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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

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Creationists in Louisiana Win State Funding

The voucher legislation in Louisiana will send millions of dollars to Christian academies that repudiate evolution and teach creationism. Their students will never learn about evolution other than to hear it ridiculed.
At least 20 of the religious schools that receive voucher students teach creationism, and as this researcher shows, that may be only the tip of the iceberg.
This is a descent into ignorance.
But in the eyes of a group of state superintendents called Chiefs for Change (the state superintendents of


Prosecutor Pledges to Pursue Charter School Scams

After a federal grand jury returned a 62-count indictment against a charter school founder and her associates, claiming that $6.5 million in public funds was misused, the U.S. Attorney declared that he would pursue any charter school operators who abused the public trust. The attorney for the defendant said she was innocent and would offer a strong defense against the charges.
“This indictment in this case alleges that June Brown and her four co-conspirators used the charter school system to engage in rampant fraud and obstruction,” Memeger said during an afternoon news conference. “My 



Chicago Teachers Union Wins This One

As you may recall, Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Chicago has demanded that teachers teach a longer school day without additional compensation.
For that and other reasons (including rising class size), the Chicago Teachers Union took a strong stand in opposition. It took a strike vote, and 98% of those voting gave their approval, which was unexpected and unprecedented. The CTU held a rally, and 10,000 members turned out.
Mayor Emanuel accepted a deal that met the CTU’s demands. Its members will not have to work longer hours


No Accountability for Voucher Schools in Louisiana

John White spelled out the rules for nonpublic schools receiving vouchers, and few if any will be held accountable for student performance.
Most of the students taking public money with them are in kindergarten, first and second grades, where they are not tested.
And there will be no consequences for the voucher schools if their students fail:
White’s plan requires voucher students in grades 3-11 to take standardized tests like public school students, 



Stephen Krashen: How Much Testing?

Stephen Krashen, professor of linguistics at the University of Southern California (emeritus), wrote this post to explain how the adoption of the Common Core will change testing in the nation’s schools:
HOW MUCH TESTING?
At first glance, the assessments now being developed to accompany the common core standards do not appear to be much more than we already have, at least in terms of subject-matter covered and grade level.  According to the organizations working on developing standards and tests (PARCC and SBEC), as is the case with NCLB


Parent Trigger Fires Again

Yesterday a judge in California ruled in a case involving the state’s so-called “parent trigger” law that parents who signed a petition to convert their school to a charter would not be permitted to rescind their signatures. They could choose to sign, but they could not change their mind afterwards.
This was a law passed in 2010 by the legislature to allow parents at a low-performing school to seize control of their school, fire the staff, and hire a charter operator to run the school.
In fact, the law was a stealth tactic by charter advocates to gain a larger market share by duping parents.



Tell the Truth about American Education (Math)

So-called reformers say again and again that the U.S. education system is a failure and that academic performance is declining.
What they never tell you is that the test scores of American students are at their highest point in history, as recorded on the only longitudinal measure of performance, the federal test called the National Assessment of