I draw your a… « Bill Ayers
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I draw your a… « Bill Ayers: I draw your a…bybillayersI draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed:“Edu4: 4 children, 4 the public, 4 social justice, 4 the future”http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/edu4/?utm_medium=emailutm_source=systemutm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriendThis is an important cause, and I encourage you to add your signature, too. It’s free and takes just a few seconds.Thanks!The Petition We are education scholars, students, teachers, and citizens who support worldwide democratic efforts that demand economic and social justice. Access to decent e... more »
If Rhee and Klein put students first, they would stop supporting the failed policies of Bloomberg and NCLB:
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We really should put students first - New York Amsterdam News: Opinion: We really should put students firstStoryCommentsShareSharePrintCreate a hardcopy of this pageFont Size:Default font sizeLarger font sizePosted:Sunday, April 29, 2012 12:00 amBy OCYNTHIA WILLIAMS|0commentsEarlier this month, former Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and former Washington, D.C., Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced that their StudentsFirstNY education group intends to raise $10 million a year to make sure that Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s education legacy continues after he leaves office. For many o... more »
Diane Ravitch sees no reform in Phila. plan
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Education leader sees no reform in Phila. plan: Education leader sees no reform in Phila. planByKristen A. GrahamInquirer Staff WriterPost a commentRELATED STORIESPhilly schools gearing up for radical restructuringPHILLY.COM's TOP FIVE PICKSPhilly schools gearing up for radical restructuringThe fine art of the moveHoping for FiOS, some feel abandonedAn un-Christie for 2013?A bank of big dreams, big lossesDiane Ravitch, education historian and pointed observer of the American educational scene, came to Philadelphia last week to speak at a math teachers' convention.She ... more »
Gerard Robinson Continues to Mislead Floridians on Charter Schools | Scathing Purple Musings
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Gerard Robinson Continues to Mislead Floridians on Charter Schools | Scathing Purple Musings: Gerard Robinson Continues to Mislead Floridians on Charter SchoolsbyBob Sikes Gerard Robinson knows he’s being fact-checked. Twice in a weekend interview withGradebook’sJeff Solocheck, heclearly sought tounburdenthe weightof a question. Despite having his guardup, Robinson let loose withsome real whoppers. Responding to a probe by Solochek regarding recent instances of serious malfeasance in charter schools, Robinson said this:There is nothing in place right now that prohibits the local ... more »
Jersey Jazzman: There IS a Teacher Labor Market
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Jersey Jazzman: There IS a Teacher Labor Market: There IS a Teacher Labor MarketbyDuke I find it hysterical that so many of the "corporate reformers" also love to sing the praises of free market. They seem to believe that they can cap salaries and take away pensions, benefits, and workplace protections, but somehow still attract loads of qualified people to the field - in complete contradiction to their stated beliefs about the private sector.Take tenure; somehow, the reformies think you ... more »
Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky
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Sunday links. « Fred Klonsky: Sunday links.byFred KlonskyRecall Walker phone banks in Wisconsin.NY Times photo.Apple loves Teach for America, but pays little in state taxes thatsupport public education.John Dillon’s Pension Vocabulary lesson of the week:Doublethink. Your pension is now a benefit.Glen Brown poses some important legal questions about Illinois pensions, funding and benefits.He also asks the question:Where is the IEA leadership?We all saw AFSCME’s Anders Lindall take on the Civic Committee corporate mouthpiece Ty Fahner the other day. But finding ... more »
Schools Matter: David Coleman's Global Revenge and the Common Core
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Schools Matter: David Coleman's Global Revenge and the Common Core: David Coleman's Global Revenge and the Common CorebyJim HornAs you grow up in this world you realize people really don’t give a shit about what you feel or what you think.--David Coleman at NY State Department of Education presentation, April 2011In order to give the above quote the context it deserves, here is the clip from Mr. Coleman's speech. Please notice that in offering the transcript for public download, the ... more »
Parent trigger misfires, again - San Bernardino County Sun
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Parent trigger misfires, again - San Bernardino County Sun: Parent trigger misfires, againDean E. VogelPosted: 04/28/2012 07:10:46 AM PDT The Adelanto Elementary School District Board of Trustees boldly stood up for students and the rights of all parents in the school community by rejecting an attempt led mainly by a group of outside organizers to shut down an elementary school, replace the entire staff, and create a privately managed charter school.The trustees recognized that Parent Revolution organizers at Desert Trails ... more »
Jersey Jazzman: Tom Moran Doubles Down
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Jersey Jazzman: Tom Moran Doubles Down: Tom Moran Doubles DownbyDukeTom Moran, op-ed editor of theStar-Ledger, tried to make a folk hero out of Janine Caffrey in his pages. And he will not allow his hard work in making her an iconto be undone:Janine Caffrey, the superintendent of Perth Amboy schools, has been shut out of her office and sent home.No one disputes that she works hard and that she was putting in place exactly the reforms she promised when she ... more »
Educators: Are You a Seed Planter or a Seed Killer? « Diary of a Public School Teacher!
