Monday, September 26, 2011

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top PM Posts


Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top PM Posts


Reading, Writing, ‘Rithmetic….and Responsibility | GoingPublic

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
Reading, Writing, ‘Rithmetic….and Responsibility | GoingPublic:Reading, Writing, ‘Rithmetic….and Responsibilityby Nancy LettsSometimes when I can’t sleep, I listen to BBC radio. It’s on my local NPR station from 2 am until 5 (I know, crazy huh?). Last week I sat upright listening to a piece about the horrific journey some kids in Zimbabwe make to get a top notch education in Johannesburg. They have to cross a river infested with alligators, find their way through barbed wire at the border of ... more »

UC Berkeley student senators respond to bake sale

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
UC Berkeley student senators respond to bake sale:UC Berkeley student senators respond to bake saleNanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff WriterMonday, September 26, 2011PrintE-mailShareComments (364)Font | Size: 262Facebook.comA Facebook post announcing plans by a UC Berkeley Republican group to sell baked goods priced according to race, gender and ethnicity - "White/Caucasian" pastries for $2 and "Black/African American" pastries for 75 cents, for example - has drawn outrage on campus. View Larger ImageRELATED CONTENTStudent Group's 'Diversity Bake Sale' Stirs Controversy At CalViewMORE ... more »

Why are all the Black kids in special ed? Or, why you should always demand a second opinion | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
Why are all the Black kids in special ed? Or, why you should always demand a second opinion | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:Why are all the Black kids in special ed? Or, why you should always demand a second opinionby Guest bloggerThis guest blog post was written by Sonja Kerr and Dave Hanyok of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia.As demonstrated in study after study and acknowledged in the text of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), minority ... more »

Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Words Have Meaning

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
Save Seattle Schools Community Blog: Words Have Meaning:Words Have Meaningby Melissa WestbrookI say that often here - words have meaning. I bring this up because I have noticed over the last week or so some wording being used here that is pointed at the person and not the argument. It both hurts this blog and the argument when that happens. There is also some unsaid (but implied) arguments that aren't really helpful.I noticed things like:someone saying he/she is open-minded (and ... more »

WHAT WOULD YOU COMPROMISE ON ? « Teachers Fight Back

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
WHAT WOULD YOU COMPROMISE ON ? « Teachers Fight Back:WHAT WOULD YOU COMPROMISE ON ?by alkleenI always thought that compromise was the most important part of negotiations. Teacher – administrative contract talks these days seem to center on how much teachers are willing to give, as opposed to a give and take. Teachers are asked to give back previously agreed upon raises, or accept a freeze, or have benefits cut, and get nothing in return. What happened to the compromise ...more »

Food Fee Reductions - Year 2011 (CA Dept of Education)

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
Food Fee Reductions - Year 2011 (CA Dept of Education):The California Department of Education Announces Fee Reductionfor Child Nutrition Program Agencies Receiving USDA FoodsSACRAMENTO—Creating a potential savings of $1 million a year for school districts, the California Department of Education's (CDE) Food Distribution Program (FDP) announced Monday that shipping, handling, and administrative fees charged in the distribution of U.S. Department of Agriculture food goods will be reduced by 20 percent beginning October 1."With the financial emergency facing our schools, it's ... more »

What American Schools Just Don’t Understand (Or, Why My Family Might be Moving to Finland) « MomsRising Blog

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
What American Schools Just Don’t Understand (Or, Why My Family Might be Moving to Finland) « MomsRising Blog:What American Schools Just Don’t Understand (Or, Why My Family Might be Moving to Finland)by Kerala TaylorMy husband and I are expecting our first baby in December, and we just might be moving to Finland within the next few years–unless schools around here get better soon. And by “better,” I don’t mean that they start churning out higher test scores.I want my daughter ... more »

This Week In Education: Thompson: Gates Study Casts Questions On Broad Winner

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
This Week In Education: Thompson: Gates Study Casts Questions On Broad Winner:Thompson: Gates Study Casts Questions On Broad Winnerby john thompsonThe Hechinger Report notes some seriously bad news about the Charlotte Mecklenburg schools, which won the Broad Prize for excellence last week. The CMS "failed dismally in meeting academic targets for 2011." And the number of Charlotte schools ranked by Newsweek as among the nation's top dropped from 13 to two. The biggest blow, however, is CMS's rating on the ... more »

