And The Winner Is...
Is there an award for Funniest Paragraph of the Year?
Because I've found it.
Because I've found it.
Maybe they are. Maybe the testing is a something that's better than a past nothing. But a lot hangs on these numbers. Just as they measure the presumed progress of the students, so with a little massaging do they also measure the presumed worth of the students' teachers.
Do they? A lot of smart people want to think so. "Evaluations that rely in part on test scores really do identify the best teachers," wrote the New York Times's David Brooks, looking at Chicago's schools from afar....
Something For The Mayor's Pipe
Walking around Rogers Park this morning, I can tell you that the horn-honking index is still 100% in favor of the teachers. I can also tell you that if the angry little man in city hall wants to rule by court injunction, he's got another thing coming. The feeling in the neighborhood here is that court injunctions will be more successful against the planned 100 school closings, absent any kind of democratic representation on the school board. So put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mayor.
The Students Know
A stunning piece of writing. I wonder how this young person would have done with the "imagine yourself on a desert island" question on the NAEP.
Why is it that our teachers are being blamed for this strike? It is not their fault that Rahm and his CEO Jean-Claude Brizard cannot sit down in a table and negotiate on the issues we all care about. The teachers have met with CPS for 7 months and neither thought teacher voices were important enough for them to bother to attend. Teachers are the only ones talking about the issues I care about and taking the negotiations seriously.
Why is it that our teachers are being blamed for this strike? It is not their fault that Rahm and his CEO Jean-Claude Brizard cannot sit down in a table and negotiate on the issues we all care about. The teachers have met with CPS for 7 months and neither thought teacher voices were important enough for them to bother to attend. Teachers are the only ones talking about the issues I care about and taking the negotiations seriously.