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Monday, March 21, 2011

Modern School: Detroit’s Continuing School Problems #wiunion

Modern School: Detroit’s Continuing School Problems

Detroit’s Continuing School Problems


Robert Bobb, now in the final months of his contract as state-appointed emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools (DPS), has failed to close the district’s budget deficit, which currently stands at $327 million. He has shuttered dozens of schools and privatized many others. He has also proposed closing half of DPS’ remaining schools (which would raise class sizes to 62) or privatizing 41 within the next six months. The Detroit Free Press says that this would make DPS the 2nd largest chartering district in the nation. However, many charter operators believe it is impossible to achieve Bobb’s ambitious goal within his 6 month timeframe.

DPS plans to release the list of schools slated for privatization within the next week and will

KOCH OUT PM News | www.kochwatch.org #wiunion

News | www.kochwatch.org

Jersey Jazzman: St. Michelle's Miracles

Jersey Jazzman: St. Michelle's Miracles

St. Michelle's Miracles

The World's Greatest Woman is so wonderful she can increase student learning just through her magical aura!
Consider, for example, that roughly 70 percent of the DC-CAS “gains” in math and reading proficiency during Rhee’s three-year tenure occurred in the first year. Assuming for a moment that these increases reflect actual progress among DCPS students, we all know that her primary policy reforms – the IMPACT evaluation system and the newWashington Teachers Union contract – went into effect in 2010, her third year.
Can somebody please explain to me how Michelle Rhee (or anyone else) could possibly have

The Planets Align...

Interesting how that happens sometimes:
Last week the New York Times ran a stunning piece about the investments made by the Libyan dictatorship's sovereign wealth fund. According to the article, the fund owns a 3.27 percent stake (valued at $453 million) in Pearson, publishers of the Economist, the Financial Times, and Penguin Books, making it the company's third largest shareholder.

What the Times does not mention is that Pearson is also one of the biggest standardized testing companies in the U.S., touting themselves on their website as "the largest commercial processor of student assessments." They score statewide tests for 30 states, as well as the SATs and ACTs. In fact, Pearson's North American education division is responsible for almost half the

The Education Grassroots Ascends (#EduSolidarity, Great American Teach-In, and Save Our Schools) | The Jose Vilson #wiunion

The Education Grassroots Ascends (#EduSolidarity, Great American Teach-In, and Save Our Schools) | The Jose Vilson

The Education Grassroots Ascends (#EduSolidarity, Great American Teach-In, and Save Our Schools)

Wisconsin Solidarity Fist

I have the privilege of being a part of a triumvirate of grassroots educational movements that I hope will change the landscape of the local and national discussions around education. Passionate. Provocative. Inspiring. Participatory.

First is #EDUsolidarity, an effort born from the mind of Steven Lazar, union leader and acclaimed social studies teacher in the blog. The principle of the movement is simple. Read on:

On Tuesday, March 22, teachers in NYC will wear red in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are under attack in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee and elsewhere. We also stand with teachers in places like Idaho, California, and Texas who are facing massive layoffs. We would like

School Redesign vs. School Reform « Cooperative Catalyst

School Redesign vs. School Reform « Cooperative Catalyst

School Redesign vs. School Reform

Reform: To return to a good state.

Redesign: A plan for making changes to the structure and functions of a system so as to better serve the purpose of the original design, or to serve purposes different from those set forth in the original design.

I look at the reform movement in education and see a form of insanity that boggles the mind. It is as if the past education structure was good and all we need to do is bring it back to its previous glory by adding more time on task, core standards, professional learning communities, small learning communities, measure math and reading, measure more math and reading, phonics, whole language, tracking, social promotion, class size, blended learning, standards, merit pay, site based management…. I could go on an on and write a book about each of these reforms, in fact many books by respected people have done just that. Yet all of these reforms

Do I Have to be a “Great” Teacher? | Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement

Do I Have to be a “Great” Teacher? | Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement

Do I Have to be a “Great” Teacher?

Be forwarned: This post is all over the place. But, for what it’s worth, it accurately reflects my mental state. And that’s all I can do. God help us.

Question: What do you call the guy who finished medical school at the bottom of his class?

Answer: Doctor

What is it with all of us teachers suddenly having to be “great”? Where I come from, I was taught not to show off. The ultimate goal for we Midwesterners was always understood to be “quiet adequacy.”

What if I am content to be “pretty good” or “unobtrusively a little above average”? Is there a place for me?