NCLB Waivers - Year 2011 (CA Dept of Education)

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
NCLB Waivers - Year 2011 (CA Dept of Education):Torlakson Issues Statement on NCLB WaiversSACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson issued the following statement today regarding the proposal made by US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan regarding state waivers to No Child Left Behind:"Today's announcement represents an acknowledgement by the Administration that the one-size-fits-all policies of No Child Left Behind are unworkable."We are carefully examining the proposal, which would appear to cost billions of dollars to fully implement, at a ... more »

Sly Stone homeless: Soul music star living in camper in L.A. - latimes.com

Big Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All) - 1 hour ago
Sly Stone homeless: Soul music star living in camper in L.A. - latimes.com:Sly Stone homeless: Soul music star living in camper in L.A.September 26, 2011 | 8:33 am 1236Soul music legend Sly Stone, best known as the frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, has squandered his fortune and is living homeless on the streets of Los Angeles."I like my small camper," Stone told the New York Post in an article co-written by William Alkema, director of a documentary about ... more »
at

At a public comment session on the budget facts don’t get in the way of opinions. « Fred Klonsky's blog

At a public comment session on the budget facts don’t get in the way of opinions. « Fred Klonsky's blog:

At a public comment session on the budget facts don’t get in the way of opinions.

by Fred Klonsky

I just got back from the Park Ridge meeting of the Board of Education. They were considering the budget (which as you may know is like French driving laws. It is more of a suggestion than a set of hard rules).

We had asked teachers to attend in response to the anti-teacher comments made by some local union-bashers at the past few meetings.

About 40 teachers came. As the members of the board came in, some expressed surprise at the large teacher turn-out.

“This is what we do when we’re mildly interested,” I said. “Wait until you see how many show up if we get really pissed.”

I don’t know who the three anti-union speakers are affiliated with. They quack like
at

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog: Sleep Well Daughter of Africa, Wangari Maathai

Ms. Jablonski's Class Blog: Sleep Well Daughter of Africa, Wangari Maathai:

Sleep Well Daughter of Africa, Wangari Maathai

by L. Jablonski
Let us join the people of Kenya in mourning the death and celebrating the life and legacy of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Maathai died Sunday after a long battle against cancer. Through her fearless championing of environmental sustainability in Kenya, Maathai helped reveal for all the world how environmental issues are inextricably linked to women's rights, economic justice and fairness, national and international peace and security and the fundamental principles of democratic governance.

Check out this remarkable tribute by John Vidal in the Guardian UK, which includes this quote from Maathai spoken in England in the late '80s:
The top of the pyramid is blinded by insatiable appetites backed by scientific knowledge, industrial advancement, the need to acquire, accumulate and over-consume. The rights of those at the bottom are violated every day by those at the top... the economic and political systems are
at

Blood Money | The Jose Vilson

Blood Money | The Jose Vilson:

Blood Money

by Jose

Recently, someone asked me in response to something they read about whether or not someone’s opinions shift based on whether they were getting paid for said opinions or not. It depends on what we mean by “shift.” Of course, if you throw a million dollars and the person throwing you the money gives you specific direction on what you’re going to spend it on and the ideals of the payment, it makes sense. If you’re at work and you’re asked to give your honest opinion about the job, you’re going to try and sand the edges of your message before you give them the real. Money has powers of influence whether we’re in a prosperous economy or not. Man makes the money, not the other way around. However, it becomes a factor in whatever decision one makes when it gets involved.

Having said that, there’s been plenty of discussion around money from ed-deformer organizations like the Walsh

at

FAIR Event MisEducation Nation: Corporate Media and Corporate Education Reform

FAIR Event:

FAIR New York City Event

September 27, 2011

MisEducation Nation:
Corporate Media and Corporate Education Reform

NBC is staging its second annual "Education Nation" summit at the end of September--a series of events and broadcasts bankrolled by the corporate interests and foundations aligned with the so-called "education reform" movement.

Corporate media coverage of education policy tends to hew closely to the "reform" agenda: promoting charter schools and vouchers, embracing relentless testing and other "accountability" measures, and attacking teachers' unions for standing in the way of progress.

