Salt Lake Valley school district is considering a new social-networking policy that would forbid employees from fraternizing with...
Full story

Charter-school report puts blame on School District

City Controller Alan Butkovitz said Thursday that the Philadelphia School District had failed to monitor 67 charter schools, leaving both it and the taxpayers "extremely vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse." ...
Full story

Butkovitz: Charter schools spending like it's their money

City Controller Alan Butkovitz yesterday blasted the Philadelphia School District's Charter School Office for failing "to monitor charter schools," which spend millions in taxpayers' dollars....
Full story

Florida House passes landmark teacher merit-pay bill

The Florida House passed a landmark teacher merit-pay bill early this morning that aims to put the state at the forefront of a controversial national push to tie teacher compensation to student performance. ...
Full story

Clark County teachers face peer pressure on furloughs

Clark County’s teachers, resisting calls for wage concessions, may now start feeling pressure to buckle from an unlikely source: their colleagues in Washoe County, home of the state’s second-largest teachers association. ...
Full story

Districts Report Grim Outlook as Stimulus Fades

Layoffs, program cuts, and other drastic steps loom as economic-stimulus aid dries up, a survey of school administators finds. ...
Full story

New program to recognize Online Teacher of the Year

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) have teamed up on a new awards program that will recognize an outstanding online teacher for his or her exceptional contributions to virtual... ...
Full story

R.I. Ed. Chief: Failing Schools Need Sweeping Change

Failing schools are a drain on the state's already sluggish economy and require wholesale transformation, state Education Commissioner Deborah Gist told lawmakers. ...
Full story

Ankeny students learn a different kind of writing

Ankeny students learn a different kind of writing First-grade students at Westwood Elementary School in Ankeny have been creating booklets together during a new program called ...
Full story

Deputy uses Taser on students, apparently at their request

A Lake County sheriff's deputy used a Taser on about 30 high school students Thursday morning during a career fair on the playground of Lake County High School in Leadville. ...
Full story

Fighting the corporate sludge

4.9.10 - You might remember ‘Jamal’ from my article on Detroit Public schools, “Corporate Barbarians at the Gate: Wal-Mart internships at Detroit Schools”...
Full story

Jay Mathews: Principal keeps student in AP class she rejected

I can hear some of you mumbling: What is Mathews doing? His nutty campaign for AP and International Baccalaureate and his love of anything to which the word rigor can be attached is the reason why educators push this stuff too hard. Is he finally confessing his sins of overdoing challenging courses? ...
Full story

Teaching the Civil War: Debate still alive

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s apology for leaving slavery out of a proclamation declaring April as Confederate History Month cannot gloss over the fact that the issue is still alive....
Full story