Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Late Nite Posts 1-12 #edreform #ows


NYC’s Largest Parent Group Responds to Mayor’s State of the City Address « EdVox

NYC’s Largest Parent Group Responds to Mayor’s State of the City Address « EdVox:NYC’s Largest Parent Group Responds to Mayor’s State of the City Addressby edvoxnyPopout(New York, NY – January 12, 2012) – Mayor Bloomberg delivered his State of the City address at Morris High School in the Bronx today, including several thousand words on education. Parent leader Zakiyah Ansari of the Coalition for Educational Justice released the following statement in reaction. “Nearly every student in City public schools today ... more »

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform 1-12

The Charlotte Post - For-profit charter schools questionedBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-2 minutes agoThe Charlotte Post - For-profit charter schools questioned:For-profit charter schools questionedWith N.C. cap removed, companies apply for approval Published Thursday, January 12, 2012 7:21 amby Sommer Brokaw The emergence of for-profit charter schools is drawing fire in North Carolina.The Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP sent a letter to the North Carolina State Board of Education last month to block the application for Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars ... more »

The Uncertain Future of Public Schools in Florida | Florida Public Employees

The Uncertain Future of Public Schools in Florida | Florida Public Employees:The Uncertain Future of Public Schools in FloridaTopics: Amendment 7, Charter Schools, Ketty Rodríguez, PrivatisacionYour Tax Dollars For Private UseJanuary 11, 2012Translated From Spanish Article Published January 10, 2012By Ketty RodriguezThe public school situation has become more complex and critical in 2012, especially when compared to last year. One only has to look at the laws that have come in to play, as well as the measures voters are ... more »

Why Accountants Should Not Run Schools | OurFuture.org

Why Accountants Should Not Run Schools | OurFuture.org:Why Accountants Should Not Run Schoolsby Jeff BryantThere's a reason why accountants traditionally wore green eyeshades. In their "vision-intensive, detail-oriented" work, they were prone to "eyestrain" caused by scrupulous attention to columns and rows of numbers on a ledger. Now, of course, the strain is lessened by the softer glow of a computer screen. But the accountant's job is the same, nevertheless.Historically, in fact, the practice of "accountancy" has not changed a lot ... more »

RheeFirst! » “Michelle Rhee” is to “Data” as “Counterfeiter” is to “Dollar Bill”

RheeFirst! » “Michelle Rhee” is to “Data” as “Counterfeiter” is to “Dollar Bill”:“Michelle Rhee” is to “Data” as “Counterfeiter” is to “Dollar Bill”by adminWritten by Guy Brandenburg for his blog. Read the entire post here.“There are very few public figures who have a looser connection with the truth, with facts, and with data, than Michelle Rhee.But she’s coming to DC next week as a featured panel member of something called the Data Quality Campaign, along with Arne Duncan, another educational ... more »

Turner Diaries vs Ron Paul — The Answers Revealed! « Student Activism

Turner Diaries vs Ron Paul — The Answers Revealed! « Student Activism:Turner Diaries vs Ron Paul — The Answers Revealed!by Angus JohnstonAbout a week ago I put up a quiz post asking folks to guess whether 25 quotes came from Ron Paul’s newsletters or from the Turner Diaries, a notorious racist novel from the late 1970s.In that original post I said that this:The worldview of the Ron Paul newsletters is the worldview of the late 20th century American rightwing fringe ... more »

Why Is Congress Redlining Our Schools? | The Nation

Why Is Congress Redlining Our Schools? | The Nation:Why Is Congress Redlining Our Schools?Linda Darling-Hammond January 10, 2012 | This article appeared in the January 30, 2012 edition of The Nation.Share|||Recommended by 0|Text Size A | A | AEmail|Print|Share|Single Page|Web Letter (0)|Write a Letter|Take Action|Subscribe NowRedlining was the once-common practice in which banks would draw a red line on a map—often along a natural barrier like a highway or river—to designate neighborhoods where they would not invest. Stigmatized and denied ... more »

Schools Matter: McIntyre's Austerity Plan for Cutting $7M Ignores $30M in the Bank

Schools Matter: McIntyre's Austerity Plan for Cutting $7M Ignores $30M in the Bank:McIntyre's Austerity Plan for Cutting $7M Ignores $30M in the Bankby Jim HornLast Fall Eli Broad's Tennessee transplant, Supt. James McIntyre, laid out his wish list for slashing teachers and privatizing services in Knoxville, Tennessee Schools, all based on a purported shortfall of $7 million from a $384+ million dollar budget:Facing a looming budget deficit of at least $7 million, Knox County Schools' Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre is ... more »

Check it OUT! Parent Organizer -- DPS Schools

Parent Organizer -- DPS Schools:Parent Organizer -- DPS SchoolsUpdated: Thursday, 12 Jan 2012, 11:47 AM ESTPublished : Thursday, 12 Jan 2012, 11:47 AM ESTmyFOX Job Shop - Job Title: Parent Organizer -- Reports To: Project Director Position Summary: The Parent Organizer will be responsible for working with allocated DPS schools to ensure there is a strong parent involvement plan to improve student achievement. Performance Responsibilities:Build and maintain relationships with allocated DPS schools’ principals Recruit and maintain relationships with parent leaders ... more »