What would a more reasonable conversation about public education look like?

On September 27, join FAIR and four of the most dynamic and thoughtful education experts and activists in the country for a FREE discussion about how the media mangle the debate over public schools.

The panelists:

-Diane Ravitch
Author, NYU Research Professor of Education

-Pedro Noguera
NYU Professor of Education

-Brian Jones
Teacher-Activist

-Leonie Haimson
Executive Director, Class Size Matters

Moderator: Laura Flanders
Author/Journalist


September 27, 2011
7:00 PM
School of the Future Auditorium
127 East 22nd Street
between Park and Lexington)
New York, NY 10010


Free of charge.


CO-SPONSORS: Class Size Matters, WBAI 99.5 FM, Parents Across America, Grassroots Education Movement, Rethinking Schools, NYCoRE, Coalition for Public Education, Teachers Unite
at

Kids In Need Teacher Grant Application Office Depot Accepting Grant Applications for Middle School Teachers

Kids In Need Teacher Grant Application:

Attention Middle School Teachers! The Office Depot® Star Teacher Program in conjunction with the Office Depot® Foundation are proud to be national sponsors of the Kids In Need Teacher Grants program with "Ready, Steady, GO!," a grants initiative especially for middle school teachers being conducted by the Kids In Need Foundation. Grant applications are being accepted online through October 30, 2011. Grants are awarded in amounts from $100 to $500.

The Ready, Steady, GO! grant application must be used only by middle school teachers, and you must register for the Star Teacher Program, which also qualifies you for discounts. Click here to access the Star Teacher Program registration page:

https://www.mystarteacher.com/loyalty/enrollment.do?group_code=20080

And click here to apply for a Ready, Steady, GO! grant:

http://www.kinf.org/grants/2011_teacher_grant_app.php?source=odf
at

State Official: Skepticism Has Always Followed Vaccines - Rosemont, CA Patch

State Official: Skepticism Has Always Followed Vaccines - Rosemont, CA Patch:

State Official: Skepticism Has Always Followed Vaccines

An 1802 cartoon by James Gillray - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_cow_pock.jpg

There’s a 200-year-old cartoon that’s famous in public health circles. The drawing depicts a gaggle of startled peasants with miniature cows popping from their limbs and mouths. The caption reads, “The Cow Pock - or - The Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation (sic).” For James Watt, the California Department of Public Health’s chief of communicable disease, the cartoon is a reminder that fear and skepticism have attended public vaccination campaigns since immunology’s earliest days.

“I’ve been doing this for 15 years and there have always been questions,” Watt said.

When questions about the whooping cough vaccine lead to high rates of personal belief exemptions in a community, Watt said his office steps in to be part of the conversation. “We do a lot of work to educate parents. We have lots of materials up on our website, we work with partners, particularly pediatricians, to promote what we consider to be healthy choices by providing reliable positive information about immunizations.”

Watt said that with pertussis or measles a community needs to maintain a 95 percent vaccination rate to keep the disease from spreading. When there is an outbreak of those diseases it’s usually children too small to be


Parents at Two SCUSD Schools Skip Vaccines More Often

It took Karen Zampa three tries, but she finally gave her kids chickenpox.

Zampa took her 5 and 7-year-old sons to three “chickenpox parties,” gatherings where an infected child shares lollipops and clothes with healthy kids in an effort to spread the illness.

“For them, the best option was actually getting the chickenpox instead of getting the chickenpox vaccine,” she said.

Zampa chose not to give her sons a chickenpox or Hepatitis B

at

HechingerEd Blog | Governors take stage at Education Nation

HechingerEd Blog | Governors take stage at Education Nation:

Governors take stage at Education Nation

(Photo by Nick Pandolfo)

After lunch, a panel of 10 state governors sat down with Brian Williams to discuss the state of education in America. They spoke and took questions about a wide range of topics: fromhow to evaluate teachers to the the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waivers that wereannounced by President Obama last Friday, tofor-profit programs and partnerships taking place across the country. A point brought up multiple times by teachers during the day related to how teachers can share knowledge and experiences. A teacher from the audience said to the panel of governors, “We need to share best practices on a pedagogical level. How do you get best practices out there and share them?”