And can’t you only be “great” if somebody else sucks? Isn’t this a relative measure? You can only be smart if somebody else is stupid, right? Smart people need stupid people.

Wait…wait….the tests! THE TESTS! If everybody does well on the tests, all the teachers can be

Making School Lunch Healthy and Tasty on a Shoestring - The Bay Citizen

Making School Lunch Healthy and Tasty on a Shoestring - The Bay Citizen

Making School Lunch Healthy and Tasty on a Shoestring

Oakland and W. Contra Costa school districts are innovating more nutritious, less fatty meals that kids will like

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By ANNETTE FUENTES on March 21, 2011 - 5:00 p.m. PDT
Annette Fuentes
In W. Oakland Middle School, cook Tamara Purifoy prepares cheeseburgers

Think of Jennifer LeBarre as the general of the Oakland Unified School District’s food service.

Every day, she marshals an army of 300 employees who prepare, cook, deliver and serve 21,000 lunches (and 6,500 breakfasts) to 107 schools, some with as few as 35 students and others with more than 1,000. She must devise meals for schools that have no kitchens to warm up hot food as well as those with warming ovens.

As director of the district’s nutrition service, LeBarre crafts weekly menus that she hopes will satisfy all constituents: federal and state agencies that set guidelines on student nutrition, school administrators, parents and, last but not least, her customers—the students. She must do all of this without spending more than about $1.20 for the food on

Big Education Ape: 3-21-11, Special PM #wiunion Edition #p2 #WEAREWI

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now, #wiunion

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now

#wiunion
uppitywis.org - Wisconsin Atty. Gen. J.B. Van Hollen is appealing Dane County Circuit Court Judge MaryAnn Sumi's temporary stay of the new union-busting law enacted by Republicans and already conservative pundits ...

coopmike48
news.firedoglake.com - The controversy surrounding Wisconsin State Sen. Randy Hopper and his girlfriend in Madison has now reached Scott Walker as well. It turns out that Walker helped the woman get a state job, at a tim...

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teamsternation.blogspot.com - Emails obtained from Gov. Scott Walker show public wrote him in support of budget repair bill The Isthmus ...However, a significant number of these emails came from outside Wisconsin...Gov. Mitc...

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host.madison.com - DAVE ZWEIFEL | Cap Times editor emeritus | dzweifel@madison.com madison.com | | Posted: Monday, March 21, 2011 7:00 am One of our city’s unsung civic organizations is Historic Madison Inc., whose m...

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edweek.org - January 28, 2011 - McClatchy-Tribune

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theatlanticwire.com - When labor activists showed up at Wisconsin State Sen. Randy Hopper's front door to harass him about the anti-union bill before the state legislature, they got a juicier reaction than they would ha...

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defendwisconsin.org - – March 21, 2011Posted in: Announcements Public hearings are being held at the Capitol on Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. for three Senate bills related to public education. Show up at the hearings to...

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jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com - I've noticed a pattern lately in all of the discussion about teacher quality. Nobody seems to want to ask an obvious question: How big of a problem is it that some "ineffective" teachers are tenure...

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bigeducationape.blogspot.com - News | www.kochwatch.orgThom Hartmann: A Conservative who got mugged WATCH ON YOUTUBE:Ouachita River Keeper WATCH ON YOUTUBE:The Cap Times: Grass Roots: Fallout on veterans fuels insider critique o...

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bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Republicans planning a coup - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.comGOP coup: Party planning union-busting all overStephen GoldsteinBio | E-mail | Recent columns134Share2diggTopicsFinanceExecutive BranchRe...

coopmike48
teamsternation.blogspot.com - Local 344 members sign recall petitions at the union office. Wisconsin's Teamster locals are putting some muscle behind the drive to recall eight of the Senate Republicans who voted to end collecti...

coopmike48
bluecheddar.wordpress.com - by bluecheddar This is a very good day. That’s because I found 5 Solidarity Shopper Coupons by Michael Martin on facebook! HERE’s where I found all 5 of these little deal-breakers. llll Posted...

coopmike48
huffingtonpost.com - Congresswoman Martha Roby (R-Ala.) is sponsoring HR 205, The Geometric Simplification Act, declaring the Euclidean mathematical constant of pi to be precisely 3. The bill comes in response to data ...

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wepartypatriots.com - Mar 2011 21 Much has been written about income inequality, tax breaks for the wealthy, and the increasing burden being placed on the backs of the middle class through rhetorical calls for “shared s...

