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Friday, July 23, 2010

Hundreds of DC school employees to be dismissed - Boston.com

Hundreds of DC school employees to be dismissed - Boston.com

Hundreds of DC school employees to be dismissed


July 23, 2010
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WASHINGTON—The D.C. Public Schools are firing 241 teachers and warning more than 700 other employees that they could be fired in the next year if their performance doesn't improve.
The firings announced Friday total 302 school system employees, including the 241 teachers. They come largely as a result of the first year of a new teacher evaluation system, though 76 teachers were fired for problems with their





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Schools Matter: Arne Duncan's Brand of Equality

Schools Matter: Arne Duncan's Brand of Equality

Arne Duncan's Brand of Equality


The Audacity of Arne Duncan
Jim Horn

Arne Duncan stood before the NAACP convention last week to repeat his claim that “education is the civil rights issue of our generation.” He also declared “the only way to equality in society is to achieve equality in the classroom.” Since Mr. Duncan did not spell out what he meant by equality or civil rights, let’s see if we can extrapolate his meaning from the policies he is pushing hard to be adopted across America, even if his heavy-handed forcing means ignoring the lawful Congressional role in making federal education policy.

Apparently, Mr. Duncan does not believe that the equality shortage in classrooms that we have known about ever

Oregon school computer labs overwhelmed by demands on students | OregonLive.com

Oregon school computer labs overwhelmed by demands on students | OregonLive.com

Oregon school computer labs overwhelmed by demands on students

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By Wendy Owen, The Oregonian

July 23, 2010, 5:10PM
Mandatory computerized state testing and federal requirements that students to be "technologically literate" have created a log jam as computer labs are consumed for days or weeks at a time. Schools have little money to purchase more computers or maintain the ones they have. Full story »

Beaverton schools will see changes in leaders, staff

By Melissa Navas, The Oregonian

July 23, 2010, 11:40AM
Turnover comes from assignments to fill vacancies and jobs made vacant by leaves and retirements Full story »

In the game of life, father's success inspires son

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By Larry Bingham, The Oregonian

July 23, 2010, 11:03AM
Carey Grayson never imagined he'd play games for a living. He never dreamed he'd invent a game about Portland's bridges. And he never foresaw how his passion for games would inspire one of his kids. Full story »

For Portland schools, new plan means layoffs, but not as many as feared

By Molly Hottle, The Oregonian

July 22, 2010, 6:55PM
The district will cut the equivalent of 139 full-time positions and spare PE as long as Congress comes through with $6 million to help save teachers. Full story »

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Gulen schools and their booming H1B visa applications

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Gulen schools and their booming H1B visa applications

Gulen schools and their booming H1B visa applications

Consider the following:
  • The Gulen schools and their related organizations account for 31.5% of all H1B visa applications requested by the top 100 secondary school education H1B visa sponsors (since 2008). (Table 1)
  • Of the top 100 secondary school education H1B visa sponsors, 34 of the 100 sponsors were Gulen schools or their related organizations (since 2008).
  • A total of 4277 visas were requested by the top 100 sponsors.
  • 1349 of the 4277 applications were submitted by Gulen schools or their related organizations.

Schools Matter: Part III - With a Twist

Schools Matter: Part III - With a Twist

Part III - With a Twist

This is part three of a three part series on charters and philanthropy. I offered a brief overview of philanthropy's options for expanding charter schools in part one, and looked at a recent report on charter management organizations (CMOs), the darlings of big philanthropy, in part two.

Part three was supposed to look at: how Tom Vander Ark commented on the report via his blog, EdReformer; how one of the CRPE researcher's responded to his summary; how Tom responded when presented with

At Promise Academies, vacancies galore | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

At Promise Academies, vacancies galore | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

At Promise Academies, vacancies galore

by Paul Socolar on Jul 23 2010 Posted in Latest news
A majority of Philadelphia schools have their entire staff in place for the coming school year, a quick review of the District's teacher vacancy list shows.
But at the District's six new Promise Academies - schools slated for a major overhaul this fall under the direction of Superintendent Arlene Ackerman - quite the opposite situation is the rule.
At Clemente Middle School, 47 teaching positions are posted on the District vacancy list. At Potter-Thomas, vacancies number 22. At tiny Vaux High School, the number is 13. At all three of these Promise Academies, judging from staffing

This Week In Education: Rhee: Mass Firing (Of 241 Teachers) In DC

This Week In Education: Rhee: Mass Firing (Of 241 Teachers) In DC

Rhee: Mass Firing (Of 241 Teachers) In DC

Asian-carpLet the debate over using tests scores and downrating teachers re-commence! Late on a Friday afternoon the Wall Street Journal posted this story about Rhee firing 6 percent of her teachers. It's unclear how many of


EdSec: Big Duncan Speech On Tuesday

GerWord is that Duncan's going to announce something big on Tuesday at the National Press Club. Results from the World Cup office pool? His feelings about the oil spill in the Gulf? Round two winners of Race To The Top? Who knows. His official




Books: A New Offering From PBS's John Merrow

image from belowclevel.orgI'm late in noting the publication of John Merrow's new book, Below C Level, which answers all the questions you always wanted Merrow to answer (or at least all the answers he's going to give you as a journalist). Merrow is one of the more interesting figures in education journalism. He's got a face for TV -- and a voice for radio (and has

Remainders: Rhee fires bottom six percent of D.C. teachers | GothamSchools

Remainders: Rhee fires bottom six percent of D.C. teachers | GothamSchools

Remainders: Rhee fires bottom six percent of D.C. teachers

  • Michelle Rhee fired 241 of 4,000 D.C. teachers (6%) today citing poor performance. (WashPost)
  • 737 of D.C. teachers were rated “minimally effective” by the new IMPACT eval. (Teacher Beat)
  • Geoffrey Canada responds to critical analyses of the Harlem Children’s Zone. (Ed Week)
  • “Big money has a way of making itself heard over hard data.” (Walt Gardner)
  • A brief video history of P.S. 8 in Brooklyn Heights. (Brooklyn Heights Blog)
  • Submit questions to Arne Duncan for a July 29 radio town hall with teachers. (ed.gov)
  • USDOE has a tool showing where Promise Neighborhood grants came from. (data.ed.gov)
  • Duncan is also cracking down on for-profit universities, and their stocks follow. (Hechinger)
  • The Education Voters of New York group released its first report. (Imagine: NY Schools)
  • Mayor Bloomberg sympathizes with child abuse victims: he once cried as a baby. (Daily News)

Community Involvement – Moving from Box Checking to Shared Accountability � The Quick and the Ed

Community Involvement – Moving from Box Checking to Shared Accountability � The Quick and the Ed

Community Involvement – Moving from Box Checking to Shared Accountability

July 23rd, 2010 | Category: Accountability


This week the National Journal is taking on the critical issue of parent and community involvement in turning around low performing schools. The conversation is spurred by Sec. Duncan’s commitment last week to require parent and community input in the turnaround process. He said
“Community leaders and parents must demand and support this change. Turning around a struggling school is hard, hard work. And there is no simple formula. The work must be shaped at the local level with all of the stakeholders at the table.”
Of course, he is right that without parental involvement and local community

“Challenges in Evaluating Special Education Teachers and English Language Learner Specialists” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“Challenges in Evaluating Special Education Teachers and English Language Learner Specialists” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...