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Educators: Are You a Seed Planter or a Seed Killer? « Diary of a Public School Teacher!: Educators: Are You a Seed Planter or a Seed Killer?byOldschoolteachI attended a conference today called, ”Diversity Exchange:Learning from One Another.” The keynote speaker was supposed to beReginald Weaver, former NEA president,but unfortunately he is ill. Merwyn Scott, did a good job standing in for Mr.Weaver at the last-minute.Something Mr.Scott said, as he shared his thoughts, stood out to me. He said that when ... more »
The Lies, The Deceit, The Chutzpah of UFT President Mike Mulgrew
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http://www.southbronxschool.com: The Lies, The Deceit, The Chutzpah of UFT President Mike Mulgrewbynoreply@blogger.com (Bronx Teacher)Leave it to Norm over atEdnotesto get that good juicy inside information on the manipulative machinations of The UFT and The Grand Exalted Mystic Ruler, and sometime Collaborator, Michael Mulgrew and his Unity hacks.UFT President Mulgrew Seen Here With Vichy President Philippe PétainAsecret memo has gone out to all Unity (I believe just Unity) chapter chairsfrom LeRoy Barr along the lines that Mulgrew is really neat, and ... more »
Saturday Night Home School Fever | Lefty Parent
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Saturday Night Home School Fever | Lefty Parent: Saturday Night Home School FeverbyCooper ZaleConfessing my own bias as a big supporter of unschooling, I read Dennis Danziger’s piece,“Home School Fever”, in the April 24 edition of theHuffington Post, and it seemed to push more buttons in me than I even knew I had! I recall that classicSaturday Night Live“Weekend Edition” bit where Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd do a “Point-Counterpoint”, and after Curtin dresses down Aykroyd in every possible way ... more »
New York’s Bargain Basement Tests « Diane Ravitch's blog
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New York’s Bargain Basement Tests « Diane Ravitch's blog: New York’s Bargain Basement TestsWhen I read Gail Collins’ nifty column about the pineapple fiasco, I realized why New York ended up using a ridiculous story that was recycled from tests given in several other states. Wherever that pineapple story appeared on the state tests, the kids said it was a stupid story with stupid questions. Pearson didn’t listen and
Prom Queens & Ed Reform - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher
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Prom Queens Ed Reform - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher: byNancy FlanaganProm Queens Ed ReformIf American schools are stages where our children act out and explicate our societal values, then perhaps this week's focus isn't only aboutdancing pineapplesandwhether parents have the legal right to shield their children from harmful bubbling.Maybe we should be scrutinizing another springtime tradition: the school prom.The word "prom" entered the American dictionary in 1894, and Dorothy Parker notably wisecracked, pre-Depression, that if ... more »
Peg with Pen: The Crime in Philadelphia
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Peg with Pen: The Crime in Philadelphia: The Crime in PhiladelphiabyPeggy These are not my words. These are the words of Mr. Johnson, who commented on the articlePhiladelphia School District announces its dissolution. I am sharing them here because the crime in Philadelphia continues to be ignored. The children of Philadelphia continue to be ignored. Share widely.Mr. Johnson, thank you for this comment - the outrage you express is what I feel in my heart about the dismantling of public ... more »
Latest skeptic of teachers unions is clothing label’s city billboard | GothamSchools
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Latest skeptic of teachers unions is clothing label’s city billboard | GothamSchools: Latest skeptic of teachers unions is clothing label’s city billboardbyRachel Cromidas, at 2:18 pmThis spring, the West Side Highway’s typical advertising fare also includes a political message that seems aimed at teachers unions.A billboard advertising Kenneth Cole — the clothing company owned by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s brother-in-law — puns to southbound commuters,”Shouldn’t Everyone Be Well Red?” In smaller lettering, the billboard says, “Teachers’ Rights Vs. Students’ Rights …”The ... more »
Schools Matter: Is the US Department of Education Saying Educational Administrators Should be Non-Educators?
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Schools Matter: Is the US Department of Education Saying Educational Administrators Should be Non-Educators?: Is the US Department of Education Saying Educational Administrators Should be Non-Educators?byskrashenThe following was presented as an exemplary quote in Teaching Matters, published by the US Department of Education. It is listed among the “top 5 teacher quotes” and labelled as “wisdom from teachers heard by ED” (Department of Education):"We need good teachers to stay as teachers, not move to administration.” (Teacher in Va.) http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USED... more »
Jersey Jazzman: Why Teachers Need Tenure
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Jersey Jazzman: Why Teachers Need Tenure: Why Teachers Need TenurebyDukeSource: Stephen Sawchuk, "States Strive to Overhaul Teacher Tenure," www.edweek.org, Apr. 7, 2010 Diane Ravitchresponds to a particularly bad piece inThe New Republic(did I really used to subscribe to this rag?) calling for the gutting of tenure:In an editorial called“Making the Grade: The Case Against Tenure in Public Schools,” the editors argued that it was a fine idea to remove any job protections from public school teachers becau