New York Teachers "Assaulted and Compromised:" Lawyers Line Up
When the swindlers of Wall Street joined the education industry to try to make American schools a corporate revenue stream that could not be outsourced, no one who had been watching their cynical maneuvering doubted that teacher professionalism would be the first line of attack in breaking any potential resistance to their charterizing plan. With employment and job insecurity dependent upon the vagaries of test score gains, the Business Roundtable's education industry would have control of not only how learning is mismeasured, but also what is taught and how it is taught. The test would be the chief tool of control.
The current publication of test scores in New York sets a new low for how political whores in Albany and the corporate whores of the media (hello, NYTimes) can join forces to do their ugly work. A clip from the Times:
The current publication of test scores in New York sets a new low for how political whores in Albany and the corporate whores of the media (hello, NYTimes) can join forces to do their ugly work. A clip from the Times:
The ratings, known as teacher data reports, covered three school years ending in 2010, and areA longer school year? Two responses
Two Letters sent to the Orange County Register, Feb 24, in response to “O.C. education chief: students need more school,” Feb. 23. (Richard Moore, Stephen Krashen0 We are on the brink of bankruptcy... and he wants a longer school year? We have the highest poverty rate among industrialized countries, a more powerful predictor of academic success than any other... and it never comes up? We have only 75 schools out of 600 in OC with fully functioning/staffed libraries... and we are surprised by low reading scores? He holds his "summit" at a time when teachers are teaching... so he ... more »Stand with Corey Husic in Demanding an End to Climate Miseducation by Heartland Institute
Go to Climate Reality and support these high school students in calling out the propagandists at the Heartland Institite.Diane Ravitch Pt. 2 in New York Review of Books
Last week the New York State Education Department and the teachers’ unions reached an agreement to allow the state to use student test scores to evaluate teachers. The pact was brought to a conclusion after Governor Andrew Cuomo warned the parties that if they didn’t come to an agreement quickly, he would impose his own solution (though he did not explain what that would be). He further told school districts that they would lose future state aid if they didn’t promptly implement the agreement after it was released to the public. The reason for this urgency was to secure $700 million... more »Lobbyists Making the Rounds In Tallahassee for Bill Offering More in Corporate Welfare Check for Charters
From Miami Herald: By Kathleen McGrory and Scott Hiaasen shiaasen@miamiherald.com A legislative plan to give charter schools a cut of local school districts’ construction money would steer millions of additional dollars to large charter-school networks that are already sitting on tens of millions of dollars in cash, records show. The charter-school industry is lobbying hard in the capital to gain a share of tax dollars raised by school districts to cover the construction and maintenance costs of traditional public schools — tax revenue that has dropped dramatically in recent years... more »Perfect Hour for Parents, Ed Students, and Teachers During Black History Month
Posted at WeAreMany: *Still Separate, Still Unequal: Racism, Class and the Attack on Public Education * With Brian Jones Public education is under an unprecedented attack. The powerful people who want to privatize our schools are using many different means: charter schools, mayoral control, high stakes standardized testing, school closures, merit pay and attacking teacher unions are all a part of this assault. Often, these "reformers" claim that the sweeping changes they want will bring genuine educational justice for communities that have long been underserved -- especially for... more »Reconsidering testing in Texas
Reconsidering testing: Some fundamentals Sent to the Austin-American Statesman, Feb 21, 2012 A year's delay to reconsider the role of testing is a very good idea (“It’s smart to step back on STARR,” Feb 20). I hope that those assigned to study this issue will look at the evidence showing that increased testing does not result in increased achievement, the evidence showing that teacher evaluation of high school students (grades) is a better predictor of college success than standardized test scores (the SAT), and studies showing how much time is spent on “test preparation” (activities ... more »The Bookmooch plan: An easy way to help close the achievement gap in literacy and clean up your clutter at the same time
There is overwhelming evidence that those who live in poverty have little access to books at home, in schools and in public and school libraries, and that the lack of access to books impacts literacy development, and also results in less knowledge of the world. Research, in fact, strngly suggests that lack of access to books is the major reason for the literacy “achievement gap,” the difference in reading ability between children coming from higher and lower income families. Someday, ebooks might be available at a reasonable cost for everybody. But until this happens, I would like ... more »Become the Lesson You Want Your Children to Learn: Stand Up, Opt Out
*To stop the madness, we must stop the madness. There is too much money involved to think that the testing industrial complex will suddenly acknowledge their crimes against children and decide to call it a day. * *Join Aaryn and Sam Belfer--write your school superintendent and rescue your children from the pressure cooker. They used a template to craft their own letter. Here is one of many you can use. * *February 16, 2012* * Bill Kowba* * Superintendent of Schools* * San Diego Unified School District* * 4100 Normal Street, Room 2219* * San Diego, CA 92103* *Dear Mr. Kowba,* *... more »Corporate Charter Lobbyists Go After Florida School Construction Money
With hundreds of millions already in the bank, the vulture philanthropists and their hopped-up hedge funders are looking for more cash for their corporate welfare charter schools. Will the Florida State Legislature destroy the bond ratings of state public schools to win the next election? From *Miami Herald*: By Kathleen McGrory and Scott Hiaasen shiaasen@miamiherald.com A legislative plan to give charter schools a cut of local school districts’ construction money would steer millions of additional dollars to large charter-school networks that are already sitting on tens of millio... more »Untitled
In 2001, the PR firms that the Business Roundtable hired to sell their plan to blow up public schools and to rebuild them in the corporate image for corporate benefit could not have settled on a more cynical and appealing mantra: we must close the achievement gap, and NCLB is the way to do it. Now over ten years later, the gaps are still gaping and growing wider as the achievement disparities map click by click onto to the diverging lines on the inequality chart between rich and poor. Who would have guessed that applying thumbscrews to the most vulnerable of the nation’s teachers an... more »Rushing Toward the Cliff While “Tweaking” the “Quirks”
In 2001, the PR firms that the Business Roundtable hired tosell their plan to blow up public schools and to rebuild them in the corporateimage for corporate benefit could not have settled on a more cynical andappealing mantra: we must close the achievement gap, and NCLB is the way to doit. Now over ten years later, the gaps are still gaping andgrowing wider as the achievement disparities map click by click onto to thediverging lines on the inequality chart between rich and poor. Who would haveguessed that applying thumbscrews to the most vulnerable of the nation’steachers and stude... more »Charles Murray, KIPP, and the Second Coming of Eugenics
A similar version of this commentary was published by *Substance News*earlier today: The old-school eugenics of the previous century was aimed to eradicate all sorts of unfit and anti-social behavior, from theft to laziness to wandering to sexual deviance. The source of these problems was thought to be a biological defect in the genes, or germ plasm, as that mysteriously-determinative substance was known a hundred years ago. With the rise of behaviorism and the eventual scientific acceptance of what common sense has always told us about the importance of environment in shaping org... more »Rethinking Teacher Quality and Metrics-mania
Once President Barack Obama referred to the claim that teacher quality translates directly into increasing lifetime earnings of students, that assertion and connected study are destined to remain in the public domain in the same way that claims about three quality teachers in a row has persisted. These claims share something other than being quickly and broadly embraced, however; they are also misleading, incomplete, and harmful to our understanding and pursuit of higher teacher quality (see DiCarlo on three great teachers in a row claims and NEPC's review of NBER study connecting ... more »