The Charlotte Post - For-profit charter schools questioned

The Charlotte Post - For-profit charter schools questioned:For-profit charter schools questionedWith N.C. cap removed, companies apply for approval Published Thursday, January 12, 2012 7:21 amby Sommer Brokaw The emergence of for-profit charter schools is drawing fire in North Carolina.The Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP sent a letter to the North Carolina State Board of Education last month to block the application for Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter School, which is on the fast track to open in August. According to its ... more »

Shanker Blog » Beyond Anecdotes: The Evidence About Financial Incentives And Teacher Retention

Shanker Blog » Beyond Anecdotes: The Evidence About Financial Incentives And Teacher Retention:Beyond Anecdotes: The Evidence About Financial Incentives And Teacher Retentionby Eleanor FulbeckOur guest author today is Eleanor Fulbeck, who earned her Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2011, and is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.A couple of weeks ago, an article in the New York Times, written by reporter Sam Dillon, took a look at the new incentive ... more »

Schools Matter: Guest Post: Against Oligarchical Roundtables In Education

Schools Matter: Guest Post: Against Oligarchical Roundtables In Education:Guest Post: Against Oligarchical Roundtables In Educationby P. L. ThomasAgainst Oligarchical Roundtables In Education (and really, everywhere else too)by Douglas StormIf they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers. Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s RainbowIt’s that simple really. All we do now is ask the wrong questions and get irrelevant answers because the questions determine the direction we’ll be heading. The Pynchon quote comes from the ... more »

LA study: Poor students stuck with worst teachers - LA Daily News

LA study: Poor students stuck with worst teachers - LA Daily News:LA study: Poor students stuck with worst teachersBy Christina Hoag, Associated Press WriterPosted: 01/12/2012 01:00:00 AM PSTLOS ANGELES - Good teachers are the key to accelerating academic achievement by Hispanic and black students to levels on par with their white and Asian counterparts, but poor, minority children are consistently stuck with the worst instructors, according to a study released Thursday."We know that great teachers have the power to help ... more »

NYC Educator: Teachers and Principals Behaving Badly

NYC Educator: Teachers and Principals Behaving Badly:Teachers and Principals Behaving Badlyby Miss EyreMy brothers and sisters in education, if it wasn't painfully obvious, we are at work in difficult times. Principals and teachers alike are under attack, often due to factors that are well beyond our control. School budgets are bleeding money and that picture is not set to improve. So why, why, why are we still being treated to stories like this one, in which a school principal falsified ... more »

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Charter Schools: the Landscape Today

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Charter Schools: the Landscape Today:Charter Schools: the Landscape Todayby Melissa WestbrookThis is the last in the series on charter schools. I will have a final piece on what I think it means and what we need to think about for Washington State. I hope that this has been a helpful series. (I note that I asked the Washington State PTSA about putting up a link about this series and got a busy signal. I will also ... more »

5 Ways Families Can Honor Dr. King & The Dream « MomsRising Blog

5 Ways Families Can Honor Dr. King The Dream « MomsRising Blog:5 Ways Families Can Honor Dr. King The DreamPosted January 11th, 2012 by Homa TavangarI think it’s essential that kids grow up with memories of actively marking the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and birthday. At most schools this is a day off, and a growing movement advocates making this a “day on.” When parents engage with their children on the important matters Dr. King spoke out for, ... more »

Daily Kos: What it feels like to fire people

Daily Kos: What it feels like to fire people:What it feels like to fire peopleby rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)I have had to do it twice, once in the private sector, once in the public sector.My work career before becoming a teacher was in data processing, where at various times I was a programmer, programmer analyst, systems analyst, consultant, supervisor, and manager.The first time I had to fire an employee was while a manager at a private company then the world's largest vendor ... more »

Diane Ravitch will speak to Sac City Teachers Association members - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Diane Ravitch will speak to Sac City Teachers Association members - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee:Diane Ravitch will speak to Sac City Teachers Association membersShareBy Melody Gutierrezmgutierrez@sacbee.comPublished: Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 1B Education historian Diane Ravitch, an outspoken critic of the movement to reward or penalize teachers based on student test scores, will speak to hundreds of teachers at a public event organized by the Sacramento City Teachers Association.Nine ... more »

What does a Vulture Capitalist become when they grow up?

What does a Vulture Capitalist become when theygrow up?AVulture Philanthropist

Today's Big Education Ape - PostRank Top Early Evening Posts #ows #edreform 1-11

A Culture of Resistance is Born in 2011: the People United in an Independent Movement | OWSnews.org #OWSBig Education Ape - PostRank (PostRank: All)-10 minutes agoA Culture of Resistance is Born in 2011: the People United in an Independent Movement | OWSnews.org:A Culture of Resistance is Born in 2011: the People United in an Independent MovementKevin Zeese at OWSnews.org - 3 minutes agoIn 2012, the Real Conversation will be in the Occupations, while Corporate Candidates have a False Conversation By ... more »