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bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Big Education Ape: Ed News Now, #wiunionBig Education Ape: Ed News Now as shared by 6 people on Coopmike48’s Twitter listNext update in about 12 hoursBack to front pageHEADLINESEDUCATIONPOLITICSLIV...

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mediaite.com - Greta Van Susteren wrote on her blog that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the Republican lawmakers made a crucial mistake in their attempt to enforce their controversial collective bargaining b...

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uppitywis.org - No surprise that a poll sponsored by a pro-school choice group found that a majority of Milwaukee people polled favored expanding the program by removing income limits for eligibility.Why wouldn't ...

coopmike48
uppitywis.org - State Rep. Jeff Stone, the Scott Walker clone running to replace him as Milwaukee County executive, has been rying to keep his distance from Walker ever since the governor's poll numbers plunged in...

coopmike48
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Wisconsin’s Recall-ready Senator Hopper: Clean affair, dirty government. | blue cheddar.Wisconsin’s Recall-ready Senator Hopper: Clean affair, dirty government.BY BLUECHEDDARThis has little to do w...

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theuptake.org - Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch (R-St. Michael) is asked if cutting Local Government Aid and school integration funding is unfairly attacking the state’s cities. Koch replies that integration fundi...

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wepartypatriots.com - Mar 2011 21 ProsserEqualsWalker.comThe website Prosser=Walker has laid the foundation for the argument that Supreme Court judge David Prosser, who is seeking re-election on April 5th, is closely al...

coopmike48
blog.aflcio.org - The AFL-CIO is a voluntary federation of 56 national and international labor unions and represents workers from all walks of life. Together, we seek to improve the lives of working families to brin...

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coopmike48 NY Times on Budget Cuts: Cuomo Takes Easy Way Out, Illogically Caters to Special Interests « EdVoxhttp://bit.ly/f1cnsX #Edu2 minutes ago · reply

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coopmike48 Sweetwater High strategy wins robotics competition - SignOnSanDiego.com - http://goo.gl/d46Pzabout 1 minute ago · reply

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coopmike48 FB RT: Class Size Matters Gotham Gazette: Comptroller to audit DOE spending on online learning; w/ties to IB… (cont) http://deck.ly/~kI1By31 minutes ago · reply

opednews.com - My guest today is John Peck, Executive Director of Family Farm Defenders. Welcome to OpEdNews, John. Many farmers in Wisconsin (and beyond) are supporting union workers in the standoff in Madison. ...

coopmike48
uppitywis.org - Eight-nine percent of emails from Wisconsin addresses to Gov. Scott Walker opposed his budget-repair bill. That little nugget of importance is buried below the lead of today's Milwaukee Journal Sen...

coopmike48
uppitywis.org - "We never go out to lunch anymore. We never socialize in any way... There needs to be more authentic ways to bring people together."-- Justice David Prosser, in an interview with the Baraboo News R...

coopmike48
teamsternation.blogspot.com - Quick, take a few seconds and vote "strongly disapprove of Walker" in this online poll by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Then pass it on to everyone you can think of. This poll was started by Rep...

coopmike48
uppitywis.org - In our efforts to form a more perfect Union we look to the Constitution for guidance for how we might shape the form and function of Government; many who seek to interpret that document try to do s...

coopmike48
teamsternation.blogspot.com - Here's a great explainer about what's at stake in Wisconsin. It isn't just collective bargaining rights for government workers. As Rally Girl reports, Firefighters have protested. Police have prot...

coopmike48
defendwisconsin.org - – March 21, 2011Posted in: Our Voices A behind-the-scenes look at Defend Wisconsin’s volunteer efforts in the latest video from Blue cheddar: a Progressive blog in Wisconsin. A huge thank you to ou...

coopmike48
bluecheddar.wordpress.com - by bluecheddar I made this roughly 3 minute video. William had a lot more to say, which will make its way onto this blog as additional audio recordings —but for now, a video will do. (It’s 11:45p...

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democurmudgeon.blogspot.com - WSJ: John Russo, labor studies professor at Youngstown State University, a "politics of resentment" may be in play."There's a sense of hopelessness," he says. "Some people feel like, 'If we're not ...

coopmike48
thinkprogress.org - Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser and Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson Newly released emails reveal that Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, a close Republican ally of anti-w...

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wepartypatriots.com - Mar 2011 21 The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has launched an ad taking on Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. Daniels has held on to hopes for a Presidential bid but has also admitted that...

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