UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
Citizens of the World charter: parent choice or segregation?
Both nationally and locally,charter schools have been found to lead to more segregationin our public schools. The following is by Brooke Parker, one of the founders of Williamsburg and Greenpoint Parents for Our Public Schools (WAGPOPS), about a new charter chain that has applied to SUNY start in her district. Instructions on how to send in your comments to the SUNY Board of Trustees are below; the deadline for public comments is May 21.
On the eve of the anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, the NY Times article on Explore Charter School's almost exclusively African American student population received over 400 comments. The issue of segregation in schools is a hot topic right now as more and more reports are coming out revealing charter schools as profoundly segregated.
District 14, encompassing the neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Greenpoint, parts of Bed Stuy and Bushwick, is giving this issue a neo-liberal spin. District 14 was "selected" by Citizens of the World Charter Schools(CWCS), a brand new chain of charter schools coming out of California, to receive two of their charter schools precisely
Vallas Says No Prob – $1M deal won’t affect his work in Bridgeport
| Categories: Bridgeport, Education, Malloy, Paul Vallas, Stefan Pryor Tags: Bridgeport, Education Reform, Malloy, Paul Vallas, Stefan Pryor Somewhere between “Look Ma, No Hands” and the 2008 hit “Handlebars” by the rock band Flobots (lyrics: “I can ride my bike with no handlebars, No handlebars, No handlebars”), stands education reformer extraordinaire Paul Vallas who, as we predicted yesterday, announced today that there is absolutely no problem because he can be both superintendent of [...] |
The in box. Draw a line and let the courts decide.
Fred
I read your blog about negotiating with the GA. I agree with you wholeheartedly. We shouldn’t.
Here is an email I sent Klickna and the IEA team back on 4-22.
–todd
Cinda’s response:
Well, our polling data indicated our members want us to engage, advocate, and raise issues.
Cinda
Subject: Labor Coalition Should Negotiate Nothing Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:37:20 -0500
VAM Bashing From the Right
Jay Mathews, the conservative foil to Valerie Strauss at the Washington Post, admits he likes Value Added Measures (VAM) in theory, but concedes that the reform is misused and abused and likens it to an action film monster that must be destroyed.
The “best” criticisms he has seen came from teacher trainer Grant Wiggins who points out that VAM “models accurately predict over a three-year period, performance at the extremes.”
In other words, if you average VAM scores over three years, you can identify the really great teachers and the really lousy ones.
Assuming this is true, the vast majority of teachers—who fall somewhere in the middle—would be getting inaccurate VAM scores and potentially bad evaluations as a result. Furthermore,
Banda Approved as Superintendent, 7-0
Finally! There was a bit of yakking tonight before they finally got to the vote. Carr reviewed trip to Anaheim that she and Patu took last week. All good things - neither she nor Patu had anything of concern to tell the Board. Banda spoke briefly to the audience saying it was a "bittersweet moment." He said, "You become part of a community and builds bonds and relationships." He said he was not just part not just of scho
Lafayette Principal Missteps in Investigation;District Does LIttle
Lafayette Principal Missteps in Investigation;District Does LIttle
I had learned of a serious situation at Lafayette. Charlie and I both felt it better to say nothing (it is not our place nor could we do much). I did let a few senior SPS people know that I knew and that it was vital for them to give the situation their notice and best effort. As the situation as played out, I did not see that happening. Not from the principal, not from the Executive Director and not from SPS administration. Some of them are now saying they knew nothing about it and that is virtually impossible to believe. But it has now been leaked to the media
PTA Wisdom Shines Through Cloud Of Privatization At Congressional Hearing Today
Today, the Congressional Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing on “Exploring State Success in Expanding Parent and Student Options.” In the midst of parent trigger and voucher advocates, Dr. Maria Fletcher, president of the New York State PTA, provided some important wisdom. Here’s an excerpt from her testimony:
Perhaps we’re asking the wrong question – instead of asking how to empower parents by providing alternatives to their neighborhood school, why aren’t we empowering parents by engaging all stakeholders to ensure that
Perhaps we’re asking the wrong question – instead of asking how to empower parents by providing alternatives to their neighborhood school, why aren’t we empowering parents by engaging all stakeholders to ensure that
What we've done lately for Brown: revisiting the ruling on segregation
Fifty-eight years after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, we should remember the original cause, equality.