NBC was criticized by some for putting on a summit at last year’s Education Nation that was anti-
at

Big Education Ape: 9-26-11 PM Don’t Think Class Size Affects Achievement? Think! OK, Askin 2 much Edition

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now:

Published by Coopmike48 – 6 news spotters today

2011 - News & Events

soe.unc.edu - From the dean In reforming schools, let's rely on evidence, not ideology By Bill McDiarmid Recently, a somewhat chastened Bill Gates admitted in an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Ri...

DianeRavitch

The selling of school choice

wisconsinwatch.org - Walmart family heirs and others are changing the face of education in WisconsinHeirs to the Walmart fortune, including Alice and Jim Walton, have given thousands to Wisconsin political candidates s...

DianeRavitch

Live Twitter stream on

@coopmike48/big-edu-ape-news-11

coopmike48 profile

coopmike48 Insult To Wisconsin: Billboard Attacking Cheese Installed Near Green Bay | - http://t.co/M2fk8irK2 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

coopmike48 profile

coopmike48 Thousands entering California schools without vaccines - LA Daily News -http://t.co/gtXBdgxw2 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

coopmike48 profile

coopmike48 Remainders: Study finds a race connection in teacher turnover | GothamSchools - http://t.co/4H9nxyK559 seconds ago · reply · retweet · favorite

coopmike48 profile

coopmike48 ASCD Inservice: In Case You Missed It - http://t.co/mZIamou646 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

EducationSee all

Bridging Differences - Education Week

blogs.edweek.org - Dear Diane,It would be interesting to know what influenced the change of heart among those civil rights organizations, Diane. I've been exploring in my head—while I do my daily laps in the pond—wha...

mikeklonsky

Dispatch from Detroit - Teacher in a Strange Land

blogs.edweek.org - On Friday morning, I had the pleasure of speaking about education reform on Points North, the regional NPR call-in radio show. The other guest was Howard Walker, the local state senator--and the to...

DianeRavitch

SocietySee all

Romney, Perry Clash Over Race to the Top - Politics K-12

blogs.edweek.org - Thursday night's GOP presidential debate offered the clearest sign yet that the Republican field is united on K-12 policy: Basically, they all want the feds out.The highlight was a heated exchange ...

mikeklonsky

StoriesSee all

NYC Educator: There Are Times...

nyceducator.com - ...when a man has to make the supreme sacrifice and go to work. For me, that day is today. Now I don't expect much sympathy, because it's likely the same for you. On the upside, I have the best job...

fklonsky

| Thoughts on Public Education

toped.svefoundation.org - Posted on 9/26/11 • Categorized as UncategorizedBy“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the cont...

coopmike48

PoliticsSee all

A Campaign Finance Ruling Turned to Labor’s Advantage

nytimes.com - WASHINGTON — Labor unions are seizing on last year’s landmark Supreme Court campaign finance ruling to change how they engage in politics, developing ambitious plans to influence nonunion household...

fklonsky

Cracks appear in Obama's Chicago base | In Other News

chicagobusiness.com - "There's a lot of people who are pretty depressed; there are some who are aggressively negative about Obama himself," art dealer Paul Gray says.Photo by: Getty ImagesPresident Barack Obama's Chicag...

fklonsky

WorldSee all

Obama traffic gridlock expected during West Hollywood visit

latimesblogs.latimes.com - September 26, 2011 | 6:51 am The Westside is bracing for a return engagement of Obama-jam as the president visits Monday for fundraising events, including one at the House of Blues in West Hollywo...

coopmike48

LeisureSee all

Billboard Attacking Cheese Installed Near Green Bay |

bluecheddar.net - A Washington DC-based organization called Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has installed a billboard near Green Bay, Wisconsin. [They're called "PCRM" for short] There is so much wrong...

coopmike48

#educationnationRead this paperSee all

NBC Education Nation: How To Participate Online

edudemic.com - We’re back at Education Nation and ready for the morning panelists. To keep up with some of the events of today, you can follow the participants on Twitter! There are a number of discussion panels ...

K12NN

#edRead this paperSee all

Media2

  • leoniehaimsonleoniehaimson
  • DianeRavitchDianeRavitch

Photos0
    at